Let the Page Hold Your Weight

It’s been a trying time lately. Sad, difficult and unexpected events have happened to people all around me, close friends and family members. I feel like I’ve been sitting inside a thin tent in a Saharan windstorm–protected, but barely. Eventually, the silt gets in, even if it isn’t yours.

On my low days, I take it into my very cells and feel heavy with it. Stay in a bad mood. Snap at my son and husband.

On good days, I channel it into writing. It just so happens that the protagonist of my novel and her best friend/co-protagonist have to get into some seriously screwed up situations, too. And on a regular old sunny day with blue sky flaunting herself out my window, it’s hard to get into writing about these emotional tangles. 

So these difficult days, days like today, when the funk is thick and the mood is blue–I can go there into the sorrow, the conflict and the muck. I can shed my pain in my pages, let my characters wear it instead of me.

***

If you want to learn more about this, I’m teaching a 1 week online class called “Method Writing” the week of December 14th. www.jordanrosenfeld.net/events-classes.html. Just $49, or, if you want to sign up for the three week series, it’s $129 for all three.

 

Marrying the Muse

Guest Post by Eros-Alegra Clarke

Seven years ago, when my husband and I announced our engagement, we were counseled by an older couple to develop a habit of ‘couch time’ for our relationship; a time each day where we sat and talked. We laughed and nodded and said, “Yes, of course.” The couple, who had three children said, “No, really, we’re serious.” Now that we have our own two kids and a third one on the way, we understand. We know how seductive exhaustion can be, how easy it is to turn on the television and tune out. It is tempting to believe that our marriage is self-maintaining, that it will continue to write itself the way we want it to.

I have come to believe that crafting a novel requires the same sort of commitment to couch time as a marriage does. It is a different type of relationship maintenance than that required by short stories. Working on a short story is a brief and passionate affair. The short story muse can knock on my window in the middle of the night and whisper, “Let’s go walking beneath the stars.” And I follow that flash of brilliance and let it unfold because it will only last so long. Sleep can be caught up on; small issues can be obsessed over; spontaneity held in high regard because at the end of our time together, we can retreat to our separate lives. The revision happens without children in the background jumping on the furniture. I can focus on the scene at hand, perfecting it without worrying about how the choices I have made will show up 10 or 20 scenes into the story ahead. A short story is like taking care of someone else’s child for a few days. I can be full of patience. I wonder and delight in the child’s mischief. I can buy some quiet time by feeding them cookies after midnight without worrying I have just turned the cute little Gizmos into Gremlins.

A novel, from the first chapter, is a marriage with children and a mortgage. It requires the balancing act of being in the inspiration of the moment while tending to all of the daily responsibilities. I have to make sure the characters, like my children, are fed, bathed, happy, played with, growing well, learning the lessons they should be learning. I get up in the middle of the night when one of them cries. I make sure the plot is a solid home for them to live in. I pay the bills, keep the car running, clean the toilets, do the laundry, and agonize about important decisions for the future. And at some point each day, I need to sit with the story and talk. I dig out the issues. I listen carefully. I edit what no longer belongs. I try to be honest. I have to let everything else go and tune into the heart of the relationship.

The work is intense, but as is often said about parenthood, “It is the hardest thing I’ve ever done but it is also the most rewarding.”  I love the intimacy of working on a novel. Looking back over the rough drafts is like tracing the developing lines in my husband’s face. They are a roadmap of the life we have chosen together. The daily hard work, even when I am complaining every step of the way, is a testimony of how deeply I love the world I am creating.

 ***

Eros-Alegra Clarke is currently writing her first novel under the mentorship of her agent. In the meantime, she has been slowly building publications including a story “Naming Shadows” in the literary journal Bitter Oleander. A wife, mother of two (with a third on the way), and graduate student, Alegra contributes to Maria Schneider’s website Editor Unleashed for writers: http://editorunleashed.com and can be found blogging about life, writing, and everything in between at: http://alegra22.wordpress.com .

 

Making Time

I’m a mother with only 15 hours of daycare a week (and a little bit more if you count the time that his father takes him over the weekend). A self-employed freelance writer, editor and teacher, and novelist too.

Before my son was born, before home ownership, I marvel at how much I got done: I worked nearly full time, enrolled in a low-residency MFA program (yeah, I graduated too), wrote fiction in the morning before work, produced a bi-monthly radio show, a weekly evening reading salon, and freelance wrote on the side. I know, what side, right?

But there was a side–I socialized and spent time with my husband and saw my family.

Did I mention I’m a little Type A?

So right now I’ve got a fever to be doing NanoWriMo…I want it so badly I could have a little tantrum, but I hate to set myself up for failure. When I don’t finish something, it really, really irks me. And I’ve got plenty of unfinished material crowding up my desktops–literal and virtual–already.

But there’s no reason I can’t try to write 1000 words during my son’s naps (rather than relaxing) this month. I don’t need to write 50,000–I’ve already got 60K written (though there will be a lot of paring eventually).

I can still ride this wave in my own way and so can other Type As with not enough time to go whole  hog. There’s never a good excuse for not writing.

The Perfect Material

Psst…Hello–you there, NOT doing NanWrimo, let’s talk.

You wouldn’t build a chicken coop out of straw, a car out of wood, a house out of plastic blocks…(If you would, don’t bother reading on) right?

The perfect material exists for every structure, and this is also true in writing. The perfect material unit for building a narrative is… the scene. I can turn this into an advertisement if you like:

The Scene!
A sexy simulacrum of real time…a self-contained unit that never fails to make a story when stacked one after the other. Now bigger, sleeker, with 50% more.

Okay, so maybe not. Still, I cannot repeat enough how powerful a tool the scene is. And lest you think it’s optional, like alliteration or deus ex machinas, let me disabuse you of this notion. Scene. Not. Optional. That would be like building your house without the framework. Scenes are an integral part of the structure of any narrative (don’t get me started, however, on the exceptions, from Beckett to Saunders).

A quick snapshot:
You’re in scene if your characters are engaged action, whether big or small. Make that action meaningful and plot relevant, with a small but vivid ldose of visual setting and detail and you are more than on your way. Remember to begin and end your scene in a compelling or suspenseful way, and you’re there, baby. You’re there.

So whether you’re doing NanoWriMo next month or not, don’t forget your friend the scene. If you’d like to learn more about scenes, take my crash-course, Fiction’s Magic Ingredient, beginning Nov. 2, and again in the New Year.

I’m also launching a Scenes for Non-Fiction Writers course in December.

Intro or Extro?

I know that folks prefer easy categories–publishers sure do. Agents are partial to them, too. Of course what I like to write often defies easy categorizing, a flaw I have not yet been able to reconcile. When it comes time to pitch my work, I shove it into the most similar category I can find, like one might stuff a large foot into a gorgeous but too tight pairof shoes for an occasion.  This may be a result of my personality. Most people who know me would probably call me an extrovert. I’m good at socializing, I crave it, and I never go very long without some of it. But that would also overlook the introverted side of my nature. I am, I have decided, an introverted extrovert.

Say what?

Well, for example, I’ve just returned from a weekend of socializing. First at the wonderful Redwood Writer’s Conference (Kudos, y’all, for a job well done, especially for a 1st year!), then visiting half a day with friends, then my mother’s birthday party.

And now, home again for the first time since Friday, I don’t  want to visit my social network, forums or Twitter, where interaction is involved. I need to replenish. I’m socialized out. And this is also the place from which I write.

The extroversion is the “collection” side of my nature–I go out into the world and take in stimulus and impressions, stories and characters, but then I must hole up, sometimes even withdraw, to this inner cave or I will have nothing at all to write, and no energy with which to write it.

Yet many writers are professed introverts through and through–they prefer the silence and solace of their own company How about you? Does socializing add to, or take away from your writing? Can you be easily defined as an introvert or extrovert, are are you a shade of gray?

Redwood Writer’s Conference

Saturday morning Jody Gehrman, author of some hilarious novels including Tart and Triple Shot Betty, and I will be teaching a workshop on Scenes, and then I’ll be hanging out for several hours at the Redwood Writer’s Conference in Santa Rosa. I have to leave early, unfortunately, but I hope to see some of you there!

Jordan

Hie Thee to a Network of Social Origin (That does what you love)!

I tire of labels pretty quickly, and I already find myself bored when I hear the phrase “social networking.” It’s not the actual thing I take issue with–I quite enjoy my networks, social and professional–but I’ve always had a little bit of the nonconformist’s tendency to eschew something I hear over and over.

I hope this makes me a good cliche killer in my writing, too.

Anyway, my point–I swear I have one–what new thing can be said about social networking that other sites like www.Mashable.com aren’t saying already?

Well whether or not what I have to say on the subject is fresh or new, I’ve responded to a striking number of emails and phone calls lately from writers, some completely starting out for the first time, and others who are newly on the path, asking for direction and guidance. And I’m finding myself giving the same advice over and over:

Hie Thee to a Network of Social Origin (That does what you love)!
When I first started to get serious about writing, before Twitter and Facebook were megabytes in their founders’ hearts, I joined the Zoetrope Writer’s Studio–where writers critique each other’s work for free and join groups to discuss the craft. The writers there are 100% responsible for teaching me how to write a bang-up query letter, which ultimately scored me an agent (two, actually). They are responsible for helping me polish every short story I published up until about 2003. Several of the friends I made there are STILL my go-to critique buddies when I have finished a draft of something. It was the single most profound virtual experience I have had to date…I credit much of my writing success, both fiction and non-fiction, to the people who supported me there.

So first, of course, all non-luddites should use Facebook and Twitter and Ning and Linkedin and the bazillion social networking sites I’m totally clueless about. But it’s also really great to find networking sites that specialize in what you love to do, a gathering of the specific geeks and freaks of your trade/hobby/craft, people of your ilk, who will support you to do what you love.

Intrepid Dreamers

Most of the freelance writers I know are talented dreamers, who took to the field through a variety of unusual paths–many giving up jobs that sucked the life out of their souls, many taking huge leaps of faith to launch themselves.

Recently, one of these intrepid dreamers, Brandi-Ann Uyemura, looked me up after reading some of my work. It turns out she lives less than a half hour from me, so we decided to get together for coffee, to talk about the writing life. For freelancers, who no longer have offices, it’s a good thing to get together in person, step out of the isolation of our desks, put on something other than pajamas (you know who you are!), and talk shop.

The visit was such a pleasant reminder that not everyone in the freelance world is in competition with each other, that some of us work better together, in fact.

She has since interviewed me for her blog 2inspired.com.

She’s a talented and inspiring writer who deserves to thrive!

In Praise of Zeal

There are many kinds of writers, but a certain breed of them is gathering energy right now, building up storage for the long month of November, when they will eschew family, jobs and social mores to write 50,000 word novels just because. The fact that “Nanowrimo” is now a word more often recognized than not, is a testament to the power of creative zeal.

It is the zealous who madly whip out novels in a matter of months or days, who carve out new paths toward publication with the mighty power of “whythehellnot!” in their pen. Not only have I been lucky to interview tons of these folks during my time as a contributing editor at Writer’s Digest magazine, but the fact is, I am one of them. And you probably are, too.

The revised product of my first round with Nanowrimo garnered me an agent and changed how I looked at “free time to write.”

The second round produced a book that I wrangled with for over a year before eventually abandoning it for what it was: a mess that would take a lot of breathing room to figure out. But it taught me a lot about novel writing that I’ve taken with me into what I’m working on now.

Both results were worth the trouble.

Now, I’m 225 pages into a novel that has been written most often in 20 minute bursts since the birth of my first and only child 16 months ago.

Both Nanowrimo and motherhood have taught me the same thing:

• You have far more time to write than you think you do.
• Writing done hastily is still better than no writing–all writing can be revised
• The sheer power of creative zeal is often enough to get you knee deep into a very worthy project.

So go for it.

But if you don’t do Nanowrimo this year and are looking for something else to do with your November, I’ve still got a few spots in Fiction’s Magic Ingredient! www.jordanrosenfeld.net/events-classes.html.

A New Home

Maria Schneider over at www.EditorUnleashed.com  has been offering great resources for writers on the state of publishing, social media, and more since she launched her site a year ago.  Has it really been a year? Maria and I met some years ago now when she was Editor of Writer’s Digest magazine and I was the persistent, hounding, perpetual writer who pitched her probably weekly, if not daily, until she finally decided that the only way to keep me off her back was to take me on as a contributing writer. I honestly don’t think I have ever had more fun writing than under her tenure for those glorious years. I interviewed some of my favorite writers, followed writing trends , and felt part of something great.

So when she, well, unleashed herself, and launched her own writing site, I knew it would also shine brightly, and the community of thousands of writers who have followed are a testament to this.

So I’m honored and thrilled that once again I get to be part of Maria’s world, as she’s made a home for my writing workshops in the EU forums. All the group participation will take place there, and you’ll benefit from the wonderful existing forums already there. I hope you’ll join us!

Accountabilibuddy

This week, students in my online course “Finish What You Start” have been encouraged to strike up a relationship I call the “accountabilibuddy.” (Yes, I borrowed that from an animated tv show).  This is someone, preferably another writer, whom you both respect, and  fear a little. By “fear” I mean that you will listen to this person’s admonishments and criticism. You take them seriously. The accountabilibuddy’s job is to hold you to the goals you set for yourself as a writer. I have my students write a letter to this person using the following template:

Dear x

You know that I’m a writer, and frankly, I am a damn fine one! But I need support to help me finish my writing goals so I don’t whittle away my time trying to find naked pictures of Johnny Depp online when I should be writing. I respect you, trust you and know that you can help me be accountable to myself and my writing. My goals for myself are as follows: I will write x hours or words, x number of days per week on Project X until I finish a draft. I would like to send you my log each week. If I completed my goals, please cheer me on and tell me that Mother Theresa has nothing on me, for I am great. If I did not, please remind me that life when I am not writing is as bad as a forced marathon of Steven Segal movies in which I am not allowed to take a bathroom or snack break.

 Your buddy,X

So what are you waiting for? Go get yourself an accountabilibuddy today!

***

Meanwhile, there’s still time to REGISTER for my next 1 week online course, “Learn to Layer Scene Types.”

Self-paced. $49. Begins Oct. 19

Image Building

Even though I am a sucker for a good plot even if the author has not been as careful with the prose, what I am most seduced by in a book are the images that arrest me along the way, and for which I am glad to have been stopped.

Betsy Cox, one of my grad school mentors, was the first one to really drive home for me the evocative use of images, one involving flies sipping on milk foreshadowing death in Cormac McCarthy’s Suttree. Before then, I’d been unconsciously aware of these stylized visuals designed to conjure emotion and to ping on the tinny submarine of the subconscious.

Since then, I look for them in everything I read, often disappointed when they aren’t there, and giddy when they are. Images may at first seem to be mere setting description, but they hit us below the conscious mind and are  incredibly powerful in fiction and non-fiction alike. They speak a symbolic language, and conjure layers that plunge a reader deeper than the sentences at hand.

Here are a few examples:

From Scented Gardens for the Blind, by Janet Frame:

…If only she were sitting now in her desk at school, turning the pages of Shakespeare…observing the stain of creation where word had joined word, blood had been shed, and the letters were lying tangled and asleep, bound by their dark cages upon the cloud-white paper.”

From Veronica by Mary Gaitskill:

On Animal Planet, people are putting computer chips under the skins of beautiful lizards in order to help save them from extinction. The camera zooms in on the writhing creatures. Their eyes bulge; their hinged red mouths fiercely gape. One strikes the air with a stiff webbed claw. Joanne presses the mute button to say grace.

***

If you’re interested in honing your own image building skills, I’m teaching a 1 week online course in the subject.

Image Building. 1 week online class. REGISTER
Nov 30-December 6, 2009. $49.

The visual world of your novel or story is a powerful way to evoke mood and feeling. There may be nothing more effective than using “images”—stylized, poetic visuals that specifically conjure a feeling, a mood, or a theme. Images are different than mere descriptions in that they speak to the reader on the unconscious and emotional level. They bypass the logical mind and resonate in your reader’s mind and heart long after the page is turned.

Learn to create and use images in your fiction.

The Left Brained Writer Learns to Show, Not Tell

Guest post by Mike Fine

I suspect I may be one of the most “left-brained” writers out there. After 20+ years as a software engineer and managing technical teams and technical projects, I discovered—lo and behold—I love writing! How strange is that? Well, probably not very strange to you if you’re reading this post, but it was certainly strange to me when I first realized it about 10 years ago.

There’s a great deal about being educated and trained as an engineer that works against me as a writer. First, while all of you were probably reading the great works—Austen, Bronte, Melville, Tolstoy—you know the list better than I do—I was taking the easiest Language Arts classes I could find. I had all of these advanced math and science classes, you see…

Second, and more seriously, engineers are trained to distill an issue to its core. The essence of a thing is what matters to engineers; we like to simplify and abstract, to get right to the point. The good news is that because of this, I rarely struggle finding a theme or central idea for my writing. I rarely fear that I’m going to write some long-winding run of flowery prose with no point. I am rarely without a solid outline. The problem is, readers don’t want to be hit over the head and be told the morale or theme, they want to feel it, to experience it. Stories are supposed to immerse the reader in a detailed world with believable characters so that they—the reader—infer the message(s) from the story. And, of course, sometimes, readers will infer things we never intend as writers. I have to force myself to remember this—something I think comes more naturally to most other writers with their predominately right-brained brains.

 Third, because I’m focused more on the essence of the primary arc of the story and the critical characterizations of the main characters, my writing often feels rushed, too much like a treatment than a story. The structures of my stories are usually sound; I struggle with adding enough detail. My wife often says that I’ve painted the trunk of the tree and the larger branches, but none of the smaller twigs or the leaves. Again, I suspect others with different educational backgrounds and personalities have an easier time with this sort of “inside out” nature of writing. I have to constantly remind myself: show the leaves in all their splendor, and let the reader infer that there’s a tree holding them up.

 Like many writers, I struggle to ensure that my writing follows the old maxim, “show, don’t tell.” For years, I couldn’t get my weak engineer brain around this concept. Then, finally, I came up with a way to think about this. I think even you non-engineers out there might benefit from thinking about things this way.

 When we’re guilty of “telling” instead of “showing,” what’s really the problem? It’s that we’ve summarized too much. If I tell you that “Abe and Ben fought,” your experience is much different than if I describe the right crosses, the chipped teeth, and the broken tables. I get that. You get that. Most everyone gets that. But how do we ensure that we don’t fall into the summarization trap? Simple: engage your left brain a little bit.

 Here’s the idea: allocate a certain amount of space—words, paragraphs, or pages—for a scene. Say to yourself, this scene has to take X pages. Let’s take our fight scene. Imagine it’s important to our story. We want to slow time down and stretch this conflict out for all the drama we can milk out of it. So, how many pages should the fight take up on paper? Three pages? Five? Ten?

 Once you decide how many pages (or paragraphs) you want the fight to last, you simply cannot summarize “too much.” If you do, your writing will stop short of your allotted space! If I write that “Abe and Ben fought,” I have to stare at the remaining 9 ½ blank pages for the scene. I have to fill them up. How can I do it? I can start to describe what happens in more detail and by slowing down time. I cannot stop editing and improving my scene until it fills up the space I’ve allocated for the scene. Is it possible I can introduce other kinds of problems into my writing—dialogue that drags, character descriptions that are too lengthy, etc.? Sure. But one thing that’s almost certain: my writing is much more likely to slow time down so that I provide enough details. And that’s something my readers will hopefully enjoy.

 ***

Mike is the co-creator of the Young Writers’ Story Deck Writing Program. He writes technical, marketing, and educational pieces for high tech companies and school districts. He has written novels, short stories, screen plays and stage plays. His stage play “Building a Bridge” was produced in the 2008-09 school year in Sebastopol and received rave reviews. See www.buildingabridgeplay.com  for more information about the play. His short screenplay “Time Capsule” is slated for production for some time in 2009 or 2010. In February 2008, Kansas student and forensics competitor Taylor Montgomery performed Mike’s piece “Pushed”, placing 2nd out of 40 competitors and qualifying for State Champs. Mike’s creative writing can be found at www.blackfoxbooks.com. Mike is an active volunteer in the Mount Diablo Unified School District, and has been an active volunteer in the Morgan Hill Unified School District and at Rocketship Education in San Jose, California.

Write for Pleasure

Guest post by Veronica Hoyle-Kent, of PerSePress

 Remember when writing a story was an act of pure pleasure?  I’m talking back when you didn’t have to be concerned with characters, plot, and conflict.  Back when you would pick up a number two pencil and write a story filled with fantastic creatures, faraway places, and incredibly vile villains. 

Nowadays, writing is such hard work.  Don’t even get me started on the mind-boggling, “what happens when I’m done with the story.”  I want to write as if I didn’t need an agent, wasn’t worried about query letters, and didn’t give a hoot if my words ever appeared in hardback, soft-cover, or e-books.

I think we’d all be better off if we wrote with the ultimate goals in mind…will Mom hang my work on the refrigerator, will Grandma tell me it’s the best story ever, will the teacher give me a gold star?

I consider myself lucky because my mom and my grandmother are still my biggest fans, but it’s so easy to forget that writing is supposed to be about my enjoyment, my amusement, my fulfillment. 

I’m thinking of keeping a separate journal for the inner-child where the words will flow freely without thought of content, punctuation, or grammar.  The first page will read, “Burn Upon my Death” so that I need never worry about being judged on the material contained within.  It will be filled with imaginary creatures, implausible plots, incorrect spelling, and an abundance of adjectives (not to mention ample alliteration).  It will also contain more joy and fulfillment than most of the stories I work so painstakingly to perfect.  Perhaps I will glean from one of these “terribly-written” stories a spark that will ignite the perfectionist in me and inspire me to clean it up, nurture and polish it, until I find the perfect gem lying beneath the dull stone.

In any case, it will release the writer in me to once again feel the joy of a child who believes that anything is possible, that all my writing is magical, and that my destiny is to be a famous and much-admired author.  At the very least, tomorrow I’ll go out and buy myself a big box of gold stars!

***

Veronica is the co-creator of Young Writers’ Story Deck Writing Program. She is the mother of two and a dedicated volunteer in the Morgan Hill Unified School District (California). She writes children’s stories and has worked with young writers in the classroom for many years.

Get it in Writing: Why Writers Need Contracts

A lovely writer who is new to the freelance trade recently wrote me an email in a state of panic. Several publications that she had turned in assigned work for had not paid her long past the date she had expected to receive payment. In one case, she’d never even heard if her assignment had been accepted.

“What should I do?” she asked.

My first question was: “Do you have contracts with these publications?”

She did not.

Which means her avenues of recourse are limited to only two things:

Persistent pressure via email or phone

Choosing to take the loss

In the instance of taking a loss, at the very least she might have the opportunity to repurpose the material and try another publication. BUT…let me stress:

Always get a contract, no matter how small the job. Whether you’re writing for a corporation or for an individual, getting things in writing, while it may not deliver your money right away, gives you the legal right to pursue the money you’re owed. More so, generally I’ve found that publications or people who will not agree to a contract aren’t worth doing business with anyway.

Address issues. If there’s something in the contract that doesn’t feel right to you, bring it up! Until you ask, you won’t know how much wiggle room you have. Be tactful, but if you don’t think you can write five sidebars or if you feel that it’s unreasonable not to be reimbursed for driving 200 miles, you need to say something. They may not agree, but at least you’ll have tried.

Don’t forget the kill fee! If the contract you sign offers you a “kill fee” in case the article you write isn’t accepted, remember to ask for this in the instance that it really isn’t accepted! You signed a contract; they agreed to pay you.

Stand up for yourself. Lastly, if an editor or anyone at a publication is asking you to do more than you feel you agreed upon in the contract, the only person who will advocate for you is YOU. Let me share a story here.

I landed a high paying assignment in a glossy regional magazine some years back. I was so excited, but also extremely nervous. My contract offered a kill fee. I turned in my work on time, made some minor edits for the Editor-in-Chief, who then ran it by one of the owners of the spouse-owned magazine. She also gave me the thumbs up. I sent my invoice. Signed, sealed, delivered.

TWO WEEKS later the male owner called me up and told me that the story didn’t work for him. He wanted something different, oh, and in two more days’ time. My first reaction was: “I’m a bad writer! I have to do what he asks.” Then I talked to fellow freelancers and my husband. They convinced me that this was an egregious request. My original article, per my original contract, had been accepted by Editorial and one owner.  And the article he wanted was, essentially, an entirely new article.

Knowing that I might be burning a bridge, I nonetheless decided to stand up for myself here. I told him that I would accept the kill fee for the story he didn’t want to use, and that I would write the new article for a NEW fee, and that I needed a week, not two days.

Amazingly, he agreed. My second article was accepted and I was handsomely paid.

But had I turned to fear, I would have been out in the cold, doing twice as much work for less money.

Always get it in writing!

Writer’s Drift: How to Finish What You Start

I am an unashamed multi-tasker, even though the scientific reports are in proving that multi-tasking does NOT get any more done than focusing on one project at a time. It’s kind of a sickness, I think, the type-A personality’s desperate belief that if we do more at once, we will have more to show for our work. And thus be “more” rich, famous, loved by our parents/spouses/kids and so on. (insert wry grin here).

I wish I could say that this did not happen in my fiction, too, but alas, I’ve got five half-started novels abandoned at 100 pages each to prove that I have been known to get seduced by a “better” idea. I was about to do it again recently after re-starting one such discarded novel that a published writing friend has been encouraging me to finish. A story had hit the media, making splashes in tabloids and gossip blogs that sounded like Such A Great Idea for a Novel that I almost gave up on Novel I Need to Finish.  You know what I mean if you’ve got monkey mind like me.

Fortunately I remembered the most important rule of writing: If you don’t write, nothing gets written!! And worse: if you don’t continue writing, nothing gets finished. With nothing finished you cannot realize your big dreams of published fame and glory.

So I drummed up some strategies to keep me focused, to help me finish what I start, and then I realized that other writers could benefit from these strategies too!

So it’s not too late to sign up for Finish What You Start, a 1 week online class through my website, Write Livelihood. The class is just $49 and begins October 12th. There is still time to register: www.jordanrosenfeld.net/events-classes.html.

**UPDATE** I’m offering 2 free scholarships to this class to people who really need it but can’t afford it. Please email me with:

a) Why you really need this class and how you intend to use it!

jordansmuse (at) gmail (dot) com.

For NanoWriMo Past Participants

Now that you have the glorious mess on your hands (or several, if you’re ambitious) from NanoWriMos past, why not the perfect, short but intensive, online class to help you make some sense out of it?

Fiction’s Magic Ingredient. 4 intense weeks that will bring your writing to a new level. Register at: www.jordanrosenfeld.net/events-classes.html

Past students have this to say:

“I discovered that Jordan is a highly articulate and perceptive writing teacher. Her grasp of craft and attention to detail will move any writer to along the path to mastery. After years of devouring books on writing craft and taking workshops, Jordan provided me with a wealth of “Aha!” moments (in her on line course). Her focused and strategic assignments gave me plenty of sharp, positive and practical ways to leap to new levels of skillful creative expression.”

–Deborah Taylor French

“Rich and deep, challenging and illuminating. Your teaching style was generous and open, and your availability throughout the process was delightful. I loved having the discussion questions out there to encourage interchange among the your students. An excellent course, all in all, and I look forward to the next installment.“

–Gail Larrick

Love the Competition: The world needs writers

Guest Post by Alegra Clarke

After winning the Writer’s Digest 76th Annual Writing Competition in  2007, I began a journey with my writing that I like to describe as a cross between Dorothy Gale on the yellow brick road and Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. Opportunities were presented to me that prior to the competition I could not have imagined. They challenged me to actively pursue my writing goals with a blind bravery. Along the way, my bravery has at times traded itself in for the wide-eyed ‘uh-oh’ of a deer caught in the headlights of a car. The more roads I cross, the more I understand that being a writer requires being exposed to this onslaught of traffic. We risk being bruised, honked at, told to ‘get out of the way,’ but the other choice — remaining on the wrong side of the adventure that is ours — is more painful.

Writers are faced with a climate of competitiveness. With a struggling world economy, a population increasingly inundated with soundbyte communication, celebrity culture, and an audience whose attention span is more suited for television drama than hours spent with a book, the odds against getting published can feel overwhelming. Maria Schneider, of EditorUnleashed.com, recently wrote a great article about not allowing the doomsday declarations of the publishing industry to depress us. She suggested that we turn the tide by engaging in acts of “paying it forward” by promoting and supporting other writers.

I have long believed in the importance of this. When I look back over the successes in my life, most have come through a combination of my own efforts met by the generosity of others. Inspired by Maria, I began to think about how to harness the challenges of being a writer. For me, this begins with my attitude. I started asking myself some big questions and, as often happens, answers began appearing everywhere. Up late one night watching The Daily Show, Bruce Springsteen talked about how in unstable times, people flock to the storytellers. It made me reflect on what I love in a good book or short story. In losing myself in the stories of others, I escape the narrow-sightedness of my own struggles. I rediscover something in the pages of a story that allows me to return to my daily existence with more strength, more connection to the beauty of it. Writing gives me a way of translating both the joy and pain of existence, teaching me that they are not mutually exclusive. The harder times get, the more we need our stories.

Competition between writers seems unnecessary because our role is not to become the one voice drowning out the others; our role is to be our own unique voice. I have wondered at the possibility that  there are no new stories, only an infinite way of translating them. If this is true, it means that just like the world is rediscovered by each new generation, stories must be told over and over again, and we as writers should be supporting one another in this. If being a writer means being both transformed and a source of translation for others, rather than feeling overwhelmed by the odds, I am inspired by the challenge of being a storyteller during these times. I will gladly brave crossing the highways with their steady stream of honks and threats for the adventure of connecting with other minds.

 ***

Eros-Alegra Clarke is currently writing her first novel under the mentorship of her agent, Joel Gotler. In the meantime, she has been slowly building publications including an upcoming story “Naming Shadows” in the literary journal Bitter Oleander. A wife, mother of two (with a third on the way), graduate student and guest lecturer at the University of Waikato in New Zealand, Alegra contributes to Maria Schneider’s website resource for writers: http://editorunleashed.com  and can be found blogging about life, writing, and everything in between at:

http://alegra22.wordpress.comClarke

The Successful Writer

Guest Blog by Susan Taylor-Brown

 There’s been a lot of talk around the kidlitosphere lately about keeping your dream alive when all around you, as in this business of writing, seems to be working against you.

Some people are afraid to post their success stories because they don’t want to make other people feel bad. (Which brings to mind that great Eleanor Roosevelt quote,”No one can make you feel inferior without your permission.”)

Some people are afraid to whine about anything, especially after having sold a book or two or more because they are afraid that people won’t think they are grateful for the success they have already achieved. (I would probably put myself in the second category.)

Some writers attribute their success to everything from having a cat sleep on a manuscript, always mailing manuscripts from the same post office and kissing the envelope before you drop it in the big blue box. Sometimes it is the act of getting an agent, finding the right agent, attending the right conference, having a great critique group, not listening to their critique group, writing every day, writing in many genres, writing only one thing, writing teachers and classes and degrees designed solely around writing for children, supportive spouses, understanding children and pets who love us even after we’ve been rejected.

Some days for some writers, being a success means getting a contract, finally seeing a book on the shelves in the bookstores with their name on it. Other days, for the same writer, it might mean being able to write ten pages on a new novel that isn’t even under contract. (Hmm. I’m in the second category here as well. I’m beginning to sense a trend.)

And for all the many ways of achieving success there is a different definition of success for that writer at that particular time in their writing life.

But being a success is evolutionary process, not a final destination. It is good to remember this. Not easy, but good.

 And it is a uniquely individual process. Success for a young writer, say in their 20s or 30s might be different for a writer in their 50s or 60s.  I am a different writer now than I was in my 20s. And my version or perhaps vision of success has changed over the years. In some ways I am more realistic, which is actually rather sad because I thought I looked good with those stars in my eyes and the rose-colored glasses. In other ways I still remain a Pollyanna, true to the idea that a good story will find a home, that hard work will be rewarded, and that while nice folks might not always finish first, they will always finish.

So I challenge you to think about what success means to you. Spend a little time today to actually write it out, the whole vision of what being a success would mean to you. How do you define it? How would you recognize it? What does it mean, to you, to be a success? Not in how you measure up to anyone else in or out of the business. It doesn’t matter if your younger sister/older brother/best friend is suddenly the most powerful person ever at her ad agency and they wonder why you persist in playing around with this writing thing. It doesn’t matter if your mother/father/next door neighbor has bought and sold more companies than you can remember and has their picture on the cover of some fancy business magazine. It doesn’t matter.

I’ll say it again, slowly so you can hear me.

It

just

doesn’t

matter.

What does matter is that you have a dream. You have a dream and you are doing something, anything in any way that you can to pursue. If you get up in the morning and you remember your dream of being a writer and at the end of the day you’ve done just one thing in pursuit of that dream, well that qualifies as success to me.

No, it doesn’t replace seeing your book on the shelves at a bookstore. It doesn’t change the fact that it was great aunt Martha who called to tell you about her bunions instead of your agent calling to tell you your book has just sold. It doesn’t make it any easier to give your kid money for the book fair knowing your book isn’t going to be there, may never be there.

But it’s a start. A word after a word after a word is tremendous power.

And you can’t sell what you never write.

***

Susan Taylor Brown served on the faculty for the Highlights Foundation Chautauqua Conference, is a past instructor for the Institute of Children’s Literature, and has been the recipient of several grants from the Arts Council Silicon Valley for teaching poetry to incarcerated teens. She is the author of serveral books for children including Robert Smalls Sails to Freedom and the Children’s Notable novel in verse, Hugging the Rock. She lives in San Jose, California with her husband, her rescued German Shepherd dog, and over 8,000 books. When she’s not writing or reading, she can usually be found working in her native plant garden creating a habitat for wildlife. She blogs about her writing life at http://susanwrites.livejournal.com You can find out more about susan on her website. http://www.susantaylorbrown.com or follow her on Twitter http://twitter.com/susanwrites

Duck the Wave: Fighting Overwhelm

If you freelance write, edit, or teach, you know all about overwhelm, which I call “the wave.” If you work and write on the side, or work and parent, or any combination therein, you also know about “the wave.” The wave is a combination of panic and terror that you cannot get it all done in the limited time you have to do it in, and you will shortly be screwed because you are on deadline, need the money, must reply to your students/clients, etc.

Here are some strategies for ducking the wave rather than letting it crash into you:

 

1. Write it ALL Down

You’ll begin to corrall the wave once you have a good look at all that’s expected of you. I don’t know about you but I tend to try to hold my entire year’s assignments/projects in my mind AT ONCE!  Depending on how you organize you may have an assignment/project board that you look at each day (I use an eraseable white board–highly recommended). A study was recently done that proved decluttering your brain of information was good for stress levels. Sometimes I just make a list of everything that feels as though it’s crowding my brain. Then I make a second smaller list of what I know I can do TODAY. The next day I may do it again. It’s incredibly anxiety relieving.

2. Break  Down

If I have a 300+ page edit to do, I can start feeling pretty overwhelmed. So I divide that project by the working hours in the time frame allotted before it’s due. That way when I get up to work that day I don’t have a 300-page behemoth to tackle, I have 25-50 pages. Much more manageable.

3. Use email, social networking, reading of People Magazine online (guilty) as REWARDS for finishing your work.

Other than basic checking of email pertinent to work, save email and other online surfing for after you finish a project. If you’re like me and you have 3-4+ things to check off your list each day, then give yourself a brief reward after each project. Finished article? Find out if Brad and Angie are calling it quits. Edited 25 pages? Pop in for a quick tweet session, and so on. That way you both feel rewarded AND get work done.

4. Step Away From the Desk.

That’s right. Remember to get up, to stretch your legs, drink some water, refresh that cup of coffee and eat breakfast and lunch.  Sometimes the sheer act of moving away from all that’s rushing at you is enough to make you feel calm(er).

5. Tune Out

Timothy Leary may have suggested tuning in, but I’m here to tell you to tune out. If you’re teaching, or interviewing someone for an article or anything in person–TUNE OUT the other projects begging for your attention. Focus all your attention on the ONE thing at hand. This study proved that multi-tasking is a myth; you actually get less done. And people sense when you’re scattered. If you made a list, then breathe easy–you won’t forget what’s next. Actually, this goes for any project you’re working on. Do ONE THING AT A TIME. You’ll get far more done than trying to jiggle back and forth between several projects.

 

6. Breathe.

I’m a big fan of meditation, but not everyone can spend 15-30 minutes meditating in their work day. So try this little short-circuit trick: Close your eyes and take 10 deep breaths when you’re drowning or feel as though you might. It is amazing!

Who Doesn’t Like Free Books?

I like books–it’s no secret. So what’s better than books? FREE ones! I enjoy receiving books as gifts, ARCs in the mail, recycled books–you name it. I love free books.

So I thought, hey, why not give the joy of free books to others, as well? Here’s how you can take advantage of this:

Sign up for any of my online courses and I’ll send you a free copy of my book with Rebecca Lawton, Write Free: Attracting the Creative Life.

Successfully refer a friend to my most popular online course Fiction’s Magic Ingredient in November, and I’ll send you a $10 gift certificate for books from an online book provider (not sure which one yet), for EVERY person you successfully refer who signs up. For anyone that you get to sign up for my 1 week mini-series, I’ll give you a $5 gift certificate. And yes, you can earn as many gift certificates as you sign up people. Your friend just needs to mention you as the referrer.

Tell me that isn’t a deal?

There may even be more free book offers soon…stay tuned!

JPR

A Writer’s “Touch-up.”

For writers like me, fall is the real “new year.”  Cooler weather and darker days drives me to my desk, to my writing. But it’s also when I crack open writing books, sign up for classes and take back in the fuel that helps me do my job well. 

Give yourself a writer’s “touch-up” this October. Three 1 week mini-classes for just $49 each, or if you REGISTER before September 20th, you can have all three for just $129.

Method Writing. 1 week. Self-paced.
October 5 through 9, 2009. $49.  

REGISTER before September 20th for all 3 for just $129!

Some of the most widely acclaimed actors from Sean Penn to Robert Deniro  use an acting strategy that is said to have “revolutionized” modern cinema: “method acting.” In the form, rather than attempting to simulate emotional experiences in scenes, actors draw from their own emotional stores, channeling real feelings of their own to create characters so vibrant and alive that the line between actor and character vanishes.

In fiction, writers can use this same concept to create compelling scenes and characters rich with believable emotion. I call it “method writing.”

In this intensive 1-week course you’ll learn to draw from several rich personal fonts for the energy and emotion needed to make scenes feel authentic.  REGISTER

_______________

How to Finish what you Start. 1 week. Self-paced.
October 12 through 16, 2009. $49

REGISTER

When the powerful momentum of a writing project starts to flag, how do you keep yourself going to the end? This 1 week class will explore practical and playful ways to bypass your sabotage techniques and get you back on track!

_______________

REGISTER

Learn to Layer Scene Types. 1 week. Self-paced.
October 26 through 30. $49. 

REGISTER by September 20th for ALL THREE for just $129.

You might be a master of the scene, but now learn to layer them for powerful effect. Avoid “monochromatic” fiction that lacks variety and texture. In this intensive you’ll learn about the ingredients of, and how to wield, different scene types, from slow, contemplative scenes, to heavy-hitting dramatic scenes and dozens of others in between.

Giving to you on My Birthday

Today is my birthday. I have always liked a good party, and am not ashamed to admit that during my childhood (and occasionally, ahem, since then) I unabashedly went out of my way to be the center of attention. There is a photograph of me on my 8th or 9th birthday in which I am wearing: a  fringe suede skirt with knee high cowboy boots, a lace top, a party hat AND a veil. That’s right, a veil. Or some piece of lacy fabric from my mother’s closet that passed for a veil.

I still recall waiting until all my guests had arrived and then sashaying brazenly out into my backyard, hands on hips, waiting for everyone to admire my outfit. I have a feeling the result was anticlimactic.

Anyway, on this birthday of mine in the midst of my third decade, I’ve decided that I want to give to YOU this year. So I’m giving away free classes!

That’s right!

Be the 1st, 10th and, say, 30th person to email me and I will give you a free online class:

October Mini-Series, three week-long online classes ($129 value) or

Fiction’s Magic Ingredient, in November ($149 value).

Details about classes are on the “classes” page.

Email me: jordansmuse (at) gmail (dot) com with the subject “I deserve your class!!” And then tell me in a couple of sentences why you do–or why you’d like to take them, at least

Runners up will get free copies of one of my books.

Jordan

A Picture is Worth (at Least) 1,000 Words

Guest Blog by Tanya Egan Gibson

I’ve never been a picture-person–one of those folks who whips out the camera just in time to capture baby’s first step or a butterfly alighting on a puppy’s nose. On vacations, I miss the sea lion/dolphin/whale breaching the surface and end up with photos of water, water, water. Yesterday at Six Flags my camera’s battery expired before I could get a shot of my daughter touching an elephant’s trunk. (Apparently you’re supposed to charge the battery every once in a while?) When I do manage to extract a working camera from the depths of my purse, I’m likely to decapitate my subjects or backlight them so excessively that they seem walking shadows.

And yet, strange as this might sound, I consider my digital camera one of my most important, and best-used, possessions. Rather than taking notes about a new place or interesting object I might want to include in a story, I photograph it, keeping what amounts to a visual idea notebook on my computer. Even if I’m not the person to whom you’d want entrust the big group photo of your once-in-a-lifetime four-generational family reunion, even I can take a close-up of a pile of shells. (After all, they don’t wriggle or blink.)

Until I had children, I was in the habit of taking extensive handwritten notes about anything that caught my eye. But on a visit to New York when my daughter was two years old, I discovered how hard it is to jot down more than a few words at a time about, say, the Long Island Sound when your little tyke is trying to run into the Sound. In March. In her shoes and coat.

Desperate to pin down everything possible about the Sound for a scene in my novel, I ended up using my camera (which I’d brought along to take cute-and-hopefully-not-headless photos of my daughter at the water’s edge) as my substitute notebook. I snapped countless photos, unworried about centering or composition or lighting: closeups of rocks and shells and drying sepia-colored foam, tight shots of the patterns windswept beach plants and runnels of water left behind in the sand, wide shots of gulls flying past broken pilings far out from shore.

No, the camera couldn’t capture the smell of the air or the texture of the sand or the sounds of lapping water and gulls, but these were at least easier to recollect, later, with this array of images in front of me later, transferred to my computer.

Since then, I’ve taken to “collecting” images wherever I go. I gave to one of my characters the flesh-colored koi my daughter spied in a pond outside a restaurant. I take photos of clothing (on hangers–not on people, as I think it’s intrusive to take stranger’s photos) in which I outfit my fictional people. I snap pictures at floral shops and in gardens to use in my pretend people’s flower arrangements and yards.

In folders on my computer are weeds on the side of a highway. Puddles. Dirty snow, up close. The ugliest doll in Toys R Us. Black paint eroded by the acid of thousands of tiny hands on the metal spinning wheel of an amusement park teacup ride. A spill on aisle seven–glass and pickles and brine.

For many of these I can already envision places in my next novel and short stories. But there’s of course a folder, too, for things that grabbed me without my knowing why. A folder of images for those days when it feels like nothing is new. Sparks of novelty. Jumpstarts.

They’re not centered, usually. And certainly nothing you’d ever frame. But then again, neither were the scribbles in my notebooks.

Tanya Egan Gibson is the author of the novel How to Buy a Love of Reading published in May, 2009.  An alumna of Squaw Valley Community of Writers, she is mother to a four-year-old who produces countless construction-paper “books” that she insists Mommy “get published” and a one-year-old who teethes copies of HTBALOR, and wife to the most patient man in the universe.

Season of Change

I don’t have to fear sounding cliche when I say all things must change, do I? It’s just true! In the life of a freelance writer/editor this is more true than for others, I think. A magazine you write for for several years may fold, or they may cut back on their budget and you may find your column disappears in a puff of slashed ink. Clients come and go–hopefully they come back and bring their friends, but nothing is for sure.

It’s not a business for the weak of heart, for the stable of paycheck, or anyone who likes predictability.

Yet those things don’t bother me in the long run. And if you hope to survive as a freelancer, they can’t bother you too much either!

There’s been a lot of change this year. My boy turned 1, we bought our first home, one of my gigs dried up, and my teaching has expanded. Now, I feel the seasonal change upon me, though I’m not sure why I’m feeling that today. It’s just as warm as all the preceeding days of summer. The light is still long. The bbqs still going. It’s a strange shift I always sense in the air sometime before my birthday every year. I never know when I’ll feel it, but it creeps in overnight and makes me feel restless.

The restlessness is the snake of change slithering about my ankles. It’s a reminder that these lazy days are winding to their annual close. We say goodbye to late evenings outside, juicy watermelon, ice cream cones and tan lines. I do love the fall, actually, but I always feel the slightest bit of sadness when summer whistles its way out the door.

Fall will, however, bring a new set of online classes around here. Check them out at: www.jordanrosenfeld.net/events-classes.html. My “mini-series” of 1 week classes begins in October. A new session of Fiction’s Magic Ingredient begins in November.

Enjoy these halcyon days.

Down Time

I started to enjoy my summer early, around May 31st, when we moved into our new house. We finally had a back yard, which encouraged lounging, and a patio, which encouraged sitting and sipping coffee while birdwatching. I didn’t even mind that the weather was so mild until mid July that it felt more like spring.

There have been lots of playdates and long walks, ice cream cones and weekends lying leisurely in parks as a family. But there’s also been a lot of work. (And I’m only working part time), including judging a contest in which I read 25 books; teaching the first in a series of online classes (so far, a blast!); editing at least one full manuscript each month; and writing several articles/book reviews.

Now it’s hit me: I didn’t have a vacation this year! As a freelance writer and editor, vacations often get forgotten unless you force yourself to take them. Oh sure, there were some long, lazy weekends, even one at the beach, but the laptop came with on most of them, and so did the work.

I wonder if there is still time before the warm months are fully gone.

It’s not as easy to just get away now with a young child, either. My son is 14 mos, so we tend to go nowhere further than a couple hours drive. Next year, though, we’re taking a vacation. I’m dreaming of Hawaii. Though the last time we went there, we came home parents to be.

The Art of Plausibility

I’ve had the good fortune to professionally edit writers’ manuscripts (as a freelance editor) for the last seven years, and have judged several writing contests, sifting through on the order of hundreds of essays or book-length manuscripts (so please don’t begrudge me such a long first sentence). Though I’d never deign to suggest I see as many ms’s as an agent’s slush pile, I’ve gotten quite an education in the school of “implausibility”—or topics/ideas that every writer should seek to omit or reconsider before pursuing an agent. Yes, fiction is a license to make things up, but there’s a line!

Violence and Gore (not Al). Recently I edited a manuscript that involved obscene, gory sex between unfeeling “clones.” Though the author eventually made an elegant point about humanity, the imagery was so grotesque that it felt as though the author’s only purpose was to gross out his reader. It was so difficult to read that I had to play incredibly cheerful music at the same time just to make it through. Violence, murder, and death all have their place in fiction—but remember you want to entice readers first. Shock ‘em a little bit later. Talking Animals. Disney cornered the market on talking animals about seventy years ago. Unless you’re writing children’s fiction (and even then, be selective), opinionated penguins and babbling beavers “young down” your writing and can appear silly.

Beautiful People. Except in Romance, literature is the place where flawed people get to be flawed. Therefore every character need not be “Five foot ten, with a stunning mane of blonde hair and killer blue eyes” or the male equivalent (You can decide for yourselves what else is wrong with a description like that). Beauty is fine—but let it be real beauty. Scars, off-kilter noses, chipped teeth and moles can add up to a composition that is still attractive. And sometimes, frankly, beauty is boring (no offense to the beauties among you). Let your characters be interesting over beautiful if you can.

Meetings of Convenience. There’s nothing that stretches credibility more in a novel than when you put your characters in places where they conveniently interact with, or “know” each other because you haven’t thought out your plot. For instance: A girlfriend flies to another state to be with her new boyfriend, only to walk in at the precise moment he’s trysting with her best friend—didn’t they figure this might happen? Or your protagonist “bumps into” the very person crucial to taking your plot to the next step somewhere he always goes. Meetings must be organized and timed to be surprising and dramatic. I’m not saying that there is never a place for coincidence or convenience, but look for it in your work and see if it’s merely a shortcut to a tighter plot.

On Cue. Okay, I’ll admit that this one’s just a pet peeve. Please, please, please do not let your characters do anything “as if on cue” or a variation on those words. You are the magician playing sleight of hand with your audience. You never want your reader thinking (or worse: reading the words), “Well she did that as if on cue.” You want the machinery and devices of your novel to be hidden so that all readers see is the elegant action that your complex characters engage in. If your readers see the wizard behind the curtain (you), it’s known as “authorial intrusion” and it breaks the spell you’ve tried to cast.

Agony. The two most common kinds of agony I see rendered utterly implausible in fiction are childbirth and homicide. Do your research, people! While there are five women on the planet who have had a relatively painless birth, I promise you that childbirth involves a lot more than a little breaking water and screaming obscenities at their husbands. Also steer clear of TV renditions of the act. Rent some real videos or attend a birth—it’s a powerful, animal, otherworldly event that often goes on for days. Similarly, when a person is murdered in my clients’ work I see lots of dramatic clutching of the heart, staggering about in pain, and shaking of fists at the heavens as one’s lifeblood runs out onto the floor. I’m fortunate to have never seen a person shot or stabbed—but my brothers-in-law are Sheriff’s deputies—and they vouch that a great deal of deaths are pretty simple. Bang, pow, person falls over dead. Stab, stab, scream, dead. If you want a dramatic death, research what means cause one to writhe and clutch at one’s chest, or slowly asphyxiate to death. Redux: don’t take your deaths from TV or movies!

About Faces. I’ll leave you with another pet peeve of mine: when a character makes a sudden, dramatic, and unjustified change of heart. Your character hates the terrible nun who beat her as a child and then, whammo, has great sex one night and wakes up the next day totally forgiving. Character changes must be earned, slow, and justified. There must be actions that precede these changes, and logical reasons for why your character changes. Changes work best when they happen toward the end of the novel, unless a change in the middle is only one of several changes your character will undergo.

When Blogs Really Work

I love this information age as much as I often find myself overwhelmed by it. When I love it are times like this: Today, a friend I went to graduate school with, who is herself an immensely talented writer, Emily Bloch, (Google her, she’s everywhere!) posted a link to a blog on Facebook.

The link will probably mean the most to anyone in GenX, as it’s about filmmaker John Hughes, whose movies we grew up on and which managed to sum up so much truth for a lot of us kids growing up in middle class families in the 80s.

Below is that link. It’s really lovely, as is her follow-up blog post the next day after more than 1100 people commented on this post, surprising the heck out of her.

http://wellknowwhenwegetthere.blogspot.com/2009/08/sincerely-john-hughes.html

So today, I heart the internet, and am glad to be blogging, even if my readership is quite a lot smaller than 1100

Jordan

Class is in Session

The first week of Fiction’s Magic Ingredient is underway. I don’t know yet how my students are feeling, but I’m enjoying reading their work, and eavesdropping on their discussion via the class message board. I always get energized by talk of craft; it’s why I really should be a perpetual student. I can never get enough learning. Even in the act of teaching I learn. Maybe more so, in fact.

Here are some discussion topic questions we’ve been mulling over:

What are your stumbling blocks as a writer?

What skills do you covet (that you don’t feel you possess?)

Session II, which is full, begins August 30th. I’m contemplating a session III since I’ve had so much interest. If you think you’re interested, email me at:

jordansmuse(at)gmail(dot)com.

Exorcise Your Themes

You can’t let go.  You have not taken control. Just admit it. There is at least one, but likely several themes you simply have not exorcised from your writing that trip you up. If not a theme, I’ll bet it’s a character, an image or a setting that you can’t shake. Though I’m a fiction writer, I am sure this applies to non-fiction writers and poets too.  

“Every artist is undoubtedly pursuing his truth. If he is a great artist, each work brings him nearer to it, or at least, swings still closer toward this center, this buried sun where everything must one day burn.”

 While I’m in agreement with Albert Camus’ point above, I’m pretty sure that mediocre and just plain good artists are also swinging closer to this center of truth in themselves in their thematic repetitions. In editing clients who’ve been patient enough to work with me repeatedly, I’ve seen it. I’ve seen it in the work of favorite authors–bestsellers (Jodi Picoult) and underground favorites (G.K. Chesterton ) alike. And, of course, it turns up in my own work.

WhenI worked with the intrepid Alice Mattison my final semester at Bennington, I was shocked by my own denial regarding my recurring themes.

My writing was theme-heavy, emphasizing stories of frustrated parents and their angry children who seemed to be waiting for cues on how to behave differently, which I continually failed to provide.

In a letter Alice wrote to me:

 “There’s nothing wrong with writing about one subject, and after I read two or three [of your stories] I thought, “Well, she can give the book the title “Bad Mothers”…Most of these mothers are unrelieved: they aren’t complex, they are just awful. I don’t mind that sort of horrible character in general—I don’t think every single character needs to be complex—but so many bad characters…with no good traits…of the same category makes the work add up to a scream of rage about mothers…”

Believe it or not, my first reaction to this was not to fall apart in tears. I laughed. Hard and long. She was so right! And she was kind enough not to point out all the Absent Fathers who quietly slipped out of scenes, giving the Bad Mothers center stage.

 She went on to write,

 “What you need is for your reader to be able to take each story on its own terms instead of being so struck by the pervasiveness of the bad mothers that they become a theme instead of just being part of the subject matter.”

In order for the writer to get to the place where she can construct stories that stand on their own terms, a lot of close scrutiny at our work is necessary, to discover what repeats. There’s is powerful energy in that which keeps trying to get through, but that energy can either trip us or transform our work. 

These mothers and fathers of mine have been unfairly under-used. It turns out that they have feelings too, and quirks and longings and unfulfilled desires worthy of exploration. Now they’re just road signs pointing, “Go deeper here. Don’t give up there.”

What themes keep coming back to you? How do they help your work? How do they trip you up?  If you’re an artist of another kind besides writer, I pose the same question to you!

Give yourself an assignment to attempt to change some of your themes!

Professional Rivalry

I recently came across a series of emails that chronicle the end of a friendship I had with a fellow freelance writer a couple years ago. It’s something that still smarts even now, an event I still can’t quite get my head around. I am shocked to find that the hurt feelings persist.

The friendship began when she, a lovely woman whose name I would see in some of the same local publications I wrote for, contacted me saying she’d been reading my blog.  We got to chatting and decided to meet for coffee.  She’d been freelancing longer than I had and knew all about how lonely it can get at home and sounded supportive of my jump to the same position. 

Over the course of a year or so we got together more and more frequently, sharing exploits. I often marveled at her success and ability to reach a huge variety of publications, and she expressed admiration for things that I did, like writing a book. I thought we had a pretty good mutual admiration society going.

At one point she suggested we “share sources” so that we didn’t trample each other’s writerly toes, since we swam in a pretty small freelance pool. I was surprised and pleased by her openness. I even took a risk and asked for a contact…and found her to be less open than I thought. It was clear she wasn’t really happy with me asking. Mixed messages!

And that’s when it began to go sour, though I didn’t know it for quite some time. I learned later, that, according to her, she’d only offered to share sources because she was already feeling threatened.

When it all fell apart–ostensibly over her perception that I stole an idea from her, when that idea had actually been in the works already but I had never spoken to her about it–it came with accusations that I was taking work that was rightfully hers (though she felt that I did this unconsciously, which was even more confusing). From her perspective, I can see how it looked bad, but she never gave me the benefit of the doubt. The timing looked too coincidental. And I will admit that I should have changed one detail (which was not even set by me) because it was, in fact, too similar.

But that was it for her. I was judged, accused and sentenced without a trial. I tried falling on my sword, to say that I understood if it looked egregious, but I had honestly not borrowed from her, but all that got me was cut. I decided that she had made up her mind at some ponit to be rid of me, and nothing I would have done could have helped. Stupid as it is, I still hurt over it. I was locked on the thought: hey, you reached out to me. You befriended me! What’s that: keeping your enemies close?

In the end, I decided it was too risky to get too close people who ran in the same circles like that. I would admire them from afar. I’ll never know if that was a wise decision or not.

I’d like to know your stories of the personal and the professional getting you into trouble.

Your Life Story

I’m judging a contest for a magazine (I don’t know if I’m allowed to say which one yet, so I’ll wait until the judging is over). The category is self-published books in the subject of “Life Stories” which seems fairly broad.

I can say honestly that while not all life stories make for compelling reading, there is some bit of history in each one that does. I marvel over the way a person’s ancestor, a woman in the 20’s, for instance bore baby after baby, and lost some along the way, with little other hobby or pasttime allowed to her while her man worked and traveled. What kept that woman going, kept her from going crazy?

Wild west stories are fabulous. I love outlaws and scallywags–true capitalist spirit at its most primal! Women in the American west were also a hardier, fouler-mouthed bunch. I’m always won over by a woman who can pull off a dress and a four letter word at the same time.

There’s lots of war in life stories, and while I’m not a big war buff, I’m nonetheless impressed and awed by the commitement of young men, in World War I, in particular, who would rather have been fighting than comfortable with their families at home.

This is all to say that while not every life story can make it as a bestseller, or even as a great read, I do think there’s merit of a personal kind, of a preservationist kind, in writing down the stories of our ancestry, and our own as well, to preserve history that might otherwise be lost.

Why an Online Class is Good for You

We all learn differently. Some of you may need the crack-slap harshness of a teacher’s burning gaze on your actual skull to motivate you to learn. But many people I know prefer the silence and stillness of working at their own desk without those nasty halogen lights or the sound of fellow students snapping their gum.

Online classes are also good for anyone who:

• Wants to work at their own pace
• Is shy in groups or prefers smaller settings
• Likes to control their own learning environment
• Wants a great educational experience for an affordable price

If you fall into this category, then I just happen to have some classes for you.

Fiction’s Magic Ingredient, Sessions  II.   Session II is already half full! Register by July 20th to get these classes at $99–that’s $50 off the regular price!

Learn to Layer. The Art of Scene Types.
October 5 through 30th. 4 weeks.

It’s one thing to master the scene, but another to learn to layer them for powerful effect. Avoid “monochromatic” fiction that lacks variety and texture. In this class you’ll learn about the ingredients of, and how to wield, different scene types, from slow, contemplative scenes, to heavy-hitting dramatic scenes and dozens of others in between.

You’ll never write the same style of fiction again!

Register here: Use the drop-down menu to select the class of your choice.

Adjusting to the Noise

I will admit that I felt overwhelmed by Twitter up until, oh, yesterday, I’d say. I don’t know if it’s that, as a mother, I’m already juggling six streams of action at any given time, or if  the human brain born before say, 1985, takes extra time to become wired to follow 500 lines of conversation at once. Either way, it gave me a headache every time I logged on.

Then I downloaded Tweetdeck and just start to follow the stream of voices the way I might listen to conversations in a cafe–some of them stick and others drift right past me.

And now? Now I have to admit I’m hooked. It took me a similarly longish amount of time to get pro at Facebook. But I’m not ready for whatever micro technology is to follow Twitter. One word  posts on ring-sized devices? Why does technology seem to condense down to the more and more micro?

I feel for the elderly with their swollen knuckles and bad eyes. Today’s technology is ageist by its very design.

And now my tiny boy is demanding I take my attention off blogs and Twitter and put it back where it belongs–in the human realm.

Want to Feel (and Write) Free?

Would you like to be inspired? Pushed to be a better writer? Motivated to free yourself from attitudes about publishing that hold you back?

For free?

It’s not too late to SUBSCRIBE (for free) to the Write Free e-newsletter. The June, 2009 issue is going out late–Monday. This month features Editor Unleashed’s Maria Schneider. Getting (Your Writing) Back in Gear. Forming Writing Partnerships..and more!

Can Twitter Go Literary?

An item in my Funds for Writers newsletter today suggested that Twitter might actually be a forum to promote quality writing.  I like to think that anything “published” on Twitter would be condensed down to a perfect essence, therefore encouraging quality. We’ll see, though.

The following forums are paying for writing on Twitter:

Nanoism (@nanoism)
http://nanoism.net/submit : $1.50 for unpublished literary
fiction; $1 for reprints; $5 for serials

Thaumatrope (@thaumatrope)
http://thaumatrope.greententacles.com/submissions : $1.20
per science fiction/fantasy/horror entry and currently needs
serials
Tweet the Meat (@tweetthemeat)
http://tweetthemeat.blogspot.com/2009/04/submission-guidelines.html 
Horror/weird/speculative, pays $1 per tweet

A Fresh Coat of Paint

Many a time I’ve stared at the ungainly draft of a novel wishing I could just slap on a can of “instafix” and be done. Since that’s not how writing works (and why didn’t I choose to become a painter rather than a writer?), sometimes one needs to reach out beyond the written word to the paint store for inspiration.

Today I painted my office. I’ve been living with institutional gray and wondering why I didn’t feel inspired sitting down at my desk!

 

 

 

My husband and I knuckled down for the weekend and painted, while our 1 year old boy was surprisingly patient, playing by himself for many hours, as if he understood that his parents would be much happier when this job was done.

The result is spectacular. The color alternates between peachy and yellowish tones, and is warm and inviting no matter what time of day. You can’t be in a bad mood in this room anymore–if you are, you’ve really got problems! And what’s better, it’s an instant improvement, unlike the muddy world of my novel.

I am not lying when I say I spent the rest of the day in here pretty much with ideas pinging around my brain like the hummingbirds in the tree outside my window. I scribbled a bunch of new ideas on post-it notes for articles, the novel and future classes.  Painting refreshed my creativity!

So I want to recommend it to anyone who has the ability to paint their office. You might be amazed what it can do for your creativity!

 

Turn Father’s Day to Freelance Advantage

Even though I know that holidays like Mother’s and Father’s Day are hallmark creations inspired to sell more goods and services, I like them. I like rituals, opportunities to give, and themes that help direct and organize me.

In fact, these “arbitrary” holidays are great for freelance ideas, too. If you can’t think of a timely article, you can always work to craft ideas  for one of the holidays on the horizon. This gives you time, too, and you can bank on there always being a tie-in of some kind.

Of course you need to think in terms of lead-time. The average publication needs anywhere from 3-6 months, but if you start digging around for next year now, you might have an armload of ideas ready to pitch.

I like to think in terms of human interest stories as often as possible–cool people doing cool things that relate to the holiday. But you can also go for gift guides or instructional type pieces; “how to cope” stories; “where to eat”: and “fun things to do.”

Make the holidays work for you! (And this means all of them: 4th of July, Memorial Day, Secretary’s Day and so on).

Confessions of a Plot Junkie

From my essay “Confessions of a Plot Junkie” in the July/August 2009 issue of Writer’s Digest magazine. That and your “publishing survival guide” in this chock full issue:

“Perhaps plot scares writers because it demands precision and care and some really hard work. And as a writer, I know there is nothing more exhilarating than the gloriously messy process of spilling out the first rough beauty of my muse.

“As a reader, however, I have similar expectations for the journey of a book as I do for when I travel. I want someone to be at the desk of the hotel to check me in (the narrator), and some sort of guide to places where I can find food, sights and entertainment. I want to know where I am and where I’m going and be assured that everything’s going to work out in the end because someone thought about all the details. In fiction, plot is the map that helps us wind in and out of alleys but eventually leads us back to lighted streets.”

If I Were the Graduation Speaker

Yesterday I saw my youngest sibling, my 18 year old sister Amanda, graduate from high school. The same high school I graduated from 17 years ago.

I will admit that rather than finding all those forward-looking sentiments about the future and destiny endearing, I can’t help but feel a little cynical. It’s not that “following your heart” and “seizing the moment” are bad pieces of advice. They’re important and I sure as heck did my share of both. But I think the most honest lesson of high school graduation is really: you’re free now to finally claim all your mistakes as your own, and that, my dear, dewy-eyed friends, takes a long time and isn’t always a lot of fun. No more blaming the folks (well, you can in therapy), your siblings, the limitations placed upon you by school and so on. You may not be old enough to drink but you’re old enough to face your demons.

So I hope that all those kids will find an outlet like writing. Whatever writing is for them. White water rafting or visual arts, or being a mime. Because that (and some good friends) is the only thing that makes growing up easier.

Learn Fiction’s Magic Ingredient–Date Moved

Learn Fiction’s Magic Ingredient. Online Class with Jordan E. Rosenfeld.

In this self-paced online class Jordan E. Rosenfeld, author of Make a Scene and Write Free: Attracting the Creative Life will teach the “magic” ingredient to creating powerful, page-turning fiction. You’ll take your writing to a whole new level. Begins August 3^rd, 2009. Four weeks. In this class you’ll learn how to: make your writing active and alive. Create a powerful emotional punch. Design an easy to follow “map” for your plot and much more. Each week you’ll write new material and receive feedback.

Register by July 15th for the incredibly discounted rate of $99. After July 15th, the price goes up to $149.  Space is limited. Participants will also receive a 50% discount on copies of Make a Scene and Write Free purchased through the author. jordansmuse(at) gmail (dot)com.

Hellride to Home-ownership

Assuming I have any readership left, I’m sorry, folks, for disappearing. In the past two months my husband and I have been on what I am affectionately calling the “hellride to homeownership.” It’s a story I’m working on how to express, but woo-wee, let me tell you it was not a straight path. Labor might have been easier, in fact.

And in that time, though I’ve managed to continue working, that’s about all. Blogging, fiction writing, personal time-all that has one out the window. So I hope to have more for you here soon!

Hardcover Make a Scenes Dirt Cheap

I have never been good at taking compliments. Fortunately in the world of writing there’s so much rejection that the compliments are few and far between. I take those when they come because they’re precious–they’re drops of water in a dry wasteland. Since Make a Scene was first published in November of 2007, I have received some of the kindest words from writers who have read it. From newbies to established writers, I’ve gotten some really cool thanks for compiling the information on scenes in a way that brings it home. It’s been so gratifying (and a relief, too) that those words I scribbled furiously at my lonely desk managed to make sense and help writers. I am humbled beyond belief.

Now, Make a Scene has just gone into its second printing!

So if you still haven’t gotten a copy, I have a deal for you, as a kind of thank you. You can purchase the hardcover edition of Make a Scene–a beautifully designed book with a jacket, which makes as nice a gift as it does an essential part of your writing library–for just $9.99 plus $1.00 shipping. The regular cover price is $19.99! Such a deal.

To order your copy, please email me: jordansmuse(at)gmail(dot)com.

Learn Fiction’s Magic Ingredient–Online Class

What are you doing this summer? Ready to give your creative writing a boost? In this low-commitment, fun online class, writer/editor Jordan E. Rosenfeld, author of Make a Scene (Writer’s Digest Books) will teach the single most important element of good fiction: the scene. You’ll learn how to write scenes with confidence and skill and take your writing to a whole new level. You might just impress yourself!

 Begins July 6th. Four weeks. In this class you’ll learn how scenes allow you to:

• Make your writing active and alive
• Create a powerful emotional punch
• Build meaningful characters
• Create an easy to follow “map” for your plot

Each week you will:

Write new scenes

Apply what you’ve learned to a work in progress

Receive feedback

Interact with classmates via a yahoo groups message board

Each participant may also submit 20 pages of an existing work-in-progress to instructor

Register between now and June 15th for the incredibly discounted rate of $99. After June 15th, the price goes up to $149.  Space is limited. Participants will also receive a 50% discount on copies of Make a Scene purchased through the author.

To register, email: jordansmuse (at) gmail (dot) com.

On the Radio

Today I drove up to San Francisco, leaving my infant son more than an hour’s drive behind me at his babysitter’s house.  I was on my way to record a book review/commentary for KQED Radio’s the California Report. I’ve done a number of these reviews for them in the past few years, but the last one was well over a year ago (Beth Lisick’s hysterical book, Helping Me Help Myself), when I was approximately 6 months pregnant.

I got there early and so stopped over at the nearest cafe, where I did not order myself a coffee as I would have done were I not nursing still, but a soda and a sandwich (for after–I’m always ravenous when I record reviews, it’s weird!). I pulled out another book I’ll be reviewing for Publisher’s Weekly and sipped and scanned pages for fifteen minutes, feeling luxuriously like my old self–sort of. Even though there were no little fingers tugging on my leg, my former self wouldn’t have thought things like: what if a terrible accident on the road keeps me from getting back to my son? Is that a breastmilk stain on this blouse? Can these people tell that I’m a mother?  And of course, as I pawed through my bag looking for my review to go over it one more time, two diapers, a never-used binky that serves as a toy and one baby sock all reminded me of the duality of my life. I am writer and mother. Seemingly separate roles that nonetheless blend together.

Anyway, it was fun to record a review. The book is Either You’re In, or You’re In the Way, by Logan and Noah Miller–twin brothers that I went to high school with. The book is a phenomenal chronicle of their journey to make an independent film based on their complex relationship with their alcoholic father, who died in jail in 2006. It was also a fabulous way to sort of get to know two guys I had never really talked to in high school. Reading it reminded me so much of those years, even though that’s not what the book is about. Still, they describe places in Marin county I know so well, and people I would still recognize if I saw them today.

To listen to the review, you may either:

Tune in live on Friday May 15th. 88.5 FM. 4pm and 6pm. The review usually comes somewhere in the middle of the show.

Stream live at www.thecaliforniareport.org

Or listen to the archives, which are usually up a day later, also at www.thecaliforniareport.org, click the link “Archives.”

Platform Requires Online Savvy

Day Six of my interview with Christina Katz, author of Get Known Before the Book Deal and Writer Mama.

 

Q: There has been all kinds of press lately about how the publishing industry is changing, how it’s becoming smaller and more competitive than ever. How do you think platform plays into this new world of publishing? Do writers need to be more online savvy then every before?

 

CK: Definitely. There’s just no question about it. And, as I’ve said repeatedly, it really doesn’t matter if you are aiming for traditional publication or self-publication or, eventually, both. The fact remains that there is a lot more competition in traditional publishing than there was even last year. I suspect the number of print books will continue to go down until the industry finds the sustainable and saleable number.

 

However, the old way wasn’t better. I’m not sure most writers realize how many books were going right into print, failing, and going right out of print. Part of the problem there was the expectation on the writer’s side that the publisher would take care of everything. Then they discovered that the publisher was really only putting marketing muscle behind the “A” list of books they published and the brand new author had to do pretty much everything or suffer a very short shelf life.

 

From the writer’s point-of-view, this was not the ideal entry into authorhood. A better way is to remember 100% responsibility whether you are traditionally published or self-published. Be realistic, if you put your shoulder into selling your book, you will sell it. If you don’t, it might sell or it might not sell at all. The choice really rests with the author, not the publishing house.

 

 

Tomorrow’s question: Where should a writer start in the platform-building business?

Fiction Writers Need Platform Too

Day Five of my interview with Christina Katz, author of Get Known Before the Book Deal and Writer Mama.

 

 

Q: Is it as necessary for a fiction writer to build platform as a non-fiction writer?

 CK: Why in the world wouldn’t a fiction writer want to build a nonfiction platform alongside her fiction platform? Fact of the matter is: published fiction writers produce a ton of nonfiction. Why not own it? Why not own it starting now? Any traditionally published author (or self-published author, for that matter) is going to be producing a ton of nonfiction material to support her platform. I have a whole chapter in Get Known about how fiction writers can spin off nonfiction topics from their book.

 

Don’t get hung up on being one kind of writer and not another. Fiction is one form. Nonfiction is another. If you write strong fiction, there is a pretty good chance you can write strong nonfiction too. Everyone is a writer today. A huge number of people write fiction. A huge number of people write nonfiction. Be one of the writers who write both and save yourself a lot of headaches. Once you become traditionally published, a huge gush of nonfiction writing comes pouring in at you. I’d suggest embracing the opportunity to write nonfiction and even using it to make some money.

 

 

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s question:

 

There has been all kinds of press lately about how the publishing industry is changing, how it’s becoming smaller and more competitive than ever. How do you think platform plays into this new world of publishing? Do writers need to be more online savvy then every before?

 

Overcome Your Platform Roadblocks

Day Four of my weeklong interview with Christina Katz, author of Get Known Before the Book Deal and Writer Mama.

Q: Most writers I work with express overwhelm or fear or utter ignorance about platform—what advice can you give to help them get past these roadblocks?

 

CK: This kind of response is understandable because there is a lot of pressure out there right now to come at publication via social networking or self-publishing. I believe that there is a much simpler, easier way — not that there is anything wrong with social networking or self-publishing per se. But in my opinion, they should come last, not first.

 

My advice to anyone interested in traditional publication (or self-publication, for that matter) is to first educate yourself about what platform is and isn’t. Determine your specific expertise, choose a topic and a target audience, then pick and choose from the various ways you can flex your expertise and start working it. You will gain confidence by doing, and I mean in the world too, not just online. Finally, build your online presence around all of these keys. That’s what I call establishing and building your identity, not “branding,” because I am so weary of that word.

 

I work with folks aiming for traditional publication and I work with them all the way from beginner to book deal. And there is only one way to get from point “A” to point “B” and that is step-by-step. I find that this kind of grounded progress tends to alleviate much of the anxiety around platform building.

 

 

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s question: Is it as necessary for a fiction writer to build platform as a non-fiction writer?

 

Common Platform Mistakes Writers Make

Today is day three of my interview with Christina Katz, author of the brand new Get Known Before the Book Deal and Writer Mama (both from Writer’s Digest Books).

 

Q: What do you think is the biggest mistake writers make regarding platform?

 

CK: I have a list. Here are a few common mistakes that writers make when they think about platform:

 

• They don’t spend time clarifying who they are to others.
• They don’t zoom in specifically on what they offer.
• They confuse socializing with platform development.
• They think about themselves too much and their audience not enough.
• They don’t precisely articulate all they offer so others get it immediately.
• They don’t create a plan before they jump online.
• They undervalue the platform they already have.
• They are overconfident and think they have a solid platform when they have only made a beginning.
• They become exhausted from trying to figure out platform as they go.
• They pay for “insider secrets” instead of trusting their own instincts.
• They blog like crazy for six months and then look at their bank accounts and abandon the process as going nowhere.

 

I’ll stop there. Suffice it to say that many writers promise publishers they have the ability to make readers seek out and purchase their book. But when it comes time to demonstrate this ability, they can’t deliver.

 

My mission is to empower writers to be 100% responsible for their writing career success and to stop looking to others to do their promotional work for them. Get Known shows writers of every stripe how to become the writer who can not only land a book deal, but also influence future readers to plunk down ten or twenty bucks to purchase their book. It all starts with a little preparation and planning. The rest unfolds from there.

 

 Stay tuned for tomorrow’s question:

Most writers I work with express overwhelm or fear or utter ignorance about platform—what advice can you give to help them get past these roadblocks?

Three Steps to Platform Building

My interview with Christina Katz, author of Get Known Before the Book Deal and Writer Mama, continues…

 

I have long been in awe of your ability to promote your books, through blogs and newsletters, which are all essential parts of building a strong platform. Did you learn to do this along the way once your book Writer Mama was published, or did you have this kind of natural savvy all along?

 

I learned everything gradually and I do it all myself. This isn’t the path for everyone and certainly there is nothing wrong with teaming up with reputable professionals, who can help you with your website, blog design, or newsletter. But for those of us do-it-yourselfers, we can find most everything we need right at our fingertips online.

 

I started out building websites in HTML about ten years ago. Five years ago, I added on Writers on the Rise. Then, three months before Writer Mama came out, in 2007, I started my first blog. Today, I have three active websites, three monthly e-zines, and four active blogs. Yes, it’s a lot to manage, but supervising my own online presence is great discipline and it helps me appreciate myself, my work, and stay in touch with my readers and students. At one time, I knew everyone who knew me. But now that there are thousands of them and still only one of me, these tools are definitely the way to go.

 

For your readers who are just getting started, I have three suggestions: Purchase your name as a domain name, use Typepad.com for blogging, and start an e-mail list of people interested in following your work. Everything grows from there.

 

Don’t miss tomorrow’s question: What do you think is the biggest mistake writers make regarding platform?

Platform isn’t just for Shoes!

This week I’m featuring a great, informative interview with Christina Katz, whose new book: Get Known Before the Book Deal is crammed with detailed, useful information about how writers can build a platform. Her answers are so meaty I decided that I’ll post one question and answer per day for the next 7 days. Each one is fabulous, so don’t miss them!

Your book Get Known Before the Book Deal is about writers building “platform” — can you demystify this scary term for us?

 

Sure. A platform communicates your expertise to others. It includes your Web presence, any public speaking you do, the classes you teach, the media contacts you’ve established, the articles you’ve published, and any other means you currently have for making your name and your future books known to a viable readership.

 

Basically, your platform is everything you do with your expertise. A platform-strong writer is a writer with influence. Once you establish a platform, it can work for you 24/7, reaching readers even as you sleep. Of course, this kind of reach takes time. If many others already recognize your expertise on a given topic or for a specific audience or both, then you likely have an active platform.

 

I find it helpful to define a platform as a promise writers make to not only create something to sell (like a book), but also to promote it to the specific readers who will want to purchase it. This takes both time and effort, not to mention considerable focus.

Stay tuned for the answer to tomorrow’s question: I have long been in awe of your ability to promote your books, through blogs and newsletters, which are all essential parts of building a strong platform. Did you learn to do this along the way once your book Writer Mama was published, or did you have this kind of natural savvy all along?

 

Christina Katz is the author of Get Known Before the Book Deal, Use Your Personal Strengths to Grow an Author Platform (Writer’s Digest Books). She started her platform “for fun” seven years ago and ended up on “Good Morning America.” Christina teaches e-courses on platform development and writing nonfiction for publication. Her students are published in national magazines and land agents and book deals. Christina has been encouraging reluctant platform builders via her e-zines for five years, has written hundreds of articles for national, regional, and online publications, and is a monthly columnist for the Willamette Writer. A popular speaker at writing conferences, writing programs, libraries, and bookstores, she hosts the Northwest Author Series in Wilsonville, Oregon. She is also the author of Writer Mama, How to Raise a Writing Career Alongside Your Kids (Writer’s Digest Books).

 

 

 

Dis…connection

Lately I’ve been feeling overwhelmed by social networking–I have a twitter account but I only tweet once in a great while. I don’t know which streams to follow and doubt that every one of my followers actually reads me.  I know I’ve already talked about this. Linkedin. Myspace. Blogs and newsfeeds overwhelm me. Facebook is the only site I really use and it’s actually worked to connect me locally with other mothers as well as being a great way to keep up with faraway friends.

Yet yesterday, an act of sabotage of fiberoptic cables in the county where I live, disrupted access to phones (cell and home) and internet for the entire day. Just one day, but I was going out of my mind. I couldn’t email an editor to let her know that I hadn’t made progress on tracking down a photo she needed. I couldn’t call my mortgage broker or email him to find out if he had all the paperwork he needed for our home loan. I couldn’t email assignments that were due. Worse, were there a true emergency, I couldn’t even call 911 (and neither could hundreds of thousands of others). ATMs were down. Most businesses were accepting only cash and checks, and so many people couldn’t even get gas in their cars. It was alarming how cut off we felt.

So, while I can’t maintain all the networking and connections that are available to me, I admit I am still thoroughly dependent upon my technology, and this doesn’t seem like a good thing.

How to Buy a Love of Reading

I had the pleasure of interviewing Tanya Egan Gibson, author of the novel How to Buy a Love of Reading, in the current issue of Writer’s Digest magazine for my column, First Impressions, which features debut authors. Not only is Tanya a lovely person, but her book is clever, funny and also a serious love letter, in my opinion, to reading.

Watch the very cool book trailer here (sorry I haven’t figured out how to embed):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrQ_o7FmwKo

And then pop on over to Tanya’s website: http://www.tanyaegangibson.com/ and read the stories about how reading saved people’s lives. You can then email Tanya a story of your own!

Synopsis of How to Buy a Love of Reading:

To Carley Wells, words are the enemy. Her tutor’s innumerable SAT flashcards. Her personal trainer’s “fifty-seven pounds overweight” assessment. And the endless reading assignments from her English teacher, Mr. Nagel. When Nagel reports to her parents that she has answered “What is your favorite book” with “Never met one I liked,” they decide to fix what he calls her “intellectual impoverishment.” They will commission a book to be written just for her—one she’ll have to love—that will impress her teacher and the whole town of Fox Glen with their family’s devotion to the arts. They will be patrons— the Medicis of Long Island. They will buy their daughter The Love Of Reading.

Impossible though it is for Carley to imagine loving books, she is in love with a young bibliophile who cares about them more than anything. Anything, that is, but a good bottle of scotch. Hunter Cay, Carley’s best friend and Fox Glen’s resident golden boy, is becoming a stranger to her lately as he drowns himself in F. Scott Fitzgerald, booze, and Vicodin.

When the Wellses move writer Bree McEnroy—author of a failed meta-novel about Odysseus’ failed journey home through the Internet—into their mansion to write Carley’s book, Carley’s sole interest in the project is to distract Hunter from drinking and give them something to share. But as Hunter’s behavior becomes erratic and dangerous, she finds herself increasingly drawn into the fictional world Bree has created, and begins to understand for the first time the power of stories—those we read, those we want to believe in, and most of all, those we tell ourselves about ourselves. Stories powerful enough to destroy a person. Or save her.

Thrive!

No, this isn’t an advertisement for Kaiser Permanente–my cousin in the South end of the American continent (and soul sister) Patricia Schiavone has launched a magnificent ebook, Thriving Together: A ‘Magic’ Way to Attract the Life of our Dreams. The first 628 people to buy the book will get it for only $6.95, and there are other fantastic incentives at her site. The book teaches you how to engage in a group visualization to help you and your friends attract what you seek. I am a big fan of meditation/visualization and the law of attraction, and I’ve also had the experience of doing a group visualization with Patricia–with fantastic results.

Click here to visit Patricia Schiavone’s website!  Buy it now!! It’s money very well spent.

Please check it out, and do so before the price goes up to its real value of $14!

Time to Play

Don’t you get a little tired of the drudgery part of seeking publication? All that sifting, sorting, posting, mailing and then the waiting…

Want to have a little fun in the process of seeking publication? Then join me and Rebecca Lawton, authors of the book Write Free: Attracting the Creative Life for our monthly self-paced “Playshops.”

Playshop One’s theme is “Playing toward Publication.”

The playshops take place each month. Next one begins April 6, 2009.

For 20 days of the month you receive inspiring quotes and words, write free prompts, craft exercises and a weekly message to juice your creative energy up and engage in new publishing strategies. 

Sign up at: www.writefree.us/bookstore.html .

Editors Are People Too

I’ve found that it’s all too easy to pin our writerly anxiety about publication on the editors we pitch and submit to, whether as freelance writers or as an author waiting to hear back from a book or proposal out on submission.  Most likely your family, spouse or friends are a tad sick of hearing about how nervous you are…so those feelings end up aimed at the wrong people. You might accidentally think of them as purposely withholding an answer about your precious pitch, or spitefully telling you that it isn’t what they’re looking for. You might even think that they went out of their way to tell you what was wrong with something you pitched. These are understandable, but I think, unnecessary feelings.

You know that little trick that’s supposed to help actors overcome stage fright–picturing the audience in their underwear? Well I like to think of editors as the real people they are. The kind of people who groan when their alarm clock goes off and hit the snooze button for a few more minutes before they have to face the inevitably chock full email in-box or slush pile, the one that waits for them day after day like some looming tower of pressure. I like to imagine editors runing a pair of pantyhose by snagging them on the underside of a desk; exploding their  lasagne all over the inside of the microwave; exchanging gossip or celebrity trash over their stacks of manuscripts; enjoying a delicious afternoon latte on a quiet bench somewhere where no assistant or editorial director or yet another damn writer can bother them with questions about when, why, or…why not.

I like to imagine my editors sliding into a comfy pair of jammies at the end of the day, heaving a groan of satisfied relief that the day is over, that they can turn it all off for a little while, and just be a person again who doesn’t owe anybody an answer.

Because that’s a person I can understand. A person I know is just doing their job, one they probably love, but which also kicks their ass with the workload.

So go easy on the editors. They’re only people too.

Wanting to be Jackie Kennedy

My talented friend Elizabeth Kern has made it to the Amazon Breakthrough Novel quarter-finals for her novel Wanting to be Jackie Kennedy. I have had the good fortune to read this lovely novel and I can plainly say that it is a winner. If you’d like to help out a talented author and read a wonderful excerpt, you can review her book favorably!

Download the excerpt here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001UG39M4

“All Space”

Something inside me has snapped. I feel like shouting I CAN’T DO IT! I simply cannot keep track of another site that connects me to other people. My brain hurts–perhaps because my eyeballs are stuck to it. I am Linkedin but I don’t know what I’m linked in to! I have a shelf at Goodreads, but I don’t have the time to post reviews–too busy reading in between mothering and working to bother. I am a RedRoom author but couldn’t tell you waht goes on there. I have a Myspace account but haven’t accepted a new friend in over a year nor posted anything. I twitter, but my tweets are so infrequent they’re probably considered “twits.” The only site I can actively keep up with and where I have any fun is Facebook.

Someone needs to create a software that merges all of these sites into one where I can access them all in a single home page.  Wish I was a software genius. I’d call it “Allspace” or something. Feel free to buy my idea for several million dollars.

Between Blockbuster and Obscurity…

At the Zoetrope Writer’s Workshop, where I’ve been a member since 1999, an interested publishing thread came up in light of the reported deal that author Audrey Niffenegger received a $4.5 million dollar advance for her second book. First of all, anyone who’s read her debut, The Time Traveler’s Wife, knows what a talented writer she is. Second, since I interviewed Pat Walsh, her editor at MacAdam/Cage long ago for an article in The Writer, I know that the money they offered her (reportedly about $100,000) was not the highest offer on her book. But she took it because of the attention she was going to get from working with a small publisher and because it felt right to her. In the long run, her success (over 4 million sales worldwide) did her publisher as much good as it did her career.

Here’s the question: Is $4.5 million dollars too high of an advance? Does it put too much pressure on the writer, take monies away from the smaller authors who will never see even a fraction of that much money, and does it warp the already twisted model of pay-up-front publishing, which often works against authors who don’t earn out their advances?

You’d be surprised by people’s thoughts. In general any writer is usually happy to hear of a big advance for a writer–it gives us hope. Athletes and celebrities get figures like that all the time, why not those people who enter our psyches and hearts and provide us with understanding into our complex human experience? But some cringe at the thought that one big advance is, in essence, stealing money out of the mouths of midlist and debut authors. In other words, how many new authors could you buy for Audrey’s advance?

Some believe that the blockbuster mode of publishing is the next corroded wave of the future (the future being here already), and that it’s unavoidable–you’re either a hit, or you’re not…

I’d love to hear your opinions!

A Light at the End of a Print Run

My book Make a Scene, published nearly a year and a half ago, has almost sold out of its initial print run thanks to thousands of people …yes, thousands. It’s hard for me to picture all those desks and book bags and car seats and classrooms where my words, bound beautifully by Writer’s Digest, sit. I am so grateful. I still remember the weekend when that idea first started to percolate, and pick up steam, and finally resulted in a proposal for a book. I was on a writing reatreat at Wellspring, in Philo (near Mendocino, CA). It was a rainy January weekend and my dear friend Marlene Cullen and I spent two quiet days holed up with a continuous fire going writing. I had no idea that several years later I’d be holding my book in my hands.

Thanks to all of you who helped.

When to Hire a Developmental Editor?

I work with all kinds of editing clients, at various stages of the writing process. I don’t turn anyone away who seeks my services but there are better times to hire an editor than others. When to hire an editor is one of the most frequently asked questions I get.

I do mostly developmental editing, which means content, structure, plot, characters, narrative flow–big picture issues (as well as the “small” stuff like grammar and syntax).  You should hire a developmental editor such as me when:

You can do no more. A great time to hire an editor is when you have done multiple drafts, revised and tweaked everything you possibly can, and now you need an outside eye (and I recommend you go to writing groups or feedback partners FIRST)

You are willing to spend money to hear someone tell you hard truths about your manuscript. I have had the occasional client who felt that by paying my fee, he or she was paying to hear me say “It’s great. It should be published!” The irony is not lost on me that paying someone to tell you what is wrong or needs work seems almost unfair…but that’s the way it is. When you’re willing to part with cash to hear what you still need to do, it’s time to hire an editor.

You aim to be published.  If you don’t have a writing group or a feedback partner who can help you know if your work is publishable or not, an editor is a good person to help you determine this. Be wary of editors who claim they can tell if your work is strictly publishable or not publishable, with no suggestions for feedback. You can always work harder and get better and the road to publication is often paved with reams of drafts.

You already have a publishing contract or an agent. “What?” you say. “Why would I hire an editor if I’m already going to be published, or think I have a darn good shot?” Because once your book is published you can make no more changes. That’s it. Unless you’ve written a text book that gets updated or revised, this is your last chance to make your book the BEST it can be.

So there you have it. And yes, I’m always taking new business. Visit the “editing” tab at the top of my site here.

Fertile Attraction

If you haven’t read all you possibly can about people’s opinions on the octuplets’ situation, then check out my article on fertility ethics in the Pacific Sun.

 

by Jordan E. Rosenfeld

In this age of reproductive wizardry, where babies can be created in test tubes and implanted in women who would not otherwise be able to get pregnant, it sometimes seems that anything goes. Yet the recent media storm and public outrage over Nadya Suleman—the Los Angeles mother of octuplets born in January that were conceived by in vitro fertilization (IVF) and are still in critical care—has led many to think of fertility treatments as Frankenstein manipulations and Suleman as a selfish monster. Other medical professionals are calling her case a “failure of medicine” and defending their profession.

Yet Suleman’s is not the first set of octuplets born in the past decade, and multiples ranging from four to six still turn up every couple of years, most famously the sextuplets that made the Discovery Health show Jon & Kate Plus Eight a ratings hit. The outrage over Suleman’s case is inspired by revelations that the 33-year-old single mother has six other children ranging from ages 2 to 7, also conceived using IVF, and that she is unemployed and collecting money from state disability insurance.

In light of her case and the furor it has sparked, some Marin fertility doctors are expressing dismay at what they feel are ethical lapses on Suleman’s doctor’s part, and fear that this high-profile case may dissuade people from seeking fertility treatments, and attract unnecessary regulations to their field.
READ THE REST

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Agents Seeking New Writers

The word on the street is that it might just be tougher than before to get an agent. Whether or not that’s true, it’s definitely trickier to determine, out of the thousands of agents in the guides, which ones are seeking new writers.

Maria Schneider, of Editor Unleashed (and former managing editor at Writer’s Digest Magazine) has answered that question and put together a stellar guide of agents seeking new writers: Get an Agent. 100 E-friendly Agents Open to New Writers. At $14.95, you won’t find a better deal offering you such a specific set of agents anywhere, I promise! Best of all, it’s CURRENT…so get it while it’s hot.

Social Network Overwhelm

I feel so old, so out of date for what I’m about to say: between facebook and twitter and just keeping up with my two blogs, I am overwhelmed. And I don’t even get any of these applications on my cell phone! I like all of these forms of expression. The blog was a perfect outlet for a confessional sort like myself, and I understand its importance in a more professional manner, too. Facebook is a fabulous way to keep a quick tab on friends and whittle away time chasing down ghosts of the past. Twitter is like communication in haiku, but it’s also a little bit like what I imagine the stock exchange is like–conversations whizzing over and around one’s head so fast in so many directions it seems impossible that one is actually being noticed.

Yet so many people are out there, doing it all. Blogging regularly, tweeting all over the place, and seamlessly, too. How about you? Can you keep up? Which is your favorite form? If you do it all, how?

A Real Deal

My husband and I are moving soon which means: PURGE TIME! Among dishes that don’t match and no longer needed baby items, I’ve got a box of my book Make a Scene that I don’t want to lug with us. So I’ll make anyone reading a deal: I’ll ship you up to three copies with no shipping charge, at only $12/copy. They’re regularly $14.95 plus tax and shipping.

My book is good for the beginner or intermediate writer, since it offers not only refreshers on simple scene architecture, but detailed information on scene types.

To take advantage of this deal–I’ve only got 22 copies left–email me: jordansmuse (at) gmail (dot) com with the subject “Make a Scene deal” and tell me how many you want. We can work out the mailing/payment details from there.

BONUS DEAL: Add a copy of my book with Rebecca Lawton, Write Free: Attracting the Creative Life, and I’ll send you both books for $20, plus FREE shipping.

Thanks!

Don’t Be Afraid of My Dark Alley

Inevitably, in my blogging life, there comes a fallow period where I turn away from you, hoard all my ideas and insights and treat my blog like a dark alley nobody would want to be caught alone in.

I’ve done it again lately. I could blame it on motherhood or the weather or the economy but the real reason is that sometimes I find the task of constant upkeep daunting. I only recently joined Facebook, after all. I twitter, but still find that more effort than I can handle. I love blogging because I’ve always been the confessional sort, but sometimes even my confessions get stage fright. More so, there are so many blogs out there, run by such amazing people who are basically giving away priceless information for free.

But my friend Maria Schneider over at Editor Unleashed has lit a fire under my blogging kettle again and I feel I owe it to you to at least try.

So I’ll keep it simple today.

What I’m reading: Special Topics in Calamity Physics, by Marisha Pessl. I really held off on reading this for the same reason I often don’t buy popular fashions, watch the hot new shows, or visit museums when a new art show is in town. I’m suspicious of what’s new and hot. Trends frighten me; they feel forced until they’ve been around awhile. I know this is iconoclastic of me and I accept that. It shows that I’m not on The Cutting Edge (to borrow a capitalization strategy from Pessl), Afraid of Change, Set in My Ways. And it took me nearly 100 pages to stop tripping over Pessl’s clever turns of phrase and sink into what is a highly sophisticated, wonderful plot with an ardent and earnest protagonist until I was literally racing through pages (still stopping long enough to smell her prose posies, of course). So, I’m glad I read it, and glad I did, even if I’m late to the party. However, if I were her editor, everything in parentheses in the novel would have gotten cut.

What I’m writing: I’m still working on the novel-in-progress (loosely about a cult that tears a family apart and how my protagonist begins to learn the lies that her life is constructed upon), begun as a Nanowrimo project, which both excites and stymies me. My friend Erika Mailman and I did a n-i-p exchange that re-energized me, and when possible we get together at our “Glass Room of Productivity” at our local library to write. I like this book, but I have given myself some serious plot mazes to plod through.

That’s all for today folks, but I promise to have more of a presence, to populate this blog again with happy people and shiny lights rather than dumpsters and big stagnant puddles of mysterious liquid.

Playing toward Publication

Month-Long Write Free Playshop: Playing toward Publication
Join us for the first Write Free Month-Long Playshop in which you exercise your creative chops and aim for your publishing dreams. We are now accepting sign- ups at our website for this new month-long, self-paced Write Free Playshop, which begins in March, 2009. Join us every weekday for four weeks (20 days), for the following activities, which will be sent to you in a daily e-mail (except for the Weekly Message, which will come once a week):

• Write Free Writing Prompt to jumpstart your own personal freewrite for the day
• Quote on Attraction to inspire and align you with your best creative life
• Word of the Day to spark your imagination
• Exercises to work new writing muscles
• Weekly Message from Jordan and Becca on writing craft, practice, and community.

All this for $19.95-less than $1/day for the whole month! 

To SIGN UP, visit: www.writefree.us/bookstore.html

Plot Inventory

I’m a guest blogger over at Routines for Writers every Tuesday of this month. Today, I blog about doing a plot inventory after a first draft to figure out where to go next.

I hope you’ll visit Shonna’s wonderful site.