Writer’s Angels

In the life of every writer there are angels who sweeten the path; who say yes after a hundred no’s; who like your work; who champion what you do despite the fact that you don’t even know them in person. You are lucky to have one, blessed to have several.

When I first encountered Maria Schneider–former editor of Writer’s Digest, and creatrix of www.EditorUnleashed.com, a truly unique site for writers–I knew I’d met one of these angels. Pleased that I’d caught her eye on one query I decided to do what any kamikaze freelancer does–pepper her with further queries until my name was branded behind her eyelids at night

Not only did Maria continue to respond to my queries with assignments for the magazine, she gave me some of the goodies–I got to interview the likes of Chuck Pahlaniuk, Sara Gruen, and Tess Gerritsen, to name a few. These were interviews she could happily have done herself.  She proved to me over and over again that editors DO respect writers, that the relationship is mutually beneficial at least, and full of synergy at best. She unwittingly gave me the confidence to take a silly little book proposal I’d been sitting on and pitch it as a book (Make a Scene).

And in her new life “unleashed” she has continued to be my champion, as well as the champion of other writers with the incredible information she makes available on her website; through the interactive forums there, and more. She is one of the most generous people in the industry today, and so several of us who feel the same way about her wanted to make sure that everyone else knows too.

These other writers agree:

Laurel Wilcek: http://ravenlaw.wordpress.com/2009/12/08/maria-schneider-shout-out/

Linda Wastila and John Towler: http://linda-leftbrainwrite.blogspot.com/2009/12/nobody-solves-problem-like-maria.html

If you’ve had a great experience with Maria–blog it! Then send me the link. We want to make sure she doesn’t stop smiling today.

JPR

Freebies

Just a quick note to let folks know that I’m giving away a free copy of Make a Scene or Write Free to the first 5 folks who sign up for Method Writing online, beginning December 14th, a 1 weeker. $49.

www.jordanrosenfeld.net/events-classes.html.

Method Writing. 1 week.
December 14-21. $49.

Some of the most widely acclaimed actors 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. 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.

When to Turn Down Work

“No” is a word not often found in a freelancer’s vocabulary. In a world without a steady paycheck or a guarantee of the next round of work, (and yes, “in this economy”) why on earth would we ever turn down work? Well, I’m here to give you a few good reasons to save you trouble, waste and hassle so that you can continue to make room for the good work.

Top 5 Reasons for Freelancers to Turn Down Work (not in order of importance!).

1. Unreasonable Time Constraints. Recently I had to turn down a copy-edit for a client who had contacted me over the summer wanting an edit for his dissertation. He said he would “get back to me” with a total word count “soon.”  6 months later he was back. And he wanted his edit done in 10 days. No amount of money was going to make it work without the kind of stressful squeeze. The stress of that kind of rush job can also make for sloppy mistakes!

2. Dubious Origin. If you have no way to verify the identity of the person who has contacted you–all you get is an email inquiry, they haven’t come by referral, don’t have a website or give a phone number, don’t trust they’ll pay you! Better to pass. (P.S. It’s also good to get some kind of a deposit up front in this case).

3. Unwillingness to Sign a Contract. No matter whether I edit or write, I get the details of every project in writing. For my own clients I put together an agreement. When I work for others, I ask for one if it isn’t offered. Any person, organization or publication unwilling to put together a contract is a risk you don’t need to take.

4.  Over-promising. This is certainly related to time constraints, but this time they’re yours. It’s never a good idea to say yes to a project you really aren’t sure you can complete in the time the client needs it. The money might be tempting, but the risk of upsetting a client is worse–they can spread bad word of mouth! Better to trust that by turning away something you can’t do, you make room for the next good thing.

5.  Doing Favors. If I ever were to be a lawyer, I’d want to take on pro-bono cases. And the same thing goes for us editors and writers. We inevitably befriend a lot of people who need the very services we offer. I like to help people, but sometimes, when you’re the “go to” writer/editor for your friends, you’re going to have to turn down helping them for free, or at that time, in favor of your paycheck. It’s painful. But if they’re really friends, they won’t make you choose between their friendship and your livelihood!

So remember, sometimes saying “no” is really saying “yes” to better options.

Arrest Me

…by which I mean, stop me in my literary tracks, please, with an image so stark or jarring or perfectly built that I can’t help myself.

Like any good John Gardner fan, I want to be caught up in that seamless dream that fiction, or really any well built narrative creates. But I also like to stop and admire the posies in your prose. If you can plant a sturdy image that plugs me in the heart, or cuts scythe-like straight to my subconscious, or taps at some thematic echo in the story, I will remember your writing. I will covet it and want to read more.

There’s good writing, and then there’s good writing with fabulous images.

And I’m not just talking about pretty landscapes or interesting details about unique settings. I’m talking about images that conjure other things. That poke emotional holes in a reader. That grease the story with your theme, but only subtly.

If you can learn to write them well, your writing will stand like a burning bush amidst the shrubs of the rest.

If you’re interested in learning how to do this better, it’s not too late to sign up for Image Building, beginning November 30th. 1 week. $49. Intense and Fun. www.jordanrosenfeld.net/events-classes.html

 

Thanks

I am grateful for many things today, not the least of which is for the malleability of the written word, its fearsome beauty and ability to connect us on so many levels.

J

Creative Deal Making

About 1 out of every 3 writers I know is doing NanoWriMo right now, which means a bunch of exhausted, exhilarated creative people everywhere I turn. But for those other 2 out of 3, maybe you’re having the opposite experience–not enough motivation. Not enough of a push. Sometimes when Fall hits, the urge to hibernate can overtake the urge to create.

So to help you “2 out of 3″ out, or anyone who just wants to keep the energy alive, I’m offering an amazing special that you must take advantage of between today, November 18 and Sunday the 22nd: Register for any ONE of my December 1 week online intensive writing workshops (Image Building, Famous Firsts, and Method Writing at www.jordanrosenfeld.net/events-classes.html ) and I will give you the second one of your choice free. That’s right. No hidden fees. No fine print. No extra shipping.

OR: If you’d like to take the entire 3-week series, I will give it to you for just $100 (a savings of $47). That’s three 1 week classes for $100.

All you have to do is register  between now and Sunday!

You may also give these classes as a gift.

Looking forward to working with you!

 

‘Tis the season to write poetry

A conversation with Sage Cohen author of Writing the Life Poetic: An Invitation to Read and Write Poetry

As the holidays approach in a down economy, Sage Cohen proposes that poetry can provide a meaningful way forward.  Cohen sees poetry not just as an art form, but a way of life. Following is our conversation about the possibilities of poetry today.

It’s the holiday season. Why poetry? Why now?

In today’s economy, many people are seeking alternatives the typical holiday spending frenzy. The good news about hard times is that they challenge us to find creative new ways to give, share and create meaning. Poetry can be a powerful instrument for conjuring such alchemies.

These days people have less cash than usual. How can poetry help?

Poetry can’t change our bank statements, but it can change the way we think about wealth and prosperity. In fact, it is my lifelong relationship with poetry that has taught me that income is one thing, but prosperity is frequently something else.

For example, a few years ago, I heard Mary Oliver speak. She reported that a critic of her poetry complained that she must be independently wealthy to have so much time to lie around in the grass and ponder nature. This made the poet laugh, because the critic was reporting in an underhanded and confused way about a truth that Oliver tapped into long ago: the act of lying in the grass and listening to the world IS wealth. The truth is, we don’t need to go anywhere special to tune in to poetry. Our lives are already inundated with sensory information that is the raw material of poems. All we need to do is slow down, pay attention and write down what moves us, intrigues us or stirs our curiosity. This does not require an inheritance or a 401K. It simply requires a willingness to welcome the abundance that is already ours, and to follow the golden thread of language wherever it leads us. What poetry can give us is something far more valuable than money could ever buy – it gives us ourselves. Poem by poem, we write our souls into existence. Weighted in words, the spirit that animates us becomes palpable. By the same token, each poem we read offers a small window into the human condition, in which we may better recognize some glimmer of our own being. The world seems to be falling apart around us.

Why should we be focused on poetry when it can’t help change anything?

You’re right; poems may not stop the clubbing of baby seals, domestic violence, child trafficking, dog fighting, genocide, conflict in the Middle East or whatever it is that feels most difficult on any given day. But as the motorcyclist must lean into the turn to prevent a fall, poems become a kind of machinery of transport, giving us a context for leaning into the pain that we meet and safely navigating through it.

My father always said, “Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted.” And poems are the treasures that can be exhumed from those undesirable experiences.

Just think all of the great, poetic opportunities for understanding that lie coiled at the heart of every mistake, heartbreak, disappointment, and regret. What if you were to literally look to your poetry practice as a way of moving through what pierces you to the core? What injustices might it help you examine unflinchingly? What epicenter of pain or grief might it help you enter and consider? How might you relax into the universal truths of divorce, death, intolerance, and change, and make a poem offering that illumines these truths with compassion? How do you recommend that readers get started with their holiday poem-making?

I always remind people that their ordinary lives will offer more than enough source material for poetry. The following exercises are designed to get folks mining their own daily experience to see what inspired thoughts and language might be awaiting them below the surface.

1. Choose an activity you do regularly that is the absolutely most routinized, unremarkable event of your day. (Mine would be doing dishes.) Write down the answers to these questions about it:

• Notice the physical feeling of this routine. Which muscles are involved? What kind of rhythm or tempo does it involve? Are you cold or hot, energized or depleted?

• How do you feel emotionally when you do this?

• What are the smells associated with this activity? (I use lavender soap, so my sink smells like a French garden.)

• What do you see when engaged in this routine? (I look out at the butterfly bush and magnolia tree in my back yard. I enjoy watching meals erased from plates and glasses.)

• Pay close attention to your thinking. What images and ideas bubble up as you are doing this activity?

• How does the time of day or weather or location (indoors vs. outdoors, your home vs. someone else’s home, summer breeze or snowfall) affect your experience?

2. What wildlife, plants and trees do you see out your window at home, at work, or en route? What do they look like, feel like, sound like? What are their names? What are the visual cues and references in your home and/or workspace?

• Make a list of the 20 things you come into contact with most.

• Write down something else in the world that each of these 20 things remind you of. For example, The red teapot reminds me of the robin red breast. The worn wood of the mirror over the sink reminds me of the door to Grandpa’s barn. The curlicue pattern on the silver platter makes me think of storm clouds.

3. Think of someone you see regularly in passing but do not know well, like your mail carrier, barista or neighbor. Write a poem that imagines what their life might be like:

• Who do they love? • What have they lost?

• What do their pajamas look like? • What are their aspirations?

• What do they eat for breakfast?

4. Explore your holiday archives:

• What was your biggest holiday surprise?

• What holiday is most meaningful to you and why?

• Who do you yearn to see during the holidays?

• How has Santa (if you have a relationship with Santa) satisfied you and let you down over the years?

• What is the most embarrassing thing that ever happened around the dinner table with your family at holiday time?

• What outfit comes to mind when you think back on past holiday celebrations? This should give you a foundation of source material to start playing with. Circle a few words or phrases that interest you, and let those be the kindling for your poetic fire.

Don’t know where to go next? Freewriting can be a useful way to take your ideas and language a little further into the realm of the poetic. Set your timer for 10 minutes, sit down with your notebook, and keep that hand moving across the page, no matter what, without stopping, for the entire 10 minutes. You’re not trying to be brilliant here – just to get loose and let words start coming without thinking too hard. The more you practice, the looser you’ll get. And the looser you get, the more your language will surprise and delight you.

I’d like to send readers off with a thought about poetry and holiday cheer Egg nog, move over. Rudolph, there’s a brighter light guiding our sleigh tonight. I’ve never experienced any holiday cheer that rivals the state of grace that poetry invites into our lives. That is why I often give poems I’ve written as holiday gifts. I print them on pretty paper, place them in an attractive frame and presto – the most treasured holiday gifts I’ve ever given only cost me the time I spent creating them. Try it! You just might get hooked. Wishing you all a peaceful and poetic holiday season.

* * * * *

Sage Cohen is the author of Writing the Life Poetic: An Invitation to Read and Write Poetry (Writers Digest Books, 2009) and the poetry collection Like the Heart, the World (Queen of Wands Press, 2007). An award-winning poet, she writes four monthly columns about the craft and business of writing and serves as Poetry Editor for VoiceCatcher 4. Sage has won first prize in the Ghost Road Press poetry contest, been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and been awarded a Soapstone residency. She curates a monthly reading series at Barnes & Noble and teaches the online class Poetry for the People. To learn more, visit www.sagesaidso.com. Drop by and join in the conversation about living and writing a poetic life at www.writingthelifepoetic.typepad.com !

Not My Own Words

I thought I’d lead you into the weekend with some great quotes by others. Have any favorites of your own to add?

“The only thing worse than an expert is someone who thinks he’s an expert.”–Aly. A. Colon (does that name sound suspicious to anyone else?)

“Look out how you use proud words. When you let proud words go, it is not easy to call them back.”–Carl Sandburg, Slabs of the Sunburnt West

“There is nothing stronger in the world than gentleness.” Han Suyin, A Many-Splendored Thing

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.

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

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

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

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.

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