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I know now that every writer makes his or her own rules. The advice I give to beginning writers is to have faith, love the process, and to value writing, to put it in the center of their lives.

Having faith is hard as rejection letters and bills come regularly in the mail.  But of my friends and colleagues who studied fiction writing with me at the University of Montana a decade ago, the only ones who have not published yet are the ones who gave up. The rest of us make a living now by writing.  (Or writing and teaching.)

Valuing writing is the fun part. Set aside a desk for writing, set aside a day. Spend some money on your favorite tea, an important pen, a book you want to read. Play music, and feel proud when you’ve written a page. Take a walk if you need to. Get a sitter. Surround yourself with objects that inspire you. The rest of the writing life is difficult, and can be heartbreaking. This is what you get: a solitary morning, a cup of coffee, the luxury of bringing words into the world, the joy of a perfect sentence. 

Putting writing in the center of your life is also challenging, when so many other important things beckon. Oprah and everyone else tells me I can make time for an exercise routine, but I can’t seem to do it.  But living as a writer doesn’t always mean being alone. You can take care of children, or a job, or a spouse while you think about writing.  When you see a movie, ask yourself why it is working or not. If you lose interest in a friend’s story, ask yourself what she could have done to hold you. What magazines are you reading, and why? What could be going on with the bank teller and her strange expression?  Living your life as a writer is a way of participating fully, but also taking notes as an observer. It’s something that takes practice, but I have found it to be essential. I have been completely stuck in a novel, left it for the day, and then found my answer on the playground or at the library. I am always thinking about my novels.

And, thanks to Joyce Carol Oates, I always sit by the window.

AUTHOR

Amanda Eyre Ward is the award-winning author of How to Be Lost and Sleep Toward Heaven. She lives in Austin, Texas, with her family.

                            For more information, please visit www.amandaward.com.

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Speaking Your Mind

by Joan Reinhardt Reiss

   How many times have you listened to a radio commentary and thought that you could do better?  The reality is that you probably can create an opinion piece that is superior to what you just heard.

   In 1995, I was a regular listener to KQED, a San Francisco public radio station. KQED featured  Perspectives, a series of free-lance commentaries. No one was doing environmental pieces. I phoned the editor, pitched the idea, and left my first opinion piece in his home mailbox. With that beginning, I became the environmental expert. Over the years the Internet arrived, editors changed, and my pieces evolved into environmental health issues. Eventually, I added personal stories, as well as musings on family and aging.           

    Before you embark on creating an opinion editorial, plan on intensive marketing research. Determine whether your local public radio station is interested in receiving free-lance commentary. Spend time listening to existing commentaries so you can hear the variety of subjects.

   An excellent source for commentary outlets is the website run by the Association of Independents in Radio, http://www.airmedia.org/. Click on "Member Resources" and then go to the "Pitch Page." Several listings include requests for commentary. An alphabetical program list appears that includes famous outlets like NPR and Marketplace as well as lesser known entities like Sound Medicine and Weekend America. If you submit to a program that is not in your area, be sure to ascertain the recording process. For example, when I did pieces for Marketplace , I recorded at KQED.

   Each public radio station usually has guidelines for initial email submissions as well as three key elements: subject, style, and length. The abbreviated KQED Perspective guidelines that follow are a good example of the three key essentials needed for all commentary:

Subject 

   Perspectives are often geared to Northern California issues; state and regional topics are best. Essays on local issues work well if they illustrate larger concerns with which other communities are struggling. Observations on everyday life are frequent topics especially when linked to a broader, more universal idea.

Style

   Most Perspectives are opinion pieces that say what is wrong or right with something, offer a better idea, an insight or an unusual angle on a matter of common interest or concern to our listeners. They are strongest if they draw from personal experience. The best essay, like the best Perspective contains a solid idea that is well-told.

Length

   The time limit for all KQED pieces is two minutes; approximately 350 words. Note your script time by reading aloud, clearly and with feeling.  

   Combine these fundamentals, submit, and be prepared to work with the editor for the final polishing. Once my editor is interested in a piece, we usually go through several drafts before the final recording.  Recently I recorded a KQED Perspective on all the tainted Chinese products that enter the U.S.and how unlikely it is that there will be any new regulations on this avalanche of goods. The opening and closing sentences illustrate successful framing of the piece.

  Opening: "My grandson adores his Thomas train collection. But Thomas is dangerous to his health. Mattel recalled over a million Thomas trains made inChina."

  Closing: "Thomas the train may have been sidetracked, but the global economy locomotive won't be derailed by your health and safety."

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With a Perspective this is Joan Reinhardt Reiss

Joan Reinhardt Reiss is an environmental health consultant, public radio commentator, and dedicated athlete.    

Joan Reinhardt Reiss
PH: 415 647-2687  San Francisco, CA

 

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Marketing IS Editing:

Boning Up on First Impressions

By Carolyn Howard-Johnson

First impressions are important. We all are aware of that as we brush our teeth and try to unknot the rat's nests from the back of our hair each morning. In fact, first impressions are part of our marketing efforts, whether we are marketing ourselves (say, an interview or a TV appearance) or marketing our books. And, yes, editing is an essential part of that first-impression effort, thus an integral part of marketing and promotion.

Here are a scattering of helps gleaned from my HowToDoItFrugally Series of books (www.howtodoitfrugally.com).

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• If your English teacher told you something is OK, it is. (No! Language rules have changed since you were a sophomore.)

• If a manuscript or query is grammar-perfect, you'll make a great first impression. (No! Lots of things that are absolutely grammatically correct will annoy publishers, agents and others.)

• Always use your Spell and Grammar Checker. (Maybe. Some well-known editors suggest you don't use it at all but The Frugal Editor gives you dozens of ways to make it your partner instead of your enemy.)

• Your publisher will assign a top-flight editor so you don't need to worry about your manuscript. (Maybe, but don't count on it. Besides you can be a better partner for an editor if you know something about the process--and you'll also know better when to nix her suggestions!)

• Formatters and editors will take care of the hyphens, ellipses and all the other grungy little punctuation marks that English teachers avoided teaching because they didn't know how to use them either. (Chances are, you'll catch even great formatters and editors in an error or two if you know your stuff!)

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We are selling our work when we approach any gatekeeper, an editor, an agent, a contest judge. Here are five little things to avoid so you'll look like the professional you are.

• Don't tell the gatekeeper you always wanted to write. You can think of something more pertinent to your cause (and something more original!) than that.

• Don't use the verb "quote" when you want the noun "quotation." Some stylebooks will tell you that it's OK, but agents can be a picky lot. Use zero-tolerance grammar rules for your queries.

• Don't pitch more than one book at time. You want to give that one your best shot.

• Don't call your novel a "fictional novel." By definition, a novel is fiction.

• Don't overdo exclamation marks, question marks, the use of sentence fragments. (Yes, fragments are acceptable when they're used for a good reason.).

Here's one last suggestion for fiction writers 'cause they're so often neglected when it comes to marketing. Avoid using italics for internal thought. Yes, it's being done more and more but it is often a crutch that fiction writers use to avoid writing great transitions and point-of-view; the best agents will recognize it as such.

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Carolyn Howard-Johnson is award-winning author, a former publicist for a New York PR firm and an instructor for the UCLA Extension Writers' Program. She is an editor with years of publishing and editing experience. Learn more about the author and her award winning books at http://HowToDoItFrugally.com.

 

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Why Write?

By Debra Finerman
Author of Mademoiselle Victorine

When someone asks why write? My answer -- writing is like making love. When they ask how to write? Same answer. For each writer the act of writing is as individual as his/her own personality.

I write because I have to. I have to because I want to. I want to because I love it. When I was a journalist for the Hollywood Reporter magazine and Capital Style, I wrote my pieces in a smart-sassy magazine journalist’s voice. In my head, I was a cross between Rosalind Russell in His Girl Friday and Dorothy Parker. But when I started to write my first novel -- historical fiction set in Paris in the time of the Impressionists, I discovered I had to develop a new way of writing, a new “voice.” This voice was more lyrical, even poetic. I did read poetry to develop a capacity for metaphor. I read or re-visited classic novels written decades, even centuries ago to understand why they endure.

I feel presumptuous giving advice to writers on how to write. There are far better sources for that: E.M. Forester’s Aspects of the Novel is a classic and as useful today as when it was written in 1927. There are dozens of excellent how-to books for writers that outline the craft. Creating Unforgettable Characters by Linda Seger is helpful. Is writing a craft or an art? It’s both. To learn the mechanics of the craft, consult those manuals. To learn the art, consult your heart. I would like to share my experience writing my first novel and hope it resonates with other writers.

Inspiration. I believe the inspiration, the idea, for a book comes from the Universe. In my experience, my novel came to me as I was studying for an exam on the Impressionists for my class at Christie’s Education graduate program. For me, reading that art history textbook was as fascinating as reading a novel. Were there any novels about these people I wondered? In the year 2000, I didn’t know of any. I had seen clips of a film about Vincent Van Gogh starring Kirk Douglas. And of course, the musical Gigi loosely based on a story by Colette. But these were both Hollywoodized and set after the truly important years of 1860-1870.

Characters. My novel began with the characters. I knew it was important for my main characters to change as they experienced their lives. I wanted the heroine, in particular, to become a changed person at the end of the story from who she was in the beginning because that is true to real life. I wrote concise back-stories on index cards for each character so I would know where/when they were born, their parentage, their childhoods -- all the factors that shaped them to become who they were in the novel. I didn’t use the back-story in the narrative, but the footprint was there between the lines.

Place and time. The more hours I spent at the library researching the history, the art, the politics, the changes in technology and social relations, the more at home I felt in that setting and knew I could transport others there with me. The number of reference books I read is prodigious. But I’m a nerd and love that aspect of writing. I worked as a library assistant in college and still feel in a safety cocoon in the musty stacks of a library.

Plot. Plot unfolds as life does -- as a consequence of characters’ choices, actions and reactions. In my case, plot was also guided by history because historical fiction must be accurate at all costs on the “history” side. The fiction side can be pure fun. Writers are all a bit mad, I think, and I am no exception. I remember waking up in the middle of the night, hearing in my head the perfect dialogue between two of my characters for a scene. Of course, I got up and scribbled down some notes before falling back asleep.

Music true to the time period was helpful for me at some points in the narrative process. I deduced that listening to the music that my characters would have listened to in 1867 would help put me in their world. It was transgressive and I credit the verisimilitude of some emotional passages in the book to those waltzes of Strauss and Offenbach.

Polishing. Finally, the most enjoyable part of writing for me is rewriting. It feels like putting the final touches on a painting, adding highlights and correcting mistakes. I remember spending three hours changing the wording on just one paragraph. But what a paragraph it turned out to be!

Writer’s Block. For me, it doesn’t exist. If you have something to say, then write. If you don’t, go do something else. Come back when you do. Then you can write a heartbreakingly beautiful novel and experience the joy of those two little words . . .
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Debra Finerman attended Christie's Graduate Program in Connoisseurship and the Art Market. Mademoiselle Victorine: A Novel(Published by Three Rivers Press. July 2007;$13.95US/$17.95CAN; 978-0-307-35283-5) is her first work of fiction after a career as a journalist in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. She worked for The Hollywood Reporter Magazine, Beverly Hills Today, Beverly Hills Magazine and Capital Style. She currently lives in New York and Connecticut.

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WHAT WORKS AND WHAT DOESN’T

Some Comments About The 2007 Flash Prose Entries

Pat Schneider, author of Writing Alone And With Others says, “If you do not record your own story, your tiny bit of the history of the human race is lost. Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare’s vision. Dickinson wrote Dickinson’s.

“Who will write yours, if you do not?”

She makes a significant point that writing teachers sometimes overlook. Nobody sees the world as you do. No one can tell your stories from your unique point of view. Your truths will resonate if you dig deeply and present them well. Be true to your voice. It’s your strongest tool.

I asked the four judges for the 2007 Flash Prose Contest, who were last year’s winners, to rank the finalists and make comments. Here’s a sampling of what worked for Lyn Halper, Jennifer Hurley, Kirsten Beachy, and Mary Vallo. These statements are listed in random order.

• Clever and engaging.
• The prose is simple, powerful, and avoids sentimentality.
• Interesting plot, good characterization and irony.
• Descriptive language.
• Very moving.
• The strength of this story is in the writing -- its smooth and succinct.
• Original and diverting.
• Catchy ending!
• Good visuals.
• The narrator's sense of alienation is palpable.
• Some interesting twists and turns.
• Delivers a “punch” with subtlety and nuance.
• We perceive what’s happening through the sounds.
• Well-crafted sentences.
• Draws reader into internal thoughts and fascinating perverse logic.

And here are 10 concerns the judges noted:

• It tries so hard we’re aware of the effort.
• Becomes disappointingly sentimental.
• Lack of “punch.”
• There isn’t much tension, and the writing feels strained at times.
• At the end, I want more.
• The story is too predictable.
• The subject is clichéd.
• Character's motivations not entirely clear.
• The story goes a little over the top.
• What if the story stopped earlier?

WARNING: What works in one story may not in another. What appeals to one reader may bore another. One critique does not fit all. Don’t try to copy someone else’s style. Instead, hone your own until it sparkles.

Reading the submissions for two different prose contests in the last two months made me realize that a writer’s authentic voice is a unique gift. It becomes powerful when it is shared with readers.

Voice makes a story clever and engaging. It turns simple prose into powerful prose. It is original and its twists and turns surprise the reader. It delivers punch with subtlety and nuance. It draws readers into the internal thoughts and unique logic of unique characters. So watch your technique and develop your details, but above all let your authentic voice ring true.

As noted author Barbara Ueland says, “Everybody is talented, original, and has something important to say.”

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