Write what you know.

How many times have you heard that? I am guessing if you’ve been at this any amount of time… quite a few. What’s that? You write fantasy and you’ve invented a whole new world entirely in your head so how could you possibly write what you know?

I am here to let you in on a little secret… that isn’t what that means! Do you think  JRR Tolkien knew a tiny creepy grey guy consumed with greed that lived in a cave? Probably not. But, chances are he did know a thing or two about greedy people and how they acted… so when he wrote Gollum, he used the voice of one of those guys!

That’s the key. You can tell any story you want, and I don’t care if you set your story inside a giant’s cell phone… as long as you use voice to make your characters like real people, then your story will be relatable. I know it isn’t as easy as it sounds, because if it were then my pomeranian would be churning out a novel right now…

But remember, you know voice. You hear people talking and see them acting every day, and each of those people has their own voice. So next time you see some crazy cat throwing a fit at the bank… pull out your notebook and write it down. Their words, their hand motions. Even the reaction of the bank teller. Your story will be that much better for it.

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For writers, a wide reading is an asset. Whether you are a romance writer, a fantasy writer, or a writer of literary fiction, reading across the genres gives your writing a sort of depth few other things can provide. There is a cross germination of ideas as you read. Sometimes, you stand back from something you like and wonder how the author did it and at other times, you read terrible writing, and learn what not to do.

I’ve been reading Lost Horizon by James Hilton, and what I really liked about the story is the way Hilton has created a world–a hidden, legendary lamasery in remote mountains, the Shangri-la, where people live longer lives, where the lamas devote their time to contemplation and academic preoccupations.

I particularly love the descriptions:

“To Conway, seeing it first, it might have been a vision fluttering out of that solitary rhythm in which lack of oxygen had encompassed all his faculties. It was, indeed a strange and half-incredible sight. A group of coloured pavilions clung to the mountainside with none of the grim deliberation of a Rhineland castle, but rather with the chance delicacy of flower petals impaled upon a crag…An austere emotion carried the eye upward from the milk-blue roofs to the grey rock bastion above, tremendous as the Wetterhorn above Grindelwald. Beyond that, in a dazzling pyramid, soared the snow slopes of Karakal.”

So what have you been reading recently? And what has moved you the most in the books you have read?

Feel free to post an excerpt from your reading in the comments, so we may all get to know new and exciting, or old and undiscovered books for our future reading lists!

–Damyanti

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My 10 Commandments to Writing Success: A No-Fail Approach/Part 3
By Michael P. Geffner

As many of you already know by now, my article, “10 Commandments to Writing Success,” was so popular that various versions have appeared all over the place, including in The Writer and The Writer’s Handbook, as well as on asbolutewrite.com and a slew of other writing resource sites.

Strangely, the whole thing grew entirely out of serendipity. I feverishly wrote the first version in no more than a half-hour and never intended it to be published. It was merely a way to answer all the member questions I had received when I began my first club, Mike’s Writing Workshop on Yahoo, in March of 2001.

As it turned out, people seemed to love it. There was a clamoring for more. So I ended up writing a Part 2 to it…and, well, the rest is history.

I thought it was time to add 10 more to the list for Part 3.

Hope you enjoy—but, more importantly, that you get something out of it and that it pushes you closer to your writing dream.

Here are the new commandments:

1) Pitch stories that you absolutely own. The best way to get an editor’s attention, especially if you’re relatively new to the game or not very high up on the “publishing credits” ladder, is to offer an idea that no one else can do—but YOU! Is it an exclusive interview with someone who’s turning down everybody else? Is it a story that only you know about? Are you the sole expert in this subject? Own a story up and down and you’ll have a huge advantage like you never had before.

2) Always push for more work. Once you’ve made headway with a publication—which means you’ve built up a mutual trust and respect with an editor or editors—keep asking for more assignments or keep pitching ideas. Writing can often be a momentum business. Don’t stop the flow. Also, if you have a published story on the stands, it’s the best time to pitch editors at other places. You’ll seem like the hot commodity of the moment.

3) Rejection should only be the beginning, not the end. Two things to consider here: A. Just because a publication nixes your story idea—or you in particular—doesn’t mean the next place will do the same. If you believe in yourself and your idea, never give up on it. B. Just because a publication rejects you outright doesn’t mean the same place won’t accept you six months later. At most places, there’s high turnover. Editors, as well as mission statements, change quickly.

4) Don’t hang all your hopes on resumes, clip packages, and query letters. Go into any high-level editor’s office and you’ll see stacks of unopened envelopes that nearly reach the ceiling. You’re annoyed, or depressed, that an editor hasn’t gotten back to you? Don’t be. He or she likely hasn’t even seen the contents of your envelope yet—and may never. Make phone calls (without being a stalker). Make meetings (without being demanding). In the writing game, as in most businesses, relationships matter more than anything in an envelope.

5) Learn to negotiate for more money. No matter what a publication offers, it’s often way less than it can afford. Always express mild disappointment at the first number, then pleasantly, professionally, ask for a little more. Understand that I don’t suggest this method for rank beginners. You’ll risk losing the assignment. It’s also running before learning to crawl. But for anyone with decent experience, you’ll gain greater respect by not jumping at the first number thrown at you. Also, if in the end a place refuses to budge on the story fee, ask for something else that doesn’t cost them money, such as your byline bigger or your name—and story teased—on the front cover. Or simply agree to do the story at their price for now (make it seem like you’re doing this out of the goodness of your heart) but, if they love the final product, that the next one will have to pay more. Always have a strategic plan when negotiating a story deal (have an answer ready for anything that might come up) and always get it in writing.

6) Whatever writing you do, try your best to be utterly unique and way above average. You want to put yourself in position where a publication or publisher can’t get what you do from any other writer. This is what gets the big jobs and the big dollars and the big careers.

7) Don’t beg. Always act as if you’re confident in your work and yourself, exuding an attitude that says, “I’d love to do this story for you, I really would, but if you’re not sure that you want it, I’m certain that some other publication will.” In other words, never show weakness, because editors will pick up on that and run away from it.

Don’t be a pest or a complainer or unprofessional. Editors will always choose the path of least resistance, wanting to work with writers that carry the least amount of baggage and write the cleanest, most thorough copy. Maybe if you win the Pulitzer, you’ll gain some extra rope. But until then, you best be a writer that editors love to work with.

9) Keep making baby steps upward. Don’t get too comfortable at a certain level. Keep challenging yourself. This will force you to make the work better and better, as well as help you make more and more money.

10) Don’t worry so much about people stealing your ideas. At the major publications, it hardly, if ever, happens. Plus, assuming you’re hitting a smaller, less trustworthy market, you should have so many ideas that if someone steals one that it wouldn’t matter in the least, because you have dozens upon dozens of them. The writing business is an idea business. If you don’t have ideas gushing out of your brain on a daily basis, you might want to try some other work.

You can find Michael at http://mikeswritingworkshop.blogspot.com/

You may also follow him on Twitter http://twitter.com/MikeGeffner

Michael Geffner

New York, United States Writer/Journalist/Columnist. Awarded for outstanding column and feature writing by APSE (Associated Press Sports Editors) 2005, 2006; won New York Publishers Association’s contest for Distinguished Sports Writing, 2007; included seven times in annual Best American Sports Writing anthology; voted Best Sportswriter in New York City by New York Press, 1990; won first place for profile writing by the Society of Professional Journalists (NJ), 2000; interviewed former President Nixon (twice, about baseball), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (at his home atop a hill in Beverly Hills), Dennis Hopper (during a round of golf in Simi Valley), Forest Whitaker (via cell phones while he was driving around Los Angeles), Derek Jeter (by his Yankee locker); written for USA Today, The Associated Press, Details, The Sporting News, Cigar Aficionado, Texas Monthly, Page Six Magazine, FHM, The Writer, and The Village Voice.

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So, I am sitting at a DARA (Dalla Area Romance Writers Association) lunch, and the topic of websites comes up. Everyone at the table agrees that yes you need a website, and many of them start talking about how easy it is to make one.  They start spouting their web addresses to one another, and I quietly start typing the addresses into my phone’s web browser.

I open one, it’s a picture of a woman with a quick byline.  Not bad, kind of boring, but not entirely ridiculous or anything. Then I open  up another, a black background with a dancing leprechaun next to some really great writing.

No joke.

You can make a great looking website for free.  Don’t try to make it yourself.  Download a pre-made template and just stick your information in the appropriate places.  Easy as that.

How? By using simple blogging platforms.  The two most common are blogger and wordpress. If you don’t want to settle for one of the boring premade themes, there are tons of free themes out there, all you have to do is download them and upload them in the appropriate box. (If you can attach a file to an email, then you have the basic concept down already.)

Here are a couple of really great blogger template websites I have found. A lot of web designers give away free templates in order to promote their business.  Take advantage of these.)

Better In Pink

The Cutest Blog on the Block

So, just sign up, start a blog and use a cute theme and you’re set with a perfect little blog!  Simple as that.  There are many other costly solutions, but if you are just starting out, you don’t need those, and you can always import it later.

Have fun!

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Time for another contest. We want to see your best scene of conflict. We pick the top five and you pick the winner!

So enter your scenes, no more than 300 words, in the comments and we will put up the top five in their own post on Monday to have you vote for them. We will accept the scenes until 5pm MST (US residents only on this one, sorry, hope to open it up internationally soon) on Sunday 29 March 09. Then Monday morn, sometime, we will post the top 5. The winner will be announced Wednesday morning.

Want to know the prizes?

Prize Binder

This binder comes from Crown Bindery, you must check out their website for great binders, journals, and bookmarks!

And a pen from Uniball is also part of the prize.

SO ENTER YOUR BEST. CAN COME FROM A COMPLETED MS, OR A WIP.

Can’t wait to read your entries.

Don’t forget to leave your 150 words for TKA contest here. And you can still add a story to the picture, here.

Thanks,

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This is your chance! Post your first 100 words of your WiP.

You never know when we’ll have another contest–so let’s get these first 100 words ship-shape!

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