***************************************************************** W R I T I N G W O R L D A World of Writing Information - For Writers Around the World http://www.writing-world.comIssue 6:09 16,500 subscribers September 7, 2006*****************************************************************SPECIAL NOTICE: Please DO NOT REPLY to this e-mail; any messagessent in reply to the newsletter are deleted. See the bottom ofthis newsletter for information on how to subscribe, unsubscribe,or contact the editors.***************************************************************** CONTENTS================================================================= From the Editor's Desk NEWS from the World of Writing THE INQUIRING WRITER: Motivation by Dawn Copeman FEATURE: Bread and Butter Markets by Moira Allen. The Write Sites -- Online Resources for Writers WRITING DESK: Where Do I Find Markets that Pay? by Moira Allen BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO... Article Structure, Part 2 - Focus by Dawn Copeman WHAT'S NEW at Writing World WRITING CONTESTS with no entry fees The Author's Bookshelf*****************************************************************EARN AN MFA IN WRITING through the brief-residency program atSpalding University in Louisville, KY. Call (800) 896-8941x2423or email mfa"at"spalding.edu and request brochure FA90. For moreinfo: http://www.spalding.edu/mfa*****************************************************************WRITERSCOLLEGE.COM has 57 online courses. Prices are low.If you can reach our web site, you can take our courses.http://www.WritersCollege.com*****************************************************************DISCOUNTED SOFTWARE FOR WRITERS -- PowerWriter, DramaticaPro,StoryCraft, WritePro, MovieMagic, StyleWriter, plus many more.HUGE SAVINGS! GREAT SELECTION! Save online at:http://www.MasterFreelancer.com*****************************************************************WRITE CHILDREN'S BOOKS. Ever dreamed of being a publishedauthor? Writing for children is a great place to start. Trainwith a professional writer and learn the secrets of breaking into the $2 billion children's book market. This unique programthat has helped 100's like you become published. Free WritingTest. http://www.writingforchildren.com/F9442*****************************************************************HOW TO MAKE A LIVING AS A WRITER: Imagine a writing job in whichyou set your own hours, and live wherever you please: at thebeach, in the mountains, in an apartment in Paris, London, orBerlin. As a copywriter, you can. Learn more:http://www.thewriterslife.com/ph/wworlda62***************************************************************** FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK=================================================================Prophets Without Honor----------------------I confess that I haven't been diligent in coming up witheditorials for my "Coffee on the Deck" column. However, it has,um, "dawned" on me that I need look no farther than DawnCopeman's question of the month for inspiration! Every time Iread one of her questions, I feel like shooting my hand up, likeHermione in a Harry Potter movie: "Ooh, ooh, I know, I know!"And I promise myself that I'll write a response and send it toher -- a promise I invariably forget until the next issue and thenext question.So I will try to do better! For the issue Dawn raised this monthis one that I'm sure a great many of us have experienced, andwonder how to handle. Nor is the answer always straightforward,as many of us may also have discovered.Why is it so hard to convince our family and friends that ourwriting is "serious business" rather than just a hobby or apassing phase? For starters, I suspect that many of us, withoutrealizing it, are suffering from the "prophet without honor"syndrome. This comes from the passage in Matthew (Matt 5:55-56)in which Jesus is preaching in his hometown. His listeners beginto mutter, "Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't his mother'sname Mary, and aren't his brothers James, Joseph, Simon andJudas? Aren't all his sisters with us? Where then did this manget all these things?"In other words, prophets (and writers) are generally regarded asextraordinary people. They are exalted, special, unusual,possibly rare and strange. They are not like you and I; theydon't dwell upon the same plane. Conversely, our nearest anddearest (like Jesus' friends and townsfolk) know EXACTLY howordinary we are; they know that you and I are, in fact, JUST likeyou and I. We're not different or exalted; the air doesn'tshimmer around us as we speak. Our families "knew us when;" asmy mother-in-law often sighs when my husband tries to explainsome aspect of his job, "I remember him in his blue pajamas."It's hard to be impressed by someone that you keep visualizing inblue pajamas! I suspect that our families can't even imagine"real writers" as ever having worn blue pajamas. It's hard toimagine a Great Author like Stephen King cleaning up cat puke, orperhaps standing in front of the open refrigerator drinking milkfrom the carton. But our families have seen us doing thingsevery bit as mundane and humdrum. They know where we live, andhow often we dust the furniture; they know what we drive and howrarely we clean out the back seat; they know what we wear, whatwe eat, and how often we belch.In short, there can be a vast disconnect between your nonwritingrelatives' view of "A Real Writer" (extraordinary, exalted, notlike one of us) and "my sister who writes" (who, HER?). Theysimply can't make the mental leap between the kid in blue pajamasand the next Stephen King. My brother-in-law, for example,occasionally tries to "compliment" me on my writing: When readingmy holiday newsletter, he will invariably turn to me, put on ahuge condescending smile, and exclaim, "You know, you write verywell, young lady!" I think he imagines that I'm just going tomelt into a puddle of gratitude at the praise. Instead, I haveto fight the urge to smack him!But then, perhaps one reason I want to smack him is because, sofar as I know, the holiday newsletter is the only thing of minehe has ever read -- and he's not the only member of my family whohasn't bothered to crack the cover of one of my books. And thismay be another cause for the lack of "honor" we find in our"hometown."Most of us who write are also readers -- often avid, voraciousreaders. We love to be swept away in a good book -- and aswriters, we understand how much effort goes into creating thatbook. We feel a certain respect, if not awe, toward our ownfavorite authors, for even though we know that they, too,probably have to clean up the cat puke, we also know what ittakes to do what they do. In short, as readers, we admirewriters, because we understand what it takes to BE a writer.But what if your family and friends aren't readers? A friendonce came to my home and stared in awe, or perhaps horror, at ourfloor-to-ceiling bookshelves. "You don't actually READ all thosebooks, do you?" she asked. I felt like replying, "Um, no, wejust keep them for insulation." I knew that an honest answer --yes, we've read many of them, and we've kept others forreference, and there are others that we haven't read yet but willsomeday -- wouldn't have made any sense to her. And I wonderwhat she would have thought if she could have seen a pile of allthe books that we HAVE read over the years.But if a person doesn't regard books, or reading, as aparticularly important or worthwhile activity, then that personisn't likely to regard WRITING as a particularly important orworthwhile occupation. If a person thinks of books as oddities,things that appeal only to four-eyed nerds, then the fact thatyou write them isn't going to cut any ice in your household.You're going to get about the same reaction you'd be likely toget if you introduced your latest boyfriend, the tattoo artist --an occupation I confess to having held in some degree of scornuntil I realized that, whatever I may think of tattooing,"artist" is indeed the operative term.Whether our nearest and dearest are readers or nonreaders,however, yet another issue many of us face is the question ofWHAT we write. Whenever I tell someone that I'm a writer, almostinvariably the first question out of their mouths is "Oh, whatbooks have you written?" By that, of course, they mean "whatfamous novels have you written that I might have read?" --because in my case, replying with titles like "Starting YourCareer as a Freelance Writer" or "Writing.com" just causespeoples' eyes to glaze over. And if you don't write books at all-- if, instead, you must humbly admit, "Actually, I writearticles for magazines," you can actually see the person'sexpression change as your status is downgraded from "possiblyslightly important" to "oh, a nobody." I've had a few peoplevaliantly press on with a question like "Oh, you mean likeWoman's Day or Family Circle?" At this point, I know it's timeto change the subject.And that, of course, brings up the money issue. While most ofour relatives aren't tactless enough to ask how much we'reactually earning as writers (though some may!), most also knowthat our "scratchings and scribblings" probably aren't keepingthe roof over our heads or the food on the table. Sadly, to mostfamilies, a "real" job is one that involves a steady paycheck.And so, by definition, we don't have "real" jobs -- not like oursister the psychiatrist or our brother the auto mechanic.Anything else is just a hobby, or worse, a childish game -- andsadly, many of us have families that are wondering when we aregoing to give up the games and grow up.Finally, there is one sad dichotomy about being a writer, andthat is that no matter how exciting our writing may be, our reallives tend to be monumentally boring. Very few of us haveactually ridden dragons, danced with elves, or been abducted by astunningly handsome 14th-century Scottish Highlander. (If youhave, please don't tell me about it. I really, REALLY don't wantto know.) So if someone asks us to "tell us how the writing isgoing," what can we say? "Um, well, it's going. Fine. How wasYOUR day?"Even my brother-in-law can manage to come up with some mildlyamusing job-related stories involving inventories and airplaneparts (he works for Boeing). My sister, a university professor,can keep us in stitches with accounts of some of the answers herstudents give to history test questions. But my work day, likethat of most writers, involves... um... mumble, mumble... typing. And more typing. And quite a lot of staring at the screen andnot typing. Oh, yeah, and surfing. (The next time someone asksme, "Where do you get your ideas?" I'm going to say, "Oh, I justdo a Google search for them.") Since most writers work at home,we can't even come up with funny stories about our coworkers,unless you count the cats. ("Hey, just yesterday, Tabitha triedto knock the lamp off my computer desk again; isn't she ascream?") It's hard to impress people with what we "do" for aliving when it doesn't sound as if we actually DO much ofanything!So what can we do about this lack of honor? First, we canrecognize that some things are never going to change. Familiesalways manage to find something to disapprove of, whether it'sthe fact that you're not married yet or haven't given yourparents grandchildren or don't earn as much as your siblings.Second, we can accept that, just as with any other profession, noone really understands what a writer does except another writer;after all, is anyone really that interested in hearing yourbrother talk about transmissions or your sister discuss how toconduct an appendectomy?Third, we can become a bit more proactive. Instead of justtelling our family, "I sold two articles last month," make copiesof your latest publications and send them to everyone. Send outyour own holiday newsletter and make sure that it trumpets yoursuccesses. Send out postcards of your book covers. Casuallymention how many hits your name gets these days on a Googlesearch.Finally, and perhaps most important, we may need to realize thatwhat our families say to US and what they say to OTHERS may betwo very different things. My own family is, again, a goodexample. My niece is a very talented artist (you can check outher work at http://www.monasmurals.com/), yet I've never heardher mother actually praise her to her face. However, whentalking about her to someone else (when she's not present), hermother praises her talent to the skies. I won't even try to getinto the family dynamic there (let's just say it could behealthier), but the point is: Even when our families don't seemto give us the respect for our work that we think we deserve,they may actually be a lot prouder of us than we realize. -- Moira Allen, Editor*****************************************************************CHILDREN'S WRITERS COMPETITIVE EDGE. 12-page monthly newsletterof editors' current wants and needs - up to 50 each month. Plusmarket studies and genre analyses loaded with editors' tips andinsights into subjects and writing styles they're looking forright now. Free sample. http://www.thechildrenswriter.com/N6224***************************************************************** CONFERENCES AND CLASSES*****************************************************************DEADLY INK - Annual Mystery Conference for Mystery Writers andMystery Fans, Short Story Contest, Novel Contest, and announcingDeadly Ink Press, a publisher of mysteries and suspense. Visitour website http://www.deadlyink.com or email info"at"deadlyink.comWRITE. LEARN. BELONG. Creative Writing or Memoir Writing. Enjoyonline classes with a live teacher and gentle feedback. Join meat: http://home.universalclass.com/i/crn/11087.htm Or stop by myweb page at: http://mywritingworkshop.com >>-----------------------------------------------------<>-----------------------------------------------------<>-----------------------------------------------------<
Copyright © 2010 by Moira Allen. All rights reserved.
Copyright to individual articles held by authors.