RIGHT IN YOUR OWN BACKYARD, By Cathy Brownfield

Sometimes we overlook the obvious. The door of opportunity could be right in your own backyard.

As founding editor of a community weekly I was taken by surprise when a high school student approached me. New periodicals are short on income and long on news hole. Still quality is essential to hold readers and build a subscriber list. But something made me stop and take a look at this young man, John, and Chris who followed after him.

John’s intent was to get some writing experience and some clips before he went off to college to major in journalism. He worked for me his senior year covering boys’ sports at the high school.

Another young man, two years younger, had similar goals. Chris asked to cover girls’ sports at the high school.

Both of these young people were motivated and willing to work hard to provide sports coverage. Because I believe youth are tomorrow’s leaders I was willing to give them a chance to prove themselves. Because they were serious about their goals and reliable in delivering what they promised, I was willing to share my knowledge with them perhaps giving John’s and Chris’s careers a jump start. By the time they finished working with me they would know if journalism was what they really wanted to do.

All editors may not have the time or be willing to make the time to work with young people. A community weekly newspaper, however, may be just the place to start because they are so welcoming. But how do you initially contact them?

Put your best foot forward. First impressions are lasting impressions. Be professional. A young person with a professional attitude is impressive to most everyone. Do you have "clips," samples of your writing? Do you know your subject well? Put together a portfolio, a collection of your best work. If you have written anything for your school newspaper, that is a clip. Use it.

Do you have a resume? Start putting your resume together. Do you have a teacher who thought you did a fantastic job on an essay you wrote? Has a teacher ever told you that you are a good writer? Ask him/her to write a brief letter of reference for you that you can use in your journalist pursuits.

Don’t be tempted to submit someone else’s article as yours. First of all, that is plagiarism and against the law. You will get caught and you will find yourself in big trouble for that. You don’t want to kill your career before it ever gets off the ground. Secondly, if the work you submit isn’t your style, your voice, the editor is going to know it. You won’t work there long and your reputation will suffer, again killing your career before you ever get started.

When you get a job interview don’t show up in clothes you would wear rollerblading or to shoot hoops, even if you are hoping to write sports. You should be showered, shampooed and clean. Your clothes should be clean and neat and should reflect self-respect. Be honest and genuine. If you do something particularly well that relates to the subject about which you want to write, take the opportunity to emphasize that. John wanted to write boys’ sports. Chris wanted to write girls’ sports. Both not only understood their games, but were involved in the sport if only as scorekeepers or coaching assistants.

When you land a job, be reliable. Meet your deadlines, get your work in before deadline if you can. Give your work your best efforts. If you have trouble getting a story to come together, talk to your editor. (S)he may be able to help you with contacts or suggestions that will bring that story together for you.

The best advice I can give to any writer is to read a lot and write a lot more. You can do like Stephen King did and pound a spike into the wall from which to hang your rejection letters. (Did you know that in his youth, King produced his own publications?) Take encouragement from the rejections you collect. Each one brings you a little closer to becoming published. Learn everything you can and take it with you. And write, write, write!

Copyright 2003 Cathy Brownfield

Cathy Brownfield is a freelance writer with more than a decade of experience as a reporter, photographer, editor and publisher of newspapers. She began her journalism career with a short stint in radio news and a jump to community weeklies. Later she was founding editor of Canfield (Ohio) News which was the foundation of the current Mahoning County Town Crier weeklies in Austintown, Boardman, Canfield and Poland, Ohio. She also is Mom to four daughters and Grandma to two boys, Aaron, 7 and Nicholas, 3-1/2.

COMBINING SCRAPBOOKING WITH JOURNALING
By Mary Emma Allen

Children’s writing need not consist entirely of words on paper or the computer screen. Include drawing and photography to add interest and to help them develop their ideas. I’ve also discovered that scrapbooking can encourage youngsters and help add interest to their writing.

As I watch my 12-year old granddaughter pour over her photo album, adding pictures, decorative touches, and journal accounts, I also realize the value of saving one’s photos and cataloguing those of past generations. When we began scrapbooking, I didn’t know it would become such a family affair involving my daughter and granddaughter, sometimes my niece and her daughters.

Scrapbooking, one of the fastest growing hobbies, draws families closer together as they sort pictures, reminisce about shared events, and research family members and ancestors they only know by photos in albums.

This ties in, too, with family history writing. You can include in the scrapbook tidbits of family stories and use the photos and decorations to illustrate the stories.


Various Scrapbook Ideas


You'll find many types of scrapbooks for saving your pictures and recording family history and memories. Simply make sure they are acid free and photo safe. These can vary in size and binding.

*TRAVEL JOURNAL - In this you can encourage youngsters to keep a photo journal for one trip or many trips, using pictures and stories. My granddaughter has recorded family day trips and school field trips in her travel journal, with photos, decorative touches, and story.

I've come across some notes my mom jotted down about a family trip in my childhood. Coincidentally I found a few photos of this trip. This small travel journal could involve my mom’s journaling, my memories, and the photos enhanced with scrapbooking decorations.

This also can serve as an example to give youngsters ideas for their own travel journals. I've found that when working with younger children, making up my own scrapbook journal along with helping them, I hold their attention longer and give them encouragement.

*SCHOOL DAYS - A record of school days with report cards, awards, and special papers, along with photos and memories make interesting albums or scrapbooks.

These can be organized according to each grade or into various subjects. Perhaps sports will be a highlight of some students’ journals.

*BIRTHDAY PARTIES - These are very popular pictures and memories with youngsters, I've discovered. With scrapbooking young people can develop birthday memories into fascinating records.

My grandchildren and grand nieces enjoyed searching through their birthday party pictures, arranging them on pages, and writing short memories about them. Each scrapbook often took on the characteristics of each individual...organized, frilly, haphazard, colorful or unadorned.

*ANCESTRAL ALBUMS - Albums in which you collect pictures, memories, stories, and data of ancestors can take many forms. These also can serve as genealogy projects in the classroom or homeschooling setting.

My mom was a school teacher in a one-room schoolhouse when she married my dad. I have pictures and some of her recorded memories of those days which I want to save in an album that will tell her story. Also, this can lead into a study for the grandchildren of life in the era of the 1920s and 30s.

My uncle took pictures of some of his experiences during World War II. Collecting these, along with memorabilia he saved, will chronicle a phase of his life of which he was very proud.

By scrapbooking these pictures, we can develop a history unit about World War II. The war may have more significance if youngsters have personal ties with it.

The types of scrapbooks and photo albums, and the occasions for which you compile them are only limited by your imagination and creativity and can tie in with so many other units of study.

I've found, too, that by letting youngsters use their own ideas in organizing their scrapbooks and journals, after you've given them some guidelines, you encourage their creativity and promote their enjoyment of this activity.

(c)2003 Mary Emma Allen

SIDEBAR
WHAT IS SCRAPBOOKING?

Some have asked me, "What is scrapbooking?" At first, I thought it was simply pasting photos and/or clippings onto a blank page album, as I'd done as a child. However, in today’s world, scrapbooking takes on a whole new meaning as we embellish those scrapbook and photo album pages with many decorative ideas.

Various companies make archival, acid free and photo safe papers, stickers, pens, stamping inks and glue that will not destroy the items you're saving. Instead they will help you preserve these items.

By utilizing decorative accompaniments, you can enhance your photos, tell a story with them, include memories about the various occasions. These albums become more than simply a place to paste your photos. You can keep the album pages very simple or greatly enhance them.

Mary Emma Allen researches and writes her family stories and helps others do this along with scrapbooking. She also can provide you with information about obtaining scrapbooking supplies. Visit her web site: http://homepage.fcgnetworks.net/jetent/mea; E-mail: mailto:me.allen@juno.com
 

BAD CRITICISM IS GOOD
By Jo Hamlet

Is it a good idea to have your work critiqued? Mum and Dad said it was good and it bought tears to Aunty Joan's eyes so why should you go any further?

Mum, dad and Aunty Joan are not writers and they love you and anything you do looks good to them. - they tell you what you want to hear. You need objective criticism from other writers.

So what exactly is constructive criticism?

It's basically asking someone to comment on all areas of your writing. This includes:

1) Line editing to check factual errors or inconsistencies (e.g. changing the colour of a person's eyes)
2) Structure - is everything plausible? Does it work?
3) Character development - are your characters believable or do they do things out of character?
4) Plot - is it strong enough to keep the reader interested?
5) Style - use of clichés, awkward sentences, bad grammar etc

You can pay for professional help or join a group.

Groups are good because critiquing helps everyone not just the writer of the work in question and of course it will only cost your entry fee into the group. Listen carefully to the work being critiqued. Make notes. If there is something you don't like, or you think is incorrect, have a suggestion ready as to how it can be improved. Never just say - I don't like it. And always remember to say what you like about the piece that's being critiqued. Put yourself in that person's position - don't hurt their feelings - give them practical help. It might be your turn next.

If it's your work under the microscope, sit back and let the others have their say. It's always a good idea to distribute copies of the work to be critiqued so it can be read before hand or at the same time you read it aloud.

As people make their comments, make notes, which you can take home and digest later perhaps when you've cooled off. REMEMBER not to take everything to heart. Listen to everyone's comments, even those you consider to be weak or new writers. When you get home you can decide if there was any value in what they said.

You don't have to agree with what people are saying about your work but if more than one or most people are saying the same thing, there's probably something wrong and it's time to take another look and possibly make alterations.

Unfortunately there is often one person whose comments can be completely destructive to a new writer. You will spot them right away. They think they know everything and have a nasty way of letting you know how clever they are. Don't be despondent. Still take your notes and thank them like everyone else.

If everyone says your work is brilliant you will gain nothing from the critique. If people find problems and it receives a bad (unfavorable) critique you can learn. And please remember the best writers are not always the best at critiquing. If you feel your work is perfect the way it is then so be it. However most of us benefit from good constructive criticism or bad as the case may be.

And remember - the critique that hurts is usually the best.
© 2003 Jo Hamlet

Jo Hamlet's short stories and articles have appeared in newspapers, national/international/literary magazines, e-zines and have been broadcast on radio. She also contributes regularly to web sites and newsletters. She also runs creative writing workshops. Visit her web site for more information. http://members.iinet.net.au/~billyjo/ 

DON'T LUMP ALL YOUR NO'S IN ONE BASKET
By Susan Miles

It's very tempting to throw that rejection slip in the trash or push the "delete" button on your email, when you receive yet another "No" to one of your writing submissions.

I sometimes have to take a deep breath before I start opening replies, as I know from experience that for every "Yes" response I have received to a story or article, I have probably received 50 "No thanks". But I've learnt a lot from these "No's", not just about writing, but about the art of marketing my work.

That growing pile of "No's" can be very discouraging, so the first thing I did with my "Everest" of rejections was to break down these notices into different categories. From this exercise I found that the majority of my pesky "No's" fell into one of the following groups:-

1.. No, does not suit current editorial requirements.
2.. No, closed to submissions due to budget restraints
3.. No, closed to submissions due to overload of content.
4.. No, have just published or commissioned an article on the same topic.
5.. No, (Reprints), only buys first rights.
6.. Yes to the topic, but No to the angle/approach.
7.. No (to proposal), only accepts completed manuscripts
8.. No, (with no explanation).

If you are a paper based writer, a packet of manila folders, some floor space and a marker pen can turn your "No pile" into a logical and systemized set of files. If you are an "email" submitter like me, it's even easier. Just use the "folder" option in your email account and set up a series of electronic folders with these headings under your "inbox".

So now you have your rejection advises neatly filed (and more importantly a system to file future advises), what next? No, it's not time for a neat little bonfire or a stiff drink. It's time to take these "lemons" and make some "lemonade!".

For each of these categories there are one if not two actions you can take right now to put your "No's" to work for you. They are as follows:

1. Does Not Suit Editorial Requirements

This is a big fat reminder to revisit the 3R's of submitting. Reread the publications guidelines, Review recent editions *Note: This doesn't have to be in print, but online via their web site and Re-assess your proposal or piece.

Can you take out of your piece a different proposal that would be more in tune with the publications guidelines? If yes, note it down for a proposal to prepare. Do you have a suggestion in your Ideas book that suits the guidelines?. If yes, note the publication, editor next to the idea for when you are ready to develop it into a more detailed proposal or piece.

2. Closed to submissions due to budget restraints

Alias, I appear to receiving this one more and more these days. The instinct with these replies is to relegate the contact details for the publication to the "don't bother submitting" pile. However, circumstances do change, and you need to keep in contact with these publications on a semi-regular basis just to check their status.

Diaries to contact these publications at least every few months, either with a new proposal or a short query to check whether they are now able to consider commissioning new material.

3. Closed to submissions due to overload of content

There are two courses of action you can take with this type of reply.

First, if the reply does not include a specific time period, i.e.: Closed to submissions until the end of the year, next May etc, send a brief message requesting a time period and then diaries to follow up and resubmit at this time.

Second, think seasonally. What types of articles will be required by the publication at the time they are due to reopen to submissions?. Do you have an alternate piece that you can offer them now that would suit the time period after that date? For example, I recently sold a piece with a Summer theme to a publication that noted that they would be closed to submissions until May this year.

4. Have recently published or commissioned an article on the same topic

I actually like this response, because at least I know I got No.1. right. I pitched the right topic, in the right style to the right publication. If the article has been commissioned but not yet published, you can still make a sale. You can re-pitch your submission, this time offering sidebar details or photos to support the main article.

If the article has already been published and it is a seasonal piece, contact the editor and reconfirm necessary lead time for next year and then diaries to follow up. At present I have in my calendar a number of travel "how to" proposals for non-travel magazines who run a special travel feature in Spring as people start planning their Summer vacations.

5. No, only buys First Rights

Your immediate response to this reply can be to offer an appropriate (remember No.1!) yet unsold alternate piece. Alternatively, add this publication to your list of "First Round Offers" (those you propose to first) for future articles/proposals.

6. Yes to the topic, but no to the angle

This is my most favorite response, as I know I am 50% there. I know that the topic suits their current editorial requirements, but that my proposal needs redirection. The first newspaper article that I sold was originally proposed as a piece on teaching English in Japan. The actually story that was published was on navigating Japanese customs and culture as I reworked my proposal to suit the angle the editor suggested.

Remember, what might read as criticism of your work should just be taken as directions. Take these on board and keep rewriting, it may be well worth it. The editor who has bought the most number of articles from me to date, actually rejected my first submission 3 times before he would accept it. Luckily each rejection told me what was specifically wrong, so I kept rewriting the piece based on his feedback until I finally got a "yes".

7. Accepts only completed manuscripts

Not a problem, these are the publications that I submit my articles to if I am unable to get a "Yes" at the proposal stage. These are often handy to have as they give you the incentive to push forward and write the complete article. Otherwise I might end up with a file full of proposals and not a single complete article!

8. No, with no explanation.

Even this type of a reply is not a waste. It will at least confirm for you the correct name, title and address details of the appropriate editorial contact for future submissions.

Remember, a rejection is just for your current piece of work and does not mean a sale is not possible later on. It's important that you take these No's as not a discouragement (i.e.: Put down the matches and the Tequila bottle!) but use them as a tool to shape, develop and market your work to produce a "Yes".


Susan Miles is a Communication Specialist from Melbourne, Australia, currently located in Chiba, Japan. Susan specializes in Travel, Sport, Lifestyle and Writing articles, with her work appearing in publications such as Runners World (Australia), New York Runner, St Petersburg Times (Florida), Transitions Abroad and GoNomad.com.

WHAT SELLING 600 ARTICLES TAUGHT ME: Write Smart!
By Carolyn Campbell

Thirty years of article writing and six hundred published articles have taught me ways to write smart.

1.Wait for assignments before beginning to write.

Before, I'd interview, write articles and try to sell them.

Results: Wasted hours, unsold pieces, interviewees disappointed over unsold stories.

Now, I choose a main interview source with credentials relevant to my topic who speaks in visual, specific terms.

I interview briefly to gather essential query facts, then tell my main source I'll call back if I get the assignment. I send off my query letters, but write no more than a query until I receive a commitment from an editor.

Results: Assigned stories take less time. Lower postage, print cartridge and paper expenses.

2. Phone interviews save time.

Before, I'd tape each in-person interview.

Results: While I met the source, and obtained exact quotes, travel time, gas money, child care costs and emotional trauma from tape recorder failure were high. Transcribing tapes consumed still more time.

Now, I type responses into my word processor while interviewing by phone.

Results: I finish multiple interviews daily and print out my notes immediately. If an answer seems incomplete, a simple phone call verifies information.

3. Follow gut instincts.

Before, if my neighbor said his Aunt Ida had a fascinating life, I'd interview her. Even if my gut instinct was to pass, I'd write the story anyway.

Results: Aunt Ida stories often resulted in awkward situations where my neighbor asked if the story sold, and he and Aunt Ida shared the private opinion that I'm not a very good writer. Actually, it could be a case of right story--wrong writer. I've finally learned to trust my instinct about which stories come to life for me.

Now, I'd telephone Aunt Ida to discreetly determine if her life held one "writable" incident, and try to confine it to a single sentence--Aunt Ida saves a man from drowning. With that angle, I'd query. With no apparent angle, I'd tell her that I'm unable to write her story now because of other commitments. That's true--I'm committed to stories my instinct says will sell.

Results: More sales--fewer strained relations!

4. Head 'em off at the pass.

Before, I'd visit every possible source, tape and transcribe interviews, then somehow distill all that into a 1,000 word article.

Results: Wasted time, money, tapes, paper.

Now, With an article assignment, I telephone one main source for an in-depth interview and ask him to recommend additional sources for other brief interviews. Then I outline to determine if further interviews are necessary, and conduct one telephone interview at a time, adding information from each interview until the article is complete.

Results: More articles completed, time saved.

5. Focus on my end--the work I can do myself in moving my career forward--rather than monitoring editor's speed in replying.

Before, I monitored mailed articles and called editors who did not reply after two months.

The Result: Time spent waiting on the phone while editors resented looking for my work.

Now, I focus on my own work--completing and mailing or e-mailing manuscripts. If I haven't heard back from an editor in six months, I resubmit the same article again.

Results: Greater productivity

6. Run your own race.

Before, if I was working on an article about infertility and saw a published one, I'd give up.

Results: Discouragement

Today, if I'm writing an article about infertility and such an article appears in Redbook, I choose a genre other than the women's magazine genre in which to make my initial submission. Rather than submitting to a women's magazine, I write the article and submit it to a different genre such as the general interest, child care, or inspirational market and make my initial submissions there. Then, after selling in other market areas, I send my article to a woman's magazine other than Redbook with greater chances of selling.

Results: Less discouragement, greater productivity

7. Multiple sales Make Money

Before, I sold each article once.

Results: Low income per hours spent

Now, as soon as an article is published, I resubmit elsewhere. More and more magazines buy "one time rights" allowing multiple sales. It's safest when markets don't "cross"--in other words, when a reader is not likely to read my story in two magazines.

With multiple sales, I send off the entire article to smaller magazines, whose lower budget makes them more likely to buy a complete piece, and my query to larger magazines, who will likely prefer to dictate style and length of a finished article.

Results: Multiple checks for an article written only once.

8. Hit em again....harder.

Before, I sent each article to a magazine once.

Results: Limited marketing

Now, after rejection, I send the article to another magazine immediately. If that magazine also rejects, I consider shortening or changing it, then resubmit to another market. If six months pass without a sale, I rewrite and resubmit--to any magazines I haven't tried as well as to publications where I've submitted previously.

Results: Magazines such as Family Circle, and Guideposts have published previously-rejected articles. 9. Use letter-sized s.a.s.e.s for replies.

Before, I sent an 8" by 10" brown envelope with each submission.

Results: Wasted postage, higher envelope costs,.

Now unless the article has many pages or is a fresh copy, I send a letter-sized s.a.s.e., indicating in my cover letter that my copy of the article need not be returned.

Results: Money saved!

10. Plan a weekly mail day.

Before, queries and finished manuscripts waited until I found a convenient time to mail.

Results: Wasted time

Today, I have a weekly "post office day" when I submit articles and query letters--whether by postal mail or e-mail. This "deadline" incentive helps me complete work.

Results: Deadlines met, feelings of accomplishment.

Carolyn Campbell is the author of three books, most recently, "Reunited: True Stories of Long Lost Siblings Reunited At Last" (Penguin-Putnam)

CUTTING DOWN THE COST (of writing)
By Katie L. Clark

Have you looked at your writing expenses lately? Wow, I know. If you're like most beginning writers, your expenses greatly out-weigh your income. Being in this bracket myself, I set out on a journey to cut down the costs. Here are a few tips if you, like me, want to increase your intake!

Submission Cost

Take your manuscripts to the post office to mail instead of going by "postal charts". The postal worker will weigh your mail, setting the price by weight. Instead of spending $.74 for two stamps, you might only pay $.65. This will likely save you a few cents every time a manuscript goes out!

Polish Your Work

Don't send out a piece that isn't ready yet. You've finally finished it. You know it's perfect--why let it sit for a few days? MONEY, that's why! Sending out a premature ms can cost you in the long run. You pay to send it out, you pay for it to be returned! And returned it will be. If it's not ready no one will buy it, so let it sit a day or two, give it a once over, then, when you're POSITIVE, send it out. You're much more likely to get a paycheck this way (which is the goal!).


Buy In Bulk

Buy envelopes, pens, pencils, and paper in bulk. Buying a few here and a few there can quickly add up. Buying in bulk will save dollars!


E-Mail, A Writer's Best Friend

Whenever you see that a publisher accepts it, send manuscripts, queries, and letters by e-mail. This will cut down on envelope, paper, and mailing costs. It's also usually quicker, another huge bonus!


The Internet

Most magazines have a website. Instead of sending away for guidelines and theme lists, check out the website! They usually have these there, and it will save you the time and the mailing cost. Also, most have sample stories and articles at the site. Study these for style and it just might save you the cost of sample magazines!


Sample Magazines

Not all magazines and publishers have websites, or sample pieces posted there. If not, go ahead and send away for guidelines, theme, and sample issue. Studying the markets and knowing what the editors want will save you wasted mailing costs on manuscripts that just don't fit the publisher.

In researching these steps, I found that most required more discipline than I had, and still I am working on it! If you can pull yourself up by the bootstraps and get into gear using these steps, you're sure to start cutting down your costs. And that is a goal we all have! Happy writing!
 

REAL MICE POOP ON YOUR COUNTERS, By Susan Sundwall

I live in a very old house. The poor dear is pushing two hundred. Oh, it has charm and grace, interesting corners and doors that go nowhere, but it also has mice in the walls. I hear them at night … skritch.. skritch ….just behind the wainscoting next to the chair where I’m reading. I pound on the wall and the noise stops but when I shamble downstairs the next morning for my first cup of coffee the evidence of nocturnal meandering mice is right there on the counter. Yuck! Who could possibly think mice are cute?

Children’s writers that’s who.

We do it all the time. We take the real thing and work it like a new brick of modeling clay. We toss it around in our imagination and re-make it in our own image. We put striped trousers and red suspenders on rabbits and give the cows in the barn a typewriter. We put a terry cloth cape on a fourth grader and let him roar through our outrageous PB with his underwear stitches showing. Making a good story out of the real thing however is a bit trickier than your audience might imagine.

The Spark

Let me tell you a real mouse story. My husband and I came home late one night and entered the darkened kitchen to see a shadowy form crouched by the toaster. We flipped on the light and realized it was our cat, Sam. He didn’t move a muscle as we walked up quietly behind him. His entire being was fixated on that toaster. My husband reached over and pushed the lever down and soon a small field mouse scrabbled to the edge of the toaster slot and shot across the counter whereupon the cat gave merry chase. It was quite amusing and a possible story sparker.

Let me tell you a real child story. We have three sons. All through their growing years they suffered the whole round of colds and tummy aches as all kids do. One evening my oldest was enduring the symptoms of a particularly nasty cold. I took him into the kitchen and reached for the bottle of medicine, you know, the kind with a childproof cap? He waited patiently, feverishly, while I struggled to get that cap off. Finally he plopped down in a kitchen chair and said, “Mom, by the time you open that bottle I’ll be all better.” I didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry, but it was an incident that lit a fuse and gave me a piece to send to Reader’s Digest. Getting the idea here?

Hone Your Senses

Here’s a little exercise I use now and then to sharpen my awareness of my surroundings. When I’m driving to work I say aloud the name of various objects along the route. Mailbox, birch tree, trash can, red truck and so on. Once while I was thus occupied

a little bird darted out of a tall hedge, made a dramatic right turn and bopped along beside the car for about six seconds. For that infinitesimal moment in time we were traveling

buddies. I was utterly enchanted. If I had not been concentrating on naming objects, i.e. hedge, I doubt I would have even noticed the bird. Train your senses outward. This may be tough advice to follow in a world crammed with external stimuli, but let me give you another example of what I mean.

My husband, oldest son and I own and operate a computer store. Lucky me, I’m the one who gets to do the bookkeeping. One summer night I tossed and turned and turned again unable to sleep for all the attendant worries of owning a business. I saw just about every wee hour on the clock and as dawn approached I lay in bed sort of limp and ragged dreading having to rise in an hour or so. But then something marvelous happened. Through our open window I heard the delicate cheep of the first bird that awoke that morning. It arrested all my senses. It calmed me down, made me thankful and gave me a whole sentence that enriched a story I had been struggling with. It would now read; ‘When dawn broke there was no friendly bird chatter to comfort her’. For the rest of the day I was possessed with the thought that a writer should never, ever underestimate the power of the twenty-second blast of inspiration.

Write Your Story

You have to write about whatever it is that inspires you. There has never been a you before. Your view is unique. Hang on to that and use it. You may be supremely inspired by something that bores the bejeebers out of someone else. But your take on it is going to make it a terrific story that somebody somewhere is going to love – and buy. Really. Birds, for instance, seem to have a lot of things to say to me. For you it may be a crabby third grader or a giggly teenage girl with pink hair. Grab every incident that gives you pause this week and shake the living daylights out of it. There’s a story in there and your honed senses are going to find it. Why you may even discover that mice are bewhiskered charmers ready to romp with high hilarity through your best seller. Your view would be different from mine and you won’t have any competition from me on that score either because I know that real mice….poop on your counters.

TEN WAYS TO ELECTRIFY YOUR WRITING, By L. Jans

1. Verb and noun selection

Try using verbs to describe an action that would normally need a longer explanation. How about coalesced, extrapolate, expiate? Look at these nouns: recidivism, dereliction, exigency, vicissitudes, verisimilitude. Aren’t they great?

When you encounter a new word, jot it down in a vocabulary notebook.

2. Personal Experience

Make a list of the places you have lived. Did you live on a farm? in an apartment/ in a two-storey house? What do you remember happening there? Any quirks the place had? What people or pets were around?

I once lived in a small town. On a quiet night, you could hear everything that was going on in adjacent yards. I wrote a poem, "Code of Secrets", about the ‘secrets’ on that block.

I lived on a farm. We had a dog and guinea hens. One morning, I burnt the toast, setting off a chain reaction. The smoke alarm sounded, making the dog howl. His howling set off the guinea hens with their staccato alarm. I later remembered the incident, and wrote a poem, "Strange Music".

I now live on an acreage with its own set of quirks. One of the ‘quirks’ is that when I sit at the kitchen table, I am looking eastward at the quonset. I can see a reflection of who or what is passing by on the road, which is westward. I wound this quirk, along with some other strange phenomena of this place, into an article. It is away at COUNTRY WOMAN.

Try finishing this stem sentence: I remember...........

Kay Parley, a lady whom I interviewed about what inspires writers, says she has lived over seven decades. "All I have to do is scan experience."

3. Acquire some unusual reference books (besides the standard ones).

I bought some unusual reference books at a garage sale. One is a service man’s manual. It lists Bible references to read when lonely, when sick, when troubled. I’ve used it many times in my religious articles to find just the appropriate Bible passage for an article.

Another surprise reference I’ve used many times is TIMES ENCYCLOPEDIA AND GAZETTEER, printed in 1926. It has a section of familiar allusions, (ex. Hobson’s Choice); famous characters in poetry and prose (ex. Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde); nicknames of famous persons; a list of men’s and women’s names (helpful in selecting characters’ names); and commercial and legal terms (habeas corpus).

4. Draw from your own ethnicity and other cultures.

A friend told me about the gypsies of Europe who approach tourists at tourist sites. This sets one’s imagination in gear.

I once worked with a lady from Viet Nam. She was always smiling, even early in the morning or when the rest of us were grouchy. I developed an article, "Living in Joy", for a religious publication, and a dramatic monologue, based on her description of life in war torn Viet Nam, and her subsequent immigration to Canada.

5. Expand to another genre.

If you presently write in one genre, try expanding. Try poetry, how-to, fiction, children’s stories, nonfiction, or songwriting.

Five years ago, I didn’t think I had a poem in me. When I applied myself, I managed a poetry book, RUTS OF LIFE. I continue to write poetry.

I also ventured a few religious articles, after having an experience that brought me closer to God. Once that was printed, I continued to get printed. TAPESTRY has printed my articles on grief and forgiveness, and my article, "Angels Around Us" is away at another publication.

If you have young children, ten to one you have story-telling ability, or have entertained children with projects they love.

6. Learn from rejection.

I once wrote a short article, "Sour Grapes of Writing". It was about the problems of writing. No one would print it. Finally, one editor explained that their magazine wanted more positive articles which inspired writers, not depressed them.

I admit her comments did sting a bit. But I took her comments to heart. When I found a solution for the problems and sent an article back, the same magazine snapped it up and paid me well for it.

A magazine editor returned a comment about my poetry. She told me to scratch a little deeper. What does she mean by that? I snorted defiantly. But, a few weeks later, I attended a poetry clinic. I was less huffy about her comments, as Mick Burrs skillfully shared his expertise.

7. Spend some time looking at scenery, or describing a feeling like it has never been described before.

Look at a lawn of dandelions. What do you think of? smile buttons, wine not yet bottled, yellow drawer knobs?

8. Pay attention to what friends and casual acquaintances say.

My friend and I were biking one evening. We passed a neighbor’s garden. The neighbor had placed tin cans around his tomato plants. My friend commented, "Bob’s growing tomato cans." I may use that in a fictional piece, a children's story, or on its own.

9. Speak to people of different ages and occupations.

My ninety-year-old neighbor gave me the best method of controlling worms in turnips and other vegetables. It’s cheap and non-chemical. I gleaned that hint during a casual back-fence conversation about how the garden was doing.

From a former meat cutter, I learned a wonderful new meal idea. I buy a roast (at roast price), slice thinly, then flour and fry. Use half the roast that way. Then, next night, roast the other half. This method works with beef, pork, and turkey (using the breast as cutlets). Am I glad I chatted with him for a few minutes.

I watched a handyman pop a nail into a partly-used tube of caulking compound. It keeps it from drying out.

See what I mean?

10. Eavesdropping

W.O.Mitchell often eavesdropped on children’s conversations to see what subjects interested children. His children’s stories arose from ideas gained from eavesdropping.

I’m not suggesting one hang around playgrounds where one’s intentions could be misconstrued. But we all come in contact with children playing (including our own), and pay little attention.

Nor am I suggesting being invasive or intrusive in any way. I am talking about bits of conversation we all encounter and normally discard: bits of conversation overheard while in a restaurant, mall, waiting in a lineup or shopping in a store.

Once in a lineup at a fast food restaurant, a cashier redirected a customer heading for the kitchen. He thought it was the washroom. "You’ll have to wash dishes if you go in that door," she warned.

Use some of these techniques for higher voltage writing. You will enhance and electrify your writing.

Additional Reading

YOU CAN WRITE CHILDREN’S BOOKS, by Tracey Dils

YOU CAN WRITE GREETING CARDS, by Karen Ann Moore

WRITING FOR RELIGIOUS AND OTHER SPECIALTY MARKETS, by Dennis E Hensley and Rose Adkins

© 2000 by Lily Jans