Posts Tagged ‘write’
Create Yourself
I collect quotes. I found one today while reading the magazine Where Women Create.
“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.”
-George Bernard Shaw
This is an exciting concept to me! Why would you want to find something old, stale, and trite when you could create something new, bold, and exciting?
Do whatever it is you want to do.
Write. Draw. Paint. Sing. Dance. Compose. Take pictures. Knit. Crochet. Weave. Spin. Cook. Garden. Teach. Parent. LIVE.
Give yourself permission.
Say YES, I CAN!
And instead of finding yourself, CREATE yourself.
Have fun!
Enter the Sub-Plot
After yesterday’s post about “Is It Progress?” I thought about how I could shake things up to reach the length I need.
It would need to be rather involved, whatever “it” is.
The more I thought about it, the more I knew the suggestions I’ve been getting from people — the agent, beta readers, other writers — to consider another sub-plot are right on the money.
But what subplot would be substantial enough?
Kill the King.
A few things here:
- The King will not die.
- Kiernan will be one of the ones who discover the plot and work to stop it; not one of the would-be killers.
- It will be hefty enough to continue through the book and only be resolved in the last chapter.
Now the question is, where do I start it?
I’ll figure it out. I have the (revised) manuscript printing right now so I can physically flip through the pages and find where the best spot would be. I anticipate this will also include adding a new chapter.
Is It Progress?
I’m getting ready to go through the last two chapters of KIERNAN’S CURSE. No, I’m not finished. I don’t know anyone who can add 25,000 words that fast.
What I’ve been doing is adding little bits in here and there and making notes of where I could add in something bigger. I’m working on strengthening one subplot and plan to add another. With those, I think it will get me where I need to be.
If I’m doing the math right, I’ve added about 6,000 words, so now I just have 19,000 to go. I should feel good about the progress, but I don’t. It’s still overwhelming.
Two over-used analogies come to mind:
- Bite the frog and get it over with.
- It’s like eating an elephant, one bite at a time.
I’ll keep on keeping on. And I’ll update my progress here as I go.
Writing Class at ECU in Ada, Oklahoma
I haven’t publicized this much as yet, but I will be teaching a writing class through ECU’s Continuing Education/Public Service Program in Ada.
If you, or anyone you know, would be interested in taking this class, please call the number I’ll give you in a minute and sign up. As of right now, there is one person enrolled. I am willing to do the class for two or three people, but I can’t do it for just one.
Here’s the blurb as it appears in the ECU catalog:
If you have an interest in writing and selling your work, this class is for you. In this class you will learn how to find a market for writing articles or essays that you have a passion and expertise in. Instructor Jennifer Nipps is an award winning, multi-published freelance writer and has training in teaching adults.
Make Money Writing: 0209-PQ34
10/20-11/17 (5) TU 7:00-9:00 $60 310 FE
You can call 580-559-5456 to enroll.
If you would like a little more info on what will be covered in the class, feel free to e-mail me. I’ll be glad to answer any questions.
Feel free to forward this to anyone in the Ada area — or anyone willing to travel to Ada one night a week for five weeks — you think might be interested.
Press Release: Imagine Oklahoma at Red Dirt Book Festival
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Pioneer Library System
CONTACT: Galyn Cresap, Public Relations Specialist
Telephone; 701-2674
E-mail: gcresap@pls.lib.ok.us
Imagine Oklahoma at Red Dirt Book Festival
SHAWNEE—More than 70 well-known writers, entertainers, and scholars with Oklahoma roots are preparing to be in Shawnee, Okla. on November 6 and 7 to present 40 programs for hundreds of reading enthusiasts and aspiring writers. The fourth biennial Red Dirt Book Festival will be held at the Heart of Oklahoma Expo Center on Friday, November 6, and at Oklahoma Baptist University on Saturday, November 7. The public is invited to attend any or all of the programs associated with the festival. Registration for most Red Dirt Book Festival events is free and can be done online at http://www.reddirtbookfestival.com through October 15.
Imagine Oklahoma is the conversational theme for the 2009 festival, and will be illustrated by several featured presenters who help the world image Oklahoma through their work on television. Ron Stahl, co-host of the Integris Discover Oklahoma series will speak at the Opening General Session at the Expo Center at 9 a.m. Friday, November 6. The luncheon speaker on Friday is Susan Miller, producer of the Gallery series on OETA-TV. The Friday evening banquet speaker is Galen Culver, producer of the Is This a Great State or What! series for KFOR-TV. Also performing at the banquet which will be held at the Potawatomi Cultural Heritage Center are the Red Dirt Rangers.
The featured author for the 2009 festival is Billie Letts, best known for her debut novel, Where the Heart Is which became a York Times Best Seller, an Oprah Book Club selection, and a major motion picture. Letts has written three more novels, all with Oklahoma settings and characters. Her latest work, Made in the USA, was published in 2008. Letts will speak at OBU’s Raley Chapel at 11 a.m. Saturday, November 7. Copies of her novels will be available for purchase and autographing following the presentation.
Previous featured authors have included Tony Hillerman, the first American author whose work was featured on the PBS series, Mystery!; Bob Burke, 2006 Oklahoma Hall of Fame inductee who has written 70 historical non-fiction books; Fred R. Harris, former U.S. Senator from Oklahoma and widely published author of nonfiction, including Does People Do It? A Memoir; and Carolyn Hart, master of mystery and suspense and the first author to win all three major mystery awards for her novels–the Agatha, the Anthony, and the Macavity awards.
Those interested in attending any portion of the festival may visit their nearest hometown public library in Cleveland, McClain and Pottawatomie counties to pick up a free copy of the winter 2009 edition of WORD Magazine which contains complete festival information including a list of presenters and donors.
Major support for the festival is provided the Pioneer Library System, the Oklahoma Humanities Council, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Ar-Hale Family Foundation, Dougherty Fund, and Kirkpatrick Family Fund. Additional support comes from the Shawnee Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Oklahoma Baptist University and St. Gregory’s University and many local donors and volunteers.
Slow & Steady Wins the Race
A few months ago, one of my cousins went to the Bahama’s and brought me the turtle in the picture. I put it by my computer in my writing space. I think it’s a perfect metaphor for writing, in more ways than one. The writing, revising, and submission processes are slow. The hurrieder you go, the behinder you get.
Do you remember Aesop’s fable of the toirtoise and the hare? As a refresher, here it is:
There once was a speedy hare who bragged about how fast he could run. Tired of hearing him boast, Slow and Steady, the tortoise, challenged him to a race. All the animals in the forest gathered to watch.
Hare ran down the road for a while and then and paused to rest. He looked back at Slow and Steady and cried out, “How do you expect to win this race when you are walking along at your slow, slow pace?”
Hare stretched himself out alongside the road and fell asleep, thinking, “There is plenty of time to relax.”
Slow and Steady walked and walked. He never, ever stopped until he came to the finish line.
The animals who were watching cheered so loudly for Tortoise, they woke up Hare.
Hare stretched and yawned and began to run again, but it was too late. Tortoise was over the line.
After that, Hare always reminded himself, “Don’t brag about your lightning pace, for Slow and Steady won the race!”
In writing, we have to be more like the tortoise. Keep plodding along and we will reach the finish line. Sometimes, though this wasn’t included in Aesop’s fable, we help others along the way (as shown by my friendly little turtle above who has another turtle riding on his back).
Keep with it. Keep writing. And if you need a little pick-me-up, remember the story of the tortoise and the hare. If that doesn’t help…
E-mail me. I’ll give you a little pep talk if that’s what you need.
To Pseudonym or Not to Pseudonym (Or: Why I Use the User ID I Do)
(Note: This is about what name I choose to use for various accounts/sites online, not for what name I choose to write/be published under.)
When I first found the internet in the late 1990s, I didn’t want my name out there. I didn’t want people to know who I was. At the time, I barely let people know I was a writer.
That, obviously, has changed. People know I write. They know I have had things published.
Sometimes they even look for me.
That is the main reason I use a version of my name as my user ID on sites like Twitter, LinkedIn, Plurk, etc.
There is a marketing strategy used among many professions, but seems most common among writers, of transparency. You make no effort to hide who you are or what you do. You’re open and honest about yourself, your business, and what you do.
That’s what I try to do.
There’s another reason, too, though. From time to time, disagreements crop up on the Internet, as in life in general. But there is a key difference.
On the Internet, you can use a pseudonym for your user ID. You don’t have to use your actual name. Because of that, it’s easy to hide from what you say. You don’t have to take ownership of what you have said and can pretend it didn’t happen.
In life, you can’t do that.
I generally don’t go to places where such things are common practice, but eventually, wherever I go, things are bound to happen that cause disagreements and confrontations on some level.
This is my name. I have to take responsibility for what I say. I can’t hide behind a pseudonym.
That’s another reason I use a version of my name online. It keeps me honest with myself as well as with whoever might read what I write.
Quick Conference Wrap-Up
The Oklahoma Writers’ Federation, Inc., conference was this weekend. I came away with three great things.
1. On Friday afternoon, I had an appointment with Dan Case, editor of WritingForDollars and publisher of AWOC Books. Last year, I learned that he was doing a “Devoted to…” series of devotional books. As of right now, there are Devoted to Writing, Devoted to Cooking, Devoted to Fishing, and Devoted to Truck Driving. I wanted to pitch DEVOTED TO CREATING.
A few weeks ago, he posted on Twitter that he was accepting appointments at the conference (which I knew about) and I replied I already had an appointment with him. He asked me to e-mail 10 pages of “something” to him so we would have a more productive 10 minutes.
So, as I’m sure you’ve figured…He wants it!!
2. Also…In May, with the writers’ organization, we change officers. This year, I’m Publicity Director. I’ve already started on that. OWFI is now on Twitter.
I have ideas of other social media-type ways to promote the organization between now and the next conference.
3. My historical romance novel-in-progress, BENEN’S BURDEN, won 1st Honorable Mention in the Historical category of the OWFI contest.
The keynote speaker for the banquet on Friday night was the amazing Tess Gerritsen. I had a previous commitment/promise to help with moving some baskets, so I didn’t get to go to her booksigning afterward. She is a wonderful speaker. The crux of it, in my opinion, was her closing line: “Write from the heart because that’s where the stories are.”
Also on Friday, I hosted a buzz session on Twitter, microblogging, and blogging in general. Around 10-15 people came through (in & out). There is some interest in an actual conference session on it sometime in the future.
Who knows? It could happen.
Busy Busy Bee
Early in the month, I had applied for a writing gig about writing health articles. I had resisted it for a while, but eventually common sense won out.
I do medical transcription. I have internists, gastroenterologists, pediatricians, neurologists, orthopedic surgeons, psychiatrists, and psychologists I can call in for expert sources.
So I applied for the gig and promptly forgot about it.
One day last week, I got an e-mail stating they were interested in working for me but would like a health-related sample article rather than the writing- and freelance-related ones I had submitted.
I weighed the pros and cons. I researched the company. I finally decided to take the risk and do the sample article. If they took it and ran, shame on me. I submitted it, as requested, by Sunday evening.
They didn’t take it and run.
I got an e-mail Wednesday afternoon requesting an invoice and mailing information so they could send me a check. They liked the article! They also asked when I could start writing for them regularly.
Of course, I said, basically, “whenever you want me to.”
So I got another e-mail with a list of topics for my next assignments due by next Friday.
The point, other than I’m very happy to have a new gig and have some work coming in that’s not from the day job?
Persistence pays off. Keep on keeping on. Set goals for yourself and work towards them.
I’m still doing that. What I have now isn’t enough for me to go full-[time yet, but I’m working on it and definitely making progress.
Membership in a Writers’ Group Vital to Writing?
On Saturday, I had a conversation with my Granny that went something like this:
Her: So are you still going to the writers’ group?
Me: No.
Her: Well, why not?
Me: The one here doesn’t really offer me anything useful.
Her: Well, are you still writing?
Me: Yes, and I’m starting to make some money with it.
Her: You are??
I’m actually proud of myself that on her question about if I were still writing, I didn’t go with my first reaction, which would have been “DUH!”
I wonder, though, why some people think it’s of the utmost importance that writers be members of an in-person writers’ group. A good group, like the one I was a member of for several years, can be a great help and a marvelous asset. A bad one can drag you down, leave you uninspired, and eventually lead to lower writing output.
That’s not what I wanted for myself.
That’s why I decided the local writers’ group didn’t work for me. Yes, it can and will be an asset to someone else and I wish every single member in that group the best of luck with their writing.
I don’t think it’s all that vital to be a member of a writers’ group, though. At least, not an in-person one. I get a lot of feedback, support, and encouragement from online groups. Yes, I’d like to be able to go to a good in-person group again, but unless I want to walk 60+ miles one way, that won’t happen unless/until I start one myself.
(For that matter, belonging to Toastmasters is also somehow encouraging/inspiring writing-wise.)
So what groups do I go to online?
The main ones are Web Writing Wonders and the AbsoluteWrite Water Cooler, but there are others I go to.
Even then, do you think Dickens belonged to a writers’ group? What about Plato?
There have been writers a lot longer than there have been writers’ groups. They may likely have had their personal support systems, but that’s not an actual group.
Therefore, to my way of thinking, they’re not absolutely necessary. Helpful, yes. Necessary, no.
You — I — can be writers without belonging to any kind of writers’ group. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
Jen Nipps, Writer 