Category Archives: The Writing Life

Grammar and Punctuation, Mechanics of writing, The Writing Life

Basic Punctuation Every Beginning Writer Needs to Know by Nikolas Baron

5 Comments

Posted by Kathleen Pooler/@kathypooler with Nikolas Baron/@Grammarly

 

” Ignorant people think it’s the noise which fighting cats make that is so aggravating, but it ain’t so; it’s the sickening grammar they use.” -Mark Twain

 

As we all know, grammar and punctuation can make or break a story. The way I see it, any writer can benefit from getting back to the basics.

I am pleased to feature Nikolas Baron from the Grammarly Marketing team to talk about basic punctuation. Nick says,

“Grammarly is one of the best websites to learn punctuation and grammar because of their teaching tools and grammar check. The grammar check especially helps to correct your most common errors and teach you how to avoid them. Always remember that even as a beginning writer, using a grammar check, monitoring punctuation, and cleaning up your syntax pays off in the end.”

grammarly-logo-big

Welcome Nick!

 

nik_baron
Nikolas Baron

 

Basic Punctuation Every Beginning Writer Needs to Know

Those who don’t write think many good writers just sit down at a computer and compose perfect prose. They presume the ideas flow freely and the punctuation and grammar just come naturally without any work. As someone who writes for a living and frequently researches writing techniques, I can tell you that becoming well-versed in English grammar and punctuation is hard work. When I was in elementary school, poor grammar and punctuation kept me from receiving A’s on essays. Even as a child, I found it extremely frustrating. I made a vow that in middle school I would clean up my English syntax act and get A’s on my essays. From there, I received almost all A’s on my essays and constantly worked to improve my grammar and punctuation.

Beginning writers need to remember that good writing starts with mechanics. You can have all the best short story, article, and book ideas, but if you fail to practice good writing techniques and mechanics, nobody will ever pick up your work.

However, what are the basic pieces of the puzzle that are necessary to write perfect prose?

 

1) Commas: A comma, at its most basic, is used to indicate a pause in a sentence. When it comes to commas, one of the most important items of information to know is the difference between an independent clause and a dependent clause. An independent clause has a subject and a verb and can stand by itself as a complete sentence. A dependent clause also has a subject and a verb but can’t stand on its own because it is an incomplete sentence. Commas can join independent clauses and dependent clauses, but consider the following as to where they should be used:

  • Joining two independent clauses by a comma and a coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, for, nor, so)
  • Using a comma after an introductory phrase, prepositional phrase, or dependent clause
  • Using a comma to separate items in a series or list
  • Using a comma between coordinate adjectives
  • Using a comma after a transitional element (however, therefore, nonetheless, also, otherwise, finally, instead, thus, of course, above all, for example, in other words, as a result, on the other hand, in conclusion, in addition)
  • Using a comma with quoted words
  • Using a comma in a date, number, personal title, or separating city and state

2) Semicolons: Like the comma, a semicolon is used to connect independent and dependent clauses and causes a pause in the sentence; however, it is a stronger piece of punctuation. It links closely connected ideas and also separates long clauses that would be confusing using a comma. Consider the following uses when you’re thinking of using a semicolon:

  • Linking two independent clauses with similar ideas
  • Linking clauses connected by conjunctive adverbs or transitional phrases to connect closely related ideas (in fact, for example, that is, for instance, in addition, in other words, on the other hand, even so)
  • Link lists where the items contain commas to avoid confusion between list items or clauses
  • Joining items in a series that already has commas

3) Colons: A colon is used to point out to the reader that what follows proves, explains, defines, describes, or lists elements in the previous sentence. A complete sentence always precedes a colon, but the items after a colon may not always be complete sentences. Consider the following as examples of when to use a colon:

  • Joining two independent clauses to emphasize the second clause
  • Using a colon after an independent clause when it is followed by a list, quotation, appositive, or other idea directly related to the independent clause
  • Using a colon at the end of a letter greeting

4) Em dash and En dash: An en dash is slightly longer than a hyphen and used in place of a hyphen when combining two items. An en dash can also replace “to” between numbers. An em dash can be used in place of a colon, comma, semicolon, or parentheses. It indicates added emphasis, interruption, or an abrupt change of thought. A great place for a detailed explanation of this topic can be found here.

 

comma_stop

 

Author’s Bio:

Nikolas discovered his love for the written word in Elementary School, where he started spending his afternoons sprawled across the living room floor devouring one Marc Brown children’s novel after the other and writing short stories about daring pirate adventures. After acquiring some experience in various marketing, business development, and hiring roles at internet startups in a few different countries, he decided to re-unite his professional life with his childhood passions by joining Grammarly’s marketing team in San Francisco. He has the pleasure of being tasked with talking to writers, bloggers, teachers, and others about how they use Grammarly’s online proofreading application to improve their writing. His free time is spent biking, traveling, and reading.

Website    http://www.grammarly.com/

Nikolas Baron

blog:    http://www.grammarly.com/blog/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Grammarly

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/grammarly

 

***

Thank you Nick for introducing us to Grammarly and for reviewing these basic punctuation rules for all writers.

How about you? Do you struggle with punctuation? What writing resources have helped you with grammar and punctuation?

We’d love to hear from you. Please leave your comments below~

Next Week:

Monday, June 23: “What a Nonagenarian Javelin Thrower Can Teach Us About Memoir Writing by Debra Eve”

 

 

The Writing Life, WOW Women on Writing Blog Tour and Giveaway

Author Attitude: What Is It and Why Do I Need It? WOW Women on Writing Book Tour with Nina Amir

9 Comments

Posted by Kathleen Pooler/@kathypooler with Nina Amir/@NinaAmir

 

“Success as a writer has always been a matter , in large part, of plain old hard work. But also smart work–knowing what to do and how.” Novelist James Scott Bell, from  the Foreword, The Author Training Manual.

 

I am very pleased to participate in Nina Amir’s WOW, Women on Writing Book Tour for her new book, The Author’s Training Manual. Nina has some very interesting advice about succeeding as an author by following WOOT! I hope you enjoy hearing about this as much as I did.

 

My book reviews can be found on Amazon, Goodreads, Shelfari and LibraryThings

 

Welcome , Nina!

 

NinaAuthorPic
Author Nina Amir

 

 Author Attitude : What Is It and Why Do I Need It?

In the publishing world, it’s hard to predict what book will succeed. It’s a bit easier to know if an author will achieve success. Maybe one has more writing talent while another has superior ideas. Yet other might be a phenomenal marketer. More than likely, you’ll find that successful authors, much like successful people in almost any industry, have one thing in common: a successful attitude.

 

Attitude Affects Results

 

You might have heard the saying, “Your current habits have only helped you achieve your current level of success. To achieve a higher level of success, you must change your habits.” To do that, you need to change not only your behavior but also your underlying attitude.

 

Your attitude, which is based upon your beliefs, thoughts or ideas about a thing, experience or situation, affects your behavior, or how you choose to act.  Your actions then determine your results. Thus, to change your actions you might have to change your corresponding beliefs, thoughts, or ideas.

 

When it comes to writing a book, if you aren’t achieving the results you want, you must examine your attitude about writing and publishing a book. When you change your attitude, your results will change as well.

 

That doesn’t mean you don’t still need a good idea and good writing. You do, but your attitude will help you attain your goals in any area as you work toward successful authorship.

 

For example, if you have the attitude that you can only write when the mood hits, and the mood doesn’t hit often, you won’t get your book written quickly. Your attitude likely is based on beliefs that writers write when inspired. That belief might come from thoughts that you need to wait to feel inspired before you can write well. A more productive thought might be “I get inspired by writing daily on a schedule.” If you take action on that thought, you might find yourself getting inspired and believing that you can write well whenever you sit down at the computer. You may start writing daily and producing inspired results. Your attitude about how and when you write will change.

 

The same could be true of building author platform, for instance. If your attitude is that you hate author platform building, you won’t spend time on it, or when you do, that time won’t be productive. If you explore the beliefs and thoughts that create your attitude, you might discover some that sound like “It’s a time sink” and “It takes me away from writing.” You could change your attitude to: Platform building helps me succeed as an author, so I embrace this activity and do it willingly and with enthusiasm. Your thoughts would need to change as well, to something like: “I build author platform effectively” (Learn how!) and “Platform building helps the books I write get read.” As you change your thoughts and beliefs, your attitude will change, as will your results.

 

Author Attitude—The Four Elements

 

Here are the elements I believe make up a successful “Author Attitude.”

 

1. Willingness

 

To succeed as an author generally takes an enormous amount of willingness. To succeed as a self-published author takes even more.

 

·         You must be willing to do whatever it takes.

·         You must be willing to do more than just write.

·         You must be willing to change.

·         You must be willing to learn new things.

·         You must be willing to step outside your comfort zone.

·         You must be willing to make mistakes

·         You must be willing to take risks.

·         You must be willing to fail.

·         You must be willing to succeed

·         You must be willing to play big and be seen.

·         You must be willing to get rejected.

·         You must be willing to run your own publishing company.

 

2. Optimism

 

Studies show that optimists succeed more often than pessimists. Optimists don’t take rejection, criticism and mistakes personally, which helps them avoid getting stuck. Optimistic people approach challenges as opportunities to move closer to their goals. Pessimistic people see them as obstacles, or reasons to quit.

 

3. Objectivity

 

Writing and publishing requires the objectivity to see yourself and your work from a different perspective than your own, such as:

 

·         the reader’s perspective

·         an editor’s perspective

·         a publishing professional’s perspective

 

When you can do this, you can take the necessary steps to improve your work and make yourself into an attractive publishing partner.

 

4. Tenacity

 

Writing a book isn’t easy. It’s often said that the real work of a writer begins after publication when you begin promotion. You must have determination, persistence and perseverance—all elements of tenacity—to get from aspiring to published (and successful) author.

 

WOOT!

 

To easily remember the elements of an Author Attitude, I created an acronym: WOOT. According to the Urban Dictionary, the word “woot” originated as a hacker term for root, or administrative,  access to a computer. It works well when applied to the topic of attitude because to change your attitude you must access your “computer”—your mind.

 

These days WOOT is used simply as a term of excitement.

 

If you and your book succeed by whatever definition you choose you will have reason to shout, “WOOT! WOOT!”

 

About the Author

 

Nina Amir, author of How to Blog a Book: Write, Publish, and Promote Your Work One Post at a Time and The Author Training Manual: Develop Marketable Ideas, Craft Books That Sell, Become the Author Publishers Want, and Self-Publish Effectively, transforms writers into inspired, successful authors, authorpreneurs and blogpreneurs. Known as the Inspiration to Creation Coach, she moves her clients from ideas to finished books as well as to careers as authors by helping them combine their passion and purpose so they create products that positively and meaningfully impact the world. A sought-after author, book, blog-to-book, and results coach, some of Nina’s clients have sold 300,000+ copies of their books, landed deals with major publishing houses and created thriving businesses around their books. She writes four blogs, self-published 12 books and founded National Nonfiction Writing Month, aka the Write Nonfiction in November Challenge.

 

To learn more about Nina, visit www.ninaamir.com. Get a FREE 5-Day Become a Published Author Series from her when you click here.

 

 

Title: The Author Training Manual: Develop Marketable Ideas, Craft Books That Sell, Become the Author Publishers Want, and Self-Publish Effectively


Author: Nina Amir

Genre: Writer how-to

 

Publisher: Writer’s Digest Books


Publication Date: March 18, 2014

Paperback: 248 pages


Synopsis:

Anyone can publish a book and become an “author,” but if you want to become a successful author with a profitable publishing career, you need a clear, step-by-step guide to help you develop book ideas that sell. In The Author Training Manual, expert editor and book coach Nina Amir reveals the exact process successful authors have used to create business plans and proposals for their books and teaches you how to view your ideas through the eyes of acquisitions editors and literary agents.

 

Whether you write fiction or nonfiction, plan to traditionally publish or self-publish, The Author Training Manual provides you with the tools you need to achieve your goals and become the author publishers want. Inside you’ll find concrete steps, evaluations, sample business plans, in-depth training activities, editor and agent commentaries, and much more–all designed to help you stand out, from the slush pile to the shelf.

NinaBookcover
Author Training Manual by Nina Amir

 

Just Thought You Should Know:

 

The Author Training Manual will also be having a WOW Social Media Tour this summer. On June 30, we’ll be having a review and giveaway of The Author Training Manual on the Muffin. So don’t forget to tell your readers they’ll have another chance to win a copy on June 30.

 

Author’s Websites:                

Nina Amir’s website:

http://ninaamir.com/

 

Nina Amir’s blogs:

http://ninaamir.com/blogs-and-columns/

 

Nina Amir’s Facebook:

InspirationToCreation

 

Twitter: @NinaAmir

 

How about you? Do you have the WOOT it takes to be a successful author?

 

Nina has graciously agreed to give away a copy of the Author Training Manual to a commenter whose name will be selected in a random drawing.

 

We’d love to hear from you. Please leave your comments below~

 

Next Week:

Monday, 6/09/14: “My Journey of Defeating Fear to Help Others by Memoir Author Pamela Koefoed.”

 

 

The Writing Life

Why Fear is the Key to Unlock Your Best Writing by Joe Bunting

19 Comments

Posted by Kathleen Pooler/@kathypooler with Joe Bunting/@joebunting

 

 

“I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.” — Atticus Finch, To Kill a Mockingbird

 

It is my pleasure to feature author, writing coach and founder of The Story Cartel, Joe Bunting in this guest post. Joe and I met through his Story Cartel Course which I highly recommend for any writer who wants to “increase their audience, create industry connection and build a strong foundation for a writing career.”

Joe Bunting is the creator of The Write Practice, a writing blog that has become the biggest, collaborative writing workbook online, and Story Cartel. His latest project is a memoir Goodbye Paris, a memoir about his adventures in Paris and Europe. He comes home and starts writing about his adventures today!

 

Welcome, Joe!

 

JoeBunting-Headshot
Joe Bunting

 

 

Why Fear Is the Key to Unlock Your Best Writing

When was the last time you felt fear? Not horror movie fear or roller coaster fear. I’m talking about the kind of fear you experience before your first day of college or before the birth of your first child, the fear when you first tell someone you love them or when you tell someone you made a terrible mistake.

I’m talking about the gnawing, back-of-your-mind question, “What if this all goes wrong? What if I fail?” You’re standing on a ledge, looking down at the water 40 feet below, knowing you look silly, that you should just jump, but you’re not sure if you can. It’s taking all your energy just to stay there, looking down, and not run away.

I think we spend too much time avoiding this kind of fear, especially as writers. 

The best stories come out of fear. Have you ever noticed how talkative children get after they do something they were afraid of? They can’t help but tell the story, even perfect strangers.

Every good story requires courage. Every single one. If you’re writing about your life and you’re not summoning the courage and facing fear regularly, your writing isn’t going to be very interesting.

 

What is the most courageous thing you could do today? My wife and I are planning a three-month trip to Europe. Our loose plan is to spend six weeks in Paris, four weeks traveling around Central and Eastern Europe, and then meet our family in Florence, where we’ll rent a villa. It sounds like an amazing trip, the kind of trip you’d be stupid to say no to if you had the chance.

The problem is, we have a five-month-old baby.

In my short tenure as a father, I’ve come to realize having children multiplies fear. My wife and I have both travelled extensively, and while the prospect of a three-month trip to Europe does make me a bit nervous, it’s nothing we can’t handle. However, the idea of traveling with a baby paralyzes me.

I can think of a thousand things that could ruin our trip. What if he cries on the plane? What if we’re robbed and don’t have money for a hotel? What if he throws up in the Louvre?

And yet, which will make a more interesting story? Staying in our comfortable house, with our comfortable routine, sitting on our comfortable couches. Or taking a trip that could change all of our lives, including the life of my son? If both of those stories were books, and you had to choose which one to read, which would you pick?

Courage begins with desire. Of course, having a hard conversation with your spouse can be just as courageous as taking a trip that scares you.

Courage begins the same place good stories do, with the question, “What do you want?” Perhaps you’re thinking of something right now, something you’ve been dreaming about doing but shrugged off because it seemed too difficult.

In the story I’m living, I want to write in the Parisian cafés where Hemingway used to write. I want to take my wife to her favorite city in the world. I want to practice my French so we can become a multi-lingual family.

What do you want? What are you dreaming about? If you achieve this dream, how will you feel?

Today, give yourself permission to chase that desire you’ve shrugged off as impossible. Make a plan, map out the obstacles, and begin.

Will you see it through no matter what? One of my favorite quotes is from Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird:

“I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.” —Atticus Finch

We sometimes confuse courage with power, but courage is more about beginning, beginning something that might fail, taking a risk on your dreams, on something you believe in. Courage is about beginning something important, and seeing it through no matter what.

Wait a second…. Doesn’t that sound like a story worth reading?

***

Thanks, Joe for sharing these timely and inspirational thoughts on stepping outside our comfort zones and finding our own inner strengths. It was in your Story Cartel Course, that I found the courage to get my stories out there more and ask fellow writers to be my beta readers!

Think back to a moment you showed courage. What did you want and why? What made it scary to pursue what you wanted? Did you get what you wanted or not? How did you feel ?

 

We’d love to hear from you. Please leave your comments below~

 

This Week:

Saturday, 5/10/14:  “A Tribute to Nursing: Happy Nurses’ Week”

 

Next Week:

Monday, 5/12:  “Introducing Ever Faithful to His Lead: The Pubslush Campaign for My Memoir Launches”

 

 Wednesday, 5/14/14: “A Google+ Hangout Interview with Memoir Author Cindi McVey: To Live in Paradise”

 

The Writing Life, Writing Fiction after Writing Memoir

Finding My Way From Memoir to Fiction by Author Doreen Cox

30 Comments

Posted by Kathleen Pooler/@kathypooler with Doreen Cox /@mothersitting

 

“When in deep water, become a diver.” The Book of Runes, Ralph Blum

 

 

100_0614
Photo Credit: Doreen Cox

 

 

I am thrilled to feature author Doreen Cox in this guest post about her experience of writing fiction after writing her memoir. Doreen is the author  a memoir, Adventures in Mothersitting and a novella, Sacred Journey. We initially met through a mutual friend and author Madeline Sharples and began following one another on Twitter. I love it when good friends meet through good friends!  I’ve read and enjoyed both of Doreen’s books so much that I asked her to do a guest post on what it was like to switch to fiction writing after completing her memoir.

My reviews of both her books can be found here:

Adventures in Mothersitting: Amazon and Goodreads

Sacred Journey: Amazon and Goodreads

 

Welcome, Doreen!

 

100_2645
Author Doreen Cox

 

Finding My Way From Memoir to Fiction

 

For both the memoir and the fictional story, my writing journey has been a poignant one. Both experiences required me to dive deeply, to move through psychological barriers: layers of grief, self-doubt and impatience – to stay the course until the story felt complete. My journey, though, began long before I became an author.

 

Like champagne under pressure, I tended to bottle up any unwanted emotions. Early in my life, activities gave me just enough of an outlet to keep such emotions in check. At least, until my mid-thirties when my temper began to seep through defenses. I found help in a therapy group and, within the first month, the anger cork in me finally popped. For three months, there were moments in which enraged feelings began to roil; it felt like I was a rocket ship readying for launch.  To assuage those parts of me that I had disowned, I gave them a voice by writing in a journal.

The journaling ceased as my life became more balanced, busy again – that is until, at the age of fifty-nine, I became my mother’s full-time ‘care bear’. Dementia is a most formidable task-master for a caregiver and my bouts with it churned up a humiliating surprise: meltdowns – more eruptions of those powerful, unwanted emotions.

Again, scribbling in a journal saved me. After my mother died, I found a cache of letters I had written her during college and when living out of state. Those letters were perhaps my first bits of journaling for I wrote liberally about my life. It was while rereading those letters that a long-held wish of my mom’s took hold: for me to write a book. So one cold January day, I began to read my journal and scribble an outline.

Writing the memoir was immensely cathartic. The calmest times during mother-sitting were when I did jigsaw puzzles while my mom read out loud, in gibberish, from children’s books. The memoir process started out as a cut-and-paste one, literally, with scissors. It was calming for me, though, piecing together disparate segments from my journal, reading of this final journey I had had with my mom. When raw emotions erupted, I let them flow, grateful to merely feel human. On two occasions when grief hit concurrently with a lack of self-confidence, I threw the entire draft into the garbage. That action was cathartic in itself.

Two different energies played with me while I was writing: an inner critic was incessant in its attempts to force words into the script. The other energy, however, gentled me: a guide who whispered, ‘Take out this section,’ or, ‘Move this piece here,’ or, ‘Use this word.’ When this gentle guide within whispered, “Done,” I let the book be.

 

Adventures in Mothersitting
“Adventures in Mother-Sitting” by Doreen Cox

 

 

My first forays into writing fiction began long ago as snippets of made-up stories on birthday cards for family. After completing the memoir, a strong urge to play, have fun with my imagination, took hold. I wrote fanciful short stories in lieu of birthday cards, each with a transformational theme. I was considering writing another memoir – about my growing-up years with three sisters – when a short story contest was featured on Words Unlimited. Once a book cover was revealed, entrants had 72 hours to write the story. Curious, I took a peek at the cover and my imagination leaped into action, came up with a 5700-word fantasy, Wrapped in an Old-Age Dream; it was a runner-up. Several months later, an author whom I respect, Julia Hughes, suggested I tweak the script with more detail, enliven the story.  Excitedly, I tweaked and Wrapped became 14,000 words with a new title.

 

A Sacred Journey embodies my love for nature, my interest in transformational experiences and my respect for the mystery surrounding a transitional experience from life to death. The result has been soulfully enriching.

 

A Sacred Journeyu04a8036a4ca71aa43ab4fc3f576b
A Sacred Journey by Doreen Cox

 

The greater challenge in writing my memoir relates to the onslaught of emotions that often took me under though I would not trade the experience for anything. It was also challenging to remain true to my experience of the events as they unfolded, to script respectfully about those whose views/suggestions, passionately expressed, were different than my own. There are similarities for me in the writing of memoir or fiction. The same forcing-word inner critic and a gentle guide are always present. It’s an ongoing practice, attuning to this dance in my mind between the critic and guide. Both serve a helpful purpose. Yet, whether weaving words into a credible memoir or into a fanciful fictional tale, the experience has nourished me: it has been stimulating, frustrating, insightfully educational, challenging, and humbling.

Mostly, though, the journey towards becoming an author has been intrinsically rewarding.

***

Thank you Doreen for sharing your journey to both memoir and fiction. I appreciate how your “inner critic and gentle guide” have served a good purpose in helping you create  both a credible memoir and a fanciful fictional tale. After reading both your memoir and your novella, I can see the similarities in the stories–one is true to your life , the other is based upon the truth of your life. You show us all the rewards of being “fanciful with fiction” after sharing your truth in memoir.

***

Author’s Bio and Contact Information:

 The author was into her eighth year as a group counselor at an alternative school for at-risk students when her most challenging position of all presented itself. The author’s first book, Adventures in Mother-Sitting, is a memoir of her three years as a full-time caregiver. Because of the downward spiral of her mother’s mental, physical, and developmentally regressed abilities due to dementia, the author’s well-honed communication and listening skills were put to their ultimate test. Her previous career adventures had indeed added more stores of knowledge, fostered the growth of self-confidence and provided assuagement of that restless spirit. The experience as her mother’s caregiver, however, offered the ultimate spiritual adventure, bringing to the author bittersweet lessons related to trust, faith, unconditional love and compassion. The author, wanderlust currently at rest, resides in Florida.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/mothersitting

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mothersitter?viewas=100000686899395

Treasured Encounters: http://doreencox.blogspot.com/

 

How about you?  Have you switched from reading or writing memoir to reading or writing fiction? If so, how has the experience been for you?

 

Doreen has graciously agreed to give away one eBook or paperback of her memoir and one eBook copy of her novella to two random commenters whose names will be selected in a random drawing.

 

We’d love to hear from you. Please leave your comments below~

 

This Week:

Thursday, 4/3/14 :  I will be a guest  on Miranda Beverly-Whitmore’s FriendStories Series: “Girlhood Adventures, 1956-Style” and on Denis Ledoux’s The Memoir Network blog: “8 Lessons Learned on My Memoir Writer’s Journey”.

 

Hope you’ll join me there, too!

 

Next Week is Social Media Week:

Monday 4/7/1o  “Social Media: Friend or Foe? 8 Lessons I’ve Learned About Using Social Media”

Thursday 4/10/14  WOW! Women On Writing Blog Tour with Frances Caballo, author of  Avoid Social Media Time Suck: A Blueprint for Writers to Create Online Buzz For Their Books and Still Have Time to Write:

“Social Media Management : So What Does a Social Media Manager Really Do?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Writing Life

Writing Rants from Cheryl Stahle

23 Comments

Posted by Kathleen Pooler/@kathypooler with Cheryl Stahle/@yourbestwriting

 

Author’s Note: This post is  reblogged from Cheryl Stahle’s Your Best Writing Group blog, originally posted on July 11, 2013. She’s here to share how a writing rant worked to her advantage and helped her generate story ideas.

Cheryl did this guest post on Writer’s Block in September, 2012.

She is the author of Slices of Life: The Art and Craft of Memoir Writing. My reviews can be found on Amazon and Goodreads.

 

Welcome back, Cheryl!

 

CherylS_011
Author and Writing Coach Cheryl Stahle

 

Writing Rants: A Quick & Dirty Way to Clear the Air

I’m stuck…what do I try next? 

Deep in your writing soul “something” is holding your back and you need to move it in order to write. Lately, I’ve been seriously stuck and have spent hours just sitting  in front of computer screens. I’ve tried the usual tricks:

take  a break,doodle, sketch, make lists, try a new locale for writing.  Nothing has worked.

Reading has also provided me with inspiration and I love to tag those special phrases and lines on my e-reader which I want to remember.  Scrolling through those I stumbled upon one of my favorite poems, “Dream Deferred” by Langston Hughes.  I read… I thought… and the block moved just a tiny bit.  Finally anger and frustration and a whole lot of stress regarding life changes that are hitting me fast and furiously began spilling onto the page.

Rants by definition are not “pretty” writing but emotional writing that must come out before your lose your voice.  Rants can be fun to read due to the emotion that pours out in the words; an energy lies underneath the structure of a rant that takes your readers on a ride.  They can also be hurtful.

This process helps structure your rants:

1. Find your topic.  Be it something you know a lot about or in my case, a writer’s block

2. Make a list of the negative aspects of your topic

3. Find a way to take that negative brainstorm and find some positive angles to explore—what’s the meaning behind your rant?

4. Provide some balance to the negative emotion and explain or at least acknowledge other perspectives Ask yourself, “Why should others care about my rant topic?

5. And most importantly, should this rant become public?

 

In my writer’s notebooks, I tend to fold down the pages containing rants because they can be hurtful and in their purest form, they are truly uncensored writing.  But I am sharing my latest rant with you so that you can see what one looks like.  Remember, this is not edited but a free flow of words on paper:

Here is the frightening part of this rant:  you are about to read 5 minutes worth of writing.

Once these words fell onto the page, the burden I felt on my shoulder lifted and a different writer’s voice emerged.

______________________________

I hate the number 10.  It’s the number that curses hope and kills dreams.

When my son was 10, he suffered a traumatic brain injury which stole his hopes and actual chances of playing ice hockey.  He remains with us intact and amazing but the “what if” that incident on the ice never happened?  What could he have been? What a heavy load to carry alone.

I waited 10 years to file for divorce after making that heart wrenching decision.  I did so to prepare myself to have a more suitable job that would keep me closer to my son, not require global travel and would allow me to be a totally committed parent.  Ten years of my life waiting.  Ten years of dreams deferred.  I withered during those 10 years; life seeped away, I festered, angered and just tried to survive.  The challenges ahead as a single parent were great so I prepared despite the angst.

Now with an empty nest I can spread my wings and fly.  Travel.  Explore.   I’m used to being alone but with a book, the sound of an incoming tide, the setting of a tropical sun over the horizon, the 10 years of waiting so worth it.  Who am I?  Finally, I can figure that out.  Maybe I can live the dream of a writer and teacher without having to work multiple jobs.  Maybe I can stop worrying so much about curfews and SATs and college acceptance portfolios.  My son is ready for the challenges of the world. 

But 2 tens too late, I am blessed to marry the man I should have the first time.  But he didn’t ask and moved on.  20 years of waiting for him to come back.  “You’re 10 years ahead of me” as a parent I’m repeatedly told. I hear it in my sleep those haunting words as well as in the day to day of living.    My dreams deferred probably for the last time.

 I’ll be 60 before I can finally watch the sun set over the horizon at the beach free of encumbrance.  Ten more years of waiting to have the freedom I’ve craved all of these years now that my son is raised.  Most likely my last 10 years before illness and age finally slow me down will be spent waiting.

 Have these decades deferred really mattered?  Will the next 10?  My dreams now sag; a heavy load…gone, deferred.
___________________________________

 

Phew…I’m pretty angry.  But this rant needed to come out so that I can get back to my focus on writing about empty nesting for WE Magazine for Women and scheduling workshops for fall.   But now that the heat of the moment has passed, several potential topic for public writing appear:  (1)  the changing role of a parent over time; (2) living and losing dreams; (3) redefining your role as a step parent; (4) single parenting an ill child.

 

So while this rant provided some catharsis, it also showed me 4 potential topics for public writing.  By following a process, the rant contains some structure and function to help me determine if there are subjects worth further exploration.

Give ranting a try…you might be surprised by what you discover.

 

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore–
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over–
like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

            ~Langston Hughes

Author’s Bio and contact information:

Cheryl Stahle’s  Slices of Life:  the Art and Craft of Memoir Writing is available at www.yourbestwritinggroup.com as well as Amazon and GoodReads.  The marketing plan evolves and grows every day assuming a life of its own.  You can keep up with Cheryl’s adventures on FaceBook by liking Your Best Writing Group or following her on Twitter @yourbestwriting.  Cheryl teaches English  and runs writing groups helping authors of all ages and abilities capture life stories.

***

9780983442813-frontcover-201x300 cheryl's book cover
Slices of Life: The Art and Craft of Memoir Writing

Slices of Life: The Art and Craft of Memoir Writing can be ordered on Amazon

 

Thank you Cheryl for showing us how “structuring our rants” can help us discover new directions in our writing life.

How about you? How do you clear the air? Have writing rants helped you to find topics to write about?

Cheryl will give away a copy of her book, Slices of Life: The Art and Craft of Memoir Writing to a commenter whose name will be selected in a random drawing.

We’d love to hear from you. Please leave your comments below~

This week:

 I’m also over at Paul Dorsett’s blog, Utterances of an Overcrowded Mind with “7 Tips I Have Learned About Connecting with My Purpose for Writing a Memoir.” Hope to see you there.

Saturday, 8/24: I am hosting WOW! Women on Writing‘s book tour and giveaway with a review of A Southern Place by Elaine Drennon Little.

Next Week: Memoir Author Sheila Collins will discuss “Lessons for a Dancing Life” in conjunction with the release of her memoir, Warrior Mother: Fierce Love, Unbearable Loss and Rituals that Heal. Sheila will give away a copy of her memoir to a commenter whose name will be selected in a random drawing.

The Writing Life, Use of Twitter

The Magic of Twitter: A Memoir Moment

20 Comments

Posted by Kathleen Pooler/@kathypooler

 

“Writers need to think of Twitter as the largest cocktail party in the world where you can mingle away with fellow writers ,editors, publishers and friends from all over the world.”

Editor Alan Rinsler, “Strategic Tweeting for Authors on his blog, The Book Deal.

twitter-bird1-300x268
Twitter Bird Flickr Creative Commons

 

When I joined Twitter back in 2010, I did so reluctantly and cautiously, asking myself the following questions:

 

How can I say anything significant in 140 characters?

Who would even care what I had to say?

How could something called Twitter be a serious platform?

 

I did it because I was told I had to if I wanted to build an audience and establish an online presence.

I liked it right away when I found I could connect with people– publishers, agents, authors and writers, like myself who were just getting started.

As a nurse, I was accustomed to communicating information about patients in concise, pertinent ways, whether it be to report information to the next shift or update a physician on a patient’s changing status.

 

Report the facts, just the facts to convey the priority information.

 

Soon these connections led to requests for guest posts and ideas for my own blog posts.

 

I began to enjoy meeting so many new people who helped me in my writing journey. This guest post on Shirley Showalter’s blog spells out how I learned to use Twitter strategically.

 

I then began to meet some of the people behind the tweets either in-person at writer’s conferences or online in other arenas.

 

Relationships were forged. Bonds developed. I began to feel like I knew these people even though I had not met them in person.

 

Then something magical happened one day…

 

Freelance author and editor Robin Flanigan @thekineticpen reached out to me on Twitter. She told me she resonated with my profile and wanted to connect.

A conversation ensued and before we knew it, we discovered that she lived in the vicinity of Keuka Lake where I spend my birthday week every year at the family cottage. Her daughter would be attending a day camp right down the road from where our cottage was the week I would be there.

 

Coincidence? Serendipity?

 

Not only that, we also discovered that our birthdays were one day apart.

 

We planned a face-to-face meeting at the cottage:

IMG_20130702_140243_016 balloons
Happy Birthday balloons to show Robin the way to the cottage

 

We sat on the patio overlooking the lake and talked for three hours non-stop. Lost in our own writerly world, we chattered on as my grandsons ran in and out of the cottage on their various quests and the rest of my family walked past us. They’re used to my writing zones and didn’t even try to engage with us as we soaked up each other’s  projects.

We were in our own little world but the difference was we were sitting across from each other on a picture-perfect sunny July day talking about writing and reveling in our shared interests.

We did take time from our chatter to snap this photo on the beach before Robin left:

 

 

IMG_20130702_140243_016 balloons
Robin and I take a break on the beach

 

It was magical and it all started on Twitter.

 

Real and wonderful people are behind all those tweets.

 

Sunflower Field
Photo credit: Sunflower field by Dreamstimefree.

 

 

Robin will be my guest next week, Monday 8/12. She has a fascinating story behind the story of climbing Mt Kilimanjaro and the memoir she is working on. She will also give away a copy of the anthology, Silent Embrace:Perspectives on Birth and Adoption in which she has an essay, “Moving Close.”

 

 

How about you? Have you found Twitter to be a useful tool in making meaningful connections?

 

 

I’d love to hear from you. Please leave your comments below~

 

 

Announcement: Congratulations, Joan Z Rough! Your name was selected random drawing of commenters to receive Eleanor Vincent’s memoir, Swimming with Maya.

 

 

This week: I’m also over at Mary Gottschalk‘s blog with a guest post. Mary is the author of a compelling memoir, Sailing Down the Moonbeam. She has written a novel, A Fitting Place and is starting a series of guest posts on issues related to her protagonist, Lindsey. The topic of my guest post is “Getting Past Self-Defeating Behaviors.” Hope you’ll stop by there ,too.

 

 

Thursday, 8/8/13: ” The Healing Power of Poetry in Memoir: An Interview with Louise Matthewson.” Louise will give away a copy of her memoir, A Life Interrupted: Living with Brain Injury”, a collection of transformative poetry, to a commenter whose name will be selected in a random drawing.