BS: The writer's life

Subject: RE: BS: The writer's life
From: JudyR
Date: 28 Mar 02 - 04:35 PM

Don, thank you. I agree with you about a legal pad and getting somewhere else (thanks for reminding me, though!). Anything to rattle the cage and do something to shake it out! Oh, about the fountain pen -- don't I know it! I had to do an article about an 80-year-old fountain pen shop. Poor guy was being beaten out by the web discounters, but heck -- at $300 for fountain pens, it's a hard purchase to make!

Irish Sergeant: Oh, I said something somebody else already said? So sorry. I'll try to read everything on the site before I post it again. I was speaking in general, of anyone who has writer's block from time to time.

Subject: RE: BS: The writer's life
From: Irish sergeant
Date: 28 Mar 02 - 04:10 PM

Nothing to add about the rights Judy. that has already been well covered. i don't often get writer's block as I stated. If I start getting stuck I have ways of rattling the cage. CarolC, sent the information I promised via PM if I can be of further help let me know, Kindest regards, Neil

Subject: RE: BS: The writer's life
From: Don Firth
Date: 28 Mar 02 - 03:50 PM

JudyR, all very good suggestions. When I get jaded with the word processor, I go back to basics. I sharpen a whole quiverful of Dixon Ticonderoga #2s, move to a different location, and write on a yellow legal pad. It makes a nice change. When I was in high school (got led down the primrose path to writing aspirations by an English teacher who taught a Creative Writing class), I used to do most of my writing with a fountain pen. Can't buy a decent fountain pen anymore without mortgaging the ranch.

Barbara, first of all, congratulations!! You'd need to check the contract to be sure, but most magazines buy "First North Amercan Serial Rights" (assuming you're on this side of the pond), which means they buy the right to publish the piece for the first time. Other than that, you retain rights and can republish it whenever and wherever you want. The 2002 Writer's Market has a pretty good rundown in a chapter called "The Business of Writing" that contains info on all this stuff.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: The writer's life
From: MMario
Date: 28 Mar 02 - 03:24 PM

depends on the wording in your contract! because you may have

a) assigned the publishing rights to the magazine for that issue only

b) assigned them the rights but retained the right to publish and or assign rights elsewhere. (sometimes this is done after a certain period of time)

c) granted PERMISSION for them to publish but retained the rights unto yourself.

or about 60 gazillion variations.

Subject: RE: BS: The writer's life
From: Barbara Shaw
Date: 28 Mar 02 - 03:17 PM

Something like a deadline: join a writer's group. I joined one that meets every week, and at each session people have the opportunity to read a bit of what they've written that week. Keeps you motivated to have something to read.

Question about copyright. Now that I've published my very first magazine article, I signed a contract that gives the magazine the rights to it. Does that mean that I can't post it in a Mudcat thread? It's about music, so would be relevant, but I don't want to violate any laws!

Subject: RE: BS: The writer's life
From: JudyR
Date: 28 Mar 02 - 04:22 AM

Conversely -- re word processors -- sometimes when you are stuck -- actually putting a pen in your hand and seeing what flows out, will free you up. It's a brain-hand thing, I've found, and it works, I think, to deliver what's in the unconscious very directly. Because you can write too much on a computer. Too easy.

The other thing I do when I'm stuck is to print it out. Seeing it there in print and being able to manually cross words or whole paragraphs out or change words, somehow makes the writing a tangible thing. This is when you're pretty much at the end of your second or third draft. I use different colored marking pens -- red, black, blue, sometimes yellow. Red works for replacing words above the crossed out lines (in black, of course). Yellow highlights. Then I type it out, repeat the process if necessary -- and amazing how quickly it's "there."

And yes, deadlines help a whole, whole lot!

Yes, having a deadline worked for me every time.

Subject: RE: BS: The writer's life
From: CarolC
Date: 28 Mar 02 - 01:45 AM

Thanks Neil. Will do.

Subject: RE: BS: The writer's life
From: Don Firth
Date: 28 Mar 02 - 01:22 AM

Somebody famous (Hemingway? I dunno.) used to type "The" and then wait to see what he felt compelled to type next. Claims it worked every time. Word processors are great because you can sit there and dither until you see something that looks like a cohesive sentence, then send the gibberish into oblivion with the touch of a button. Sort of the "infinite number of monkeys" method.

But nothing cures writer's block quite like having a deadline.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: The writer's life
From: Irish sergeant
Date: 27 Mar 02 - 08:57 PM

Chip2447: That's easy for me. I usually just start writing total nonsense and eventually ususally within minutes I can get on with the business of writing. Sometimes an hour of guitar really clears it up. Neil CarolC, PM me I will have an adress of a children's book producer for you by tiommmorow. he's the guys I'm doing my children's book for.

Subject: RE: BS: The writer's life
From: Chip2447
Date: 26 Mar 02 - 11:59 PM

Now, how do I beat my writers block, brain constipation? Chip2447

Subject: RE: BS: The writer's life
From: Don Firth
Date: 26 Mar 02 - 09:22 PM

poor lonesome boy is absolutely right. Strunk and White's The Elements of Style is basic and essential.

On the principle that most good writing occurs after you get your first draft finished, I've found Getting the Words Right: How to Revise, Edit, and Rewrite by Theodore A. Rees Cheney to be a great help. He takes it all the way from when to dump a whole chapter ("kill your darlings") down to how to tighten up and clarify a sentence.

A good dictionary and a good thesaurus are basic necessities, as is a good style manual. (The Chicago Style Manual seems to be the accepted standard. I've also found that The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage clears up a lot of questions about a lot of odds and ends, such as "do I capitalize this, put it in quotes, or italicize it?" The Random House Word Menu is a good one to have when you can think of the approximate word, but it isn't quite what you want. It gives you lists of words with similar meanings but different nuances. Very helpful.

One of my prized and most valuable possessions is a little book called Power and Polish: Writing with a Word Processor by Annie Stewart. She's a local (Seattle) writer, and I think she self-published this. It's sixty-four pages and saddle stapled like a magazine. Published in 1987 by Jugum Press, P. O. Box 95916, Seattle, WA 98145-2916 (although I don't guarantee that this is still current or that the little book is still available). It's not a computer manual (much of what she says is obsolete but still useful), it deals with ways to use the features of a word processor to edit, tighten, and clean up your writing. Another excellent book along the same line is Improve Your Writing with a Word Processor by David F. and Virginia Noble, Que Corporation, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1984. Once again, I don't know if it can be found at all, and the computer information is way out of date, but it has some really ingenious ways of using the features of a word processor (any word processor) to improve your writing. The "blockbuster" macro itself is worth the price of admission.

But if the Gods of Quill and Scroll will allow you only two books, make one a good dictionary and the other The Elements of Style by Strunk and White.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: The writer's life
From: CarolC
Date: 26 Mar 02 - 07:58 PM

Thanks Steve-o!

Subject: RE: BS: The writer's life
From: Peg
Date: 26 Mar 02 - 07:20 PM

Rita Mae Browne also wrote an excellent book on becoming a writer in her book "Starting From Scratch."

Subject: RE: BS: The writer's life
From: Steve-o
Date: 26 Mar 02 - 07:16 PM

The answer for Carol C. can be found in Writer's Market, as already mentioned by the Irish Sergeant. Just read the blurbs about what the company wants as submittals, and start sending out query letters in every direction possible. I am a "semi-tech" writer for a living, and have had some small success getting fiction published... using the Writer's Market Guide. Best of luck to ya!

Subject: RE: BS: The writer's life
From: poor lonesome boy
Date: 26 Mar 02 - 05:26 PM

Hey MEJ ... I'm a newspaper editor, so love and hate writers in the same sentence. However, you can't beat the simple Elements of Style for basic writing skills.

Subject: RE: BS: The writer's life
From: CarolC
Date: 26 Mar 02 - 05:20 PM

This looks like a good place to put a question I'd love to get some input from Mudcatters on:

I've written a little book that is in the format of a children's book, but it's for adults. It's got illustrations as well as text (I'm in the process of working on the illustrations now). It's about surviving and moving beyond abusive relationships.

Because of the unusual nature of this book and its format, I'm at a loss about who to approach about getting it published. Anybody got any good suggestions? Thanks in advance.

Subject: RE: BS: The writer's life
From: Barbara Shaw
Date: 26 Mar 02 - 04:55 PM

I retired last year from my corporate job in information technology, and now I'm a rookie freelance writer. In fact I just had my first article published in the magazine "Bluegrass Unlimited." I'm also working on a book (actually, several).

I think the most important things would be to know what you're talking about, write about what you know, and know the market you're trying to write for. We've been subscribers to "Bluegrass Unlimited" for years, so I felt I knew what the magazine's readers would like, being one of them, and the editors apparently felt the same.

The book is another whole story. I've been saving notes and documents for the book for many years, so my resource here is piles of notes. I'll be watching this thread for future information, if/when it ever gets to the point where I'm looking for an agent or publisher.

Subject: RE: BS: The writer's life
From: Sonnet
Date: 26 Mar 02 - 04:49 PM

I write poetry. Having written most of my life, I recently graduated from the University of Huddersfield with MA in Poetry. Peter Sansom's 'Writing Poems' is an excellent book. Unless you read, you can't hope to write, and by that I don't mean just handbooks. Read around your own genre and beyond. Whoever I'm reading at the time tends to be my favourite poet, but those I go back to are Peter Sansom, Stanley Cook, Ian McMillan, Carol Ann Duffy, Raymond Carver, Maya Angelou, Keith Douglas, Dorothy Nimmo and Eavan Boland.

Janet

Subject: RE: BS: The writer's life
From: Irish sergeant
Date: 26 Mar 02 - 04:21 PM

Mary; I write mostly historical articles but I am currently working on a novel about Jack the Ripper and just finished a short story about the Civil War. The books I find useful? Writer's market guide., The New Dictionary of American Slang and various writig guides dealing with plotting and such. I tend to do alright in the area but I do like checking my facts and style before I final draft. Of course most of my writing has a historical bent so there is a lot of history books that are absolutely in dispensable. Hope it helps and belive me, It's a hard way to make a living at times but I would not change a thing. Kindest regards, Neil

Subject: The writer's life
From: GUEST,(MEJ)
Date: 26 Mar 02 - 03:53 PM

Katlaughing's comment on another thread about the problems of managing a writer's life made me think of the following books on writing:

A classic Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg

A couple of recent books:

The Forest for the Trees by Betsey Learner

By an editor - wonderfully good humored, and a lot of inside information on

publishing.

The Writer's Survival Guide by Rachel Simon

From a fiction writer and writing teacher. A lot of basic stuff, would be very good for someone starting out.

Which other 'catters are also writers? (I'm a tech writer myself.) What books and resources do you find helpful?

Mary in Boston

underlines fixed by mudelf ;-)