Episode 17

Newbie Writers Podcast

January 21  (Catharine is eating locusts from street vendors)

Guest Jane Isaac and Lyle Perez.

The Ultimate Newbie Experience.

Jane is the living proof of a newbie becoming a published author.

What was the process involved? What sparked the story idea?

Dionne Lister asks: What has been the best part of the process for her? What was her reaction when she found out Rainstorm Press wanted to publish her works?

We pick Lyle’s brain on the initial reaction to reading Jane’s draft, what was it that made him want to publish it? What tips for new writers can be drawn from this?

We find out how Rainstorm Press is going and any new authors to look out for.

Jane’s been apart of Newbie Writers since 2007, certainly longer than I have. We ask what her thoughts on how Newbie Writers has changed, how it’s progressed.

Prompt:

“Nothing happens unless first a dream” – Carl Sandburg
spend twenty minutes on your dream. What do you really want to write? Not what sells, not what you think is “you” not what you think is trendy, just what you want to write, what you want to spend a year messing around with.
Really, twenty minutes – go!

Bring out your dead:

Contributed by Anne Naylor of www.becauseofbipolar.com.au
Too late she discovered she had married a psychopath.
It was the day after their wedding and they were in the presidential suite of a luxury hotel. They were finally on their honeymoon, about to start life as husband and wife.
He sat on the edge of the bed and pulled her towards him. Magic was about to happen. They slid under the covers. He kissed her gently, then pulled the blankets over her head. She was confused. Why was he holding the blanket so tightly. He knew she was claustrophobic. She struggled against him, but he was too strong. He wouldn’t release her.
A foul stench filled the air. Surely not. He couldn’t have. He wouldn’t have. But undeniably, he had. The assault on her senses was silent, but deadly. Finally, after an eternity, he pulled back the blankets and she gasped as she gulped unpolluted air.
She was furious. Shocked and horrified. She berated herself for marrying a psychopath. Well, if not a psychopath, then a fifteen year old boy masquerading as a twenty-five year old man. He laughed, clearly very pleased with himself. ‘Welcome to marriage!’ he said. ‘What do you mean?’ she replied. She stared at him, bewildered. ‘It’s a Dutch oven’, he explained. A marriage ritual. It’s good luck.’
She thought it was surely a bad omen.
‘You’ll pay for this one day’, she said.
(And twenty years later, she did.)

Word of the week

www.worldwidewords.org

FUSTILUGS

In those moments when only insults will do, how good it is to turn to the inventive but unsung genius of everyday folk, whose local dialect is so often full of expressive abuse. This word, meaning a grossly fat or slovenly woman, is an excellent example.

It still has some small currency, mostly in Yorkshire I believe, though at one time it was widely known across a swathe of England ranging from Cumbria to Devon. That it will almost certainly be unknown to the object of your obloquy will add relish to your utterance, though it might not be too hard to work out it isn’t complimentary. It has rarely been written down outside dialect glossaries, but it did appear in 1621 in a long passage full of terms of opprobrium in The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton: “Every lover admires his mistress, though she be … a vast virago, or an ugly tit, a slug, a fat fustilugs”.

Shout Outs/ Sponsors:

Jane shouts out to the entire Twitter gang!

Damien says hi to Dianne Solberg and her Mum!

Rainstorm Press deal: newbie40 is the coupon. Gets you 40% off ANY purchase you make at www.rainstormpress.com

Where to find us:
Damien: www.newbiewriters.com
Jane Isaac: http://www.janeisaac.co.uk/
Lyle Perez: www.rainstormpress.com

Subscribe to us via email!

After countless promises to “get around to it someday”, I’ve finally begun. No more excuses. No more procrastination. Damien will be pleased.

For years now I’ve been meaning to start blogging. Damien keeps asking the Newbie Writers members for regular bloggers, and if you searched through the mound of paperwork on my desk, you’d find that every last to-do list I’ve ever created shows near the top, “Write first blog post!!!” Woo hoo … I can finally tick that one off my list. (However, “Write follow-up blog post” now sits proudly in its place.)

As I ponder where to start, my eyes drift over to the aforementioned mountain of paperwork (I’m sure it’s multiplied in size since just a few moments ago). Why is it there? Do I even know what treasures lay hidden underneath the latest unsolicited credit card application that arrived in today’s mail? Obviously not, since just three days ago I turned the house upside-down searching for a blood test form belonging to my daughter. I knew it had come in exactly one month ago, so I had a vague idea as to the depth of the pile to dig around in.

As I riffled through the appropriate section, I re-discovered all sorts of things that I had previously put aside to attend to straight away. I’m ashamed to say that as I found these crucial documents I placed them in a fresh pile to deal with once I had the medical paperwork sorted. As I did so, I just knew that the likelihood of this new pile being in exactly the same place tomorrow, untouched, was 100%. It got me asking myself why I’m so pedantic and meticulous when it comes to my career, yet my personal filing and organisational system is so lacking. Ask me where the novel I edited four months ago is – I can show you in an instant. Looking for a copy of that article I wrote in April – it’s in my hands before you can blink. Yet, should you ask to see the phone bill which came just yesterday, you’ll have to launch an expedition through the precariously balanced stacks of junk mail, electricity bills, receipts, and those little instruction booklets that you get whenever you buy a new appliance which are currently smothering my desk – even then I can’t guarantee that you’ll find what you’re looking for.

People are always good-naturedly (I hope) teasing me about my obsession with all that is ‘correct’ and ‘ordered’ and ‘right’, yet if they were to see the state of my desk they’d probably assume my children were to blame for the disarray. I wonder if it’s just me, or is there a widespread phenomenon where people strive to do well in their ‘real jobs’ but then slack off when it comes to their personal lives. I’ve given up hoping my automotive technician of a husband will change the oil or check the tyres. Do cleaners have messy homes? Do lawyers put off writing a will? Do debt collectors forget to pay their bills on time?

Regardless of the answer, today is Day 1 of the new, improved me. As soon as I finish writing this post I will tackle the first batch. (Incidentally, “Tidy up paperwork” is on just about all of my to-do lists as well.) The best – or maybe worst – thing is, by publicly declaring that I will change my ways, I’m now accountable. Things are going to be different around here!

And, as soon as I’ve whittled down the clutter on my desk and achieved a sleek, organised workspace, I’ll be able to start on my next blog post – perhaps it’ll even be something to do with writing or editing!

No more excuses. No more procrastination. Damien will be pleased.

————————————————————————————
Emma is a freelance editor and writer who got her start at Newbie Writers two years ago. In her previous career she was an accountant, but escaped the numbers game to envelop herself in the literary world.

Emma’s Exceptional Editing & Proofreading
www.exceptionalediting.com.au

We never have enough time, until we run out of it. I just got off the phone with my wife who informed me that one of our friends had a heart attack last night.  Which seems to be a recurring theme with our family, friends, and even myself who just started high blood pressure meds a few weeks ago?

You see most of last year was a bit of a blur for me and my family as I lost both my mother and my father within six months. Both of them were in their mid eighties but not in bad shape really.  Until mom was diagnosed with irreversible pulmonary fibrosis and she spent the last few months of her life in Hospice care.  My dad was doing fine until he was in a car accident, fractured his hip and never really recovered.

2010 was a rough year.  I didn’t write much.  I didn’t see the point in it.

Bring on 2011 and we are having a nice visit with my wife’s family while they were on vacation at our house, and her dad ends up in triple bi-pass surgery and looking like he had a slim chance.  So here we go again.  But he recovered and is doing quite well actually.  At last count he had lost over 70 lbs. and is really making a change in his lifestyle.

Why am I telling you all this?  Well, Damien (the guy who runs this site) asked me to “think about things newbie writers should know” last week and after my phone call a few moments ago one thing struck me that I know many of us struggle with, and that is time.

We put off sending that manuscript because we think “if I make one more revision it will be perfect”, or we just don’t have the nerve to put our words out there because we are shy or embarrassed.  I know from experience that it’s hard to be criticized on our work.  But what we don’t realize is that the longer we put it off the less time we have to really enjoy our success in writing. 

We all know it can talk a while to break into a career so why do we hinder ourselves in the process by procrastinating.  Get your stuff out there for someone to read it! At the very least you will get some feedback that may improve your work or you may meet that contact that gets you your next big break.

Start a blog, start a zine, write letters to the editor, submit to contests, and anthologies.  Start a newsletter for your company or club.  Write poems and put them on facebook or twitter.  Whatever your media chose it and, choose it now. Make a concerted effort to make your work accessible to others.  It will be a great feeling to get that first comment on your blog, or that first payment on your first freelance job. 

And remember time is short, and you never know when you may write your last words, so make them count because the rest of us can’t wait to read them.

Sometimes I am not the best at taking my own advice, or the advice of others for that matter but here are a few tips I have discovered the hard way and I hope you don’t fall into the same trap I did early on and get caught up into the logistics of what you are doing and spending valuable time on the idea of being a writer instead of actually being a writer. 

1)      Don’t worry about getting published.  This notion seems a bit counterproductive but I think every Newbie writer has this as a goal.  But worrying about it too much too soon is detrimental.  When I was younger I was a runner I hated running.  It was work.  It wasn’t until I took the advice of Jim Fixx that was to forget the stop watch, forget how fast you can run a mile, and just enjoy your runs that I began to actually enjoy it.  I let go of all the performance issues of time, distance goals and I was just running.  Before I knew it I was running longer and faster then I had ever run before. 

Writing is the same way.  You need to let go of all the usually benchmarks of success and just write.  You will get better before you know it.    

2)      Let someone else worry about the publication.   There are so many outlets to get your work out there now why spend hours building a web site, or a print publication.  You are a writer!  Let someone else be the editor and publisher.  At least until you are ready to get to your feet wet doing the logistics.

When I first started writing I thought I wanted to start a magazine, sell ad space, I was going to have the next big idea and I would be able to quit my day job and have my own publishing company in a few years.  What I didn’t realize is what it takes to actually do it.  I spent hours working on layouts and the graphic design portion of it that I missed the mark on what makes a publication click…the writing. 

I made the same mistake with a few websites which sucked up even more of my time because I was trying to learn the programs to produce the site.  Here I was trying to be a writer and I was doing everything but writing. 

3)      Volunteer to be a writer.  I know getting clips is a big portion of landing future projects and it’s all about building the book, but how do you get clips if you have never written anything before?  Grant writing, copy writing, and even free blogging gigs are a great way to start. 

You have a lot less pressure on yourself if you’re doing it for free, and I have gotten some of the best satisfaction in writing by helping non-profit organizations secure additional funding through grant writing.

Not sure where to look try ww.volunteermatch.com and do a search for “writer”.

4)      Don’t get discouraged. OK, this one is easier said than done!  Believe me I know.  And this seems a bit like common sense but being a Newbie writer is a little like being third string on a basketball team.  Sure you are part of the team but does anyone really take you that seriously? Not until you get into the game do you get any respect. 

As a beginning writer you get treated about the same.  The established journalist think you are a hack, editors treat you like you just asked them to for some spare change and sometimes even your family doesn’t get it. 

All of this can be enough for you to wonder why I bother.  For me I am beginning to realize it’s not about everyone else but it’s about what I want to do and writing is something that makes ME happy.  Eventually it will make someone else happy too. 

5)      Bare your soul. As writers our mind flows onto paper like a clogged sink sometimes.  I know some assignments have specific guidelines but getting your feelings, and emotion into that piece of writing takes a plunger sometimes.  You have to forget about things like, “What if my mother reads this”? Or what if I offend someone. 

Speaking your mind can take some practice.  But you have to get past all the restrictions to have the true you come out in your writing.  I don’t care how good a writer you are your readers will know if you are not being sincere or real with yourself. 

If I could give only one piece of advice it would be to write, write, and write some more.  Only through discover of yourself will your art come to life and with that life will come success.

Okay, so now I have a computer and loads of free time to use it. So there is literally nothing to stop me from becoming what I have dreamed of my entire life and that is to be a writer! A well-paid, published writer is what I desire to be. Simple right? Wrong!

The more I do research on line the more I am aware of two things. Number one, becoming a paid writer is not as hard as one would think, that is what all the on line authors would have you believe anyway, and Number two, all it takes apparently, is a good idea.

Well hey, that’s just swell! All I need then is an idea for a new book, article or essay. Easy right? Maybe, but in the Idea department I think I must have been standing ‘behind” the door when the good Lord passed out the creativity genes. Try as I might I cannot imagine any topic that might be sufficiently interesting in and of itself to make a person want to know more. Happily there are articles about how to come up with new ideas.

Here is where the Internet and all of the writers therein, come into play. I am so amazed at the wealth of information available on the net to anyone willing to dig it out. The digging isn’t very hard to do either! It blows my little southern mind, to think of all the people out there in the world of writing, that are giving all of this invaluable information away for free!

There are so many sites dedicated to the writer and while many are really interesting my favorite is still NewbieWriters.com. I especially like the section on “learning the craft” it has so many great “how to’s” and I spend quite a bit of time just reading.

I am actually spending more of my time reading about writing these days than I am actually writing! This I will change soon though.

I have decided that I will only do housework on designated days of the week and the rest of my time will be spent in making my dreams come true, thanks to the many authors in cyber space who are willing to share their knowledge so freely. I am confident that I will be able to learn from the volumes written on the net so freely. So part of my new goals for 2010 will be to take advantage of all the free writing guides out there and learn as much as possible about the craft I so love. I hope that you are having an inspired New Year too and that you will make the time to write this year ….no matter what! What is it that Dawn says? Just write something!