I drink a lot of coffee, although not usually from Starbucks. But my characters go there. That’s because it is a nationally-recognized name, and I like to use some recognizable brands to give my stories a sense of authenticity.
But I know writers who are scared of using brand names. They think it will violate copyright or trademark laws, or they don’t want to use the trademark symbol because it can interrupt the flow of the story.
I don’t worry about any of that.
You can’t copyright names, so copyright law doesn’t apply. You can trademark names, and Starbucks is a registered trademark. However, trademarks have a specific, limited purpose, so the protection the owner gets is much narrower than with copyrights.
Trademarks protect against consumer confusion over the source of a product or service. Consumers use recognizable names and symbols to tell them that they are getting a certain quality or a product with particular characteristics. When you see the Nike swoosh on a pair of shoes, you expect them to last for a while. When a counterfeiter prints the swoosh on shoddy-quality shoes, people are mislead. That harms both the consumer (who is not getting what he or she expected) and Nike (who could lose sales to the counterfeiter and suffer harm to its reputation when the shoes fall apart).
Your characters can drink 7-Up without worrying about trademark infringement. No one is going to go out and buy counterfeit 7-Up based on your novel, nor will readers assume that the makers of 7-Up are connected with your book. You don’t have to call it lemon-lime soda.
A brand name can lose its trademark protection if consumers use it generically for any brand of the same type of product. After people started referring to all tissues as Kleenex and to photocopies made on any brand photocopier as Xeroxes, the owners of those trademarks spent a lot of money educating consumers on the proper use of the terms. That’s why brand owners would like you to use the trademark symbol. But you aren’t required to. If you want to help trademark owners protect their property and you think “the real thing” will add authenticity, just capitalize Coke.
So let your characters drink Starbucks’ coffee if they want to. Or 7-Up. Or Coke. (There seems to be a lot of drinking in this post. Maybe I should send my characters to the bathroom more often.)
* This article originally appeared on the Hoosier Ink blog (http://hoosierink.blogspot.com) on April 22, 2010.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Saturday, July 17, 2010
You Did What in the Name of Research? by Kate Collins
When I read a book, I want to be right there with the characters, seeing, smelling, touching and tasting their world through their eyes. By the time I’ve finished, I hope to feel like I’ve visited a place that was foreign at first, and then became as familiar as my hometown. That’s why I believe vivid descriptive scenes are as vital to a good novel as believable, sympathetic characters and true-to-life conversations.
To get that all-important color and flavor in my own writing, I opt for first-hand knowledge whenever possible -- the hands-on approach – which I’ll admit has made my life quite, ahem, interesting. And at times, downright chilling.
For my historical romances I did a lot of research simply by reading up on the time period in which my book was set, which was pretty tame stuff. But I also went spelunking in a cave that was NOT designed for tourists, and am still amazed I emerged unscathed. My tour guide was a college student looking for some pocket money, and we did not have hard hats with lights on them. We had old flashlights, candles and matches, and kneepads to crawl through the tight spots. Good thing I’m not overly claustrophobic because there were long stretches of those tight spots.
At one point, after straddling an icy stream for about twenty yards, when I was finally able to stand upright, I aimed the beam at the ceiling and discovered that it was here inches above my head. And hanging from that ceiling were about a thousand brown bats about the size of my thumb. I hunkered down and backed out very slowly. But let me tell you, that scene played out exceedingly well in my story.
I’ve also had my husband assume the roles of both hero and villain to help me script those black moment/woman in jeopardy scenes. If anyone had glanced in my office window as we were role-playing, I’m sure the cops would have been there soon after. I have my suspicions that my husband took great pleasure in pretending to try to throw me down a well. I’m just saying.... Then again, he took even greater pleasure in scripting the love scenes.
In writing mysteries, my research has taken me to very cool places as well as really strange ones. Because the main setting is a flower shop, I’ve spent a lot of time with florists, soaking up their techniques and that wonderful tropical atmosphere, pouring over floral magazines, and doing virtual flower designs. Pure heaven.
But when I wrote A ROSE FROM THE DEAD, in which my sleuth, a feisty young florist named Abby, sets up a booth at a funeral directors’ convention, I needed an in-depth look at a mortuary – really in-depth, because I had to climb inside a casket. And let me tell you, it’s really, really dark in those boxes. Still, I needed to experience it because that plays an important part in the story. Then there was the day I toured a crematorium. Enough said. And way more info than I ever wanted to know.
In the name of research I’ve also:
Held an eight-foot snake. They’re not slimy.
Ridden a donkey up the side of a steep cliff and didn’t fall off.
Took a hot air balloon ride. You can hear a person talking in a normal voice on the ground when you’re way up high.
Stood inside a prison cell. I can still hear the clanging of that door.
Sat in a tiny room in a prison with a criminal defense attorney as he interviewed a huge and frightening man accused of a grisly crime. (I told you it could be chilling.)
Would I have experienced these things if I’d remained an elementary teacher? Highly doubtful. As a child, I was the one cowering in the back row, unable to finish a swimming course because I was afraid to jump off the high dive. So this new-found courage, where does it come from?
It’s some kind of transference, I guess, because somehow, after having lived in my characters’ heads for years, I’m not scaredy-cat Kate any more. I’ve become bold, empowered by a passion for life and a fierce need for justice. I stand up for my rights now and don’t let bullies intimidate me. I fight for the underdog. What a heady feeling that is. I imagine it must be like being an actor. When you’re on stage, you become the character.
For a writer, you have to become many characters, and to do that accurately and with feeling, you must step outside of yourself and live fully in their worlds. All fun stuff, trust me.
Kate
Kate Collins is the author of the popular, best-selling Flower Shop Mysteries. For her plots, Kate draws upon her own love of flowers, and states firmly that none of the zany characters populating the fictional town of New Chapel are based on people she knows. Honest. Read more at www.katecollinsbooks.com
To get that all-important color and flavor in my own writing, I opt for first-hand knowledge whenever possible -- the hands-on approach – which I’ll admit has made my life quite, ahem, interesting. And at times, downright chilling.
For my historical romances I did a lot of research simply by reading up on the time period in which my book was set, which was pretty tame stuff. But I also went spelunking in a cave that was NOT designed for tourists, and am still amazed I emerged unscathed. My tour guide was a college student looking for some pocket money, and we did not have hard hats with lights on them. We had old flashlights, candles and matches, and kneepads to crawl through the tight spots. Good thing I’m not overly claustrophobic because there were long stretches of those tight spots.
At one point, after straddling an icy stream for about twenty yards, when I was finally able to stand upright, I aimed the beam at the ceiling and discovered that it was here inches above my head. And hanging from that ceiling were about a thousand brown bats about the size of my thumb. I hunkered down and backed out very slowly. But let me tell you, that scene played out exceedingly well in my story.
I’ve also had my husband assume the roles of both hero and villain to help me script those black moment/woman in jeopardy scenes. If anyone had glanced in my office window as we were role-playing, I’m sure the cops would have been there soon after. I have my suspicions that my husband took great pleasure in pretending to try to throw me down a well. I’m just saying.... Then again, he took even greater pleasure in scripting the love scenes.
In writing mysteries, my research has taken me to very cool places as well as really strange ones. Because the main setting is a flower shop, I’ve spent a lot of time with florists, soaking up their techniques and that wonderful tropical atmosphere, pouring over floral magazines, and doing virtual flower designs. Pure heaven.
But when I wrote A ROSE FROM THE DEAD, in which my sleuth, a feisty young florist named Abby, sets up a booth at a funeral directors’ convention, I needed an in-depth look at a mortuary – really in-depth, because I had to climb inside a casket. And let me tell you, it’s really, really dark in those boxes. Still, I needed to experience it because that plays an important part in the story. Then there was the day I toured a crematorium. Enough said. And way more info than I ever wanted to know.
In the name of research I’ve also:
Held an eight-foot snake. They’re not slimy.
Ridden a donkey up the side of a steep cliff and didn’t fall off.
Took a hot air balloon ride. You can hear a person talking in a normal voice on the ground when you’re way up high.
Stood inside a prison cell. I can still hear the clanging of that door.
Sat in a tiny room in a prison with a criminal defense attorney as he interviewed a huge and frightening man accused of a grisly crime. (I told you it could be chilling.)
Would I have experienced these things if I’d remained an elementary teacher? Highly doubtful. As a child, I was the one cowering in the back row, unable to finish a swimming course because I was afraid to jump off the high dive. So this new-found courage, where does it come from?
It’s some kind of transference, I guess, because somehow, after having lived in my characters’ heads for years, I’m not scaredy-cat Kate any more. I’ve become bold, empowered by a passion for life and a fierce need for justice. I stand up for my rights now and don’t let bullies intimidate me. I fight for the underdog. What a heady feeling that is. I imagine it must be like being an actor. When you’re on stage, you become the character.
For a writer, you have to become many characters, and to do that accurately and with feeling, you must step outside of yourself and live fully in their worlds. All fun stuff, trust me.
Kate
Kate Collins is the author of the popular, best-selling Flower Shop Mysteries. For her plots, Kate draws upon her own love of flowers, and states firmly that none of the zany characters populating the fictional town of New Chapel are based on people she knows. Honest. Read more at www.katecollinsbooks.com
Monday, June 7, 2010
A desk is just a desk -- or is it?
I recently returned from a road trip to the places where Laura Ingalls Wilder lived. Being a writer, I noticed the desks that were on display at De Smet, South Dakota, and Mansfield, Missouri. Two belonged to Laura, and the rest to her daughter, Rose.
And I realized that desks have evolved over the years.
In 1894, when Laura moved from De Smet to Mansfield, she took along a lap desk. Most of us have seen something similar: about 18 inches by 12 inches and 3 or 4 inches deep, with a top that lifts up so that you can store stationary and writing implements inside. Lap desks were great for a society that was always moving (usually farther west) and that wrote with pen and ink.
By the early 1930s, Laura was well settled in Mansfield, where she lived out the rest of her days. She wrote her books on a desk more than three feet wide. It has a pull-down writing area that, when closed, would cover the cubbyholes at the rear of the desk. Although it would be possible to put a typewriter there, the desk is set up with a pad of paper. Since the curators left things pretty much the way it was when Laura died, she might not have adopted the “more modern” mode of writing using a typewriter.
The museum at Mansfield also has three of Rose’s desks. Rose was a newspaper correspondent as well as a novelist, and two of the desks there are the type you see in newspaper offices in old movies. These desks are possibly 4 or 5 feet wide by 3 or 4 feet deep and have a lowered typewriter shelf in the middle.
But it was Rose’s desk in the house at De Smet that had me salivating. No photos were allowed, so I have to rely on my memory. And now I wish I’d taken more time to look at the desk. I think this was the largest desk of all, built in an E shape without the middle prong. Or, if it were a house, I would describe it as having a long main wing with shorter wings extending from the front on each side. It is all the same height (with the possible exception of a lowered typewriter shelf where the doors to the main hall would be located). Instead of an entrance courtyard, there is a cut-out for a chair, and the shorter wings have built-in bookcases where the walls would be. Does anyone know how to steal a desk without getting caught?
Even though the room was filled with Rose’s possessions, she never lived at De Smet, and I don’t know when she owned this desk. It may have been one of her latter desks, possibly even the one she was using at her death in 1968. And big as it was, desks got even larger once PCs started replacing typewriters as the mode of writing. Think of all the space needed for a monitor and a printer and a keyboard and a hard drive.
But now we’re back to the lap desk, which we call a laptop or a notebook or an iPad. And we are also back to being a society on the move, even though our travels are usually temporary forays away from home rather than searches for new ones.
So are we progressing or regressing? I’ll let you answer that question.
Kathryn Page Camp
And I realized that desks have evolved over the years.
In 1894, when Laura moved from De Smet to Mansfield, she took along a lap desk. Most of us have seen something similar: about 18 inches by 12 inches and 3 or 4 inches deep, with a top that lifts up so that you can store stationary and writing implements inside. Lap desks were great for a society that was always moving (usually farther west) and that wrote with pen and ink.
By the early 1930s, Laura was well settled in Mansfield, where she lived out the rest of her days. She wrote her books on a desk more than three feet wide. It has a pull-down writing area that, when closed, would cover the cubbyholes at the rear of the desk. Although it would be possible to put a typewriter there, the desk is set up with a pad of paper. Since the curators left things pretty much the way it was when Laura died, she might not have adopted the “more modern” mode of writing using a typewriter.
The museum at Mansfield also has three of Rose’s desks. Rose was a newspaper correspondent as well as a novelist, and two of the desks there are the type you see in newspaper offices in old movies. These desks are possibly 4 or 5 feet wide by 3 or 4 feet deep and have a lowered typewriter shelf in the middle.
But it was Rose’s desk in the house at De Smet that had me salivating. No photos were allowed, so I have to rely on my memory. And now I wish I’d taken more time to look at the desk. I think this was the largest desk of all, built in an E shape without the middle prong. Or, if it were a house, I would describe it as having a long main wing with shorter wings extending from the front on each side. It is all the same height (with the possible exception of a lowered typewriter shelf where the doors to the main hall would be located). Instead of an entrance courtyard, there is a cut-out for a chair, and the shorter wings have built-in bookcases where the walls would be. Does anyone know how to steal a desk without getting caught?
Even though the room was filled with Rose’s possessions, she never lived at De Smet, and I don’t know when she owned this desk. It may have been one of her latter desks, possibly even the one she was using at her death in 1968. And big as it was, desks got even larger once PCs started replacing typewriters as the mode of writing. Think of all the space needed for a monitor and a printer and a keyboard and a hard drive.
But now we’re back to the lap desk, which we call a laptop or a notebook or an iPad. And we are also back to being a society on the move, even though our travels are usually temporary forays away from home rather than searches for new ones.
So are we progressing or regressing? I’ll let you answer that question.
Kathryn Page Camp
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Research history of your family by Katherine Flotz
My passion is to search out family history – memoirs of worthwhile facts that are usually hidden away in the minds of our older relatives. I lost my parents early in life. I cannot ask them about their fondest memories, their adventures, and their stories of family functions. I depend on friends of my parents, still alive, to fill me in.
There are many questions we want to ask but it’s often too late. In my memoirs ‘A Pebble in my Shoe” I write about my memories as a child and later as a wife and mother. I wish that I could ask my parents or grandparents about their childhoods and the culture at the time. So much change in fifty years.
In this wonderful world of the Internet, so much more is possible. I have saved all the emails my grandson sent us during his college years. I bound the copies into a book and will give that to him when he settles down with a family. In reading the emails over, I learned so much of his character, his likes and dislikes, his feelings for teachers and classmates and his ambitions.
I also write a Christmas letter each year and have done so for thirty years. My relatives and friends out of town wait for those letters. Again, I bound them into a book and check back when I want to know what happened in a specific year. It is a diary of sorts, as well as a historical family keepsake. It spans children’s births, school activities, weddings, and deaths. It’s a lifespan of history.
Ask your older relatives for a visit and make it a day to remember and chat. Make them feel important and you will reap the benefits along the way. Grandfathers probably served in WWII, fathers perhaps in Korea or Vietnam. Grandmothers may have worked in unusual places during those years. Mothers may have served in the armed forces as well. No facts are useless; the lives of your family are important and worthwhile to record.
It’s easy to write what you know. This is a project that can serve as a practice session for future novels. Life is a novel. You only need to change the facts and the story falls into place.
If you can get photos of family members no longer alive, include them into the memoirs and honor their memory. Children can see who their ancestors were, even though they never met them.
There are many questions we want to ask but it’s often too late. In my memoirs ‘A Pebble in my Shoe” I write about my memories as a child and later as a wife and mother. I wish that I could ask my parents or grandparents about their childhoods and the culture at the time. So much change in fifty years.
In this wonderful world of the Internet, so much more is possible. I have saved all the emails my grandson sent us during his college years. I bound the copies into a book and will give that to him when he settles down with a family. In reading the emails over, I learned so much of his character, his likes and dislikes, his feelings for teachers and classmates and his ambitions.
I also write a Christmas letter each year and have done so for thirty years. My relatives and friends out of town wait for those letters. Again, I bound them into a book and check back when I want to know what happened in a specific year. It is a diary of sorts, as well as a historical family keepsake. It spans children’s births, school activities, weddings, and deaths. It’s a lifespan of history.
Ask your older relatives for a visit and make it a day to remember and chat. Make them feel important and you will reap the benefits along the way. Grandfathers probably served in WWII, fathers perhaps in Korea or Vietnam. Grandmothers may have worked in unusual places during those years. Mothers may have served in the armed forces as well. No facts are useless; the lives of your family are important and worthwhile to record.
It’s easy to write what you know. This is a project that can serve as a practice session for future novels. Life is a novel. You only need to change the facts and the story falls into place.
If you can get photos of family members no longer alive, include them into the memoirs and honor their memory. Children can see who their ancestors were, even though they never met them.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Love the Ugly Red-headed Stepchild: The Role of Creative Writing in Academia by Janine Harrison
With increased emphasis being placed upon assessment in schools from Kindergarten through college, and especially in a time of economic turn down when the arts are increasingly in jeopardy, it is imperative that creative writing as an academic discipline continue to flourish as it has been for the past three-and-a-half decades in the United States. According to The AWP Official Guide to Writing Programs, undergraduate creative writing majors grew from a mere three in 1975 to currently exceeding 137. Although creative writing has been often deemed the "ugly red-headed stepchild" of the English department, it is a vital component to English education.
Creative thinking is as necessary to thought processes as critical thinking and to have one without the other is to be ill-equipped for tasks that require "out-of-the-box" thinking. Furthermore, today's educational system focuses so intently upon informational writing that the "affective" side is frequently neglected. Creative writing can serve as an outlet for not just emotional release, but genuine exploration of the intersection between ideas and emotions, conflicting truths, and expectations and reality; it is a mode of discovery and the marriage, the very manifestation, of creative and critical thinking.
In their December 2009 Writer's Chronicle article, "Out of the Margins: The Expanding Role of Creative Writing in Today's College Curriculum," Chad Davidson and Gregory Fraser posit that advantages to including creative writing are that it:
1. Promotes close-reading skills
2. Challenges the myth of linear process
3. Encourages both detachment from, and investment in, one's writing
4. Implicitly critiques the myth of the isolated genius
5. Fosters a beneficial apprentice mentality
In addition, it gives students a respite from the shallow characters and predictable plot structures that mass media has been attempting to shovel into their mouths since their first silver spoons. Students are often searching for something deeper, more substantive, something that will make them see and think in new ways.
Another reason that creative writing course curriculum is valuable is because of its interplay with linguistics. Creative writing teaches syntax as students are advised to vary sentence construction and length and to tighten structure. It teaches etymology as they examine word origins and semantics as they explore connotation and denotation. It teaches phonology as they listen closely to words for alliteration and assonance. And creative writing instructs students about sociolinguistics as they explore dialogue of characters with socioeconomic backgrounds dissimilar from their own.
I instruct college creative writing. Recently, a student e-mailed to thank me for my introductory course because she had never had an opportunity to write creatively before. As much as I appreciated receiving the communique, it also wounded me to know that the student had made it through 13 to 15 years of formal education without such exposure. Creative writing, as major, as minor, supports professional writing, journalism, communication, broadcasting, computer graphics technology, theatre, advertising/marketing, culture and media, and other majors. In K through 12, it helps to flower imaginative minds that may otherwise wilt.
For the past two years, I have seen less and less creative writing job postings. We live in a world with state budget cutbacks impacting schools across the nation. And what suffers most? The arts, deemed "superfluous" when during times of strife, individual stories need more than ever to be voiced. Love the flaming hair, the accompanying freckles. Spread the word.
Creative thinking is as necessary to thought processes as critical thinking and to have one without the other is to be ill-equipped for tasks that require "out-of-the-box" thinking. Furthermore, today's educational system focuses so intently upon informational writing that the "affective" side is frequently neglected. Creative writing can serve as an outlet for not just emotional release, but genuine exploration of the intersection between ideas and emotions, conflicting truths, and expectations and reality; it is a mode of discovery and the marriage, the very manifestation, of creative and critical thinking.
In their December 2009 Writer's Chronicle article, "Out of the Margins: The Expanding Role of Creative Writing in Today's College Curriculum," Chad Davidson and Gregory Fraser posit that advantages to including creative writing are that it:
1. Promotes close-reading skills
2. Challenges the myth of linear process
3. Encourages both detachment from, and investment in, one's writing
4. Implicitly critiques the myth of the isolated genius
5. Fosters a beneficial apprentice mentality
In addition, it gives students a respite from the shallow characters and predictable plot structures that mass media has been attempting to shovel into their mouths since their first silver spoons. Students are often searching for something deeper, more substantive, something that will make them see and think in new ways.
Another reason that creative writing course curriculum is valuable is because of its interplay with linguistics. Creative writing teaches syntax as students are advised to vary sentence construction and length and to tighten structure. It teaches etymology as they examine word origins and semantics as they explore connotation and denotation. It teaches phonology as they listen closely to words for alliteration and assonance. And creative writing instructs students about sociolinguistics as they explore dialogue of characters with socioeconomic backgrounds dissimilar from their own.
I instruct college creative writing. Recently, a student e-mailed to thank me for my introductory course because she had never had an opportunity to write creatively before. As much as I appreciated receiving the communique, it also wounded me to know that the student had made it through 13 to 15 years of formal education without such exposure. Creative writing, as major, as minor, supports professional writing, journalism, communication, broadcasting, computer graphics technology, theatre, advertising/marketing, culture and media, and other majors. In K through 12, it helps to flower imaginative minds that may otherwise wilt.
For the past two years, I have seen less and less creative writing job postings. We live in a world with state budget cutbacks impacting schools across the nation. And what suffers most? The arts, deemed "superfluous" when during times of strife, individual stories need more than ever to be voiced. Love the flaming hair, the accompanying freckles. Spread the word.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Artistic Connections by Susan Pound
It’s an inspired Monday.
Last night, for the first time, I attended an event at the Acorn Theater in Three Oaks, Michigan. The building itself is a treat. It’s a turn-of-the-century former corset stay factory that’s been lovingly converted to an intimate performance space. The venue is perfect for live entertainment—music, spoken word, movement, comedy, drama, visual theater, and more. Tuesday is open mic night.
The theater also houses a wine shop (but that’s an adventure for another day).
My husband and I met some friends at the Acorn to see a band called Tempest. They describe their music as “a globally-renowned hybrid of high-energy folk rock fusing Irish reels, Scottish ballads, Norwegian influences and other world music elements”. The creative juices were flowing!
I found myself thinking about the marvelous confluence of talent in this region. As writers, we sometimes get caught up in our own little worlds. We tend to forget to patronize local artistic events and venues. Not only are we not actively supporting other artists, we aren’t supporting those who hold the space for them to share their artistry.
And . . . we are missing opportunities for creative inspiration. Including ‘cross-discipline’ infusions of artistic energy. Last night’s musical experience brought with it a feeling of tangible connection to my Celtic and Viking roots. Ideas are knocking on my writing door.
Speaking of connections, artists and gatherings—we have three writers’ events coming up right here in Northwest Indiana.
· On Saturday, April 24, our own New York Times best-selling children’s author Peggy Archer will be making a presentation for the launch of her new picture book, Name That Dog!
· Purdue University Calumet will host the Indiana SCBWI conference, ‘Focus on the Novel’ on May 14 &15. Info at www.indianscbwi.com.
· Also on May 15, the Indiana Federation of Poetry Clubs is holding a Spring Meeting, hosted by the Northwest Indiana Poetry Society. It will begin at 9:00a.m. at the Lowell Public Library.
On May 14, the Society will hold an open microphone round robin at the New Comfort Inn at I-65 & Rt. 2.
Last night, for the first time, I attended an event at the Acorn Theater in Three Oaks, Michigan. The building itself is a treat. It’s a turn-of-the-century former corset stay factory that’s been lovingly converted to an intimate performance space. The venue is perfect for live entertainment—music, spoken word, movement, comedy, drama, visual theater, and more. Tuesday is open mic night.
The theater also houses a wine shop (but that’s an adventure for another day).
My husband and I met some friends at the Acorn to see a band called Tempest. They describe their music as “a globally-renowned hybrid of high-energy folk rock fusing Irish reels, Scottish ballads, Norwegian influences and other world music elements”. The creative juices were flowing!
I found myself thinking about the marvelous confluence of talent in this region. As writers, we sometimes get caught up in our own little worlds. We tend to forget to patronize local artistic events and venues. Not only are we not actively supporting other artists, we aren’t supporting those who hold the space for them to share their artistry.
And . . . we are missing opportunities for creative inspiration. Including ‘cross-discipline’ infusions of artistic energy. Last night’s musical experience brought with it a feeling of tangible connection to my Celtic and Viking roots. Ideas are knocking on my writing door.
Speaking of connections, artists and gatherings—we have three writers’ events coming up right here in Northwest Indiana.
· On Saturday, April 24, our own New York Times best-selling children’s author Peggy Archer will be making a presentation for the launch of her new picture book, Name That Dog!
· Purdue University Calumet will host the Indiana SCBWI conference, ‘Focus on the Novel’ on May 14 &15. Info at www.indianscbwi.com.
· Also on May 15, the Indiana Federation of Poetry Clubs is holding a Spring Meeting, hosted by the Northwest Indiana Poetry Society. It will begin at 9:00a.m. at the Lowell Public Library.
On May 14, the Society will hold an open microphone round robin at the New Comfort Inn at I-65 & Rt. 2.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
It Takes a House to Write a Novel by Debra A. Kemp
It seems to take an entire house for me to write a novel. I have an office where I do most of my work. It's cluttered with three ring binders and notebooks and tattered bits of paper and sticky notes. Stacks of cd cases of inspirational music are near to hand on the floor next to my "throne". Currently Rush is my music of choice. And in a side thought, I realized, why bother playing Rush if you can't crank it up to 11? (I had to turn it down for a brief stint on the phone.)
But back to the topic. I have noticed bits of my work in progress in nearly every room of my house. There's a stack of notes next to my side of the bed. A yellow legal pad, tossed on the dresser, has the opening of chapter 4 penned by hand in fountain pen--blue ink. With a mere glance, I can see sticky notes marking passages in the towering stack of research books on the floor beside the bed. Far too many for the bedside table. That has a limit of five.
We made the formal living room our library, since we needed a place for the books anyway! This houses the majority of my books, including my prized Arthurian collection. I could probably open any one at random and find scrap of paper with a note I'd scribbled with some thought of how to use a passage in the House Pendragon series. My special collector's copies of Firebrand and Recruit are in the barrister case next to my first copy of "Once and Future King"--where it all began. Oddly, my working copy of Firebrand--the one I've marked up--is on top of the record player. (Rush Live in Rio playing.) The book has a large piece of paper sticking out from it with more of my scribbles.
It's a natural segue from there to the formal dining room. I'm writing the rough draft of this in pencil, at my dining room table, whilst a princess watches from on high and beside to a display case filled with Arthurian scenes and characters rendered in pewter--acquired in England. On the table where I'm writing, beside my coupons, is another legal pad--this one lilac--with chapter one lovingly penned in fountain pen. Leaning against the side board is another binder. This one has my outline for book 3. I had been looking for that the other day in the office.
Passing into the kitchen, my e-reader is on the counter re-charging. It has both Firebrand and Recruit uploaded on it and the current incarnation of #3's manuscript. A handy, portable device--no need to lug all the pages or a laptop on short trips. Inside my purse--on the table--is yet another notepad filled with scene and character sketches. Nearly time for a replacement.
From there it's the family room. I keep a note bad and pen on the table next to my chair. The top page has a note I made while watching a show on the history channel the other day. Hmm, need to get that to my desk where it will get lost.
So it takes an entire house for me to write a novel. I can't contain it in a single room. Perhaps if my office were the size of my house and I was better organized?
As always, thanks for reading!
Debra
Debra A. Kemp
The House of Pendragon continues!
http://amberquill.com/Firebrand.html
http://www.myspace.com/debrakemp
But back to the topic. I have noticed bits of my work in progress in nearly every room of my house. There's a stack of notes next to my side of the bed. A yellow legal pad, tossed on the dresser, has the opening of chapter 4 penned by hand in fountain pen--blue ink. With a mere glance, I can see sticky notes marking passages in the towering stack of research books on the floor beside the bed. Far too many for the bedside table. That has a limit of five.
We made the formal living room our library, since we needed a place for the books anyway! This houses the majority of my books, including my prized Arthurian collection. I could probably open any one at random and find scrap of paper with a note I'd scribbled with some thought of how to use a passage in the House Pendragon series. My special collector's copies of Firebrand and Recruit are in the barrister case next to my first copy of "Once and Future King"--where it all began. Oddly, my working copy of Firebrand--the one I've marked up--is on top of the record player. (Rush Live in Rio playing.) The book has a large piece of paper sticking out from it with more of my scribbles.
It's a natural segue from there to the formal dining room. I'm writing the rough draft of this in pencil, at my dining room table, whilst a princess watches from on high and beside to a display case filled with Arthurian scenes and characters rendered in pewter--acquired in England. On the table where I'm writing, beside my coupons, is another legal pad--this one lilac--with chapter one lovingly penned in fountain pen. Leaning against the side board is another binder. This one has my outline for book 3. I had been looking for that the other day in the office.
Passing into the kitchen, my e-reader is on the counter re-charging. It has both Firebrand and Recruit uploaded on it and the current incarnation of #3's manuscript. A handy, portable device--no need to lug all the pages or a laptop on short trips. Inside my purse--on the table--is yet another notepad filled with scene and character sketches. Nearly time for a replacement.
From there it's the family room. I keep a note bad and pen on the table next to my chair. The top page has a note I made while watching a show on the history channel the other day. Hmm, need to get that to my desk where it will get lost.
So it takes an entire house for me to write a novel. I can't contain it in a single room. Perhaps if my office were the size of my house and I was better organized?
As always, thanks for reading!
Debra
Debra A. Kemp
The House of Pendragon continues!
http://amberquill.com/Firebrand.html
http://www.myspace.com/debrakemp
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Writing Groups: When it is time to break up with your venue By Gordon Stamper Jr.
Depending on a writing group’s nature, some are quiet, academic, and perfectly happy to meet in a library room or reserve a campus classroom. However, if you want your gathering to be a bit more boisterous and have more potential to draw writers of all genres, it’s probably more conducive to meet in a public commerce place such as a bookstore, coffee house, or restaurant.
But with this comes the reality that some writers and business venues don’t mix, or the nature of their relationships negatively changes with time. Sometimes it’s necessary for your writing group’s survival to part ways. Still, sometimes a little communication or mutual support will salvage your relationship. In the process, a business can reap material benefits, while you’ll help your writer’s group succeed with a steady place to gather and grow.
When It’s Time to Part Ways
No venue is perfect, but usually at least two of these factors should make your writer’s group seriously consider a new home.
--Noise levels reach unacceptable levels and your host makes no accommodations to reduce them. Writing groups themselves should generate some noise with active discussion, but when the barista wants to play Metallica at 11 and the owner isn’t willing to turn off a speaker in your section or lower the volume, it can be impossible to concentrate on your work(s).
--Despite having a long-standing partnership, the needs of others, beyond reasonable business concerns, are considered before your group. You have met every Friday evening for 10 years, but management decides to put you and your fellow scribes in a small, invisible side room every time a special musical guest performs or board games tournament convenes. . .or whenever the mood strikes them.
--Instability in the host’s management results in inconsistent considerations for your gathering. With one assistant manager, your group is treated like royalty with special accommodations. With another, you’re lucky to get any seating and avoid casual comments like “I guess it’s time for the freak show again.”
--Physical remodeling of a business makes it virtually impossible to meet. Highland Writers Group ran into this problem with the original remodeling of the Highland Borders location. It didn’t allow for any community group meeting space that the old layout did, and the cafe area at the time was a cacophonous ringside seat to cappuccino machines.
--You are basically being shoved out the door. This seems to be common sense, but I was a part of an area writers group that allowed it to happen. Part of a book store’s community event calendar for more than seven years, they were moved from a prime central table with comfortable seating to a significantly less traveled side section, and finally were delegated to crouch in the children’s reading section (stymieing any serious discussion of adult-oriented writing). It was time to leave for about a year.
Ways to Avoid an Unnecessary Breakup
--Communicate your concerns. Don’t wait for both rest rooms and your seating area to become filthy candidates for the next episode of Gordon Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares. Don’t wait for the fifth time the owner moves you for another one of his tone deaf cousin’s impromptu folk singer sessions. Share your complaints and suggestions early so minor issues don’t become angry, insurmountable problems. If your concerns are dismissed or you’re ignored, that venue isn’t the only place in need of loyal customers.
--Actively support the host business. “Talk it up” with family. Promote it via email to friends. Become the business’ “friend” or “follower” on Facebook and Twitter. Recommend your hosts’ services (book sales or great food, for example) or qualities (friendly, great ambiance) so that great meeting spot for your writers’ group remains open and the owner knows you’re an asset for his store.
--When partnering with a retailer, save your purchase receipts. If it’s an issue of a new or veteran manager questioning your time slot due to sales, their concerns can be easily addressed with your group members’ sales receipts, a pile of evidence showing your financial support. But if you’re already disliking your experience for a number of other reasons (such as those listed above) or management starts asking “what’s the use of your writing group anyway,” this could be an excellent time to calmly end your partnership.
--When possible, partner with a local business over a corporate chain. For your writing group, there are two reasons for this, one selfish, one altruistic. The selfish reason—local stores are usually much more consistent in terms of management style. You know who you need to talk to, and usually they are at the counter. Corporate chains have a high turnover of store managers and community relations directors—people are regularly fired, promoted, and transferred. The altruistic motive—helping someone’s small business dream succeed, and the American Dream be something more than a writing topic at your next meeting.
But with this comes the reality that some writers and business venues don’t mix, or the nature of their relationships negatively changes with time. Sometimes it’s necessary for your writing group’s survival to part ways. Still, sometimes a little communication or mutual support will salvage your relationship. In the process, a business can reap material benefits, while you’ll help your writer’s group succeed with a steady place to gather and grow.
When It’s Time to Part Ways
No venue is perfect, but usually at least two of these factors should make your writer’s group seriously consider a new home.
--Noise levels reach unacceptable levels and your host makes no accommodations to reduce them. Writing groups themselves should generate some noise with active discussion, but when the barista wants to play Metallica at 11 and the owner isn’t willing to turn off a speaker in your section or lower the volume, it can be impossible to concentrate on your work(s).
--Despite having a long-standing partnership, the needs of others, beyond reasonable business concerns, are considered before your group. You have met every Friday evening for 10 years, but management decides to put you and your fellow scribes in a small, invisible side room every time a special musical guest performs or board games tournament convenes. . .or whenever the mood strikes them.
--Instability in the host’s management results in inconsistent considerations for your gathering. With one assistant manager, your group is treated like royalty with special accommodations. With another, you’re lucky to get any seating and avoid casual comments like “I guess it’s time for the freak show again.”
--Physical remodeling of a business makes it virtually impossible to meet. Highland Writers Group ran into this problem with the original remodeling of the Highland Borders location. It didn’t allow for any community group meeting space that the old layout did, and the cafe area at the time was a cacophonous ringside seat to cappuccino machines.
--You are basically being shoved out the door. This seems to be common sense, but I was a part of an area writers group that allowed it to happen. Part of a book store’s community event calendar for more than seven years, they were moved from a prime central table with comfortable seating to a significantly less traveled side section, and finally were delegated to crouch in the children’s reading section (stymieing any serious discussion of adult-oriented writing). It was time to leave for about a year.
Ways to Avoid an Unnecessary Breakup
--Communicate your concerns. Don’t wait for both rest rooms and your seating area to become filthy candidates for the next episode of Gordon Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares. Don’t wait for the fifth time the owner moves you for another one of his tone deaf cousin’s impromptu folk singer sessions. Share your complaints and suggestions early so minor issues don’t become angry, insurmountable problems. If your concerns are dismissed or you’re ignored, that venue isn’t the only place in need of loyal customers.
--Actively support the host business. “Talk it up” with family. Promote it via email to friends. Become the business’ “friend” or “follower” on Facebook and Twitter. Recommend your hosts’ services (book sales or great food, for example) or qualities (friendly, great ambiance) so that great meeting spot for your writers’ group remains open and the owner knows you’re an asset for his store.
--When partnering with a retailer, save your purchase receipts. If it’s an issue of a new or veteran manager questioning your time slot due to sales, their concerns can be easily addressed with your group members’ sales receipts, a pile of evidence showing your financial support. But if you’re already disliking your experience for a number of other reasons (such as those listed above) or management starts asking “what’s the use of your writing group anyway,” this could be an excellent time to calmly end your partnership.
--When possible, partner with a local business over a corporate chain. For your writing group, there are two reasons for this, one selfish, one altruistic. The selfish reason—local stores are usually much more consistent in terms of management style. You know who you need to talk to, and usually they are at the counter. Corporate chains have a high turnover of store managers and community relations directors—people are regularly fired, promoted, and transferred. The altruistic motive—helping someone’s small business dream succeed, and the American Dream be something more than a writing topic at your next meeting.
Friday, March 5, 2010
An invitation to the literary community of Northwest Indiana
On Friday May 15, 2010 Evening From 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. the Northwest Indiana Poetry Society will host an open microphone round robin at the New Comfort Inn at I-65 and Rt. 2, (The northwest corner a little East and slightly north of the interchange.) All poets and the public are invited to this event to welcome the Indiana federation of Poetry Clubs to our part of the State.
Indiana Federation of Poetry Clubs
The Indiana Federation of Poetry Clubs, will hold its Spring Meeting in Lowell, Indiana at the Lowell Public Library on Saturday May 16, 2010
Program:
9:00 a.m. Business meeting
Keynote Speaker to follow: Tony
Sexton, President of the Kentucky State Poetry Society, the Keynote speaker will be follow by the Indiana federation of Poetry Club’s Premier Poet, Peggy Martin.
An open microphone to follow with Lunch at Twelve, a $10.00 charge for lunch reservations must be made ahead of the event.
Paddy Lynn, will present herself as Emily Dickenson at 1:00 p.m. She gives a wonderful show and has Q & A for the last fifteen minutes of her ninety minute show. Public invited.
Program:
9:00 a.m. Business meeting
Keynote Speaker to follow: Tony
Sexton, President of the Kentucky State Poetry Society, the Keynote speaker will be follow by the Indiana federation of Poetry Club’s Premier Poet, Peggy Martin.
An open microphone to follow with Lunch at Twelve, a $10.00 charge for lunch reservations must be made ahead of the event.
Paddy Lynn, will present herself as Emily Dickenson at 1:00 p.m. She gives a wonderful show and has Q & A for the last fifteen minutes of her ninety minute show. Public invited.
About Poetry
In today’s literary world there are many collections of words that are called poetry. What is your definition of poetry?
Po-it-tree or, as we know the word poetry. I like to think of a poem as a tree that has roots in the mind of the poet, a living tree of thoughts that grow.
Trees can be found in their natural state, growing, pollinating, propagating, doing what they are meant to do, create oxygen for the world to use. A forest of trees makes the individual tree very hard to appreciate, however, if you take an individual tree from the forest and plant it in an open space, its beauty can be appreciated, its limbs that have fought for space in the forest and reached for the light above will spread, the roots will expand and it will produce a greater amount of oxygen than it was capable of confined in the forest of trees.
A poem is a literary tree, a thought planted in the mind of the poet that has roots. To communicate with the world and be of any value those roots must reach out of their confinement into the world as words, those words form the trunk of the tree, the arrangement of those words form the shape of the poem the balance of the branches will either make the poem memorable or let it be just another poem like any other poem. A good poem is memorable for the thought that it conveys and for the rhythms of its words.
Here is a poem that changed poetry and brought it into the modern world as an art form of the masses.
AS I ponder’d in silence,
Returning upon my poems, considering, lingering long,
A Phantom arose before me, with distrustful aspect,
Terrible in beauty, age, and power,
The genius of poets of old lands, 5
As to me directing like flame its eyes,
With finger pointing to many immortal songs,
And menacing voice, What singest thou? it said;
Know’st thou not, there is but one theme for ever-enduring bards?
And that is the theme of War, the fortune of battles, 10
The making of perfect soldiers?
2
Be it so, then I answer’d,
I too, haughty Shade, also sing war—and a longer and greater one than any,
Waged in my book with varying fortune—with flight, advance, and retreat—Victory defer’d and wavering,
(Yet, methinks, certain, or as good as certain, at the last,)—The field the world; 15
For life and death—for the Body, and for the eternal Soul,
Lo! too am come, chanting the chant of battles,
I, above all, promote brave soldiers.
You no doubt have all read this poem in your college literature course. Here is another poem by the same poet.
O CAPTAIN! my Captain! our fearful trip is done;
The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won;
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring:
But O heart! heart! heart! 5
O the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.
2
O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills; 10
For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths—for you the shores a-crowding;
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;
Here Captain! dear father!
This arm beneath your head;
It is some dream that on the deck, 15
You’ve fallen cold and dead.
3
Walt Whitman, wrote both these poems, The first from his Leaves of Grass Collection, the second his eulogy to Lincoln. Whitman, brought poetry to a level that the general masses could understand and mimic its construction. He introduced free verse with rhythm. Everyone in the literary world became poets. I don’t argue with that assumption. It is good to read the thoughts of our fellow citizens of the world. It is good that they are writing and sharing their thoughts. Unfortunately this proliferation of free verse with irregular meter and rhythms is not memorable as more than the transitory thought projected with questionable rhythm. Whereas a poem like Lincoln’s eulogy O! Captain My Captain, is long remembered and often repeated in context
I leave you with this questions: If a poem is “so deep” it cannot be understood or remembered, what good is it?
by Tom Spencer March 9, 2010
Po-it-tree or, as we know the word poetry. I like to think of a poem as a tree that has roots in the mind of the poet, a living tree of thoughts that grow.
Trees can be found in their natural state, growing, pollinating, propagating, doing what they are meant to do, create oxygen for the world to use. A forest of trees makes the individual tree very hard to appreciate, however, if you take an individual tree from the forest and plant it in an open space, its beauty can be appreciated, its limbs that have fought for space in the forest and reached for the light above will spread, the roots will expand and it will produce a greater amount of oxygen than it was capable of confined in the forest of trees.
A poem is a literary tree, a thought planted in the mind of the poet that has roots. To communicate with the world and be of any value those roots must reach out of their confinement into the world as words, those words form the trunk of the tree, the arrangement of those words form the shape of the poem the balance of the branches will either make the poem memorable or let it be just another poem like any other poem. A good poem is memorable for the thought that it conveys and for the rhythms of its words.
Here is a poem that changed poetry and brought it into the modern world as an art form of the masses.
AS I ponder’d in silence,
Returning upon my poems, considering, lingering long,
A Phantom arose before me, with distrustful aspect,
Terrible in beauty, age, and power,
The genius of poets of old lands, 5
As to me directing like flame its eyes,
With finger pointing to many immortal songs,
And menacing voice, What singest thou? it said;
Know’st thou not, there is but one theme for ever-enduring bards?
And that is the theme of War, the fortune of battles, 10
The making of perfect soldiers?
2
Be it so, then I answer’d,
I too, haughty Shade, also sing war—and a longer and greater one than any,
Waged in my book with varying fortune—with flight, advance, and retreat—Victory defer’d and wavering,
(Yet, methinks, certain, or as good as certain, at the last,)—The field the world; 15
For life and death—for the Body, and for the eternal Soul,
Lo! too am come, chanting the chant of battles,
I, above all, promote brave soldiers.
You no doubt have all read this poem in your college literature course. Here is another poem by the same poet.
O CAPTAIN! my Captain! our fearful trip is done;
The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won;
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring:
But O heart! heart! heart! 5
O the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.
2
O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills; 10
For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths—for you the shores a-crowding;
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;
Here Captain! dear father!
This arm beneath your head;
It is some dream that on the deck, 15
You’ve fallen cold and dead.
3
Walt Whitman, wrote both these poems, The first from his Leaves of Grass Collection, the second his eulogy to Lincoln. Whitman, brought poetry to a level that the general masses could understand and mimic its construction. He introduced free verse with rhythm. Everyone in the literary world became poets. I don’t argue with that assumption. It is good to read the thoughts of our fellow citizens of the world. It is good that they are writing and sharing their thoughts. Unfortunately this proliferation of free verse with irregular meter and rhythms is not memorable as more than the transitory thought projected with questionable rhythm. Whereas a poem like Lincoln’s eulogy O! Captain My Captain, is long remembered and often repeated in context
I leave you with this questions: If a poem is “so deep” it cannot be understood or remembered, what good is it?
by Tom Spencer March 9, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Advice to the Research-Challenged
Whether you write fiction or non-fiction, bad facts make readers put your article or book down before they finish it. But over-researching wastes time you could spend writing and tempts you to include unnecessary facts that bore the reader. So how do you find the right balance?
Unlike many people, I love doing research. But I learned long ago that inefficient research wastes valuable writing time. Here are some tips on researching that use examples from my experience while writing In God We Trust (FaithWalk Publishing, 2006).
1. Have a general idea of where your book is going before you start the research. In God We Trust was my response to the ongoing argument over the meaning of the First Amendment’s religion clauses. As I listened to both conservatives and liberals, I became concerned that neither side was painting an accurate picture for the general public. The object of the book is to give laypersons the information they need to draw their own conclusions about what the First Amendment means and how well the Supreme Court has applied it.
2. Tailor your research to the book’s goal. I could have researched and discussed the country’s religious history from the time the Pilgrims reached
3. Select your sources, then use them wisely. Depending on the topic, libraries, books, magazines, interviews, location visits, and the Internet can all be helpful resources. Interviews and location visits wouldn’t have worked for me, but I made extensive use of the Harold Washington Library in downtown
4. Don’t be afraid to go back and supplement your research. After I started writing, I realized I needed to address two federal laws that Congress adopted in an attempt to overrule the Supreme Court. So I found them and read them.
5. Or to leave some of your research on the cutting room floor. Although I believe in researching efficiently, it is better to err on the side of too much rather than too little. Some of the Supreme Court cases I read were decided on other grounds that avoided the First Amendment issues, so I didn’t use them.
Learn to research efficiently, and you might discover you enjoy it.
Kathryn Page Camp
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
So you wrote a book? So you self-published? Now it is time to market it! by Katherine Flotz
I wrote my memoirs and those of my husband’s titled “A Pebble in my Shoe”. The stories are part of the history of WWII and are worth remembering. After the writing, re-writing, editing, etc. Pannonia Press of Palatine, IL. published it. This is the imprint owned by another author, Elizabeth Walter, who could not find a publisher for her WWII memoirs. We were on our own paying for the cost of printing.
The next step was to market the book. Many friends of mine, also survivors, purchased the book. Naturally, the family and relatives became customers. It was then necessary to start looking to the local libraries and book clubs. The Crown Point library purchased books for their book club. An informative article appeared in the Crown Point Post Tribune and resulted in some sales. The YMCA book club members purchased copies.
I approached Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.com to carry my book. The book was accepted in their inventory.
As customers were reading the book, and passing copies around to their friends, we received inquiries about speaking engagements. Contacts led us to schools, where the English and history teachers asked us to speak. These events always led to sales. Our requirement always included the purchase of books for their school libraries. Don’t forget your own church or neighboring churches of all faiths. They usually have women and men’s clubs who look for speakers. Sales are usually good.
I contacted bookstores in the Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin areas to arrange for book signings. Many of the smaller bookstores take books on consignment. In vacation towns in Wisconsin, I was very successful in repeat book signings because new people come to the towns each year.
If you have a book that is of interest to people, word of mouth is a good marketing tool. The marketing and promotion of your book is best served by your personal contact with your customers.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Peggy Archer gives tips to writers of Children's Books
Hello! My name is Peggy Archer, and I am a children’s author. I belong to the Indiana Writers’ Consortium (IWC) and have enjoyed connecting to writers of all genres here in northwest Indiana through IWC. You can find out more about me and my books on my website at www.peggyarcher.com.
Are you a children’s writer? Just getting started, or looking for a way to jumpstart your writing in the new year? Here’s a list of things you can do to keep yourself on track.
1—Read Children’s Books. Which ones did you like, and why? Read picture books out loud. Feel the rhythm of the words. Taste the language.
2—Set realistic goals. Writing 15 minutes a day, or a couple hours a week is better than waiting for a whole day that’s free before you sit down to write. Break your goals down into small steps that can be accomplished weekly or monthly on your way to reaching your long-term goals.
3—Write as often as you can. The more you write the better you will become. Don’t stress if you can’t write as much as you like. You can always think about ideas, and first lines, sitting in the car or waiting for an appointment. Keep a notebook with you, or a tape recorder, for times when you need to write those words down.
4—Learn all you can about writing for children. Read books and publications for children’s writers, look at websites and blogs, and talk to other children’s writers.
5—Join a critique group with other children’s writers. It helps to get feedback from others who understand the genre. It also gives you a deadline to have something written.
6—Attend conferences for children’s writers. This is a wonderful way to network with other children’s writers, meet editors, expand your marketing possibilities, and get professional critiques on your work.
7—Join SCBWI (the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators). This is an immense resource for children’s writers. Check their website at www.scbwi.org.
8—Research the markets. Read the current Children’s Writers & Illustrators Market Book. Read newsletters and magazines for children’s writers. Check out publishers’ catalogs and guidelines, on line or at your library. Read children’s books and look to see who publishes them.
9—Submit. Once you’ve written your story as best as it can be and researched the markets, submit your work. Submit to children’s magazines, too. Acceptances there are rewarding and encouraging.
10—Enter contests; apply for grants. Remember, there are other benefits besides winning. Beware of those charging a fee and check them out thoroughly first.
Staying on the right track can bring you closer to reaching your goals as a children’s writer. I hope you enjoy the ride!
Peggy Archer
www.peggyarcher.com
Are you a children’s writer? Just getting started, or looking for a way to jumpstart your writing in the new year? Here’s a list of things you can do to keep yourself on track.
1—Read Children’s Books. Which ones did you like, and why? Read picture books out loud. Feel the rhythm of the words. Taste the language.
2—Set realistic goals. Writing 15 minutes a day, or a couple hours a week is better than waiting for a whole day that’s free before you sit down to write. Break your goals down into small steps that can be accomplished weekly or monthly on your way to reaching your long-term goals.
3—Write as often as you can. The more you write the better you will become. Don’t stress if you can’t write as much as you like. You can always think about ideas, and first lines, sitting in the car or waiting for an appointment. Keep a notebook with you, or a tape recorder, for times when you need to write those words down.
4—Learn all you can about writing for children. Read books and publications for children’s writers, look at websites and blogs, and talk to other children’s writers.
5—Join a critique group with other children’s writers. It helps to get feedback from others who understand the genre. It also gives you a deadline to have something written.
6—Attend conferences for children’s writers. This is a wonderful way to network with other children’s writers, meet editors, expand your marketing possibilities, and get professional critiques on your work.
7—Join SCBWI (the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators). This is an immense resource for children’s writers. Check their website at www.scbwi.org.
8—Research the markets. Read the current Children’s Writers & Illustrators Market Book. Read newsletters and magazines for children’s writers. Check out publishers’ catalogs and guidelines, on line or at your library. Read children’s books and look to see who publishes them.
9—Submit. Once you’ve written your story as best as it can be and researched the markets, submit your work. Submit to children’s magazines, too. Acceptances there are rewarding and encouraging.
10—Enter contests; apply for grants. Remember, there are other benefits besides winning. Beware of those charging a fee and check them out thoroughly first.
Staying on the right track can bring you closer to reaching your goals as a children’s writer. I hope you enjoy the ride!
Peggy Archer
www.peggyarcher.com
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