triangleareafreelancers.org Blog

Write Now! 2009 Writers’ Conference

It’s that time of year again! Time to sign up for the TAF writers’ conference. If you’re interested in freelance writing, or you’re already a freelancer but you’re not doing as well as you’d hoped, this conference is for you. With top notch instructors and two tracks of classes, you’ll find both the inspiration and the skills to take your writing (and your earnings!) to the next level. Last year’s participants enjoyed the conference so much, they predicted it would be a huge success going forward. And registrations are already pouring in. There are only 100 spaces available, so don’t wait! Sign up today. Here are the details:

NONFICTION WRITERS CONFERENCE
Triangle Area Freelancers (TAF) will hold its second nonfiction symposium Write Now! 2009 Writers’ Conference at Wake Technical Community College’s Northern Wake Campus on Saturday, April 18, 2009, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Local novelist, nonfiction writer, and private editorial consultant Peggy Payne will deliver the keynote address. Her most recent novel Sister India is a New York Times Notable Book.

The conference classes, taught by nationally published writers and journalists, are presented in two tracks. “The Craft of Writing,” will include topics such as Finding and Developing Marketable Topics, When Being There Makes All the Difference, Breaking into Triangle Markets, and Avoiding Freelance Faux Pas. “The Business of Writing” will focus on Writing for the Web, Taxes and Other Boring (But Important) Stuff for Writers, The Legalities of Freelance Writing, and The Writer’s Life.

Registration information is available on the TAF website:
www.triangleareafreelancers.org. Online registration is available with payment made through PayPal. The cost of the conference is $59 ($49 for students with a valid ID and seniors 65 and over). Only 100 seats are available. The registration fee includes a continental breakfast, box lunch, snacks and beverages. For more information, call Donald Vaughan at 919.873.9833.

What I Do

I am a writer. Why do I write? I have to.

When I don’t write, I feel like things are getting away from me. I get nervous and anxious. Writing organizes my mind, so that I can focus on one thing at a time.

I have several writing projects underway, and I have several more ideas that I am very excited about, but it takes peace and quiet for me to “get my creativity on” – so to speak.

I have two small sons who are my constant companions, and their companionship is the opposite of peace and quiet.

I love this time in my life. I love to be with my boys and watch them grow. I have a son who is almost sixteen years old, too, so I know how soon this season will be just a memory. Every milestone they reach, every inch they grow, makes my heart ache with a longing to keep them just as they are, always.

I often wish that I was more productive with my writing. I feel like I should be honing my skills, working on my big projects, selling articles (?!?), etc., but for that I need peace and quiet.

What I can fit into my crazy day is a couple of minutes to write down what my boys are up to. It’s writing. It’s fun. It’s therapeutic. It calms me – to know that I haven’t let these moments get away from me.

When my little guys have grown up, and moved away, and have lives of their own, I won’t have to wonder where the time went. I can look back and read and remember, and never forget how much fun we had, and how lucky I am to have had these years with them.

As to the rest, I write when the opportunity arises. Some days are more creative than others. Some days I just have to hire someone to take care of my mom job. Then I can go somewhere peaceful where nobody wants anything from me, and I can write for hours without interruption.

I know that someday I’ll have so much time to myself, that I will have to seek out distractions. For now, if what I write isn’t right, or if I am not doing all that I would like to do, or if my thoughts are scattered, or if I can’t complete sentences, I am at peace with the reasons why.

–Naomi Sikur

Freelancin’ Blues

Freelance writers: your world is an up and down mixed bag of responses from pubs nationwide. There will be rejection, but as I’ve been told many, many times, “Don’t take it personally.” If you are producing quality work, have queried regularly, and followed all publication submission guidelines, your time WILL come. But editors, please do writers the courtesy of at least being upfront about things. I once queried an editor who was not interested in my story idea. He sent me a very nice email saying something to the effect of, “Thank you … not at this time … but please query again.”

And so for months, I continued to send story ideas his way. When one really great idea came across my desk, I immediately queried this editor, certain in my heart and soul that this story could not be turned down. His reply? “Thank you for the offer. Unfortunately, we don’t have it in our budget to pay freelancers. That said, I’d welcome anything you’d like to submit but am unable to reimburse you for it.”

It was an unexpected speed bump. That’s the kind of information that should have been put forth upfront. And unfortunately, it’s not in my budget (or anyone else’s I know) to work for free.

But I didn’t take it personally. I pitched the same story idea to an online publication and they were thrilled. Being in the right place at the right time really does have its benefits. And in this business, perseverance is everything.

-Kristy

[Previously posted at www.kristystevenson.blogspot.com - June, 2008.]

Sell What You Have: Lessons learned from the rich young ruler. (Lk 18:18-23)

The words pierced me like a carefully targeted arrow hitting its mark. Yet, I was neither rich, nor young. Neither was I a ruler. Or was I?

There were some things he’d gotten right, this young man who stood questioning Jesus. Yet, there was more required of him. He ruled. But he lacked the ability to exercise dominion in the arena of marketing.

As a young writer, aspiring to see my articles in print, the revelation flooded my understanding, jolting my little world of I-don’t-like-to-do-marketing. The words bathed me with new understanding. “Sell what you have.”

It only takes a moment for the higher thoughts of the Lord to penetrate and shatter the hidden secrets of the heart. I, like the rich, young ruler, was holding on to my writing as he did his possessions. With a change of thinking, I pondered the words. “Sell what you have.”

What you have…not what they want.

Sell it! Don’t give it away.

Sell what you have.

You’ve got it, something others need to survive, overcome, endure…succeed.

What have you already written? What have you written that has value? What are you storing up in barns, even building new barns to hold, instead of getting it out into the arena of valued product?

Writer’s rich with ideas must accept the challenge Jesus presented to the young ruler. It requires a change of focus from possessor to promoter. From marks to market. From my possession to my responsibility to get the message out.

What could the rich young ruler have done? What can we, rich young writers do?

Accept the challenge and obey the command.

Hear the affirmation in the command. Ponder this for a moment. Jesus told the man, “Sell what you have.” He obviously knew what the man had. According to the young ruler’s response to the Lord, he kept five of the ten commandments. Jesus did not discount the accomplishment. He could just as well have said, “Don’t keep the secret to your success, the ability to keep these commandments, stored away in your own barn. Make this available for public consumption. Feed those who are struggling with that which you have mastered.”

Jesus’ words of command were also words of encouragement. It was an affirmation of the young man’s wealth. I know what you have. Sell it. Get people to make an exchange. At the same time He was also saying, “There are people out there who are willing to pay for what you are storing.”

Think about this for a moment. This is Jesus speaking. He knows who you are and what you have to offer. He knows the needs of the people and he’s standing before you with one simple command. “Sell what you have.”

Package what you have for public consumption. Someone needs it. Someone will buy it….and you will experience new life. Isn’t that the essence of what Jesus said to the man?

Let’s take this a step further. Let’s brainstorm together. What unmerited thinking shackled the rich young ruler? Could it be summed up by saying, “I don’t know how? I don’t have the time. I’ve never done that before.” After all those are some of the excuses we’ve been using isn’t it? I don’t know how to find out who needs this information. I don’t know how to query an editor. I don’t know how to edit the article. I don’t know how….? Fill in the blank yourself. I’m sure you, like myself, have said it enough times to know the refrain by heart.

Here’s a thought to ponder. This ruler was being challenged by the Lord to expand his knowledge base. Yet, he was content to just possess. Many in the body of Christ stand at the same threshold. We possess knowledge of the Christian life. We have overcome in several, if not many, arenas. We have some trophies and we sometimes recall the moments of triumph. But have we recorded those victories, the lessons learned and the encouragement for others?

I want to leave you with this thought today. Are you a rich young ruler? Are you secure in your level of accomplishment? Take this challenge today. What truths have you mastered? What area of your life has been transformed. What food for thought do you have that others will be nourished by? Write them. Record them and pass them on. They’re valuable and someone will make an exchange (buy) in order to reach the level of success you are basking in today.

–Debbie Howard

Where the *BLEEP* are My Files?!?!

Sunday morning I wake early from sleep, dreaming of the interviews on Monday morning. Or was it today? No, I’m sure it was Monday. A wave of uncertainty washes over. I hit the power button to my computer and go to feed our black lab who is whining to eat. When I return, the computer screen is black. I push the power button again. Nothing. I push the power button five more times hoping that the same action will yield a different result. 7am. My husband wakes up to a blood-curling scream.“My computer crashed! It crashed! And I have an interview tomorrow morning!!!!” I didn’t write down specifics since they were all in an e-mail from my editor, who is also out of town for the next week. Where do I go? What time? Monday 9am. I think. Maybe. Where? A church in North Raleigh. Calling Best Buy, we find out they open at 10am. Calming down, I keep myself busy, make breakfast, take a shower, get dressed. 9:45 am we arrive at Best Buy, along with another 50 people holding tickets to be the first to buy the Wii. At this point, I don’t even know what Wii is, looking at the picture of a guitar on someone’s ticket. Already people in line are complaining. Once making it into the store, a man pushes ahead of us in line. Barton bellow, “Excuse me!” Feeling guilty, the man backs off and insists we go ahead. The manager of the Geek Squad reads all the regulations for a 4-day information transfer, but she’ll push it ahead this afternoon.

When we come home, I am already scheming backup plans. I call our great mentor Don, who suggests I call the paper through out the afternoon. Barton and I spend several hours looking at churches in north Raleigh- is it that one? No, that’s too far out; it’s this one over here.

2:45pm I call Best Buy- taking over thirty minutes of recorded voices and being on hold to be told they can’t find the manager. I just can’t stand it anymore. I rush back down to the store trying not to mow down the gobs of people buying Christmas gifts. Finally, the tech. staff hands me a disk of retrieved files. They have to ship the computer out- for now, it remains dead.

8pm Barton and I stare at the computer screen of his old computer. First, the set up, creating a new log-on account and e-mail account. The sensor on the computer scrolls up and down, uncontrollably. There was a reason that Barton dumped this computer. 10pm We push file folder buttons to find the lost information scattered in some obscure place.

10:30pm Barton finds it and we import Outlook e-mails. We have found it!!!!!

Monday 9am, early to the interview, downing coffee to stay awake. In the afternoon, I am wrangling with Barton’s computer, taking three times the normal speed for me to type one word, and apparently it likes to freeze every ten minutes. I save after every word I type.

Later, our mentor Don writes, “Remember, no matter what happens, it’s not the end of the world. Keep repeating that and you’ll be fine.”

I’ll be repeating it; trust me, I’ll be repeating it.

–Megan Cutter

Oversold!

Maybe I just have the kind of face that makes people feel comfortable talking to me, but lately strangers have been telling me their personal problems. Just the other day a lady was telling me how dry her skin was, especially in the winter. Fortunately, she said, she’d found a great moisturizer that made her skin as smooth and supple as a baby’s tuckus.

Then a guy confided that he had erectile dysfunction, but that he had stumbled across a medication that helped him rise to the occasion. His wife now apparently had a smile on her face you couldn’t erase with a belt sander.

The fact that these people are all on television just makes it worse, because I can’t tell them to just shut up and keep their icky secrets to themselves. There was a time when TV advertising involved a guy in a suit holding up a bottle of oil made of compressed snakes or something and telling you how great it was, or perhaps a black-and-white animation of hammers clanging in someone’s skull, followed by a pitch for aspirin. If I’m dating myself, so be it – there seemed to be far fewer commercials in those days, and they pitched stuff I actually needed.

But now advertising pervades every aspect of our lives, whether we’re interested in the product or not. There’s a scene in the movie “Minority Report” where Tom Cruise’s character walks by a video display and is addressed by name and assailed with advertising targeted specifically at him.

We’re not quite there yet, but we’re close.

If you’ve ever bought anything on Amazon, for example, on return trips to the site you’ll see offers for books or DVDs similar to what you’ve bought before. Computer trojans infect your PC, watching your buying habits so they can report them to a central site which in turn sends you spam. We’re even targeted with product placement on TV these days.

I don’t know about you, but when I think of the word “target,” a gunsight springs to mind. Well, actually, the first thing that comes to mind is a certain department store – because of their pervasive advertising. I don’t think of being a target as a good thing, especially if you’re a deer. But then, at least they don’t have to watch commercials.

Sure, in the old days there were door-to-door salesmen, but you could always tell them where to put their Electrolux and various attachments. Marketing is now a strictly one-way medium, “served” to you on TV, in movie theaters, on your cell phone, land line, the Internet, billboards, magazines, newspapers, email and other conduits. It’s all given me a bad case of TMA – Too Much Advertising.

All those ads clamoring for attention remind me of the overly zealous salespeople on commission who just won’t leave you alone when you’re trying to shop at your local Buy More. Excuse me, but if I need help, I’ll ask for it. Instead, I get an ever-increasing horde of salespeople, all trying to guess what I want to buy or sell me something I don’t want. Enough already.

But I think I have a solution.

Many of us have signed up for the Do Not Call registry, which prohibits unsolicited phone marketing. How about a Do Not Sell rule, where I accept advertising only when I request it? If I see, for example, a really cool car I’d like to know more about, I email the auto company a request for more information, with the understanding that there will be no more communication unless it’s initiated by me.

I can see advertisers rushing to adopt this plan, since they’ll hear only from people who are seriously interested in their products. It’s a revolutionary idea that’ll change the face of advertising forever.

Also, the color of the sky in my world is chartreuse.

- MAC

To be or not to be (a friend)

The other day a friend told me she had viewed my Netflix queue and she thought we had similar tastes in movies. Afterwards, my husband asked me how she managed to see my choices, and I told him that she was my Netflix “friend.” My ONE and ONLY Netflix friend, actually, a fact Netflix reminds me of every time I log on. 

Do you guys have many online friends? 

If you do, you’re lucky. You don’t get these sadistic little messages from everyone—my publisher Lulu included—that say things like “You do not have any friends. How very sad for you.” 

I must be really weird. I’m actually a very nice person, and I have plenty of friends offline. But when I’m working, I’m working. The older I get, the more brain power and concentration it takes. Friends can be such a distraction. 

Beside, I have a full life, a lot of commitments, and way too many relatives. 

So I barely even know what it even means to have a friend on Lulu or Netflix. Or what the implications are. I mean, am I supposed to know when their birthdays are, or watch their kids when they’re sick? 

This is a whole new arena for me, and it’s clearly a generational thing. When my daughter logged on to her much-older brother’s MySpace site a couple of years ago, she was aghast to find that he had no friends. She took pity on him and, in addition to signing herself up, she got all her friends to be his friends. She, herself, already had 75 friends. But that was a long time ago, before all the new friends she got on Facebook. 

I’m just wondering if any of these “helpful” little messages ever actually push anyone over the edge. Say you’re having a really, really, really bad day. You log on to see if some kind person has purchased a copy of your book online, or if your DVD is on the way. And you get that message. “You have NO friends.” 

Or worse. You ARE the kind of person who makes friends everywhere, and you get a message that says, “You have 1750 friends.” Do you realize how many trips to the card shop that is? 

Really, it sounds like such a liability to me. You watch—mark my words—someone’s going to sue one of these websites, because their recently departed loved one took the message a little too seriously. 

So long, friend.

-Elaine Luddy Klonicki

Easy as A-B-C

They say adversity builds character. Frankly, I think I am quite enough of a character, thanks, and Adversity can just trundle off and find somebody else to pick on! That said, it strikes me that adversity also builds writers.

Nora Ephron – whose writing I have loved for decades – found the inspiration for her novel, Heartburn, in the decline and fall of her marriage to Carl Bernstein. Another writer whose work I have enjoyed is David Eddings. His “About the Author” blurbs illustrate Elaine Klonicki’s opening remark in “Walk Like a Duck” (October 12, 2007), listing some of his former occupations: military service (Army), grocery clerk, college English teacher. Having served in the Army myself, and come close enough to the other two, I can attest to the tribulation they engender. John Steinbeck tried to establish himself as a free-lance writer in the 1920s – and failed, returning to his native California, and continuing to write. His books were well-loved by English teachers and students alike (including those in the 8^th grade), as well as by the ubiquitous “they”: He won the 1962 Nobel Prize for Literature.

How many of us, as angst-ridden adolescents, have not put some of the frustration of those years into words? Granted, at least some of them are nothing but bad poetry, but they express what we felt as best we could at the time. For me, it was around 1969:

You say you know me.

But have you ever lived months,

Years of your life, being

With a thousand people every day –

Yet still being alone?

You say you know me.

But have you ever stood on one side

Of a wet cardboard wall

With the rest of the world pushing on the other

To trample you when it breaks through?

You say you know me,

Though you have never known the things I’ve known.

You know my face.

You may know what my name is.

But you don’t really know me.

You see? Bad poetry. The thing is – whether they include contending with an inadequate income while we try to convince potential employers we have brains, talents and skills, or putting on a brave face to keep up the spirits of a family member with a serious illness – the obstacles we overcome every day add to what we have done, and therefore, to what we can do. Conveniently, they also provide fodder for our pens or – more commonly these days – our computers.

Say, Adversity, maybe I can use you for something after all…but do you really need to be such a bloody enthusiast?

- Dara Lyon Warner

So, what’s next?

When it comes to freelance writing, I feel like an awkward eleven year old in junior college, trying to figure out where the classrooms are, who the in-crowd is and where I belong. I have found there is a difference between creative journaling and professional freelance writing, much like the invisible lines of four-square. Navigating the negotiations with an editor, being an agent for myself and marketing my work is a whole different process than sitting down to write at three-thirty in the morning with a cup of coffee and a lit candle.

At a recent TAF meeting, I had talked about an article that was published and some of the obstacles I encountered. The immediate response was, “What are you going to do next?” I felt the joy of celebration as well as an urge to let the piece go and move on to the next project. Last night, a friend from DC called me to let me know she had finished a chapter on a book she was working on, a project she has not touched since last year. Her excitement was contagious. We need mentors to push us forward, guide us down the paths we take as writers. Then, it is up to us to take it to the next step, step out of our insecurities and put our work out there. Letting the awkward school girl grow into a young experienced adult.

So, what are you working on next?

- Megan Cutter

Elaine, Part One – Walk Like a Duck

People often come to freelance writing later in life and from other careers. Some switch from other writing fields, such as technical writing. Others have done business writing, including press releases and marketing materials, as part of their job. Exposure to a variety of knowledge bases can be a boon for a freelancer. The more exposure you have to the world, the more you have to write about.

But one pitfall for beginning freelancers is that they often don’t see themselves as writers. New members who come to our group often say the same thing. “I’m not really a writer—I don’t have anything published.”

Although some people have a more natural aptitude than others, thankfully, writing is primarily a learned skill: the more you write, the better you get. There is no acid test to determine whether you are, or are not, a writer. You are a writer if you write.

But thinking of yourself as a writer is a critical step towards being one. If you’re not there yet, you can borrow a role-playing technique psychotherapists use to help people get a jump-start on learning new behaviors. It’s called “acting as if” (known in laymen’s terms as “Fake it until you make it.”)

For example, if you’re uncomfortable in social situations, you can “act as if” you are extroverted. You can walk into a room of strangers, make solid eye contact, introduce yourself, give a firm handshake, and smile warmly at everyone.

People are funny. If they see something that “walks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck,” they think it’s a duck. If you appear to be outgoing, they assume you’re outgoing. If you appear to be a writer, they assume you’re a writer.

One of my favorite anecdotes from Sue Monk Kidd’s Firstlight, which is a collection of her early inspirational writings, is her description of how she announced to the world that she was going to become a writer. (She had had a long career as a nurse.) “The world” turned out to be her husband and two-year-old, who were sitting at the breakfast table eating cereal. Her point was that she had decided.

If you’ve decided you want to be a writer, start “acting as if” — by doing the things that writers do. Establish a space in your home to write, buy writers’ magazines, join a writers’ group, take a writing class, talk to people about what you’re writing, and most importantly, write!

- Elaine Luddy Klonicki