Where to Sit During Inspiration

Inspiration is a magical word. It is often associated with religious writing and with the muses of ancient mythology. Generally, when a person speaks of inspiration, it is as if something external and ephemeral came into them and gave them the gift of an idea.

Great ideas and images and stories can come to you at any time. I have had them while walking down the street, talking with friends, and sitting in never-ending business meetings. Inspiration is tenuous though. When inspired at the right moments, I have sat down at a computer and written for two days straight. Other times, a great thought has hit me at an inconvenient moment and I have put it aside, never to recover it.

I have attempted to keep notebooks with me and for quite some time I carried a PDA, but neither of these truly helped capture those stray moments of inspiration. For me, merely jotting down a “brilliant” idea rarely keeps the magic intact. The idea must be acted upon.

The best place to be, when inspiration strikes, is already sitting in front of a keyboard, ready to write. The next best thing is to get to a keyboard as soon as possible and get to work. In my experience, those are the only true ways to capture a great idea in writing.

The point I am trying to make is that you need to spend time writing every day. You don’t do this because you will always be inspired at those moments; you do this because you want to be in exactly that spot when inspiration does come.

Some Business Advice for Writers

Always keep a calendar. It should include such things as a writing schedule, upcoming meetings, assignment deadlines, submission response dates (expected replies), upcoming payments, upcoming publication dates and tax deadlines.

Track all of your submissions and replies. You can use a program such as Microsoft Outlook or simply keep a notebook or planner. There are plenty of planning / scheduling books at any large bookstore. Look around until you find one that seems to suit you. Read a book about time management while you are there. Time management is crucial for professional writers.

Start a filing system. Keep copies of all of your manuscripts and publications. Keep research files on the topics you write about. Keep all of your receipts and invoices. Keep all of your tax records.

Learn to promote yourself. Some types of self promotion writers use are: business cards, resumes, portfolios, readings, signings, advertisements, web sites, lectures, teaching classes, attending conferences, hosting parties (such as publication parties), sending out clippings of your latest publications, sending out review copies, getting endorsements from other writers and contacting the media as a potential source.

Always treat editors, agents, publishers and clients as what they are — business contacts. Depending on the person, you may not always need to be formal, but you should always be professional. If you have an issue, don’t whine and complain or make it personal. Present your side of a problem rationally and professionally. Don’t back down if something is important, but always remember that they are your customers. A person is more likely to want to work with you in the future if they have had a good experience working with you in the past.

Set business goals for yourself. There are all sorts of goals you can set such as making a certain amount of money, cracking a market, getting published a specific number of times, finishing a project ahead of schedule, or contacting a specific number of new editors or clients. It is good to have something to work toward.

Research markets before you jump into them. If there is a topic that interests you, find out what the market for that topic is. Whether you want to write mystery novels, history articles or architectural reviews, find out what the market is like. Does the market pay what you need? Is the market open to newcomers? How much competition do you have? How many potential paying clients can you find? Is there special knowledge or certification that you need? Look before you leap.

Get to know the resources in your area such as libraries, associations and clubs, places that host readings, beautiful places to write, Internet hot spots, bookstores, shipping and mailing stores, office supply stores, publications and potential clients.

Freelance Writing Advice

If you want to have a career as a freelance writer, you need to view it as a business.

Freelance writing involves making sales. Being a salesperson means risking rejection.

There will always be better writers than you, and there will always be writers who are worse than you but make more money. Concentrate on your own career.

Create an environment that you can work comfortably in. Consider anything that makes it easier to accomplish your job to be an investment.

If you need privacy to work, find a way to get it. There are plenty of portable tools for writers (laptops, PDAs, notebooks, pencils) so go where you need to go and leave the phone behind if you have to.

Create a writing schedule that works for you and stick to it.

Learn how to write a good query letter. It is an important sales tool.

Learn how to properly format your submissions and do it every time, even for clients you have worked with before. Always write a professional cover letter to go with your submission.

Don’t promise work you can’t deliver. Don’t make agreements you can’t follow and always follow the agreements that you make.

Take the time to research and understand the publishing industry and every market you plan to pursue.

Don’t waste research. If you need to learn about a topic for one project, look for ways you can use that information for other projects.

Don’t send identical queries to different markets. Always take the time to rework your query or submission so that it is customized for each market.

Always wait for the check to clear before you spend the money.

Even when you have plenty of work, take the time to market your services. Never let a week go by without spending some time on promotion and sales.

Create a network of writing and freelancing friends with whom you can share advice, leads, sympathy and work.

Once you establish success with a client, don’t be afraid to negotiate a better deal for your next project. They may say no, but they may say yes.

Keep records of all of your submissions, transactions and clients.

Freelance writers have special tax needs. Take the time to research your tax liability and if you are getting a lot of work, consider using an accountant.

Keep cash reserves for the lean times. Good financial planning is a key to long-term success as a freelance writer.

Create a resume and a portfolio of your work. Send it out with each query to a new market.

Poetry Writing Tips Explained: Tip Ten

There are many excuses not to write. Try using writing as an excuse not to do other things.

This is a problem faced by all sorts of writers, poets included. There are many people in this world who think that they can be a poet or a writer. After all, learning to write is one of the first things you are taught in school. Most people know that they don’t have the skills to be a surgeon or an engineer, but almost everyone thinks they have the skills to be a writer or a poet. Most of them are correct. They can write. Nonetheless, they haven’t got what it takes to be a true writer or a poet, no matter what their writing skill is.

The reason they can’t do it is simple; they don’t do it. These people don’t sit down every day at a keyboard and try to write something. Most of them have ideas, and they might even be able to put words together in an appealing way, but they haven’t got the ability to make themselves sit down and do it day after day.

Doing something (anything) every day can be a challenge, even when the task is fun and easy. There are so many events that fill up a person’s day that even pleasurable things get pushed to the side. You may love to swim, for example, but a good movie on television can change your swim plans. That is life.

The challenge involved with doing something every day increases when that something is difficult and not necessarily enjoyable. I love to write, but there are days when it is a chore. There are times when ideas don’t come or words don’t flow. There are days when I just don’t feel like doing it. Those are the days that separate the serious writer from people who think they can write.

If you want to be a serious writer or poet, you have to stick those days out. Every poem you write helps you develop as a poet, even when it doesn’t seem like you are accomplishing anything. The person who spends an hour a month writing poetry is less likely to write a good poem every month than the person who spends an hour a week. The person who spends an hour a week writing poetry is less likely to write a good poem every week than the person who spends an hour a day. The person who spends many hours a week writing poetry, and reading poetry, and studying poetry, and going to poetry readings is the most likely to develop into a great poet.

That isn’t to say that you have to spend your whole life writing poetry to be good at it or to enjoy it. Still, you need to understand that time and effort leads to success. Time and effort separate a true writer from the people who think that they can write.

If you just want to write poetry for fun, then schedule a time each week to do it. Put aside at least a couple hours to write. If something better comes along, go ahead and do it, but schedule another time to write as soon as possible.

If you want to develop into a great poet, writing once a week is not enough time. You need to schedule more than one time every week to write, and schedule time to read and study. You need to get involved in the poetry scene and make the effort to connect with other poets and potential publishers. You need to value your time as a poet more than your time doing other things.

Poetry Writing Tips Explained: Tips Eight and Nine

People will remember an image long after they’ve forgotten why it was there.

That one perfect line in a thirty line poem may be what makes it all worthwhile, or it may be what makes the rest of the poem bad. Keep an eye on it.

These two tips reflect both the power of vivid imagery and the problems images can present. A perfectly formed image can be inspiring, devastating, funny, melancholy, dramatic, or subtle. For me, one of the great joys of reading poetry is experiencing the vivid writing poets produce. This image from a Tony Hoagland poem, Here in Berkley, has stayed with me since I first read it.

Close your eyes,
swing a baguette horizontally
you’ll hit someone with a Ph.D.

The image sticks, probably because it is funny and sardonic and demonstrates a distinct view of a distinct community. The image the way I remember it, however, is incomplete. The full sentence is:

Close your eyes,
swing a baguette horizontally
you’ll hit someone with a Ph.D.
in sensitivity,
someone who,
if not a therapist himself,
will offer you the number of his therapist,

which — it may take you years
to figure out — is a hostile act on his part
designed to send you on a wild-goose chase
through the orchard of your childhood
to fetch the tarnished apple of your mother’s love.

Now, the short image is what sticks with me, but the overall sentence tells a somewhat different story. It is a much fuller and more melancholy image than the short version, and it describes more than just Berkeley.

No matter how well you write, most people will take away only bits and pieces of your poems. There are very few readers who memorize or even understand a poem in its entirety. If you are lucky enough to have your poem remembered at all, chances are that only one element of your poem will sink in with your reader. That element may not mean to them what it means to you.

When you write a poem, it is easy to fall in love with your own words. It feels fantastic to create a well-written line or to find a single perfect word. There are so many times when writing is a struggle, that the moments of success must be cherished.

The danger, however, is that your perfect line may not belong. Great words and even great lines do not automatically create great poems. When you edit your poetry, look hard at the lines you are most proud of.

Ask yourself if the best lines fit smoothly into the rest of the poem. Do they match the tone and intention of the rest of the poem? Do they add to the rest of the poem, or stand apart from it? What will the reader remember? Does it match what your intentions are? Read the poem without the lines you love the most. Compare the two versions to see which one comes closest to achieving your goals.

Chances are, those perfect lines belong right where they are. If not, the problem may be the line, or it may be the poem. If the rest of the poem does not live up to the best of your poem, then perhaps you need to rewrite the other lines.