***************************************************************** W R I T I N G W O R L D A World of Writing Information - For Writers Around the World http://www.writing-world.comIssue 6:11 16,850 subscribers November 2, 2006*****************************************************************SPECIAL NOTICE: Please DO NOT REPLY to this e-mail; any messagessent in reply to the newsletter are deleted. See the bottom ofthis newsletter for information on how to subscribe, unsubscribe,or contact the editors.***************************************************************** CONTENTS=================================================================From the Editor's DeskNEWS from the World of WritingTHE INQUIRING WRITER: Writing Reality by Dawn CopemanFEATURE: Proofread Your Writing Professionally! by Janis Butler HolmThe Write Sites -- Online Resources for WritersWRITING DESK:, by Moira AllenBEGINNER'S GUIDE TO... Article Structure, Part 4 - Hooks by Dawn CopemanWHAT'S NEW at Writing WorldWRITING CONTESTS with no entry feesThe Author's Bookshelf*****************************************************************EARN AN MFA IN WRITING through the brief-residency program atSpalding University in Louisville, KY. Call (800) 896-8941x2423or email mfa"at"spalding.edu and request brochure FA90. For moreinfo: http://www.spalding.edu/mfa*****************************************************************WRITERSCOLLEGE.COM has 57 online courses. Prices are low.If you can reach our web site, you can take our courses.http://www.WritersCollege.com*****************************************************************DISCOUNTED SOFTWARE FOR WRITERS -- PowerWriter, DramaticaPro,StoryCraft, WritePro, MovieMagic, StyleWriter, plus many more.HUGE SAVINGS! GREAT SELECTION! Save online at:http://www.MasterFreelancer.com*****************************************************************WRITE CHILDREN'S BOOKS. Ever dreamed of being a publishedauthor? Writing for children is a great place to start. Learnfrom home, by mail or online, from a nationally published writeror editor as your mentor and create potentially saleable materialfrom the very first assignment. Free Writing Test.http://www.writingforchildren.com/G0325*****************************************************************RETIRE THIS YEAR . . . WRITINGImagine a writing job in which you set your own hours, and livewherever you please. As a copywriter, you can. Learn more athttp://www.thewriterslife.com/rty/wworlda6***************************************************************** FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK=================================================================Are You Doing What You Love?----------------------------Thank you once again, Dawn, for providing the perfect topic foran editorial! Last month, Dawn asked, "Are you writing what youthought you would be? Does the reality of your writing life liveup to the dream? Is it better?" (And of course there is theimplied corollary: Is it worse?)I suspect that a great many of us started out with the dream ofbecoming novelists or poets or short story writers, but haveended up doing something very different -- at least for now!Why? Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Or is it, perhaps, abit of both?One of the most common reasons for ending up on a path that isn'tquite what one dreamed of is what I call "The Siren Song of'Doing What You Love'." Years ago, someone wrote a book titled"Do What You Love, The Money Will Follow." I know very fewwriters who haven't dreamed of chucking that boring day job for awriting career -- and I know quite a few who actually have. Whatcould be more rewarding than earning a living, or at least anincome, doing something you actually enjoy, something that tapsyour creative abilities?I made this decision in 1996. Up to that point, I had freelanced"off and on," which means, "when I felt like it." But in 1996 myhusband got into a conversation with a gentleman who sold Amway-- or rather, who sold people on the IDEA of selling Amway. Itwas clear that we needed to bring in a second income, but afterleafing through the catalogs and sitting through a couple ofrah-rah motivational videos, I concluded that if I had to dosomething to bring in more money, it sure wasn't going to beselling soap. So out came the Writer's Market and out went astack of query letters, and within a year I had regularassignments (and regular checks) coming.Along the way, however, I discovered what I'm sure just aboutevery other freelance writer has discovered: The money willfollow only if YOU learn how to follow the MONEY. Doing what youlove is only half the equation; you also have to do what yourCUSTOMERS love. For some, that means nonfiction articles forperiodicals; for others, it means business and technical writing,editing, ghostwriting, indexing, copywriting, and a host of otheractivities to pay the bills.And this is where one's path as a working writer begins todiverge from the path of one's dreams. I have yet to hear awriter sigh, "Ever since I was a little girl, I've dreamed ofindexing computer manuals!" The primary pitfall of "doing whatyou love" for a living is that, eventually, what you love canbecome "just another job." The more dependent you are on yourwriting income, the more focused you will become on projects thatbring in that income, to the exclusion of any sort of writingthat doesn't. Consequently, those other projects -- the novel,the poetry, the personal essays -- are constantly shoved to theproverbial back burner, waiting for the day when you can "afford"to work on them. And tough as it is to find time to write whenyou do something ELSE for a living, it's even tougher whenwriting IS your day job!Don't get me wrong: Writing IS a rewarding, exciting career. Aslong as I have to work at all, I wouldn't want to do anythingelse. And becoming a freelancer offers a number of benefits thatgo far beyond money. Freelancing teaches you how the writingworld works -- that acceptance and rejection aren't, for example,mere whimsical events that depend on which side of the bed aneditor rolled out of that morning. You learn what sells and whatdoesn't, and why, and when something doesn't sell, you learn tospend less time moaning and more time hitting the keyboard. Youlearn that one can't afford to wait for the "muse" to drop bybefore you start to write -- and that, even if you don't feel theleast bit inspired, you CAN write whenever you force yourself tosit down at that keyboard, and write well. You learn not onlyhow to meet deadlines but how to set your own. Over time, youbegin to build a name for yourself, and a portfolio -- both ofwhich can be helpful when you ARE ready to start that novel. Andbest of all, you see your writing skill improve, month by monthand piece by piece. In short, you learn professionalism,discipline and skill -- three essential ingredients for thewriting life. When you DO decide that it's time to startfollowing your dreams, those ingredients won't guarantee success-- but the lack of them will almost certainly guarantee failure!Ah, yes, about those dreams... It IS nice to get paid for doingsomething you love, but I believe that's often only one reasonwhy many of us end up on the freelancing path rather than the"dream" path -- at least for a time. The other reason is that,when we stand at the moment of choice -- the moment when we aresaying to ourselves and the world, "I am going to become awriter!" -- we may realize that while we DO have a dream, we maynot be quite ready to FOLLOW that dream. And this, too, may befor several reasons. It may be that we are not ready emotionally-- or it may be that we are not ready professionally.While 1996 was the year I became a full-time freelancer, 1995 wasthe year in which I finally finished the novel that I had beenworking on, off and on, since high school. It was a grandfantasy that had everything: Magic, dragons, princes, romance.Unfortunately, as I discovered well before I finished the lastpage, what it DIDN'T have was a coherent plot. I also discoveredwhat I didn't have: The ability, at that point in my life, to dothat story justice. And so I had to decide whether to keep onstruggling with a book that wasn't working and that I didn't havethe skill to complete -- or do something else.And this, too, I believe, is an important decision to make.Going for the dream when you're not READY for the dream is a goodway to kill that dream altogether. I have seen the frustrationof writers who have struggled for years to perfect thatall-important dream novel, experiencing failure after failure,rejection after rejection. Choosing a different path eventemporarily, such a freelancing, offers several advantages.First, as I said above, it gives a writer a chance to hone thosewriting skills and learn the business. But it also gives thewriter a chance to experience failure in manageable doses. If Ispend a week preparing an article for Dog Walker's Monthly, andit's rejected, I can cope. I haven't invested a great deal oftime or emotion into that particular project. The editor mayhave killed an article, but he hasn't killed my hope. If,however, I spend ten years laboring over my dream novel and IT isrejected, I have lost a great deal more. If it is rejectedrepeatedly, no matter what I do to refine it, eventually I AMlikely to lose hope. One of the quickest ways to kill a dream isto chase it before you're able to catch it.However, another way to kill a dream is to never chase it at all.And that's the potential risk of choosing another path. "Doingsomething different" is a very GOOD idea if one is not yetsufficiently skilled to follow the dream. But what if skillisn't what's lacking? One reason I believe many of us continueto pursue the freelance path is precisely BECAUSE it hurts somuch less to have those small, unimportant pieces fail. A dreamcan never fail if it is never put to the test -- but it can neversucceed, either.So, if you find yourself on a writing path that is somewhatdifferent from the path of your dreams, is this a good thing or anot-so-good thing? Since the answer could be either or evenboth, the key is to determine which it is for you, at this time(because the answer can and will CHANGE over time). Here aresome questions that can help you find that answer:1) Am I having fun, or am I bored? Are my tasks challenging andrewarding, or do I constantly have that "been there, done that"feeling?2) Am I benefiting from this path or getting less from it than Ihoped? Is it providing something useful in terms of skill,reputation, or income -- or am I stuck in tasks that aren'thelping me grow much as a writer?3) Is this path contributing to my ultimate ability to follow mydream path, or leading me farther from my dreams?4) Has my dream path changed? Do I still want to follow thedream I originally had, or have I discovered a new dream?5) How long do I want to follow this path? What do I still hopeto achieve on this path, and how will I know if and when it maybe time to change directions?6) If I want to change paths in the future -- whether to returnto my original dream or to follow a new dream -- what is my exitstrategy? What steps will I need to take, and what might I needto change or give up?As 2006 draws to a close, you can be sure I'll be taking a lookat these questions myself! -- Moira Allen, Editor*****************************************************************BECOME YOUR OWN BEST EDITOR AND GET PUBLISHED. Learn the proventechniques successful authors use to sharpen, tighten, polish,and strengthen their stories and articles so they will sell toeditors. Unconditional 30-day FREE trial.http://www.revisetopublish.com/N6885***************************************************************** CONFERENCES AND CLASSES*****************************************************************DEADLY INK - Annual Mystery Conference for Mystery Writers andMystery Fans, Short Story Contest, Novel Contest, and announcingDeadly Ink Press, a publisher of mysteries and suspense. Visitour website http://www.deadlyink.com or email info"at"deadlyink.comWRITE. LEARN. BELONG. Creative Writing or Memoir Writing. Enjoyonline classes with a live teacher and gentle feedback. Join meat: http://home.universalclass.com/i/crn/11087.htm Or stop by myweb page at: http://mywritingworkshop.com >>-----------------------------------------------------<>-----------------------------------------------------< >-----------------------------------------------------< >-----------------------------------------------------< Copyright © 2009 by Moira Allen. All rights reserved.
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