Writer Pens Novel by Mobile Phone During Commute

Nokia and Lulu must be loving this--free advertisement for days. This story gives new meaning to the old saying,"Where there's a will, there's a way." Talk about taking out the middleman... If you don't already visit mediabistro.com, you should start. They often turn up off-beat as well as useful publishing news. I discovered this story in my daily news feed from them. Click on the link below to check it out.




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Copyright (c) 2007 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Write It Again and Again and Again....

I've been working on an essay the past few weeks, first in my head, then in my journal and yesterday on the computer. By my count, that puts me at three drafts; I'm going to dive into the fourth revision tonight. Wish me well.


Quote for the Week

As a novelist, I have learned from long experience that writing is rewriting. First drafts are ragged hollow things that need to be revised, rephrased and rethought again and again until something transcendent occurs on the page; until the story becomes life.
--Walter Mosley

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Fussy? Opinionated? Impossible to please? Perfect.

What Should You Say In Your Writing~How Much is too Much?

I was recently reading the August edition of O magazine and discovered a section discussing what it means to be a writer. Of particular interest is the section by Walter Mosley, "Write Your Novel This Year."

Mosley's approach to writing is passionate and pragmatic. At first glance, these two sensibilities may seem at odds; they are not. As he presents them, they are tempered and bonded by discipline. He advises that writing be a scheduled, daily event and if necessary wrenched from the rest of the day and sometimes other activities. He also cautions writers not to censor themselves as they write. Writers' stories are private property until published and cannot be subject to the sensibilities of Aunties and Cousins. If others find the story displeasing or too revealing, there is always forgiveness, or not.

This piece is an interesting and thought provoking read. It forces you to analyze why and how you write. Check it out. Unfortunatley, it is not featured on the O magazine website, so take a trip to Borders or Barnes & Noble, and pull up a chair.

Word for the Week

memoir

a record of happenings that is based on the writer's personal experience and knowledge

Christina Katz Shows Writer Mamas How to Have Kids & A Build A Career Too

Writer Mama; How to Raise a Writing Career Alongside Your Kids

Christina Katz

Writer Digest Books

296 Pages

 

Before motherhood, you envisioned a prolific and financially rewarding writing career. Maybe,you even had one. Then, the baby came and the occasionally mind numbing routine of midnight feedings, baby changes, laundry, and other household chores took over the time you'd dedicated to your writing. On the other hand, this all could have happened before you thought to embark on a writing career at all.

 

When my children were about two years and almost a year old respectively, a dear friend of mine reentered my life and resuscitated my brain cells. She provided adult conversation and insisted on adult television in her presence. Blues Clues and Gullah, Gullah Island would not do as the backdrop for our conversations. She asked me the all important question: What do you want? She also helped me begin to explore how it could be done.

 

Christian Katz provides a similar act of friendship through her book Writer Mama; How to Raise a Writing Career Alongside Your Kids. This compact professional reference volume serves double duty; it is a step by step guide to pursuing a writing career and a book of friendly advice to help fellow writer mamas keep their homes in order while working toward a successful career as a freelance writer.

 

Katz focuses primarily on writing mothers, who remain home with their children and pursue a freelance writing career as a personally fulfilling and entrepreneurial endeavor. She discusses time management issues, childcare and some of the best ways for freelancing mamas to find and get writing gigs.

 

The book opens with Katz offering encouragement to aspiring mom freelancers then, dives right into how to get the business of writing and selling articles and eventually a non-fiction book.  She guides her reader through the steps of freelance writing starting with mining ideas,then identifying target audiences and markets. Next, she teaches them how to execute a cover or query letter and submit the finished piece. Sidebars and exercises propel the reader through the book keeping them motivated, on track and moving toward publication. Each chapter, opens with a quote from successfully freelancing mothers; anecdotal accounts from Katz, regarding how she grew her freelancing career into the e-zine, Writers On the Rise, and other successful freelancing internet entrepreneurs like C. Hope Clark  and Maria Bailey, keep the text engaging while offering a range of perspectives and potential career paths.

 

She also offers coping strategies to help writer mamas deal with the stresses of raising children while creating a business. She advises writer mamas find another writing mom or better yet, several to share ideas, resources and accountability. When the writing needs to get done but the mind is unwilling, she suggests quick breaks that serve the dual purpose of fulfilling a necessary task and clearing the mind. For example, clearing the junk from one drawer or setting the timer for twenty minutes then clearing a counter or folding a batch of laundry, these activities provide a break and don't take a writing mama completely away from the task at hand, her next submission.

 

This brightly colored and compact book is concise and highly portable, in other words it's mom and writer friendly. It's packed with references to further reading material and online resources to help writer mamas fast track their careers or plot a steady path to freelance success. It's all up to the reader and in the end, that's the true purpose of this book, to empower writers who happen to be mamas to take control of their lives and that of their chosen careers.

 

 

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BBC America Is My Preferred White Noise

White noise helps me think. The television, the radio talkshow, or my favorite CDs provide me with background noise, as I write, or type, or even read. The sounds in many cases help me focus, or give me a much needed break as my line of thought begins to thin, or I reach a mental impasse, not quite certain which word or line should come next. Then just before I enter my work completely, I get rid of the noise, hit the off or mute button, seize the moment and really get down to work.

BBC America is the perfect white noise. It's stress free television. I have to really listen to understand what they're saying, so it's easier to tune out when necessary, because the speech patterns are different.

When I actually sit down to enjoy a show, I find them exceptionally entertaining or exceptionally cheesy. These shows are also much more dialogue driven than American televison, even the action shows; they appeal to my literary nature.

I also enjoy watching the BBC News. It allows me to see my country from another perspective.

All of this is true, but really....Who am I trying to kid?

Tomorrow, Footballers Wive$ is back!

Quote for the Week

"Once is a mistake; twice is an affair."
--from BBC America series, Hollyoaks, episode preview trailer

Goodness, its hot! I see a homemade cherry limeade in my future.

Word for the Week

Swelter

• to perspire very much from or feel oppressed with great heat.


• oppressive heat

Sources: Webster's New World Dictionary; allrecipes.com

Then N Word meets its untimely demise

As a symbol, the NAACP's ritual burial of the "N Word" on July 9, 2007, and by proxy, its children, pimp,ho, etc. generated an effective media moment, but will it be able to inspire the social change sought by its performance? I doubt it. Those who would have most benefited from the message, the very young, the ignorant, the financially and socially impoverished, were not in attendance. This event was held at the NAACP's national convention. Essentially, they were talking to themselves. Photo: Carlos Osorio Associated Press

Gabriel Garcia Marquez~Ya Gotta Love Him

Quote for the Week

"Fermina Daza could not have imagined that her letter, inspired by blind rage, would have been interpreted by Florentino Aziza as a love letter. She had put into it all the fury of which she was capable, her cruelest words, the worst wounding, most unjust vilifications, which still seemed miniscule to her in light of the enormity of the offense...."

from Love in the Time of Cholera

Is that anything like illuminati?

I came across this word in an article in this week's paper. It was used to reference persons, who are part of the best and the brightest of the literary scene. The usage was tongue in cheek, but the word still reeks of pretention.

Word For The Week

literati

men of letters; scholarly or literary people

Wow! Can I Say That Again? W-ow!

Washington
Appeals Court Rejects Lawsuit on Surveillance
By ADAM LIPTAK
Published: July 6, 2007
A divided federal appeals court reversed a trial judge’s order that a National Security Agency wiretapping program be shut down.

Writing Prompt

Take a look at the Bill of Rights. Then, take a moment to reflect. What does liberty mean to you? Which of your liberties, do you value the most?

In recognition of Independence Day.......

Happy Fourth of July!

Quote for the Week


A mere law to give all men equal rights is but useless, if the poor must sacrifice those rights to their debts, and, in the very seats and sanctuaries of equality, the courts of justice, the offices of state, and the public discussions, be more than anywhere at the beck and bidding of the rich.

Plutarch, Poplicola and Solon Compared

Source: Great Treasury of Western Thought, Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren

Pondering the Supreme Court's 5-4 Ruling:Can Desegregation Occur Without Race-Based Regulation?

The fact that in 2007, we continue to wage a war against the remnants of our nation's race based transgressions boggles the mind. More stunning than this, the Supreme Court handed down a decision last week, which I believe undermined decades of work and progress. Diversity, does and must, encompass more than the question of how many, black, white, asian, latino/latina, etc. bodies occupy a classroom. However, given our country's history regarding racial justice, to favor other factors and exclude race, in the name of fairness seems more than disingenuous.

Race and class in the United States are so intimately linked, and the funding provided our schools so dependent on the class of the people in their community, that it almost always proves true that a predominantly, Black, Latino, or other minority, public school is inevitably a poor one;they lack the financial resources to provide some of the things we now consider mandatory for a proper education, up to date computers, internet access, the most current curriculum resources which often include, CDs, DVDs and other new media. Given this truth, using an ideal as amorphous as diversity, as the basis of future integration efforts, and the equitable distribution of opportunity and resources proves a disingenuous, empty gesture. This decision may be the undoing of the legislative progress, so hard won by the Civil Rights Movement.

Word for the Week

Diversity: dissimilarity; difference; variety