Indholdsfortegnelse for July 2017 i The Writer

Sometimes I wonder if I missed my calling as a boot-camp drill instructor. Anyone who has ever met me knows this is laughable: My voice is Minnie Mouse-high, as unbearably chipper as a pre-dawn songbird. I likely remain the only person in the history of gym class who couldn’t muster a single chin-up. I detest camouflage; I’d like combat boots a whole lot better if they came in turquoise. And yet my dreams of opening a Writer Boot Camp remain. DROP AND GIVE ME 50 PAGES! I’d yell to my eager recruits. THE WRITING WILL CONTINUE UNTIL YOUR CHARACTERS IMPROVE! I WANT FIVE BOOKS READ BY SUNDOWN! NO, CHARLES, GO DOG GO DOES NOT COUNT! YOU THINK THIS IS HARD? WRITING POSTMODERN LITERARY THEORY IS HARD! YOU’RE JUST TRYING TO WRITE A…

The internet may be a wealth of information for writers, but it can also be a heap of trouble. Your productive workday can easily derail thanks to a sneaky computer virus, a rogue link, or an infected ad. Today’s internet viruses are more aggressive than ever, commandeering your computer and charging cash ransoms for removal. Financial fraud and identity theft run rampant, fueled by hijacked social media accounts. Prevention is the key to keeping your data accessible when you need it. By using strong passwords and secure networks, you can stay safe while getting your work done. Have you ever received a message from a friend that seemed suspicious? Maybe they claimed they were overseas and in need of help, or perhaps they urged you to click a strange-looking link.…

Virgil Suárez was born in Havana, Cuba in 1962, and he immigrated to the United States after a short period (1970-1974) in Spain. While he’s primarily known now as an accomplished, prolific poet, he actually began his career as a novelist and editor before moving fully into the world of verse. Since 1993, he’s been a creative writing professor at Florida State University. What’s the best writing advice you ever received? Who gave it, and what did it mean to you? The best writing advice ever given to me was offered way back during my first semester at California State University, Long Beach, by Elliot Fried, who found me floundering in the hallway looking for a journalism class. He told me that if I wanted to be told what to…

BOOK CONSULTANTS Developmental Editors: These professionals focus on the larger aspects of your work as a whole, critiquing things like storytelling, author voice, narrative structure, research, and book formatting and organization. They make suggestions on what story or content revisions are needed and generally assure the manuscript is wellorganized, consistent in style and tone, and clearly articulated. Sometimes they’ll also fact-check, but not often. Line Editors: Unlike more “big picture” developmental editors, these “small picture” editors focus on grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, consistency, spelling, and some rewriting at a very light level. They should have a solid understanding of the Chicago Manual of Style. Their job consists of crossing t’s and dotting i’s, not reworking or reshaping the work as a whole. Note: “Copy editing” is generally the same thing…

WHEN WE’RE TEENAGERS, and we start writing, we normally do so because we have one really, really important story to tell, and that is the story of ourselves. There is no other story in the whole wide world as interesting and important as the story of ourselves, and god knows if we could only tell it right we could once and for all prove ourselves the authority on all things on earth and in heaven, and quite likely alter the course of human history. Often we persist in this notion well into our college years, although likely by that time we’ve been told that there’s a difference between fiction and memoir, so when we write fiction we change the name of our main character from our own name to a…

MARK TWAIN FAMOUSLY SAID, “The difference between the right word and the almost right word is like the difference between lightning and lightning bug.” I would argue that same degree of difference applies to the terms “writer” and “author.” While the words often are used interchangeably, they actually represent two distinct jobs with two distinct skill sets and mindsets. For writers who want to make the most of their “newly published” status, the following insights may help. Leave your (writer’s) ego at the door If I had a quarter for every time I’ve heard writers complain about how much they dislike the idea of promoting their work, I’d never run out of money for the parking meter. Promotion is a big part of an author’s job description, so if you’re…

“The first week of August hangs at the very top of summer, the top of the live-long year, like the highest seat of a Ferris wheel when it pauses in its turning.” —From Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt. Submitted by Suzanne Rimmer. What makes this sentence great? This sentence reminds us of the power of comparison, which can take the form of metaphor, simile, analogy, even juxtaposition. At its best, comparison helps us see something unfamiliar or theoretical or abstract in a way we can understand by holding it up against the more familiar. Here it is, the experience of season, the way August hangs at the very top of summer. As a Floridian, I don’t quite get that, because our summer lasts half a year. But the comparison to…

AUTHOR AND CHEF JULIA CHILD ONCE SAID, “The secret of a happy marriage is finding the right person. You know they’re right if you love to be with them all of the time.” She and her husband, Paul, became culinary collaborators – she as cook and recipe writer, he as photographer, illustrator, taster, and kitchen designer. What is it that enables some couples to work together so successfully? Contributing editor Melissa Hart caught up with three modern-day couples who balance marriage, day jobs, and/or cats or kids with running small presses, literary magazines, and writing conferences. Donna Talarico and Kevin Beerman: SEPARATING PERSONAL FROM PROFESSIONAL donna talarico and kevin beerman met in college when she was a sophomore and he was a freshman. Fifteen years later, they married. They live in…

Whether you are a screenwriter, novelist, or creative nonfiction author, at some point in your career a day will come when you decide you need help. Maybe the narrative wheels came off the cart. Maybe you wrote yourself into a dead end. Maybe you found yourself drowning in story flood plains with no land in sight, or maybe you just want to get an opinion on your work that is not your mother’s. So you bite the bullet and hire a story consultant or an editor. For most writers, this decision is fraught with uncertainty: What do these ”consultants” do anyway? How do I know they actually know what they’re doing? What’s the difference between a story consultant, line editor, and developmental editor? You quickly discover the editorial zoo is…

Writers in search of a Master of Fine Arts program have innumerable opportunities to consider. There are programs of all types available: some general, some geared toward writers interested in a specific discipline; some require a full-time commitment, while others can be completed at home. But what about those writers who can’t – or don’t want to – manage all of the hurdles attached to committing to an MFA? Enter the DIY MFA, a wholly self-guided, online, do-it-yourself writing program that offers many of the lessons and benefits of the traditional MFA – minus all of the hassle. DIY MFA was created by Gabriela Pereira, a graduate of a standard MFA program. The idea actually came to her at her graduation ceremony. “I went to an MFA program because I…

1. Make a friend. Finding a like-minded, or maybe not-so-likeminded, writer to bring into your inner circle can be priceless. You can each help each other brainstorm, get through rough writing patches, and read new work. 2. Learn a lot. Attend workshops that speak to you – and as many of them as possible. Getting advice from writers who have been in your shoes and learning the methods that work for them can make your entire conference experience worthwhile. 3. Write. The whole point of attending a conference is to discover more about your own writing style. Use the energy surrounding the event as inspiration, and maintain that momentum once you get back home and are back to the lonely task of working solo. The following conferences, retreats, and festivals…