The Writer February 2017

I don’t believe I’m the only writer in the world who’s ever wished for a bunker. To crawl inside some dark, underground hobbit-hole, to light some candles, and – sweetest of all! – to close and firmly bar the heavy door. To sit in silence, to dream, to sketch, to sprawl, to write my ever-living brains out. I’d have enough supplies to hole myself up for days. Finally, bereft of companionship (or procrastinating revisions), I’d emerge, blinking and lost, stumbling into the sun like a freed spelunker. In any other profession, this might sound like a concerning desire to become a hermit and might draw the attention of mental health professionals. But that’s one of the greatest things about being a writer: We get a free social pass to do…

“A ratio of failures is built into the process of writing. The wastebasket has evolved for a reason.” —Margaret Atwood When I was 6, my father gave me a red metal train, a toy that ran on a fat battery. I was enchanted. The train had an exciting, high-tech feature: an on-off switch. (This was about 1962.) I turned the train on and set it on the floor, and my mother and father and I stepped back to watch. The train made a lovely whirring metallic sound as it set off. But I watched its progress with alarm, because clearly it was going to hit the wall. Twice, as a writer, I’ve had periods when I felt just like that train. I was writing steadily. But every day, for months,…

“I need solitude for my writing; not 'like a hermit' – that wouldn't be enough – but like a dead man.” —Franz Kafka James Sadwith is a screenwriter, producer, and Emmy Award-winning director, best known for his many television productions, which have won or been nominated for a combined total of more than 35 Emmy and Golden Globe Awards. He won an Emmy for best director for his PBS miniseries Sinatra. Most recently, Sadwith wrote and directed the 2016 feature film Coming Through the Rye, which is based on his own experiences as a teenager tracking down and visiting the reclusive author J.D. Salinger. The film won multiple awards on the film festival circuit before being released in select movie theaters in October 2016 to strong reviews in the New…

One of the first questions my editor at a national cruise magazine always asks is: “How are the pictures?” For him, good images are as important as a good story. In other words: No pictures, no sale. Fortunately, I often have been able to take my own pictures to accompany my stories. Other times, I have known where to get the images I needed. Either way, my ability to provide the visual elements of the story in addition to the written words has greatly enhanced my ability to sell my work. Of course, it’s not necessary that you provide pictures with your story, but if images are available, you should always mention (but not send) them with your query. Even if you don’t take your own photos or provide them…

“I was born to travel and write verse.” —Theophile Gautier Agents often look for writing that they find exciting or compelling. Your agent is going to invest significant time and energy representing you on the literary market, so it is important she be enthusiastic about your work. With that in mind, you should start with the published books you admire that are similar to your own. This similarity might be in genre, style, or theme. Who represented those books? You can often find this information on the acknowledgments page, where many authors thank their agent by name. This, of course, requires that you know the longitude and latitude of the literary landscape in which you hope to publish. If you’re not familiar with it, this is a good time to…

“So, what do you do?” After years of practice, I can answer with the smoothness of a veteran politician at a reelection fundraiser. “I’m a freelance writer,” I tell the person whose hand I just shook. “I write about sports and movies mostly. I’ve written for the New York Times, the Christian Science Monitor, and Sports Illustrated. I also have several corporate clients for which I provide newsletters and articles.” I always use “freelance writer,” not “writer,” which to skeptics sounds as professional as “binge watcher.” I start with the high-profile outlets to promote my seriousness. If the questioner is under the age of 35, I may throw in a couple of notable online outlets. Talking about celebrities and athletes that I’ve interviewed is another asset. Joy Behar, Cobie Smulders,…