Write In Style with Bobbie Christmas

How is a Person Supposed to Get Help?

2012-01-27T13:27:00.000-08:00

Today's posting is a vent, rather than advice. Today I responded to a voicemail message from a prospect who said she wants to write a book. I called her back, and she revealed some personal issues about which she wanted to write, and then she broke down and said she can't stop herself from doing the same things over and over, and she wants to commit suicide. She said she had thought about it for a couple of days, and she explained that she even figured out that her mother could raise her daughter, thereby keeping the daughter out of the foster-care system.

I spent more than an hour listening to and talking to the woman, doing my best to tell her to get some help. She said she was a veteran and had called the VA hospital, but her doctor was busy and had not called back.

I tried to get her address, but was unsuccessful. I at least had her number, and she told me the area/city in Metro Atlanta where she lives. When she hung up, I looked online and found a crisis line for veterans and called it. Unbelievably, I was put on hold. When someone finally answered, I explained the situation, and the man asked if the woman had made any plans. I said she revealed that she had a plan to keep her two-year-old daughter out of the system.

He said, "You need to hang up and call 911 right now."

I called 911 and was asked where I was calling from, so I told the dispatcher, but said I was calling about a suicidal woman who lived in Duluth. I was put on hold for a full minute and then someone answered. I explained the situation and was told I had reached the Atlanta Hartsfield Airport Police! Why on earth was I switched to the airport police?

Anyway, that person explained that I needed to call the Duluth police and said to hold while she got that number. I held for another full minute (thinking the woman who called me could be dead by this time), and then was given another phone number.

I called that number, and a little girl answered. I could barely understand her. She sounded 12 years old at the most. I said, "Is this a police department?"

"Yes," the little voice said.

I told the person (who I trust is older than she sounds) that I had received a business call, but while we were talking, the woman said she was in crisis and wanted to commit suicide. I explained that I had only her name and phone number, and I gave both to the woman on the phone.

She said, "Do you have her address?"

"I just said, I have only her number, but someone can call her to get her address."

"Do you have her name?"

"I just gave you her name. It's [repeated first and last name again]."

She asked, "Why did she call you?"

I said, "I said it was a business call, but she revealed that she was contemplating suicide, and I want someone to find her and help her right away. We are wasting time here."

"What's your name?"

"Bobbie Christmas."

"What's your number?"

I gave it.

She said, "We'll see what we can do, but we don't have her address..."
I asked, "Can't someone call and ask her for her address? Is anything going to be done?"

"We'll see what we can do. Thank you for calling."

"What's your name, please?" I asked.

Bzzz...I got a dialtone. She had hung up.

I can only hope that the woman in crisis got help today. I did what I could do. I'll always wonder what more I could have done.

Ask the Book Doctor about Copyrights, Mentors, and Simultaneous Submissions

2011-11-15T13:33:00.000-08:00

Real questions writers have asked; real answers, from a real book doctor

Q: After a book is written, how do I go about protecting my work with a copywrite [sic] before sending it off to prospects? Is the standard initialing acceptable? Would I need to initial each page? Would I need to get it notarized, so the idea cannot be taken by someone else?

A: According to current law, you own the rights to your copy—hence copyright, rather than copywrite—the moment you complete a body of work. If you find that someone has used your material without permission, you have the right to sue, whether or not you registered the copyright or published the book. You don’t have to initial the manuscript, register it, get it notarized, or anything, because you automatically own the rights to your intellectual property, based on the fact that you created it. The law protects you, should anyone use your material without your permission.

Professional editors, publishers, and agents also know the law and will not steal your material. On the flip side, when editors, agents, or publishers see that an author has copyrighted a manuscript, they perceive they are dealing with a paranoid person or an amateur, so don't prematurely register the copyright on a manuscript and give others the opportunity to make an incorrect assumption.

Manuscripts are always open to change, whereas copyrights are not, so a copyright should not be registered until the material is edited, proofed, and laid out, right before the book goes to press.

If you sell your book to a publisher, ask your publisher if it handles the copyright registration. Most publishers register the copyright in your name for you, prior to going to press. If you plan to self-publish, register the copyright right before you send the final file to a printer. Follow the procedures outlined at the government website, http://www.copyright.gov/register/literary.html.

Q: Where can I find a mentor to tell me where to send my poetry to get it published?

A: Mentors are a rare find indeed, and they don't hang out shingles announcing their availability. I was blessed with a mentor early in my career, because we had been friends in college before he became an accomplished poet. He read my poetry, picked out two specific poems, and told me a magazine that might be interested in them. He was right, and the magazine accepted both poems, for which I received two contributor’s copies. I was on my way, though, and after that, I found my own markets.

Instead of waiting for a mentor to appear, patronize literary magazines. Buy single copies of many literary publications or subscribe to several and support the market, because publications need supporters, too. Subscribe to WritersMarket.com, which lists poetry markets and gives their guidelines. Once you become familiar with the poetry market, you will know when, what, and how to submit to each potential publisher.

Q: What does "simultaneous submission" mean?
A: When an author sends the same book proposal or novel query to more than one agent or publisher at a time, it is called a simultaneous submission. For several reasons, the method favors those who are doing the submissions. It speeds up the process by allowing writers to send out many submissions at a time, an important ability, when responses sometimes take months, if they come at all. In addition, if more than one agent or publisher shows an interest, the author has negotiating power. For that reason, some agents and publishers don’t care for simultaneous submissions and prefer exclusive submissions.

Those that do not accept simultaneous submissions will say so in their guidelines. When you see such a note in the guidelines, submit to those agents or publishers last, after hearing back from most or all others. If, however, you have only one particular publisher in mind, submit your query or proposal to that publisher first, with a note that it is an exclusive submission. If you receive a rejection from that one publisher, you can then send simultaneous submissions to others.

At the end of the cover letter of all simultaneous submissions, add a line that states, "This is a simultaneous submission."

Bobbie Christmas, book editor, author of Write In Style (Union Square Publishing), and owner of Zebra Communications, will answer your questions, too. Send them to Bobbie@zebraeditor.com. Read more “Ask the Book Doctor” questions and answers at http://www.zebraeditor.com/ or http://www.zebracommunications.com/.

Proper Punctuation Makes a Big Difference

2011-10-05T15:12:00.000-07:00

Words and Word People

2011-10-02T08:27:00.000-07:00

I love words, so it's no surprise that I love other people who love words. In last month's issue of The Writers Network News, I reported a discussion I had with a member about the use of "sneak" versus "snuck" and the fact that "snuck" is used in spoken English, but it is considered substandard in written language, except in dialogue. This kind of stuff fascinates me.

Having discovered Scrabble on Facebook and then adding it to my iPhone as well, I've become a complete addict of Scrabble, playing with friends and strangers alike. In case you think I'm some sort of master at Scrabble because I'm a great editor, it's not so. I am not a master at the strategy of Scrabble, and worse, I am not the best at looking at a jumble of letters and making long, point-scoring words out of them. I often miss excellent opportunities and end up losing, yet I get right back in the game, with the same friends or with strangers. Why? Because I love words.

My fascination with words began when I was young. My father read books to us kids at night, acting out the dialogue and adding emphasis to the narrative. He made me long to learn to read, and I eagerly grasped the skill when I finally entered first grade. Kindergarten was not available at the time, or I would have learned earlier, I'm sure.

I certainly hope that everyone with children will read to them when they are young. It gives children a boost for life. Even after I learned to read, my teacher used to gather us cross-legged on the wooden floor and read about Jane, Dick, Sally, and Spot and their adventures, reading to us at a much higher level than we could yet read, and it made me want to read even better, so I could read more intricate stories. My father and my first-grade teacher made me yearn to learn, and I did.

As an adult, I read to my son even before I was sure he knew what I was saying, but he sat quietly in my lap and helped me turn pages when he was small, and once he began speaking, he was able to finish my sentences when I read him his favorite books. Children learn by repetition, and while it may annoy adults to read the same stories over and over, doing so is the best thing we can do for children.

By the time my son was five, he was sight reading signs that passed by quickly on the highway, and when he reached grammar school, he excelled in all his courses, because he so easily read his textbooks. He breezed through college and veterinary school, and it comes as no surprise that he is also an excellent writer. In addition to practicing veterinary medicine, he writes a veterinary column for a regional magazine.

My daddy has passed on, but his legacy lives on, in me and in all his children and grandchildren, all of whom have done well in life. What started all this success? Words. No wonder I'm a word person!
Oh, and by the way, because I bought and paid for a house strictly from my income as a writer and editor, I call it "The House that Words Built."

Yes, I love words, and I would wager you do, too, because you are reading this blog.

Where to Start?

2011-08-06T17:52:00.000-07:00

A friend called the other day. She’s had a book in her head for ages, and she’s finally ready to write it, except for one tiny detail. Where should she start? She hadn’t written a word yet, because of her fear she might start in the wrong place.

I told her that the best place to start is with the first thought that comes to mind. With computers we don’t have to worry where to start, we simply have to get the words down. Later, we can revise, revamp, and reorganize the material, but we can’t get anywhere until we get the words down on paper (or in the computer, as it is, today).

When she asked where to start writing, the little devil in me wanted to say, “In the kitchen, in the office, in the dining room, in the bedroom; wherever you keep your computer. That’s where to start!”

Her fear of starting in the wrong place brings up a deeper issue. We all have fears, be they mild or serious, that thwart our efforts, if we’re not careful. In this case, she was afraid to begin writing a book. I have a project—not a writing project, but still a complicated thing I want to learn—that I keep putting off, because I have fears around it. Oh, I have devised all sorts of excuses, such as I want to wait until I have a large block of time to work on it, or I’m not smart enough to learn it. It’s been bugging me for a couple of months. I should listen to my own advice: just start it! What’s the worst that could happen?

Do you have fears that are keeping you from writing or doing other things you need or want to do? Let’s face those fears together. By the end of this month, I intend to have started that project, just as my friend will have started writing her book. It doesn’t matter where I begin, only that I begin.

One more note: Write In Style, my award-winning book on creative writing, is officially out of print. New copies are selling for between $75 and $220 on Amazon. While they last, however, you can still buy one of the few remaining new copies at the original price of $12.95. To purchase, go to http://zebraeditor.com/book_write_in_style.shtml. Hurry! Supplies are rapidly dwindling. Only a few dozen are left.

Writers Need Community

2011-07-11T14:09:00.000-07:00

I just returned from the first Turner Cassity Literary Festival in Douglasville, Georgia. The event honored Cassity, a curmudgeon of a southern poet, playwright, and short-story writer and a former librarian in Africa and then at Emory University in Atlanta. He passed away in 2009, but a cousin of his attended the event and told a few tales about the eccentric man who won many awards and earned a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Three of the five presenters at the festival were known best for their poetry. The only other female presenter and I were both better known for our prose, although it comes as no surprise that we both wrote poetry too.

One of the speakers quoted someone else, and I wish I could remember who he quoted who said, “If you write poetry when you’re eighteen, you’re an eighteen-year-old. If you still write poetry when you’re forty, you’re a poet.” The quotation came up during a Q & A session with the speakers, when someone asked of us how we started writing and what sustains us. We all agreed that the things that sustain us are festivals, conferences, seminars, workshops, meetings, critique circles, and generally being around other writers, as we were all doing that weekend. I had been writing for a living as a journalist and business communicator for many years before I attended my first writers conference in 1983. There I found inspiration and encouragement to learn more about the creative side writing and ways to make even my articles and business communications stronger, better, and more creative. I probably never would have become a book doctor/book editor had I not attended writers conferences and joined a critique circle back in the early 1980s.

What could be better than schmoozing with other writers? When writers ask me how they can get inspiration and motivation, I emphasize the importance of joining a critique circle, attending meetings with writers, joining and participating in organizations for writers, and attending literary festivals and conferences.

Writer, sustain thyself! Drink from the river of knowledge that flows from fellow writers. It may take a village to raise a child, but it takes a community to raise a writer.

State Your Passion!

2011-05-20T11:04:00.000-07:00

Hocus-Pocus, Mental Focus, and Research

2011-05-02T11:25:00.000-07:00

My task of late has been to research publishers who may be interested in buying the second rights to Write In Style. The book is officially out of print, since my publisher took it off the market last year, but I was able to buy the few remaining boxes. I've been selling those books through my website, http://www.zebraeditor.com/, as well as in person, wherever I speak, but my inventory is low. It's time to decide whether to self-publish the next edition or find a publisher.

Here's my thinking: I don't want to spend my time packing up and mailing books; I'd much rather a distributor handle the physical labor. I'm not in the retail business; I'm an editor. I don't want to have to maintain records of sales and such. I don't have the contacts to get my books in bookstores, and I'm not interested in learning all I'd have to learn to be my own publishing house. I want another publisher to pick up the slack, reprint the book, and add an index, which was missing from the first edition. I want the publisher to handle the printing and distribution and send me a royalty check now and then. Sure, I'll still sell a few copies wherever I speak, but I don't want to be the only person selling them. For all those reasons, I intend to do everything I can to find a publisher, before I fall back on self-publishing as a last resort.

Yes, I know I'd make more money per book if I self-published. I've long known the vast profit difference between traditional publishing and self-publishing. I also, however, know the vast difference in sales, when it comes to traditional publishing versus self-publishing. I've sold a couple hundred books in the past year, but my former publisher sold a thousand in the first few months after the initial release in 2004. I'd much rather get a small percentage of a couple thousand sales than a large percentage of a couple hundred sales, especially if I don't have to be the person to fulfill all those orders.

Having done my homework and made my decision, then, it is time to get down to researching the markets for my reference/writing book. Ugh! Clerical work. I find nothing creative about this process, but I add a little something to the mix to make it more interesting and rewarding. I search online and find some potential markets, but my best bet, and what worked when I sold it the first time, is to go to a real live brick-and-mortar bookstore, find the section in which my book belongs, and see what other publishers are releasing books that reach the same market as mine. That's my next step: on to a bookstore.

Oh, what's that you say? Where have all the bookstores gone? Right. That's a problem, too. Even though critics say that the Barnes & Noble business model has edged out many independent bookstores, where do I go to see what's being published and sold to my market? Barnes & Noble, of course. The one independent bookstore that comes to mind would have too small a section on reference/writing. I want to go to the store that has the biggest section in my category.

I'll give you a little inside secret. Once I see the exact section where my book belongs, I visualize my book on the shelf, in the correct alphabetical order. I spent time visualizing Write In Style in a bookstore in 2000, and by 2004, I walked into that same store and saw my book on the shelf right where I had visualized it.

Hocus-pocus and mental focus aside, now I have to research, and although it's no fun, it's one of the many steps serious writers must take, if we want to see our books in print.

The Pain of Submission

2011-03-26T14:16:00.000-07:00

We writers love to write, but oh, the pain of preparing our babies for submission to agents and publishers! We have to stop being writers and turn into other people. First we become researchers. We have to research every potential market thoroughly, so we can be sure we’re sending it to the right place. We then turn into clerks or secretaries, pulling together files and information each individual agent or publisher requests, printing or e-mailing it, and tracking our submissions. Next we turn into therapists, if our submissions get ignored or rejected, and we have to reassure ourselves that we ourselves weren’t rejected, just our manuscripts. We must also be coaches, pushing ourselves to keep submitting our work, despite all the paperwork, details, pain, and heartbreak.

Recently I spent hours updating my latest book proposal and revising the sample chapters. I then printed out the whole package, all forty-seven pages of it, only to discover that both places where I had wanted to submit the proposal took submissions only over the Internet, and one took submissions only through its website. Why does every darn potential market or agent want something that differs from all the other potential markets or agents? Every package has to be revamped to fit the place where I’m sending it, which adds even more hours and misery to the submission process.

I have nothing to prove my theory, but I believe that each agent and publisher sets out to create a unique submission process intentionally, so they can easily reject noncompliant submissions without reading them. I do know that some agents look for absolutely any reason to reject a manuscript, thereby whittling down the stack of submissions they have to seriously consider. For that reason every submission must be the result of careful research and meticulous preparation. I cannot throw together a mass mailing of any kind.

As in any job, the part that’s the least interesting becomes the most tedious, but if I performed only the part of writing that is fun, my work would never get published.

Meanwhile, I have a full printed submission ready, if any other agents I investigate actually want a full printed proposal and sample chapters, but by the time I locate another agent worthy of handling my precious child, I’ll probably have revised both the proposal and the sample chapters several more times, and even this printout will be obsolete.

Maybe I’ve uncovered the reason why the process is called “submission.” We have to submit to cruel punishment and grueling detail. We have to cave to the demands of agents and publishers. We must surrender our ego, abandon our self-esteem, grovel before the gods of publishing, but if we’re willing to submit truly and completely, in the end we might receive absolution—and a publishing contract.

In 2003 I worked the system and sold Write In Style, so I feel certain I can win again with my new project, my first collection of memoirs. I’ve sold individual memoirs to various publications, so I feel confident I can sell the collection as a book. If you’ve considered writing and selling your memoirs, sign up for my upcoming seminar, WRITE YOUR MEMOIRS FOR FUN AND PROFIT, to be held in my home Saturday, April 30, 2011. For more information, go to http://zebraeditor.com/speaking.shtml. You'll see another short seminar there that I'm giving for Booklogix in Alpharetta, Georgia, and that one is also going to be a Webinar, if you can't be there in person, so be sure to sign up.

One more note: Write In Style, my award-winning book on creative writing, is officially out of print, and used copies are selling for as much as $89 on Amazon. While they last, however, you can still buy one of the few remaining copies at the original price of $12.95. To purchase, go to http://zebraeditor.com/book_write_in_style.shtml. Hurry! Supplies are dwindling!

How to Get Started

2010-12-04T14:33:00.000-08:00

Whenever I speak at a conference I tell attendees they have the lifetime privilege (I remind them that it's my lifetime, not theirs, so hurry!) of e-mailing me any question, and I'll answer it, as long as it can be answered in a simple e-mail. If the answer is too complicated, I might refer the person to a book or Web site that could help. I am also one of the experts on a Web site that lists experts on many subjects. My subject is "writing books," so I get questions from readers of that Web site, as well. As a result of opening myself up to many questions, I get to help other writers while I also gather material for my "Ask the Book Doctor" column and my Ask the Book Doctor books. Writers get answers; I get material. Everybody wins.

One frequent question that I get, though, comes from those who want to start writing but don't know where to begin. I want to be encouraging, so I give them many tips, but in truth, writers--real writers--never ask that question. They dive in and write. Later they may learn much more and revise their writing during the rewrites and future drafts, but writers simply write, and in my opinion, when you have to ask how to get started, you don't yet have the soul of a writer.

I have a similar attitude toward women in their late thirties who say, "I haven't decided yet whether I want children." Hello? Sometimes doing nothing is a decision in itself. If you have a partner, have your health, and haven't had children by age thirty-eight or thirty-nine, it's probably because you never had the innate urge to be a mother. I say this boldly, because I do know there will probably be an exception here and there, but for me, I knew that I wanted to be a mother from the time I was a young child, just as I knew from an early age that I wanted to be a writer. As a result, I wrote articles for my high school and college newspapers, became the newsletter editor for almost every organization I belonged to, and volunteered to write newsletters for nonprofit organizations. By the time I left college, I already had a substantial portfolio of published works that helped me get other writing jobs.

Along the same lines, I knew I wanted to be a mother, and in my era no decent woman had a child outside of wedlock, so I married young, got pregnant right away, and gave birth to a perfect baby boy. Life didn't see fit to give me any other children who survived, but at least I have a son; I am a mother.

This whole post, then, is simply about deciding what you want and going for it, in whatever way you must. If you want to be a writer, write! Learn, yes, but write. Edit, yes, but later. First, write.

Unlike movies, which can be pitched without the screenplay having been written, I know of no novel that sold on an idea alone. It must first be written. Yes, if you write nonfiction, you can sell a book that isn't written yet, but you do have to write a full book proposal, along with sample chapters. In other words, you still have to write.

Oh, dear, I sound as if I'm lecturing, and I guess I am. I'm feeling adamant about writing, right now, because I'm guilty of not putting enough time into writing, now that my editing workload is heavy and the holidays are looming. I was probably lecturing myself. As a result, I put myself in my chair in front of my computer and wrote this blog entry.

At least I wrote!

Rejection Is Part of the Job

2010-10-30T08:09:00.000-07:00

I’m still trying to find a publisher for my first book of memoirs, a series of personal experience essays about my dating experiences. I had high hopes for a publisher that specialized in nonfiction with a strong female voice, but I received a personal rejection letter from the publisher saying it found my project “very compelling” and said, “we were impressed with your candid, and often humorous, descriptions…” and yet it went on to say “our most recent titles include quite a few memoirs, which means we’ll have to hold off on acquiring any more projects in that genre for the next several seasons.”

A personal rejection letter is rare these days, but rejection still sucks. I still have several other queries still out, and I know that even J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series was rejected by most major publishers before a small house took a risk and published 1,000 copies, half of which went to libraries. The rest is history. See http://io9.com/5668053/15-classic-science-fiction-and-fantasy-novels-that-publishers-rejected for other great books that were rejected so many times they almost didn’t get published, like War of the Worlds and Animal Farm. We writers must never give up. Success could be right around the corner.

For those who asked, the latest figure on my weight loss is 37 pounds. I’m not calling it a diet, but a healthy food plan, instead. Follow my weight-loss blog, full of my experiences and tips you might like at http://dontyoudarecallitadiet.blogspot.com/.

Stop Procrastinating

2010-09-24T07:09:00.000-07:00

In mid July, I said, “If not now, when?” I felt determined to stop procrastinating and start work on a few major projects. My first task was to lose weight, because my obesity had led to painful knees and feet, and I was diagnosed with arthritis in my knees and back. The orthopedic doctor suggested I take massive doses of painkillers, which I didn’t want to do. His only other advice was to lose weight. My heart fell, because I love food. To eat, I never have to be hungry; I merely have to find my mouth.

I started a plan similar to one used by diabetics, although I’m not diabetic. It calls for more vegetables, fewer starches, fewer sweets, and small amounts of protein. Living alone, though, it was going to be easy to slip up or cheat, so I did what writers do: I wrote. I wrote my intentions, created a blog, and took it public. Many people read the blog and send me e-mails to encourage me. Most folks not only support me but also join me in the food plan, after reading about my success. The response to my “Don’t You Dare Call It a Diet!” blog has been tremendous, and the food plan works. I’ve lost 30 pounds, my knees are pain-free, I feel younger and healthier, and I’m on the path to my goal weight. The easy plan allows me to eat real food, not expensive fad food. I hope you’ll read my blog and even sign up as a follower. See it at http://dontyoudarecallitadiet.blogspot.com/.

Once I stopped procrastinating, I started looking for a publisher for my book of memoirs. I wrote the proposal more than a year ago, but have only sporadically sent out queries. I decided to take any and all steps to get the book published, and by golly, within weeks I had a nibble from a California publisher. We were too far apart in our concept of a decent advance, but bolstered by the knowledge that at least one publisher loved my book, I sent out more queries and proposals. I eagerly await the responses.

I also put a bunch of stuff on CraigsList.org and sold it, things that were collecting dust and taking up space. What a good feeling to see things go to good use and turn into cash in my pocket! In a few weeks I pocketed about $1,300.00 for my used things.

Speaking of used things, I’m shocked to see that used copies of Write In Style, my book on creative writing, are selling for upwards of $90 on Amazon.com, when I still have a few new copies at the original price. After they’re gone, though, you’ll have to pay the inflated used-copy prices on Amazon, so be sure to order your copy today at the original cover price of $12.95. To order go to http://zebraeditor.com/book_write_in_style.shtml.

What will you tackle when you stop procrastinating? Will you start a food plan to get healthier? Will you submit your manuscript for publication? Will you clear your clutter and donate it or turn it into cash? Will you order my book before the prices soar sky high? I hope you’ll do all those things and more.

Giving Birth to a Book

2010-07-10T07:22:00.000-07:00

Yesterday a client came to my office to discuss her pain over writing her book. Like many writers before her, she described her experience to be similar to giving birth.

Women often use that analogy, and no one questions that it's true. The time spent writing, revising, editing, and clarifying a book is as tedious as gestation and often takes about the same length of time, although for some it's more like an elephant's pregnancy, which lasts much longer than human pregnancy. The act of letting the book go at some point is equally as painful as childbirth. We have to face our fears. What if it isn't really finished yet? What if no one likes it? What if everyone rejects it? What if a publisher buys it, and then the public doesn't?

When I was pregnant with my son Sandy more than forty years ago, we did not have the privilege of knowing the sex of our babies. As many did before me, I chose yellow for the nursery walls, because it was gender neutral and cheerful. I often entered that brightly painted room, though, with nothing but fears: "It's my job to complete this room with a baby. What if I fail? What if there's something wrong with the baby? What if I can't endure childbirth?"

I faced those agonizing fears every day, until one day my perfect son rested in his crib, complete with all his fingers and toes. Everyone said he was beautiful, too. Ah.

As writers, though, how do we face our fears when we are writing a book? In the same way we face them in pregnancy. We keep going forward; writers and pregnant women have no choice. We have to reach the end of the journey to see what happens, whether our book or our baby is beautiful and perfect or whether it needs special attention to make it fully functional. We do whatever it takes.

As a writer, whenever you feel like quitting your book project, recall the excitement when you first concocted the idea. Remember the results you want from that book, whether it be fame, helping others, entertaining others, making money, or simply capturing your family history. Keep drawing on that excitement, and follow through to see what, in the end, you create. Unlike with human babies, at least we can keep working on our book babies until they are perfect--or near enough to perfect that someone will like it and want to read it.

Go forth and birth your book babies!

Who Has Your Backup?

2010-06-26T06:17:00.001-07:00

We’ve all heard nightmares about lost manuscripts.

In the days of paper and typewriters, writers worried about fire. We bought fireproof safes or rented safe deposit boxes for our precious manuscripts, lest they burn up before they got published.

Today writers face even more concerns than fire. We can also lose our files through a technological breakdown. I’ve met authors who wore flash drives around their necks, carrying their words with them wherever they traveled. Flash drives make odd jewelry, but they do offer a sense of comfort.

Years ago I bought an external hard drive. After relying on it for a while, I discovered it had a mind of its own and chose which folders to copy and which to ignore. For certainty, I backed up my important documents manually, provided I remembered to do so.

I felt comfortable with my external hard drive backup system. Yes, in a fire my computer, processor, external hard drive, and all my backup information would melt beyond repair, but such a disaster would never happen to me, right? Wrong. Instead of fire, water shook my world. In September 2009 much of Woodstock, Georgia, experienced a flood, and water seeped in through my walls. Even though the flood did not, thank heavens, affect my computers, it messed up my floor, walls, books, photos, and anything else stored within a few inches of the floor.

Since then I’ve been collecting information from others about how they back up their files, and it came as a surprise that most writers “plan to do something” about backup but rarely take action. After eight months of information collecting, I experienced a revelation: with my procrastination, I had joined the ranks of folks who had no safe backup system.

Finally I joined a service that automatically backs up my documents and holds them on the Internet for me. If my entire home fills with water or goes up in flames, all my documents and digital photographs are safe. I will scan my most important printed photographs and back them up, too, to ensure they survive the next flood, even though we were told it was a 500-year event. At last I have peace of mind.

Will our current technology last? No one can say, but it’s all we have to work with, so I took the plunge. (Whoops! No intentional reference to my prior flood.)

What have you done to protect your precious files? Don’t merely think about it. Don’t procrastinate any longer. The creek’s rising. Do something!

Writers Conference Makes Waves

2010-06-02T08:02:00.000-07:00

I just returned from tropical St. Simons Island, Georgia, where I spoke at the Scribbler’s Writers’ Retreat. I could not ask for a more inspirational setting. Behind the speaker’s lectern a wall of windows revealed the ocean breaking on the rocks a few feet away. Dolphins rolled in the waves, swimmers walked past on their way to the beach, and sailboats and ocean liners floated by. Inside we heard talks from the trenches, writers who wrote through serious hardships, who bucked the odds, and who spoke from years of writing experience.

The Scribbler’s Writers’ Retreat awards quite a few scholarships to young college students, plus it attracts people of all ages. How reassuring it felt to scan the room and see a wide variety of ages, origins, and interests, yet everyone shared one important trait: we all loved words.

In my talk, “Yes, You Can Make a Living with Words,” I told of my high school English teacher, Martha DuBose, who selected me among only twelve students to take a creative writing course in our senior year. Being picked for that class gave me validation as well as information. Because of her I believed in my ability to communicate with words and so set out to make a career of writing and editing. The day after I told that story, one of the other speakers struck me as having an uncanny resemblance to that same teacher, although Mrs. DuBose would be considerably older, if she is even still alive. How eerie a coincidence, I thought, that I should mention someone one day and see her doppelganger the next. Think about it, though. If such a juxtaposition appeared in a novel, it would constitute too much of a coincidence to be believable, right? I’d have to tone down my life, my coincidences, my ups and downs, to turn them into a believable novel.

I liked the setup of this latest conference, because all speakers spoke to all participants, with no breakout sessions and no need to choose between speakers or topics. It meant I also could sit in on all the other speakers and glean information to pass along to readers.

The keynote speaker, John DeDakis of CNN and author of Fast Track and other novels, revealed that I had earlier inspired him when he attended the Harriette Austin Writers Conference in Athens, Georgia, and heard me speak years ago. What an honor!

As a bonus, writer and artist Charlotte Harrell sketched each speaker. If you want to see the sketch she made of me, visit my Facebook page (become my friend at Bobbie Rothberg Christmas), where I have posted the image.

I believe in attending conferences, no matter what skill level you possess. You never know what you might see, learn, or experience, and the networking is priceless.

Who needs technology? Oh, I do.

2010-02-23T11:56:00.000-08:00

My old cell phone grew erratic. It shut itself off, even when the battery was fully charged. Sometimes it refused to shut off. At time it would not hang up after a call. I heard the technology gods whispering that it was time to buy an iPhone.

I bowed to the altar of technology, bought an iPhone, and taught myself what I could about it. I didn’t get it going strong, though, until a (much younger) friend gave me a tutorial. Soon I was up and running, downloading apps, searching Google, adding ring tones, making videos, taking photos, adding contacts, identifying birds with an electronic field guide, answering e-mails, and oh, occasionally answering a phone call. Within two days I was mad about the device, totally hooked. I was in technology heaven--for four days.

On day four, the iPhone froze, crashed, and would not start back up. How could I call anyone? I had all my phone numbers stored on it. What if someone sent an e-mail while I was away from my computer? What kind of bird was sitting on the branch near me while I walked my dog? How could I live?

After going online with my desk computer and reading how to reboot a dead iPhone, I got the contraption going again, but it made me think. Do we own technology or does it have a hold over us? I already know the answer. Will I give up my iPhone, my computer, my electronic thermostat, my digital camera, DVR, the Internet, or even my microwave, though? No way! I can vent, but I won’t relent and go back to carbon paper, mimeographs, party lines, or any of that ancient stuff. I’m a modern woman, darn it. Meanwhile, if you need to reach me, call my office; don’t rely on reaching me on my high-tech iPhone.

Holiday Blues? Think Green!

2009-11-30T20:24:00.000-08:00

Adults usually find themselves overwhelmed by the season’s added obligations, events, and duties, on top of our already overcrowded schedules. When can a serious writer find time to write amid all the chaos?

Aha! I threw you a curve. Serious writers don’t “find” time to write. They write because they must, because writing is their passion, their mission, their vocation, their connection to the world. They make time to write; they don’t find it.

In years past the holiday season overwhelmed me. About five years ago, though, I declared my independence from gifts. All of my friends and family members are old enough that if we want something, we can get it ourselves. If we don’t want something, we don’t want to get it as a gift. With the end of gift giving, I saved days of time and hundreds of dollars, and no one complained; in fact several of my relatives thanked me for relieving them of the chore.

Up until last year, I also wrote a holiday newsletter, complete with photos, and sent it to all my friends, colleagues, and clients. I spent days writing, printing, folding, stuffing, stamping, addressing, and mailing hundreds of holiday newsletters. After a year full of sad and even traumatic losses in 2008, though, I could not think of an upbeat thing to say in my holiday newsletter. I kept postponing the task until I finally said, “I’ll do it next year.”

This year I am seriously thinking of skipping the newsletter process intentionally. No need to postpone writing, printing, folding, stuffing, stamping, and mailing my newsletter. Instead, I give myself permission to stop! I will regain many hours of time, without any guilt. Maybe I’ll point to the environment and say I’m saving trees. Yes, I’ll have a green holiday, and without all those added chores, I will have time to write and still enjoy the holiday.

Consider this fair warning: This may be the only holiday greeting you get from me, and it’s digital, environmentally friendly, time-saving, and yet still heartfelt. Now I’ve got to get back to my writing, because I’m a writer, and I make time to write.

Happy holidays!

By the way, now that Write In Style is officially out of print, it is no longer available directly from Amazon. Several used-book dealers offer used copies of Write In Style, now considered a rare book, for anywhere from $52.99 to $95.94. You can still pay the original $12.95 price, though, if you order one of the few remaining new copies through my Web site, www.zebraeditor.com. I have a limited quantity, so order today!

Culling Clutter

2009-10-21T14:10:00.000-07:00

Thank you for the outpouring of response regarding my flooded office. Although papers, books, notebooks, and other objects that await a new location or new home are still piled high on my tables, chairs, and sofa, I see progress.

Saturday I attended the Atlanta Writers Club meeting and brought with me about thirty books on writing, everything from plotting fiction to writing magazine articles. I put a sign on those books that said FREE. I enjoyed the surprise on the faces of my fellow writers when they found a table filled with free books. Some people stood for a long time, deciding which free book to take, until I said, “I don’t care if you take them all; they need a good home.” Several people then gleefully picked up more than one book.

I also sold a few copies of Write In Style and Ask the Book Doctor, including some copies damaged in the water that seeped into my office. At the end of the day, I came home lighter and with a little extra cash in my pocket, and writers went home with books they can use to make their writing stronger. Everybody won.

To clean up from the flood, I have to pull out all items stored on or near the floor of my office, basement, garage, and two large storage closets. I will have to dry off, examine, consider, relocate, throw away, donate, or sell all those things. I also lost a huge bookcase that collapsed, so hundreds more items need to find new locations, either here or in someone else’s home. With so much less storage space, I must weed out the things I no longer need. When I finish this job, my basement, and probably my life, will be considerably less cluttered; hence the hidden blessing. I look forward to it.

By the way, now that Write In Style is officially out of print, it is no longer available directly from Amazon. Several used-book dealers offer used copies of Write In Style, now considered a rare book, for anywhere from $52.99 to $95.94. You can still pay the original $12.95 price, though, if you order one of the few remaining new copies through my Web site, www.zebraeditor.com. I have a limited quantity, so order today!

The rest of the story

2009-09-09T20:22:00.001-07:00

Here are more photos from the artist's play date mentioned in the previous blog:

The lush green runway of what I've jokingly named The Woodstock International Airport is lined with houses owned by airplane enthusiasts.

Just when you think you've seen all the lawn ornaments in the world, your neighbors can come up with an original like this one:

Vicki managed to catch the bright yellow plane before it fully landed. What a quick draw she has with a digital camera!

The restored and souped up cars fascinated me. Here's an antique Studebaker, and it's for sale, too.

My only regret is that I did not photograph the two huge dogs, both very friendly, but I haven't forgotten you, Jake and Ivan. I'll snap your photos the next time I round the corner and visit the neighborhood landing strip.

The Artist's Play Date

2009-09-09T16:34:00.001-07:00

Julia Cameron's book, The Artist's Way, portrays many ways of staying in touch with your creativity. One of my favorite of her suggestions involves making a play date with yourself and allowing yourself to go somewhere and simply be.

Sometimes my play date involves going to an art supply store and wondering around, pondering all the possibilities involving the various media and materials. I can take myself on a play date to an office supply store in the same way.

Labor Day, however, I went on an artist's play date spontaneously, and I had a blast. My friend Vicki and I were in the front yard of my house watching for chipmunks, enjoying the sun, and letting my dog take a pee break, when we heard a prop plane overhead. I told her, "It's probably from the little airport nearby."

Vicki's eyes bulged with excitement. "Airport? There's an airport nearby?"
I shrugged. "It's about a mile from here as the crow flies, but we have to drive around to get to it. I know it's there because over the years I've seen small planes taking off and coming in for a landing, but I've never bothered to go over there."

She stood up. "You know I used to fly airplanes. I love airports! Let's go check it out Maybe it will have a restaurant where we can have lunch."

I shook my head. "Oh, I don't think it's that kind of airport. I mean ultralights used to fly out of there. I suspect it's just a landing strip or something. I have never been able to see it from the street."

"Let's go anyway," she said. As a last-minute thought, she said, "Let's bring your camera." Within minutes we were driving down my driveway in Woodstock, Georgia, without any idea of what we might find.

Soon we saw a road sign with an airplane on it. "That means the airport sign must be nearby," she said.

I explained the sign was probably to warn motorists about low-flying planes. I had driven down that road many times and had never seen a sign that said "Airport." I had seen a road called Air Acres, however, that made me think it might be the right road to take. We found that road and turned into a dirt road with "No Trespassing" signs posted on the woods on both sides. We passed truly rural houses, old Georgia residences for those accustomed to growing their own food and living the country life. I did not feel certain we were on the right road, until we spotted a derelict airplane, wings missing, surrounded by trees. "Look! There's a plane that crashed in the woods," I told her. We both gasped. I drove on down the dusty bumpy road. We passed a lawn ornament made out of a galvanized wash tub with American flags stuck on top. Hilarious!

The older homes gave way to newer ones. but the road did not get any more inviting. Still, we plowed on, not knowing what lay ahead. Finally I saw what looked like a gate across the road far ahead, but another dirt path took off to the left, so I turned the wheel and drove in the new direction. Soon we crested a hill, and in front of us spread wide, lush, green lawn, neatly mowed. It bore no resemblance to the dirt runway I expected to find. I pulled in and parked near a large hangar where a partially built plane tuck its propeller out into the sunshine. To one side of the building I spotted rusted out trucks and a junk pile loaded with tires, bed springs, and car parts.

We jumped out of the car and a huge dog lumbered toward us, one definitely weighing more than a hundred pounds. It showed no sign of aggression, though, so I let him sniff me, and I buried my fingers deep in the thickest coat I'd ever felt on a dog. He obviously enjoyed the affection, too. He had German shepherd markings, but obviously had some other blood mixed in, possibly Clydesdale horse, I thought with a chuckle, considering his size and bulk.

While I talked to the dog and petted him, Vicki went into the building and found a man who gave his name as Kirk, and Kirk gave us permission to look around and take photos if we wanted. I walked into the hangar where Vicki stood admiring the bright yellow plane under construction, and my knees nearly buckled when I saw about six antique vehicles, all in various stages of restoration and customization. I love old cars and unique cars (which could be why I drive a 1990 zebra-striped car), and Vicki loves planes, so both of us were delighted.

Kirk said the experimental plane under construction was his swan song, the last plane he would build, and he had built several. He said his friend owned the cars and trucks, and they worked on them together, restoring them and souping them up. He gladly answered any questions we asked, and we had plenty of them.

A long-time pilot, Kirk said he had nearly been killed in three separate crashes but added, "I still love to get that adrenaline rush, though." When I asked about the dog, Kirk said, "Oh, that's Jake. He's mostly wolf. He won't hurt you."

"I know; I've already been petting him," I admitted.

Kirk's friend showed up with another huge dog, Ivan, although nothing could match Jake's size.

About that time Vicki said she heard a plane that might be coming in for a landing.

"I don't hear anything," I said.

She said, "When you learn to fly, you learn to listen for other planes."

I still heard nothing. At least a full minute or more passed before I finally heard a plane. It came in low across the field. "It's not landing," I said, disappointed.

"It's in a landing pattern," Vicki said. She explained landing patterns and what planes do to approach a landing.

I realized how little I knew about flying.

After clearing the trees a bright yellow plane appeared as if my magic. Vicki grabbed my camera. The image on its screen becomes almost invisible in sunlight, so I don't know how Vicki managed to snap two photos of the plane as it landed. I watched in awe as the prop plane landed as if it to give us our own private show.

Kirk explained that people lived along the edges of the airstrip and parked their planes in the hangars there. What a neat lifestyle, and all taking place within a mile or so of my suburban subdivision!

After spending about an hour in what seemed like a wonderland, Vicki and I left the airstrip elated at our discoveries and adventure. None of it would have happened, though, if either of us had brushed off the news that there was an airstrip nearby. I have lived in my house for fifteen years and have known for much of that time that planes took off and landed nearby, but I had never given myself and my inner child permission to go out and play, go out and discover what lay just over the trees. I had never given myself the artist's date to explore my own neighborhood for surprises.

I look forward to many more adventures in my zebra car, and I am thankful Vicki was the catalyst that made me let my inner artist come out to play.

I have more photos to show, but the blog limits me to just a few. I may post another blog simply to show the other photos. Enjoy.

The Long Arm of the Writer

2009-09-01T07:54:00.000-07:00

As a businessperson and author it’s important to keep up with where your name appears and who is publishing your work with or without your permission. In addition, I jump on a magic carpet and take a glorious ego trip every time I research my name and see how many places it appears on the Internet.

I had gotten lazy, though. For years I relied on Google as my search engine. It worked, so despite all the commercials for Bing I kept seeing on TV, why switch? Today, though, I decided to try Bing. Yes, I googled myself on Bing, an oxymoron at its best.

Here’s the interesting part: Bing brought up things I had never seen on Google. It even brought up cached pages that no longer existed, so I could see what was said in the past. Best of all, it brought up the fact that my book, Write In Style, sits on the shelf of the library of the College of Management for Mahidol University. What is Mahidol University? I wondered the same thing, so I looked it up. It’s a college in Thailand, folks! My book is available to college students reading and writing in English in a college of management in Thailand. I cannot even describe the joy I feel at this moment, because when I wrote that book, my hope was to get my tips and techniques into the hands of as many writers as possible. I wanted to teach them my super-fast way to find and destroy artery-clogging phrases in their manuscripts so their writing grew more stylish and direct. I hoped to make a little money, of course, but my mission was to teach and spread the word about how to make writing unique, stylish, and clear.

In addition to America, I’ve found my book mentioned on sites based in India, Australia, Canada, and now Thailand. I feel fulfilled and validated. My arm has reached out around the world, and I have hugged and helped writers all over the globe. What a great life, this life of a writer!

This is Reality?

2009-08-21T15:05:00.000-07:00

On a recent reality show a mother and a nanny help a young person with her homework.

The child reads the sentence that says something like this: "We went sightseeing."

The nanny asks, "What is the verb in that sentence?"

The child enthusiastically blurts, "Sightseeing."

"No," the nanny says, "that's not the verb."

The child says, "Yes it is. Verbs are action, and sightseeing is action."

The mother jumps in with, "She's right. Sightseeing is a verb."

My mouth hung open. Hello? Sightseeing is no longer a verb, once you add the -ing. Sightsee is a verb, but sightseeing is either a noun or an adjective, depending on how it is used. In the case of the sentence in question, "We went sightseeing," sightseeing is a noun. Went is the verb.

Let's try to make sightseeing a verb. Hmm. How about these examples: I sightseeing in Paris this year. He sightseeing downtown. Yeah, right, sightseeing is a verb. See how well it works?

Give me a break! What bothers me most is that the nanny knew the right answer, but the mother would not listen to her. Dumbness perpetuates itself once again. No wonder students have so much trouble with creative writing or even writing a simple report.

Don’t Write the Cart First

2009-07-31T09:11:00.000-07:00

A close friend started writing a book this past month and has completed the opening pages. She took a moment to think of how she would dedicate the book and sent me her ideas.

Her first chapter is not yet complete, but she is worried about the dedication. If writing her book takes a year or more, many things will change in the interim and many people will help her along the way, some of whom she may not even know yet.

I warned her not to worry about the dedication; finish the book first. I know from personal experience. A few months ago, I found some of my oldest files, dating back to the late 1970s and early 1980s. One of the files contained the first pages of my first book. The file also contained copious pages of research I had collected for use in the book. I had written less than one chapter in that first book and quit, but I had already written and polished my dedication.

I chuckled at finding that file. How funny writers are! When I started the project, I felt sure I would finish, but I experienced a run-in with reality. Writing is hard work. The research fascinated me, the idea burned in my brain, and the desire to write a book spurred me to begin. Nothing, however, helped me keep up my enthusiasm. I had not yet learned about critique circles. I did not know the value of scheduling time to write. I did not yet have the perseverance required to stick to a project to the end, yet I had dedicated the book to the people who helped me with a project I barely started before I let it drop.

Write! That’s the only way to finish a book. Writing the dedication before you write the book is caving to that old chestnut of putting the cart before the horse. Write first; dedicate last.

Publishing Missteps

2009-07-30T09:20:00.000-07:00

RedRoom.com asked members to write of their publishing missteps, so I wrote the following and decided to share it with my other readers as well. We can all learn from it.

My first book, Write In Style, was very successful, and my publisher's distributor, Simon & Schuster, got my book into libraries across America as well as into bookstores and Web sites around the world. I loved seeing it for sale on sites in India and Australia, and I basked in the glory of having sold a book to a traditional publisher. All that said, the profits on a traditionally published book are so small as to be laughable, so I decided to self-publish my next book, Ask the Book Doctor: How to Sell Your Writing and Beat the Competition, which was an amalgamation of some of my "Ask the Book Doctor" columns that appear in newsletters and Web sites for writers around the globe.

The plan was good; I did not need an ISBN number or distributor, because the book would not sell in bookstores, it would sell only wherever I spoke, and I would reap all the profits.

Selling a book in person, though, requires that it look good enough to buy. My publishing misstep was that I accepted an offer from a foreign printer who wanted to exchange design and printing services for my consultancy services. I agreed and spent hours consulting with the printer who wanted to learn how to bring its services to America. Although it did not implement my suggestions right away, I wasn't concerned, so long as I gave the company good advice.

When my books arrived, beaten and battered from their trip from overseas, the printed and trimmed book cover looked nothing like the design I had accepted online. The back cover was barely legible, with thin white letters on a red background. On the front cover, the title almost fell off both sides of the page. How could I sell a book in person that had no physical appeal? No matter how good the content, the cover sells the book in the end.

I learned not to scrimp on design and printing when you are self-publishing. I found a local designer and printer and all has gone well. I donated the ugly books to a company that needed giveaways. As a free book, it still had appeal, because the content was very educational, but I could never have sold a single copy of the book with its hideous original cover.

Great Seminar Past; More Planned in Future

2009-07-20T11:35:00.000-07:00

My seminar for Write Well University went even better than expected. The organizer said we had more people signed up for the event than any other event they had held so far. Best of all, all the attendees will get an MP3 file of the seminar, so they can listen to it again, if they wish.

It makes me feel fulfilled to give information to writers that they can put to use. It's my way of passing forward the help and information others gave to me while I clawed and scratched my way through the muck and mire of trying to make a living with words. Those who held a flashlight for me or even swept away some of the mud and showed me a path are people I could thank a million times, and the best way to thank them is to give the same help to others. That's my mission.

I have several more events coming up, including a small, private seminar in my home in August. To stay up to date on where I'm speaking, subscribe to my free newsletter for writers at www.zebraeditor.com. The newsletter is another way I give back and "pay it forward."

Yes, You Can Make a Living with Words!

2009-07-06T16:45:00.000-07:00

AuthorSmart and WriteWellUniversity present a teleseminar that could change your life.

When you make a living doing what you love, you never feel that you're working. Do you love to write? Would you like to add to your income or even make a living writing or editing? Would you like that kind of freedom? If so, tune into this class and get started on your path. Whether you want to increase your income, retire to write or edit, or want to work full-time as a writer or editor, this is the class for you.

Take this telephone-based seminar in the comfort of your home. For this seminar you do not need to travel and do not even need access to a computer.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009, 6:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time
Duration: 75 minutes
Instructor: Bobbie Christmas
Cost: $10, includes audio recording and handouts

Join this teleseminar to learn how Bobbie Christmas has made her living with words for more than three decades. Learn avenues and ways you may never have considered, so you can do what you love for a living.

Sign up today, to ensure your place!

To sign up, click on this link or copy and paste it into your browser: http://www.writewellu.com/authorsmart/you_can_make_living_words.html

The Writers Network News, July issue, is out!

2009-06-29T08:13:00.000-07:00

If you aren't a subscriber, go to www.zebraeditor.com and sign up today. It's free, and it's for anyone who writes. You'll get news, tips, answers, markets, and other information for writers.

It's not post mortem yet

2009-06-08T12:44:00.001-07:00

Today the UPS truck pulled up to my office and offloaded the final seven cartons of my book, Write In Style. The rights have reverted to me; the book will officially go out of print, according to my publisher, who has taken his company in another direction.

I looked at the stack of boxes in the same way I may have looked at my father when I saw his health rapidly going downhill. I knew our time together was coming to an end, but I was not ready to bid him good-bye. So it is with my book. At least in the case of the book I have a few options to keep the book alive. I could find another publisher, or I could self-publish.

No decision must be made yet. I still have those seven cartons of books, twenty-eight copies in each carton. I'll sell the final copies on my Web site and at conferences where I speak, but when the inventory gets down to one or two cartons, I'll have to make a decision. Do I let Write In Style die a natural death, or do I revive it, and if I decide to revive it, what cure should I administer?

I'm not signing a DNR just yet; the book still lives and breathes, and I don't have to pull the plug and watch it take its final gasp. It's still a sad day, watching that pile of books struggling to live, calling out, "I'm still here; don't give up on me yet!"

Open Your Heart to Possibilities

2009-05-15T21:55:00.000-07:00

One year ago on Memorial Day a neighbor who lives across the street knocked on my door and pleaded with me for the third time to please take her dog. She had grown allergic to him, and she knew I had recently lost my dog in a traumatic freak incident.

I was not ready to take on another animal and felt unworthy of the task, but I finally and reluctantly agreed to keep him for two days to see how things went. She left the dog and sent her son scurrying over with a kennel, bedding, food, toys, and snacks, and all you animal lovers out there can guess the rest of the story. The dog never left my house again.

The funny thing was this: I was not ready to take on another dog. I was still traumatized over my loss. I did not want a male dog and knew nothing about grooming and caring for a poodle. It was not love at first sight, although he was a sweet, cute thing of about fifteen pounds. His weight was about the only thing that fit my idea of what a dog should be. He needed a home, though, and in truth I needed another dog to heal my broken heart, and within two days we fell into a rhythm of mutual trust that gradually grew into deep love.

What does a dog story have to do with writing? Sometimes we resist the very thing we need, and we think our reasons are logical and reasonable. We refuse to learn new writing techniques or to comply with convention. We resist attending a workshop because we think we know enough already or we think we can’t afford the fee. We avoid joining a critique circle or asking fellow writers for feedback. We procrastinate sending our work out to a potential agent or publisher. If we’re lucky, though, something keeps knocking on our door and telling us we need to follow through, just as my neighbor kept returning and asking me to take her dog. Yes, if we’re fortunate, we open ourselves up to possibilities, and once we are open, all doors and windows are open, and what we need will come to us.

Last year I was closed to the idea of taking on another dog, but I relented, and now I have the most loving dog in the world, a dog who insists on cuddling with me when I watch TV, who curls up in his bed in my office, and who keeps me company all day. This loving creature looks up at me with large dark eyes that tell me he loves me more than anything in the world. I never thought it possible, and it would not have been, if I had not opened myself up to the possibility. Open your heart to possibilities and see what happens to your writing and your life. A year from now, everything could be different.

One more note: Write In Style, my book on creative writing, is nearly out of print! Don’t hesitate any longer. Get it now, while it’s still available through Amazon. For easy ordering, see http://zebraeditor.com/book_write_in_style.shtml.

New Port Richey Do It! Write! Conference

2009-05-03T15:09:00.000-07:00

I've been back from the New Port Richey, Florida, conference since April 20, and I would have written about it sooner, but I had to hit the ground running, the moment I returned. Well, forgive the cliche, because it's not even true; I couldn't run. I developed a painful condition in my foot that made walking difficult, so walking through the airport wasn't much fun, but as soon as I returned home, I faced three deadlines, all within a few days of each other.

Now that I have met all the deadlines and cleared a little space on my desk and in my mind, let me tell you about the great conference I attended. It took place in a library that supplied meeting rooms for the whole group as well as small, quiet rooms for one-on-one conferences. The conference bookstore comprised an elevated circular table on which presenters and attendees displayed their books. The setup worked perfectly, because attendees walked around the table, picked the books they wanted, continued around the circle, found the authors to sign the books, and continued in the same arc to the cashier, to pay for their purchases. For such a small space, it worked perfectly.

We have been hearing financial gloom and doom in all forms of the media, and perhaps the news kept some people from spending money on their dream of becoming a published author. As a result registration had been a little lower than the promoters had hoped, but it wasn't down by much. Eager writers and learners filled almost every seat, and no one was short on enthusiasm. In one day some ten or more sessions educated writers on a wide variety of subjects, and no one left feeling short-changed, not even the speakers.

As the keynote speaker, I chose to talk about how how to make a living writing. I have supported myself with words for more than three decades, and I trust that anyone who is willing to be flexible, educated, and open can do it, too. Later one of the other presenters told me I could be a motivational speaker, because my talk was inspiring. Hmm. I hadn't thought of my talk as motivational, only educational, but if I motivated one person in that room to quit a boring or stressful job and enter the world of freelance writing, I succeeded in my mission.

By the time the event drew to a close in the afternoon, many people had met a literary agent face to face for the first time. Most had learned a great deal about how to catch the eye of a publisher or agent. All had learned ways to make their writing stronger, better, and more marketable.

I watched as people trickled out of the library, all with smiles on their faces. We all felt as though we knew each other; we'd been in close quarters, eating lunch, changing rooms, listening to speakers, and wandering around the circular table in the bookstore. I think all of us made new friends. I know I did.

At one time in my life my huge ego made me think I could give every talk offered at any writers conference, but I've grown since then. Now I enjoy having a free period or two when I can slip in and hear at least part of what the other presenters have to say. Even after all these years of writing, editing, freelancing, book doctoring, attending seminars, and giving seminars, I still learn something new, every time I attend a conference.

Good writers never stop learning. I hope you'll find a conference to attend this year. You can never predict what good things may come of it.

The Writers Network News, May issue, is out!

2009-04-21T11:58:00.001-07:00

For news, markets, tips, and information for writers, see the latest issue of The Writers Network News at http://live.ezezine.com/feeds/Bobbie_Christmas.rss.

Mid-List Woes

2009-04-14T07:25:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I got a letter from my publisher, the only correspondence more dreaded than a rejection. It was a notice that Union Square Publishing, an imprint of Cardoza Publishing, is taking my book, Write In Style, out of print, rather than print another edition. Yes, the publisher is running out of books, and rather than reprint, the company will turn the rights to back over to me. I can find another publisher, reprint it myself, or let it die on the vine.

Such is the life of a mid-list author. We write books intended to stay on the market a long time, and in that time, things happen; companies change; and the market changes.

This book stayed on the market since 2004, so I probably shouldn't complain, but I had hoped for a much longer life for it. My publisher, however, has taken its business strongly in the direction of gaming books. The owner even moved his company from New York to Las Vegas.

The company has never quite known how to promote the books published under the Union Square imprint, anyway. It created that imprint to handle books on writing and publishing, but has historically paid more attention to the books on its gaming side, its original imprint. Since publishing my book, the company began publishing a magazine on gaming. It reaps more revenue from selling advertising in the magazine than it reaps from selling books like mine, so it expends most of its energy on producing the magazine and selling advertising. Readers of books of gambling tend to be wealthy males with a desire for high risks and high stakes. While a great market for advertising expensive cologne and pricey cigars, the magazine is obviously not the market for advertising my book on how to improve the quality of your writing. Writers tend to be gentler, less self-involved souls, I suspect.

What to do, then, when my book is out of print? First, I will be allowed to purchase the last few books available at Simon & Schuster, the distributor for the book. Next, I have the option of selling the book to another publisher.

I'm not sure what I'll do, right now, but I'm thinking about contacting my original agent and asking if she has another publisher she'd like to try. I hope so. I'd like to see my book live on after me, as my legacy.

Wish me success.

Lunch with a friend

2009-03-30T11:36:00.000-07:00

Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, I had lunch with a different friend. The experience gave me an opportunity not only to connect with friends, but also to study dialogue and how each person had unique patterns in her speech. One prattled on in a long monologue about her life, her experiences, her challenges, her hopes, and her plans. One sat quietly and asked questions of me, and I found myself the one prattling for much of the lunch. One had a give-and-take conversational style. She said something about her experiences and then asked about mine. I spoke of mine and then brought up something that reminded her of another subject for discussion. Three friends, all grown women, and all with unique conversational styles.

Do we think of the conversation style of our characters when we write? Do we consider that some of them might sound self-involved, while others appear selfless? Do we ensure that each character chooses unique wording and sentence structure that differs from the other characters? Probably not. In most of the manuscripts I edit, the characters sound (not so surprisingly) like the narrator, who also sounds a great deal like the author, naturally, yet dialogue is an area that should set characters apart and show their differences.

As writers we must stretch and search for new styles of speech so that each of our characters has unique traits, not only physically and mentally, but also conversationally. http://zebraeditor.com

Scorching Summer Down Under

2009-03-18T13:46:00.000-07:00

Many of my readers know my sister, also a writer, lives in Australia, thirteen time zones away, where their seasons are the opposite of ours. With the wonder of the Internet she and I stay in close contact, and several readers have asked if she’s been okay during the horrendous bushfires going on now. She and her husband live in Canberra, the capital, whereas the fires have been ravaging the state of Victoria, farther to the south, far enough away that she’s safe, this time. A few years back, however, Canberra had fires, and she and her house narrowly escaped harm.

Several of you have asked how you can help the many displaced and grieving Australians, and the Salvation Army in Australia (Salvo) has been the most helpful and fiscally responsible, so here’s the Salvo Web site link, where you can donate online: http://www.salvationarmy.org.au/. I hope you will contribute.

Jean’s latest report is sad, hopeful, interesting, and written with her Australian sense of humor and British spelling, so here goes:

“It was so sweet of you to pass on the Salvo address to friends. I told my Salvo friend, and she just got goose bumps to think people so far away are thinking of us. The death toll is 209, but there will be a few more to be discovered. The fires are still burning, and I heard that the fire fighters are working to manage the 1,100 km front before the winds shift for the worse on Friday. Can you imagine a fire over 1,000 km across? They have evacuated one more town, but that seems to be contained now. It’s still wait and see. We had the funeral yesterday of a Canberra fire fighter that died – a tree fell on him. So far he’s the only fire fighter, which is amazing. The people in the three towns that have totally disappeared are still camped at evacuation centres while they wait to get back to their properties or get accommodation elsewhere. It’s summer, so they’re all camped out on the football oval with lots of support. We had a national day of mourning Sunday, and all the churches held memorial services. It was really big everywhere. Lots of politicians and tears, not that they go together. On Monday, the Parliament member from the devastated areas stood up to make a speech in Parliament and just wept. Out of the 209 deaths, 198 were in her electorate. The PM (who’s in the opposite party) held her and promised to work personally with her to get people back on their feet. She has presented a list of ideas, such as helping some of the traders set up Internet stores until they can have a brick one back so there’s some income coming in, and his office is working on it. It’s nice to see the parties playing together when it’s important.”

You may know that Australia is one of the world’s driest continents, and bushfires are common and even normal there. Some seeds in Australia cannot germinate until they have been exposed to fire, but all that knowledge doesn’t make it any less devastating when the fires hit populated areas.

I want to thank all your folks who inquired about my sister and especially thank those who donated money to help displaced Australians. The world truly is one.

Yours in writing,
Bobbie Christmas (Bobbie@zebraeditor.com or bzebra@aol.com )
Author of triple-award-winning _Write In Style_ (Union Square Publishing), owner of Zebra Communications, and director of The Writers Network

Concrete descriptions cement your writing future

2009-02-08T10:35:00.000-08:00

The Arctic chill that settled over Georgia finally cleared a little, and temperatures rose well above freezing. I was able to take a stroll in a light jacket, without a cumbersome coat, gloves, muffler, and hat. A sense of spring hung in the air. Daffodils pushed through the soil, and trees sported green bundles at the tips of branches, ready to explode into fresh leaves.

Ah, February, I welcomed the thaw.

I walked past a neighbor’s house where a row of trees defined his property line, and I recalled having a chat when him while he planted the trees about three years ago. I decided that when I next saw that neighbor, I would comment on how well his efforts have paid off. Mentally I planned a conversation and said, “Your trees are doing nicely.” Whoa! What an abstract statement! I stopped and looked at the eighteen plants that had leaped from sticks to grow into bushes almost six feet tall, and I changed my mental dialogue to this: “Your junipers have grown by at least three feet.”

My revision gave distinct descriptions of which trees, what they are doing, and how well they are doing it. Much better. I ambled toward my house and pondered further. How could I improve the statement even more? Maybe this: “The junipers you planted three years ago have doubled in size.” That description gives him credit for having planted the things.

In the sunlight that warmed my heart and the late winter morning, I chuckled to myself. I’m ever the writer, always revising, even while I’m taking a walk with the dog, and I haven’t seen that neighbor in months. I may not see him again until the trees have tripled in size. What will I say to him then? I hope I remember to be concrete in my descriptions, rather than abstract, just as I try to do in my writing.

I Have a Dream

2009-01-19T07:46:00.000-08:00

I find it fitting that today's celebration of Martin Luther King Day is being followed by the monumental day that our first black president will be sworn into office. Many of the older civil rights workers have voiced the opinion that they were glad they were able to live long enough to see this day. I am, too.

A product of the segregated South, I recognized the dichotomy between blacks and whites in South Carolina. I was able to drink at the metal water coolers, while blacks had to drink tepid water from ceramic fountains labeled “colored.” I could step into large, clean restrooms labeled “ladies,” while blacks went to the back of the building to a small room labeled “colored,” if such a room was even available. I walked in the front door and sat on the ground level of the movie theaters, while blacks entered through the side and walked up the stairs to the balcony.

Even as a child, I sensed something was wrong. By 1950 I wondered why blacks never ate in restaurants. I did not know they weren’t allowed. I wondered why blacks never swam in the municipal pool, why they didn't go to our state park. I wondered why blacks shopped on Assembly Street in downtown Columbia, which ran parallel to Main Street, where the whites shopped. I wondered why blacks could only stand and eat hot dogs at the Woolworth's hot dog counter, while whites could go to the newer side of the building, sit on stools, and order a variety of dishes. I wondered, but I did nothing about it, because none of it affected me.

Everything changed one summer day in 1961 when my cousin and I sat down at Woolworth’s to have a glass of tea. She had an olive complexion that tanned evenly and quickly within the first sunny days of June. We chatted and waited for the server to take our order. After a while, people sat down on either side of us, while we waited to give our order. Time passed before we noticed that the server had taken orders and delivered food to all the others at the counter, but not us.

“Miss?” my cousin called to the woman behind the counter.

She turned away and did not make eye contact.

“Excuse me,” I said. “Could we please get some service here?”

The woman looked away, busily wiping the counter.

My cousin’s eyebrows shot up and she turned to me. “Why hasn’t she taken our order?” she asked me.

I looked at my cousin, tanned and lovely in her sundress, and I looked at the others all around us, pale and white, and it dawned on me. The clerk thought we were civil rights workers trying to get service where blacks were not allowed. She thought my cousin was black.

My face flushed. I felt discrimination firsthand. There was absolutely no logic in it. Why couldn't we get service? What had we done wrong?

In an instant I became an advocate for civil rights. No more nonchalance for me. The movement finally hit home and made sense to me. Why were our schools segregated, when the black schools were so obviously not equal to our new, fancy ones? Why were blacks required to stay in the back of the bus, even if the only seats available were in the front of the bus? What gave anyone the right to refuse service to anyone else, based on skin color?

I tried to do my part to talk up civil rights, but many of my friends thought I was crazy. My high school and all others in South Carolina stayed segregated until forced to do otherwise, but by then I was in college. In my sophomore year at the University of South Carolina, it finally integrated, with much protest and hoopla, when three quiet and studious blacks were “allowed” to matriculate. I gleefully went to meet and greet the first female black at USC, Henri Monteith, but later my house mother chastised me for bringing Henri into our dorm, where she "was not allowed."

Some fifty years have passed since I was refused service because I was sitting with a person of color, even though her color was the result of a tan. I’ve seen steady but seriously slow progress over those years, and for a while I thought I would never live long enough to see total integration. The election of Barack Obama gave me hope that we are finally becoming the melting pot America has long claimed to be.

Martin Luther King Jr. and I had a dream, and although we still have a way to go, we are finally seeing some of that dream coming true.

Sight Unseen

2009-01-11T10:54:00.000-08:00

Dear Readers,

What a eye-opening experience I had last week! Literally! I went to an exhibition called Dialog in the Dark in midtown Atlanta, and although I would have spelled the word dialogue, I quelled the editor in me long enough to appreciate the essence of the program. It allows people to experience total blindness for an hour or so. My group had ten participants; each group is small for reasons that become obvious once the lights go out. We spent the next hour and fifteen minutes guiding ourselves through a maze of scapes using nothing but canes and our senses other than sight. Our canes allowed us to sweep the floor a little and use the sounds and feel of the canes hitting objects, to avoid obstructions and determine where to walk. For the first time in my life I really heard the difference between a wooden boat, a sodded lawn, a rug, a cement floor, and an asphalt street. I understood the embarrassment and frustration of hitting other people's shoes with a cane or even getting turned around and walking in the wrong direction.

Through a park we went, where I knew we were in a park only because I felt tree branches and leaves, low fencing around plants, and uneven grass beneath my feet. Birds twittered in the distance, and I smelled rich soil and greenery. Greenery? The word turned into a description, not a color, in total darkness. We experienced trees, plants, grass, an herb garden, rough ground, and a little bridge, seeing with only our noses, hands, and ears.

A blind guide led the way, using her voice to call us toward her, so we knew where to go next. We stumbled, bumped into each other, stubbed our toes, and touched things that we could not identify, but we still moved through the areas calmly. We walked into another scene, where we were asked to identify our location. I reached out and found round baskets with objects in them. The outside of the objects were a little soft, and the object itself gave, slightly, when I squeezed it. As I felt further, it was not perfectly round, but a little oblong. Could it be a mango? It had no smell, but I think it was a mango. "We're in a vegetable stand," I said. I found another basket, reached in, and pulled out a smaller object that had equal indentations all the way around and a skin that flaked off in my hands. I raised it to my nose. Oh! Definitely garlic! I found a calculator and a counter where, if the scene had been real, I might have paid for my purchases. We felt a cylindrical container, and when we shook it, we all determined it held oatmeal.

We left that scape and walked up a plank and found seats on a wooden boat and took a soft, rocking "cruise" to the sounds of water splashing and seagulls calling. We then left the boat and entered a cityscape, complete with mailboxes, trashcans, cars, and curbs we had to negotiate around without hurting ourselves. We went to a mock cafe where I ordered and paid for apple juice, in trust that I gave my money to the right person, used the right dollar bills, got the right change, and received exactly what I ordered.

First, though, I had to get the money that my friend had carried for me in his pocket. I called out, "Al, where are you?" He called out to my right, "I'm over here." I reached out to find him, but instead I found his hand in the air with my dollar bills in it. We transferred the dollar bills carefully from his hand to mine; dropping the money in the dark could have spelled disaster. I then turned to the counter, where I found the hand that the clerk held out from the other side. In the same hand-to-hand exchange, I gave her the money. She returned, touched my outstretched hand, slipped my change in it, and then, nothing.

A few seconds later, she said, "Who ordered the apple juice?" Oh, she must have left to fill the orders. Whew!

"I did," I said, and again held out my hand. Her hand found mine, and she slid a box into it. A juice box? Thankfully I had seen them before, so I knew a straw would be attached to the side. I felt for it, but at first did not know how to remove it. Once I figured out how to get the straw off the side of the box, I had to open the sleeve it was in and then find the pointed end of the straw as well as the tiny soft spot where the straw would poke a hole into the box. I thought I would never accomplish all those tasks, but I did. Apple juice never tasted so good.

The Dialog in the Dark exhibition changed me. I personally experienced how small your world becomes when you do not have the luxury of sight. The only things that exist for sure are those you can verify with your hands. The bird sounds and car sounds did not seem real, because I could not see the birds or cars. The car sounds would have been vital to me, however, had I been in a true city, with real traffic, and without sight. On a smaller scale, a thing as simple as a lamppost or a trashcan can become a danger when you can't see them. A curb is a serious hazard. A row of cans in a supermarket spell only confusion, and many fruits and vegetables feel alike, and you can tell them apart only by smell, if they have a smell at all.

I am fortunate to have a long-term close friend who was blind from birth. For some twenty-five years I have had only the slightest glimpse into his world, though, and it always fascinated me. My eighty-five minutes of mock blindness could barely equate to his lifetime of genetic blindness, but for those few minutes I did grasp a small part of how he perceives the world. I appreciate him more than ever. He has often told me that the only time he feels handicapped is when he needs to get somewhere and can't find a ride.

As a result of my experience in Dialog in the Dark, I'll be even more helpful to the blind, plus I will be careful to use more than mere visual descriptions when I write. I appreciate my sense of sight more than ever, but I also know that losing it would not end my world, whereas I used to fear that it would. The guide, who lost her sight to retinitus pigmentosa about twenty years ago, answered our questions about blindness and about her life after losing her sight. She never made us feel sad or sorry for her, but instead enlightened us.

The purpose of the exhibit is, of course, to increase our understanding of the world of the blind, and it works. If this exhibit or a similar one comes to your area, please go. It is not scary; it is educational, and chances are it will make you a better, more descriptive writer, as well.

Odd Gifts

2008-12-20T06:13:00.000-08:00

With the holidays pressing on me, I was knocked off my feet by a stomach virus that would not go away. Day after day I endured dizziness, weakness, cramps, and nausea. I thought I would never feel normal again. Instead of lying in bed, I wanted to be decorating, sending out holiday cards, seeing the lights, attending holiday gatherings, and cooking for my holiday party. Instead, my little poodle curled up with me under the bed covers while I waited for the worst of the cramps and nausea to pass. The doctor warned me it might take ten days.

Today at last I’ve come through, and I’m back in my office. What a logjam of unfinished work I have to attack! I must sort through and decide what is urgent, what can be done later, and what can be skipped. It’s one of those odd blessings. I never wanted to be sick, but if I hadn’t been sick, I never would have had the opportunity to rethink my priorities. Being ill shook me to my core, but I made it through, and now that I have my health back, I feel even stronger, less cluttered with unnecessary obligations, and more determined to move ahead and be strong.

The financial world is going through a virus of a sort, as well. As we go into 2009, reports of our sick economy clog the news. I’ve seen my clients getting struck down. One produces a magazine focused on real estate, and its advertising revenue practically vanished. The company will have to regroup, refocus, and make some difficult decisions.

We all are tightening our belts; it’s what we do when the economy is ailing, but at least we have stomachs under those belts, and we have hearts still beating in our chests. America has always come through its fluctuating financial times. A sick economy may shake us, but it will heal, and when it does, we will be stronger and more clearly focused. Our priorities will be clearer and our futures will be bright. We will have learned how to exist on less and rely on each other more.

The ailing economy is a gift we may not have wanted, but we will benefit from it.

What does all this health and financial information have to do with writing? Everything. Yes, we’re watching publishers pull back and ad revenues drop, but some companies are finding ways to make a profit anyway. For one, I’ve seen a rise in companies that help people self-publish. The self-publishing industry is refining itself, offering more benefits and services to its customers, and hand-holding clients who need guidance. Writers are learning to become their own promotional agents, investing in their own future. E-books are emerging as a feasible future for a portion of publishing.

Although I used to spurn self-publishing, I no longer take a dim view of it. It definitely has its place, especially in a weak economy, when traditional publishers are buying even fewer manuscripts than ever.

The economy has changed everything. We are all examining our priorities, refocusing, and learning what it takes to be successful writers.

We will survive, and when we do, we will be stronger than ever.

Here’s wishing you a healthy, happy, and fulfilling holiday season.

Yours in writing,
Bobbie Christmas (Bobbie@zebraeditor.com or bzebra@aol.com )
Author of triple-award-winning _Write In Style_ (Union Square Publishing), owner of Zebra Communications, and director of The Writers Network

Waiting for Inspiration

2008-12-13T11:23:00.001-08:00

I kept waiting for inspiration before writing this message, until it eventually occurred to me that I was going against my own advice to other writers: don’t wait for inspiration, just put your butt in the chair and write! Oh, though, I thought some particular incident would set me off and give me the perfect subject for my letter to you, but alas, nothing spectacular took place.

Instead I kept going to bed at night, dreaming, waking up, dressing, walking the dog, editing manuscripts, writing reports, staying in touch with friends, and then going to bed at night again. Sure, Thanksgiving happened, and I, like countless other Americans, endured DFS (dysfunctional family syndrome), but this year I had no expectations, so I wasn’t as disappointed as usual. Aging helps.

I do have high expectations for Christmas Day, though. For the past fifteen years or so, I’ve held an open house on December 25, Christmas Day at the Christmas House. I cook for two or three days and open my house to friends and family members who want to come over and fill their bellies, get hugs, and exchange happy chatter (but no gifts). Feeding others and providing a gathering place: those are the ways I’ve learned to have a happy holiday, and without disappointment. If guests have the urge to spend money, I ask them to give it to a charity. The rest of us have all that we need and can get anything we don’t have, and for that we can be truly thankful.

Meanwhile, I live in the limbo many writers feel during the chaos of the holidays. I plod along and get my chores done, but I don’t feel particularly inspired. I know some great idea will hit me later, and I’ll get back on the “gotta write about it” track. For now, I’m happy to wait for the next train to come along, and it will, as long as I keep paying attention while I wait.

Here’s wishing you an inspired holiday season.

Writers Helping Writers

2008-11-21T13:12:00.000-08:00

I returned from Orlando, Florida, a few days ago, and I’m still glowing. The balmy weather and Florida sun warmed me for sure, but more than that, the people at the Florida Writers Association conference added radiance to my demeanor. The Florida Writers Association tagline, “Writers Helping Writers,” sums up the organization’s attitude and aligns with my philosophy.

Here are a few other things I appreciated about the conference:

As with almost any conference, several workshops took place simultaneously, which afforded attendees a wide choice of subjects to study; however, it also meant writers couldn’t be everywhere at once, and they sometimes missed information they would have liked to have received. FWA resolved the situation by offering a table where extra handouts from the workshops were available to all, so even if you missed a seminar, you could get the handout.

The food was actually good. I know serving 300 people at once is a challenge, but the chef and the conference folks picked items that could be prepared in large quantities and still be tasty and nutritious.

The meeting rooms were roomy and comfortable, and restrooms were never more than a few doors away.

The hotel facilities were exceptional and spotless.

Friendliness prevailed.

The speakers may have all had a secondary agenda of promoting their businesses or books, but they spent almost all their time giving information to participants rather than promoting themselves.

For every workshop evaluation attendees turned in, they received a ticket to a drawing. In this way most people remembered to evaluate the workshops, presenters and committee members received a great deal of important feedback, and more than seventy items were given away.

Best of all, the presenters offered a wide selection of subjects for writers of many types.

Conferences are great places to meet publishers and agents, many of whom requested manuscripts from people who pitched their projects. No doubt some sales will result. If you want to further your career, you can do nothing better than attend a conference where publishers, agents, and others will be speaking. You’ll learn more, meet people who can help you and educate you, and you’ll have fun doing it. You may even be able to deduct your expenses. Talk to your accountant about it.

I hope I’ll see you at the next conference…somewhere.

What Do You Want?

2008-11-19T07:23:00.000-08:00

"Start with the end in mind." -- Aristotle
"If you don't know where you're going, you'll wind up somewhere else." --Yogi Berra

I love motivational quotations, even funny ones, and I've heard one more that says it all, but I cannot find who said it. It goes like this: "If you don't know where you're going, how will you know when you get there?"

When I speak at conferences, as I did this past weekend at the Florida Writers Conference in Lake Mary, Florida, I often mention the importance of knowing where you want to go. Goal setting is vital to writers. We may write because we enjoy the act of writing, but we need to know what we want to happen after we finish writing.

For my award-winning book, Write In Style, I wanted to reach as many English-writing people as possible, so I could teach them easy tips to find words in their manuscripts that, once found, could lead to stronger writing. After editing books for many years, I had a list of words and phrases that most writers put into their manuscripts that, if deleted or changed, would lead to more powerful prose. I didn't care about profits; my goal was to educate the public. I wanted thousands of people to know about my findings, so I set the goal of finding a traditional publisher who would and could get the book into every bookstore in America, Canada, and Australia. Once I set that goal, I was able to achieve it, even though it took me a few years to do so. I knew where I wanted to go, and I would not compromise or give up. As a result, the book has been on the market since 2004 and still sells briskly, even though few stores have copies still on the shelves. They can order it for you or you can order it from any Internet bookstore.

When I wrote Purge Your Prose of Problems, I had different goals. I wanted to have something to offer writers who couldn't afford a couple thousand dollars to pay a professional editor like me. I wanted to teach writers who wanted to edit their own manuscripts or edit the manuscripts of others. I did not, however, want that information to get in the hands of every Tom, Dick, and Harriett. Rather than sell thousands of copies of that book and make a few cents per book, I wanted people to pay me a thousand or more dollars to edit their manuscripts. In other words, I did want to make a profit off the knowledge in that book or from editing manuscripts. For that reason, I self-published Purge Your Prose of Problems, creating only a limited supply. I knew my goals, and I've met them. You can order a printed copy of the book through my Web site or as an e-book through BookLocker.com, but I have not printed many copies, and when they're gone, they're gone.

When conference leaders began sending requests for me to speak, I set goals in that regard as well. I have very little sense of direction and a low tolerance for inconvenience, so I envisioned being flown to new cities to speak, being picked up by a shuttle or limo, and being driven to my comfortable hotel. When it came time to leave, I wanted to be picked up and dropped off at the airport, too. If a conference offered me those services, I'd consider speaking there. I set my goal.

The Florida Writers Association did all those things and more for me this weekend. When my plane landed and I could turn on my cell phone, my limo driver had already left a message telling me where he would meet me and what sign to look for. He had already picked up one other speaker, a publisher from Tallahassee, and the two of us had a great conversation in the car while being driven to our hotel. As a result I already had a new friend before I stepped out of the car at the conference center. The accommodations were grand, the food--even the banquet food--was great, and I felt pampered and treated like royalty. I also had dozens of people stop me to say how much they enjoyed my workshops and learned a great deal from me, so I had a sense of accomplishment and pride in being able to help other writers.

While the limo driver drove me back to the airport after three and a half delightful days, I had another educational conversation with yet another publisher, a husband-and-wife team, and we exchanged business cards.

On the plane ride home I vaguely recalled having set my goal for conference speaking years ago, and how it all has come to fruition, and why? Because I knew where I wanted to go. Best of all, I knew I had arrived.

Coping with Rejection

2008-11-05T08:44:00.000-08:00

The agent that handled Write In Style, my award-winning book on creative writing, sent me a rejection e-mail last night for a proposal I sent her for my latest book. I looked at the brief note that gave no explanation other than "This is not a project I can pursue." How typical, neutral, and devoid of helpful information, and this note came from an agent with whom I have history.

No wonder writers get frustrated and demoralized and want to quit!

When I read the e-mail, though, I did not let it get to me. I read it over a couple of times and then closed the e-mail. I next went to http://www.writersmarket.com/ and searched for agents who might want to pursue the project. I found several leads I'll pursue, and at least two of them have sold books in the same genre as mine.

I reminded myself that my current book is a memoir, whereas my former agent handled my reference/writing book, two completely different genres that call for completely different approaches to publishers.

After hours of performing research, I grew tired and went to bed.

Instead of feeling rejected, I felt energized to keep going, but my reaction comes from many years of facing rejection. From personal experience I know that rejection, especially the very first rejection of a proposal, has little to no significance. Things have a way of reversing. Rejection from one place can mean anything, and sometimes it means only that the piece has not yet reached the right hands. My first book met with rejection from plenty of agents and quite a few publishers before one made an offer.

A new day has dawned today. Yesterday my proposal was rejected. Today I have a list of new agents to try, and many of those don't object to multiple submissions; that is, I can send it to more than one agent at a time, whereas I had given my own agent an exclusive shot at my proposal and had to wait for her response. Yesterday I had hope, had that hope shaken, and rebuilt my hope. Today I have a plan of action, and action always, always, counteracts rejection or depression. Inertia, however, is depression's best friend. I refuse to feed into depression, hopelessness, or rejection. I am writer, hear me roar!

The Power of Knowledge, the Privilege to Learn

2008-10-09T08:33:00.000-07:00

One of the things I love about writing is that writers never stop learning. We learn about crafting a great sentence, paragraph, chapter, article, novel, or nonfiction book. We learn how to make our sentences more powerful. We create new expressions. We learn what to delete from our writing. We also have to learn about the rest of the world. The fact that we’re writers gives us complete freedom to ask anything, look up anything, learn anything we want, and question anything, because it may very well show up in our next article, short story, or book.

I enjoy checking facts when I edit for clients, although it’s not supposed to be part of the editor’s job. Recently a client referred to the shrimp as the only being with its skeleton on the outside. No, I thought, I’ve heard the term “exoskeleton,” so there must be more beings with external skeletons, although nothing immediately came to mind. A quick Internet search for “exoskeleton” turned up the obvious: clams, oysters, and mussels. Of course! I learned something and could repair the sentence in the book I was editing to read that shrimp are one of several beings with its skeleton on the outside.

I’ve always had a natural curiosity, and I think that’s what originally led me into journalism. I love to hear new facts, new figures, and new findings. Today I read about a research team in Denmark that analyzed more than three million checkout receipts from ninety-eight supermarkets and found that wine buyers bought more fruits, vegetables, olives, poultry, milk, and low-fat cheese, on average than those who bought beer. Hmm. Beer buyers, it turns out, bought more chips, soft drinks, cold cuts, sausages, and sugar. If you say this information has nothing to do with writing, you’re dead wrong. Look at the juicy information I gleaned for characters in a short story or novel! Look how I can use that information to differentiate characters and make each one unique, based on his or her supermarket purchases.

At the Christian Author’s Guild where I spoke recently, one of my topics was “Build Characters; Don’t Just Describe Them.” The type of information I learned from reading about that research in Denmark can be put to good use when I’m next building characters, even if I don’t show them in a supermarket. Still, I can show what they serve guests who drop by. The beer drinker will serve chips and Vienna sausages; the wine drinker will serve apples and cheese. Such behaviors will ring true with readers, because the habits of wine drinkers versus beer drinkers are probably obvious to all of us, yet no one had confirmed it before.

Ah, the power of knowledge, the privilege to ask and learn, and the bonus of getting paid for it: could anything be better than being a writer?

Yours in writing,
Bobbie Christmas (Bobbie@zebraeditor.com or bzebra@aol.com )
Author of triple-award-winning _Write In Style_ (Union Square Publishing), owner of Zebra Communications, and director of The Writers Network

The Power of a Deadline

2008-09-30T16:46:00.000-07:00

When I speak at conferences and to writers groups I often mention the power of planning and setting deadlines, yet many people complain. They say they simply cannot plan or set deadlines. Pooh on that! We have a plan every day we wake up. We know when we have to go to work, go to school, pick up the children from daycare, go grocery shopping, attend meetings, return books to the library, meet with friends, and even eat meals. If those are not plans, what are they? In essence, too, every plan has a deadline, a time by which the thing must be done. Knowing we already have plans with deadlines, what’s so difficult about creating a writing plan with a deadline by which you wish to finish your essay, short story, novel, or nonfiction book?

Yes, I tell people how easy it is, yet I’m equally as likely to skip these steps myself, and when I do, I’m, as they say in the South, “fixin’ to mess up.” Let me explain.

I have a great client for whom I am ghostwriting a children’s book that will help market a product he created. I’ve handled projects like this one quite a few times. The product-related children’s books always look like they will be fun when I accept the project, but when I face the actual work, they turn into monsters I resist tackling. I don’t know why it is; it just is. My client patiently waited as plan after plan (I hesitated to call them deadlines) fell by the wayside, while I kept saying I was working on my creative juices, trying to find the right way to approach the project. The months ticked by, and it’s a wonder my client wasn’t ticked off as well, but he remained kind and supportive, until I beat myself over the head over the length of time I’d taken to produce the book he requested. In the end I set a deadline for the project, told him the deadline, and wrote it down. Did the deadline spur me to jump into the project immediately? No, it didn’t, but it made me see the date by which the project had to be completed, and each day that went by made the deadline closer, until I finally did sit down and write the thing I’d been mulling over and over for months. It’s lovely, and the client likes it, as well.

Had I not set that absolute drop-dead deadline, though, the project would still be incomplete, I’m sure.

If you are waiting for inspiration to hit, there’s no better inspiration than a deadline. Set a date by which you plan to complete your own project. Write it on your calendar. Post the date by your computer. Tell your friends your deadline. Chances are you will see your project completed, and you can celebrate. Deadlines? Maybe we should call them live-lines.

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Don’t Try; Do

2008-09-30T16:30:00.000-07:00

Robert Frost said, “Talking is a hydrant in the yard, and writing is a faucet upstairs in the house. Opening the first takes all the pressure off the second.”

When I ran across the quote from Frost, I smiled, because I have the same philosophy. From time to time “writers” tell me they have ideas for books, I tell them to write the book; don’t tell me their ideas. I intentionally put quotation marks around the word “writers” because quotation marks indicate irony when used outside of direct quotations, and the people who talk about their ideas are talkers, not writers. Talking about an idea drains the energy from the project. It leaves no need to do the hard word of sitting down and writing. Real writers (no quotation marks needed, because no irony intended) sit down and write.

I had the honor of meeting a group of real writers this month, women and men who came from many parts of Georgia to hear me speak at the arts center in Carrollton. When we went around the room introducing ourselves, I was pleased and amazed at the confidence and successes of almost everyone in the room. Only one person was relatively new to writing, and everyone else in the room seemed eager to help her move toward getting published as well. That’s another thing I love about writers; we have no proprietary information and no secrets. We gladly help one another.

Even though almost no one in the room was new to writing, they loved what I spoke about. I did not talk about the basics of writing, which most of us know, but about how to revise a manuscript objectively using my trademarked Find and Refine Method. I won’t go into a sales pitch, but the Find and Refine Method is explained in my book Write In Style and in one of my free reports, which you can receive by sending an e-mail to freereports@zebraeditor.com.

More important is the fact that everyone in the room was a real writer. No one said, “One day I’m going to write” or “I’ve always wanted to write a book but never had the time” or any of the other excuses I have heard hundreds of times. Instead, they had put their rear ends in a chair and their hands on the keyboard, and they wrote. As a result, they were published. They didn’t try to write; they wrote. I’m impressed.

Many people can spend their time trying to write, but trying never gets anything done. Writers write. I hope you write every day, too.

Yours in writing,
Bobbie Christmas (Bobbie@zebraeditor.com or bzebra@aol.com )
Author of triple-award-winning _Write In Style_ (Union Square Publishing), owner of Zebra Communications, and director of The Writers Network