Motivation and Inspiration

Most writers I know are not filled with, or struck by, inspiration every day, so where do they find the motivation to write? Someone much wiser than I once said that he sat down in front of a blank page every day, and if inspiration hadn't arrived by 9 a.m. he began without it! Writing is a little like exercise - one has to get into the habit of doing it often, or one doesn't do it at all. Like our physical muscles, the mind needs a warm-up routine; once our muscles are warm they are ready to work-out.

Motivation, for me, comes after I begin to work. When I first began writing, fear held me back. The words in my head were brilliant - I thought - but when I put them down on paper, once they became concrete, they were sadly lacking. But I stuck with it and in time the fear faded. To compare writing to exercising again, once you build up your muscles, the work-outs become easier. So it is with writing.

With any exercise routine, we begin small and increase the repetitions, or the speed, over time; so it is with writing if you find yourself without motivation and/or inspiration. Set goals for your writing; begin with a paragraph a day and gradually build this up until you are writing at least a page a day. Don't think too much about what you are writing, just do it. Soon it will be a habit and, like most habits, hard to break.

Keeping a journal also helps; a journal is for your eyes only and you will not be so critical. Record whatever you like in there: observations; snippets of overheard conversation; ideas; cuttings from magazines or newspapers; photographs ... and so on. If you prefer to look for inspiration, rather than wait for it to come to you, go through your journal on a regular basis; you might be surprised at the writing ideas your jottings will inspire.

Another way to get into the right frame of mind for writing is to read over what you wrote in your previous writing session. Don't worry too much about editing at this stage, just read to put yourself back into the world of your story, and then begin to write.

Try to write in the same place, and at the same time every day, or every week if that's all the time you can manage, and if possible don't use that space for any other activity. In time, just being 'there', in your writing space, will be all the motivation you will need.

Marketing your Work

You're a writer and you've written a wonderful piece - a short story, an article, a novel - and now you need to send it out to an editor or a publisher. Who do you send it to? In America, and increasingly in Australia, publishers prefer to read work submitted through an agent. Agents, however, often require the writers they place on their lists to have a publishing history. It's a catch 22 situation but there are ways around it, and there are people who have submitted work directly to the 'slush pile' and found publication.

If you need to find an agent, first build up a publishing history with smaller works, published in quality anthologies, local media, university publications and the like. Join a writers group in your area - through them and/or their newsletter you will receive news of competitions you can enter; a prize in a prestigious competition can earn you cudos. Do some research on agents, either online or via a plethora of books that contain information about this subject. Talk to other writers about agents and see if one of them is registered with one you like the look of. Sometimes, an introduction by anther writer will get you a foot in the door. If you 'known' in any area of your life for any speciality you are expert at, and it is about that that you are writing, this too will be looked upon favourably.

If an agent is not for you, submit to the slush pile by all means; but make sure that your work will stand out from the crowd. This does not mean that you should print your manuscript in fancy font, or on coloured paper, and bound with ribbon! Doing something like this screams 'amateur' and the editor you hoped would read your work often sends it right back - unread. That's if it gets to the editors desk; publishing houses employ staff to go through the slush pile, weeding out manuscripts like that.

Of course, some publishing houses miss out big-time on brilliant manuscripts from their slush piles by not reading everything sent to them, but they often receive many thousands of unsolicited manuscripts and just don't have the time or the staff to go through them all, so they take the risk.

As for who you should submit your manuscript to - this also needs research. Some writers choose their market first; others write first and look for a market afterwards. Go online to see what publishers are looking for. Does what you have written fall into their genre? Look at the back of the title pages in books on the shelf at your local bookstore (the reverso); here you will find the publishers’ name. Don't make the mistake of sending your brilliantly written piece about Gardening in Drought to the editor of a sports publication - unless your garden is set around a sports playing field and is somehow relevant to a particular sport, in which case you will need to reflect this in the title of your piece.

Send your manuscript to 'the editor', but first ascertain the editor's name. This shows professionalism. If you've written a query letter and have been asked to submit some sample chapters, make sure that you submit only what is asked for. If they like your work they will ask for the rest. Make sure you have read and understood the publisher’s guidelines, which are available from publishing houses online, or by request.

If you have written a piece that stands out from the crowd and it is professionally presented, you are well on your way to publication.

The Query Letter

A query letter is an outline of your idea or story; You will send a query letter to an editor when you are writing non-fiction. You don't need to send a query letter if your work is a short piece that does not need extensive research, but if your idea will require a lot of time and effort, and is longer than 1,000 words, a query letter is a good idea. If an editor likes your idea you will be armed with a powerful tool when approaching people for interviews; you can truthfully say that "Ms X, editor of xxxx, has shown interest in this piece."

A query letter is short, formal but not stuffy, and professionally presented. It will be as polished as you can make it, and will be written so as to catch the editor's eye. Don't just rush off a letter to a publisher without first doing some research.

Will the piece you are planning fit the publication you are approaching? Why will it appeal to the reader's of that publication? You could speak about this in your query letter, and quote some of your research to show the editor that you have done your homework, and that you are a professional.

Synopsis or Outline?

A synopsis is a way of outlining your story in a logical, chronological manner. The synopsis will show the high points of plot, the development of character/s, and the resolution. The outline is very different. An outline of a story tells what happens in a detached manner. It is often in point form and can be a dry rendering of your story.

A synopsis, on the other hand, is a narrative and it will show your story’s progress from beginning to end by describing how the plot and character development are affected by each other.

A synopsis is a tool, a selling tool. The synopsis will probably be your only chance to sell yourself and your writing, or your writing technique. Most publishing houses only want to see sample chapters of your work so the synopsis is your opportunity to demonstrate your talent for writing. If the editor reading your synopsis likes your writing style, and the sample chapters are as well done and in the same tone, then chances are s/he is going to want to see more of your manuscript.

That’s the whole idea of the synopsis, to get an editor interested enough to want to read all your manuscript, which will increase your chances of a publishing contract, so give the writing of your synopsis as much attention as you gave to your manuscript.

Bookmark these pages for coming posts that will give you some helpful tips on how to write a winning synopsis.

The little Apostrophe looms large

The apostrophe looms large in the eyes of many writers, and it's such a little thing. I see its misuse everywhere, in my newspaper, on the internet, on menus in restaurants, and on signs, and am so grateful that we don't use accents in our written language. Why am I still writing about the humble apostrophe? Because it's part of our language, and part of the way we communicate, so it's important that it is used correctly. (See previous post about its and it's.)

I saw a sign a few days ago, on the window of a real estate agent, that proudly proclaimed, "You're home is in here!" Soon afterwards, I saw another sign, on another window: "Come in; your welcome" was boldly writ upon the glass. The message that both of these businesses were communicating was not what they intended it to be.

Where and when to use the apostrophe can be confusing but if we remember that the apostrophe is replacing a letter, (if it is not indicating the possessive), we will make less mistakes.

By using the apostrophe, we make a contraction, that is, two words joined together by the apostrophe. For example:

You're is a contraction of You + Are, so the sign in the real estate agent's window was actually saying: You are home is in here, which of course doesn't make sense. It should have read: Your home is in here!

The sign in the other window should have read: "Come in; you're (you are) welcome."

As always, we can test ourselves on the use or not of the apostrophe by looking at what we have written. If there is an apostrophe there, read it as the original two words. If it fits the sentence, it's okay; if it doesn't, take it out. On the other hand, if you don't have an apostrophe there, and you mean the one word to fill the place of two, you need to insert the apostrophe.

I'll discuss the use of the apostrophe with the possessive in a later post.

The dreaded ITS

A knowledge of grammar is important in writing, but once you know the rules it's okay to break them, as long as you have a good reason for doing so. Incorrect use of language should add meaning to the story you are telling. Of course, only use 'correct' grammar in dialogue if your character would speak that way. It's rare to find someone who speaks correctly and grammatically all the time, even university professors!

Usually, the apostrophe is used to indicate either the possessive, or to stand in for a missing letter. The former is a lengthy discussion in itself, so let's just look here at its use in the latter. The word its for instance; increasingly of late I've noticed that people are becoming more and more confused about when to use the apostrophe with this word.

The word it NEVER takes the possessive, so when you see it's, you know that it's a contraction of it is.

When you read through your work, stop and take note of every instance where you have written it's. Read the sentence again but this time, instead of saying, it's, say it is. Does it fit? If so, then using the apostrophe there is correct. If not, delete the apostrophe. If there is an its in the sentence, perhaps you mean it is, and so should add an apostrophe.

Here are a couple of examples:

Wrong: The dog was guarding it's [it is] ball.

Correct: The dog was guarding its ball. (Remember, its does not take the possessive.)

Wrong: Its a long way to the beach.

Correct: It's [it is] a long way to the beach.

This same exercise works well for any contracted words but be careful, for example, using there's [there is, singular] when you really mean there are [plural].

Writing - a lonely business?

I write because I 'must'; I also write in order to earn a living. Most of my income comes from associated activities, not the writing itself, but as long as I am working with words, I am deliriously happy.

I've heard it said that writing is a lonely life but I've never found it so. Once I am 'into' a piece of writing, I am in the text and no longer 'here'. The characters who people my work are so real they sometimes walk the floor with me as I pace, trying out different responses for them. On the other hand, in order to write I need to be alone. There are many people who can write, no matter where they are or who is around them, but not me. I can take notes, jot down ideas, and do research, but I cannot create.

Growing up in a large household, I didn't have the luxury of being alone, so never wrote. Married, working and with children, I was never alone either. Besides, in those days it was the women who did all the housework, the cooking, cleaning and so on, so time was short too. But those years were not wasted; I read voraciously, I kept journals, and I made notes and jotted down ideas.

It was only after my children were grown up that I finally had both the time and the space to write. I joined a writing group, I took classes, and I got involved in the writing community. In other words, I began my apprenticeship.

In these times, writers probably do have it a bit easier, with partners who are willing to lend a hand with the housework, but it still can be a long process from blank page to publication. It took a couple of years before I had my first piece published, and then there was a bit of a drought before the second; I have not seen a flood yet, but I do manage to earn enough to keep myself alive, and to enable me to continue to indulge my passion - words, language and writing.