Category Archives: Uncategorized

Non-Monetary Rewards

Everyone Should Be This Happy at Work

Just as most employees aren’t CEOs or don’t make fantastic salaries, most writers do not appear on best seller lists or make tons of money. There can be a lot of heartache in writing simply because it is hard to make a living at it, to sell the pieces closest to your heart, and to look past all the rejection and non-responses to your queries. However, there are also some great rewards to writing that most other professions don’t offer.

First, you obviously get to do what you want for a living. Enjoying your work is an enormous gift which far too many people haven’t received. Unless you just luck into a lucrative writing job, you’re going to have to pursue your projects–alone–with lots of failures along the way. Unless you really love to write, it’s typically just not worth it. However, if you’re writing because you enjoy it, get excited about it, think about your projects all the time, can’t wait to get up in the morning to work on them–and that happens a lot with writers–you’re truly blessed.

Loving your job is important to loving your life, and we all want that . . . it’s a thought to hold onto when you face those bleak moments when you can’t seem to find “success” as society defines it. Consider why so many writers never actually retire but continue writing all their lives–maybe there’s success that can’t be measured by money.

Internet Research . . . Is it Enough, Part 2

Internet Research Can Be Faulty at Times

In my last post, I gave reasons why internet searches may not be the best way to find people to interview for an article or book, background information for a personal project, and so on. What might you do, instead?

For one thing, perhaps go old-school and find (on the internet!) the professional organization for your topic. Contact it and explain your needs; people there may be able to suggest members who are experts in the exact area you need to discuss, who are doing interesting studies or fieldwork you may be able to mention, or who have developed a new theory or slant on your topic. Similarly, you can look at the organization’s last or upcoming conference agenda to find the names of speakers and the kind of information they’re presenting. Conference sessions usually present something new and interesting or not generally known–and editors love that.

You may want to contact a university with a good program related to your topic. Most of the time its teaching staff will be working on relevant projects or have specialized knowledge that again, will be new and fresh for your readership. How about a research group? This is a great way to find out what’s going on now and/or what the current concerns are in the field. Look at professional papers that have been recently written on your topic; either the author or co-writers could be good people to contact. Research papers usually list team members or cite other papers and expertise tapped for the project. Those sources could also be great.

My point is this: If someone or something is easy for you to find on the internet, it will be easy for 10,000 other writers to find. If you want to stand out, tap more than the “same old” sources, and give your editor and readers information that not everyone else is going to find,.

Stepping Out, Part Two

It’s Easy to Find Inviting Paths

As I said in my last post, writers find it easy to either get sidetracked by unproductive projects, or refuse to try anything new because they’re tired of not seeing results for their efforts. I offered several questions to ask yourself in deciding whether or not to bother. The one I didn’t discuss is: How did this project come to my attention?

If someone called you up and asked you to do it, if someone recommended you for the job, or if you seemingly have no hurdles to overcome to get it, then go for it. Maybe it won’t ultimately work out, but if the opportunity came to you rather than you having to search it out (the more typical route), it’s probably worth trying.

Unfortunately, there’s still room for failure. That’s what happened to me when a producer asked me to write a screenplay based on my book, Vanished in Hiawatha: The Untold Story of the Canton Asylum for Insane Indians. I was intrigued by the possibility, but had never written a screenplay before. The man convinced me that with screenwriting software, I could manage, so I gave it a shot.

He was right, in a way. The software made some of the most frustrating aspects of just getting the story down much easier. However, no one should expect their first effort at a new genre to be wonderful, and mine wasn’t. The screenplay was given to a director who very kindly gave me a fairly detailed critique, and I realized I could be going through umpteen iterations before I got the story down in a way that would satisfy any underwriters. I wanted to pursue it, but because I’d already given quite a bit of time to it and didn’t have any kind of guarantee, I decided to let it go.

My takeaway? I took advantage of an exciting opportunity, I learned a new skill, and I looked at my story in a whole new way. I’m better off for having tried screenwriting, I think, even if nothing came of it. And who knows, letting my story percolate in a different way may pay off yet. We’ll see.

Stepping Out

Writing Frustration

One of the drawbacks to writing as a career is that you put so much effort into it–and not always with any result–that you don’t want to waste your time on projects that aren’t going to pay off. This is absolutely an intelligent way to feel, since it’s easy to get sidetracked with attractive tangents that others are enthusiastic about or that simply appeal to you for one reason or another. You can waste your time on “fun” stuff when the writing that you tend to actually sell goes by the wayside. Let’s face it, we all have a limited amount of time to spend on unproductive things.

But, what happens when you get too locked into that mindset? You may actually miss opportunities that could pay off in a big way, or at least pay off in some way. How do you decide whether or not you’re just chasing one more mirage, or really should put time and effort into an iffy avenue?

One of the best ways I’ve found is to consider how you came upon the idea. Have you just heard/read on the web/seen a success with this type of project? Are you just wishing you could follow that path as well, without really feeling a passion for it or seeing a potential market which is easier to reach than your own? Do you have the qualifications or credentials you need to pursue this new project? Your rational answers ought to guide you.

–But, sometimes it’s hard to be rational. Most writers have been in this spot, and so I offer two questions to ask yourself before going out on a financial or time-and-energy limb. First, do I really, really want to do it? If you’re passionate about something, it’s almost always worth trying it out, just to see where it takes you. Second, how did the idea hit me?

I’m going to say more about this on my next post.

Writing and Resolving

Have a Great 2017

As a new year approaches, I find that–like always–I will not be making any New Year’s resolutions. I’m firmly in the camp that believes failing at them is more discouraging than keeping them would be encouraging, so I don’t bother. However, writing resolutions are another matter.

If you’re writing for money, you have a business. It’s only sensible to have a business plan. You may not be able to write goals like: sell so many articles each month, earn “X” amount of money, or other similar wishes that writers have no control over. There’s not much you can do to make editors accept your proposals or give you go-aheads on your timetable–anyone who’s waited months for an acceptance on a book knows better than that. But you can create goals in areas where you do have a certain amount of control.

When I was a freelance magazine writer, I made it a goal to always have two dozen queries circulating. I had no problem generating article ideas, and I knew that I was bound to get a certain number of rejections. Editors aren’t always prompt, either, so I knew that the odds of my getting ten article go-aheads all at once were basically nil. The great thing about this goal, though, was that I always had a big dose of hope out there in the void where great ideas circulate and look for homes. No matter how many rejections I got, no matter how long it took for answers, I always knew that I had over 20 possibilities out there waiting on me.

I suggest that you take a look at your own writing dreams and start generating resolutions that will help you reach them. Make resolutions only in areas where the outcome is solely up to you. Just knowing that you have a plan you can execute can be enormously encouraging and motivating–and in this business, we need to do all that we can to keep the excitement stirred up.

Happy New Year!

Writing Advice that Misses the Mark

Attendees at an Association of Writers & Writing Programs Conference

When I first began writing as a career, I turned for advice and inspiration to the many professional magazines available to writers. Though their practical content usually kept me motivated as I endured the pain of a creative career, I sometimes found their motivational material a bit over the top.

I remember reading solemn advice (or warnings) from successful writers along the lines of “writing has to be the most important thing in the world to you” or “you have to put writing first–before anything else.” One writer went so far as to say, “writing has to be as important to you as breathing.” This sounds good, but oh, it is such dangerous advice.

Unless you’re the one-in-a-million writer who hits the bestseller list, makes a lot of money, or at least becomes well-known, writing had better not be the most important thing in your life. When you try and try and try and get nothing but rejections or mediocre sales, you’d better have other, more important–more stable–aspects of life to fall back on. Just think: If you are one in 10,000 authors submitting to an editor who has slots for only 80 books that year, 9,920 hopeful writers are bound to be disappointed. (And you will probably be one of them.) If you pin your self-esteem and value only on what the world decides to give you, you will be unhappy and defeated much of the time.

No. Writing should be important to you, just as any job should be. You should strive to do your best, help yourself all you can, and enjoy the opportunities you make or receive. BUT, God, family, friends, and community are all more important. Your hobbies and other joyful activities matter just as much.

Do what you love, but keep your priorities straight.

Your Idea’s Next Step

An Inspiring Quote

I wrote in my last post that writers generally approach an editor/publisher with a nonfiction idea through a proposal. An advantage to the proposal process is that you don’t have to write the entire book. The disadvantage is that you have to expend enough time and money to do the research for the first few chapters out of pocket. If you can’t convince an editor that you know what you’re doing and can do it well, you aren’t going to get that contract. Unfortunately, it’s absolutely to your advantage to suck it up and do what it takes financially and time-wise to make the first three chapters sparkle.

You will want to avoid costly trips and/or buying a lot of books or other resources that you may eventually need if you get the contract, but you still need to show an editorial team that you know what you’re talking about and can handle the topic. That’s why thinking through the material you need to cover is so important–you’ll go on fewer unproductive tangents right from the start. When you have a structure and know what you’re going to discuss, you have an efficient road map for your research.

There’s no one way to conduct research or present information for all nonfiction, of course, but in a general way, here are some things to consider:

For original research or first-hand information, is there somewhere fairly close that you can visit to give a flavor of the type of research you’ll be doing?
Is there someone relevant that you can interview for your first chapters?
Are there studies or reports from reputable sources you can reference?
Are there clubs/associations/professional groups devoted to your topic that you can tap?
Is there anything strong enough in your own background to use as expertise?
Can you at least suggest the sources you’ll use when you actually write the book?

Your job at this point is to give an editor confidence that you’re familiar with the subject matter and know where to go to dig deeper. Combine that with two or three strong chapters, and you may have a book deal.

So You’ve Got an Idea

Sample Proposal Outline

Not many writers–or at least writers who aren’t already famous–will have a publisher approach them to write a book. The normal process is the other way around–the author approaches the publisher to see if his or her idea seems appropriate for that particular business. I don’t use the last word lightly, either. Publishers are as driven by the bottom line as any other business. That’s why you have to build a good case that your idea for a book is one that will make them money.

Most writers I know really, really dislike the business aspect of writing. We want to write, dream, research, and get our words out more than anything. With fiction (and I’ve written plenty of it!), sometimes it’s best to just jump in and get going, and then present your finished product to an editor. Nonfiction plays out a bit differently, and there are some distinct advantages and disadvantages to that.

With nonfiction, you seldom need to write an entire book to get a contract. Some conservative publishers want to see the whole work if you’re an unknown or have few credentials, but many times you can get a decision based on a proposal. Proposals have several elements: a quick synopsis of what your book is about, a list of chapters and two or three sample chapters, and a marketing section that shows you’ve thought this through and know where your book fits and what its competition will be. There’s still plenty of room for creativity, but you’re basically giving publishers (through an editor) enough information to see that there is a market for your book. One side benefit to all this work is that you will have to think through your topic all the way, and that will help you in the long run.

I will discuss the proposal process a bit more in my next post.

Remarkable Women

Susan La Flesche Picotte, courtesy Smithsonian Institution

As I write this post–interestingly enough on Election Day–I have just finished some research on a remarkable Native American woman named Susan La Flesche. Her achievements are especially striking when you consider the barriers that existed for women in her time; women today are frustrated because of an uneven playing field in certain areas of life, but La Flesche lived in a time when women couldn’t vote, and as a Native American, didn’t even have citizenship.

La Flesche was born in 1865 in a buffalo-hide tipi on a Nebraska reservation. Before she died at age 50, she had attended the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania (graduating at the top of her class), become the nation’s first female Native American doctor, and established a modern hospital on her impoverished Omaha Indian reservation. La Flesche was a crusader of staggering energy, fighting against land fraud, whiskey peddlers, and poor health conditions among her people. Before her own health failed her, she served more than a thousand patients scattered over nearly 1,500 square miles of reservation territory.

I have been continually amazed at the achievements of women who lived without the right to vote, own property, or sign legal contracts. My own paltry achievements are nothing in comparison, and during this season of thanksgiving and appreciation, I am indeed grateful for the inspiration and example they offer.

Insanity and Stereotypes

Patient With Acute Melancholia

I believe that one reason insane asylums became popular–initially–is that they broke down traditional stereotypes about what it meant to be insane. For years, people viewed insanity as both incurable and hereditary. As views changed in the 1830s, hope became possible for families dealing with insanity. Alienists believed the condition could be cured, especially if it were nipped in the bud during what they called the acute phase. Asylums were looked upon as “hospitals for the mind” and alienists held out the possibility of curing diseases of the mind just as they did for diseases of the body.

At the same time, alienists began moving away from the idea that insanity was heredity. This belief shows itself in the many Victorian-era novels where heroes/heroines refuse to marry because of the “tainted blood” they might pass on. Alienists began to think that at most, heredity only gave a predisposition toward insanity, just as it might give a child a predisposition toward certain physical conditions. But, just as “weak lungs” might be prevented through fresh air and exercise, a predisposition toward melancholia, for example, might be thwarted by brisk mental activity, interesting hobbies, social involvement, and so on.

This new thinking was so encouraging for families who had a member with mental health issues!