An update

I've not updated folks on where I'm at in my writing, so here goes.

Really, it's just work as normal.

The novel "Death of a Bluesman" is very nearing completion. Pretty good stuff, at least in my humble opinion. As I read through it, I feel strongly that the boys -- Addison and Barnacle -- haven't let me down.

I've begun to ponder the next book length project and it is up in the air between two. One is to write a second Barnacle/Addison book. I've got an idea that I've been thinking about.

Another is the book I now call "Family Ties." It is the first book I wrote. While there's plenty I like about it, there's plenty that can be improved and as I re-read the entire book over the holidays, I developed some solid ideas for a rewrite of the entire thing. I believe it would improve the book drastically, but I need to consult with a few folks first. I think I could do the rewrite quickly -- within a month or so.

On the short story front, I've got four stories out circulating trying to find a home. The most frustrating is "The Last Cowboy," which may be my best short story to date. Yet, I can't seem to find a home for it -- three magazines have passed on it so far. Ugh.

I've got three short story rough drafts finished and two more in the works. Hope to get a few of those circulating in a week or two.

Not working on any non-fiction, outside of my day job.

Living

I've been accused of living a strange life. Some may say at times adventurous. Regardless, the things I've done in my life certainly give me ample resources to draw from in my writing.

Here are a few quotes about "living" that I really like.

"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, beverage in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO!" Don't know who said this.

"And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years." Abraham Lincoln

"Deliver me from writers who say the way they live doesn't matter. I'm not sure a bad person can write a good book. If art doesn't make us better, then what on earth is it for." Alice Walker

"Time is a companion that goes with us on a journey. It reminds us to cherish each moment, because it will never come again. What we leave behind is not as important as how we have lived." Patrick Stewart

"Courage, it would seem, is nothing less than the power to overcome danger, misfortune, fear, injustice, while continuing to affirm inwardly that life with all its sorrows is good; that everything is meaningful even if in a sense beyond our understanding; and that there is always tomorrow." Dorothy Thompson

"Life is just one damned thing after another." Elbert Hubbard

"Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive." Elbert Hubbard

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." Mark Twain

And my favorite, one judo players will know....

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat." President Theodore Roosevelt.

Publishing non-fiction, part II - Writing the Query Letter

So you have an idea and you've targeted a magazine. Now you want to write a query letter to the appropriate editor to pitch your story.

First of all, there are tons of resources out there on writing queries. Books, web sites and magazines all have tips and advice. If you've never written a query letter, take some time and look at these.

Remember, first impressions count and your query is the first impression an editor gets of you. Be accurate and professional.

I follow a basic outine for my queries.

My opening paragraph is just a one-sentence introduction.
My second paragraph is two or three sentences about the subject and angle.
Then the proposal.
Credentials.
Close.

Pretty simple.

To open, I start with something like:
Dear Mr. XXX:
I have an article I think is suited for Business Success magazine.

Then for the subject/angle:
In an industry that is flat, John Doe, owner of Automotive Sounds, has experience double-digit growth for three years straight. At 24, he is Petersburg's youngest success story, but it wasn't easy. He had to shut his business down seven years ago so he could finish high school.

Proposal:
I'd like to profile Doe in a 1,500 word article I've tentatively titled "Youthful Success." The article will focus on Doe's business success, which is due in large part to a ferocious focus on customer relations and strategic alliances with manufactueres. He has already agreed to be interviewed. Other's to be included in the article are his father, who loaned him the money at 16, and his former high school principal. I'll be able to include art with the story.

Credentials:
My articles have appeared in more than 100 magazines and I've written business profiles for Memphis Agenda, Entreprenuer, and Mobile Electronics. A couple of clips are enclosed.

Close:
Thank you for taking time to consider my proposal. I look forward to hearing from you.

Regards,
Clay Morgan

Simple. To the point. One page only. Enough information to let the editor know what I'm thinking.

Under credentials, if you have never been published, that's OK. DO NOT SAY SO. Just outline other credentials. If you are writing about business and have a business degree, say so. If you are writing about a martial art and are a black belt, say so. If you have a couple of clips, include them -- photocopies are fine, but not print outs of manuscript.

Unless it's an e-mail query, always include a SASE.

And, use a good, formal business letter format, for this is what a query letter is. You want a go ahead, or better yet, an assignment!

Don't be cutsey. Don't rely on gimmicks. Don't tell the editor what other's think of your idea. Don't include irrelevant information.

You want the editor to realize through this letter that:
a) you can write succinctly.
b) you are familiar with his or her magazine.
c) you can focus an idea so that it is appropriate for his or her magazine.
d) you are qualified to write the article.

Finally, I want to enourage research again. Go to the library or get online and read a few sample query letters. Sometimes, magazines such as Writer's Digest and The Writer will do articles on query letters. Study it, understand why they work, then go forth.

Publishing non-fiction, part I

So you want to write non-fiction? There are a few things to keep in mind. In this first posting, I'll discuss ideas and market research. Later in the week, I'll go over query letters and then later there will be a final post on the manuscript.

I feel that a competent writer, even with no previous publishing credits, can quite easily break into publishing non-fiction.

My first published article happened in high school. I was a serious judo competitor and I heard that the now-defunct Martial Arts Training magazine was looking for a specific type of article. Marion Castinado, then editor, mentioned somewhere that she was looking for drills and exercises that emphasized grappling skills. Eureka! Judo has a heavy grappling element, I was a high-level competitor. I queried her, she liked the idea, I wrote the artice, and at 15 I was published in a national magazine. Even got $100 for it.

So first, what are some topics you can write about? What is your area of knowledge? For me it was judo. And stamp collecting. Over the years, I've relied on things such as my knowledge of advertising and public relations, communications, pets, and a host of other topics to provide lead-ins to articles.

Unfortunately, these broad topics just aren't enough. I mean, if you approached an editor about writing an article on breast cancer, you'd get rejected. It's just too big! Be specific. Here are some examples from my files:
Grappling drills (as opposed to the larger Judo): Martial Arts Training
Eye Safety (as opposed to larger safety): Safety Supervisor
Socialization for home schoolers (as opposed to larger issues of home school or education): Home Schooling Magazine
Writing a classified ad that works (as opposed to the larger topic of advertising): Stamp Wholesaler
How to write a weekly training article for staff (as opposed to the larger topic of training): Veterinary Economics

As you can see, specificity is the key.

What about profiles? Again, find something unusual. There's nothing unique about a business owner who is successful. What's the real story? Recently, I ran across a 24-year-old who owns a successful business. Here's the interesting part of the story -- he had to shut his business down so he could finish up high school!

A few years ago, I did a story on a guy who owned a business in Memphis. He created an inventory device that would count sodas in a soda machine and when it reached a certain level of sodas left, this device would send a radio signal letting the machine's owner know, so they could restock it. While that was part of the story, the focus was on how a high-tech company can thrive in Memphis -- a city without a high-tech education base.

Sometimes you can piggy back hobbies and areas of knowledge into similar articles. A prime exampe is stamp collecting. Now, I've written for most of the stamp collecting publications, but I've also relayed my knowledge there into other stories:
Collecting stamps that have cats on them: I Love Cats magazine.
Collecting stamps depicting martial arts: Black Belt
Collecting stamps that depict tropical fish: Tropical Fish Hobbyist

Get the point?

Magazine research is critical once you have a few ideas you'd like to work into articles.

Magazines publish writer's guidelines. I suggest you read them. They are free for a SASE and many are available online. Admittedly, plenty of guidelines are pretty worthless they are so vague. But often, they have important information. Good guidelines will often tell you what areas of the magazine they need submissions for, or what areas are most open to freelancers. Or, you can purchase Writer's Market, or subscribe to the online version -- which I do for about $3/month.

Also, magazines such as Writer's Digest and The Writer provide updates on market info.

You also need to read the magazine. This is the only way to understand how the magazine is organized, what type of articles they want, what the tone is, the specific focus, etc. When I first started publishing in my teens, I wrote extensively for martial arts magazines, and each was different.

Black Belt -- very general, but with a focus on technique articles and celebrity interviews.
Martial Arts Training -- essentially a fitness magazine with a martial arts flair. NO techinque articles
World of Martial Arts -- similary to black belt, but a heavy focus on Chinese Arts
Journal of Asian Martial Arts -- took a much more academic approach. Lots of history.
Dojo -- Japanese arts only.
Dojang -- Korean arts only.

Many categories are like that. You may not notice at first glance, but there is a difference between Men's Health, Muscle & Fitness and Men's Exercise. There is a difference between Redbook, Woman's Day and Good Housekeeping. The ONLY way to pick up on it is to study guidelines and the magazines carefully.

When researching, I look for a few things, in addition to tone and the angle the magazine takes:
•What areas are more open to freelancers?
•Who, by name, is the appropriate editor to target for the type of article I want to write?
•What rights do they purchase?
•How much do they pay?
•Is payment on acceptance or publication?
•Can I query via e-mail or must it be snail mail?
•Have they done anything similar to what I want to write in the last year or two?

A final note.

I think it is easier to break into trade magazines -- you know, the kind that target specific trades, professions or businesses and aren't meant for general consumers. These are magazines like Furniture Today, Marine Business Journal, RV Trade Digest and thousands of others.

Not all these magazines take freelancers, but a lot fewer freelancers target them. And if you work in the profession, you've got a leg up!

And some of the trades pay pretty darned good!

These magazines, and consumers, are hungry for lists. 5 ways to increase your profits. 10 time saving house cleaning tips. 8 ways to get your child to eat veggies. 3 ways to save on your phone bill. A dozens steps to less inventory shrinkage.

You get the point.

Next time, we'll craft our pitch to the editors.

Process

Different writers have different processes when it comes to writing.

For me, it varies depending on what I'm working on.

Short stories are one thing. In the field of mystery writing, the average length for a short story tends to be around 3,000 to 5,000 words, give or take. Mine are much shorter. I've written many that came in at under 2,000 words. As a consequence, my short story writing tends to be manic bursts where I put a rough draft down on one sitting, maybe two max. I give no thought to anything else...just getting words on the page.

My short story then sits untouched for around 2 weeks. I then approach it again with a fresh and critical eye, rewriting, tightening, making sure the plot is sound, etc.

Then off it goes!

For some reason, I tend to work on short stories on the weekends and longer work during the week. Not sure why.

My novel is different. Everytime I sit down to write on the novel, I set a goal, depending on the time available to me. If I have an hour, my goal might be 500, 750 or even 1,000 words. If I have a couple hours, my goal might be 2,000 words. Accomplishing these goals helps in making me feel like I'm moving forward in the book.

I write fast, throwing words on the page with little concern for advanced elements of grammar and sentence/paragraph construction.

However, almost daily, I go back and re-read pages I wrote a couple weeks ago. One those pages, I replace passive with active verbs, eliminate adjectives and adverbs, clear up inconsistencies, and the like. It is a process that seems to work well for me.

An interesting subject for me is what folks listen to when they write.

I have a friend and co-worker in my "day" job who needs utter silence to write. Not me. I need the noise and chaos -- too much time in a newsroom perhaps.

I can't write with the TV on -- that's distracting, but I listen to music. Usually harder rock or alternative. The funny thing is is that I tune it out. I couldn't even tell you what the last song played was when I'm in full writing mode.

I know of writers who change their environment around a lot. They write at writer's colonies, coffee houses, different rooms of their home.

In the end, all that matters is what process works for you. Which one will allow you to write productively, always moving forward and always growing as a writer? To determine this takes time and experimentation, but once you figure it out, it is well worth it.

You'd be surprised

I've often been asked how hard it is to get published. After a few pieces of short fiction and Lord only knows how much non-fiction (well over 100 articles at this point), some folks think I have some sort of magical ingredient.

Well, I don't.

Getting short fiction and non-fiction published are two different beasties. In this post, I'll discuss fiction. Later this week, I'll discuss non-ficiton.

In the world of mystery fiction, options are somewhat limited, but growing.

On the print side, there are several magazines -- Alfred Hitchcock and Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazines, Crime Spree, The Strand, Crimewave (an English magazine), and maybe a couple others lurking somewhere. Fortunately, there are several "web" magazines publishing mystery fiction -- and some quite good ficiton at that. Mysterical-e, Shred of Evidence, FUTURES, Thrilling Detective, and a few others. Some stories from the web magazines have found publication in "Best Of" anthologies that come out once a year.

Each magazine is a little different. Some are much more open to violence and foul language while others want a cleaner story. Preferences on story lengths vary greatly also.

Each magazine, whether it is online or print, has what it calls "writer's guidelines" and you can find these on their web sites. I encourage anyone considering submitting to one to read the guidelines. In non-fiction, the effectiveness of guidelines vary -- some are woefully out of date, however the mystery pubs are pretty accurate.

It is very important to submit the right kind of story to the right magazine. Therefore, the most important thing you can do is read a couple of issues of the publication you are interested in submitting to. Guidelines help, but actually sitting down, reading the kind of stories they publish will give you the greatest level of insight.

It is kind of funny, but here's the big secret. Be professional. There are standard manuscript guidelines -- you can research them online or drop me and e-mail and I'll fill you in. Use high quality paper, good ink, PROOFREAD and don't rely on spell check.

I'm also a big believer in enclosing a short cover letter addressed to the editor by name. Just a couple of paragraphs -- and cite some sort of relevant experience. If you've published a couple of pieces of ficiton, say so. If your story is about a judo fighter, and you are a black belt in judo, say so! Anything relevant like that can give you an air of authority.

It is amazing, but when it comes down to an editor have to make a choice between someone who is professional versus someone who may be more creative but is unprofessional, the editor is going with the pro every time.

Submitting fiction is a tough world. I sent out probably 50+ short stories (in a variety of genres) and garnered at least 150 rejections before I "sold" my first piece of fiction.

However, the first time you see that story title, followed by "by" and then your name, it is all worth it.

Writing

I've heard a number of times over the years from people who want to be a writer.

However, so many of them simply don't have time to write. This is where I agree with Stephen King -- if you want to be a writer, then you write. Period.

Now, I've read advice over the years that basically told you to give it all up -- no social life, no family, no TV, etc. I think that's absurd, but if you want to write, you have to make it a priority. After all, the only way to get words on the page is to plant your ass and put them there.

What to write?

Who cares? It can be a story, a poem, a letter to the editor, a journal, a diary, a blog. The critical thing is to write.

Writing habits are as varied as the writers.

For me, my most productive writing times are early in the day and late in the day. Can't do much with the time in between, fiction-wise. Of course, some of that may be because that time is dedicated to my ad/pr agency job.

Here are some thoughts from a slew of mystery writers.

From "Speaking of Murder II":
Robert Crais: "I'm there every day. Not kidding, every day, seven days a week. I rise very early, like 4:30 in the morning. I'm in the gym by 6 and home by 7:15 and then straight to the Mac. During the early part of the book, I tend to burn out by about 3 p.m. or 4 p.m., but when I get into Deadline Madness....I start pumping 12, 14 hours a day, sometimes more.

From bookreporter.com
Robert B. Parker: "I start writing between 10 and 11 AM and write five pages per day. I'll then eat a light lunch, take an hour nap, and work on a screenplay in the afternoon. I need long, uninterrupted periods to write --- I can't write in short bursts."

Michael Connelly: "I try to get up as early as possible and be writing before the sun comes up. I find I am most creative in the morning. I usually go to lunch and then things slow down after and I either do a little more writing or concentrate on the business side of my work. When I am writing a book, which is most of the time, I write everyday, even if it's only for a few minutes. It keeps the story alive in my head."

From barnesandnoble.com
Walter Mosley: "I just write. Writing starts at the first sentence and ends with the last version of the last sentence. It takes a lot of work and it might be difficult, but it might be a labor of love."

From www.suegrafton.com
Sue Grafton: "I'm at my desk by 9:00 a.m. promptly and I work until lunch time. On a good day, I start by revising the pages I did the day before and then (with luck) I write my allotment of two pages a day. In the midst of this, of course, I'm also doing research. Often I don't realize how ignorant I am until I try to write a scene and become aware of the information that I'm lacking. In that case, I stop and read or I make a phone call or a trip out to consult one of my experts."

Busy week

Sorry I've not posted anything this week...It has been very busy at my "day" job...

Plenty coming soon...I promise!