"Absolutely Bursting with writing, publishing and marketing content for the online writer..."
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"Absolutely Bursting with writing, publishing and marketing content for the online writer..." |
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| Editor: Darren Andrews. | 24th January, 2003. |
CONTENTS
EDITORIALWriting Is Not Always Lonely In the last issue I told you about getting together with a good friend every week for the purpose of devising and following some creative writing exercises. We've had some good ideas between us and I may share more of them in later issues. The experience of doing this has certainly made me feel inclined to write more. I thoroughly recommend meeting with a friend and doing some writing perhaps peppered with a little discussion and reading. Okay, so what's in this ezine? Well, first off I've made a little space for the Contests in the "Contests & Announcements" section (near the end of the ezine). Visit this area to find out about current contests, the results of previous contests, and any announcements and/or requests from WAPA subscribers. Remember, I'm going to be offering writing-related prizes in the competitions - though to start with it will be a modest $75 added to your PayPal account. Details here: http://www.writers-and-publishers.com/ppc (Ends 31st January!) I'd draw your attention to Georgina Stath's announcement - it's a great opportunity for those of you who have any experience with any form of electronic or print publishing. I've kept the Market Watch section short this time (it was mighty long in the last issue!) but there are two really hot items in there so check it out! I'm launching a couple of new sites in the first quarter of 2003, the first of those being for those of you who'd like an ebook that introduces writers to copywriting. Although I copywrite, I'm no pro so I've twisted the arms (grin) of a few copywriting associates and they've helped me put my report together. The report will sell for a modest price and I've thrown in some bonuses too. Still, it's not quite ready yet - but may be in a few short weeks. I'll announce the site and details then, but if you want to register your interest now for a priority notification, then just email me and say "reserve me a copy of your copywriting report!" darren@writers-and-publishers.com Thanks again to all those who write kind words about my little WAPA Ezine! Remember, you can have your link up on the WAPA subscribe main page if you submit a testimonial about the newsletter ;) Enjoy the rest of this issue, To Your Online Writing Success! Darren Andrews, Editor. FEATURED ARTICLE[This issue's featured article is from WAPA subscriber, Rita Marie Keller and ties nicely in with my Editorial. Excellent advice here (the article, not my Editorial ;) )...Ed] The Importance of Writing Exercises Writing exercises are important to the process of writing, to improve, to challenge, and to experiment. Why exercise? A ballet dancer doesn't start pirouetting cold. She spends the first part of her session doing barre exercises, warming her muscles before starting to dance. Think of writing exercises as the barre work of writing. When you warm up with a writing exercise, your creative muscles will wake up, become warm and pliable, and soon your writing will gain energy and momentum. You'll ask yourself why it took so long to get started. Warming up is only one of the many reasons to do writing exercises. Practice is necessary to grow as a writer. Just as dancers must practice the basics of technique, writers must practice the elements of their craft. Judy Reeves says in A Writer's Book of Days, "Writers aren't born knowing the craft; writers are born with an urge to write, a curiosity, an imagination, and perhaps, a love of the language. The way to learn the craft is through practice, and your notebook is the place of your apprenticeship. Even writers who are expert in their craft (those who've practiced long and hard) still try out ideas." Benjamin Franklin read authors he admired and created writing exercises to practice what he had learned. The notebooks of Flaubert, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and Plath were filled with writing exercises. In one notebook Fitzgerald wrote how he and Hemingway "worked out" his plan for Tender is the Night. I'm sure, too, that if you read their notebooks, you'd find boring passages, and even junk, too. Writer Natalie Goldberg tells her students, "Give yourself permission to write the worst junk in the world." If you tell yourself it's okay to write junk, writing will come easier. If you expect yourself to write a masterpiece at every writing session, your muscles will likely freeze up, your internal censor will take over, and you'll suffer from our dancer's performance anxiety. My sister is a dancer, but she gets performance anxiety. When she expects herself to dance like Gelsey Kirkland, she says she stiffens up. However, when she's alone in her studio, and she's dancing only for herself, not taking herself seriously, letting herself improvise, she does her best dancing. So don't expect yourself to write any masterpieces during this writing course. Right now give yourself the permission to write junk. Look at each writing practice exercise as just that practice. If you do that, and you don't give yourself any high expectations, I'm sure you'll find all those buried treasures you didn't know you had. Doing writing exercises will help you take control of your censor. You'll train your mind to ignore that little voice that tells you, "You're not good enough." Or, "Why bother?" Soon you'll be able to trust yourself, discover your own voice, and you'll be a stronger writer as a whole. A ballet dancer practices daily the exercises which defy gravity and natural body structure, but eventually, the basic techniques become second nature. Writing elements and structure will eventually come naturally to you. Writing that blasted memo or research paper will get easier. You'll find surprises each time you write. Writing exercises help you generate ideas. Most of my stories were borne out of writing exercises. My novel, Living in the City, began as a result of a writing exercise. More begged it to be written, so I expanded it to a short story. The characters took on lives of their own, and they made it a novel. I used many writing exercises as jumping off points for chapters. For instance, this passage which wound up in my novel came from a writing prompt, "the bathtub." 'Grammy died in the tub when I was thirteen. She had already had one stroke and had sugar diabetes, and I remember my mother saying they should replace the claw foot tub with a new one, not so high so Grammy could get in and out and not fall and break her neck. Or hip. Grammy wanted to keep her old tub, so Pop made a special step and bought a hospital shower chair to set inside. Grammy didn't fall and break her neck, but she ended up having another stroke. My Aunt Elsie (not the sharpest knife in the drawer) said it was a good thing she had that chair or Grammy would've drownded.' You may not immediately find a place to use your writing exercises. It might sound like garbage or only a part of it sounds usable. Sometimes your writing might even be boring. That's a natural part of the writing process. Don't throw it out. Keep a notebook for your writing exercises. Later you might want to return to a passage and develop it further. Maybe months later an idea will come to you. Or you may never use anything from your notebooks. If nothing else, you can look back through your notebooks and track your progress, your increased discipline, your deepening creativity. Another benefit of writing exercises is discovering your unique voice. We all have our own writing voices, but sometimes we have to uncover it. With practice, it'll be easier to slip into that voice. It'll come naturally. Natalie Goldberg wrote in Writing Down the Bones, "Think of writing practice as loving arms you come to illogically and incoherently. It's our wild forest where we gather energy before going to prune our garden, write our fine books and novels. It's a continual practice." (C) 2002, 2003 Rita Marie Keller
Rita Marie Keller founded the Cacoethes Scribendi Creative
Writing Workshop in 1999 ( http://cacoethes-scribendi.com). Her novel, Living in the City, was released September 2002 by Booklocker.com.
Editor's Comments and Resources
I'll be sharing some of my own exercises at a later date,
though you can see one online already as it is the heart of
the WAPA Picture Paragraph Contest!: Here are some links to writing exercises courtesy of the article author:
Rita Marie Keller and also:
Laura Tripp There are some excellent resources on both those sites! WORDCRAFT(+) Writers' Wisdom"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. Source: http://www.wisdomquotes.com (+) Writing Tip - Myself or Me? Not: Give the papers to myself or James. But: Give the papers to James or me. Emphatic Pronouns - add emphasis to a noun or pronoun that is already there I, myself, have always believed ..... The owners, themselves, were held responsible... Contributor: Jennifer Stewart. Subscribe to her free weekly Writing Tips: or start your six-part Writing Course now. (+) Wordhoard descry - to catch sight of (from Old French and related to the word 'describe') Please send all Wordcraft contributions here. (do not send attachments or large html emails - they will not be downloaded!) MARKET WATCHTools, Resources, Services, Products and Opportunities to Help You in Writing, Publishing, Promoting, and in Generating Revenue and Traffic... (+) The Whole Truth (about Internet Marketing) NB: This is for online entrepreneurs only! I've just finished reading an ebook called "The Whole Truth". It is one of the most honest and evidence- saturated ebooks I have ever read. What's it about? It's written by Stephen A. Pierce and sold 772 copies in just 7 days, being ordered by 1 in every 34 visitors to the site. Why? Because it is chock full of powerful information that aims at getting your site attracting targeted traffic and listed in the top ten (for your niche) in the top search engines. This is being promoted by some of the top names in Internet marketing - and it's got rave reviews! Read all about it here:
(+) Get Yourself a Second ISP and Have Them Pay You! Some of you will know Allen Says, one of the top marketers online and owner of the much-respected Marketing Warriors site. Well, he's just launched a new system called The Simple System. It is simple, and quick and can generate a lot of income...but that's not all. The service is one both you and your site visitors/ subscribers will need. It's an ISP (which includes an email account of course). So why would you want that? Well... (a) If you were to lose your ISP you would need a way of connecting to the Internet (not to mention the email) (b) Why pay for an ISP when this one can pay you? Check out the free report here: http://www.writers-and-publishers.com/ispvip (+) Want $1500 per month? Sure You Do! Did you know that some WAPA subscribers are making hundreds of dollars per month with this affiliate program? One subscriber is now making $1500 per month! Sign up as an affiliate (a reseller) by filling out this this simple form:
http://www.writers-and-publishers.com/writeabooksignup.html
You'll then receive an email telling you what to do!
(+) Would You Like To Be In the Top 50 Writing Sites?
If you want to be in the "Top 50" then click here now.
Or how about being listed on the "Best Writing Sites and Top
Writer-Related Sites"? Get listed by clicking here.
Susan Dunn's article is about articles! Well, getting ideas
for them anyway.
Read Susan's article and the ten latest accepted
submissions at: If you want to submit an article, a word of warning: I reject most and give no explanation. Of course, most of them are non-writing-related marketing articles which I clearly state as being inappropriate on the submission page. For the rules and the form to submit your article, go here: http://www.writers-and-publishers.com/submit.html If - and I highly recommend it - you want to earn revenue from the writing course advertised at the bottom of your article page then sign up (free) to do so here: ---------TIP
CONTESTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS(+) Free Exposure For Creative and Non Fiction Writers We are looking for writers to contribute their interview to help readers decide how they will publish their work. You will get lots of exposure for free in exchange for your advice. If this interests you, send a blank email to interviewbook@beyond-short-story-writing.com for more details. (+) Writing Workshop - $88 Discount for WAPA subscribers! Author Linda Oatman High announces her Writing by the Seaside workshop, to be held this summer in Venice Beach. A discounted registration fee of $88.00 is offered to subscribers of the WAPA Ezine. See http://www.lindaoatmanhigh.com for details. (+) Picture Paragraph Competition (ends 31 January) January's "Picture Paragraph" Competition got off to a great start when the site I was linking to decided to rearrange its pages just hours after I sent out the ezine! I'm glad they put up a notice otherwise I would have had some confusing entries! Thanks to Barbara Tyler for the heads up on that! I managed to find another site within 24 hours so if you were unlucky enough to miss it the first time, here's the details again: http://www.writers-and-publishers.com/ppc NB: Competition closes 31st January! (+) Do You Own A Writing-Related Site That Makes $1000 or More Per Month? If so, a new site launching in a few weeks wants to hear from you now! It won't cost you a penny, and will bring you some great exposure! For more information email me and write that you are responding to this announcement.
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