Angela Booth's Writing Blog

Writers write – we're not in the publishing industry

John Scalzi tells it like it is in a brilliant and very funny diatribe: "Writing in the Age of Piracy".

 

He says: "Listen to me now: Writers are not in the publishing industry. The publishing industry exists to handle the output of writers and distribute it in an effective and hopefully profitable way; however it does not necessarily follow that writer's only option is the publishing industry, especially not now. Congruent to this: Books aren't the only option. I write books, but you know what? I'm not a book writer, any more than a musician is an LP musician or an MP3 musician. The book is the container. It's not destiny."

 

So true. Do you love to write? Great. If you have a skill, get money for using it. The ways you can turn your writing skills into money are LIMITLESS, and no, I'm not try to flog you one of my writing manuals, or a membership in Pro Write, although it couldn't hurt. :-)

 

Here's a career path for you:

 

1. Learn to write (WARNING: you never stop learning, you'll keep learning as long as you're breathing). Learn additional skills: learn about the Internet, learn to create a Web site, learn how to make money online;

 

2. Write – and get paid for it. Publishers (of newspapers, magazines and books) are not the only people who hire writers. Writing is communication; people pay for communication;

 

3. Develop a business plan for yourself (yes, I know, so crass, but we're not in the quill and ink age, we're in the Internet age);

 

4. Make money. How, you ask? You're creative, aren't you? Use your creativity. Find a way to turn your writing skills into money. I've been talking about Bubbler for the past couple of days. With Bubbler you need ZERO technical skills to get your own Web site online and generating income for you.

 

Read John Scalzi's post. Take it to heart. If piracy kills the publishing industry (it won't), but if it does, guess what? You can still WRITE and get paid for writing. Let publishers look out for themselves. :-)

 

Content strategy for your (or your clients') Web site(s)

If you write for the Web, you're aware of how little attention most people pay to the content on their sites. I'm as guilty of not paying attention as anyone. Birgitt and Paul did an a brilliant job revamping Digital-e, but  I need to get moving and develop a content strategy.

  

Speaking of content strategy, here's what NOT to do – don't shovel material onto your site in the vain hope that you'll rank well on the search engines, and thereby gain big bucks. You know the mindset: "gotta get a big site, gotta get 500+ pages so we get a high PR in Google". A high PR for two minutes does you no good if all the visitors take one look and click away in disgust.

 

So I'm pleased that Amy Gahran is starting a new content strategy series on her Contentious blog. I'll be following it, and if you have a site, or write for the Web, you should too.

 

My next computer will (probably) be a Mac

About a month ago, I bought a Sony USB microphone for my PC; it was only just delivered, because there was a huge backlog of orders for USB mikes. Must be all the Skype users, I guess.

 

So I plug it in – and does it work? NO, it expletive-deleted well doesn't. Who knows why it doesn't work? Who cares why? It doesn't work, and it turned out to be an expensive mistake. I could reformat my hard drive, and reinstall Windows XP and at some stage – when I've got a day with nothing to do, I will. Of course, maybe the Sony mike is a dud. I've packed it away as yet another piece of junk I spent hours on to try to make it work, and it doesn't.

 

Would it have worked on a Mac? Probably. Here's Rexblog on how easy podcasting is on a Mac. I keep hearing stories of how EASY stuff is on a Mac. My first computer, way back in 1981, was an Apple IIe. I think I'm going back to my computing roots with an iMac.

 

More on Bubbler and Backpack

I haven't had much time to play with my Bubbler site, but I had an hour yesterday, and added a new page.

I'm AMAZED at how easy Bubbler is to use, and how much fun. Creating a site with Bubbler is just like blogging, but immensely enhanced. I love the idea that you can get an idea, post it to the site, and you're done.

(And no, I'm not being paid to say this :-))

I love these new instant-publishing apps, Bubbler and Backpack, because they make writing so much easier.

How am I using Backpack? I've got a Backpack home page which lists my projects, the deadlines, and other info. This page opens whenever I open my browser.

I've created around 20 pages, for clients, and for myself, containing notes of information I don't want to forget.

I've also got a page of URLs that I visit fairly often, another page I call Great Stuff -- of well, great stuff. If I get an idea for a project while I'm working on another one, instead of trying to locate files on my computer, I just open Backpack, add the note, and I'm done.

I haven't used the Sharing option yet, but I intend to use it to create a page for each client with my Writing Services Agreement. I can send an invitation to the client to view the page, add "I agree", and the agreement is done, signed and we're good to go.

I'm sure I'll come up with other ideas. I'll let you know. If you're using Backpack or Bubbler too, post your thoughts in the Comments section.

Instant Web publishing for writers with Bubbler

Bubbler is a new instant Web publishing tool that's wonderful for writers. It's literally type-drag-and click, to create Web pages. You don’t have to worry about site design or navigation, the system does it all for you.

 

If you've been waiting to create a Web page "until I've got more time" you've go no excuses – go and get yourself a Bubbler account now. Basic starter accounts are free.

 

I've just created an account  --- at this page , that I plan to use as an online portfolio.

ADDED ON 28 May 05 -- My Bubbler home page has changed, to: http://bubbler.net/angela_booth/Angela_Booth

 

Backpack your info

This past week I've been trialling various pieces of software because no one PIM seems to do quite what I want it to do, as quickly and easily as I think it should be done. Or rather, I use several PIMs for different purposes, but it makes me nervous – what if something drops through the cracks?

 

I want a program which corrals all the IMPORTANT stuff, so that I don't lose track of it.

 

Backpack could be the answer.

 

It's a totally elegant freebie. If you upgrade to a paid version, you get to upload files and images.

To Do List software

Heh. I know my motivation when I go looking for a new To Do List manager: it means that I hope I can find software that magically does my work for me. :-)

 

I'm a Franklin Ascend diehard. I dislike the new versions of the program, which are way too cluttered. I'm still using v7, which came out in 1999 – fast, basic, elegant.

 

BUT – I keep searching for a NEW, better, much-improved To Do List manager.

 

I'm trialling The Master List; looks promising. It's not cheap, at $79.99, but if it works as advertised, it will be.

 

Microsoft's RSS: feeds, searches and news

Thanks to ResearchBuzz for the link to Microsoft's new RSS feed reader, Start.com

 

I like it. Very clean and uncluttered; it looks just like a search page. If you do a search (Web, News etc), you can subscribe to the search in another reader – I've subscribed to a couple of searches in BlogLines, which is my reader du jour. 

  

To see the new Microsoft RSS app, click the Show button on the left. Click on a tab, to read the feeds. You can scan several pages of feeds within moments – excellent.

 

I hope Microsoft sticks with this one, and develops it.

More wiki-style time management: SdiDesk

I've just started to work with SdiDesk. Even if you're not up to speed on Wikis, it's not a problem, there's plenty of help available on wiki notation.

 

The program helps you to manage your time the way you think, by association.

  

Give it a try if you're a writer who's always getting ideas for future projects when she's right in the middle of current projects, and then forgets where-the-heck she stashed the notes for Brilliant Idea #564. SdiDesk puts you back in control.

 

To get you started with SdiDesk, there's a helpful screencast.

Nifty Getting It Done tool

Check out the GTD TiddlyWiki for an excellent free tool to help you to manage all your "stuff".

 

Also useful: the GTD tag on Technorati.

 

Chunk your writing projects

At the start of each writing project, chunk it. That is, break it down into its component tasks. Each component chunk should take no longer than half an hour.

 

If a chunk is too big, break it down even further. For example, if you're blocked on writing a scene for a novel, write a paragraph. Blocked on a paragraph? Write a sentence. :-)

 

No task is too great if you chunk it. Write the chunks in a list.

 

Be brave: submit your writing for publication

I've excerpted the snippet below from our Pro Write workshop "Freelancing Secrets". I've had several queries this week about writing for publication, if you're nervous about it too, this may help. :-)

  

Secret One: Be brave: no one is judging you

 

The first freelancing secret is bravery. You must send your work out into the wide world. Many brilliant writers are too shy to do this. They're self-conscious. They think that people will read their work and say nasty things about them. They fail to realize what they will discover when they become published, and that is that people are busy, and that no one is judging you. Magazines receive hundreds of submissions every week. So do book publishers. It's extremely difficult to capture anyone's attention. They don't have the time to judge you. They'll skim your work asking; "Can I use this?"

 

The solution to shyness? Send out your work. At first you will need to grit your teeth. Over time, it becomes easy.

 

Everyone to whom you send your work has a million and one concerns of their own. They're not looking to judge your work. Quite the contrary. They're hoping that your work can help them to do their job. If they're a magazine editor, they're hoping they can find a distinctive new voice for their publication, or that they can find something to fill the hole a contributor left when he didn’t send in his material on time. If they're a book acquisitions editor, they're hoping to find a book that will hit the bestseller lists and make their career. They're grateful to you for sending them your work. Even if they can’t use your work.

 

Marketing your writing one baby step at a time

Time management is important to writers, because you need to get into the habit of marketing your writing and your writing services consistently. BUT and it's a BIG but: it's hard to find the time to write as well as to market.

 

The Natural Planning Process (NPP) can help.

 

The NPP is the way we plan anything. For most things, like going shopping, making dinner, or planting the garden, we do the entire process in our heads. It's done so fast that we don't realize what we're doing.

 

Here's the NPP ---

 

1. Define

 

2. Envision

 

3. Brainstorm

 

4. Organize

 

5. Action!

 

We can’t cover the entire process on this blog, you'll need to read Lesson Two of our Marketing workshop on Pro Write for a complete exploration of the process. That lesson includes a section on time management for marketing your work, with a mind map.

  

The salient point of the NPP is that we can’t do projects, we can only do tasks. So when we decide to "do" a project like marketing, we get confused. When we break it down, we see that it's simple. We can only do a task at a time, and we only need to know, or guess, what that task is.

 

Take baby steps. Over time, I've learned that as long as I know roughly what I'm doing next on any writing project, the project gets done. :-)

 

Breaking a writing block

All writers experience the occasional writing block.

 

Every few months I go through a period of time when I feel nauseous (that is, physically ill) whenever I sit down to write. It's as if my cobbler's elves have gone on strike and put up a "Gone fishing" sign. Years ago, I took this response as a sign that I should give up writing, and do something which made more sense. I agonized, wondering what the heck was wrong with me. Stupidly, I also binned whatever I was working on when the block hit. You should NEVER do this. Heaven knows how many manuscripts I binned when I wasn't thinking straight. (See more on this below.)

 

It took me a long while to realize that you can't bully creativity. You can coax it, but you can't flog it into action.

 

All creative people need to have regular periods where they relax and take a break. I watch a movie or three, and go window shopping. I read a lot. If I have to write for a deadline, I write in longhand, or on my Palm handheld, forcing myself to write a word at a time, because I know it has to get done.

 

I know now, that if I leave myself alone, I usually snap out of the block within a few days or a week.

 

There's a danger to a block like this. Because you're depressed, you may think that whatever you were working when the block hit was the trigger for the block, and decide to scrap the project.

 

**** HERE'S A TIP: NEVER, EVER DELETE YOUR WORK WHEN YOU'RE DEPRESSED ***

 

Don’t delete anything. After you get over the block, and are writing with enjoyment again, you can decide whether or not to scrap a project. Don’t make decisions like this when you're in the middle of a block. :-)

 

Be a five-minute writer: write in snatched moments

No time to write? Of course you have. Everyone has moments throughout the day when you could be writing – if you're prepared.

 

Writing in moments takes a little planning. Firstly, you need to make your current writing projects portable in some way. Many writers write in paper notebooks. Others print out their work, and stuff the typescript into a folder or a bag, then write on the back of the typescript and on loose-leaf paper. Some writers prefer laptop computers.

 

Next, decide what you're going to work on. If you don’t plan to work on Project X or Project Y, you'll spend five minutes doodling. Take along a couple of projects. If you don't feel like working on an article, you may feel like working on a short story. Some writers simply designate "spare" writing as brainstorming time, or journaling time.

 

I take along any project which I seem to have stalled on. I find that writing away from my office frees me up enough so that I can relax and find fresh angles in my work.