Child Stories: Going Beyond

Despite the explosion of the Internet and various new media, child stories are still what most people want – whether they are adults or children themselves.

Nonetheless, I wonder if we can’t learn something from the new media?

I think that the greatest lesson that the Internet and other new media have to teach us is that human beings love interactive media. Although we love to “veg” in front of the TV sometimes, we also love to get involved in whatever entertainment we view. This is why young people surf the Internet more than they watch TV and why the 30 second TV commercial is no longer as effective as a form of advertising.

But what does this mean for children’s stories? I’d like to suggest that we can now go beyond child stories that merely tell a story in an asynchronous (one-way) fashion. We can find ways to let kids (and parents) get actively involved.

Here are 7 ways you could turn your child story into a multi-media, interactive learning experience.

#1 Add some background material

Whether your story is about Mongolian nomads, extraterrestrials or even just a housecat, you can always include some factual material that would be interesting. You could write it as a factual narrative, or better yet, create a list of interesting facts about Mongolian nomads, extraterrestrial life or cats, as in “Did you know that…?”

#2 Quizes

Most people, and kids are no exception, love to challenge themselves with fun little quizzes. They’re also a great way to help kids remember things or internalize concepts. Just remember to make your quizzes fun, not like some of the boring quizzes we had in school.

#3 Discussion Questions

A few choice questions are always great. If kids have the chance to talk about the story in a moderately structured way, then they’ll spend the time to think about it more and they’ll remember it better. This, of course, is an excellent opportunity to use a story to communicate some moral or life lesson. That’s what I’ve done with the learning guides that accompany many of my stories.

#4 Activities

Puzzles, coloring pages, etc. Kids love doing these. Aside from making them really fun, you could also subtly reinforce the moral or life lesson of your story.

#5 Recordings

Even many adults listen to stories or motivational tapes and CDs, so this is certainly something that could appeal to kids. Now, I don’t advocate always letting your kids listen to recordings while you do the dishes or catch-up on your email, but it would be OK once in a while, and you could also listen together (don’t you watch DVDs together?). An added benefit is that you might pick up some tips to improve the way you tell the story to your kids.

#6 Posters, Postcards

Kids love having pictures of their favorite characters. These don’t necessarily need to be giant wall posters. They could even be wallet-sized pictures, perhaps with some text. This could be another way to reinforce the main moral or message of your story.

#7 Games

You don’t have to make a full-blown board game (although you could). You could just make a simple card game a là Pokemon, Yugi-oh, etc. These all have come and gone, but they were very popular in their day.

Conclusion

The possibilities for further development are more or less infinite:

• You could create online or digital versions of any of the items mentioned here.
• You could create toys and dolls of your characters.
• You could turn your story into a virtual world.

If your child story becomes a best-seller, these are the kinds of commercial “add-ons” that companies create.

BUT, my point is not that you need to create more commercial add-ons. My point is this:

Old child story world:

1. single media
2. broadcast or asynchronous communication
3. passive learning

New child story world:

1. multiple media
2. interactive
3. active learning

Your child story still needs to get the basics right, but assuming it does, why not make it even more effective – and entertaining – by offering something more?

© 2006 Paul Arinaga. All Rights Reserved.

Paul Arinaga is founder of the Child Stories Bank (www.child-stories-bank.com). The Child Stories Bank provides FREE original children's stories as well as resources to help writers create and get their stories published, and a directory of child storybook illustrators.

© 2005=06 Paul Arinaga. All Rights Reserved.

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Baby Steps To Writing Success

After a lifetime’s worth of writing, I can file these baby steps under the “wish I’d known when I started” category. They’re vital. If you follow them, not only will you be successful at writing at some time in the future, you’ll be successful right now.

One: Write every day
Writers write. That’s all. And they write every day, just like plumbers fix taps and electricians wire houses. Writers write.

It’s a process. You can outline and plan your writing all you want, but at some stage, every day, you must sit down and write.

Two: Pay attention to what you love
You’ll write best about what you love. So take note of the things you love. Make a list. Don’t ever think that no one else is interested in what turns you on. Enthusiasm is contagious.

Three: It’s the journey…
Beware of fantasies like: “When this is published”, “when I get an agent”, “when I hold my first book in my hand”. When your fantasies come true, and after the warm glow wears off, you won’t feel all that different (in fact, you won’t feel any different) to the way you feel right now. (I hope I’m not
trampling your favourite fantasy into dust.)

Take comfort from this: the joy is in the journey, in the writing. When your fantasy comes true, the glow will last for a short time. What lasts longer, is your memory of the pleasure the writing brought you, while you were writing.

So since the joy of writing is your takeaway, take that joy right now. It’s yours already.

Four: Be courageous: submit your work
The final baby step is submitting your work. Consider yourself a success as soon as you’ve submitted your work. You don’t have any control over whether someone buys it, but you do have control over the submission process.

There’s only one guarantee: if you keep writing and keep submitting, sooner or later you will sell your work.

What happens then? You repeat Steps One, Two, Three, and Four. See? It’s just baby steps. Start stepping!

Veteran multi-published author and copywriter Angela Booth crafts words for your business — words to sell, educate or persuade. E-books and e-courses on Web site. FREE ezines for writers and small biz: http://www.digital-e.biz

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Balancing Writing and Family

How, given our hectic everyday lives and family responsibilities, do we find the energy, space, and time it takes to bring a creative work into being?

As a full-time writer who’s also a work-at-home mom, I’ve grappled with this question for years. And I’ve found some answers I’d like share:

Now’s as good a time as any to write
Sure, you can wait until the living room’s been painted, the car’s been paid off, or the kids are grown, but the fact remains—even when all that’s behind you, you still have to begin.

Beginning any writing project is hard because you’re entering unknown territory. There are no road maps to consult or guarantees of success. So what? The whole point of writing is to go where you’ve never gone before and to discover all sorts of stuff about yourself and world along the way.

Know that the writing road gets smoother as you go along and that you will know what to do and how to do it as you progress. First, however, you must take those first steps. Today’s as good a day as any to begin.

You don’t need lots of time to write
You need time period, be it a half-hour or a half day. Any time spent writing is better than no time writing. Thirty minutes a day over the course of a week adds up to 3-1/2 hours. That’s no small shakes.

Sure, at that rate, you may not finish your novel or screenplay within six months, but you sure as heck can begin it. Once you’re “out of the gate,” time becomes a non-issue. You don’t have to find it—it finds you.

You must have a room of your own, Part 1
That doesn’t mean you have to have an actual room with a door to close, but it does mean you need a space in which to work.

Space, by the way, is not just physical. It’s mental as well. You can have a great home office, for example, but if you can’t keep others out of it (or keep yourself in), it’s doing you little good. The bottom line then? You must create space for yourself by laying claim to it, by setting boundaries that others cannot cross during the times you write. This ain’t easy because it means you first must “come out of the closet” as a writer. You must declare to the world (your significant others) that you are more than what they see; that you want more for yourself; that you have the right to write.

A room of your own, Part 2
Once you lay claim to your right to write, you can begin to lay claim to a writing space. If you have a distinct room at your disposal, replete with door (preferably a locking one), you’re all set. Know, however, that such a room isn’t a requirement. Many great poems and plays are written at kitchen tables, in the corners of basements, and in notebooks lovingly, sometimes furtively, carried from room to room. The bottom line is you work with what you’ve got and make it work for you.

Note the traffic patterns in your home. What spaces are constantly traveled? Which get only occasional visitors or none “after hours”? Which can fit a desk or filing cabinet, or even a single cardboard box containing your notes, research materials, pens, and pads? (Such boxes, by the way, make great “portable offices,” enabling you to take your writing wherever you go, e.g., the library, coffee shop, or even into your car or bathroom). So, choose your space, however modest, and set up shop.

Forget the cheering section
Let go of the notion that your significant others will support all you do—or even that they should. Becoming a writer requires an internal shift that has an external consequence, and most significant others, no matter how much they love us, buck at change. It makes them uncomfortable because they fear we’ll become less focused on them. Too, they know that time spent writing is time not spent doing other things—cooking, cleaning, running errands. No one wants his/her needs to go unattended or, worse yet, to be asked or expected to pick up the slack.

All of which is to say that your declarations as a writer may be met with moans, groans, and protests rather than with the celebratory popping of champagne corks. So it goes. Know that you don’t need a red carpet rolled out for you; nor do you need anyone’s permission but your own. Give yourself that permission; keep your focus. You’ll be surprised how loved ones come around eventually (even if they do still mutter under their breath).

Break out of your isolation
Writing may be a solo endeavor, but it doesn’t have to be a lonely one. No matter where you live, there are folks in your community who also dream of giving birth to short stories, screenplays, columns, etc. Find them through writing conferences, workshops, and teleclasses, or through profiles of writers in the local paper. Form your own workshop so you and one or two or five or six other writers can share your work or simply talk shop. You can also put yourself in the company of established writers by studying their works or reading their biographies.

Finally, touch your writing as often as you can, even if it’s for a few minutes a day and even if it’s just to journal or jot down a line that swept through your mind at 3 a.m. Such “touching” gives validity to your dreams and gifts. It also enables you to grow into the part of “writer” and to help your writing become an integral part of your life.

Beth Mende Conny is the founder and president of WriteDirections.com. She has published more than four dozen books and collections, and helps individuals and businesses bring their projects to publication. She can be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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Beat the Block with a Journal

It’s nearing the end of summer, and I have no credentials to my benefit these holidays. As the end of the holidays approach, I keep wondering what I have to show for the summer other than the noticeable tan, and the load of incomplete articles adorning my computer.

Having nothing to write about can be exasperating. But having plentiful to do, and not doing it out of sheer laziness or lack of interest is a whole other story. I have articles months old that haven’t seen the light of day. Ah, if only I could complete them. But procrastination and laziness stand in the way. I’ve been telling myself that it’s the heat, but with the temperatures going down again, I’m not even left with that excuse.

I have seemingly divorced myself from the half-written articles that sit there waiting on some remote folder in my computer. Somehow, I never get to completing something if I leave it midway. And this time is no different. I ended up opening the files, reading their contents, closing them with a mental note that they needed to be finished and went back to my Need for Speed racing adventure.

After an endless round of mindless car racing, I decided it was time to get back to work. Having nothing to write about, I thought I’d try my hand at a journal. Writers are always saying that keeping journals spark up your creativity, but somehow I never thought I’d be writing in one. I’d always wondered why a writer would waste her precious time writing in a journal, when she could be earning money, writing those words in an article or story.

So, I began Mission Journal by simply opening up my word processor and writing the first thing that came into my mind. Incidentally, I started rambling about how much I had wanted to achieve but with a drastic case of writer’s block having swept over me the last few days, my ambitions had been reduced to dust. Before I knew it, I had written two thousand words, simply on why I couldn’t write and how it was playing havoc with my spirit.

I hate to admit it, but the truth is – I was wrong. A journal is not a waste of a writer’s time. It’s a learning process. When a computer professional sits down to learn a new programming language, he’s not wasting his time. He’s preparing himself for situations in which his programming skills could come in handy. Similarly, a journal can be the resource a writer digs into when she’s at a loss of ideas and can’t find anything to write about. It gives the writer practice she needs every single day, and enables her to create a much desired momentum in her writing.

The day I started writing in my journal, was the day my month-long block finally came to an end. And as I wrote, I found my mind racing faster than my fingers could type. Soon, I was writing not only about my day, but also my holidays, my last semester and the last time the family went on a holiday together. Incidents kept springing to my mind and I was caught in the adrenalin rush. I was writing!

I had needed a spark for my creativity, and the journal had done just that. It had made given me the push that I needed to start, and once I was writing, the ideas and the words came to me like they had never left my side.

Journals give the writer the three things she needs most: Practice, Motivation and Ideas.

Now, everyday before I begin writing my articles or stories, I simply pen down a page in my journal. If I don’t feel like writing on paper, I’ve maintained a journal on my computer too. Not only do I get a jumpstart on my day, I also feel more energized and ready to write pages and pages of prose.

Journals can also be a great storehouse of ideas. When you think that you’ve suddenly become unresponsive to the ideas around you or can’t find a character to fit into your stories, peek into your journal, and you’ll find something priceless there. The trip to the lake last summer or the fight with your neighbor might just become incidents in your next best seller.

Journals are not necessarily diaries in which you record your personal thoughts and feelings. They can be lists of goals, pet care tips, or simply free writing that you do everyday before you get to work. They needn’t even be focused on one topic – you can introduce random thoughts whenever and wherever you like. In writing a journal, there are no rules; you simply write what you want.

As of writing this, I maintain four journals to suit my different moods. I don’t write in all of them everyday, but do try to write in at least one each day. On days that I don’t have too much work to do, I spark my creativity by writing in all four. Who knew, that a journal would become my best friend?

Mridu Khullar is a full-time freelance writer from New Delhi, India and has written for almost 70 publications, recently including Chicken Soup for the Soul, Writer's Digest, Women's Health & Fitness, Girls' Life, Wedding Dresses and ePregnancy. Visit her at http://www.MriduKhullar.com

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Beating Perfection Syndrome so you can write

It’s Saturday afternoon. Your partner has taken the kids to the park. You have a whole hour to write. Instead of which, you sit, staring out the window like Rodin’s Thinker in jeans and a yellow sweatshirt. Why aren’t you writing? A tiny item called Perfection Syndrome. You want whatever you write in this precious hour to be perfect.

During the week, you had a stream of plausible ideas. You wrote three ideas in your notebook: an article about children’s first words (your six month old said ‘truck’), an essay about male vanity, and a short story about a blonde with tattooed arms and a poodle.

Just now, none of those ideas seems right. You’ve only got an hour, so you want the perfect idea, the one that will justify the sixty minutes you’re about to spend on it. Instead, you do nothing. Perfection Syndrome can destroy your writing career. It’s a killer, because if you don’t recognise it for what it is, it leads to apathy. The gap between what’s in your head and what manifests on the page is so wide that you may give up writing for days or weeks.

I understand Perfection Syndrome, because it’s something I battle every day. The words on the screen or the page never measure up to the words in my head. I start typing, and after a sentence or two, stop. The words “this is garbage” light up like neon in my skull, my stomach clenches, and I feel as if a ten ton weight had dropped onto my body. It’s not as if I’m a new writer. I’ve been writing for over 20 years. Intellectually, I understand that it’s important to get words onto the screen — any words. You can fix whatever you write. Emotionally, I want the first draft to be perfect. I’ve accepted that perfectionism is part of my personality, and without a personality transplant, I’m never going to get rid of it, so all I can do is out-write it.

Yes, out-write it. A practice that’s helped is Julia Cameron’s Morning Pages method, which is detailed in her books: The Artist’s Way , and Vein of Gold . The first thing I do each morning is write three pages in longhand. This primes the pump, and if I accomplish the Morning Pages, I know that I can count on a productive writing day, and Perfection Syndrome is beaten for this 24 hours at least.

Updating my inner “writer” image also helped. Images are the language of the right brain and the subconscious mind. Your subconscious mind is the engine which drives you. My initial image of my writing self was of a mountain climber, clinging to vertical rock and ice, unable to see the mountain peak, but terrorized by a crevasse below. No wonder I needed every word to be perfect, if the alternative was death. A more nourishing image popped into my mind. I saw my writing self as a seed-sower, the old-time kind, with a deep hessian bag of seeds, walking along the furrows of a field of fertile soil, scattering seeds with both hands. Now, whenever I feel panicked about my writing, I visualize myself as the sower, scattering those seeds. Ask yourself what image you hold of yourself as a writer.

Strategies to beat Perfection Syndrome
The first step in fighting Perfection Syndrome is to acknowledge that you’ve got it, and know that it’s beatable. Any of the strategies below will help.

• Morning Pages: first thing each morning, write three pages in longhand. The pages don’t have to be about anything. You can write three pages of whining about situations in your life, or three pages of “This is stupid, I don’t know what to write”. Yes, but — you’re thinking: I’m supposed to write three pages no one will ever see, much less publish? YES. Just try the process.
• Check in with your subconscious mind. Just wonder quietly about the image you hold of your writing self. Either awake, while daydreaming, or in a dream, and image will float into your mind. If it’s negative, change it to a life-affirming, encouraging and hopeful one.
• Set a target number of words for each writing session. However, set the word target and quality LOW. Even on your worst migraine day you can write 200 words of gibberish. Or, promise yourself that whenever you turn on your computer, you will write 50 words on your current project.
• Keep a writing log for each writing session for a week. List what you worked on, how many words you wrote, and how you felt before you started writing and how you felt when you finished. Your writing log will convince you that writing can alter your moods: you’ll feel better when you finish your writing session than you did before you started. It will also convince you that you can write when you’re depressed, tired, or ill.
• Start a story prompts/ideas file. A fresh idea may tempt you if you’re resisting working on your current projects.
• Where else in your life do you expect perfection? If you’re struck with Perfection Syndrome, it will manifest in other areas. List five of those areas, and several ways to combat each.
• Perfectionism leads to procrastination: do one task each day that you’ve been putting off. Be willing to skimp on the task, and do it badly, but do it.

Veteran multi-published author and copywriter Angela Booth crafts words for your business — words to sell, educate or persuade. E-books and e-courses on Web site. FREE ezines for writers and small biz: http://www.digital-e.biz/

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Becoming a Better Writer – A 10 Step Guide

The urge to write fiction seems God given for some, a learned skill for others.

One thing is certain – it requires practice and a particular mindset. But, if you’re a beginner, where do you start?

The following 10 tips will help kick-start your writing habit, whether you’re a complete novice, or perhaps a pro who has lost their way!

1. Step Away From the Car, Sir.

Slightly detach yourself from your surroundings. Stop participating and begin observing. In social situations, watch people, see how they act and – more importantly – interact.

Don’t pass judgment. Take it all in – and draw on it later when you write.

2. Look Harder, Homer

Stop and look around you. Consciously notice the buildings, what’s underfoot, overhead, and what’s right in front of you.

At home, look at something you take for granted. An iron, for instance. Find yours and study it.

3. Write Thinking Will Be Rewarded.

A simple technique. Your mother is making tea and you are chatting to her. Take a mental step back and describe the scene.

Similarly, when you’re outside, describe your environment as though you were writing it down.

4. What Reasons Do You Need?

Don’t wait for inspiration – just write!

Force yourself to write anything at all. A shopping list. An overheard conversation. Describe your bedroom.

It doesn’t matter how personal it is, or how trivial, just get it down!

5. Wakey Wakey!

Set your alarm clock for an hour earlier than normal.

When the alarm goes off, get up. Don’t dress, bathe or eat. Don’t even make coffee. Just stagger to your writing space and write the first thing that comes into your head for five minutes.

6. Oh God – Not That!

Think of the most awful and embarrassing thing you’ve ever done – the more cringe-worthy the better. Now write about it. All of it, in all its gory, horrible detail.

Then hide it away for a year or so before you read it again!

7. Like Your Style, Baby.

Don’t limit yourself. Write poems, songs, dialogue, fact, fiction, even practice writing advertising copy or horoscopes.

Your expertise improves in all areas – an improvement in one area can reap benefits in another.

8. The Sincerest Flattery

Take out a classic book from your bookcase. Copy out a paragraph. Think about the words as you write them. Don’t get intimidated!

9. Wanna See My Invention?

When you’re not writing, string together stories in your mind. Think of plots, characters, settings, dénouements.

Ask yourself what you should do next to improve your writing.

Develop this technique into a habit.

10. It’s A Goal!

When you start writing regularly, set yourself small goals. Anything from 200 words a day, or just a commitment to writing in your diary.

Later extend to finishing a short story, or an article or a poem. Perhaps one in a week.

The trick is to set goals you can achieve easily.

That way you’ll get the writing habit – and you won’t forget to enjoy it!

This article was written by Rob Parnell. Visit his website at www.easywaytowrite.com

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Becoming the Total Package

Being a great writer is no longer enough if you plan to score a big publishing deal, especially as a nonfiction author.

Particularly if your book idea falls into the “how-to” or “self-help” categories, you not only have to sell your terrific writing, but you also have to sell yourself as the book’s conduit to the world.

Publishers want to minimize their risks, so they don’t haphazardly award big book contracts to unknown writers—unless, that is, the writer is the total package. What constitutes this “package”

PLATFORM
Increasingly, publishers look for authors who have “platforms.” A platform is your megaphone to shout your book’s message to a mass audience. Famous people have automatic platforms; if Julia Roberts were to decide to write a book tomorrow, you can bet that she’ll have publishers clamoring. Why? Because they know that the media will go wild to tell the public about it, and she’ll have the ability to get as much air time as she wants all over TV and print.

But let’s assume you’re not quite so famous. That’s okay. You can build a platform in a number of ways—a good start is by writing articles for newspapers and magazines. Work toward becoming a columnist (even at a freebie community paper), then work on syndicating your column.

Although some writers will thumb their noses at this suggestion, if your main objective is platform-building, I advise that you get your column “out there” to as many publications as will have it, whether they pay well or not at all. You may also choose to put your free articles on websites such as www.articlecity.com and www.ideamarketers.com.

Other ways to build platforms:
-Host a radio show
-Get a program on public access TV
-Become a regular guest on a radio/TV show
-Become a public speaker
-Have your own e-zine (must be popular to count!)
-Moderate a popular forum or e-mail list on your book’s topic
-Become involved with well-known charities, nonprofit organizations, or professional organizations, preferably as an officer or spokesperson
-Teach teleclasses or webinars
-Write a free e-book

MEDIA EXPERTISE
It’s not unusual for publishers to ask for proof of your media capabilities before buying your book. One publisher asked me for a 5-minute videotape that showed clips from my appearances on Lifetime TV and news programs. I also included a copy of a radio show where I’d recently been a guest, and a headshot—publishers don’t need beauty (unless you’re writing a beauty book!), but they do like to see that your appearance won’t make people scream with abject horror if you do public talks.

To become more media-savvy, you can practice your speaking skills at a local Toastmasters club (www.toastmasters.org), an international association meant to help people overcome public speaking fears and speak more effectively.

You can also practice by having a friend ask you questions on cassette or videotape, then paying attention to any bad habits you have (“y’know,” “umm,” fiddling with your hands, running your hands through your hair, babbling). Work on your sizzling sound byte (the few sentences you want to get across to entice someone to hear more—or, if that’s all the time you’ll have, to entice them to run out and get your book to read more!).

The keys to being a great interviewee? Be passionate. Be enthusiastic. Speak clearly and in short sentences. Let your body language and/or voice reflect a well-collected, happy, engaging attitude. Don’t refer people to your book or website every three seconds—be there to genuinely teach the audience something, and know that if you enthrall them, you won’t have to do a hard-sell to get them to follow you. Dress well for TV interviews (avoid white and beige if you have a light complexion; head for blues, purples, and pink; avoid flashy prints; avoid jangly, reflective jewelry and other distracting clothing and accessories—you want the attention on your words, not your wardrobe). Know how to lead an interviewer to ask the right questions if he or she goes off topic, and to turn negatives into positives.

If you’re interested in media training resources or coaching, try these:
www.mediatrainingworldwide.com
www.robertagale.com
www.starstyleproductions.com

PROVEN PROFESSIONALISM
How will the editor know that you will turn in your work on time, that you will not be a huge pain in the rear to deal with, and that your work will be clean, on target, and on word count? If you have no other book credits to your name, you’ll need other credentials that show you know how to be a professional.

Credentials that prove you’re an expert are one thing– having a special degree, professional association membership, or teaching expertise can help establish that you know your subject matter, but you still need to prove that you know how to handle the writing and publishing process.

Articles in impressive publications certainly help. A regular column helps even more, because it shows an editor that you were able to meet deadlines week after week or month after month and that another editor liked you enough to want to work with you regularly. A “contributing editor” spot on a magazine’s masthead works in your favor, as does any prior experience on staff in the publishing world.

Although rarely requested, nobody’s ever hurt by a letter of recommendation– er, testimonial– from a past editor or boss in a publishing field. I’ve been known to throw in a few sentences from my editors that comment on how easy I am to work with, or how reliable I am, or how their audience always loves my work.

EAGERNESS TO HELP
Even if your platform leaves something to be desired, you can make up for it with a solid publicity plan and an eagerness to take an active role in publicity and marketing. Give concrete plans for who will interview you, review your book, or otherwise give you a spotlight… and why. Telling your publisher that you’re sure this book is perfect for Oprah or that it’ll be right up the New York Times’ alley is useless unless you have a reason for them to believe you—such as a contact at these places.

They are more impressed with solid plans, such as the fact that you’ve already spoken with local librarians who want you to come speak, the YMCA has asked you to come teach a seminar once your book comes out, two local colleges have courses in your subject matter and have agreed to check out your book for possible classroom use, a business organization is interested in buying copies in bulk, and you’re happy to do a book tour of the southwest on your own dime (or will split expenses with the publisher).

If you plan to hire a publicist, that’s usually a plus (rarely, the publisher would rather not have an “outsider” interfere with their publicity department’s efforts). If you’re going for media coaching, willing to attend book fairs, happy to do signings and readings, planning to buy many copies of your own book to sell during your seminars or workshops, etc.– all of these are positives in a publisher’s eye.

Remember that you will wear many hats as a successful writer. To make it big, recognize that you are also a businessperson, a salesperson, and a public relations expert on your own subject matter. Work on becoming the total package, and you’ll cast your book proposal in a much more attractive light.

Jenna Glatzer is the editor-in-chief of Absolute Write (www.absolutewrite.com) and Absolute Markets (www.absolutemarkets.com). She has written for hundreds of national and online markets, including Physical, Woman's World, Woman's Own, Salon.com, and Contemporary Bride. She's a contributing editor at Writer's Digest and her latest book is MAKE A REAL LIVING AS A FREELANCE WRITER, which you can find at www.absolutewrite.com/jenna/books.htm. Find out how to get a FREE editors' cheat sheet with this book!

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Before You Begin Your Writing Project

We often jump into a new writing project without much thought. Driven by passion and fueled by the excitement surrounding the creative process, we dive in. Sometimes, this is a terrific strategy. Pour out what’s in your heart; try to make sense of it later. Other times, you simply waste your time by not answering a few preliminary questions. If you’re serious about a book project, it will serve you to clarify your intention with the following.

Before you lift a pen or fire up your computer, there are a number of critical questions you’ll want to answer. This little exercise will help clarify why you are about to invest hundreds of hours into a potentially agonizing—yet rewarding —process.

1. Why do you want to write this book? What do you think the book will give you?
2. What is the purpose of the book? Why do you feel compelled to write it?
3. Who are you writing this book for? What kind of person will pull it from the shelf? Accurately pinpointing your audience in advance can determine your book’s salability to a publisher and ultimately, to the market.
4. Why will someone want to read it? What need / problem will the book address and how will the book help the reader? This question assumes you are writing a nonfiction book. Again, know your market.
5. Has your message already been said? What’s unique and remarkable about your message? Do some market research in your local bookstore and / or at Amazon.com. We’ll get into this further in the next section.
6. How does being an author fit into your overall career?

Take twenty minutes or several days and soul-search the answers to these questions. It is the best time you can spend.

The above article is an excerpt from the guidebook included in Everything You Need to Know to Become a Best-Selling Author. In this program, Dr. X and Scott Jeffrey guide the listener step-by-step through the Book Proposal process with clear illustrations throughout.

By Scott Jeffrey

With an impressive client list including New York Times best-selling authors, speakers, and consultants, Scott Jeffrey is renowned for his ability to guide each client’s journey to the impossible—crafting their own adventure, zealously following their bliss and discovering their unique, meaningful contribution to the world. Scott is the master strategist behind Creative Crayon, LLC, a world-class strategic coaching enterprise and consultancy.

Scott is the author of Journey to the Impossible: Designing an Extraordinary Life, a Benjamin Franklin Award finalist, as well as the interviewer in the 10-CD audio program, Everything you Need to Know to Become a Best-Selling Author. He was the editor of Impossible Journeys.

Scott and his four-legged hiking companion, Yoda, reside in the mountains of upstate New York.

Find out more at http://www.bestsellingauthor.com

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Beginning Your Memoir Despite Family Guilt and Critic Voices

When we first decide to write, we feel good about itwe have memories and stories that form who we are. We want to explore ourselves, to capture times long gone and preserve them in story form. To leave a legacy about our lives. But other voices compete with our writingwhat will people think; you should be ashamed; you will embarrass the family. Dont air dirty laundry; you know only part of the truth, so be quiet. Your mother will roll over in her grave if she found out you wrote that.

We all know these voices. They make us throw down the pen, sit back and turn on the TV. We dont want to lose our family. We dont want to make them angry. Writing a memoir is an act of courage, even defiance against powerful family dynamics. We need to find a way out.

As a family therapist, I have worked with many families, and because of my background, Im in a position to help my coaching clients understand the source of their resistance to writing their stories, and the source of the critic voice inside.

When we write memoir, we reclaim our own voice, we stake a claim to our version of the story. Every family has multiple story lines. There is the official version, controlled by the most powerful people in the family, usually the parents or those who have the most to lose. The lesser points of viewmost often held by the children or those lesser in powerare often not believed or accepted as true.

Who decides what version of a story to believe? Who is not listened to? Whose point of view is unwanted? The answers to these questions will be decided by family dynamics and power.

In most families there is a scapegoat, or a clown, or the most sensitive. People in these roles may hold a unique, and unpopular, view of the family stories, and those with the most power may try to suppress it.

A memoirist must begin by writing her story in a protected bubble so the story can evolve. Take care of your writing environment, and protect you from forces that will derail your efforts.

1. Figure out the power dynamics in your family. If the critic voice stops you, write down what it says. Try to find the original source of those voices in your background.

2. Begin with an imagea photograph is often a good prompt. Write in your own natural voice.

3. If the voices say: I dont know how to write; my family will hate me; how do I know I am writing the truth. dont stop. Write anyway. Your critic/family protector will try to silence you. If you were silenced when you were growing up, you will need to work through it now.

4. DO NOT hit the delete button when you feel critical after writing. DO protect your writing from curious family or friend invaders. Treat your work like a young plant that needs protection.

5. Find supportive people to write with. Write in cafés, in writing groups where you feel support or at least no attack.

6. Remember: if youve been abused, neglected, forgotten, or silenced, you likely learned not to value your own point of view. Writing your own story can change that. Keep telling it like it is.

7. Write for five minutes. Another 15 minutes. Stretch your ability to stick with a story. When you feel like stopping, write for five minutes more. We are tempted to stop as we get close to the core emotion of a story.

Linda Joy Myers, Ph. D., prize winning author of Becoming Whole: Writing Your Healing Story, is a Marriage and Family therapist and teaches memoir-as-healing workshops in the San Francisco Bay Area and nationally. Lindas work has been praised by reviewers, healers, and radio and television interviewers. You can visit her web site at: Memories and Memoirs

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