Review: Get Paid to Write!: The No-Nonsense Guide to Freelance Writing

Get Paid to Write!: The No-Nonsense Guide to Freelance Writing by Thomas A. Williams
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

this version copyrighted from 2004, and a lot has happened in using social media to self-promote since, which is missing. But the last section How to Build Your Reputation as a Writer was sobering, as constant and varied endeavors are required. Not with this book nor any other on writing is there an easy path; just paths of hard work. This book is geared to freelancing, and again times have changed. Finding editors to contact is more difficult today.
There are references and .com sites that are helpful, but comments like "search Google" were not.
I would however recommend this as an eye-opener to and beginner's guide.

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Review: Plot

Plot by Ansen Dibell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

parts seemed vague and general, or that could be the language used. I didn't underline that much of note as i usually do in a good nonfiction book, especially on the craft of writing. Am writing a fiction on better writing myself.

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Craft Chats and Prompts for Critique Groups

In the last few blogs I've been talking about starting and running your own Writer's Group, whether at a local library, your home or Panera's. Doesn't matter where. The point is, focus is needed to be productive.

During every 2 or 3-hour class, you should encourage Craft Chats -- sharing tips and tricks for better writing. I usually bring 1 or 2 pages of such tips, on any writing topic, such as self-publishing, useless and vague words to avoid entirely, character development, scenes, plots etc etc. There's hundreds of sources for these. 

One caveat: Writers and companies and colleges own the rights to their work. It's okay to print a page say from a Writer's Relief blog, or SubmitNow blog or any blog or articles or college writing sites like Purdue's OWL etc. But you can't make 10 copies and hand them out UNLESS they state its okay to do so. You can print one copy for yourself to read from, or even read aloud round-robin, and to highlight important points etc. But you can't hand out 10 copies. that's illegal. If you wrote the article yourself, you desreve remuneration for its commercial use. And so do they.

However, under Fair Use copyright law, you CAN copy and reprint for an educational purpose, but only if you can prove it in a defense if someone calls you on the carpet for abusing them. So be careful. If you really want to hand out copies freely, write the source permission, even tho I can tell you it's difficult to find out WHO to write to, exactly, for said permission. Start with the publisher.

And always, always, a;always, cite and make the source and the link well known, whatever you use.

Another thing you can do is remember that this is a writing class. So give them writing prompts! Not every single week necessarily, but at least one a month. Have them do an acrostic poem, or write four paragraphs on their first kiss, or how they felt when Grandmom died etc etc. There's books full of prompts. Besides from my own head, I bought my friend and poet Peter Murphy's book of prompts titled Challenges for the Delusional ($14) available at 
http://www.murphywriting.com/challenges-for-the-delusional-winter-poetry-prose-getaway-anthology.html

I've also been attending Peter's annual January Writers and Poets Getaway Conference at Seaview resort in Absecon NJ to hone my skills and hobnob with 100 writers and 100 poets. Here the registration link for January 2016: http://wintergetaway.com/

Bottom line: To be a good Critique Group keader, you need focus, diversity, flexibility, timing, dedication, education and sharing. And you need to write, write, write and learn, learn, learn. 

Best
Rod

Running a Critique Group for Writers

In the last blog I showed how to start your own critique group, for free (and your "free" time), at your local library. Let's talk about its components and your role.

Your role is to facilitate and educate. You need a few rules to guide the session because you'll have limited time in a 2 or 3-hour group. Depending on the number of pieces to be read, the main goal is to give everyone an equal chance to share and receive feedback. And, when time allows, to share your piece. As a general rule, I limit pieces to 12-1500 words or fewer, which takes10 minutes, and then 10 minutes more for feedback. 

Here's my basic rules, which are flexibly applied and interchangeable (definitely NOT rigid questions):
1. If not obvious, ask "How did the piece resonate with you? Did it reach your mind as well as heart? 
2. Did it hold your interest? Did it flow naturally and believably?
3. Did the piece raise unanswered questions or did it satisfy your need to know? For example, were the characters motivations clear?
4. Can you give SPECIFIC examples of what worked well? Or that might improve the story, such as content, phrasing or word suggestions?
5. Would you want to hear more? (Especially of part of a chapter.) 

Often, before a reader reads, I'll ask, "Do you have any questions for us? Things you want us to know or things you want us to look for?" (For example, often the writer needs a better title.)

The keys to success are:
Accepting all levels of writing from shitty first drafts to fully polished. Accepting other forms, like poetry. BEING FLEXIBLE BUT FIRM.

By firm I mean holding up a Timeout signal when speakers digress and get distracted in their own experiences of the same event or emotion, even tho, initial reactions are great for seeing the impact of the piece on listeners.

There's more you can do as well, such as assigning writing prompts and sharing craft chats, which I'll share next.

Best
Rod