60-Second Syntax is a quick look at some common mistakes in writing.
Please note: Different editors may follow different styles and rules.
Today, we’re talking about the serial comma.
A serial comma is the comma that appears before a conjunction when listing a series.
Example: Her lunch consisted of an apple, peanut butter, and a bottle of water.
The highlight shows the serial comma.
Chicago Manual of Style advocates the use of the serial comma. Others, such as the AP Style Guide, chose to eliminate it.
What this means to you, the writer, is that the choice is yours as to whether or not to use the serial comma. Whatever your choice, just make sure that you are consistent throughout the manuscript. Also, be aware that an editor may ask you to add/remove the serial comma to conform to the publisher's house guide.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Author Insides - Alison Ross
Clockwise Cat publisher and editor Alison Ross dabbles delicately in verse. She also spews incessant invective. You may peruse her precious poesie and rowdy rants online. Alison's personal utopia would be to dwell inside a painting executed by Joan Miro, wherein Frida Kahlo, Arthur Rimbaud, Jorge Luis Borges, Dr. Seuss, David Lynch and The Cure all converge in felicitous, surrealistic bliss. Her poem, "Kahlo Sky," was recently nominated for Best of the Net by Up the Staircase. http://www.clockwisecat.blogspot.com/
Alison's poetry appeared in the Summer 2010 issue of The Battered Suitcase.
When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
At the age of six! I was obsessed with magazines geared toward very young kids, like Jack and Jill magazine. I regularly wrote in my diary, and I wrote short stories and poems.
Why do you write?
Because I don’t know how not to write. Cliché, but the damn truth!
Alison Ross Reads "Miro's Scream" from Jeff McCord on Vimeo.
Is being a writer/poet anything like you imagined it would be?
Frankly, I never imagined how it would be. I’ve always been a writer, so I’ve never had time to actually think about how it would be, because I have existed this way for so long.
What do you think makes a good story?
A philosophical core and crazy characters.
What's your favorite genre to read?
Currently, poetry, but I also love progressive non-fiction, such as Howard Zinn, Naomi Klein, etc.
Who is your favorite author or poet?
Rimbaud.
What books or stories have most influenced you the most as a writer?
Les Fleurs du Mal (Baudelaire), Les Illuminations (Rimbaud), 100 Years of Solitude (Marquez), random books of verse by Neruda and Borges.
What books or stories have most influenced you as a person?
Great question! That would have to be books of verse by Rimbaud. He taught me that you can be colorful and chaotic without chagrin.
Where/how do you find the most inspiration?
I am inspired by listening to loud music, watching a David Lynch film, or looking at a painting by Kahlo, Miro, Goya, Basquiat, Dali, etc. All forms of art inspire me, but the visual arts take special precedence. In fact, I am also very into street art and street fashion. On the other hand, I listen to a lot of music on my way to work, and that inspires my creativity as well. Ruminations on time and mysticism further inspire me.
What does your family think of your writing?
They like it, but I think they find it rather cryptic. Both my parents are English teachers and rather well-versed themselves, but moreso in the classics.
What is your work schedule like when you're writing?
What work schedule?
Do you have any writing quirks or rituals?
I have no rituals whatsoever. I do write polemics and reviews regularly for my webzine, but my poetry writing is extremely erratic. I write it on a whim, when the fever grips me. As far as quirks – I sometimes write poetry at work, as a way to procrastinate, or in the car, after I have pulled over because a particular phrase or imagistic idea has captured my imagination.
Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
I find it excessively challenging to say authentically exactly what I want to say. I have to relax into my subconscious to be able to do so. There are only three or four poems of mine I am wholly satisfied with.
What are your current projects?
Other than my writing for and editing Clockwise Cat, and submitting poems periodically, nothing.
What are you planning for future projects?
I would like to publish a book of poems in 2011, but we’ll see. I tend to be too unfocused to be able to get anything of any consequence done, other than my webzine.
Do you have any advice for other writers?
Be more disciplined than I am.
Where else can we find your work?
Counterexample Poetics, Up the Staircase, Word Riot, Eviscerator Heaven, Bolts of Silk, Blue Fifth Review, Cerebral Catalyst, Laika Poetry Review, Disingenuous Twaddle, Haggard and Halloo, Wings of Icarus, and a few others. Also I have a poem appearing in the anthology entitled, Chopin With Cherries.
Alison's poetry appeared in the Summer 2010 issue of The Battered Suitcase.
When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
At the age of six! I was obsessed with magazines geared toward very young kids, like Jack and Jill magazine. I regularly wrote in my diary, and I wrote short stories and poems.
Why do you write?
Because I don’t know how not to write. Cliché, but the damn truth!
Alison Ross Reads "Miro's Scream" from Jeff McCord on Vimeo.
Is being a writer/poet anything like you imagined it would be?
Frankly, I never imagined how it would be. I’ve always been a writer, so I’ve never had time to actually think about how it would be, because I have existed this way for so long.
What do you think makes a good story?
A philosophical core and crazy characters.
What's your favorite genre to read?
Currently, poetry, but I also love progressive non-fiction, such as Howard Zinn, Naomi Klein, etc.
Who is your favorite author or poet?
Rimbaud.
What books or stories have most influenced you the most as a writer?
Les Fleurs du Mal (Baudelaire), Les Illuminations (Rimbaud), 100 Years of Solitude (Marquez), random books of verse by Neruda and Borges.
What books or stories have most influenced you as a person?
Great question! That would have to be books of verse by Rimbaud. He taught me that you can be colorful and chaotic without chagrin.
Where/how do you find the most inspiration?
I am inspired by listening to loud music, watching a David Lynch film, or looking at a painting by Kahlo, Miro, Goya, Basquiat, Dali, etc. All forms of art inspire me, but the visual arts take special precedence. In fact, I am also very into street art and street fashion. On the other hand, I listen to a lot of music on my way to work, and that inspires my creativity as well. Ruminations on time and mysticism further inspire me.
What does your family think of your writing?
They like it, but I think they find it rather cryptic. Both my parents are English teachers and rather well-versed themselves, but moreso in the classics.
What is your work schedule like when you're writing?
What work schedule?
Do you have any writing quirks or rituals?
I have no rituals whatsoever. I do write polemics and reviews regularly for my webzine, but my poetry writing is extremely erratic. I write it on a whim, when the fever grips me. As far as quirks – I sometimes write poetry at work, as a way to procrastinate, or in the car, after I have pulled over because a particular phrase or imagistic idea has captured my imagination.
Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
I find it excessively challenging to say authentically exactly what I want to say. I have to relax into my subconscious to be able to do so. There are only three or four poems of mine I am wholly satisfied with.
What are your current projects?
Other than my writing for and editing Clockwise Cat, and submitting poems periodically, nothing.
What are you planning for future projects?
I would like to publish a book of poems in 2011, but we’ll see. I tend to be too unfocused to be able to get anything of any consequence done, other than my webzine.
Do you have any advice for other writers?
Be more disciplined than I am.
Where else can we find your work?
Counterexample Poetics, Up the Staircase, Word Riot, Eviscerator Heaven, Bolts of Silk, Blue Fifth Review, Cerebral Catalyst, Laika Poetry Review, Disingenuous Twaddle, Haggard and Halloo, Wings of Icarus, and a few others. Also I have a poem appearing in the anthology entitled, Chopin With Cherries.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Submission advice
There are two major pieces of advice I can offer to any writer when it comes to submissions:
1 – Proofread. Have someone else proofread. Proofread again.
2 – Read and follow ALL submission guidelines.
These two steps can save you from automatic rejections before an editor/agent even gets past the first five pages.
Editors realize writers are human and sometimes typos happen. But if your query letter and summary are riddled with grammatical errors and misspellings, odds are the editor/agent isn’t going to bother to read your manuscript it. And above all else, make sure you spell the name of the editor/agent/publishing company correctly.
Submission guidelines exist for a reason. Agents, editors and publishing companies expect you to read them and comply with them. Usually submission guides are three-fold: guidelines on what the editor/agent/publisher is looking for, accepts or will represent; how they want you to send the submission; and formatting guidelines.
The first part is extremely important. Do not waste your time and the time of an agent/editor/publisher by sending a manuscript that doesn’t fit the posted criteria. If they don’t represent fantasy, do not send an agent your latest vampire novel, no matter how literary you think it may be.
Try to familiarize yourself with the agent/editor/publisher. What other titles have they acquired/represented? What authors do they represent? Does your manuscript fit in? Is it a genre they publish/represent? If it is a literary journal, check out a back issue to see if your story is appropriate. Also pay attention to word count. If they only publish flash fiction, don’t send your 3,000 word story.
People in publishing can get annoyed when writers don’t bother to read the submission guides and send work that isn’t appropriate for them. Don’t get into the crapshoot mentality of thinking that even though your manuscript isn’t what they typically represent/acquire, that the agent/editor will fall deeply in love with it that they will just have to grab it up. It won’t happen, because they won’t read it if it doesn’t fit the type of work they represent/are looking to acquire. You are better off spending your time looking for agents/editors who are appropriate for your manuscript then simply blanketing the publishing world.
The second part of submission guidelines usually entails preferred formatting submission. Sometimes these rules are extremely detailed in regards to fonts, margins, spacing, point size, etc. Sometimes, they simply say use Times New Roman and double space.
If you are submitting work to someone who has a list of formatting rules, be sure to follow them exactly. The publisher/editor/agent has reasons for this and some will summarily reject your work if you don’t abide by these rules.
Editors/Agents/Publishers also specify how they want to receive a manuscript. Some use online submission programs, others request attached documents in a specific format, and still others may want a hardcopy mailed. Whatever the agent/editor/publisher states is their preference, follow it.
Remember, first impressions count. Don’t do yourself a disservice by setting yourself up for an automatic rejection by not having another set of eyes look over your manuscript or by not taking a few minutes to read and adhere to submission guidelines.
Finding the right editor/agent/publisher is worth the extra effort.
Monday, January 24, 2011
60-Second Syntax: Hyphens and Dashes
60-Second Syntax is a quick look at some common mistakes in writing.
Please note: Different editors may follow different styles and rules.
Today, we’re talking hyphens and dashes and when they should be used.
For starters, here’s a visual to demonstrate the difference of each. Notice that each punctuation mark gets slightly longer as you go down the list.
A hyphen: –
An en dash: –
An em dash: —
To create a dash in Microsoft word, go to the Insert tab and click on “Symbol.” There you will find the en and em dashes. Simply click on the symbol you want, and it will appear in your text.
Hyphens are used to create compound nouns or modifiers; to break up a word at the end of a line; as a separator for numbers that are not inclusive, such a phone number or social security number; and for words that are spelled out.
Example: The social security number of the girl with the peed-on-snow[i] blond hair is 123-45-6789. Her phone number is (555) 555-5555. She is totally p-h-a-t!
En dashes are used to separate inclusive numbers such as in years, measurements, ranges, dates, times, etc.
Example: Her weight from 1999–2006 fluctuated between 120–140 pounds.
Em dashes are used for break outs in text (instead of parentheses or commas) or to show an interruption or a sudden break in dialogue. Note: Whether or not a space is inserted before and after the em dash is a matter of house style.
Example: My favorite quote from “America’s Next Top Model” — Bitch done spilt beer on my weave — surprising pops up in many a conversation among my peers, though no one actually has a weave.
Example: “Jimmy and me were conversating[sic]—” “What do you mean Jimmy and you?”[ii]
Random dash trivia: The term “em dash” refers to the width of a capital M in whichever typeface you are using. An em dash is as long as the M is wide. And en dash is ½ the width of an em dash.
[i] This lovely adjective is courtesy of the snarky folks at Television Without Pity’s “America’s Next Top Model” forum.
[ii] This gem was courtesy of some Jersey hair salon show I flipped passed one day and was mesmerized by the new vocabulary that was being created.
Please note: Different editors may follow different styles and rules.
Today, we’re talking hyphens and dashes and when they should be used.
For starters, here’s a visual to demonstrate the difference of each. Notice that each punctuation mark gets slightly longer as you go down the list.
A hyphen: –
An en dash: –
An em dash: —
To create a dash in Microsoft word, go to the Insert tab and click on “Symbol.” There you will find the en and em dashes. Simply click on the symbol you want, and it will appear in your text.
Hyphens are used to create compound nouns or modifiers; to break up a word at the end of a line; as a separator for numbers that are not inclusive, such a phone number or social security number; and for words that are spelled out.
Example: The social security number of the girl with the peed-on-snow[i] blond hair is 123-45-6789. Her phone number is (555) 555-5555. She is totally p-h-a-t!
En dashes are used to separate inclusive numbers such as in years, measurements, ranges, dates, times, etc.
Example: Her weight from 1999–2006 fluctuated between 120–140 pounds.
Em dashes are used for break outs in text (instead of parentheses or commas) or to show an interruption or a sudden break in dialogue. Note: Whether or not a space is inserted before and after the em dash is a matter of house style.
Example: My favorite quote from “America’s Next Top Model” — Bitch done spilt beer on my weave — surprising pops up in many a conversation among my peers, though no one actually has a weave.
Example: “Jimmy and me were conversating[sic]—” “What do you mean Jimmy and you?”[ii]
Random dash trivia: The term “em dash” refers to the width of a capital M in whichever typeface you are using. An em dash is as long as the M is wide. And en dash is ½ the width of an em dash.
[i] This lovely adjective is courtesy of the snarky folks at Television Without Pity’s “America’s Next Top Model” forum.
[ii] This gem was courtesy of some Jersey hair salon show I flipped passed one day and was mesmerized by the new vocabulary that was being created.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Author Insides - Jacob Russell
Jacob Russell lives in South Philly, grows tomatoes and herbs in the little strip of a garden in front of his apartment, and reads his poems in the subway concourse with his Spirit Stick, Inihiti. He's currently working to complete a second novel and seeking a publisher for a MS of poetry. He manages the literary blog, Jacob Russell's Barking Dog at http://jacobrussellsbarkingdog.blogspot.com/His work has been performed by InterAct Theatre and appeared in Criiphoria 2, Conversational Magazine, BlazeVox, Scythe, Salmagundi, dcomP Mag, Pindeldeyboz, Pedestal, Philadelphia Stories, Apiary and other literary venues.
Jacob appeared in the Autumn 2010 issue of The Battered Suitcase.
Jacob, When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
A simple question, so complicated in so many ways. I’ve always written: poetry, journals, attempts at essays, fiction. There was a time in adolescence when I thought in those terms—about ‘being a writer,’ but I was always more involved with other things: painting, ten years working as a potter, sporadic attempts at scholarship and many wasted years pursuing a skewed idea of respectability (never to the slightest degree of success!). My decision to put my writing first wasn’t about ‘being a writer;’ it was like a personal conversion to a task of a lifetime. I had begun to exchange poems with someone on a BBS (this was 1986), and it all came together: that this is what I was going to do from that moment to the end. I was almost 50, but told myself that 20 or 30 years of concentrated effort would be enough to make a body of work. The emphasis was on doing. The ‘Being’ would have to take care of itself. Twenty-three years later, over the course of the last year, poetry has begun to bleed into my sense of identity. I find that I am writing myself into a new life, that “being a poet” and making poetry are interdependent and inseparable. The feather and sash I attached this past May Day in Baltimore to the walking stick I carry for my half ruined leg, the stick which has evolved into my Spirit Staff, marked that second turning point: becoming a poet. If I live another 20 years, I might just make it.
Why do you write?
What else am I to do with my time? What else could serve to draw up and set to account almost 70 years of living?
Is being a writer/poet anything like you imagined it would be?
I never imagined that this would require so many hours managing the task, preparing and keeping track of submissions, archiving my works-in-progress in a way that I could find and use, and sometimes complete them, working on performance skills, choosing my reading to advance my understanding and feed my curiosity and passions. So much in writing that involves other stuff—so much thought and preparation—this I couldn’t possibly have imagined.
What do you think makes a good story?
I’m not interested in ‘good stories,’ I’m interested in how to subvert received ideas about what makes a good story, and avoiding the traps.
What's your favorite genre to read?
Anything that makes me rethink and re-evaluate my assumptions about reality, and about the conventions that constitute any genre.
Who is your favorite author or poet?
Who or whatever makes me want to rush from what I’m reading and begin writing myself.
What books or stories have most influenced you the most as a writer?
I’m almost 70. I’ve been reading like an addict since I was four.
A question impossible to answer. I’d have to go back to particular turning points in my life, from childhood to the present.
What books or stories have most influenced you as a person?
Many philosophers, from Plato to Levi Bryant. Whitman and Dickinson, The 20th C Modernists: Wolfe, Joyce, Svevo, Gombrovicz, Kafka, Oppen, Rider… so many more.
Where/how do you find the most inspiration?
Philadelphia has in recent years nurtured an amazingly vibrant and varied world of poets and poetry. It’s been one the great privileges of my life to have lived long enough, and to be a part of the rich creative endlessly stimulating and inspiring community of poets here. I’ve heard more than 150 poets at readings over the last year and a half alone, local, national, and a few international voices. There are more readings each week than it’s possible to attend. I’m moved and humbled beyond words—being so much older than most, and such a late bloomer, at how graciously I’ve been accepted into this wonderful circle of Philly poets.
What does your family think of your writing?
I come from a family of many artists. Those few who are left except my life as normal.
What is your work schedule like when you're writing?
I try to begin each day with a quarter to half an hour meditation, than read poetry for another half hour or so. I write down things I want to do during the course of the day (I’ve learned not to assign amounts of time or arrange things in any particular order). Then I do my best to work all these things into the day: several hours of reading, writing, study, transcribing journal entries, managing submissions.
Do you have any writing quirks or rituals?
I find that adherence to routine leads only to a need for longer and longer naps
Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
Learning not to scold myself for procrastination… that the work of writing mostly takes place away from the desk.
What are your current projects?
Ha! I can’t hear that word without thinking of Dorothea Laskey! “Poetry Is Not a Project!” http://www.uglyducklingpresse.org/catalog/browse/item/?pubID=98
Do you have any advice for other writers?
I don’t believe in generic advice of this sort… how could anyone give advice to someone they don’t know?
Where can we find your work?
I have links to my published poems on my blog: Jacob Russell’s Barking Dog http://www.jacobrussellsbarkingdog.blogspot.com/, and regularly post works-in-progress. I find that revising and editing in public, ‘stimulating,’ … like, come look at this dirty old man open his coat and show you his naked poems!
Jacob appeared in the Autumn 2010 issue of The Battered Suitcase.
Jacob, When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
A simple question, so complicated in so many ways. I’ve always written: poetry, journals, attempts at essays, fiction. There was a time in adolescence when I thought in those terms—about ‘being a writer,’ but I was always more involved with other things: painting, ten years working as a potter, sporadic attempts at scholarship and many wasted years pursuing a skewed idea of respectability (never to the slightest degree of success!). My decision to put my writing first wasn’t about ‘being a writer;’ it was like a personal conversion to a task of a lifetime. I had begun to exchange poems with someone on a BBS (this was 1986), and it all came together: that this is what I was going to do from that moment to the end. I was almost 50, but told myself that 20 or 30 years of concentrated effort would be enough to make a body of work. The emphasis was on doing. The ‘Being’ would have to take care of itself. Twenty-three years later, over the course of the last year, poetry has begun to bleed into my sense of identity. I find that I am writing myself into a new life, that “being a poet” and making poetry are interdependent and inseparable. The feather and sash I attached this past May Day in Baltimore to the walking stick I carry for my half ruined leg, the stick which has evolved into my Spirit Staff, marked that second turning point: becoming a poet. If I live another 20 years, I might just make it.
Why do you write?
What else am I to do with my time? What else could serve to draw up and set to account almost 70 years of living?
Is being a writer/poet anything like you imagined it would be?
I never imagined that this would require so many hours managing the task, preparing and keeping track of submissions, archiving my works-in-progress in a way that I could find and use, and sometimes complete them, working on performance skills, choosing my reading to advance my understanding and feed my curiosity and passions. So much in writing that involves other stuff—so much thought and preparation—this I couldn’t possibly have imagined.
What do you think makes a good story?
I’m not interested in ‘good stories,’ I’m interested in how to subvert received ideas about what makes a good story, and avoiding the traps.
What's your favorite genre to read?
Anything that makes me rethink and re-evaluate my assumptions about reality, and about the conventions that constitute any genre.
Who is your favorite author or poet?
Who or whatever makes me want to rush from what I’m reading and begin writing myself.
What books or stories have most influenced you the most as a writer?
I’m almost 70. I’ve been reading like an addict since I was four.
A question impossible to answer. I’d have to go back to particular turning points in my life, from childhood to the present.
What books or stories have most influenced you as a person?
Many philosophers, from Plato to Levi Bryant. Whitman and Dickinson, The 20th C Modernists: Wolfe, Joyce, Svevo, Gombrovicz, Kafka, Oppen, Rider… so many more.
Where/how do you find the most inspiration?
Philadelphia has in recent years nurtured an amazingly vibrant and varied world of poets and poetry. It’s been one the great privileges of my life to have lived long enough, and to be a part of the rich creative endlessly stimulating and inspiring community of poets here. I’ve heard more than 150 poets at readings over the last year and a half alone, local, national, and a few international voices. There are more readings each week than it’s possible to attend. I’m moved and humbled beyond words—being so much older than most, and such a late bloomer, at how graciously I’ve been accepted into this wonderful circle of Philly poets.
What does your family think of your writing?
I come from a family of many artists. Those few who are left except my life as normal.
What is your work schedule like when you're writing?
I try to begin each day with a quarter to half an hour meditation, than read poetry for another half hour or so. I write down things I want to do during the course of the day (I’ve learned not to assign amounts of time or arrange things in any particular order). Then I do my best to work all these things into the day: several hours of reading, writing, study, transcribing journal entries, managing submissions.
Do you have any writing quirks or rituals?
I find that adherence to routine leads only to a need for longer and longer naps
Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
Learning not to scold myself for procrastination… that the work of writing mostly takes place away from the desk.
What are your current projects?
Ha! I can’t hear that word without thinking of Dorothea Laskey! “Poetry Is Not a Project!” http://www.uglyducklingpresse.org/catalog/browse/item/?pubID=98
Do you have any advice for other writers?
I don’t believe in generic advice of this sort… how could anyone give advice to someone they don’t know?
Where can we find your work?
I have links to my published poems on my blog: Jacob Russell’s Barking Dog http://www.jacobrussellsbarkingdog.blogspot.com/, and regularly post works-in-progress. I find that revising and editing in public, ‘stimulating,’ … like, come look at this dirty old man open his coat and show you his naked poems!
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Author Insides - JM Huscher
JM Huscher is an English teacher and sometimes writer living in Budapest, Hungary. He co-founded the Nebraska Writers Collective, a 501.c that was instrumental in creating new extracurricular programs to support middle and high school language arts students across the state. In 2009 he collaborated with four poets from Berkeley, California, eventually taking top honors in the National Poetry Slam’s group work competition. He has read in 24 states, independently published several books of poetry, and recently began work on an autobiography about immigrating to post-Soviet Eastern Europe with his amily in the early 90s.
JM appeared in the Summer 2010 issue of The Battered Suitcase .
When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
I started writing stories when I was in the fourth grade. They were mostly about me discovering that I had the power of flight. My friends used to beg me to put them in the stories, so I’d have to add to the endings with something like “Then Jeff and Josh tried it, and they could fly too.” The stories just got longer and more complicated as I got older. I guess if you’re asking “when,” then the answer is “when I knew I would never be able to fly.”
Why do you write?
It’s impossible to answer this question without sounding like an aloof, pseudo-intellectual jerk, but I’ll try: I think I’d go nuts if I quit writing. It’s the way in which I try to make sense of the world and the people in it. I write because there are still things that I want to understand but don’t.
Is being a writer anything like you imagined it would be?
Absolutely not, but that’s a good thing. I always used to imagine writers as terribly isolated people with severe drinking problems. That’s not the case at all—I have lots of friends.
What do you think makes a good story?
Good characters. If I think back to the good books I’ve read, it’s always the characters that stand out. Not the plot. Think about On the Road. Nothing happens in that book. They’re not solving crimes or dismantling bombs or anything. They just wander around and get drunk and stoned, but the book has staying power because it’s full of fascinating characters.
What’s your favorite genre to read?
This changes all the time for me, but I’m definitely on the prowl for books with an interesting narrator. If the back of the book says something like “told from the perspective of a…“, I’m a hundred times more likely to pick it up and take it home.
Who is your favorite author or poet?
My friend Dan Leamen is a writing genius, and I’m fascinated by everything that comes out of his head. He’s still at the beginning of his writing career, and he’s already doing stuff with poetry that shouldn’t even be possible. You can find his work in several magazines, and you can read his poem “Limoncello” is online Brink Magazine.
What books or stories have influenced you the most as a writer?
The Same Sea by Amos Oz just about made my head explode. I think I bought it because it was on one of those “employees recommend” racks. I remember reading it and thinking, I didn’t know you could tell a story that way. John Steinbeck also had a huge impact on me. The way he was able to turn a 400-page story on its head in the last paragraph—I really dug that.
What books or stories have most influenced you as a person?
Moby Dick. Hands down. That book changed both what I thought about God and religion as well as what I thought about what writers could talk about without actually coming right out and saying it. I’ve been re-reading it and exchanging emails with my best friend and a former professor about it, and it’s been amazing to see how this old book about whaling has led us into conversations about everything from nationalist political movements to endurance races.
Where do you find the most inspiration?
The radical right and vintage two-stroke scooters. Seriously.
What does your family think of your writing?
I called them to ask, and they all say that they haven’t read much of it. That was a little scary to hear since most of it is about them. I’m interested to hear what they think, but I don’t want to spend too much energy worrying about it. I don’t want my writing to pull any punches. That sounds really awful, doesn’t it?
What is your work schedule like when you’re writing?
I write, but I’m not a professional writer. I work 40 hours a week at a regular job and have to find time outside of that to do writing. When I’m really into a project, I dedicate a little time at the end of the night and then a full day on both Saturday and Sunday. It’s difficult to be a serious writer with only the time that’s left over, but I’ve learned to use all of my time well. I’ve gotten pretty good at outlining a story or enumerating a few revisions in my head while I’m away from the keyboard.
Do you have any writing quirks or rituals?
I find it helps if I am wearing brand new socks (the ankle-high ones) and if my pant legs are rolled up. I probably get about 60 percent more work done when my shins are exposed. I also talk to myself. I think giving myself the freedom to be a bit of a crazy person while I’m writing makes the process bearable.
Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
There is always a reason not to write. The most challenging aspect of writing for me is treating writing like a hobby that I can leave alone for days or weeks at a time. It’s especially difficult if you’re friends with a lot of non-writers, because they might not understand why you’re insisting on sitting alone in your dark apartment on a Thursday night so you can type out hypothetical future legislation regarding time-travel.
What are your current projects?
I just finished writing a full-length manuscript about growing up overseas (“Divided and Conquered,” is part of that book), so the next thing is to launch into that long and painful process of looking for a small press or an agent to get it in print. I’ve also been taking notes for a few short stories. One is about a girl who falls in love with a robot and has to write him love letters in Pascal programming language.
What are you planning for future projects?
I want to have a blog where I post a picture what my hair looks like every single morning. I have the craziest bed head of anyone I’ve ever met. No joke. I have a few non-daily-bed-head-blog ideas floating around, too. None of them involve dinosaurs. A few of them involve riding bicycles. Most of them involve robots. All of them involve shenanigans.
Do you have any advice for other writers?
I should be the last one anyone takes advice from. I learn everything by failing at it first. Having said that, almost every writer I’ve ever met is looking for some sort of short cut. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, is that there aren’t any. You can’t skip reading great writers. If you’re not taking in anything good, nothing good will come out. You can’t just write once a week or once a month and expect great ideas to end up on the page. You can’t avoid the good editors—the ones who will rip your work to pieces. You can’t avoid submitting to presses full of authors who are bigger and better than you. At every turn in the process, you have to choose the steeper path. I don’t believe in talent. I believe in persistence.
Where else can we find your work?
My bed head blog is at dailybedhead.blogspot.com.
JM appeared in the Summer 2010 issue of The Battered Suitcase .
When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
I started writing stories when I was in the fourth grade. They were mostly about me discovering that I had the power of flight. My friends used to beg me to put them in the stories, so I’d have to add to the endings with something like “Then Jeff and Josh tried it, and they could fly too.” The stories just got longer and more complicated as I got older. I guess if you’re asking “when,” then the answer is “when I knew I would never be able to fly.”
Why do you write?
It’s impossible to answer this question without sounding like an aloof, pseudo-intellectual jerk, but I’ll try: I think I’d go nuts if I quit writing. It’s the way in which I try to make sense of the world and the people in it. I write because there are still things that I want to understand but don’t.
Is being a writer anything like you imagined it would be?
Absolutely not, but that’s a good thing. I always used to imagine writers as terribly isolated people with severe drinking problems. That’s not the case at all—I have lots of friends.
What do you think makes a good story?
Good characters. If I think back to the good books I’ve read, it’s always the characters that stand out. Not the plot. Think about On the Road. Nothing happens in that book. They’re not solving crimes or dismantling bombs or anything. They just wander around and get drunk and stoned, but the book has staying power because it’s full of fascinating characters.
What’s your favorite genre to read?
This changes all the time for me, but I’m definitely on the prowl for books with an interesting narrator. If the back of the book says something like “told from the perspective of a…“, I’m a hundred times more likely to pick it up and take it home.
Who is your favorite author or poet?
My friend Dan Leamen is a writing genius, and I’m fascinated by everything that comes out of his head. He’s still at the beginning of his writing career, and he’s already doing stuff with poetry that shouldn’t even be possible. You can find his work in several magazines, and you can read his poem “Limoncello” is online Brink Magazine.
What books or stories have influenced you the most as a writer?
The Same Sea by Amos Oz just about made my head explode. I think I bought it because it was on one of those “employees recommend” racks. I remember reading it and thinking, I didn’t know you could tell a story that way. John Steinbeck also had a huge impact on me. The way he was able to turn a 400-page story on its head in the last paragraph—I really dug that.
What books or stories have most influenced you as a person?
Moby Dick. Hands down. That book changed both what I thought about God and religion as well as what I thought about what writers could talk about without actually coming right out and saying it. I’ve been re-reading it and exchanging emails with my best friend and a former professor about it, and it’s been amazing to see how this old book about whaling has led us into conversations about everything from nationalist political movements to endurance races.
Where do you find the most inspiration?
The radical right and vintage two-stroke scooters. Seriously.
What does your family think of your writing?
I called them to ask, and they all say that they haven’t read much of it. That was a little scary to hear since most of it is about them. I’m interested to hear what they think, but I don’t want to spend too much energy worrying about it. I don’t want my writing to pull any punches. That sounds really awful, doesn’t it?
What is your work schedule like when you’re writing?
I write, but I’m not a professional writer. I work 40 hours a week at a regular job and have to find time outside of that to do writing. When I’m really into a project, I dedicate a little time at the end of the night and then a full day on both Saturday and Sunday. It’s difficult to be a serious writer with only the time that’s left over, but I’ve learned to use all of my time well. I’ve gotten pretty good at outlining a story or enumerating a few revisions in my head while I’m away from the keyboard.
Do you have any writing quirks or rituals?
I find it helps if I am wearing brand new socks (the ankle-high ones) and if my pant legs are rolled up. I probably get about 60 percent more work done when my shins are exposed. I also talk to myself. I think giving myself the freedom to be a bit of a crazy person while I’m writing makes the process bearable.
Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
There is always a reason not to write. The most challenging aspect of writing for me is treating writing like a hobby that I can leave alone for days or weeks at a time. It’s especially difficult if you’re friends with a lot of non-writers, because they might not understand why you’re insisting on sitting alone in your dark apartment on a Thursday night so you can type out hypothetical future legislation regarding time-travel.
What are your current projects?
I just finished writing a full-length manuscript about growing up overseas (“Divided and Conquered,” is part of that book), so the next thing is to launch into that long and painful process of looking for a small press or an agent to get it in print. I’ve also been taking notes for a few short stories. One is about a girl who falls in love with a robot and has to write him love letters in Pascal programming language.
What are you planning for future projects?
I want to have a blog where I post a picture what my hair looks like every single morning. I have the craziest bed head of anyone I’ve ever met. No joke. I have a few non-daily-bed-head-blog ideas floating around, too. None of them involve dinosaurs. A few of them involve riding bicycles. Most of them involve robots. All of them involve shenanigans.
Do you have any advice for other writers?
I should be the last one anyone takes advice from. I learn everything by failing at it first. Having said that, almost every writer I’ve ever met is looking for some sort of short cut. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, is that there aren’t any. You can’t skip reading great writers. If you’re not taking in anything good, nothing good will come out. You can’t just write once a week or once a month and expect great ideas to end up on the page. You can’t avoid the good editors—the ones who will rip your work to pieces. You can’t avoid submitting to presses full of authors who are bigger and better than you. At every turn in the process, you have to choose the steeper path. I don’t believe in talent. I believe in persistence.
Where else can we find your work?
My bed head blog is at dailybedhead.blogspot.com.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
How to know what you write
If you are a writer, you’ve heard it, read it, and probably said it at least 1.47 million times: Write what you know.
I cannot stress how important that phrase is. You cannot fudge facts. If you try to write about something you do not know or understand, and you get something wrong, at least one, if not thousands, of readers will know it’s wrong, and you will lose trust with your readership.
This doesn’t mean that if you are a dentist in Kentucky that you can’t write about a stockbroker in New York. But what it means is that you had better actually visited the NYSE, spent some time with a NY Stockbroker, and be well educated about the market and industry trends and jargon. And you had best have that book vetted by someone in the industry, specifically a NYSE broker, to make sure you got it right.
I’ve interviewed hundreds of authors throughout the years. One question I always ask is what type of research they did for the book. No matter what your book is about, some type of research will be needed. None of us are omnipotent; we all need to double-check information. It could be anything from confirming the rates of a taxi cab in LA to taking a judo class so you can accurately describe a fight scene to spending two years poring over historical documents to create a period romance in King Henry’s court.
The key to research is to knowing your source. Let me give you a tip: Wikipedia (along with about.com, help.com and other sites) should not be your go-to sites for information. These sites are edited or written by the masses. Accuracy is debatable and writers’ credentials could be questionable. A person writing about a specific cancer medicine on one of those sites may not have a medical background. They may have simply searched the Internet for their response, and who knows what source they used for their answer. Remember, just because it is on the Internet, it doesn’t make it true.
For example, last night I stumbled across “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” and I couldn’t remember who provided the singing voice for Jessica Rabbit. I knew the speaking voice was an at-the-time unaccredited performance by Kathleen Turner. I figured it would be easier to Google “Singing voice of Jessica Rabbit” to get the IMDB page that go to IMDB directly and take the extra steps to navigate to the correct page. (It’s not that I am that lazy, it’s just that I have horrible Internet access, so the more direct, the better.) Turns out Amy Irving did the singing. But while scrolling down the search results, I was surprised at how many sites credited Jessica Turner as the voice of Jessica Rabbit. One site probably got it wrong, and then the misinformation continued to spread because people did not go to a creditable industry site for the information.
So what constitutes a creditable source of information?
- A person(s) working in the field/ or have been in the situation your character is in
- Official organization/society/industry sites and the people who run them
- Official organization/society/industry journals
- Newspapers and news magazines
- Official documents
For example, if you were writing a story about a woman who discovers she has breast cancer, options for your research could include: visiting a cancer treatment center/hospital; talking to a cancer patient and her family, an oncologist and/or a cancer researcher, depending on your needs; visiting the Center for Disease Control, American Medical Association, Johns Hopkins and the Mayo Clinic websites; reading the Journal of American Medical Association, New England Journal of Medicine, and related articles in The New York Times, Time magazine, and Newsweek.
The point is you have to know the credentials of the person/source from which you are getting your information. Are they the best source of RELIABLE information? They need to know so that YOU can know.
And with due diligence and good research, you don’t have to worry about someone reading your book and dismissing you as someone who obviously doesn’t know what they are talking about, because you will be writing what you know.
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