How Writers Can Help Themselves this Holiday Season

During this time of year you’re probably busy with family and friends, celebrating the holidays. With merriment and socializing, however, also comes stress as you wistfully look at your laptop and wonder, “When am I going to get back to writing?”

My approach is to stop fighting the holidays, embrace them, and take an hour here or there to do other (“business-related”) things in order to boost my career. Let’s look at other ideas for how you can spend a free hour of your time to help your freelancing career.

  • Get a Grip on your Finances It’s way too easy to lose track of your accounts during the holidays, because celebrations and gift-giving can be expensive. Take the time now, to prepare yourself for the New Year, by sitting down and figuring out expenses, deposits, and your assets. Tax season isn’t that far off.
  • Do a Year-in-Review Grab a small notebook to take with you wherever you go. When you’re waiting in line at the checkout or patiently trying to get a table, whip out a pen and start writing about your major accomplishments and disappointments this year. After you’ve finished, post your notes on your fridge to help you get a realistic look on where you are as a writer.
  • Make a 2008 Wish List Like any other company or business, you’ll want to set goals for yourself in 2008, but before you can do that — you’ll have to get an idea of what you want. Maybe those goals are related to word count or types of publications you’re targeting; maybe you’re planning a vacation or taking a seminar. Gather your thoughts together on slips of paper, an outline, or your organizer to assist your goal planning.
  • Utilize Old Business Cards This activity can be a lot of fun; take a peek at some of the online social networks like LinkedIn or Writer’s Net. Then, see if you can’t locate some of the people you’ve collected business cards with the last year. For about twenty minutes a day, you can reconnect with people and increase your network.
  • Give, Give, Give Hopefully, the holidays are a time of light and laughter for you. But if they’re not, and you’re afraid you’re going to fall into writer’s depression, then you’re in a very tough spot. The holidays are challenging, especially for creative people, because there is a lot of emphasis placed on the “ideal” version of what these festivities are “supposed” to be about. In reality, the world can be cruel.So what can you do to avoid falling into a self-deprecating trap? Give. No, the gift does not have to be financial or even grandiose, by doing little things for other people over the course of the next, few weeks you can get back in touch. If sentiment is not your cup of tea, then think about it like “reaching out to your readers.”

    Since time is an issue for all of us, here are a few “giving” ideas you can do that will take you less than half an hour:

    • Hold the door open for someone else
    • Let someone skip you in line
    • Visit The Hunger Site
    • Don’t fight over the “perfect” gift
    • Listen to someone else’s woes or stories
    • Visit Do One Nice Thing
    • Do something for someone you don’t necessarily care for
    • Give yourself an hour of free time
    • Mentor an inexperienced author

    Amid the glitter, baubles and glitz the holidays can be frustrating for everyone so don’t be disappointed if your actions go unnoticed. After all, the “gift is in the giving.”

So there you have it. A few things you can do to wrap up another year of joy and sadness. I hope that you and yours have a wonderful holiday break, and that all of your words be meaningful (and profitable).

December 21, 2007
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When do you Need a Copyright?

Many writers take ownership over their work; our writing is our personal treasure stash that we are willing to share with the world. But how do we share it? We need protection, right?

Well, here’s a question that I wish more writers would consider: When do I need a copyright?

First, a caveat. I am not a lawyer, so if you’re looking for definitive “ins” and “outs” of the law, visit Copyright.gov and the nicely spelled out “What is Copyright? from the SFWA.

Onto my point. I think one of the hardest things for inexperienced authors to wrap their minds around is the legal implications of copyright and when they should buy one. Here’s an example: So I was trying to find a group of writers online with some experience when I came across one that bought copyrights for every draft story they posted online. Not one of them would even consider using Creative Commons, which blew me away. When I had broached the subject, I received a flood of comments saying everything from “I don’t know how important copyrights are” to “I have to protect my work.”

I’ve heard so many writers rushing out to “buy their rights” without realizing what they are getting for their money — because once you have rights, shouldn’t you consider what it takes to protect them? If you don’t know what that means, you should probably talk to a lawyer who specializes in copyright law, because believe me, it costs a lot more than $35.

If you’ve read books or watched movies (which I’m assuming all of you do), then you’ve probably made the comment “Oh, that’s a rip-off!” or “Oh, that’s just like Rotten Toasters from the Nebula Verse!” I’ve often heard the “twenty percent” rule floating around whenever I hear pros talk about this sort of thing, that a work only needs to be twenty percent different from the original copyright in order for it to be considered a “new work.” Although I couldn’t find the source of that, I usually don’t concern myself with “copyright infringement” rules on that level, simply because I don’t “go there.” Why?

Simple. It’s too risky, and it could damage your reputation…indefinitely.

Consider those amateur authors who think that they can write within another author’s setting — and believe that they have every right to do so. Yes, I’m talking about “fan fiction.” Probably one of the biggest misunderstandings about copyright that I’ve come across, is the belief that a writer can “write within the world of X” as long as he (or she) doesn’t address the main characters. This is a big “no-no” and was easier to find in the copyright law; it’s under “derivative works.” No matter how much you may love Harry Potter or Aragorn or Lemony Snicket, if you write anything within their setting you are in direct violation of the copyright laws. You need permission.

Don’t believe me? Ask any publisher for any “licensed” product within the Marvel Universe what their rights are. And then ask them how hard it is to actually release their action figure, poster, or deck of cards. “Licensed” means “licensed,” and writing fan fic is not a good way to get your name out there if you don’t have permission. Trust me on this one.

Here are the questions I ask myself whenever I write fiction to cover-my-butt:

    (1) Was I heavily inspired by [insert popular novel title here]? If so, how similar are my characters? Setting?(2) Can I find the name of my book or my primary characters online? If so, change them.

    (3) Where am I posting my drafts? Do I trust the source?

    (4) Do I plan on selling the work? If so, go with Creative Commons until terms are negotiated through my contract. If not, why bother?

    (5) Are my editors bound by non-disclosure agreements until the work is released?

The point I’m trying to make here, is that writers write “to sell.” I have different concerns about copyright, because the rights to my work are often a point of negotiation since I am considered an “unknown” author. It is not uncommon for new writers to make a flat-fee of $5,000 on a first novel; and not retain several of their rights. If you own every copyright flat out, agents and publishing houses will sometimes shy away from you because you appear to be very inexperienced.

So yes, I do think that authors should care about copyright, respecting other’s works, and protecting their own. But I also think that the basic premise of copyright is abused all too often; contracts often cover these rights in print, and there are ways to protect yourself online at no cost to you.

December 12, 2007
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Don’t Rely on History : Freelance Writing Tip #34

If you’re writing an article, novel, or game, sometimes you will want to utilize historical-based people, places or events to fuel your creativity and your ideas. While history offers you something invaluable–a focused area for you to research–writing historical fiction, non-fiction, or games can be problematic depending upon what your intent is.

For example, is your intent to entertain? If yes, then you may want to take liberties with history to modify your plot or story. When you entertain your audience, you need some elements that may not be apparent through a researcher’s lens. Characters may seem larger than life, conspiracies may seem darker, and everyday activities become extraordinary. Although we’ve all heard the phrase, “The truth is stranger than fiction,” the cold, hard facts are—If an event happened in the past, then you may not ever know the big picture.

Take for example this native american permanent settlement in Wisconsin known as Aztalan. The history of Aztalan is rather sketchy and, interestingly enough, the Wikipedia entry for Aztalan downplays the questions that this site offers. Here’s the amazing part about this settlement–it’s a mystery, plain and simple. Over 500 years had passed since the settlement was abandoned, and no one knew why.

Now say this site has piqued your curiosity, and you either want to write a story, an article, or an adventure that revolves around this settlement. You have a few choices, you can either write like a historical textbook (especially if you’re concerned about the preservation of history and ancient cultures) or you can make something up. In this case, the fiction aspect would be relatively simple because there is a lot that archaeologists don’t know. Why did people leave? Why did people build a permanent settlement surrounded by well-fortified stockades? Why people build mounds that were not crafted to preserve their dead?

When you use history for fuel, a good thing to keep in mind is to utilize the questions that history is left behind. If your writing “goal” is to be historically accurate, you’ll need to wear the hats of a researcher and archivist. Sadly, the nature of history is that no one will ever know the entire truth of any circumstance, simply because they weren’t there. Sometimes, even if you were, there might be skeptics or conspiracy theorists that poke holes in strange or unusual events. Like most things, “what really happened” is usually the cause for a lot of headaches because there is always room for debate.

Historical accuracy is something that many people feel the need to achieve, but there is one important thing to consider when weighing the pros and cons of your resource materials. Time. You could literally drive yourself insane for years trying to find out every minute detail around key figures like Cleopatra, Aristotle, Michaelangelo or Sitting Bull. The trick is to find a balance between what happened and what you think happened, if you do your job right, your work will be believable like Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code or the movie Braveheart.

If you love history, there are many, unexposed areas of human history that are great places to look into and start doing some research. The bonus to writing something based on an area of history you’re mildly interested in? You might just learn something.

August 2, 2007
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Freelance Writing Tip #29: Write Children’s Books

One of the hardest things to do to boost your creativity–regardless of what project you’re working on–is to write for kids. While some may claim it’s easy, try stripping out all the prepositional phrases, verb clauses, pronouns, punctuation and still have a story.

Writing engaging children’s material–whether or not your goal is to get published–can be really hard work. There are a few, hidden benefits to writing children’s books. First, if done right, they may excellent family gifts. What better way to personalize your family’s memories than to have your son, niece, or granddaughter as the subject of a fairy tale? Second, it forces you to think more about the story and less about how you are writing it.

Whether you’re writing children’s books with the goal of being published in mind or not, it would also be a good idea to research some articles about writing children’s books. In this How To Write Children’s Books article, the author talks about what a gold mine is.

While writing children’s books is one thing–proceed with caution when you do have a book. Remember when I posted about how money flows to the writer? The same is true for children’s books only, when you do any online research you’ll find that there are more publishers and authors “claiming” to have that magical ticket to help you get rich. On the other hand this site, entitled The Purple Crayon, has a lot of content rich material and *bonus* it’s also a non-profit site.

The point here, is that writing children’s books may be an excellent way to streamline your plot regardless of whether or not you get published. If you’re writing a children’s book with the goal of getting “in print”–then I highly recommend you research what is selling and who you’ll sell your work to.

July 9, 2007
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Freelance Writing Tip #28: Change Your Setting

Writing can be very boring work; especially if it becomes very mechanical when you’re not interested in the subject matter. One of the ways around this is to physically change your writing setting; take a pen, paper and notebook if you’re a cyber-nut, move to a coffee shop with free internet access or a bookstore if you want a different atmosphere. Switching where you write (or what tools you use to write with) can add something a little different to help you get your assignment done.

Many coffee shops and restaurants now offer free Wi-Fi as well–you might have to be a little creative about where these places are, especially since many of the bigger chains do not offer free Wi-Fi. I’ve found that smaller coffee shops are the best bet for saving money and better prices.

Regardless, if you’re feeling stuck, changing where you’re working can help.

July 8, 2007
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