Inspiration from Margaret Laurence

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Quips & Tips for Freelance Writers.

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Freelance Writer

Thanks for stopping! To read this post, please visit me at my new and improved site:

Quips & Tips for Freelance Writers.

Hope to see you there, fellow scribes…

Setting Up a Blog For Writers

Thanks for stopping! To read this post, please visit me at my new and improved site:

Quips & Tips for Freelance Writers.

Hope to see you there, fellow scribes…

3 rules for writing

Thanks for coming over! To read this post, please visit me at my new and improved site:

Quips & Tips for Freelance Writers.

Hope to see you there, fellow scribes….

Stephen King likes to resonate with readers

If this doesn’t work for freelance magazine writers, novelists, poets, and journalists, I don’t know what does.

Writing quotation: In On Writing Stephen King says, “What I want most is resonance, something that will linger for a little while in Constant Reader’s mind (and heart) after he or she has closed the book and put it up on the shelf.”

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Later in the same paragraph, King says, “I’ll also want to delete stuff that goes in other directions.” (this actually goes in a different direction, and I shouldn't have included it here).

Writing tip: Resonance in my magazine articles means finding something that readers can talk about later, at cocktail parties or on first dates or in the lobby after church. That's one reason I love writing about scientific research – such as the discovery that yawning cools the brain. I want my readers to remember the information I gave them, and talk about it later.

Resonance for you as a writer could be emotional, spiritual, or intellectual. Resonance is the “take-away.” What image, thought, or opinion does the reader hold after reading your stuff?

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And then (and this is the stuff that goes in another direction that I shouldn't have included here -- but it's a "teachable moment") get rid of all the fluff. The more focused you are, the more captivated readers will be. If you're juggling different ideas and scenarios, readers may get confused and distracted. Weed out the extra words.

Writing tips from Barbara Taylor Bradford

This writing advice from Barbara Taylor Bradford comes from the book Bestsellers: Top Writers Tell How by Richard Joseph.

Writing quotation: “Basic writing ability is not enough. A would-be novelist must also observe what I call the five ‘Ds’:

D for desire – the desire to want to write that novel more than anything else.
D for drive – the drive to get started.
D for determination – the will to continue whatever the stumbling blocks and difficulties encountered on the way.
D for discipline – the discipline to write every day, whatever your mood.
D for dedication to the project until the very last page is finished.

Finally, there is a sixth D – to avoid! This is for distractions – perhaps the most important D of all, the enemy of all writers, whether would-be or proven.”

Writing tip: Since I can’t really add to the infamous Barbara Taylor Bradford’s writing advice, I’ll tell you that Woman’s Day magazine accepted one of my proposals! Woo hoo, it’s time to celebrate (well, it will be after I write the article and they publish it hopefully with little or no edits because those make me nervous even as they teach me how to be a better writer).

You know, it’s an upward spiral: the more I write, the more I want to submit proposals and ideas. Be ware the downward spiral: the more distractions we allow, the less discipline we have, and down we go.

Here’s to using our D’s to take us up, up, and away!

Getting ahead in writing, by Agatha Christie & Anne Lamott

It’s daunting, starting that article, poem, or book. I know, because I have an article for Reader’s Digest due in a week, and I’m more interested in blogging or writing for Suite or checking out various forums or Googling my name than actually getting down to work.

Are you the same way? Just think how much work we could get done if we actually worked constantly! Since that seems impossible, especially at the beginning of new pieces, here’s some writing advice from Agatha Christie and Anne Lamott to get things moving.

Writing quotations: “The secret of getting ahead is getting started,” said Agatha Christie. That’s good, but let’s hear what Anne Lamott has to say…

“Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere. Start by getting something – anything – down on paper,” says Lamott in Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. “What I’ve learned to do when I sit down to work on a shitty first draft is to quiet the voices in my head.” She suggests various ways to quiet those voices, including putting them one by one in a mason jar and closing the lid.

Then, you write.

Writing tip: Agatha Christie says you need only get started in order to get ahead. Why? Because getting started will build momentum, and before you know it the article or poem is half written, or the book outline is finished. Just get started, even if you only have 15 minutes.

Okay, I’ll go work on my article. You write your stuff. And we’ll both get ahead...

write what you DON'T know

Have you heard that old writer’s saw, “write what you know”? If that’s your mantra, here’s something new to chew on from experienced writers Linda Formichelli and Ralph Keyes.

Writing Quotation: “If Linda had to write only about topics she’s had personal experience in, the possibilities would be limited to writing, Slavic linguistics, karate and how to peel a banana,” says The Renegade Writer. “Instead, she’s taken the idea “Write what you don’t know” to heart, and has published articles about artificial intelligence, game theory, what astronauts eat on the space shuttle, migrant health care, trolley parks, customer relationship management, natural health care for pets, and much more.”

In a similar vein, Ralph Keyes says “If you're not scared, you're not writing (anything of consequence, that is).” Keyes thinks this is probably the key comment in his book The Courage to Write – though you can bet there are more gems (writing tips) to mine there!

Writing Tip: Writing what you know may be a good way to start writing, especially if you’re scared of rejection or nervous about feedback. But once you establish yourself as a writer – whether you’re published or not – you may want to start challenging yourself. Write about what you don’t know. Wrestle with your ideas, characters, themes, and plots. Write about what scares you, what makes you nervous -- what gets your heart pumping. That's when you know you're writing something of consequence.

This little article called Leaving Your Comfort Zone may help push you out of the nest.

finding new writing ideas

Writing Quotation: “Article ideas are everywhere,” says Julie Ovenell-Carter, a journalist and author whose vast writing credits include Canadian Geographic, The Georgia Straight, and The Globe and Mail. After our lunch together, I gathered up to go back to work at the Recreation Office. I casually mentioned that the “ballet for boys” class was full and had a waitlist. Right away, Julie was all over it: “See?!" she said. “There’s an article idea right there. Why are boys signing up for ballet? Why are the girls’ classes empty? Write about that!”

Writing Tip: Just because something is familiar to you doesn’t mean it’s familiar to your readers or editors. Conversely, just because something is new to you doesn’t mean it’s new to your readers or editors.

Check out New Ideas for Writing Articles for 10 effective ways to create copy for magazines, websites, and blogs.

writing advice from Ernest Hemingway via Natalie Goldberg

For how long do you pursue your writing goals? For instance, my goal is to earn a living as a freelance writer (at least $30,000 per year). Do I send out article queries and book proposals for a whole year? Two? Ten? Fifty? I’ve already been trying for almost two years, and have barely earned 10K.

When do I give up for my own good?

Writing quotation: “Hemingway writes in Green Hills of Africa about young American men who went to Paris for two years to try out being artists. If they weren’t successful, they planned to go home and work in their fathers’ businesses,” writes Natalie Goldberg in Wild Mind: Living the Writer’s Life. “Hemingway said that that is the wrong attitude, that you have to be willing to give as long as it takes.”

Writing tip: On “giving up for your own good”, Ernest Hemingway says (via Natalie Goldberg): NEVER. You don’t give it a year or two, or ten. You give it as long as it takes.

Luckily, “as long as it takes” is up to us as individual writers. For me, as long as it takes could mean I keep pursuing my writing goals until my husband insists I get a paying job and stop neglecting him (at least 10 years). For Hemingway, it could be until…I don’t know, but I’m sure it’s profound.

What is “as long as it takes” for you? Tapping into that clarity and determination will make you a better writer, and perhaps spur you to stick with your writing goals.

a writing tip from Chris Bohjalian

Writing quotation: “Writing is as much discipline as it is desire. Don’t wait until you’re inspired, because if you do, you’ll never finish anything,” says Chris Bohjalian, author of several books including Midwives (loved it) and Trans-Sister Radio (wasn’t inspired to take it out of the library, but I can’t remember why).

Writing tip: Bohjalian's quote isn't just about writing. It's about exercising and staying fit, not giving up on finding a kindred spirit after a dozen bad dates, finally buying the right house, and scoring the perfect job.

Writing quotation: "This seems to surprise those who think they might give [writing] a shot: get inspired, bang out a book, do some signings, get interviewed, appear on talk shows. Those activities, of course, comprise one half of one percent of a writer's life," says Ralph Keyes in The Writer's Book of Hope. "The rest is just hard slogging, alone, with little encouragement and dubious prospects of success."

I don't believe in the writing muse. I believe in great ideas, and working really hard, and never ever giving up no matter how many times your work is rejected. One big difference - and perhaps the only difference - between published writers and wannabe writers is the discipline, hard work, and perserverance.

Okay, make that three big differences.

accepting your writer's mind

Writing quotation: “We need to learn to accept our minds. Believe me, for writing, it is all we have,” says Natalie Goldberg. “It would be nice if I could have Mark Twain’s mind, but I don’t. Mark Twain is Mark Twain. Natalie Goldberg is Natalie Goldberg.”

You know, I don’t think it would be nice if Natalie Goldberg had Mark Twain’s mind. Then we’d have less originality, less creativity – and we’d have more writers doing the same thing. Don't get me wrong - Twain is amazing - but maybe it's better to have different minds creating different worlds.

Writing tip: When you compare yourself to any other writer – whether it’s Joan Didion or Stephen King – you chip away at your self-confidence. You smother your writing style.

When you accept your mind, you express your thoughts without judging or censoring them. You write, and send out your ideas, and participate in the writer’s life. When you accept your mind you realize your originality and creativity: nobody has ideas like yours. Develop them.

This writing quotation came from Natalie Goldberg’s Wild Mind: Living the Writer’s Life.

a writing quotation about “keeping going”

Do you ever feel empty of writing ideas or motivation? I’m sure you do – I’m sure even Stephen King or Margaret Atwood sometimes feels empty. At least I hope they do, because then I wouldn’t feel so bad.

Today, I need a writing quotation about keeping going despite all these rejections and silences from editors and publishers. Today, I’m discouraged (but the day isn’t over! I have this thin streak of hope and expectation that Today, I Could Get an Assignment). But how do writers keep going after so many rejections?

Writing quotation: “The fact is that blank pages inspire me with terror,” says Margaret Atwood. “What will I put on them? Will it be good enough? Will I have to throw it out?”

Writing tip: Well, that’s not really lack of writing motivation. That’s fear of failure, or fear of revision. It’s a good writing quotation, but it’s not what I’m looking for.

Let’s try again.

Writing quotation: “I got so discouraged, I almost stopped writing. It was my 12-year-old son who changed my mind when he said to me, “Mother, you’ve been very cross and edgy with us and we notice you haven’t been writing. We wish you’d go back to the typewriter,” said Madeleine L’Engle. “That did a lot of good for my false guilts about spending so much time writing. At that point, I acknowledged that I am a writer and even if I were never published again, that’s what I am.”

Writing tip: Take Madeleine L’Engle’s writing advice and let go of your publishing expectations. Instead, just be a writer. (That doesn’t really work for me because my goal is to be able to support myself with my writing. For me, what helps is to keep focused on my ideas and plans despite fear of rejection and failure. I get discouraged when I’m bopping from one idea to another, one project to another – I can get too scattered and that makes me feel discouraged. So, I need to focus on one goal for the next hour: sending out 3 queries. Fine.)

One last writing quotation: Gloria Steinem said, “I do not like to write. I like to have written.”

The only way to enjoy having written is to…write.

a writing tip about judgment

This writing quotation isn’t really about writing. It’s about not stifling your life force (or writing muse). It’s about loving something for what it is – whether it’s a person, animal, house, poem, research short, or manuscript.

This works because excellent writing advice is often found in wise quotations about life, not just quotations about writing.

"Writing" quotation: “The life in us is diminished by judgment far more frequently than by disease. Our own self-judgment or the judgment of other people can stifle our life force, its spontaneity and natural expression,” says Rachel Naomi Remen in Kitchen Table Wisdom. “Unfortunately, judgment is commonplace. It is as rare to find someone who loves us as we are as it is to find someone who loves themselves whole.”

Writing tip: Don’t judge your writing, or your painting, or your thoughts, or your actions. Express yourself fully without hurting others. Be clear and direct – and be authentic. Do your best to write well, but don’t judge the content of your writing. Maybe you’ve already learned to discern the difference between editing yourself wisely versus judging yourself harshly, or maybe you didn’t even realize there is a difference. Either way, practice writing well and not judging your own uniqueness and creativity.

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Stand out in red while everyone else wears white.

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This writing inspiration came from Rachel Naomi Remen’s book called Kitchen Table Wisdom.

Dillard’s writing quotation about extraordinary states

Writing quotation: “But how, if you are neither an Aztec maiden or Zulu warrior, do you prepare yourself, all alone, to enter an extraordinary state on an ordinary morning?” asks Annie Dillard.

Sarah Ban Breathnach has a practical answer. “By showing up. Day in, day out. By not judging how it’s going. If it’s going at all, that’s enough. You can’t afford to think about how the work will be received when you’re finished. That’s not your job. Remember, we’re learning to surrender the delivery details of our dreams. Our job, then, is just to do it.”

“It can’t be published, produced, performed or purchased if it doesn’t exist,” says Breathnach.

Writing tip: Set a schedule that will propel you towards your writing dreams. You don’t have to “feel” like writing and you don’t have to “feel” creative. All you have to do is show up. After you show up and work for half an hour, reward yourself with something you love to do. Don't reward yourself until you've worked for some predetermined amount of time.

These writing quotations came from Sarah Ban Breathnach’s Simple Abundance.

learning from great writing quotations

Writing quotation: “Writing is not an unintelligent art. Writing is a craft before it is an art, and writers can and do discuss their craft in terms we can understand. There are good reasons teachers and students of writing should hear what writers say about their craft,” says Donald Murray in Shoptalk: Learning to Write With Writers.

Writing tip: Read writing quotations from authors such as Anne Lamott and W.H. Murray, and learn from their experience. They’re talented writers. They’ve put in their time, and they’re willing to tell you what they’ve learned.

Here’s Henry David Thoreau on the writing muse: “Write while the heat is in you. When the farmer burns a hole in his yoke, he carries the hot iron quickly from the fire to the wood, for every moment it is less effectual to penetrate it. It must be used instantly, or it is useless. The writer who postpones the recording of his thoughts uses an iron which has cooled…”

Writing tip: When you have a writing inspiration, get it down as soon as you can. The other day I had a great article idea, and I put it on my “to do” list, and…three days have passed and now I think it’s not such a hot idea after all. From now on, I’m heeding Thoreau’s writing advice. As soon as I have an idea, I'm writing it.

writing quotations from Atwood & Michelangelo

When I was in Rome, I toured the Sistine Chapel with an audioguide. While I stared up at Michelangelo’s detailed, colourful ceiling of God, Scripture, and life on earth, the narrator said that Michelangelo was plagued with doubt and uncertainty. Michelangelo didn’t know how his creation would be viewed, but he forced himself to keep painting.

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Writing fears work the same way.

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Writing quotation: “The fact is that blank pages inspire me with terror,” says Margaret Atwood. “What will I put on them? Will it be good enough? Will I have to throw it out?” Even the great Atwood struggled with writing fears.

Writing tip: Listen to the Sistine Chapel's narrator who tells you that Michelangelo struggled with doubt and uncertainty. Listen to Margaret Atwood, who struggled with her own writing fears. Don’t listen to your own narrator who’s up to no good, who tells you your writing is flawed, weak, or stupid. Heed Margaret Atwood’s great writing quotation about feeling doubt...and write anyway. After you write, work towards your writing goals by revealing your writing to editors, publishers, or friends for feedback.

This writing quotation came from Shoptalk: Learning to Write With Writers by Donald Murray.

writing quotations about why you write

It's time to figure out why you want to write and why you're not writing. Then, you can clarify your writing dreams. Here's why the great writers Anne Tyler, Maurice Sendak and E.B. White write.
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Writing quotation: “For me, writing something down was the only road out…I hated childhood, and spent it sitting behind a book waiting for adulthood to arrive,” says Anne Tyler. “When I ran out of books I made up my own. At night, when I couldn’t sleep, I made up stories in the dark.”

Maurice Sendak said, “You write or paint because you have to. THERE IS NO CHOICE.”

“I haven’t told why I wrote the book [Charlotte’s Web], but I haven’t told why I sneeze either. A book is a sneeze,” says E.B. White.

Writing tip: Maybe you write to escape, or because you have no choice, or because it’s a natural part of who you are. But even a natural inclination to write can be smothered by the inanities of everyday life (chores, tv, self-grooming, paid employment). Read Annie Dillard’s writing quotation about not letting stuff distract you from your writing goals.

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Figuring out why you write will increase your writing motivation. Me, I write because I...now that I think about it, I don't really know why I write. It just feels right, and I can't stop. Why do you write? Even more important, why AREN'T you writing?
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These writing quotations came from Shoptalk: Learning to Write With Writers by Donald Murray.

a writing quotation about emotions

Do you write out of your emotions, such as passion, fear, hatred, or grief? Millions of poets and authors find writing motivation in acts of love and betrayal.

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Writing quotation: “The best emotions to write out of are anger and fear or dread,” said Susan Sontag. “The least energizing emotion to write out of is admiration. It is very difficult to write out of it because the basic feeling that goes with admiration is a passive contemplative mood.”

Does this work the same way for nonfiction, which is my specialty? I don’t think so. I write service articles that show people how to do things, or feel better about themselves, or be more authentic in the world. Writing out of anger, fear or dread may work sometimes, but…curiosity and aha! and revelation work too.

But curiosity, aha!, and revelation aren’t emotions, are they?

Writing tip: Write out of whatever emotion motivates you. If it’s not an emotion – such as me writing out of curiosity – it doesn’t matter. Find your writing inspiration, and use it.

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This writing quotation came from an article on Suite101: Writing Quotations That Inspire .

a writing tip about fear & perfectionism

Katherine Paterson said, “…the smarter you are, the more things can scare you…but to fear is one thing. To let fear grab you by the tail and swing you around is another.”

To face your fears and keep writing anyway, remember that you don’t have to be perfect. You don’t have to write perfectly, plot perfectly, or describe the surroundings perfectly. You don’t have to have a great idea – sometimes the great ideas have you (but not always right away).

Writing quotation: “Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you insane your whole life,” says Anne Lamott.

Writing tip: Write imperfectly. Anne Lamott’s writing advice to “write a really shitty first draft” reverberates in my head, whether I’m writing or exercising on the elliptical machine. Today’s writing tip is about not letting fear grab you by the tail, and writing it anyway.