Archive for February, 2009

Personal Growth Through Writing

Posted on Feb 6, 2009 07:40:16 AM

From, “5 Seeds for Growing Your Writing and Writing Your Life” Your Most Important Relationship

The greater voyage of living begins with the intention to form a relationship. A relationship with yourself. Writing is a profound tool for doing so, but to be effective it requires the formation of another intimate connection. One with the page. From a practical standpoint, it’s easy. The only tools you need are a pen and paper. But to create a relationship that honors both the art of writing and the path of personal development, more is required. The tools &ndash the pen and paper – are of no use if two other elements are not present: Commitment and Permission.

Be certain…I do not utter these words lightly; I know from experience the quiver they stir in the gut, the sweat they bring to the hands, and the turning away from many an adventure that has been done in their name. Still, they are the companions you must befriend if you are to become a traveler on this journey, if you are to come to know and grow yourself through the act of writing.

Let’s begin by expanding upon what I mean by a “relationship” with the page. If you choose to make writing a part of your life it is no different than any other relationship you forge. A simple, basic truth is that if you want your connections with your significant other, your family and your friends to work, to be strong and good, then you must, most essentially, show up to them. You cannot ignore or neglect them; but, must, with willingness of spirit, offer to them your time, your energy and your enduring presence. You must, in short, commit. It is no different with writing.

Commitment

Writing that is real, that moves and touches and transforms is not created by making of it a mere acquaintance. Rather, such writing is developed through an intimate connection, one made by showing up to meet the page, by discovering the words and energy within you that desire and demand expression, and by embracing the voice that is found between the lines. Understand, writing such as this is the greatest commitment you will ever make, for it is, remember, the commitment to enter into an authentic relationship with yourself. No matter what genre you engage in, your work will ring with only the amount of truth that you are willing to know within yourself.

And so, if you are to write, and write deeply, you must commit to this relationship with all of its perils (for without doubt you will meet upon your way characters, places and experiences you are not so fond of). Just as when stepping into any new relationship, or setting out on any voyage, you do so with your vulnerability exposed, unsure of what lies ahead, but willing, still, to enter into the unknown.

Why? For the treasures only found only in the adventure of relationship. The joy, the beauty, the rawness of being. The startling depth and breadth of experience. The way in which moments so painful, when met face-to-face, can become those that renew your vision and leave you wiser.

Too often, a relationship with oneself is the last to be given time or attention. But it is the most crucial. And the kind of relationship that the page demands is the kind that leaves nothing hidden. But it is also the kind that promises to love no matter what is found.

Getting Started

And so, how do you embark upon this relationship with the page, and with yourself? You write. And you write. And you write.

Develop a writing practice.

Call it journaling. Call it Ground Writing, as I do. Call it whatever you like, but if writing is a way in which you choose to know yourself, if writing is a skill you wish to hone or an art you desire to engage in, then you must first decide so, and then commit.

Simple steps:

• Get a notebook or journal &ndash anything will do…a pad of paper, a spiral notebook with your favorite cartoon character on the front, a leather bound journal…

• Find a pen &ndash not a pencil or computer keyboard. Let yourself learn the flow of your words as they move from heart and gut to hand…without erasure.

• For one week commit to daily writing.

• Decide upon an amount of time &ndash I suggest starting at 5 minutes and increasing each day by another 5 minutes.

• Choose a time of day.

• Put the time on your calendar for each day of the next 7. Make an appointment with yourself and honor it as you would any other.

• When the time arrives, find a comfortable place to sit, take notebook and pen in hand, set a timer, and write.

• If you don’t know what to write, begin with this: “Right now, I…” and let your hand decide the next word, and the next…

• When the week comes to an end, review your commitment.

oWere you able to keep it?

oIf not, what obstacles stood in your way?

oWhat is one thing you could do to remove the obstacles or work around them?

oWould you like to continue writing? Daily? If not, how often?

oWhat writing practice would work for you? What schedule would you be willing to commit to? Write it down your, try it out.

• Continue to review and revise as necessary. Stay Committed.

Receiving Permission

Permission. I wonder when you read that word, what comes to mind…from whom do you think I mean for you to gain permission?

Not from your spouse or your children or your boss. But from yourself.

One of the biggest reasons that students give for not continuing a writing practice is the belief that it is a self-indulgent act for which they have no time. I realize that life is filled with “commitments” and that it is easy to turn writing for your own purposes into an expendable hobby. Practices done for reasons outside the scope of fiscal or social productivity tend to be surrendered first. But to truly embark upon this voyage in a way that will enhance your writing and your knowing of yourself, it is imperative that you allow for the opportunity to step upon the path.

Ask yourself: Why do I want to write? Write down your answer.

Now say aloud, “I give myself permission to write because (fill in your answer from above).”

Accept that whatever the reason you desire to write, it is reason enough. Period.

Write down your permission statement from above and post it someplace where you will see it everyday, and when you do, repeat it…again and again and again, until you deeply and fully believe it.

Planting Seeds

And now begin. Write, and know that each time you do you plant a seed in your consciousness, one that grows with every word, one that will bear fruit in the shape of your own creative life, that will, in time, produce the seeds of your next journey.

On The Planet Corporate: Survival Through Fiction

Posted on Feb 4, 2009 04:10:53 PM

I found myself sitting in the HR department of one of the most famous companies in America. My ice queen soon to be boss wanted me and I knew it. After all, I had graduated from a pseudo impressive university and I looked really good in my Ann Klein suit. Problem was, I’d never worked a day in Corporate America and I had just turned fifty. Hard to teach an old dog new tricks but the bills were piling up and the only place my freedom loving artistic spirit had gotten me was down and out in New York City.

I was offered the job; mostly because the actress in me conjured up Sigourney Weaver in Working Girl, a dash of Faye Dunaway in Network and I performed a nifty little improv using the shrewd and sassy elegance of Judy Holiday and Melanie Griffith as rather impressive role models. My stunning performance worked and there I was, embraced by my new corporate family and occasionally loaned back out to the rest of society, my pet Pomeranian and my old disco buddies.

After filling the pages of my gratitude journal for at least six months, and thanking the universe for this rather prestigious position, the honeymoon wore off and I became increasingly shell shocked. My co-workers were very strange indeed. I didn’t feel that they were family at all, but that’s what having a job is called on the Planet Corporate: family. Oh, they like putting us in teams too. Teams connote competition and a great rah, rah spirit. In my old world they called it “opening night.” Here they call it “making goal.” As you can imagine, I was confused.

I had a hard time understanding these people. They talked about a lot of things that didn’t really interest me. When they weren’t obsessing on how low the sales numbers were, they were obsessing on the New York Jets, what to nuke for lunch and whether or not the Bachelor would chose the blonde or the tenacious little redhead. I was beginning to feel quite miserable. Why, the first time I heard I had a direct report I thought I was going to be writing up a presentation on how I was going to direct the Christmas play. The first time I was called a subordinate, I almost wept aloud. Jeez, if I wanted to be subordinate to anyone I would have married my ex.

Then I was told I was getting a performance review. Well, finally something to look forward to. I was happy at last. Surely, my calculated persona as a prisoner in pin stripes was impressive. Why, I learned to click down the hallowed halls of this very famous corporation in three inch heels. I found the perfect skirt length and kept my nails conservatively French tipped. I even talked numbers all day, like they were as important as season tickets to the Met, and I pretended to be in a constant state of urgency so my boss would think I was absolutely killing myself to make my sales goal.

Well, you could have knocked me over in a breath when I discovered that a performance review was actually based on whether or not I was selling anything. Disappointingly, my review was moderate to cold. I felt that I wanted to crawl under a rock and not emerge until I figured out how I could learn to care how much money my company made off the ninety percent of my life it was taking. My self esteem had taken an affront. Here I thought my humanity was more important.

So be it. I licked my wounds and went on like a good soldier. These people were expanding my sales goal wider than a middle age waist line, but still, I persisted. I plodded along, cursing my fate and trying to figure out if I’d enjoy driving a cab for a living.

Finally, some good news from the Planet of the Corporate: We were all going on a retreat. I joyously ran out to buy a yoga mat, karma sutra oil to share with colleagues, hot pink sweatpants and new Addidas. I couldn’t want to chant with my corporate family. I was ecstatic.

But then, the bomb fell. I was both surprised and appalled. My corporate family was thrusting me into a hotel room with another adult, asking me to share the spit and spittle of sleep, the intimacy of bodily woes and the loss of privacy on my frequent calls home to the dog walker. That did it. I rebelled. I wore the new Addidas and the hot pink sweats to their all day meetings on how to sell more stuff. I chanted enthusiastically during the power lunch and used some little book on cheese they gave me as a place mat for the very gooey award night dinner.

Wouldn’t you know it, I was written up. At first I thought I’d earned some good review on the little monologue I gave to the company president on corporate greed. Not so, I was put on probation and sent home to watch Oprah, the Secret and meditate on changing my life as I sat by the Hudson with my Pomeranian re-reading What Color Is Your Parachute.

After two weeks, I was back on the planet Corporate wondering how I’d get through it. I couldn’t quit, it was already going to take me two years to get out of the debt I’d accumulated relying on an income doing extra film work and occasional voice overs for pharmaceutical drug companies. I needed the damn job. But something had shifted for me during my little reprisal from the bull pen of consumption. Maybe it was Oprah, maybe the law of attraction really works. I sure was intending to alter my present state. And it happened just like that. I put all my efforts into seeing myself as a happy little puppy and lo and behold, I started writing a novel.

Once I began, the words just flowed. I wrote and I wrote till my little fingers twitched. My life was altered forever by that simple action. I now started to wake at five am with a passion I hadn’t felt in years. I threw myself at the keyboard for an hour or more. I filled my weekends weaving a story, creating characters that I couldn’t get enough of. My joy was abundant.

Wouldn’t you know it? The bull pen became tolerable. Even the ice queen melted a bit and the complicated hidden agendas of coworkers became insignificant. My head was filled with plot and character. Who cares who wants my head on a corporate silver platter? What cared I for corporate agendas when my chapters flowed off the page? I thought about nothing else. My sales numbers even increased, as did my tolerance for the ice queens and bully boys on the Planet Corporate. How strange it all was.

Now I have a book, actually several books. You see, I stole back my time. I found a place that I wanted to be. You might say I took back my soul to write. I would advise anyone out there who has found themselves on an alien planet, to follow their passion as well, even if it doesn’t get you back on the planet Earth right away, I can assure you that eventually, it will, one way or the other. You see, your freedom will come out of the creation and your joy is in action, not the inaction of just feeling miserable. Writing is a place no one can enter or soil with demands you may never reach and definitions that limit you. So find your book and write it. If you don’t, your Corporate family will become the title of your life, and the spirit who longs to fly free will loose touch with the words that might have been, and the key to the door not taken.

How To Get A Book Deal – Without Being Scammed.

Posted on Feb 2, 2009 10:50:47 AM

How to get a book deal without being scammed is a hurdle for any writers. Publishers Are Not Exempt From Questionable Practices.

Keep These Warning Signs in Mind

Charges a fee to read your manuscript.

You are providing the product for them to sell. Why should you have to pay to see if they are interested in your work?

Offers subsidy contracts

(you pay them to have your book published) when they promote themselves as commercial publishers. Are POD (publish-on-demand) publishers, such as authorshouse, IUniverse, and Xlibris, legitimate publishers? Yes as long as the author realizes the costs and the limitations of POD publishing. Publish On Demand books are rarely stocked in bookstores.

Bait and Switch

There are some publishers who hide behind the mask of respectability and call themselves ‘traditional’ when in fact they are a vanity press. How can you tell? Look at their websites, if the focus is on recruiting writers rather than promoting the books they publish, it’s a huge red flag.

Other publishers ‘will accept’ your manuscript and then come back a few weeks later and say that their list for the next season is full but they would dearly love to publish your book. You just need to share the risk with them by giving them some money.

A new twist is to tell the author that their project has merit but the author will have to find an investor to sponsor their title. The publisher isn’t asking the author directly for any funds but many authors shell out the necessary dollars rather than try and find an ‘investor.’

Rebates

The publisher says that any fees you pay them will be completely refunded once your book reaches a certain sales level, usually in the thousands. Or that they will provide a comparable number of ‘free’ copies when the magic sales level has been reached.

A twist on rebates is that the publisher will match your monetary contribution in marketing efforts for your title. Publishers are supposed to market their own titles. The match most likely will not be in advertising dollars, review copies sent, or book tour expenses but the efforts of the in house staff. Efforts that probably won’t be focused specifically on your title.

How to get a book deal without getting scammed is possible for any author. Just keep these warning signs in mind.