Do I Need A Tin-Foil Hat?
July 2nd, 2006I have a problem — my best ideas and best writing come to me at night. LATE at night. When I SHOULD be sleeping.
Such was the case a few nights ago when I stayed up late tweaking my novel, Consumption, just a bit more. Between about 3:30 and 4:30 AM, I seemed to find solutions to some problems in one of the sections. I made changes, and even now, while I’m awake and alert, I’m still pleased with the results.
So what’s the difference? Why can I write so much better late at night? Do I need to wait until the noise of the nation becomes quieter? Until most of America is asleep? Is the interference in my thinking caused by a daytime bombardment of our society’s chatting, stressing, horn-honking, cursing, laughing, siren-sounding, music-playing, and TV broadcasting — in short, by all of our NOISE?
Getting creative, I fashioned a tin-foil hat (a tin-foil helmet actually — all the better for any high-speed interference colliding with my head) but noticed that it didn’t really match anything in my closet. I had to find a better solution…
After much contemplation, I realized that my lack of writing focus isn’t a problem of outer noise; rather, it’s a consequence of inner clamor — a loud and ceaseless collection of inner shoulds. So many shoulds striking me during daylight hours — you should tidy up, you should go to the store, you should clean up the kitchen (to the power of 50 for that one).
But late at night, the shoulds all just band together into a singular yell: “YOU SHOULD GO TO BED.” And caffeine is kryptonite to that one. So after some late-night coffee, silence arrives and then (finally and thankfully) I start to hear my own words. Nice.
So really, I think I just need to manage my daytime shoulds better (no tin-foil helmet required after all). I need to remind myself that the time I spend at the keyboard is time well spent. I need to bolster, and listen to, the voice that tells me throughout the day: “YOU SHOULD BE WRITING!”
Now, what should I do with my beautifully crafted helmet? E-Bay perhaps? Let me give that some thought…wait, I SHOULD BE WRITING!
Go Boldly into the Blogosphere: A Wake-up Call for Writers
June 28th, 2006If you’re a writer who just reads blogs, listen up! It’s time to let your voice be heard!
We writers can sometimes get a little stuck in our ways. We love books – how the paper feels and smells, how easy it is to get cozy with one in a comfy chair or bed. But as we all know, the written word isn’t trapped on paper anymore.
On June 25, an excellent breakout session, “The World of Blogging,” was presented at the Writers’ League of Texas Agents and Editors Conference. It featured a panel made up of Allen Y. Chen and Matthew Odam, the Editors of Austinist; Truecraig, a Columnist at Austinist and a great storyteller; Paige Maguire, a Contributing Editor at BlogHer; and David Nunez, a Developer at Pluck.
The presentation was dynamic and entertaining — much like the blogging world it was plugging. Allen Y. Chen and Matthew Odam gave an overview of blogging and outlined its history, from the first blog (by Justin Hall discussing his college antics in 1995) up to today’s exponentially expanding blogosphere — its size is doubling every six months! Now there are 75,000 new sites per day! With that kind of growth, it’s clear that blogging isn’t a fringe aspect of our society.
Paige Maguire highlighted the opportunities that blogging brings to become part of a huge network, to share ideas and links between people. BlogHer.org, an aggregating site, has 3000 very supportive members!
And Truecraig humorously talked about the joy he gets from sharing stories on his blog. He’s part of a large network of writers, including screenwriters.
If you’ve been holding back from blogging because you’re worried about your stuff getting swiped, check out the Creative Commons website. There you can create a license that outlines if, and under what circumstances, your work can be legally distributed. I’m just starting to read about this myself, so I can’t say more about it right now.
David Nunez pointed out that getting a blog started can be as easy as going to blogger.com and taking just a few minutes to set up a site. He suggested concentrating solely on the writing at the start. He advises not to start getting into advanced formatting or joining networks until you’ve had your blog running for at least four months or have 100 posts.
And here’s a daunting stat — only 55% of blogs make it past three months. Also, note that a readership doesn’t really start until several months after you begin posting. It takes time for people to discover you. So, you need to keep plugging along consistently with posts even if your readers aren’t with you yet! It’s a lot of work, I know. Sometimes I open my site and am somehow disappointed that there’s nothing new there for me to read. Ah, right…
David also outlined 5 Values for Successful Blogs:
Originality of content. Don’t just transplant ideas — share your own.
Frequency of posting. David suggested twice a week (i.e. a sustainable rate to avoid burnout).
Patience to make it to past month three. After that, you’ll have a strong foundation of material and readers (hopefully!) will be starting to discover you.
Authority Basically, write about topics you know well.
Sincerity Don’t set up a blog solely to load it with ads and almost no content. Google has ways of spotting those and cuts them off.
For us writers, it’s especially important to get involved. A blog is a terrific way to develop a readership and to promote books. Of course, on a personal level, it’s also wonderful to join a new, welcoming, and expanding community!
p.s. I entitled this post “Go Boldly…” rather than “Boldly Go…” so as not to disturb fellow writers who are grammar fanatics and may have been traumatized by years of hearing Star Trek’s “To boldly go…” (arguably, the world’s most famous split infinitive). Yes, there’s a place for all of us in the blogosphere!
Great Agents & Editors Conference!
June 26th, 2006As you may know from previous posts, this past weekend, I attended the 13th Annual Writers’ League of Texas Agents and Editors Conference.
Overall, it was a wonderful experience! There were many opportunities to speak with a great group of agents and editors, and of course, to other writers. As well, there were knowledgeable and approachable professionals leading “breakout sessions” (a collection of interesting seminars for attendees to choose from).
In short, the weekend was a great opportunity to network and to learn. But the conference shouldn’t be seen as a chance to walk away with an agent’s offer to represent you. For that, you have to dazzle with more than verbally delivering a great pitch.
A key point I heard at this conference (and the two others I attended) is that it all boils down to one big question — can you write? Nobody can expect to land a reputable agent (more about that in the upcoming Homework post) without giving her/him a chance to look over your work. So have your writing revised to your best quality before you pitch it to an agent. And then, if s/he likes your book idea, be prepared to send her/him the exact material requested. That being said, a few agents at the conference did ask me to send material, and I’m glad I made note of who requested what.
With all the weekend’s hustle and bustle, I wasn’t able to speak to as many people as I would’ve liked, so that’s where having a strong query letter should come in handy (and here’s another plug — watch for the Query Letter post).
By the way, I really enjoyed my scheduled ten-minute consultation time with Betsy Amster, President of Betsy Amster Literary Enterprises. We had a nice conversation, and she requested some material. I’m very pleased about that.
Over the next week or two, I’ll be sharing tips from the pros at the conference and from other sources. Watch for these upcoming posts:
- Go Boldly into the Blogosphere: A Wake-up Call for Writers
- Do Your Homework Before Contacting an Agent
- How to Write a Query Letter
- Let’s Get Married: The Agent/Author Relationship
Looking, but not touching (…much)
June 21st, 2006Taking a last look at my writing is part of my preparation for the Writers League of Texas Agents and Editors Conference that I’ll be attending this weekend.
Tonight and tomorrow, I’ll be reviewing (and maybe revising …just a little) the synopsis and first three chapters of Consumption. That’s a typical amount of writing for an agent to ask to see if s/he is possibly interested in your novel. Of course, I’d also be thrilled to send along the full manuscript if requested.
I have a ten-minute consultation with Betsy Amster (President of Betsy Amster Literary Enterprises) on Saturday that I’m really looking forward to, and I’ll also seize opportunities to chat with other agents, editors, and writers. The breakout sessions look great, too!
I’m expecting to learn a lot, and I’ll gladly share it with you in next week’s posts.
‘Til then, wish me luck with pitching my novel (crossed fingers or four-leaf clovers would be appreciated)!
Two parts Perfectionism, One part Stagefright
June 20th, 2006That’s the evil, paralyzing mix that I fell under the influence of today. I suspect it hits all writers and bloggers, in varying amounts, from time to time.
Perfectionism plagues me constantly, whether I’m writing or revising my novel, Consumption (which is ready for an agent’s eyes now), or more recently, when I’ve started blogging. Perfectionism is familiar to me, but today’s level of stagefright was something new.
This morning, I spent time browsing through the multitude of other blogs out there. While it was great to see more of this massive online community, I started feeling panicky. Immobile. Wordless. Like a little girl suddenly being thrust onto a talent show stage and then freezing there, silent and still, blinded by the spotlight. I felt stuck in front of an invisible and unknown audience.
To move past the fright, I asked myself, “How can I reframe this?” And then, it came to me. I realized that the blogosphere is really just made up of many audiences of one. And who’s afraid of one?
So, tonight, it’s just you and me. We’re each just hanging out at a computer. Remembering that, I can relax and just type.
Hey, I’m even breathing. Typing and breathing. Typing and breathing. That’s not so hard.
So my dear quasi-singular, amorphous reader, thanks for listening.
And please feel free to say hi to me in the comments section — I’m really not too scary, and I’ve had all my shots.
A Gift of Prophecy
June 18th, 2006I was blessed to be granted two wonderful, loving parents: my mom who is always supportive and enthusiastically cheers me on, and my dad who passed away in 1994. With today being Father’s Day, I find my thoughts drifting to him.
All parents have dreams for their children, but my dad’s bordered on prophetic.
When I was young, I spent a lot of my time at school daydreaming, as noted on most of my elementary school report cards. This seeming lack of focus may have concerned some parents, but not my dad.
Like it was yesterday, I remember him saying, when I was about eight years old and appearing a little too quiet and distracted, “It’s okay — she’s thinking. She’s going to be a writer.”
Perhaps his remark turned out to be a simple self-fulfilling prophecy (yes, I took an introductory psych. course) — perhaps hearing that, coupled with lots of encouragement from both parents over the years, gently steered me into the profession I have (and love) today. But I like thinking it was all something more than that, something magical. Wherever the power of that message came from, it was a gift that helped guide me.
Thanks for believing, Dad.
What’s in a name?
June 16th, 2006Ever done a Google search for your name? If you’re someone like John Curtis, my husband, it’ll take a lot of posting and linking to sites to get your name near the top of the search results. But do a search for “Cuileann McKenzie” and you’ll find me right away.
Nowadays, seeking a following as a writer/speaker, I’m very happy with the name my parents chose for me: “Cuileann” is Scottish Gaelic for “Holly” — the symbol of the McKenzie clan (no pressure living up to that one).
I’ve always been kind of fond of my name, but sometimes, as a kid, the rash of mispronunciations could get hard to take. I’ve heard it all — “Coo-I-LEE-ann,” “Kill-EE-an,” “Quee-leen,” and for a nickname, “Koo-Wally-Olie-Bing-Bang!”
Now, as always, the most polite folks of the world consistently call me “Miss McKenzie” or “Mrs. McKenzie” and often flip between the two. Interestingly, I’ve noticed many seem to have trouble with “Ms.” — the prefix I actually prefer — but that could be fuel for another post.
The point is, in this golden Google age, an unusual name is either a blessing or a curse. So, for those souls granted names not common: post well, my friends, post well.
Success at CATA
June 15th, 2006On May 25, I spoke at the Canadian Athletic Therapists Asssociation (CATA) conference in Ottawa, Canada about “The Importance of Differential Diagnosis: An MS Patient’s Perspective.”
Everything went very well. I spoke in a lecture hall at the University of Ottawa to about 300 delegates. What a great audience — they were receptive and laughed heartily at my occasional jokes (always a good thing). Based on the feedback I heard (and the applause and questions I received), my message came across clearly and was valued.
Thank you very much to Bruce Marshall, Rob, Jocelyn, and all the other conference staff for ensuring that everything ran smoothly. Thanks also to my sister, Kirsty McKenzie, who gave me a wonderful introduction.
I’m really looking forward to speaking again (it’s actually quite addictive), and I’ll post details about upcoming speaking events when available. I foresee more talks at Unitarian Universalist churches in Austin, and I’ll also be seeking corporate/organizational speaking opportunities.
Questing for an Agent…
May 13th, 2006I’ll be pitching my literary novel, Consumption, at the Writers’ League of Texas Agents and Editors Conference, June 23-25.
More postings about my book will be coming soon!
Upcoming Speaking Event
May 13th, 2006May 25, 2006 — “The Importance of Differential Diagnosis: An M.S. Patient’s Perspective”
CATA Conference 2006: Neurological Aspects in Athletic Therapy May 24-27, 2006 Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
**Speaker’s Summary will be posted after the event**
