Currently viewing the tag: "Career"
I’d like to become a writer of fiction, an actress, or possibly an artist…what should I do in high school to get into that kind of school? I’m not very talented in anything that isn’t creative…so I need to know what I should do! Please help!
  Wow! All the questions in last weekâ??s article were a lot to ponder but so necessary in this all essential step of going from casual to career in writing. I hope you took some time to decide if you wanted to financially invest in writing, wrote down some other skills and talents you have to compliment your marketability as a writer, and mainly decided that this was something you just had to do. With all the hard work that lay ahead, you will need that relentless attitude when the going gets tough.
    The story behind my reaching this crossroads came about when an editor/writing coach came to speak to our writing group. I had timidly brought along a small non-fiction work I had written and showed it to her. She told me to email her the first ten pages and she would give me a free critique. This turned into a phone conference where the editor liked the work but asked if I would consider getting my point across that the work talked about through the avenue of fiction. Talk about scary! I had written little fiction and wasnâ??t sure if I even wanted to.
    I said I would try and within a month had some ideas and fifty pages that I sent to her. Seeing that her coaching ability and editing expertise would help me, I made the big financial plunge and invested in her services of coaching and editing. To me, it was the best decision I ever made. On my own I think I would have given up after a couple of months, but she would encourage me and give me ideas and really push me harder than I would have ever pushed myself.Â
    Within two years, I had my first novel complete and edited, my second novel partially complete with ideas down for at least three more. Just as important was the fact that I learned a lot about computers, marketing, advertising, publishing, editing, websites; blogs and a host of other things that I didnâ??t know were even involved in a writerâ??s life.Â
    I wish I could say that it was all easy and I accepted with enthusiasm each challenge as they came along but honestly my writing coach pulled me kicking and screaming all the way. Wanting to run from each challenge was more like it but I have learned that I can do more than I ever thought possible. I am now in the process of looking for a literary agent for my first novel and am finishing a novella that I intend to publish on line.Â
    You can see that much more is involved than my dream of sitting at the computer typing the novel, mailing it out and then going to the mailbox to receive my big checks, so much more. All in all, I believe my journey is going to be worth it, whether the financial rewards are big or not. I believe I am being a positive influence on people and in the process am learning much about myself�
    Join me next week as we talk about working with a writing coach�
Jennifer Hallmark is a writer, artist and ministry leader who works with women’s ministry groups. Her love of writing is evident in over 70 articles she has written for several different article websites. She is also a contributing writer for brandlady.com magazine. She has finished her first in a series of novels, Journey of Grace: A New Beginning.Check out her websites at www.jenniferhallmark.com and www.aclarioncall.com .
    Questions are whirling around and round in your head: â??Should I hire a writing coach? And should I have someone edit my work before I send it to a publisher or self-publish? Itâ??s okay for these are questions you should be asking yourself at the crossroads we just passed through; the crossroads where you decided to become a career writer.Â
    Letâ??s stop and look at the first question on hiring a writing coach. Is this what I need to do or not? Speaking from my own experience, I reached a point when I felt it was necessary to get someone to help me out. I had been writing, editing and publishing a local church newsletter, taking writing classes, wrote a small non-fiction book and had researched writing as a career. I felt stalled out at this point and realized that I needed help; there was so much I didnâ??t know and in this jungle of writing and publishing that I found myself in, a guide would be useful and in my case, necessary to survive. There are four things that my writing coach does for me:
(1)Â Â Â Â Teaches me-from sentence structure to the in workings of publishing to scams, my writing coach has increased my knowledge one hundred percent through giving her expertise and experience to me in this field.
(2)    Encourages me-she also encourages me when I feel stuck, hopeless or when I am looking at a mountain of assignments and about to throw my hands up and walk away. She believes in me and tells me I can make it and validation by someone in the writing field is imperative as you go from level to level.
(3)Â Â Â Â Inspires me-sometimes I get writerâ??s block in the middle of a story or article and I call her and we talk it out, helping me gain insight or ideas during our conversation.Â
(4)    Kicks me- one important thing she does is â??kickâ? or should I say â??prodsâ? me when I am stalled or going backwards. I tend to be a little whiny so besides encouraging I need a gentle push in the right direction from time to time.
    How did I find a writing coach? I went to my writing group and met a lady that one of the group members had already worked with on the creation of their own book series. We met once and had several phone conferences before I made a decision and signed a contract. You need to make sure the coach is someone you can work with and is professional and knowledgeable with the background to back it up. Check their past work and references and go over the contract with a fine toothed comb.
    What about an editor? For me, again the editing was essential for it had been twenty years since I had been in school. I had forgotten so many of my English lessons that my first edits on my novel were scary. The paper was marked up with wrong sentence structure, switches in tenses and plain bad grammar.Â
    The fact that I hired a writing coach/editor was helpful for my edits also contained helpful hints of ways to strengthen my story asking questions such as â??Why did you say this?â? and â??Why did you introduce this character now?â? It made me think and rethink my story over and over, creating a better work overall. I believe it is impossible to edit your own work; you are tool close to the story to look at it objectively.
    You might say at this point, â??Well, the publisher will edit itâ? and it is true that they have their own editors. I, however, want the best possible manuscript to present to the publisher and edited work will draw attention of the positive kind.
   This should give you some food for thought as you decide whether to hire a writing coach and/or editor. Some of you are already thinkingâ?¦â?Yes, Iâ??ve been stuck for a while and need someone to help me. A writing coach might be just the thing. But what do I have to look forward to?â? Join us next weekâ?¦
Jennifer Hallmark is a writer, artist and ministry leader who works with women’s ministry groups. Her love of writing is evident in over 80 articles she has written for several different article websites. Jennier is also a contributing writer for brandlady.com magazine. She has finished her first in a series of novels, Journey of Grace: A New Beginning.Check out her websites at www.jenniferhallmark.com and www.aclarioncall.com .
Writers must be readers! That might be a strong statement but there are several reasons why reading and reading constantly and consistently makes us a better writer. We start to read at a young age and what we read, how much we read and how well we understand what we read shapes the writer within. When you read, several interesting things happen.
(1) Your vocabulary improves-reading broadens our vocabulary if we progressively grow in the difficulty of the material we read and if we read a wide variety of material.
(2) It should increase your use of the dictionary-as your vocabulary improves, you should take time to study new words, finding out their meaning and pronunciation. Even today, I try to take time to look up words and make sure I understand their meaning instead of guessing what they mean or just skipping over them.
(3) The world opens up- reading a variety of magazines and books takes you all over the world to different cultures, races, and areas. Many people read about a country in a book and then decide to visit. The possibilities are endless.
(4) It inspires your writing- I haven’t met a writer yet that wasn’t an avid reader. Something about reading and noticing how it affects other people, especially in a good way, makes me want to write something that will inspire and encourage others.
Growing up in rural Alabama with limited means left my brother and me with lots of time. A county bookmobile came to the little store near our house every month, a bright light indeed. We would pull our wagon up to the store with a clothes basket on it and check out the limit of books for the month. Then with our treasure in tow, we looked forward to adventure and intrigue as these books took us to far away places, places where there were no limits. My favorite books at this age were biographies of famous people, all in the same series, though I don’t recall the name. These books inspired me to know I could be more than I ever dreamed and shaped my younger life.
By the time I was in the eighth grade, I was writing poetry and short stories, shaped by the books I had read. Writing and reading have been part of my life for years. Over the years, I have read biographies, westerns, romance, mysteries, classics, inspirational and non-fiction of all types. I try to read a large scope of authors, subjects and styles. With me, I tend to get on a “kick”; maybe reading inspirations for a time, then some historical fiction, fantasy and the list goes on. Everything that I have read has combined to make me the writer that I am; it has given me my own style; my own “voice.” My love for reading will never dim for I know I am the better writer for it.
Check next week as we talk about classes we can take [besides writing] to improve our writing…
Jennifer Hallmark is a writer, artist and ministry leader who works with women?s ministry groups. Her love of writing is evident in over 60 articles she has written for several different article websites. She is also a contributing writer for brandlady.com magazine. She has finished her first in a series of novels, Journey of Grace: A New Beginning.Check out her websites at www.jenniferhallmark.com and www.aclarioncall.com .
During the last few weeks I have had several people approach me and ask me, â??How did you get started in your pursuit of becoming a writer?â?
While I have not arrived at the goals and dreams I have concerning writing, I will be glad to share a little bit of what I have learned over the past few years.
Three years ago I began to seriously pursue a career in writing. Writing had been part of my life since I was 9 years old and I had enjoyed writing for fun through school and into marriage. Starting with poetry, I then went to short stories but early in my marriage and while my children were young my writing ceased as a busy life took over.
When my children were older I began writing for a church newsletter and worked on Bible studies that I shared with my friends. I wrote a short non-fiction book based on some of the Bible studies and sent it to a few publishers in the early 1990â??s with no success. The desire to write was something I could not get past however and a chance peek at the local newspaper one day changed my life and its course forever.
Advertised in the paper was Community Education and its winter schedule of classes. I had participated in Community Education before, taking a hair braiding class a few years earlier. What caught my eye this time was a writing class; four weeks for a small amount of money. With the state of my finances this seemed to be the perfect opportunity to see how serious I was about writing.
This brings me to the first topic in this series of articles on pursuing a writing career. Topic one is to take a writing class. Whether it is a course in college, community education or lessons on-line, go ahead and sign up for a class to get your feet wet. How will you know how serious you are if you never step out of the boat? Many people talk about doing different things and living their dream but never follow through. Here is one easy step if you want to be a writer: take a class.
When I arrived at the first class I almost ran back out the door. There were eight other ladies and I was sure they were all expert writers and would probably laugh at my feeble attempts to create on paper. Taking a class made me realize what little self-confidence I had and how afraid I was to share what was in my heart. On a more positive note, it also introduced to some wonderful ladies who were really no different than me and helped me to realize that I did want to go to the next step in becoming a career writer, joining a writing group. Join me next week for more tips on pursuing a career in writing.
Jennifer Hallmark is a writer, artist and ministry leader who works with women’s ministry groups. Her love of writing is evident in over 50 articles she has written for several different article websites and her being a contributing writer for brandlady.com magazine. She has finished her first in a series of novels, Journey of Grace: A New Beginning.Check out her websites at www.jenniferhallmark.com and www.aclarioncall.com .
When developing a story or article, aspiring authors often hear this writing tip: learn to incorporate the “who,” “when,” “where,” and “how.” But what often gets overlooked is the “why.” Without examining why a story takes place, or why an article would be of interest to the reader, the entire writing experience can be a fruitless exercise.
* Why this character?
At a writing conference I once critiqued a manuscript featuring a character in a situation where you wouldn’t normally expect to find him. When I wondered why he was there, the author answered, “He just is.” “But how did he get there?” I asked. “One of the other characters put him there,” the author stated. “Why?” I pushed. The author didn’t have an answer.
If you arbitrarily think it would be cute to have a monkey, a doll, or a policeman as your story’s protagonist, the reader’s not going to care unless it makes sense to have that character inhabit your particular plot. And if a monkey shows up where he shouldn’t be–at school, for instance–why he’s there has to be an integral part of the story. But more than that, the reader has to know why this monkey is suddenly sitting in a first grade classroom. What’s unique about the character that makes him the only monkey who could possibly appear in this book?
* Why this story?
Just as important as knowing why your character inhabits your book is understanding why this character experiences the conflict or problem that fuels the plot. Your readers have to believe this protagonist would encounter these obstacles, and not be able to resolve the problem in a few lines of text. Not every child is afraid of the dark, so if your character hides under the covers when the lights are out, plant something in her personality that causes this behavior.
How the plot conflict is resolved also harks back to “why.” Why does your character take these particular steps, instead of an easier or more obvious route, to reach his goal? What fears, hang-ups or quirks does the character have to overcome to get what he wants? Would a child understand and care about these traits? Have you laid the groundwork in the beginning of the story so the reader believes the character could not possibly act any other way, thus never forcing the reader to question you in the first place?
* Why this article?
Virtually any nonfiction topic can hold a child’s interest if it’s presented in the right way. But first ask yourself why you’re writing this article or book. Does it have a direct application to the experiences of your readers? Can it tie in with what they’re learning in school? Will it enrich their lives in some way? If your motivations are clear, then take a hard look at your audience. Why would kids this age be interested in this topic? How can you present the material in a way that’s entertaining as well as informative? If you find you’re working hard to shape the information to fit a specific audience or format, perhaps you need to rethink your approach. Maybe you’re trying to write too young, and the subject really requires an older reader. Or perhaps you assume middle graders will be fascinated with an animal alphabet book, but after researching other ABC books on the market, you learn they’re really targeted to much younger children.
Laura Backes is the Publisher of Children’s Book Insider, the Newsletter for Children’s Book Writers. For more about writing picture books, easy readers and young adult novels, visit http://write4kids.com and The CBI Clubhouse
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