Currently viewing the tag: "Wondered"
  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 .
  Join a writing group? Me? Baring my soul through writing and sharing this with
people I didnâ??t know sounded like something I couldnâ??t emotionally handle but it seemed to be the next step on the road to becoming a career writer. The courses on writing I had taken were over and the ladies in the class thought it would be great to start meeting monthly to talk about and share our writings. The instructor agreed to start the group in her home and we were all informed by email where and when it would be.
    I suffered up until the day of the meeting, going back and forth as to whether I would attend or not. Fears assaulted me as I worried about every little thing regarding the meeting. Later I would realize that this was just one of the many steps and obstacles I would have to take if I wanted to continue to pursue writing. Coming to crossroads has happened over and over again and each time I had to decide, â??Do I want to step out in this area? Is this a positive road in my journey to becoming a career writer?â?
    You might say, â??I can be a writer without classes or group involvementâ? and I am sure that some people have and you might to. Writing classes and groups have been invaluable to me however, not just for what I have learned but for the connections I have made with different people.
    Going to the first group meeting was difficult and I soon realized that we all had different styles of writing, goals and areas we wanted to pursue with the written word. We also all had many things in common such as worrying if others valued our writing, wondering how much time and money we wanted to invest in this and the big question, â??How good am I?â?Â
    Working with others monthly in a group has helped me with these questions and others. Every month we bring an original work, either something given by assignment or freestyle. We listen and bring encouragement to the writer, first and foremost. Our biggest critique is in clarity; is there something unclear or hard to understand in the writing? Our groupâ??s goal is to encourage and learn, not tear each other down. We rejoice when others take big steps and encourage when some are struggling. A few months ago we had an assignment to write a short story using three key words picked out of a hat and mine was so well received that I am turning it into a novella! So you never know what could happen.
     Keeping in touch is important especially when feeling burnt out or discouraged by the slowness of the process of building this career. Mostly we communicate outside of group by emails; after all, we are writers!
    Next week I want to go a little further in talking about writing groups and classes by discussing how connections with people who can help you can be made through these avenues. One such connection led to the writing of my first novel�
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 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 .
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    Okayâ?¦so you decided to hire a writing coachâ?¦letâ??s say you have found one and you are ready to finish that novel and become rich and famous or at least publish your book for family and friends. What now?
    You are in for a life-changing experience, for it is one thing to write a novel or even a short story; itâ??s entirely different to share your precious bundle of joy with someone else who will correct it, constructively criticize it and possibly make suggestions that you donâ??t agree with. How do you work with the coach now that youâ??re on the same team? I have five suggestions that have helped me in the three years Iâ??ve been working with a writing coach:
(1)       Be honest-you need to be honest and up front on exactly what you are working on, how much you want to put into it and even why you write.  This process of becoming a career writer has forced me to go back and evaluate why I do what I do many times. All this needs to be shared with your coach so he or she can best teach, encourage and push you toward a successful, significant career.
(2)       Decide on the direction-Decide on a direction for your career while you are evaluating why you do what you do. Are you strictly fiction or non-fiction in writing? Are you going to pursue short stories or novels or poetry? Do you plan to go after a publishing house with your work or to self publish? Though my focus has veered from its course now and again, my overall purpose and direction has remained the same.
(3)       Set goals- Itâ??s important to have weekly goals, monthly or quarterly goals and yearly goals for you must be going after something. Just saying, â??Iâ??m writing a bookâ? isnâ??t enough. Have goals to write certain word counts or chapters, to have edits done and to do promo work. This will keep you inspired when things are slow which definitely happens.
(4)       Complete your assignments-Finishing those assignments given by your coach, especially ones that are goal-oriented, will help you to focus on writing. Sometimes I get bored with a certain assignment and I might have to start something else and come back to it but I have tried hard to finish what I have started. Falling into the trap of not completing things will catch up with you in the future with bad work habits and compromise in your writing.
(5)       Be ready to agree to disagree-I listen carefully to my writing coach but occasionally I have disagreed. Learning to agree to disagree and not making it a place to get stuck is important as writing is a long and tedious process.  I have learned to think suggestions through and take time to decide if I can have peace about the suggestion or not.  Mutual respect is the key.
   Working with a coach has been rewarding but I have also complained, whined, gotten annoyed and tried to give up countless times. Following the above steps have helped me become a better client and a better writer than ever before. Yes, I still need a lot of work but thank goodness thatâ??s where my editor comes in. You say you might want an editor too? Join me next week as we will talk about going ahead and getting your work editedâ?¦
Jennifer Hallmark is a writer, artist and ministry leader who works with women’s ministry groups. Her love of writing is evident with over 90 articles published on 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 .
 Last week we started talking about writing groups and how the support within can help you on your road to writing success. Every month I can talk to the group and express my fears, writing blocks and other issues and gain encouragement and even ideas to help me move on to the next step.
    Writing exercises and games are something we do in writing group to liven things up and get the creative juices flowing. Some of my and others best short stories have come from writing exercises. To me, these exercises cause me to go to my creativity and flow. By flow I mean just start writing without trying to think everything through. Like an artist, I go to the creative side of my brain instead of the logical side and before I know it the story is on paper. Logic is okay in editing but gets in the way during the initial write.
   Connections made during writing groups can be fruitful. Many groups have guest speakers such as editors, published authors and even publishers that can give you valuable insight into their world, what they think and what they want in a story. Groups can also open doors to conferences, workshops and online groups that can again broaden your perspective on things and possibly allow you to meet someone who can help your career.
   One of our meetings was about getting your work professionally edited and an editor/writing coach from another state came in and talked about what she did. I had brought along a small non-fiction work I had written in case the opportunity came to show her. She glanced at it and asked me to send the first 10 pages by email for her to check out later.Â
    She liked the non-fiction thoughts I had but asked me if I had ever considered taking these thoughts and turning them into a fiction story that might be more interesting for the readers. Turning the principles I believed into fiction had not really crossed my mind but I decided to take the thoughts in one chapter and write a story.
    It quickly grew into fifty pages and we began talking by phone and email. Her insights were invaluable and I hired her to edit my work. My first novel is finished and edited with the second in the series two thirds of the way completed. I have ideas enough for at least a seven book series and all of it grew from a writing group meeting where I made a life-changing connection.Â
   So do not despise the day of small beginnings�classes, groups and just plain hard work. You never know where these can lead�next week we will look at getting started writing through journaling�
Jennifer Hallmark is a writer, artist and ministry leader who works with women’s ministry groups. Her love of writing is evident in the over 50 articles she has written for several different article websites, as well as 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 .
    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 .
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