Recently posted by Lynette Benton

It seems that most of us spend our time in rapid fire mode, as if we're saving lives--or the world. So how do you find time to write, instead of just thinking and talking about writing? 


Here are a few tips to help you claim a few precious moments each day to get something down on paper.

You can write:

• on your commute.
• instead of surfing the 'Net.
• during commercials, if you don't have TiVo.
• during TV shows that you've decided aren't all that good anyway.
  
• while getting your hair done.
• while bored in a meeting you really don't need to be attending anyway.
• on your lunch hour. (You'd be surprised how many pages you can accumulate that way.)
• when you get up 15 minutes earlier or go to bed 15 minutes later.
  

This just in! Ideas for increasing your free time (to write, of course). http://holykaw.alltop.com/more-time

Got any ideas of your own about how to sneak in some writing time? If so, post a comment for all to share.

Actually, if you enjoy these creative writing posts, I'd love it if you left a comment, so it won't seem like I'm flinging words down a silent tunnel.

Been longing to write--maybe for decades--but can't seem to get started? Here are a few tips to grease the wheels. On your mark . . .

• Get organized to write. Get notebook, a nice writing implement, and a space.
• Write lists of words--words that interest you or confound you or enchant you.
• Play with phrases. Don't worry if they're meaningless. Just write them down.
  
• Start a journal--for your eyes only.
• Write a letter--not an email message--but a real, hard copy letter. Note: It can be short.
  
• Promise someone you'll turn in 50 - 100 words of your writing each week. Make the consequences unpleasant. For example, each time you don't submit the work to him or her, you have to pay that person $50, no excuses.
  

Later, we'll go into more challenging ways to start writing stuff that's got shape and substance to it.

Just remember, you'll never get published if you don't write anything. And congrats to all of you who have been writing.

And it doesn't look very good for people who say they've always wanted to write. Here are the final responses to the question: "Are those who say they've always wanted to write serious about becoming writers?"
Only 9% of the 32 respondents said "Yes."

21% said "No."

31% were more generous. They said "They'll get around to it eventually."

And a rousing 37% said, "They're just dreamers."

What does this informal, unscientific survey tell us? Well, it might mean that when people say they want to write, others don't take them seriously.

On the other hand, some writers were among the poll respondents, so maybe they're the ones who believe that wannabe writers eventually get around to writing. Or maybe they're the 9% who feel confident that those who say they want to write really do.

Are you someone who professes to have always wanted to write? Are you writing? If so, what was your catalyst? If not, what's holding you back?

Maybe there are reasons you actually shouldn't write a book. See what writer Joel Orr offers as reasons at www.examiner.com/7-reasons-not-to-write-a-book.

In my next post, I should write about what I said I'd write about: the actual contents of the Tools & Tactics for Creative Writers presentation I delivered on October 14. But I think I should write about how to give yourself a push to get over the hump, if you really want to write, but aren't--writing, that is.

Want to get a huge book advance? Check out this blog posting, which also points out that--are you ready?-- 81% of the population wants to write a book! Get a Big Publishing Advance.

Don't forget to leave a comment if there's something about creative writing that you'd like to see covered here. Thanks!

You remember the poll I mentioned in my previous blog? The one that asked the question: "Are the people who often say, 'I've always wanted to write' serious about becoming writers?"

Well, for a while there, it looked as if no one really believed these folks. 75% of respondents said they were "just dreamers." Pretty bad, huh?

But as more people responded to the poll, the numbers actually got better. So far, 28 people have voted. Here's how the answers look now.

Question
"Are the people who often say, 'I've always wanted to write' serious about becoming writers?"

Answer
Yes  7%
No  25%
They'll gt around to it eventually  32%
They're just dreamers  35%

I was interested to see that some voters left thoughtful comments, and doubted the legitimacy of the question itself. They wondered if the opinions would offer me any useful information. (Since I know that some aspiring writers responded, I think the poll does give me useful info--both about the writers themselves and other people's perceptions of their stated desire.)

One man pointed out that writers have to write. Others just mean that they want to make money writing.

Another wondered what I meant by "serious."

The most exciting comment was from a woman who said she used to be someone who "always wanted to write." She is now a person who can say, "I am a writer." Nice news.

Check back here in a few days to see the final verdict.

If you'd like to cast your vote, just click on http://polls.linkedin.com/p/64368/qlhro.

I'd love to get your take on the seriousness of aspiring writers. Please respond to  this short poll, and I'll share the results here.

http://polls.linkedin.com/p/64368/qlhro

Thanks!

I'm a fan of online writing classes--mostly.

Nothing beats their convenience. No commuting to class in the dark after work, no searching for parking; no sleepy ride home late at night. Just you, snuggly at home, or out in the open air, learning in comfort, any time you choose.

Another advantage is that you have access to any instructor you want. Proximity is no issue. You can take a class in Boston from someone living in the Midwest--or as far away as Burkina Faso.

But learning online does take a bit of getting used to.

Tone of voice, facial expressions, and individual animation are all lost. You communicate with your instructor and classmates via email, and by and large, they are only names to you. Of course, you can see your instructor's writing, and maybe a photo, on her web site. And after a while, you do associate your classmates' names with a certain kind of writing. But that's about it.

Unless . . .  you take a class with an instructor who places more emphasis on interaction between the two of you and less on your interactions with your classmates. Andrea Collier, who teaches personal essay writing a couple of times a year, is one one such teacher. Take a look at the profile I wrote about her at Andrea Collier.

You can find out more about choosing an online writing class at How-to-choose-an-online-writing-class.

If you've got questions about creative writing that you'd like me to address, just leave a comment!

It can be difficult to find a writing group. But, one of the best benefits of taking an in-person (as opposed to online) writing class is that some or all of your classmates might become writing group partners, after the course is over. That way, you'll have ongoing (and free) writing instruction, feedback, encouragement, and community.



You also get to set your own rules. Maybe your group meets monthly, rather than weekly, as you would in a class. This will give you more time to work on your writing between group meetings, and it will also make it easier to critique group members' work.

You can even decide that rather than each person's reading everyone else's work, each group member swaps work for critiquing with only one other member.

And, if my writing group experience is anything to go by, you'll meet in the comfort of one another's homes and enjoy fabulous food. Either the host prepares all of it, or members bring something tasty to each meeting.

One thing to watch out for, however, is a situation in which someone (or several people) in the group does not do any writing, but turns up at meetings mostly to eat and critique others' work. That uneven participation eventually leads to resentment in those who are actually writing.

Writers have to exercise and expand their writing skills all the time. It's an ongoing requirement. One of the best ways to do this is by taking a writing class.

Some of the advantages of participating in a writing class are that you:

• become part of a community of writers
• learn new techniques
• get help solving writing challenges you're facing
• get encouragement in your efforts, and
  
• get feedback on your work
• write on a schedule
  

But there are drawbacks, as well, to taking a writing class.

The instructor might not be versed in the genre you're interested in. (Google the instructor to find out his or her writing credits.)

The instructor might not be very good at instructing. (Ask your writer friends or call the administration of the school and ask about the instructor's previous valuations.)

Your classmates might not be on your level. (The course description usually specifies the writing experience expected of students. But if it doesn't, ask the school's administration.)

You might underestimate the time required for you to produce weekly writing assignments. (See www.examiner.com/How-to-choose-an-online-writing-class.) And related to this: you probably will have to read your classmates' work.

That can be a good thing. Reading others' work shows you how they handle various writing challenges--for example, choice or words, use of scenes and images, truth telling in non-fiction.

However--and the "however" is a big one--you'll have to spend precious writing time not writing, but critiquing a dozen other people's work. That's why, in the classes I teach, I do not have my students read their classmates' work. If you have very few hours each week to dedicate to your creative writing, it's a real hardship to use some of those hours on someone else's work.

Ever since a student in one of my creative writing courses interrupted my opening spiel with, "Excuse me. Could you tell us what your qualifications are?," I begin my Tools & Tactics for Creative Writers lecture by stating my experience.

Undergraduate English degree. Graduate degree in communications management. Published author of articles and essays. Awards. So, that's how I began the Lexington adult ed lecture.

Then I asked what the participants' writing goals were. As mentioned in my previous post, they were clear about what they wanted to do and what they needed from my lecture.

I let them in on a dismal secret, meant not to distress them, but to spur them on.

• Book publishers receive many millions of manuscripts a year.
• Only 1% of all manuscript submissions are published.
• 93% of books sell less than 1,000 copies.
• The majority of books sell only 99 copies.

And twelve--that's right, 12--authors make 85% of all the money made by book authors!
And most authors only get 10% of the cover price.

Besides talent and persistence, writers need good resources, plain and simple. We need tools to beat the odds against getting our work published.

I offered tips to help them become bona fide writers. Begin identifying as a writer. Read books, such as If You Want to Write, by Brenda Ueland, designed to inspire writers. Join a community of writers, either live or online. Get a job as a writer--although commercial writing will affect your creative writing. We'll discuss that later.

Take writing classes. Some of the best and most numerous are offered through Harvard University Extension School, in Cambridge, Mass. The Cambridge Center for Adult Education is another place with writing courses in many genres, and instructors with loyal followings.

Blog postings are supposed to be about 275 words long, and I'm over that limit. So, I'll go over the pros and cons of both online and in-person writing classes and writing groups, and tell you where to find some of the best in my next posting.

Wednesday night (October 14), I held my first Tools & Tactics for Creative Writers lecture, a condensed version of my six-week course.

As I'd mentioned in an earlier posting, I'd been apprehensive about the lecture because I couldn't fathom what the participants' level of creative writing would be.

I spent the morning nipping and tucking my presentation, which refused to print in "Notes" view. So I had to copy all the notes for the slides into a Word document, and hope for the best.

Afterwards, I went over to Waltham to teach my 2:00 class there, and hoped my lecture audience would be half as engaged as my Waltham students.

Back home, I collated everything and put the handouts into nicely colored, plastic pocket folders. My business cards arrived 30 minutes before I left home, so I slipped them into the folders, too.

At Minuteman High School, where I was to present, no one met me in the gigantic cafeteria area as planned. But someone with a walkie talkie managed to locate the adult education coordinator, who took me to the room where my class was to take place. The laptop worked, but the projector didn't--until the program director frowned over it and fiddled with it. Then suddenly, voila.

An even bigger voila: My husband Joe was standing in the door. He had just registered for the course moments earlier and showed up to offer me support. The man is truly my treasure.

The students arrived. I started my presentation. I didn't need my notes after all. (The group I forgot to mention--Chicks Who Write--my husband reminded me of.)

Two class members had already written novels (impressive). One wanted to write articles and essays (my specialty). One wanted to write a nonfiction book about science (my hobby is reading science books and articles). What could have been better? We had a blast.

I've seen one of the evaluations. It's glowing. I'm thrilled.

In my next post, I'll tell you what I covered in the presentation. I hope it will help you.

(Note: Part 1 of this post appears below this entry. Blame the logic of the publishing software.)

Since I don't know anything about the audience for my Tools & Tactics for Creative Writers lecture next week, I thought I'd start out with a quotation that most writers could relate to.

It could be a fairly neutral "call  to arms," like Ben Franklin's: "Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing."

Or one that just adds to the conundrums writers face: "There are three rules for writing the novel. Unfortunately no one knows what they are." That one's courtesy of Somerset Maugham.

Probably not a good idea to start with a downright discouraging one: "Millions find their voice; few find an audience." Robert McCrum, former Observer literary editor.

There's one I like to tell women audiences, who arrive at my classes looking simultaneously weary and frantic. It's by Linda M. Hasselstrom, author of Windbreaker: A Woman Rancher on the Northern Plains. She's referring to the question women ask her whenever she gives a reading.

"The first question is always, 'How do you find time to write?' I'm always very polite, because I know people have varied priorities and most of these women are wives, mothers, and/or grandmothers. But I want to shout: Don't have children, don't clean the house, tear the telephone off the wall, throw a brick through the TV. Say NO; say it again, all together now: NO! NO! NO!

I will NOT bring a hot dish to the Ladies' Aid Society meeting.
I will NOT pick up your child or your cleaning.
I will NOT serve on a committee, no matter how high minded its purpose."

Wonderful, huh?

I'm preparing to give a lecture next week. It's called Tools & Tactics for Creative Writers. I teach this because unless (and even if) someone's earned a Masters in Fine Arts creative writing, they won't know what steps to take to get their work published. Or, they'll be familiar with the steps only in the broadest and vaguest terms.

So, in the past year, I've done a huge amount of research not only about the steps writers need to take to get their short or long work published, but about the resources that exist to help them/us.

I'd considered naming my presentation "Tools & Tricks" for creative writers, because successful writers use tricks in their work. If the work is good, those tricks are invisible to us as readers--unless we're performing a literary analysis of the text, for some reason. (I did a lot of that as a literature major in college.)

As Somerset Maugham wrote, "Art conceals art, in writing as elsewhere. The skill of a skilled writer tricks you into thinking that there is no skill [involved]."

But I've got a dilemma. I have no idea who will be in my audience this time. I don't know what they know. As I prepare, I waver between advanced information so that the experienced writers won't get bored and introductory information so that the beginning writers won't get frustrated.

I like a lot more certainty than that, but there you have it.

I teach at two senior centers. At the beginning of each course, I always ask what the students are reading.

The first time I did this, only one out of eight students responded that she read books. All the others looked sheepish, and admitted that the only thing they read was the daily newspaper. In teaching subsequent courses, I'm always amazed at how few of my would-be writers actually read anything.

In his memoir, On Writing, Stephen King relates an experience he says he's had more times than he cares to recall. After he's given a reading, someone approaches him and says,

"I've always wanted to write a book."

"What books have you read lately?" King asks.

The would-be author replies, "Oh, none. I don't have any time to read!"

King thinks, but doesn't have the heart to say, "Then you don't have time to write a book."

There are many, many reasons that those who want to write not just a book, but anything, must read, and read voraciously.

1) That is how you learn how it's done. It's how you internalize the words, rules, structure, strategies, tricks, and everything else that makes a piece of writing work.

2) You've got to ask yourself: If you don't read anyone else's writing, why expect them to read yours?

3) And of course, if you don't have time to read, you don't have time to write.

There's a huge world out there in books (and articles, essays, poems, and so on). Treat yourself to that world.

The idea for this blog originated when my local reference librarian told me that each week, she gets queries from patrons who want to write. They want to know about books that would inspire them, or articles that describe what agents and editors are looking for in a manuscript.


After I heard that, I realized that when people hear that I'm a writer, they often respond wistfully, "I've always wanted to write."

Then they continue: "But I don't know how to get started, or what books and magazines I should consult, or how to structure a novel. And who would publish anything by a novice writer?"

Well, this blog will cover all that and much more. I'll tell you what I'm teaching my students. I'll share what's been going on in my writerly life since I left Simmons a little over a year ago. And I'll look for your questions and answers in the Comments section here.

If you've always wanted to write, but have felt your dreams were hopeless, you'll get help here.

I've gotta go write another article about Boston writing careers for Examiner.com. I love doing that. You can check out all 70 of them at www.examiner.com/Boston-Writing-Careers. Or just get some encouragement from www.examiner.com/Boston-Writing-Careers-launch-your-writing--career.

Oh, one other thing. May Sarton, poet, diarist, and novelist noted that many people want to have published a book, but few want to do the work that actually writing one entails. So, do you really want to write?

If so, you can start small.

I first saw an Ania Gilmore's painting in an exhibit at the Concord Art Center, in Concord Massachusetts. It had cherries in it. Or plums. I can't recall. All I remember is the stark white background and the rich ripe fruit nestled among the leaves on the black branch. My husband was with me. We were surprised at how the painting seemed to reach towards us. The work was "Along the River," above. We loved it.

I've showed you the affordable art that I like; I hope you've liked it too. You've probably noticed that I've included contact information of the artists, which is one way to buy--actually a very inexpensive way to buy. There's no gallery markup, no commission. And you develop a relationship with the artist, which I can tell you, is a nice thing.

Another way to buy inexpensive art is at open studios. Most towns have them. You get to see the work in the artist's studio, and talk directly with the artist about their work. Many towns in Massachusetts sponsor artist open studio days; you can find listings with dates and locations here www.artistlink.org/?q=spacetoolbox/forartists/openstudios.

All during the warm weather, there are art fairs, often held in the town center, on the green, if there is one. I personally find the art exhibited there typically a little academic and predictable, so after a quick look, I wander away to the ice cream stand, which is where my husband really wants to be. But these fairs are worth a look--you never know . . .

Several of the artists I've showcased here have exhibited at the Concord Art Center, which exhibits truly fine work, as opposed to some cooperatives, whose artists' work doesn't seem all that imaginative, challenging, or daring. I want the art I collect to display originality in the subject, technique, point of view, materials, etc. I want to stop every now and then as I pass it in my home and take a good look at it again.

Galleries can be intimidating, not known for warmth and friendliness, which is why I want you to check out 13 Forest Street Gallery (http://www.13forest.com), which isn't on Forest Street, but on Massachusetts Avenue in Arlington, Mass. (That's a photo I took in their Gallery, above. A couple of others are below.) This gallery carries every type of art you could desire, and the owners, Marc Gurton and Meryl Perlson, are knowledgeable, friendly, and very interested in the work they show, and in their artists. And they actually enjoy intereacting with gallery visitors. They have frequent exhibits. and their prices are very reasonable. Contact them at info@13forest.com.

I first saw the art of Sarah Alaexander at the Audobon Wildlife sanctuary at Broadmoor in Natick, Massachusetts, after a chilly, but happy tramp over the paths with my husband. Joe's a nature-loving landscaper, so when we spied a room exhibiting naturalistic botanical art, we raced each other to it. The exhibit was large, the walls covered with paintings by this daughter of a British mother, who grew up surrounded by English gardens. She has been honored by numerous exhibitions and awards--no surprise. I returned to the Broadmoor exhibit to buy one of her works, but by the time I got there, it had been sold. I told a friend about Sarah's work; my friend promptly went to Holliston Mills and purchased two paintings.

On a jaunt to the Winchester Library, I wandered into a small room reserved for quiet meetings and, apparently, art exhibits. Photographs by Maggie Hsu (W.W. King) hung on the walls. The first one that struck me was of a White Peony (above), in part because peonies are among my very favorite flowers (they are so rich, highly scented, and "overdressed"), and because I drawn to the photograph's bold detail. Maggie Hsu rendered her flower as Georgia O'Keefe did hers: up close and massive. At the same time, the image has an abstract quality to it; it could almost have tricked me into believing it represented erupting ice floes in the Arctic.