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There are many ideas that probably hit you every day that you should jot down somewhere.  Perhaps someone says something that tickles you or you suddenly get a brilliant idea for a new story.  Write it down immediately!  It might just be the start of researching a future project.

I recently purchased a little black notebook, where I keep ideas for haiku. Ideas hit me without warning and if I don’t write them down, I might lose that little snippet.  Even if is just a line, the way something strikes me, I write it down.

One example recently was watching children play on an abandoned boat on the beach.  It turned into this haiku:

children giggle
inside an abandoned boat –
hermit crabs

If you have that kernel of an idea, go ahead and open a Word doc now and start putting research information about it into that file.  It will help you create a future project.

I did this with one story.  All I had was the basic concept: mushrooms take over the world.  Then I started researching a bit about mushrooms, here and there, bit by bit.  Then as time went on, I’d come up with other ideas and stick them in that file.

When I sat down to write the story it didn’t take long.  I had done all my research and was prepared.

You can read that story here.

If you have any old ideas that are sitting there, untapped in your mind right now, start a new file on your computer.  Write those ideas down (don’t worry about editing), just get them out of your mind and onto a page.  Download all those old ideas and see if you are inspired to write a new story today.

Merry Rosenfield just published her first book, An Uncommon Life.  It is a wonderful account of her daughter’s life.  I asked Merry to share her  tips for aspiring writers and to discuss her book with us here.

On Writing a Memoir
by Merry Rosenfield

Recently I published my first book, a memoir of my daughter Cedar. I called it An Uncommon Life, because hers certainly was. Cedar was an extraordinary writer, visual artist, actress and dancer.

Because her life was so brief (she passed away in 2001 at the age of twenty) the body of work she left behind was all the more extraordinary. Two feature screen plays, starring roles in several independent films, watercolors and pastels, embroidery, pin and ink drawings, and one brief video of her dancing.

If you were lucky enough to know my daughter, you most likely have a funny story involving her. Despite being such a hard worker (she often wrote until the wee hours of the morning) she seldom took herself seriously, and we often played pranks on each other. I’m sure Laura Sherman, who was one of her best friends, knows exactly what I’m talking about!

To say that Cedar was a colorful character is an understatement. She was beautiful, funny and extremely talented.

But the idea of writing a book about her was a little daunting. Prior to this I had written very brief poetry, (haiku) comics about my life as a jewelry artist on the road and a few songs. But a book?

Luckily, I knew exactly where to turn for inspiration—a  little book that was written in 1938 by a writer named Brenda Ueland. The name of the book—If You Want to Write. In Ms. Ueland’s own words, “Everybody is talented, original and has something important to say…”

Brenda taught creative writing to the kitchen help, the truck drivers and the ditch diggers of the world. The printed samples of their writing are breathtakingly, beautifully honest.

I think every artist, no matter your preferred form of art, should read this book. Ueland doesn’t teach you how to write.  But she does show you how to find your own unique voice as a writer.

I believe all of us have a gift within us to communicate. Some of us just need the right nutcracker to get to the meat. For me, the nutcracker was If You Want to Write.

Image by Darrren Hester via Flickr

Writing is fun.  I think many can agree with me on that.  The problem is that most people have a 9-5 job, family obligations and other hobbies (if not a second job).  So, who has the time to write?

Writing doesn’t have to be a time consuming process.  There is nothing wrong with simply writing 20 minutes each day.  You’d be surprised how much you can get done in that time period.

Start with a short story.  Give yourself a deadline of one week to write a 500 word story.  Make a point of only spending 20 minutes a day for one week and see if you can finish it.

You may surprise yourself and complete it in a few days.  If it takes two weeks, extend your deadline (shh, it will be our secret).

Once you’ve written a few of these, go for a longer story.  By this time you may be able to find more time in your day to write.

Make sure to share your stories with people.  Email friends and ask if they might like to read one.  Create a blog and post them there (and then invite folks to read it).  Offer to share your stories with other bloggers or writing groups.

If you’re more interested in non-fiction, you can apply the same concept.  Start with a short 500 word article on any subject and submit it to one of the many sites that welcome articles from new writers.  It is easiest to write about subjects that you already know about (otherwise research takes time).

Wherever your interest lies, the important thing is that you write and write.  Try to write every day and let me know how it goes!

Image by Michael Batfish via Flickr

I talk to a lot of writers who don’t tell anyone that they write.  They would love to be a ghostwriter (write novels for others), but don’t know where to start.

It starts with simply telling people, “Did you know that I am a writer?”

Who do you tell?  Everyone!  Certainly tell your friends and family.  But really you need to let many people know that you can help them with their novels, articles or whatever they may need.

Yes, this article will be bleeding into sales tips.  That is because as a freelance writer you are a salesperson too.  Yes, you are.  Yes.  Yes.  (You can keep saying “No”, but you are if you’re self-employed without a sales staff)

So, with that in mind, how can anyone hire you if you’re sitting there thinking how nice it would be to write, but aren’t actually telling anyone that you’re a writer?

Let’s take this step by step.  Since you are a writer, you probably don’t mind email.  Try just emailing 10 people every day and letting them know that you are a writer.  Don’t make it a sales pitch, just write to 10 people and mention it.  You can ask if they know of anyone who needs a ghostwriter.

Of course you should promote that you’re a freelance writer on your social networking profiles.  Make sure to note your areas of expertise.

If you like to talk to people face to face, work on mentioning it to the next 10 people you see today.  Of course you don’t want to let it interfere with your primary work (if you are a paid employee), but if you’re dropping off your dry cleaning, mention it to the owner of the shop.  You never know.

You’ll find that many people out there are looking for help with writing.  Can they all afford to pay you?  No, but some can.

Just start telling people!  Today.  Practice saying, “I’m a writer!” and then let me know how it goes.

Is it possible to be too encouraging to writers?

I recently got into a debate with someone about this.  She felt there were way too many writers in the world without talent.  Her solution was to critique them out of existence.  Her reasoning was that if you encourage them, they might quit their jobs in search of the fame and glory of becoming a published author. 

I of course shot her theory down.  

I’m not suggesting that anyone quit their job to write their first novel.  No, that wouldn’t make a lot of sense.  You do need to maintain your current income while you hone your writing skills.

My point is simply that our society will only benefit if people are allowed to let their creative juices flow.  Every writer must start somewhere and work to improve on a regular basis.  There is no harm in having a world full of writers.  We will all benefit from it.

There can never be too many writers.

If you have people in your life that are discouraging you from writing, ignore them.  Find new friends.  Keep writing and writing.

One of the best first steps is to enter writing contests.  You will have a deadline and if you’re anything like me, your adrenaline will start pumping at the thought of winning.

Whatever you do, don’t give up on your writing goals and dreams.  Write as often as you can and encourage others to do the same.

I met Alice Rene through a blogging group and immediately feel in love with her writing style. She recently offered to write about how she became a writer and what advice she might offer others. Please enjoy her article below and feel free to ask her any questions through the comment section. Also visit her site to learn more about her and her book: http://www.alicerene.com

Why Write?
By Alice Rene

I wasn’t a writer for most of my life. There was a fleeting moment when the subject did come up. It was when I was about nine years old and I’d written an autobiography for my fourth grade class, an assignment the teacher had given in order to get to know us better. There had been so much drama in my life already that the teacher not only gave me an A, but also told me to write a book. I agreed with her and then promptly forgot the whole thing … until my grandson interviewed me for an assignment he had in his high school history class. It was the birth of Becoming Alice, A Memoir.

I am still writing … this blog, other stories, emails, messages on birthday cards; the list goes on and on. Writing is fun! Sometimes I’m at a cocktail party and someone tells a story about themselves or something that happened that is so unusual, so dramatic, so interesting that I say, “You could write a book about that.” My remark will often get a laugh, as if I’d told them to climb Mt. Everest. That isn’t so. Writing isn’t hard at all. I once read a book entitled If You Can Talk, You Can Write. It’s true.

The first thing you must do is to not worry about saying it right. There is no such thing as right and wrong in writing. Most people don’t speak in perfect grammar. And even when you write dialogue and someone is speaking, you can write it as it sounds, misspelling the words terribly. How often have you seen a quote where someone says, “Wanna have lunch?” or, “Gotta go.” or “You betcha.” In my opinion, it loses its character when you write, “Want to have lunch?” or, “Got to go.” Or, “You bet, you.” I’ve just read a wonderful book, The Help, in which most of the dialogue was written in the southern drawl of African-American women who were the household help of well-to-do white folks. If spelling really bothers you, you can always get a dictionary.

Don’t know what to write about? One of my favorite things to do is to go to old photo albums and look at pictures of your family, your friends, or even yourself, which were taken long ago. Doesn’t it bring back memories? Write about them. Or, go to a cocktail party. But write. It’s fun.

Alice Rene was born in Vienna, Austria and grew up in Portland, Oregon. She went to college in California and earned a master’s degree in Social Welfare at UC Berkeley. She’s worked as a medical social worker, travel consultant escorting groups to exotic foreign destinations, and in recent years, as a writer. Married with three children, she lives in southern California with her husband and Golden Retriever. Becoming Alice, A Memoir is her first major work.

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I love ghostwriting.  It is very rewarding to help someone put their thoughts and ideas into a story, which communicates to their readers.

People often ask me about ghostwriting: what is involved, can you ghostwrite non-fiction, how much do you get paid and do you ever get a writing credit?  The answer is, each scenario is different and each client has different needs.

Most clients will not give you a writing credit, but some will.  Some actually want your name next to theirs and they like the idea that you’ll help sell copies when the book is published (because you have a stake in the sales).

You do give up all rights to the story when you ghostwrite.  That is difficult for many writers to accept.  Personally, I don’t mind.  There are tons of stories to write and I just enjoy writing.

A ghostwriter should be paid upfront.  I would strongly suggest that writers never accept a percentage of the royalties as a sole method of payment.  Many potential clients will offer this as compensation, but honestly they will probably not be happy in the end. 

On the whole, writers who accept this do so because they don’t realize what is involved in writing a book.  They don’t understand the research required and the hours it takes to create a story. 

Once they start hitting snags and realize that they need to pay this month’s mortgage, they will drop the project.  It is better to pay an experienced writer a fair price than it is to bargain hunt.

As a ghostwriter I write fiction and non fiction.  Both are in high demand.  And both are equally rewarding.

If you are a new writer, who is interested in ghostwriting, the first step is to let people know that you’re available to writer for them.  Tell your friends and family and any networking connections.  Post it on your status line on Linkedin or Facebook.

If you are new to the industry, maybe pair up with an experienced writer and split the commission.  Allow them to guide and mentor you, while you try out your writer wings.  Enjoy the process!

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When you tell a story you will need to create many characters.  Some are ones that might be your friends, but others will be people you wouldn’t even allow to step foot inside your home.  Some you might cross the street to avoid.

So, how do you write about someone you detest?

I see some authors make the mistake of separating themselves from these characters.  You can tell that the author desperately wants you to know that they don’t approve of their actions.  As a result the characters aren’t real and there is no way that the readers can become interested in the story.

Robert De Niro really drove this point home for me when he told a story about being on the set of Cape Fear.  Someone from wardrobe had asked him how he could play someone so terrible, so evil.  He asked her not to say that.  In order to play the part he had to not hate the character, but really get inside him and make him realistic.

When you write about a character you must know that character and what makes him or her tick.  You must write from that character’s viewpoint and have the dialogue match them.  Their actions must be what they would do and you must be consistent.

You may need to do some research.  Observe people, see how they behave.  Or watch movies or read books to see how other writers reveal a character.

In the end, if you create a story with believable characters, your readers will not be able to put your novel down!

I entered Karen Cantwell’s Flash Fiction contest last week and discovered that I won an honorable mention.  How cool is that?

The contest involved writing a very short story (300 words or less) using the words: trees, purple, and glockenspiel. 

(Yeah, I had to look up “glockenspiel”, too.  I couldn’t remember if it was a musical instrument or a clock.  It’s similar to a xylophone.)

I earned the above badge and thought, why not display it proudly on my blog?  I mean if I can’t brag on my own blog, what is the point of having a blog anyway?

So, here is my story:

Rachel’s Request

Rachel knelt carefully by the side of her bed. A fat, blond curl fell over her eye. Patiently she swept it back into place behind her ear.

“God,” she began. Then she stopped. Hm, maybe the maker of trees and rain might not want to be addressed so formally, without feeling.

She cleared her throat and started again, “Dearest God. I would like to ask you for something. You see, at school we have every instrument you can imagine in our music class. I wanted to play the French horn, but Johnny got to it first. He’s fast.

“So, then I tried to get the tuba, but Jenny said I was too little for such a big instrument. I tried to tug it away from her, but it wouldn’t budge. Jenny’s right. It’s way too big.

“All that’s left was a sad little xylophone. It was sitting all by itself on the shelf. Old and worn out. I looked up at the teacher, hoping that there was something else. He said, ‘You’re a lucky little girl. You get the Glockenspiel!’ He sounded so excited I didn’t want to disappoint him, so I picked it up.

“Jenny laughed at me, so I told her to mind her own business. I hope that was OK. Was it? Um, so I’m figuring, since you’re all knowing and all, you probably saw me stick my tongue out at her. I’m sorry about that too.

“So, I’m asking you for forgiveness. That’s what mama said I should do. But since we’re talking, I thought, while I was at it, I’d ask if you could maybe turn Jenny’s tuba purple. I thought that would be really funny.

She stood up and then knelt back down quickly. “Sorry, I forgot. Amen!”