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The Write Scene
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The official blog of the Writers' Resource Centre.
www.writersworld.com.au
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Two types of people you need to know about
Whether you like to think so or not, people you know have a profound influence upon you. No matter how much you hold fast to your belief that 'no one tells you what to do', other people's thoughts, suggestions and hints will influence how you do certain things or cause you to back away from other things or trouble your mind even if you do your best to refuse to let it happen.
Ever heard of the 'seeds of doubt'? Well these 'suggestions' are much the same thing. Probably because they're masked with the guise of friendship, people tend to take suggestions, good or bad, on board.
For the artist, this can often be their downfall.
It's often said that there are many different types of people in this world. The 'go-get 'em' types, the conservative types, the shy types...etc, etc... But there are also the crazy and insane types, too. All these 'kinds' of people break down into two larger but separate categories: Good and Bad. What delineates people are their motivations - their motives can be good or bad regardless of their personality. For example, a crazy person may have good intentions, just a crazy way to go about turning them into reality. On the other hand, a conservative person may be bad intentioned but appear very, very respectable. Good people will help those around them, bad people will hinder those around them - it's pretty simple. The trouble is that sometimes, for the above reasons, we can't tell them apart. Seemingly well-intentioned people may approach you, and you may accept their help, but their help is disastrous. So, naturally, it pays to keep an eye on your associates: do they help or hinder you?
As a writer, the most important thing you have is your ability to communicate. That's pretty much your magic wand...it's your tool of the trade. If you took everything else away from you, that'd be what you're left with. Actually, it's the crux of what makes you a writer. Certainly, you back this up with other things, like your ability to put words together or to tell a story. But these are really an embroidering of the very basic first thing: communication.
Certainly, there are shy writers and there are loud obnoxious writers, too. But when it comes to telling a story, the shy writers are just as adept at communication as are the loud ones. At the end of the day, a writer's best weapon is his ability to communicate.
And that, unfortunately, draws the attention of the not-so-nice types - the bad-intentioned people I mentioned earlier. You see, as a writer you have a very high potential for communication; your work could be read by people far and wide. You can create an effect on people that you may never meet and that you will never know. Many people want this ability to create such an effect but have not the skill to actually do it. Hence, when they see someone with this keen communicative ability, they want it and will leech onto it. But, they may also feel threatened by it and will seek to pull you down by attacking your craft.
You don't need to look too far in history to find that artists or other creative people (athletes, etc) have drawn the attention of these leech type people.
Musicians and actors are a great example of this at work. These nasty types usually latch themselves onto the creative person and find out a way to make a cut out of the hard work that the artist has achieved and then, at the end of it all, leave the artist dry of their hard-earned money and move onto the next victim.
If you don't believe me, let history tell the story. Sadly, the list of victims is not short: Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Michael Hutchence, Michael Jackson...the list goes on and continues to. If you guessed that they all died young you'd be right. Boxer Mike Tyson gives an excellent account of his relationship with Don King in a recent documentary about his life and describes the latter as (if on other words) a leech.
The thing to understand is that this type of person wants rewards but for little or no work. They're like sponges and if you ever balk at them feeding off you, they tend to point an accusative finger at you and tell you it's you who are the greedy one. They have subtle ways of confusing those around them so that no one knows they're there lurking and so can be completely unnoticeable.
But if you're lucky enough to become even mildly successful, they'll be around you.
It takes more than a few guts to first look for and then find and deal with this type of person. But, if you're a creative type, you can bet that you have a person like this around you, making you doubt your moves or your activities or making you think that you're just not good enough. If you think that that little doubting voice in the back of your head is you, I can assure you you're wrong. It's just that seed of doubt that I mentioned earlier, which was laid by one of these bad-type personalities.
The idea of this type of person isn't new, it definitely isn't mine, either...it's just that I've had the misfortune to run into a few lately. L. Ron Hubbard called them the "Antisocial Personality" (He wrote probably the best book I have read on this subject is called "Science of Survival" New Era Publications). While the rapper KRS1 is a little more direct, labelling them 'Negative Mother F-----s' and recommending rather colourfully that we should not 'hang' with them. Fair enough, too. No one would want these nay sayers among their associates.
As writers, we want cheerful, encouraging and supportive people around us. People that will, when the chips are down and we have our backs against the wall, be right there next to us fighting on our side. Not pretending to be helping us while actually pulling the rug from under us. These are the people that will read your work and tell you 'honestly' as a 'friend' how bad your writing is and that perhaps you should consider another path in life that better suits your intellect and ability. Or remind you regularly how hard your career path will be and that you should brace yourself for a crash because 'people like you' don't usually make it. You, as an artist, do not need these characters around you. If you find any, don't excuse them as your friends by saying 'oh...that's just Bill', but get rid of them and get better friends.
Recently, I came across such a person. I didn't realise it at the time but when I was thinking of achieving big dreams, he was reminding me how impossible my goals were. He was reminding me at every opportunity just how impossible what I had in mind was. Fortunately, I cut them loose and the moment I did, things changed for the better.
These are the people that make you second guess your own abilities or tell you to take notice of the critics and what other people say about you and your work. Personally, I don't care about critics: factually, they're the ones that 'can't do' what they're telling you you can't do and so, perhaps out of jealousy, become hypercritical of those that are trying. Ignore the critics, but don't forget to get rid of these negative types from the ranks of your friends.
If they're a business associate, get rid of them swiftly because you'll notice your association in the hip pocket. They'll tell you how hard it is to make money and certainly you'll soon start to believe it. Sure, they may call themselves the 'voice of reason' - but they're not. You already have your own voice of reason and, if you make a mistake, you'll soon let yourself know about it. You don't ever need someone else telling you that you should be careful for this reason or that reason. You see, that's making you hesitant and uncertain of your own abilities and dreams and it's when you're hesitant that you make the worst mistakes. Then, afterwards while in similar situations, you'll find yourself uncertain when you need to be decisive.
Personally, I think the hardest thing for good people to do is to accept that there are 'bad' types of people around, to confront the idea that not every person has your best intentions at heart and that you may already rank some of these 'bad' people among your 'friends'. It's not a nice thing to know that there are people like this...but it's something good people need to know about, even if it is a bit hard to swallow at first.
Keep an eye out for them.
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Book Review - Get Your Book off the Ground - The Australian Writer
By Daan Spijer
From: The Australian Writer Magazine
Issue #364
As writers, we are (or should be) avid readers of others? work. This gives us insights into howother (good) writers write. It does not, however, tell us much about the craft itself: what, apart from sweat and tears, went into creating this eminently readable piece of
composition.
We could, of course, attend writing groups and classes, listen to writers on the radio or on stage and read books about the craft. Many of us do. Get Your Book off the Ground is a welcome addition to the last of these options. It is written by two experienced and accomplished
practitioners of the craft.
Anthony Santoro is a professional writer with a number of crime novels and a ?serious? book under his belt, as well as experience in editing and, critically, experience in selling what he has written.
Suzanne Male is a journalist, writer, editor, publisher and marketing professional. She is the founder of Smink Works Books (publisher) and has written a number of books, including for children.
Together, they have put into this book (the first of a series) a wealth of advice and supportive information for all writers, whether starting out or already accomplished. They cover such topics as story planning, making characters believable, dealing with writer?s block, surviving rejection, and ?The sure-fire way to get published?.
In total, there are seventeen very readable chapters and a comprehensive index for finding your way around the book, or returning to something you read earlier. Often in co-authored books, there is no indication of who wrote what. In Get Your Book off the Ground each author?s contribution is clearly identified, making digestion of the information and advice easier. The book is well organised, making it possible to read it from start to finish, or delve into individual chapters, or even in to well-identified parts of chapters. In this, it is in itself a prime example of how to write and construct a book aimed at assisting others to work towards all they are capable of.
The publisher, The Writers? Resource Centre, is an Internet portal to link writers and writers? resources. It also publishes books and articles on writing and runs a short story competition; .
The Australian Writer Magazine is a publication of the Fellowship of Australian Writers (www.writers.asn.au). We recommended you visit this site and read about their aims, which include bringing "together all those interested in writing for their mutual professional, cultural and social benefit, and to provide information and advice to them".
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The Overlooked Writing Fundamental - Planning
Don't cringe if you read this thinking..."hey, is he talking about me?" I'm not, don't worry. We've all suffered with the curse of the 'unfinished manuscript', there are few writers who haven't.
But, what's missing is the understanding of "WHY?" Why do some writers -- well many, many writers, actually -- begin writing a manuscript only to never finish it? Hands up who has done this very thing... If you did raise your hand, it's okay, you're not alone. There are few writers who could attest to not having a filing cabinet draw with at least one or two unfinished masterpieces in it, myself included.
Fortunately, the half-written story does have a cure: planning.
Other than a good grasp of the language in which you write, story planning is so key to story writing, so fundamental, that perhaps it has also become the most overlooked step in writing. Definitely, there are experienced writers who can write without a full plan, but their negligence of the plan is really a matter of their experience.
For the rest of us planning is a very, very important matter. Do not neglect it.
Planning must also take into consideration another point: the component parts of a novel. Naturally, any novel has a beginning, middle and an end. But, these can be further broken down in a book: firstly, any novel has an 'introduction', then an 'assemblage' of the characters and plot, then the 'climax', followed by the 'dénouement' and, finally, the 'conclusion'. The more accustomed you are to each aspect of your story, the more you will be able to negotiate and better handle the telling of it (We write more about these components in the book "Get Your Book off the Ground"; but we can at least discuss them briefly here). But most importantly, if you make a plan of your story you will prevent finding yourself, half-way through your story writing, wondering what you should do next or where you should take your story? With your story already 'planned', you've already worked that out. A writer's plan, encompassing what their characters will do in each part of the story - from beginning to end - will go a long way to preventing writer's block, something which generally precedes the packing away of an unfinished story into a filing cabinet.
So, how do you do a plan? Easy - it should not take more than a few hours, if that. You can do it on a piece of paper, or more thoroughly on a computer. You can make it as complex or as basic as you like. But, as advice, I would suggest that you make it as simple as possible. Remember, you're not actually writing the story...only planning it...roughing it out.
Some may thumb their nose at the above, saying that it's too simple, that no way could story planning handle writer's block or prevent the story from being completed. Well, my personal experience is, naturally, quite the opposite. Analogous to writing a story without planning it would be going on a day-trip without knowing where you are going. Sure, this is okay if you don't plan to end up anywhere in particular. But for a writer it's not this way - a writer wants, at least, to get to the end of the book. Best you, the writer, have some idea where the 'end' is and what basic shape it may take.
Story planning is not a rote process - so don't be robotic about it. The plan is only a thorough guide for your story - it's not set in concrete, ever. You may choose to change it as the purposes of characters become more clear to you. If so, change it; the plan is only there so you can keep your eye on the mountain which, for a writer, is the end of the story. The plan will stop you becoming bogged down in the jungle on the way to the top of that mountain; when you get stuck and don't know what to do next, simply refer back to the plan, find your path, then continue.
Sure, I've oversimplified the story writing and planning process. But then...this is only a blog. If you want to know more, you can...the catch is, you'll have to get a copy of our book: "Get Your Book off the Ground - What You Need to Know to Write and Publish Your Book". Planning deserves all the pages we devote to it, we even give you a complete example of one, start to finish.
Good luck with planning and story writing. I've never written a book without one!
Anthony Santoro's new book, 'Last Decent Man', is due in stores in September 2009. His first novel, 'The Deception' was published in 2005. He co-authored 'Get Your Book off the Ground' with Suzanne Male. Anthony is the founder of the Writers' Resource Centre. www.writersworld.com.au. To get a copy of 'Get Your Book off the Ground', click here.
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Life before getting published
After I had my first book published, many people became interested in what I did before I got into writing. This amused me because, certainly I wasn't always a 'published' writer, but I was always writing and always considered myself a 'writer'. Retrospectively, I think, what they meant was, "what did you do before you were published?"
Now, this, I can answer. Before I was published, I was a contract debt collector. Aside from it not being the most glamorous career in the world, it was at least interesting. Companies would hire me to collect debts that they had tried everything to collect themselves, but failed - the really, really tough debts. I'd work on commission and an hourly rate. It was good because it paid well and it also meant I was my own boss. Being my own boss, I gave myself every Wednesday off to write my book.
The book would later be released as "The Deception". I like to think of it as a gritty, real Australian crime-fiction. But recently I read a critique of it that said something to the effect of "too many Australianisms and unrealistic swearing and language". I didn't ponder on it and decided that the critic wasn't from the same part of town I was from. Truthfully, the language was actually tame compared to what I was normal in my line of work, which the book reflected. I suppose she (the critic) is entitled to her opinion, too.
But, my job would go something like this: I'd get a list of all the customers that owed my client money. I'd send them all a letter to say that a "Debt Management Consultancy" (AKA, take-no-sh#t debt collectors) was taking over the debt and that all measures would be taken to recoup the money. "All measures" really meant that I'd harass the hell out of them, within the confines of the law, of course, and if I couldn't collect it after a few months, I'd tell my client to write off the money and send the delinquent customer a letter saying "You are, and will always be, a loser and we hope you choke on the money you owe us!" but in more formal words.
One day, a sunny cold afternoon in mid-2003, I finished writing my book and started calling publishers to see if they could publish it. Naturally, they let me know there was a 'procedure' for getting published, one that didn't involve 'calling' up and asking publishers to 'please publish my book'. It was suggested that I become a member of a local writing guild and to get from them the details of what the 'procedure' was. Of course, I knew there was a procedure, but I was in a hurry, I wanted a new job.
Why? Well, a week prior to this day, I had received a death threat. The death threat, in itself, is worth elaboration. The guy that made the threat had tried me a number of times, each time calling me with a blocked caller ID. Being a debt collector, I didn't answer calls with blocked IDs for just this very reason. After a few weeks of missing me, this guy got frantic one day and called me...but forgot to block his ID. When I didn't answer, he forgot his standard protocol of hanging up without leaving a message and left a voice mail that said: "You're dead...you're as good as dead. I'm gonna kill you. You're stickin' your nose in someone else's business..."...blah...blah...blah. You get the idea. So, I listened to this message and to my surprise, at the end of it, my voice mail says: "If you would like to call this person back, please press 6". Which, I did.
Our conversation was brief, but went something like this: "Hello."
Me: "Hi. Who's this?"
Death Threat Guy: "Er...Who are you?"
Me: "You just called me, left a message that said you were gonna kill me?"
DTG: "Me?! Noooooooo I didn't!"
Me: "Yeeeeeeeeeees you did. But, idiot, you didn't block your number."
Fortunately, we both had a laugh about it and agreed to let bygones be bygones. Soon afterwards, I decided debt collecting wasn't really my thing anymore.
A bit of luck came my way and, in 2004, I signed my first publishing contract and the following year my book came out. I still kept working, just not in debt collection. See, to be a full-time writer, your book needs to sell in large, large quantities or publishers need to pay you large advances. Even if I had both, I'd still keep working. I had a family, expenses, etc, plus, I started in a new line of work, which I liked. No reason to quit my day job...just yet.
There are many other stories, this is but one...and not one of the funnier ones, either (I could also tell you about the day I was late for court and the judge made repeat after him, 'I am sorry for being late...').
A good article to read about working a day job and being a writer it by Scot Gardner called (http://www.scotgardner.com/woodandwater.htm) from the Writer's World Ezine from way back in mid-2006.
My advice to you is, never hate your day job. Enjoy every opportunity you have to be productive in whatever line of work you do.
Anthony.
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On Getting Published
When I was signed up by a publisher, I remember telling a friend of mine about it and saying "I hope people like my book when it comes out". His response was, "Who cares, you're a published writer now!" Sometime later, I went to another friend's house, he'd just had a baby and was kind enough to let me have a hold of his little girl. As I held her, he stood back, folded his arms and smiled proudly. "There you are," he said, "Now, you can say you were held by a published author."
Don't gag, please. I could tell you more trite stories that would make you lose your lunch...but I'm not that cruel.
I'm trying to make a point: to some (not all, by a long shot), getting published is like the Mecca of all achievements. I thought it was, too, until I signed the publishing contract and felt exactly no different to the moment before I scribbled my signature on the dotted line.
My friends, bless them, were so proud of me; especially those that had tried, but failed to get their work published. To them, I was different. But to me, I was the same. The next day, I still had to go to work, I still had to pay bills, I still had to fill my car up with petrol, I still had to do the usual day-to-day stuff any other person at my job did. It was here, at my job, that I really noticed that things hadn't changed.
One day, I was introduced to a woman through a friend. She told me she was trying to get her book published but had been cut down by a very, very nasty rejection letter from a publisher. "What did it say?" I enquired and, after literally pulling teeth to get the answer, she replied, "(sniffle)...it said 'thank you but we're not publishing this genre at the moment'. Can you believe their cheek?!"
No big a deal, right? Obviously, by her long face, it was to her. "Well, why not publish it yourself and--"
She held up her hand. "Oh, please," she said, "no thanks." Naturally, I walked away shrugging. Incidentally, she is still 'trying' to get her book published. Actually, it's a good book.
The point I'm trying to make is that it's a hell of a lot easier to get published than many people think. Fortunately, people are starting to recognise this little gem called 'self-publishing' but it's a long way off total acceptance.
I actually tried to self publish my second book. But, if you remember that little thing I said I signed at the beginning of this rant - the publishing contract - well, in doing so I also gave my publisher the first right of refusal on my next work. When I asked to go my own way, they had me send my next novel through and, lo, they loved it. Now, please don't think I hate my publisher, quite the opposite, actually. They were great, and are great, but if you need to, there is more than one way to skin the proverbial cat. There are lots and lots of people who have tried every which way to get published and have found out some brilliant avenues for the newbie to travel down.
As a new writer, you need to 'get in the know'. I used to be one for thinking that writing groups, centres, guilds and associations and were...well, 'stuffy'. Fortunately, I've been disabused of this. Groups of writers are best and they don't have to be formal, either. Just a bunch of people who like writing is perfect. But, it's better if some of them have walked the road to publication so they can help you with some advice, if that's what you choose (not everyone strives to be 'published' either!).
Quite factually, I needed these groups and the help and services they provide. Instead, I did things the hard way
and re-invented the wheel on my way to getting a book published. It worked for me, but I was very lucky.
If you're just starting out, you don't need to travel such a hard path. In Australia, there are heaps of groups. You
only need to pick up the Australian Writer's Marketplace to see that there are hundreds of them from retreats to
centres.
I suggest to all that they get in a group. Online is a great place to start. Try our one: www.writersworld.com.au and sign up for the 'writer's community' (see the left tabs). The people on it are an absolutely great bunch of people.
Cheers.
Anthony Santoro
www.writersworld.com.au
Author: Get Your Book off the Ground; The Deception; Last Decent Man
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