May Days to Submit Work

When the call to challenge rang out on May 1^st, many of our PAD and MNINB group members paused, took a deep breath, and sighed. I think it would be fair to say that few could believe what they were reading. “Submit at least one piece of work each day for the entire month of May.”

Yep. You saw that right. Some of the group simply can’t comply due to more critical situations at home and at work, but for the rest of us, we’re gamely attempting what seemed like an impossible feat just a few short days ago.

This is day four of this last minute challenge that none had contemplated. We each post on the group sites what we subbed and to which publication, whether online or print, contest or blog, and watch to see who else took the plunge that day.

I have yet to hit the send button today. I have three possibles on the starting line, waiting for a shove into the chute. I have a children’s story that can go out any time. It’s been polished to within a paragraph of existence. I have poems coming out of my ears that can go in nearly any direction. And I have a couple of polished and professionally edited essays that can go out on their own.

There’s a coin I’ve been saving for just such an occasion as this. I’ll do a three-way toss to see which item goes out today. That gives me plenty for the next few days. Who knows? I might send more than on submission out per day and really scare myself.

For those that are timid about subbing and worry about those nasty rejection emails, don’t be. Take a page from my post today on Claudsy’s Blog. Make that rejection your best friend. Embrace it. Plaster your wall with it and its friends. Proudly show that wall to family and friends and declare “See how much work I’ve sent out!”

If you’ve chosen to accept such a challenge as this, comment here. Tell me about your personal submission challenge. If you don’t have one, but want to try it, feel free. Post a comment here each day you’ve braved the “SEND” button and sent out a piece of work. I’ll gladly help you show the world how much you’re working on the craft.

Until later, keep writing while you enjoy the process,

Claudsy

Headlines, Toed-lines, and the Gut

Curious or just confused?

Each day, whether delivered on the ether, on television, or in the daily paper we are inundated with headlines of things that happened near and far. What we do with those headlines is an individual choice.

Most people discuss the story and its impact, or the story and its cause. Implications run the gamut of pros and cons. There are those who obsess on the story, especially if it involves a celebrity. Some dismiss the news almost as soon as it’s been heard.

On the sidelines sits the writer. Headlines represent a wealth of story ideas, research possibilities, and general interest. So many gems of plot potential exist in the average bold print of the front page, including those headlines that mislead the reader in some way. If you don’t believe me, watch Leno for his take on headlines. He tantalizes his audience once a week with bold-print words from local papers sent to him by viewers.

Okay, that takes care of headlines. How about those toed-lines? What’s a toed-line, you ask. It’s the line of distinction a person doesn’t cross for the sake of self-interest.

Remember those headlines mentioned about celebrities? Here’s an example of how someone couldn’t toe the line.

It was reported this morning on Yahoo! that CPS visited Mariah Carey when she and her husband brought her new twins home from the hospital. It had been reported to the agency that drugs and alcohol had been used in the hospital room after the birth of the twins. Is the allegation true? No. It’s believed that a chance remark made about beer and breast milk production by someone in the room had been overheard and misinterpreted by a passerby.

The headline, to be sure, impelled any reader interested in the entertainment industry to read further. Yes, readership of the magazine increased, but to what end? Money? Perhaps not. What did the good-Samaritan receive for making the accusation? Self-satisfaction, maybe?

The magazine checked the facts. The person who began the story by reporting a falsehood to CPS obviously didn’t check those facts before jumping to a misjudgment and creating the subsequent distress for new parents and their families. In the end it’s unimportant that this happened to celebrities.  

What’s important about this story is that it happened to any new parents. For the average new parent, it’s unlikely that a national magazine would investigate the truth of the allegation. Instead, lives would/could be permanently damaged, if not destroyed.

Us Magazine toed the line. The accuser didn’t. What about the writer who reads this story for an explanation of that headline?

This is where the gut comes in. Here’s a fantastic opportunity for an article, story, or book. There are slants, angles, and genres waiting to be utilized for such a juicy premise. Women’s fiction, horror, non-fiction expose, and YA fiction all vie for possible avenues of use.

The Gut tells the writer whether to use the story, how much of it to use, the angle, slant, etc. that will work the best for whatever purpose desired. That gut reaction depends on the writer's moral stance, experience, and preference. It also depends on timing. If the need for extensive research exists for a proposed use, the writer may choose a quicker use for the information.

I’m not interested in using this premise. It’s not my kind of story. There are many writers who would take it and run with it, though, and rightfully so. It has potential to become a winner.

This example helps define what I call Headlines, Toed-lines, and the Gut. More potential material exists in the daily headlines than any writer has a right to expect. Choosing to use them requires thought and discretion much of the time. Without fail, the Gut will tell the writer what to use and how to use it. All the writer needs is trust in her personal choices.

Tell me how you choose a storyline. Share how you decide when to use headlines in a project.

Until later,

Claudsy

Making the Most of Memories

Memoir is making a comeback as most editors can tell you. It isn’t just the big publishers who’re trolling for good pages of memories. Magazines are just as interested in finding passages from one person’s memories that will resonate in another person’s mind.

Literary magazines seek memoir in a variety of genres. Everything from a boy’s first soapbox race experience to a girl’s first brush with love fascinates readers when delivered with finesse, humor and/or poignancy. Editors know this and sit on the river bank of possibility, fishing for the perfect submission to float by, ready to be reeled in.

Plucking the perfect memory to expand into an essay can happen quickly. You only have to hear someone tell about a recent event or see a commercial on television. A similar memory flashes through your mind that is vivid, exciting, and filled with details to entice a listener. Within an eye blink you’re inside that memory, breathing in the sensations that riveted you back then.

If you believe that others have had similar experiences or that they have felt as you did, you have the makings for a memoir subject. The trick is finding its length of memory strength and subject direction.

Memory and Subject Usage

Just because you have decided on the memory doesn’t mean that the heavy work is done. Once a specific recollection is chosen, what aspect of it are you going to use for your essay or story?

This choice can make or break the impact of the finished work. Everything else hinges on this choice. If you have a specific market in mind to approach, the subject will have to be something they will appeal to that market.

If your memory concerns how long it took you to choose your wedding gown from all the available dresses at the local shop, it wouldn’t appeal to a magazine which specializes in disabilities. If, on the other hand, it reveals your wedding dress selection as based on the fact that you happened to be on crutches due to a recent injury, that disabilities magazine might leap on such an unusual slant to the question of disability and everyday life.

You could take that same memory and use it for a memoir piece from a sports slant, especially if said injury came on the ski slopes. In this one, you don’t have to mention the dress selection, but rather, concentrate on the injury and the mental upheaval that occurred when facing your wedding on crutches. It could end with admiration for those who function each day knowing that the inconvenience of crutches is a permanent thing.

In the end, whichever richly detailed memory is chosen, the subject for a memoir drawn from it can vary in emphasis and direction. Much depends on what use you wish to make of it and the medium you’ve selected to receive your manuscript.

Length of Memory Strength

This expression denotes the strength of memory being relived coupled with the calculated length of written piece sparked by this memory.

Here’s an example.

A memory of swimming with friends at the local creek sparks many memories that can tie into it. There is a memory of having dear old Dad through you into the deeper water to “teach you to swim” and how your terror kept you from taking to the water for another ten years. That memory ties to one with your first “official” swim instructor and the crush you had on him until you learned that he only liked redheads.

This line of memory (and we all have ones like it) creates a timeline for either an article or a story. For an article, the writer can flesh out each strong mental impression and create a piece on the consequences of mile-marker events in a person’s life. On the other hand, the article could revolve around only the fear-driven experience and the scars that ensued, or how the father’s action changed the relationship between child and parent. The permutations are endless, depending on how many memories were sparked and their quality or importance.

Once the decision is made regarding how the memory is going to be used, the critical factor is how long the article or story will run. Consider it the petal vs. blossom question. It could run very short (under 400-600 words) as a personal experience piece for a children’s magazine. It could go between 1500-2000 words for a popular magazine as personal experience, as well. Two thousand to 5000 words could take the memoir to literary magazines that are looking for more detail, critical thinking, and expertise.

Standing above the rest is the book-length manuscript. Many book publishers are looking for well-written memoirs of varying types for their lines. Some want manuscripts from celebrities or public figures. Others snag those from people who know people (the starlet’s personal assistant, for instance.) Still others will consider superbly written manuscripts from the ordinary man or woman.

Some of the time humor is selected over other considerations. Geographical or historical relevance can also help trigger interest from publishers. Every book deal has its own deciding factors.

One Way for Making Memoir Work

My writing for the next year or so will utilize huge amounts of travel memory and its central role in articles. After so many months on the road, I have more material than I can ever use on just about every subject imaginable.

Much of it I’ll use for literary. There are tons of bits for children’s magazines. Still more can go to trade magazines and travel markets.

The book, at least for now, will center on the changes that took place within Sister Jo and me as a result of the places we visited and what we experienced. That subject has distinctly personal reverberations. As well, the manner in which we chose to approach the project makes it more unique. Once that one’s finished, we can discuss others with different slants.

 We have a few more days to explore before settling down again. I hope your memoirs are as rich as ours. It’s never too early to begin thinking about the past and how it can be used.

Until later,

Claudsy