Mary Brotherton

My publisher attended the 2009 North American Mature Publishers Association Conference and brought home great news. Senior Life garnered even more awards this year than last year, including the coveted BEST OF SHOW. There are four categories, based on circulation. Senior Life is in the second highest circulation bracket.

Five writers were individually selected for awards:
H.V. Rhodes
John Trieste
King Quillen
Sammy Haddad
Mary Brotherton

I am honored to be in such prestigious company.

My article has been bumped from it’s top position. I managed to stay #1 for a few weeks, but someone outranks me now. Others have given three other entries higher marks than mine.

If you click on the title link, you’ll still see my work.

Everyone has to deal with emotions. Sometimes, these feelings can cripple or motivate a writer. The next time you feel bogged down in despair, anger, or frustration – write what you are feeling!

If you are overcome with happiness or giddy with excitement, take time to write about your thoughts and dreams.

Even if you don’t have a need for them at that moment, when you find yourself stuck for how to describe a scene for a character who is angry, sad, annoyed, filled with joy or nervous you will already have the ideas in a file.

Mark a folder “feelings” or “emotions” and the next time you can’t think of how to express what your character is feeling, how he or she feels or what is happening – go to your file and find out.

Be sure when you write about your emotions, you use as many details as you can.
* What made this particular feeling manifest?
* Was anyone else involved in the scene?
* Where were you?
* What were you doing before you started to feel the particular emotion?
*What happened after the initial emotion subsided?
* Did you go anywhere or do anything as a result of the feeling/emotion?

Try to remember as many details as possible.

Often, unpublished writers don’t finish their work or even start to tell the stories they have because they believe they can’t possibly be good enough to compete with the other writers who are already published. This may be true, but unless they complete their work, no one will ever know.

“I’m not good enough” and “It’s just a hobby” are excuses these writers use along with “I don’t have talent” or “I don’t have time to do it right.”

Nobody gets it right the first time and some great writers require multiple edits to accomplish the brilliance we buy. Learn to turn off the voice inside that tells you to revise, revise and revise again. Write your story. After you’ve completed it, you will feel a tremendous sense of satisfaction and you can begin to tell your next story, or you can start revising.

This is the time to clean up your grammar, check mechanics and repair those unintentional fragments. When you have completed your second draft, let your writing peers judge.

If you haven’t already, join a writers’ group and find a local or online critique group you feel comfortable working with. This may take some research and trial periods until you find the one that works best for you and your writing. Writing peers are invaluable for helping emerging writers establish themselves and build confidence; they are also great for checking egos.

After your group has helped you polish your manuscript even more, you have choices. You can start your search for an agent/publisher/editor or create a diverse focus group and allow these unbiased readers to give honest appraisals of your work.

Ultimately, the readers in the buying market will be your judge. Your book will become a best seller or it will be a flop. Either way, you’ll never know if you don’t start – today!

Many new writers feel there is no hope for them and they’ll provide a multitude of excuses why they can’t or shouldn’t complete their first novel, short story, memoir or article. Stop making excuses and start writing.

Everyone has a story to tell and although not everyone can tell a story like O. Henry or John Grisham and few writers will experience the phenomenal success J.K. Rowlings, Dean Koontz or Steven King have, this isn’t an excuse to stop trying.

Your story might be the one millions have been waiting to read or it might be something only your closest associates will understand. Perhaps you will be the next big thing and your name and books will become household words, uttered and understood by all ages. On the other hand, if your story does no more than provide entertainment for your friends on Facebook and Myspace or LiveJournal, why deprive them?

As Tolstoy’s War and Peace started with just one word, then one sentence and then one paragraph, your story needs only for you to sit down at your keyboard or with a pen and paper and start. One word starts every story.

What will your word be?

Isn’t Tumblemoose a great word? It’s also the name for a webpage by George Angus. He’s a writer for hire, but aren’t we all?

George trolls the internet and finds great pages and resources then puts them on his site. I asked permission to borrow from his hard work and he agreed.

If you are interested in a retreat for women writers, George has compiled his list of top ten here –

http://tumblemoose.com/ten-writers-retreats-for-women-authors/

This is a great starting point. Click and go!