Hope Writes

Too many plans

Posted by Hope

I’m catching up on blog reading this morning and was pleasantly surprised when I read this post about Bob Bly’s dirty little secret. His secret, of course, is that he’s never had a business plan. Wow.

A while back I entertained discussion among a group of writers about creating a writing plan for our writing business. I did write out a simple plan–monetary goals, personal goals, etc. But to be honest with you, I saved the file and never opened it again. I forgot all about it.

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Popularity: 15% [?]

Weird writers

Posted by Hope

Do you ever feel weird? Like, you’re a totally different person when you write, than you are in “real” life?

Maybe I’m just the weird one, but many times I do feel like a totally different person when I write. I’m more open, more prolific (I think), more willing to go to places I probably wouldn’t go to in person.

When I write I feel like the world is mine for the taking. I feel positive, upbeat and downright optimistic. I believe that my words can change the world, or at the very least, create a shift in someone’s thinking.

Am I weird? Or mabye I’m just me when I write. Maybe the writer in me helps unfold the shy girl who’s always been afraid to speak her mind around others.

Whether I’m weird or not is yet to be determined. But if I am weird, then don’t tell me. Because in my opinion, weird just might be good.

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The chicken…or the egg?

Posted by Hope

How do you query? Do you come up with A Brilliant Idea first, then search out market(s) to submit said idea to? Or do you browse markets, get your ideas from there and query?

Which come first for you–the chicken (market), or the egg (idea)?

Some writers say they do best by shaping a solid idea first. Once they have an idea that they think has good hook, and thus a good shot at being accepted, they start the query process.

Other writers concede to surfing through markets. They browse through recent archives to get a feel of the types of articles magazines accept from freelancers, then form an idea and go from there.

Still other writers claim that both or either can come first. Sometimes they’ll come up with a brilliant article idea and submit it. Other times they locate writer’s guidelines to see if there are any themes or article suggestions from the magazine itself for writers to use as a guidepost.

I’ve worked both ways, too. However, I’ve found that most often when I focus too much on one or the other I freeze and can’t come up with any article ideas.

Popularity: 15% [?]

Getting it right

Posted by Hope

“The beautiful part of writing is that you don’t have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon.”
- Robert Cromier

I’ve often started stories or articles, only to scrap the project several times over because it didn’t feel “right.” For some reason I’d rather start over from scratch at times, rather than go through several rounds of editing. What is “right”? Is there a right way to write?

I think some writers have a tendency to do this, especially if you’re obsessive about getting it “right” the first time around. I personally hate writing draft after draft. My writing routine usually consists of either writing and re-writing sentences or paragraphs until I’m happy with them until the whole piece is finished.

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