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quotes

We no longer keep an on-site archive of writing quotations, but here's something better. Download Musings©, an excellent tip-of-the-day type program offering inspirational writing quotes and creative writing exercises. Musings is a free download, with free registration required to unlock the entire program. (Download is 1.7mb) Very well reviewed by several shareware sites.


on writing columns

Writing For Yourself First Inspiration
The Wide World of E-Publishing Fool-Proof Acceptance Test
Author Interview with Lisa Kelly Does A Parent Have Time to Write A Book?
PromisesWriting For The Web
The Writer's Holiday BluesWriting For Children--Child's Play?
Keeping 'em on the StreetThinking Like A Writer
Critics--Choosing & Using them Wisely
Writing for the Web: Where to Get Article Ideas
How To Review Anything
Is Your Idea A Story?
Take Control of Your Time
Go Around The Mule
Throw Obstacles At Your Characters
What Is Copyright?
Choosing An Effective Title
Revealing Character
Can You Really Write A Book In 14 Days?
In Quest of An Elegant Writing Style

February 2001
Keeping 'em on the Street
by Terry Hickman

Editor's note: I've used Terry's system for market planning and submission management since I first read this article some time ago, and let me tell you, it's easy, neat, and it works! Thanks very much to Terry for allowing us to reprint her article here.

Are you an "A," or a "B":

A: A story comes back, and you rip it out of the manila envelope and toss it on one of the piles on your "writing desk," among the grocery coupon box, the clothes iron, the skate with the broken blade, and your son's Wax Trax! boxed CD set that he had to have for Christmas and then never listened to. You promise yourself to find another market to send that story to, that very evening, right after your daughter's piano recital.

Three weeks later you come across the now-folded and butter-smeared manuscript and realize it's sitting here on the desk instead of out impressing editors worldwide. It's a quiet evening, so you swipe the stacks off the top of your writing desk and haul out the market research materials: 1997 Writer's Market CD, Gila Queen's Guide to Markets, Speculations, Science Fiction Writer's Marketplace and Sourcebook, Inklings (you subscribe via e-mail), The Market List online, the loose-leaf notebook you've filled with guidelines you've sent for, and that precious collection of scribbled market skinny on cocktail napkins, library scratch paper, planner note paper, yellow sticky notes, business cards, matchbook covers...Let's see, now, which story is this... how long is it? Is there any language or sex that's going to disqualify it for certain markets? Who takes sociological science fiction? Who hates vampires? Which editor rejected a story but said that he'd like to see more of your unique furry crystal beings? The evening wears on, and you are buried deeper and deeper in the drift of books, magazines, and paper bits, as you search for the perfect market for this little story of yours...

B: The story appears in your mailbox with its rejection note. You put the note into the story's own pocketed folder (this was only the first place you sent it; if you get comments from several rejecting editors, then you'll sit down and tear it apart in those lights), and you pull out your market plan for that story. The next market on the list is Asimov's. On the computer's word processor, you get the address labels printed off, and bring up the story's tracking file. You enter the date you got the first rejection, and the date you're mailing the story to the next market (tomorrow, of course). You write your cover letter and sign it, and slide it, the story, and the self-addressed envelope into the outgoing envelope and place it with your bag next to the door, to be sent back out into the world on the way to work the next day.

I'm happy to say that I'm working my way more toward "B" than "A" these days. After floundering around like "A" for a year or so, it dawned on me that as long as I have all that market research material out, I may as well make a whole long list of places to send my story in one sitting. And I may as well do it immediately after finishing the story, since that week or so after finishing a story seems to be a gormless, lost and hollow time for me anyway.

The problem for me, mostly, was decision-making. How to decide, amongst all the dozens and scores and hundreds of magazines and story markets, which one to send it to first? Prepare yourself, dear reader, a government bureaucrat is about to attempt to help you: One of the things I've had to learn in the belly of the beast is how to Prioritize. (If you're wondering why I capitalize it, rest assured that somewhere, there are at least two other readers, government workers also, who reflexively stood at attention with their hands over their hearts when they saw the word. We have to; we're beaten with sticks if we don't.)

So I'll tell you how I set up my own system. You can adapt it as you like to suit your own needs.
 

I've got a story: "The Snarts Vehicle". (I don't really, honestly I wouldn't name a warthog "Snarts", but let's just pretend.) I evaluate its distinguishing characteristics (from a marketing viewpoint):

It's 12,300 words long.

It includes two of George Carlin's "7 words you can't say on TV" and a romantic scene that doesn't explicitly take you between the sheets with the hero and heroine, but leaves no doubt that that's where they end up.

I've developed a new form of government for my fictional world, that uses psi factors and cucumber juice to keep the citizenry under control. But there's not much gear-grinding or plasma-layering in my story; I decide it qualifies as "soft" science fiction.

There's no horror in it at all.

These are all the things I keep in mind as I peruse the markets. A couple of them, such as word length, and the "soft" science fiction category, can help me narrow my search right off the bat. I go through The Market List's Search procedure to find markets that will accept stories longer than 10,000 words, and come up with a handful of them. Unfortunately, the 1997 Writer's Market doesn't have that handy capability, but it has only a few markets listed that TML doesn't, so it doesn't take too long to check their word length limits. Likewise with the other sources I've collected.

As I find them, I look for two things to note down on a worksheet I call my "Market Ranking Sheet": their per-word pay rate, and their estimated turnaround time for manuscripts. I keep it to just two items because confusion compounds exponentially with the number of categories when you're prioritizing. You should think about what two things you're most interested in for your work. I chose the money not because I'm greedy (well, not for that alone, anyway) but because, when I get that 6-figure advance on my book, and get ready to pay taxes, I want to be able to prove to the IRS that all these years I've really been trying to make money at this, by showing them that the first places I always sent my stories were all in the higher-paying ranges. My greed is moderated, however, by my impatience, so I picked turnaround time as another factor to weight my ranking with.

As I look up the list of magazines I came up with from my resources, I note those two things down, and think about other, subtler factors: Is this magazine known more for its upbeat endings, or for the space-noir approach? Has this editor been civil in the past, or rude? (I have "Rude! Boycott!" crayola'd across one magazine's entry in the SFWM&S-and I did. That market died a couple of years ago. I'm not claiming cause-and-effect, but...it's a suggestive coincidence, isn't it?) Have I had near-misses with this editor? If so, is this story similar enough in theme, flavor or content that she might like it? And (this is put in to assure you that my method is working): I just sold a story to him, so should I wait awhile on this one, try a few other places first? Or should I fire another one in there, the idea being if he liked that other one, he'll be pre-disposed to want the new one? This is a good question that I haven't resolved; check out the Speculations Rumor Mill online and your own writer-contacts for advice. It may end up being another editor's-personality-type thing.

So I end up with a sheet that has the story's title across the top, and six columns in a table (see below). I have put the magazine's titles into that third column willy-nilly, just as I think of them or come across them in my research. Then when I look up the decision-aiding data, I fill in the columns, skipping the first and fifth for the time being.

Here's what it looks like after this first pass (I included lesser-paying markets because I had a sense that they might like "Snart".)(You can do that; it's your office!)(Please note that these markets don't necessarily pay this much or accept this length of story in real life; I'm using them as fr'examples):
 
rank
# days
magazine
pay
pay rank
final
.
10
Keen SF
1.5c/wd
.
.
.
60
Aberrations
1/4c/wd
.
.
.
60
Aboriginal SF
$200 flat
.
.
.
?
Plot
$10 flat
.
.
.
18
Absolute Magn.
3c/wd
.
.
.
12
Worlds of F & SF
6c/wd
.
.

You get the idea. Then you go through it and look first at the "# days" column, and write each magazine's turnaround rank in that cell. Ergo, Keen SF would be 1, Aberrations and Aboriginal tie for 4th place (because I couldn't find an estimated turnaround time for Plot, it gets a 5), Absolute Magnitude gets a 3, and Worlds of Fantasy & Science Fiction got a 2:
 
rank
# days
magazine
pay
pay rank
final
1
10
Keen SF
1.5c/wd
.
.
4
60
Aberrations
1/4c/wd
.
.
4
60
Aboriginal SF
$200 flat
.
.
5
?
Plot
$10 flat
.
.
3
18
Absolute Magn.
3c/wd
.
.
2
12
Worlds of F & SF
6c/wd
.
.

Next is the pay ranking. I'll just fill those in for you:
 
rank
# days
magazine
pay
pay rank
final
1
10
Keen SF
1.5c/wd
4
.
4
60
Aberrations
1/4c/wd
5
.
4
60
Aboriginal SF
$200 flat*
3
.
5
?
Plot
$10 flat**
6
.
3
18
Absolute Magn.
3c/wd
2
.
2
12
Worlds of F & SF
6c/wd
1
.

* for "The Snarts Vehicle" at 12,300 words, this equates to 1.6 cents per word.

** this equates to 8/100 of 1 cent or 0.08 cents per word.

The next step is to simply add up each market's ranks from column 1 and column 5:
 
rank
# days
magazine
pay
pay rank
final
1
10
Keen SF
1.5c/wd
4
5
4
60
Aberrations
1/4c/wd
5
9
4
60
Aboriginal SF
$200 flat*
3
7
5
?
Plot
$10 flat**
6
11
3
18
Absolute Magn.
3c/wd
2
5
2
12
Worlds of F & SF
6c/wd
1
3

I have a second sheet I call "Market Plan," which I fill out for each story, too. I transcribe the results from the Ranking worksheet to the Market Plan, listing the markets in the order they fell out of the ranking exercise:
 
Market
SS?
Pay
Turnaround
Notes
Worlds of F & SF
?
6c/wd
12
"heavily stocked"
Absolute Magn.
Y
3c/wd
18
.
Keen SF
?
1.5c/wd
10
.
Aboriginal SF
?
$200 flat
60
.
Aberrations
?
1/4c/wd
60
"needs more F"
Plot
Y
$10 flat
?
.

The SS? column denotes whether a market accepts simultaneous submissions or not. In this instance, I could send "Snart" to both Absolute Magnitude and Plot at the same time and not run afoul of their "simsub" policies.

In the notes column I put pertinent info I've found while looking them up, such as "Only accepting Jan. 1 through April 30"; "Prefers stamps to SASEs"; "Has themed issues," etc.

These two sheets go into the left-hand pocket of "Snarts" very own folder. The story itself is tucked into the right-hand pocket. I've got it on a diskette in its own subdirectory, along with the cover letters I've written for it, and its tracking worksheet(see the "B" paragraph above).

Just one more thing left to do:

I scavenged two 11" x 17" laminated posters from a long-past conference, taped them together, turned them over, and in permanent black marker I made another table, with these columns:
 
Story
Market
When Sent

I taped it up on my writing-room wall. Using dry-erase markers I record each story's destination when I send it out, and the date, and update it as necessary. That way I have a one-glance gauge of how many stories I've got "out there". This very minute... let's see... there are thirty. Some of those have been sold and I'm leaving certain ones up to remind me not to send them out to any FNASR markets. Others I've got out to places that accept reprints. One was sold to a foreign market, and it's got a second destination, FNASR, listed now, too.

Writing all this down like this makes it look terribly cumbersome and time-consuming, but this method gave me a lot more time to just write than when I was going through the market search process every time a story was sent back. I've since transferred some record-keeping to a computer spreadsheet, but this method is guaranteed Y2K-compliant, if that worries you. I look on the market planning and decision-making as something like sending your kid out into the world with her college degree. Sure, she might come back, but it won't be for long. It's just a matter of time before she starts sending home those checks. Right? Why are you laughing?

Copyright 1997, Terry Hickman, previously published in The Market List

Visit Terry's website, 3 outside the skinny, at: http://www.mirror.org/terry.hickman/Index.htm
You can email her at: three_outside@yahoo.com

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December 2000
The Writer's Holiday Blues
by Sherry D. Ramsey

Some writers love the holiday season. For a fortunate few, the holidays bring with them new story and article ideas, renewed writing energy, and a sense of peace and accomplishment as a new year approaches. For other lucky souls it means increased writing time as their spouses or partners desert the house for extended shopping trips. This article is not really for them, although they might benefit from some of its ideas. This article is for the rest of us, for whom holidays and writing are somewhat at odds.

Sometimes the approaching end of the year brings with it a feeling of urgency. Unfinished projects and unmet deadlines (even just self-imposed ones) push us to work furiously, trying to achieve the impossible and doomed to failure. If I could just get this one more thing finished, goes the thinking, I could relax and enjoy the holidays. But available writing time seems to diminish in proportion to this sense of urgency, and we're left overflowing with frustration as we finally realize that with the holiday business upon us, these projects are not going to be finished.

Sometimes the press of other committments and undertakings shoulders writing aside. We might rationalize that it's okay, we need a writing break anyway, we can't get it all done, and that writing can wait until "later." We'll squeeze it in somewhere. It seems a logical and reasonable decision to make. What we don't expect is the resentment that builds up right along with pent-up creative energy, making us frustrated, irritable, and out of sorts instead of filled with glad tidings and goodwill.

Another stressor for writers and aspiring writers at this time of year often comes in the guise of infrequently seen relatives and acquaintances. How often do we hear, "Still writing, are you? Did you publish anything yet?" or "Finish that book yet?" or are told knowingly, "I'm thinking of writing a book this year. Yep. Put it right on my list of New Year's Resolutions."

And sometimes the end of the year brings with it a flood of rejected manuscripts, as editors scramble to clear out their slush piles before the calendar turns. Enough said on that topic.

So how can we, as writers, reconcile the extra demands of the season with our own personal creative needs?

Keeping things in perspective is always good advice. If you simply can't find time to write, take a good look at the calendar and mark the day you think you'll get back to writing. With that done, you'll probably find that the intervening days or weeks will be easier to manage. Your return to writing is planned, the date is set. You haven't given up on it for good. Then it really is a vacation, not a forced desertion.

Remember that much of the work of writing is done inside your head. Long line at the checkout counter? Work on that sticky plot point that's been giving you trouble or observe details of your fellow shoppers for future character fodder. Listen to snippets of conversation. Stuck in holiday traffic? Pull out your notebook (you do always carry a notebook, don't you?) and describe the experience for a future article or scene in a story. Jot down that line of poetry that just occurred to you. Even if you aren't sitting down to write every day, the business of being a writer continues in your brain. You don't have to turn that off.

If the mailman is bringing you a distressing number of fat, returned envelopes, do find time to send them to the next market on your list. Don't set them aside to deal with in January. You don't want to start the new year facing that pile on your desk, so keep things moving now.

And if you do find a minute here or there to write, maybe it's a good time to write something personal, something seasonal or relevant to you. When it's done, tuck it inside your Christmas cards or attach it to holiday e-mails. Maybe this year you have a meaningful story to tell, a personal anecdote to relate, or a special holiday memory to share. Do you struggle to write a long family newsletter every year? A personal writing might carry more of the spirit of the season than what your kids did in school and where you went on your vacation. You may be more fulfilled for writing it, and your recipients may be moved by reading it. That's a wonderful way to reconcile your writing needs with the holidays.

At any rate, don't despair. All too soon the season will be past, the long winter will stretch ahead, and you'll be back in your writing groove again. Keeping the right attitude now can help you return to your writing later with renewed purpose and spirit, and maybe you'll have found the time to let your writing touch someone else over the holidays. It is a gift, after all. Share it.

And maybe next year you'll be handing out copies of your new book to all those inquisitive relatives. That's a thought to keep you going while you hunt for a parking spot at the mall.

©2000 Sherry D. Ramsey

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November 2000
Promises
by Julie A. Serroul

It's six o'clock in the morning on a crisp fall day. It's still dark, and I can hear gusts of wind wrestling leaves from the maple tree outside my window. The air in my bedroom is cool against my cheek, the only bare skin exposed. When the alarm goes off I groan. It's time for my morning run and if I don't get out of bed immediately and hit the pavement I won't have enough time to get myself ready for work and the kids ready for school. Now or never.

Never is tempting when you are warm and sleepy, so never it is. Forty-five minutes later the alarm sounds again, but this time I have no choice, work and school await. As is usual when I blow off one of my three-times-a-week runs the guilt smacks me in the forehead the entire time I get ready for work. The forty-five minutes extra sleep don't really make me feel any more rested and certainly don't revitalize me the way my run does, clearing my mind and increasing my energy level for the day. So why can't I resist the cozy embrace of my comforter?

At the other extreme of my day is my down-time. It is the only time, aside from my days off, that I can squeeze in writing time. But by the time supper is a wrap and the kids asleep, I am totally weary, body and mind. The keyboard looks like yet another demanding chore. Slogging through some editing, preparing submissions, or clutching for fresh inspiration seem Herculean tasks.

Yet I'm not ready for bed, I'm still buzzed, I need to unwind. The telephone and bookshelves beckon seductively. "Why struggle," they whisper, "come relax, let us entertain you, you deserve it." As well, there is the magnetic pull into the mindless black hole that is television. The delicious promise of nothingness. More often then not, I succumb. Later, in bed, I'm sick with disgust over lost writing time I can never retrieve. "I'll work on something tomorrow," echoes through the bedroom like the empty promise that it is.

But why? Why can't I summon the strength of will, perseverance or whatever it is that I require? When I don't run the muscles I've worked so hard to develop weaken, then start to melt away. The endurance I've built up wanes, making each run I do manage to fit in increasingly difficult to complete. My writing muscle suffers the same way. As trips to the keyboard become more infrequent so do my words become more elusive. Tapping into the creative flow becomes more like drilling, then more like pick-mining.

Once I'm tapped into the writing vein, however, the rewards are difficult to describe without sounding effusive. It gives me a sense of completeness, unparalleled outside special familial moments. As I jog back toward my house, I feel very alive, lungs full of fresh air, watching the sun rise over the harbour. But I feel an even greater level of vitality when the words flow freely from thoughts to paper, uninterrupted. I feel, quite simply, as a musical instrument must feel when it is played. Effusive? Maybe. True? Absolutely.

So I resolve to do two things. First, to remind myself how quickly tiredness evaporates and is replaced by the pure pleasure of the exercise, be it writing or running. The absolute joy of the moment. And second, to remember how wonderfully fulfilled I feel after keeping these two very important committments to myself.

Promises are promises, after all.

©2000 Julie A. Serroul

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October 2000
Author Interview - Lisa Kelly

Lisa Kelly is the author of a new children's e-book, Wolfie's Whistle, available at Booklocker.com. Our review of Wolfie's Whistle is one of two in this month's reading department, and Lisa took a few moments this month to talk to The Scriptorium about her writing.

The Scriptorium: How did you come to write "Wolfie's Whistle?"

Lisa: I wrote a collection of poems a couple of years ago and Wolfie's Whistle evolved from one of those.

TS: Have you always been interested in writing for children?

Lisa: I'd thought about writing something for children for a while. It wasn't until I came to try it, that I realised how difficult it is!

TS: There are some important messages for kids in "Wolfie's Whistle", although they're subtly interwoven into the story. How important do you think it is that children's books present ideas such as helping others, attempting new things, etc.?

Lisa: I think having a message in a story is very important. I know that I learned a lot from what I read as a child. Even something as fun as Charlie & The Chocolate Factory has moral messages for children hidden in there somewhere.

TS: Did you work very closely with your illustrator? What if his vision of the story doesn't match yours?

Lisa: I'm very lucky because the Illustrator is my partner, so there's no problems with his vision matching mine! I write with his images in mind because I know his style well.

TS: You have more children's projects underway; do they involve different characters or is "Wolfie" part of a series?

Lisa: Wolfie is part of a series called Applewood Animals. There are many other animals in the stories and Wolfie pops up again, here and there.

TS: What made you choose e-publishing over traditional publishing?

Lisa: E-publishing offers so many more opportunities for unknown authors than traditional publishing. If the major publishing houses feel that your book is too risky to run with, then they'll turn you down. E-publishing allows an author to by-pass this process and reach their audience directly.

TS: How would you describe your e-publishing experience? Would you do it again?

Lisa: The whole experience is exciting! I will definitely be doing it again - I'm planning to e-publish all of my books.

TS: Do you have any general advice for aspiring children's writers or anyone interested in e-publishing?

Lisa: Never give up! One person's opinion is just one person's opinion - there may be thousands out there who love your book! Give e-publishing a go; your book may not reach millions but at least it will reach someone!

©2000 Sherry D. Ramsey, Lisa Kelly

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September 2000
The Wide World of E-Publishing

The advent of the Internet has changed the face of many things: communication, business, entertainment, travel, research, and of course, publishing. I'm publishing right now, on this web page. It's fast, easy and cost-effective, and that's why so many writers are looking at e-publishing options for their work as well as their websites.

Just when the print publishing industry seemed to be getting increasingly closed off to new writers, e-publishing arrived and opened up the field again. You need to know if e-publishing could be for you. So what exactly is it, how do you do it, and where do you go to find out about it?

Electronic publishers provide books in electronic formats such as .pdf (Adobe Portable Document), HTML (readable on your browser), PalmDoc or RocketBook (for handheld devices). The files are usually distributed via e-mail, although some publishers also provide the work on CD-ROM or print-on-demand (a copy of the book is printed only when it is ordered).

E-publishing has a lot of advantages. Turnaround time for submissions is generally very fast, and books become available quickly. Low overhead costs (no books to print) mean higher royalties for authors. E-publishers are much more willing, on the whole, to work with new authors. Books never go "out of print" and so may remain available indefinitely. On the downside, there are still those who think electronic publishing is not "real" publishing, although that attitude will probably continue to change. Electronic files are easier to "share", so there will naturally be unauthorized copying of e-books.

If you're thinking of venturing into the world of e-publishing, there are a few things to keep in mind. Your work must still be of high quality, and professionally presented. The Internet is already clogged with poor writing, and you don't want to add to it! As with print publishing, there are lots of vanity publishing sites on the 'net, where you must pay a fee to be published. Don't fall into that trap--submit your work to reputable publishers who screen and edit submissions and pay royalties to their authors. Shop around e-publishing sites and find the ones that offer the best royalties and contracts, and pay particular attention to what rights they want to buy, the time period of the contract, payment terms and promotional responsibilities.

While traditional publishing will certainly be around for a long time to come, e-publishing is carving out a big niche in the reader market. Don't be afraid to test these new waters and see if e-publishing is for you. You might see your name on a virtual cover sooner than you think!

For more e-publishing information, check the following links:

Jacobyte Books FAQ

eBooks 'n Bytes

Electronic Publishing Q&A

©2000 Sherry D. Ramsey

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July 2000
Writing for Yourself First

It isn't easy being a writer these days. We must be ever-mindful of the demands of markets, trends, critics, political correctness, and the potential criticism of family, friends, and anyone else who might happen to read our work.

Jack M. Bickham, in his book, "The 38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes", says, "One of the great joys of fiction writing is that you are free." Well, that's how it should be. First and foremost, we should write for ourselves, but with the hope of publication beckoning us on, I wonder how free today's writer really is, or feels.

J.K. Rowling, author of the wildly popular Harry Potter fantasy series for young readers, is a prime example. Although she and her books have gained critical acclaim, awards, and phenomenal sales, she and her books are being decried by some. Most of the criticism comes from fundamentalist Christian groups who feel that Harry, as a wizard, is a bad example for children, and that young readers should not be exposed to such ideas as magic spells, curses, incantations, and magic in general. If Rowling had anticipated or worried about this kind of reaction, she might never have written the books, and many young readers would be poorer for it. (For more on this topic, click here.)

Book-banning is nothing new. From the banning of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in 1885, to China's banning of Alice in Wonderland in 1931, to today's Harry Potter controversy, books are continually being challenged and sometimes banned. And while banning imposes restrictions on the reader, what does it also do to the writer?

It says that you have written something bad, immoral, evil, ignorant, or just too weird for the general public to be exposed to. Bit of a slap in the face, isn't it? Most of us don't want anyone to think badly of us, and in fact try everyday not to offend anyone.

So what should we, as writers, do if we have an idea that makes us stop and wonder, "should I write this"?

I say, of course you should write it. There is no way to anticipate what some people might find offensive. It may not be something you will ever publish. If you let these concerns stop you from writing, you will eventually not write at all. Surely the Brothers Grimm never suspected that Little Red Riding Hood would be one of the most frequently challenged books in the United States in the 1990's!

In an interview in the August 2000 issue of Writer's Digest, Natalie Goldberg stresses the importance of writing for ourselves first, others later. She says, "Dive into that story and give it your whole life, your whole body, and then later worry about publishing or not." Goldberg is not necessarily talking about the fear of criticism or censorship, but her words certainly apply.

If we stifle our creative urges because we are afraid of what someone else might say or think, our creativity will eventually wither up and die. Writing is your outlet, your drive, your path to understanding life. Allow yourself the freedom to write a piece first, whatever you may decide or think about it after it is finished. Write what is in you to write, and worry about the critics later.

©2000 Sherry D. Ramsey

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