The internet is a big, sprawling playground. The changes of bumping into someone you know seem to be miniscule. Imagine my surprise when I opened my inbox a few weeks ago and found an email from author and PR maven, Lori Culwell. I had read one of Lori’s books years ago because a friend had passed it along to me as encourage to get off our duffs and get to writing.
Lori is the founder and president of Get Creative, an internet consulting firm whose clients include Johnson & Johnson and Apple among others. She has contributed to Salon.com and the San Francisco Bay Guardian and divides her time between New York and Los Angeles.
After I gushed about how much I loved her work, Lori kindly offered to do a Writer’s Studio feature with us (and also two of her books for me to review). Learn more about the secrets behind this indie’s publishing success.
1. What is your one piece of must know advice for aspiring writers
My one piece of advice for aspiring writers is: write every day. You’re only going to get better if you practice. Aim for 2,000 words a day, that way when you get your book deal and have to deliver a 50,000 word novel, you won’t freak out and get writer’s block. Writing is like running –if you do it all the time, it’s no big deal, but if you put it off, it hurts!
2. Is there an unforgettable lesson you learned from writing this book you wouldn’t know otherwise about fiction?
During the writing of this book, I learned the value of the peer group. My first novel (Hollywood Car Wash) was written pretty much all in one shot (it was a NaNoWriMo book, actually), but “The Dirt” evolved over several years and was the result of the input of some awesome people who are my friends and readers. I think writers (or really, all creative types) should have a group of friends/ trusted readers who can say things like “This plot point makes no sense” without hurting your feelings. Trust me, it is way better to hear stuff like that from supportive people who you know like your work rather than later on in your Amazon reviews. 🙂
3. Any challenges for you as you wrote and published this book?
This book stopped and started several times, actually. It was written several years ago, then the deal it was supposed to be part of fell through, so I put it aside for awhile so I could get over my angry feelings about it. Then I got together with my fabulous friend and publishing partner (and now co-author on another book) Katherine Sears at Booktrope, she liked my novel, and she brought “The Dirt” back to life. I was glad to get it out and start working on it again and get it out there. I think that’s another good lesson– remember, there’s always a home for a story, sometimes it’s just a matter of timing. So, keep writing and be patient!
4. How would you start your next project?
I write all the time (on my blog Funny Strange.net, on BookPromotion.com, and on LoriCulwell.com), and the writing I do now is mostly non-fiction, just computer stuff and helping people with their social media and their websites, which I think is really awesome and fun. For fiction projects, I don’t have one going at the moment, though people have been requesting the sequel to “The Dirt” so I might have to take that one up soon.
5. Anything else you want to readers to know?
I want readers who are also writers to know that there has never been a better time to be a writer! Even five years ago, there was so much stigma around self-publishing, and now it’s like, the norm to do. I’m so happy about that! I work with agents, authors, and publishers every day, and it’s amazing how many self-published authors there are out there who are making real money. Believe me, publishers are jealous, and they know you don’t need them anymore! So, write, publish, get yourself out there with a website and some social media. Take yourself seriously!!
Oh, and if readers have questions about their websites/ social media, feel free to ask me. I’m always around! www.loriculwell.com or @loriculwell on Twitter.
We have a real treat today in the writer’s studio to hear from author and creative writing instructor, John Paul Jaramillo.
John Paul grew up in Southern Colorado but now lives, writes and teaches in Springfield, Illinois. He earned his MFA in creative writing (fiction) from Oregon State University and, currently, holds the position of Associate Professor of English in the Arts and Humanities Department of Lincoln Land Community College.
I took advantage of his expertise as both a writer and someone who works with beginning writers as students to ask an array of questions related to his work, advice, and future plans. Learn more about his collection of short stories, The House of Order and enter for a chance to win a range of prizes!
What is your one piece of must know advice for aspiring writers?
I tell my creative writing students to think of form more than meaning. To think about how they tell stories almost more than the stories they want to tell. To think about form more than what stories are selling or popular. I also tell them to read as much as possible but also I tell them to put those influences away and write as much as possible. At some level a writer has to spend hours a day drafting rather than hours a day reading. I value reading and investigation of narrative but once those models inspire and assist our process I think it is important to labor with the drafts more than any other text. I think writers have to devote so much of their time to their desks and chairs to conduct the work of writing. I know many students that wait to be inspired rather than commit and re-commit to re-envisioning work. Folks perhaps don’t understand how difficult it can be.
Is there an unforgettable lesson you learned from writing this book you wouldn’t have known otherwise?
The book is intimate and is filled with imaginings and retelling and re-crafting of old family stories. Most of the stories come from my writing in graduate school at Oregon State. They represent quite a bit of revision and reworking. I was exploring what kind of stories I wanted to tell and what kind of stories I could tell. Over the past five years I’ve tweaked and developed these stories into a greater story arc and trajectory. I think I learned, more so than anything else, how story telling or fiction writing is about the finding of the story as opposed to the capturing of the story.
Any challenges for you as you wrote and published this book?
The biggest challenge had to be incorporating ‘slanguage’ and so much of the Spanish idioms I grew up using. Capturing the language of the old folks of my family. Being honest to that but also keeping the story with a certain amount of clarity. There are fewer and fewer venues and publications that embrace the odd kind of stories and the odd kind of mix of languages and slang I wanted to tell.
Have you started your next project?
I have so much material based around Southern Colorado. I have stories about my father’s side of the family and stories about my mother’s side. But I’m constantly developing the form or the structure of those stories. I have more stories about my father and my uncle. In the writing they are Relles and Neto. I’m hoping the material will shape up into a novel or another collection of composite stories. I feel that the form will dictate the stories. Many of the characters that feature in this book feature in many of my stories and as I tweak and re-draft material I won’t be content until I capture the most effective form or structure for the stories.
Anything else you want to readers to know?
I have a writing and teaching weblog at johnpauljaramillo.com where I discuss the differences of writing and teaching. I tell my students I feel that I am a better writer than I am a teacher. I post quite a bit about the differences between teachers who majored in and study literature rather than those teachers who majored in creative writing. Dare I say those who create literature or art? I think fiction writers look at writing in a little different way than lit majors. Looking at literature and how it is constructed instead of what it means or what literary trend it represents. Thanks again for the interview.
Wanna win a $50 gift card or an autographed copy of The House of Order? Well, there are two ways to enter…
Leave a comment on my blog. One random commenter during this tour will win a $50 gift card. For the full list of participating blogs, visit the official House of Order tour page.
Enter the Rafflecopter contest! I’ve posted the contest form below, or you can enter on the official House of Order tour page–either way works just as well.
About the author: John Paul Jaramillo grew up in Southern Colorado but now lives, writes and teaches in Springfield, Illinois. He earned his MFA in creative writing (fiction) from Oregon State University and, currently, holds the position of Associate Professor of English in the Arts and Humanities Department of Lincoln Land Community College. Connect with John Paul on his website, Facebook, Twitter or GoodReads.
Traditional freelance writer work system. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Freelance writing alternates between the glamorous (invites to the latest openings) and the torturous (waiting for interviewees to show). Last week I added abusive to the list of adjectives that apply to being a free agent as a writer.
In November another publication in the region wrote me to see if I was interested in contributing for two forth coming issue with tight deadlines. After I indicated yes, I ‘d write for them, I was sent interview dates and times for the next time, without a brief. The brief tells the writer why the publication is interested in a particular person or story, suggests a few angles, mentions the payment as well as the word count.
The fact that many of these details were missing were my first indication that all was not well at this particular publication. But I chalked it up to the youth and inexperience of the staff, (the editor of the publication commissioning me had even attended an editorial meeting of Vox, a magazine I worked on; she was wide eyed and impressed by our organization in planning at least three issues at a time) reminding myself this was a magazine located in the Middle East. Not that I’m bashing locals: if you’ve been overseas for any length of time, you know that expats often sink lower than the standard of their home countries and this seemed to be the case in this particular situation.
But I wrote the pieces as best I could with the information I had and sent it in. I heard nothing for several days and moved on with my life. Then, over a long weekend during a national holiday, was surprised by an irate email from the editor (who I had no interaction with until this point). The tone and superiority of her message flagged up the issues I had been overlooking. In India at the time, I again let it go. After all, I knew I didn’t want to write for them again.
Hearing nothing else from them, I wrote on the 23rd of December requesting payment information. My email went unanswered. Cue the holidays. End December.
In January, when the world went back to the normal, if dull, pace of business, I wrote again to inquire where my payment for these pieces was. No answer. I called the offices. “We pay 45 days from printing,” the person I had been corresponding with said. Wouldn’t that have been nice to know the first four times I asked?
These kinds of terms give one pause, but again, I let it slide. Until March, when I saw the printed issues of the magazine (with my ‘sub-par’ work) in a library. I wrote again. I kept writing, every week; most of the time with no replies. I even texted the editor asking what was happening. By now, of course, it was a matter of principle.
Image via CrunchBase
On April 16th everything came to a head when I took the issue on to Twitter. Here’s what I said: “Freelancers: don’t recommend writing for xxxxx unless you can wait 90 days or more for payment. Still waiting-will keep you posted.”
Social media creates a direct line to replace static channels: I’ve seen four star hotels like the W Doha and the Four Seasons respond to a Tweet with an efficiency and effectiveness I may not have gotten from speaking to the onsite manager.
But in this case, instead of replying with an apology or a vow to make it better, the email from the Special Projects Manger (whose automatic away message first said he was out of the office) ripped off any veneer of civility:
Mohanna
The payment has been made and should be in your bank account soon.
Although we cannot excuse the delay in your payment your idiotic remark on Twitter was disgusting.
We're disappointed by your constant lack of manners and poor attitude that you have shown towards xxxx.
Good day Mohanna!
Nothing like misspelling the name of the person you are insulting to make sure they know how professional you are.
If you are an aspiring writer, beware that you’ll need thick skin. Not only to receive feedback on your writing but also deal with the intrapersonal dynamics.
If you are a freelancer, what strategies do you have to do deal with delayed payments or snide staff?
writing.
1. What is your one piece of must know advice for aspiring writers
