Finding Inspiration for Your Writing

 ~ By Laura Oliver

Laura Oliver, M.F.A., is the author of The Story Within: NewInsights and Inspiration for Writers. Her essays and short stories appear in numerous regional and national periodicals such as The Washington Post, Country Living, and Glimmer Train. She has taught Creative Writing at the University of Maryland and currently teaches writing at St. John’s College. Nominated for a Pushcart Prize, her work has won numerous distinctions, including a Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Award in Fiction. Her M.F.A. is from Bennington College.

As a long-time teacher of creative writing, and the author of The Story Within, New Insights and Inspiration for Writers (Penguin/Random House), I am often asked how writers can maintain their momentum when a workshop ends, or when the going gets slow on a long-term project like a memoir or novel. Writing is like exercise in that it’s difficult to make yourself begin, but you are never sorry that you invested the time in the end; you just feel better. And as with exercise, I have found that there are tools that can be used to make getting started or maintaining a writing practice easier. Think about it this way: if you’re going for a run, you crank up your playlist. Well, if you’re sitting down to write, you swap the idea of “discipline” for “inspiration.” 

How do you find what inspires you? A good starting point is finding a unique and safe place to write in which you surround yourself with tokens of past successes. Your inspiration doesn’t have to come from a framed acceptance letter or book jacket poster—the red ribbon you won in third grade for the standing broad jump will work just as well.  Reminders of previous success, like feelings of gratitude, put the writer in receiving mode. Additionally, rereading your best work activates your creative-right-brain by connecting you to your most authentic voice. Likewise, reading works from authors who you love can also be inspiring, as can using a book of prompts, or even going for a walk. I also suggest giving yourself a time limit for writing. Thinking, “I’m going to write with abandon for just 10 minutes”—mutes the internal critic and makes the task feel manageable. You’ll say to yourself: “Ten minutes? I can do anything for ten minutes.” Then, ten minutes often magically extends to 20, and then 40.  Additionally, joining an informal writing group can be motivating because it ensures that your work is read. 

Some of the most lasting sources of inspiration for writers are writing conferences, which are usually one-day events that offer a variety of lectures, workshops, and opportunities to learn from other well-published and critically-acclaimed writers. Attending a writer’s conference is like reading an anthology because you are simultaneously exposed to many experts and topics in just one day. You also have the advantage of meeting and socializing with other writers who can provide you with a wealth of information—the techniques they use to write, the places they’ve published where you might like to submit as well, their recommendations on great books on craft, and their knowledge of ongoing writing groups. You’ll see firsthand that writers are not depressed recluses but mothers and fathers, professionals from all walks of life, and totally ordinary people who observe life with a keen eye, are acutely self-aware, and who long to connect with others. Writers write not because they want to escape the world, but because they love it. 

To provide Capitol area writers with more tips to add to their toolkits, my colleague at St. John's College, Lynn Schwartz, and I are hosting our third annual Writing Intensive Workshop on June 3 from 9:15 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on the historic St. John’s College Campus in Annapolis, Maryland. The program will feature Pulitzer-Prize winning instructors, as well as a variety of workshops. Breakfast, lunch, afternoon coffee, and a networking wine reception are included. Click the following link to register and to learn more. Instruction and inspiration await!  

https://www.sjc.edu/annapolis/programs/spring-writing-intensive

New Workshop Coming to TWC: Build Your Own Author Website

By Meg Eden Kuyatt

A question writers often ask is: “When do I need an author’s website?” The answer I tell my students is that no matter where they are currently in their writing careers, it’s important to have one.  

  

It sounds like a daunting task to make an author’s website—I procrastinated making mine, afraid of all the work that might be involved. But website creation doesn’t have to be terrifying—I was able to make my website in just one sitting. In fact, this single-session website work inspired me to lead the “Build Your Own Author Website” workshop at The Writer’s Center.

In the author’s website workshop, we’ll begin by looking at some examples of strong websites, and then brainstorm material that you can display on yours. We’ll talk about strategies for pointing people to your site, and also how to use social media to promote it. Most importantly, I’ll walk you through an easy and affordable website creator and then open up the rest of the time for you to begin exploring and building on your own. 

Meg's author website

What’s so important about having your author’s website, also known as an author platform, is that it can be used to present your work in exactly the way you want it to be known in the writing community. If you’re submitting to agents and editors, they will probably Google you—and you want to be in control of what they see. Your website is a starting point where anyone interested in your work will go. There, potential readers can find your social media links, your contact information, previous examples of your work (this can be links to previously published work or examples of your current work), and any other information you want them to find. Even if you don’t have a book out, there’s still a great amount of information you can put on a website—and beginning to encourage traffic to your site pre-book can increase your book’s popularity when it is released.  Finally, it’s also great to have a website if you attend open mikes and readings. If your listeners are interested in getting to know you and your work, you can easily point them to it. 

The efficient part of designing a website in a workshop space is that you’ll be able to ask questions and get help immediately. I feel very strongly that this time should be used for you to accomplish your website design goals. For example, you’ll be able to get feedback from your peers on what’s working well, on what can be improved, and on what can be made clearer. By the end of the session, you’ll feel comfortable with the interface, and you may even finish the basics of your website! Once your website is finished, you will be able to email your fellow students for post-workshop feedback. 

  

If you’re clueless about where to start with building a website or are not sure how to set aside the time to do it, I strongly encourage you to attend this workshop. I think you’ll find that making a website doesn’t have to be hard, and that it can actually be an enjoyable part of promoting your book! 

"The Build Your Own Author Website" workshop will take place on December 3, 2016 from 1:00-4:00 p.m. You may click here or call The Writer's Center to register. 

Meet the Instructor: Tyrese Coleman

Meet the Instructor offers insight into the teaching styles and personalities of our instructors. This time around, we spoke with Tyrese Coleman, who will lead Developing Your Flash Fiction, an intermediate/advanced class that runs from October 22 through December 3.

The Writer’s Center: What brought you to the Writer’s Center?

Tyrese Coleman: I am a The Writer's Center alum.  I began my writing career taking courses at the Writer's Center. It was through those courses that I realized I wanted to study creative writing more in depth. I was encouraged by my then instructor to apply to Johns Hopkins, and I haven't stopped writing since. I always wanted to return to the Center to hopefully be for others what my instructor was for me: the encouragement I needed to pursue my dream.  

TWC: How would you describe your teaching style?

TC: I believe the cornerstone of good critique is a mix of encouragement, knowledge, and honesty. My style is one that revolves around those principles, with an added touch of humor and diversity. We are adults who want to create something meaningful to share with the world.  My teaching style keeps that goal in mind as a concrete point of achievement.  

TWC: What are you reading right now?

TC: There are way too many books lingering on my bedside table. I'm currently on 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl by Mona Awad, and will then move to Slouching Towards Bethlehem and The White Album by Joan Didion, and Slumberland by Paul Beatty.

TWC: What are you writing right now?

TC: Right now I am working on two projects, one is a short story collection and the other is a hybrid collection of stories and essays. For those collections, I am writing flash fiction and memoir, plus longer pieces for publication in journals.  

TWC: What does your writing space look like?

TC: My living room, LOL! I have an office, but I never work in it.  In a corner of my living room is a cushy mustard-colored, mid-century styled club chair with a matching lamp above it and a small table right next to it. My laptop rests on a pillow on my lap; any papers or books go on the side table along with a glass of wine. Once my kids are in bed, the only sound you can hear in my living room is the tapping of computer keys and maybe my dog snoring.  

TWC: What is the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever been given and by whom?

TC: Ever? Oh, that's hard to answer because I've received such good advice, and my memory is really bad. So, I will go with the best advice I received recently. I conducted an interview for The Rumpus with another The Writer's Center instructor, Leslie Pietrzyk, who said, "Think about the stories you have inside that scare you. That's what you should be writing." This advice is so crucial for us storytellers who really want to get at the heart of the matter, the brutal truth of life. I hope to challenge my students to write those stories and put them out into the world.

Tyrese L. Coleman is the fiction editor for District Lit, an online journal of writing and art, and a graduate of the Writing Program at Johns Hopkins University. A 2016 Kimbilio Fiction Fellow and Virginia Quarterly Review Nonfiction Scholar, her work has appeared in numerous publications such as PANK, Washingtonian Magazine, The Rumpus, and listed in Wigleaf's Top 50 (very) short fictions.

On Self-Publishing, E-books, and Politics and Prose

Our guest today is Shawn Orenstein. Later on this blog, in a few weeks perhaps, we'll deal with the issue of self-publishing head on. It's a touchy subject to some, but, for what it's worth, it's one that deserves some attention from writers. Because, as you can see here, a lot of people are self-publishing. Here's Shawn's bi-weekly column on what's happening in the world of books & publishing:

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about Garrison Keillor’s response to self-publishing, which was far from positive. In some ways, I agreed with him. While I see the benefits of self-publishing in that you do not have to bother going to a big-time publisher and most likely get your work turned down, I also did not understand how people would promote themselves while there are thousands of other unknown writers trying to the same thing. This past week, however, I stumbled upon two self-publishing success stories.

One was the story of M.J. Rose, the author of the best-selling Reincarnationist series and the founder of Authorbuzz.com, a marketing company for authors. On the homepage of her website, a question pops up: “How can I promote my book directly to hundreds of thousands of reads and to thousands of bookclubs, booksellers and librarians?” She comforts the aspiring writer responding, “Every author asks that question. The answer is AuthorBuzz.” 

Rose started to self-publish in 1998; she was one of the first people to use the Internet to publish a book. She started by making her own website and attaching a word document and selling it for $9.99. After a short time, it became painfully clear that her work was going nowhere. She decided to print the novel herself and take it around to various bookstores. Most bookstores refused to even look at her self-published book. Eventually, after serious self-promotion, she caught the attention of The Literary Guild and the Doubleday Book Club and soon enough she had a book deal.

Now the author of eleven novels, Rose tries to help aspiring writers publish their books. Having gone through all the struggles of self-publishing, Rose is confidant that she can guide writers lost in the dark. She has been in the book-writing business for twelve years and she has a background in advertising. Through these experiences, she remains skeptical about self-publishing. Last year, there were over one million books published and about three quarters were self-published. Rose says that it should be hard to get to the top in the world of books. She says, “You are going to have to break through, but if you want to make a career out of this then you have to make sure you are doing it in a very professional way.” She bluntly says, “if it is really easy to write a book in self-publishing, you are doing it wrong.” To listen to the story, find it here.

           
The other story I found was from a different perspective, one that started in the 21^st century. Before Boyd Morrison got published, he went through the process of self-publishing an e-book. However, unlike many self-publishers, this was not his first approach. He started by going through twenty-five publishers, all of which turned down his thriller novel, The Ark. At first he was going to build his own Web site, intending to allow people to download it for free. However, he discovered that Amazon gave the opportunity to unpublished authors to sell their manuscripts to the Kindle store and give them a segment of the proceeds. Morrison’s expectations were low, desperately trying to market by selling his books for less than two dollars. However, through word of mouth, his book became a hot topic of discussion on boards such as Kindleboards and Mobileread. The popularity of his novel, eventually rising to the top of the Kindle stores technothriller bestseller list, finally got the attention of Touchstone books, a division of Simon & Schuster. The Ark was one of the first self-published books that started on Kindle and eventually climbed the ladder to a big name publisher. Find the full story here.

Politics & Prose, the iconic independent bookstore in Washington DC, announced what long-time, dedicated customers have feared: it's now up for sale. Despite the threat to the independent bookstore industry, Barbra Meade, the co-owner, reported, “there are no financial problems here. We make a good Profit.” In fact, their sales have jumped over this past year. Two years ago, Politics and Prose sold 141,000 hardcover books for $3 million. This past year, the store sold 156,000 for $3.3 million. According to The Washington Post article covering the story, book sales nationwide have fallen nearly 2 percent from 2008 to last year. However, Michael Norris an industry analyst for Simba Information, said that he predicts that independent bookstore may survive because of the relationship they have with the community. He said simply, "I think they will survive because it’s Politics and Prose.” Since it first opened, Politics and Prose has formed a strong, loyal following and became a popular stop for authors on book tour. While they have held ex-presidents and Nobel laureates, the store also makes an effort to present less-known local authors.

Jeffery Mayersohn, a retired tech company executive and new owner of Harvard Bookstore (not associated with the university), responded to the news: “I believe all these devices are here with us to stay. But I also believe physical books will coexist with digital books for a very long time.”