What Is Your Mission?

by Katherine Pickett

Defining your mission as a writer is a powerful exercise. It’s not enough to have an idea of what you want to accomplish with your book or other writing. You need to be clear with yourself, and the sooner you can get that clarity, the better.

In the past I have thought the act of writing down a mission statement was needless work. I knew why I plugged away at my editing company. I knew what my business goals were. I knew why I was writing a book. Why should I go to the trouble of writing it down?

But my attitude has changed.

After reading a fellow freelance writer’s argument for why mission statements are so important, I decided to give it a try. I suppose having it come from someone I knew gave it more weight. I wrote up a mission for my editing company and placed it on the homepage of my website.

I was blown away by the effects. Writing down my mission forced me to give my company the attention it deserved. In return, it gave me direction I didn’t know I needed. I also began getting clients who were better suited for me.

That was for a business. What about a mission statement for a book?

When it came time to write the proposal for my book Perfect Bound, I thought a mission statement would make a good marketing tool. Agents would love it. It would make my proposal stand out.

Well, I never found out what agents thought of it. What I learned instead was that having a mission statement gave me clarity and direction. I had a concise paragraph stating what I wanted to accomplish and why. That influenced how I wrote my introduction, how I presented myself at public events, how I approached my website, and more.

For those unfamiliar with the concept of a mission statement for a book, here is one example:

My mission in writing Perfect Bound, as it has been throughout my career, is to help aspiring authors achieve their dream of publication. Armed with the knowledge contained in this book, authors will be more confident in their approach to book publishing in general and the book production process in particular. Further, they will save time and money when they avoid the common pitfalls every author faces.

Importantly, this mission statement is particular to the book I was writing and is concrete in naming what I really hoped to accomplish. It is outward-facing—that is, I can share it with my readers—yet personal, so that it has meaning for me too. The statement appears on my website, and I have often referred to it when I needed encouragement.

In one of the exercises in my class Choose Your Best Book-Publishing Path, I walk students through the process of crafting a mission statement. I provide a simple formula to get you started, and we generate ideas for how you can make yours meaningful to you.

Ultimately, however, what you put in your mission statement isn’t as important as the act of writing it down. Publishing is a long road. When doubt starts to settle in, a writer’s mission statement is a touchstone that reminds them why their book is worth the struggle.

Katherine Pickett is the owner of POP Editorial Services, LLC, where she offers copyediting, proofreading, and developmental editing to writers and publishers across the country. She is the author of Perfect Bound: How to Navigate the Book Publishing Process Like a Pro, winner of two book of the year awards, and Freelancing as a Business: 7 Steps to Take Before Launch Day. Find her online at www.popediting.net.

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

Interview with Poet Lore Pushcart Prize nominee Suzanne O'Connell

MY CAPTIVE

I stalked her petticoats like a caged shrimp,

noticed when she shaved her legs,

when her skirt was an inch shorter,

when she wore two different white socks,

traced the raisin-shaped scar on her knee.

A thread dangled from her hem,

a tease, a mystery that would unlock

the other side of the world.

I imagined what would happen

if I pulled it.

Would she unravel?

Become a cocoon spinning toward me?

Could I use it to tie her to the tetherball pole?

She never noticed me once.

I could wrap that thread around my finger—

a reminder never to forgive her.

Interview conducted by Ellie Tipton, managing editor of Poet Lore. Follow her @ellietipton & follow the mag @PoetLoreMag 

ET: What prompted you to write this poem?

 

SC: I’m often prompted by a word or an image, something random, and in this case, it was noticing someone wearing a skirt that had a thread dangling from the edge. What would happen if I pulled the thread?

ET: So, the speaker here is obviously obsessed with their object of desire. Did this come from your own personal experience?

SC: This poem is about a childhood obsession with a classmate.  I was the object of some of these obsessions, and I had some major crushes myself.  I remember a fellow once telling me it was unfortunate that I had cut my leg while learning to shave and noticing when I began to wear a bra. Often these obsessions did not end well, thus the resentment at the end of the poem.

ET: Can you talk a little about your poem “Sepia Tones”?

SC: The poem “Sepia Tones” that precedes this one in Poet Lore is about domestic violence, and it features a father-figure and a child.  In a violent household, there are two modes of experience: when the violence is occurring and the waiting.  People often describe the waiting as the more painful of the two modes.  I tried to capture this tension and anxiety: how the child watches the father’s fingers.

 

ET: Did you find an emotional release when writing either of these poems?

SC: I think not of this poem, but of my poem “The Smackdown” (Atlanta Review).  The opening line is: “Maybe I should have saved all the money I spent on therapy and invested it on one big smackdown with my mother.” Even though I am defeated by the end of the poem, I felt something important was released when that poem was finished.

ET: Who are your influences?

Matthew Dickman, Charles Bukowski, Dylan Thomas, Emily Dickenson, Billy Collins, and Ellen Bass.

Purchase the issue where Suzanne’s poems appear here.

Subscribe to Poet Lore here.

Write, Revise, Research, Submit Rinse, Repeat!

~By Kathryn Brown Ramsperger

So it’s the beginning of a new year and you’re itching to make progress on your novel. You’re meeting your daily writing goals! Congrats! However, if you want to get published, you’ll have to keep up a certain pace after January. I suggest resolving to set aside an hour or two every day to write, revise, research, and submit. Here’s how I wrote my forthcoming novel, The Shores of Our Souls, which will be published by Touchpoint Press later this year:

Write More: You may not believe me, but it’s perfectly achievable to write a full novel in 30 days, 60 days, or 90 days—if you write every day. Even if it takes you three months to get your first draft, that’s amazing progress!  Even once you have your first draft, though, you have to keep writing as often as possible.

Revise More:  I had a critique group, a book club, and two developmental editors read my work. Each time we met, I used their feedback to revise my novel. My writing strengths are dialogue, detail, and characterization, and my weakness used to be the plot. Notice I said, “used to be,” that’s because I learned more about constructing the plot each time I revised. The more your work is read, the more your weakness will become your strengths. The more your writing improves, the better your chances of securing an agent and/or publisher.

Research More:  There is a cornucopia of resources online, in print, and in the community that can advise you on writing fiction. Use them. Ask questions. Take a class. You can research a scene, a method or technique, or facts to solidify your writing. You can also research how to submit and market your book.

Submit More: Once I completed my third draft, I began submitting my manuscript to agents. I also submitted stories to 25-30 literary journals every quarter.  Many agents wrote lovely words about my manuscript, but I submitted to over 200 agents before I found the right fit.  In fact, it was a guest blog that I wrote that caught the attention of my now agent—an agent who subsequently submitted my work to 197 publishers before it was accepted by Touchpoint.  All along the way, I saw sparks of interest from agents. This made my heart sing because a) it meant the publisher read my pages; and b) they liked my work enough not to send a standard rejection form letter. 

Rinse and Repeat!  If you knock on 50 doors selling vacuums, you’ll sell less than if you knock on 500. Publishing (good enough) fiction is a numbers game. I call my “rejections” my “permission slips to proceed.”  Every time I got a rejection, I sent a query to another publication—either a journal, an online magazine, or an agent. Agents look for a portfolio of fiction to show that you are a serious professional.  

Never give up! Don’t stop writing, researching markets, or submitting! Today’s authors are lucky to be able to send simultaneous submissions. Take advantage of this opportunity, and don’t worry too much about rejections.  If you take these steps, you’ll soon have a home for your book baby.

Kathryn Brown Ramsperger’s debut novel will be published by Touchpoint Press in summer 2017. You can read more about it at shoresofsouls.com, where you’ll also find information about Kathryn and her other writing, including her nonfiction, short stories, and blog. She’s also a creativity coach, and you can contact her at 301-503-5150.

Meet the Instructor: Marija Stajic

 ~ By Catherine Gregoire

            At the Writer’s Center, we love welcoming new members to our ever-expanding community of talented writers, authors, teachers, and literary enthusiasts. This is why we’re especially excited to welcome Marija Stajic, the newest TWC workshop leader!

            Marija comes to TWC with a long literary history. She is the winner of both The Writer’s Center 2014 Undiscovered Voices Fellowship, and the Neoverse Short Story Award (top 20 out of 4000). Her unpublished novel, Refugee and her book of secrets, was a Washington Writer’s and Publishing House 2015 competition finalist. Marija received a BA in Literature from the University of Nis in Serbia, and an MA in International Journalism from American University. She studied fiction at both The George Washington University and The Writer’s Center, and playwriting at HB Studios in New York City. Marija’s work has been published in the Doctor T. J. Eckleburg Review, South 85, Gargoyle, Epiphany, Lunch Ticket, Inertia literary journals, and in the Defying Gravity and Threads anthologies. Marija is also the author of three collections of poetry in Serbian.

Born in the former Yugoslavia, Marija is no stranger to transcultural and transnational experiences. In fact, she says that her time spent living in various countries has made her a better writer. In fact, she plans to draw on her unique background to teach two upcoming Winter/Spring workshops: Multicultural Fiction and How to Build Complex Characters.

__________________________________________________________________________

 

The Writer’s Center: Why are you teaching these particular topics? Why are they important to you?

Marija Stajic: “I'm teaching these particular topics because my brilliant former novel teacher, Amin Ahmad, thought that I would do a good job. It is/was something that TWC didn't offer until now. I believe diversity and options in education are always good.”

TWC: How would you say the concept of sharing culture and reaching beyond one’s culture through writing can impact both writer and audience?

MS: “I think people read fiction because it transfers them into different worlds—often ones they would never be able to experience in person. I know that I love to read about cultures I know nothing about. It's mysterious; it's exotic. I feel like I'm learning while I'm hovering over a scene a great writer created—like Junot Diaz of Dominican Republic, Jhumpa Lahiri of India, or Orhan Pamuk of Turkey. I also believe that people should write what only they can write. I happen to have a somewhat unique experience of growing up in the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia under Tito, then living in dictatorship of Slobodan Milosevic in Serbia, then surviving NATO bombardment of Serbia, and then immigrating to the United States five years later to start a whole new life. As I recently said to a Serbian journalist who is writing a story about my winning the Neoverse Short Story Writing Competition, I am bilingual, have two college degrees in two languages, and I have two driver's licenses. I had to take a test to become an American citizen. I had to do things twice that most people only do once. I believe these unique experiences make me the writer I am today, for better or worse. Why not share my experiences with people who are interested in hearing about them?” 

TWC: What are you up to next? What are your future plans and goals?

MS: “I will be teaching two TWC courses in January: Complex Characters and Multicultural Fiction. For more than 15 years, I have been teaching Serbo-Croatian and Bosnian languages and literature, but this will be a different kind of teaching. I am excited about it. I look forward to being a part of TWC's community of teachers and writers. I plan on immersing myself into my best teacher-self, and preparing for these courses with energy and enthusiasm. I'm also writing my second novel, The American Sorceress. I'm only at 55,000 words of the first draft, but I am hopeful that after some strenuous and diligent workshopping with my TWC peers, I will be able to find a legitimate publisher for it.” 

We’re excited to have Marija on board to teach these exciting new classes! We believe that just as it has for Marija, an exposure to multiculturalism will make us all more effective writers. We hope you can join her in January! Click here for course registration information.

Spotlight on Literary Events: December 2016

PEN/Malamud Award: Joy Williams

Friday, December 2^nd, 7:30 pm

Folger Shakespeare Library

201 E Capitol St SE, Washington, DC 20003

Given since 1988 in honor of the late Bernard Malamud, this award recognizes a body of work demonstrating excellence in the art of short fiction. This year we will honor Joy Williams, a writer known for her crisp prose, grim wit, and unsparing explorations of the dark side of hope. Tickets are $25. Discounted tickets for students, seniors and military members are available.

Race in America Panel

Monday, December 5^th, 6:30 pm

Busboys and Poets 14^th and V

2021 14th St NW Washington, DC 20009

Join April Ryan, Joy-Ann Reid, Mary Frances Berry, Wes Moore, Cornell Belcher, and Avis Jones DeWeever for the fourth in an ongoing series of discussions focusing on race in America. Event is free.

Facts of aFounding Father: James Madison

Tuesday, December 6^th, 12:00 pm-1:30 pm

Library of Congress-Whittall Pavilion, Thomas Jefferson Building

101 Independence Ave SE, Washington, DC 20540

Michael Signer will discuss and sign his new book Becoming Madison: The Extraordinary Origins of the Least Likely Founding Father (Public Affairs, 2015). Cosponsored with the Law Library.

Memoir Year Info Session

Saturday, December 10^th, 10:30 am-12:00 pm

The Writer’s Center

4508 Walsh St, Chevy Chase, MD 20815

Join us for a free information session on our Memoir Year Program. Starting February 2, serious memoirists who have completed a draft of their memoir or nonfiction will have the opportunity to workshop their entire manuscript over the course of a year. Event is free.

Poetry Reading-Piotr Gwiazda, WalterCybulski, and Caitlin Reid 

Sunday, December 11^th, 2:00 pm-4:00 pm

The Writer’s Center

4508 Walsh St, Chevy Chase, MD 20815

Poets Walter Cybulski, author of Nothing to Say and Saying It, and Piotr Gwiazda, who reads from his recently published third collection, Aspects of Strangers, are joined by The Writer’s Center Undiscovered Voices Fellowship 2014 recipient, Caitlin Reid. She has earned several scholarships to continue her education, including The Gettysburg Review Writer’s Conference and a Murphy Writing Seminar in Wales. Event is free.

Tracy K. Smith-Emily Dickinson BirthdayTribute

Monday, December 12^th, 7:30 pm

Folger Shakespeare Library

201 E Capitol St SE, Washington, DC 20003

Co-sponsored with the Poetry Society of America

“The surfaces of a Tracy K. Smith poem are beautiful and serene, but underneath, there is always a sense of an unknown vastness. Her poems take the risk of inviting us to imagine, as the poet does, what it is to travel in another person’s shoes.”                                                                                                                                  —Toi Derricotte

Tickets are $15.

Talk & Cocktail

Tuesday, December 13^th, 7:00 pm-9:00 pm

Upshur St. Books

827 Upshur St NW Washington, DC 20011

Paul Freedman (Ten Restaurants that Changed America) and Robert Simonson (A Proper Drink) are coming to Upshur Street Books for a moderated talk about the history of fine dining and fine drinking in America. $6 tickets include a cocktail, the perfect pairing for discussing fine fare and libations.

Grapevine: Storytelling Series

Wednesday, December 14^th, 7:30 pm-9:30 pm

Busboys & Poets-Takoma

235 Carroll St NW, Washington, DC 20012

COME HEAR IT AT THE GRAPEVINE @ Busboys and Poets, Takoma SECOND WEDNESDAYS @ 7:30 PM! Tim Livengood and Noa Baum host The Grapevine Spoken Word Series. Celebrate the timeless Art of Storytelling, with Truths, Folktales, Rumors, and everything in between! $15 suggested Donation.

Reading-Caitlin Price “Stranger Lives”

Thursday, December 15^th, 7:00 pm-8:30 pm

Upshur St. Books

827 Upshur St NW Washington, DC 20011

Book LaunchEvent-Cathy Cruise “A Hundred Weddings”

Friday, December 16^th, 6:00 pm-7:30 pm

Epicure Café

11104 Lee Highway Fairfax, VA 22030

Cathy Cruise received her MFA in creative writing from George Mason University and her BA in English from Radford University. Her fiction has appeared in American Fiction Volume 14, Blue Mesa Review, New Virginia Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, and Phoebe. Event is free.

Book Exhange:Children’s and Young Adult Books

Friday, December 16^th, 6:15 pm

Shakespeare Theater Company @ Sidney Harman Hall

610 F St NW, Washington, DC 20004

Bring one (or more) of your beloved children's books and exchange them for new favorites. Light refreshments provided! This event is a part of Family Week, seven days of free and low-cost programming that celebrates The Secret Garden. Event is free with RSVP.

Holiday Book Fair & Birthday Bash

Saturday, December 17^th, 12:00 pm-5:00 pm

The Writer’s Center

4508 Walsh St, Chevy Chase, MD 20815

On this day 40 years ago, The Writer’s Center first opened its doors, and has been inspiring and supporting an extraordinary community of writers ever since. Celebrate with a day of readings, speed dating with editors (members only), and a book fair. Workshop leaders and staff will be on hand to offer advice and help you select gifts for all of the readers in your life. Stay for birthday cake and a glass of holiday cheer! Event is free and open to all.

Poetry and Prose Open Mic

Sunday, December 18^th, 2:00 pm-4:00 pm

The Writer’s Center

4508 Walsh St, Chevy Chase, MD 20815

Come share your writing at open mic! Sign-up for readers starts at 1:30 and the reading starts at 2:00. Event is free.

Martin Galvin Book Launch

Sunday, December 18^th, 2:00 pm-4:00 pm

The Writer’s Center

4508 Walsh St, Chevy Chase, MD 20815

Come share your writing at open mic! Sign-up for readers starts at 1:30 and the reading starts at 2:00. Event is free.

The Writer’s Center presents a reading and publication party for Martin Galvin’s A Way to Home: New and Selected Poems (Poet’s Choice Press). Poets Rod Jellema and Liz Hazen will read from the collection, and will be joined by two of Galvin’s grandsons, Davis Galvin Curry and James Joseph Curry.