To Blog or Not To Blog…

…that was the question in a recent thread of emails among some of my writer friends. Conclusions ranged from gotta-have-’em to nah-it’s-just-navel-gazing.

Here are a few paraphrased reactions from editors, agents and writing coaches at the UWM Spring Writers’ Conference 2010

  • I’ve found 2 recent nonfiction book projects through people’s blogs and tweets. I approached them [underline mine] to ask if they wanted to write a book about their area of expertise. (Was that a collective gasp I heard from the roomful of working/aspiring writers?)
  • In nonfiction writing, the authority of the writer and his/her platform (e.g. professional contacts/online following) are king. Publishers can “work around” an individual who isn’t the strongest writer. (Was that another gasp from folks who are working on the craft?) For fiction writing, skill and craft are still of the highest priority; platform is less important.
  • If you don’t have an online presence, you may as well “not exist” to most people. It is very effective to use blogs, Twitter and Facebook as tools for building relationships with potential clients/readers rather than using blogs as an “online business card,” a showcase for your own writing, or, worse, a “look at me” site. (People get tired of that very quickly.)
  • Readers need to get something out of visiting your blog or following you on Facebook/Twitter. Posts need to have “added value:” free information, inspiration, fresh content, free stuff, etc. (One blogger held a raffle for a Flip camera for anyone who subscribed to his blog, newsletter, etc. and increased his subscribers by a huge number.)

Yeah, but when am I supposed to do all this blogging/tweeting? asked the tech-overloaded/time-deprived roomful of writers. Writing coach, Rochelle Melander, gave us great advice: turn it off when you’re writing, turn it off at least one day a week, block out the time you’re going to allot for this aspect of your business (yes, business) and then stop. Which reminds me, I’m almost out of my allotted time for this….

WRWA Contests Extend Deadlines to Mar 30

The Wisconsin Regional Writers’ Association, a group of dedicated volunteers and fine writers, has extended the deadlines for their annual writing contests —  the Jade Ring (various genre), the Florence Lindemann Humor Contest and the Al P. Nelson Feature Article Writing Contest — to March 30, 2010. A number of our writers have been recognized in the past!

It sounds like the WRWA is really ramping up  these contests with additional cash prizes, so please consider giving it a go.

While the WRWA website is currently down, you can get contest information here.

Get Writing. Get Better. Get Published.

UWM 8th Annual Spring Writers’ Festival

Mar. 5 – 7

Milwaukee area writers shake those winter doldrums and jumpstart or re-start their writing. Presenters with RedBird-RedOak connections include Katy J Vopal, Christi Clancy, Eva Augustin Rumpf, Kurt Chandler (and probably some more who were around long before my time!)

I’ll be presenting an abbreviated version of “Write ’til You’re Blue in the Face” on Saturday morning and would love to have you join me. Here’s the blurb:

Writing Exercises that Breathe Life into Fiction and Memoir

Writing exercises have the power to spark ideas that surprise and delight. Kim Suhr will guide participants through various writing exercises, which will add depth to their characters and settings (real and fictional).

A New Take on the Winter Blues

Call it March Madness:

We’re offering our premier writing exercise workshop,  ”Write ’til You’re Blue in the Face,” at two different times to meet our writers’ busy schedules:

4 TUESDAY AFTERNOONS (3/2, 16, 30 & 4/20)  12 noon – 2:30 pm

or

4 TUESDAY EVENINGS, (3/2, 9, 16, 23)  6:30 – 9:00 pm

$85 for the 4 meeting session

Registration form

Worth Way More Than the Price of Admission!

They looked like regular ol’ people enjoying an evening cupppa joe or glass of wine — until they stood up and took the mic that is. Then a quiet fell over the cafe, and we drank in powerful images, humorous scenes and compelling plots, all the result of lots of hard work and the supportive feedback writers find in our Roundtable groups, facilitated by Robert Vaughan, Jeannee Sacken and Laurel Landis. What a night!

Many thanks to our courageous and very talented writers and to Shari Franz of FIXX Coffee House!

Feed (and Caffeinate!) Your Writer-Tonight!

Writers’ Showcase:
Fixx Coffee House, Thurs. Feb 4, 7 pm

Show your support of our Roundtable participants…

Judy Bates
Dave Howard
Beth Huwiller
Brent Killackey
Pam Parker
Michael Proft
Kim Suhr
Dave Thome

…as they share excerpts of their work in progress. There’s nothing like being in a room full of writers and writing enthusiasts to give your own work a shot in the arm. Those who came to our last reading — writers and audience alike — had a fantastic time! Bring a friend.

The event is free and open to all.

FIXX Coffee House is located one block north of Howard on Packard Ave.fixxcoffeehouse.com

Building a Writing Community

WUWM’s Mitch Teich interviews RedBird-RedOak Director, Kim Suhr, and Redbird Studio’s Judy Bridges. (Aired Dec. 17, 2009) Lake Effect Interview

2/9 Tues. Roundtable Postponed Due to Weather

Make-up date:

Tues. Feb. 16, 12 noon – 2:30 pm

Snowflake

Solitary but not alone…

writing“I can’t write at home,” my writer friend pauses as she explains why she writes at the coffee shop. “I feel like I’m being punished.”

I know what she means. No matter how clean my office is, how hot the home-brewed coffee at my elbow, I still get more and better writing done when I’m sitting with others at our local coffee haunt than I do at home. Must be something about the feeling — each writer “going” to her own place on the page but still being in the same physical space — that motivates us to keep writing. Once in awhile, I pause and look at my sister-writers’ faces: some smile sublimely, others with knit brows. Out of the corner of my eye, I see one look at her watch, glance around the circle and get back to writing for just 15 more minutes. “Peer pressure” at its finest.

This is what I’m hoping for when we start

1st and 3rd Thursday Open Studio Writing

at our space in the Marian Center. Between 10 am and 12 noon, writers on our email list (click here to join) are invited to drop in to write in community. If you can spare a $3 free will donation, that would be great. If not, no sweat. Hope to see you there!

Be sure to check the website for weather cancellations before heading out…

$tory Matter$

What can you add to $128.74 worth of “insignificant” objects to make them worth $3,612.51? Turns out a story can make all the difference.

In the interview aired on NPR on Dec. 20th, Guy Roz shared details of the Significant Object Project:

So here’s how it works. They (Joshua Glenn and his collaborators) buy a knick-knack at a thrift store and match it with an author from big names like William Gibson to up-and-comers. The writer invents a story about the object, which then gets posted for sale on eBay. Glenn and Walker are trying to see whether adding a story raises the object’s price.

2505489904768080_1

At the time of this posting, this "Just Married Cup's" bid stood at $81.

Some items enjoy a 2,706% increase in value based upon the stories that accompany them.

According to techdirt.com,

…some stories seem better than others at increasing the auction bids, but points out that: “If Rosenfeld’s success is any indication, these authors may actually get paid more for short fiction on eBay than they would at most publications.”

This could be an interesting new income stream for writers….