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WRITERS' Journal

Table of Contents
March/April 2008
Volume 29, Number 2

      .....Editor's Note, by Leon Ogroske 

   Tax preparation for the writer can be mindboggling. On page 13, Gary Hensley examines how the Internal Revenue Service views the professional writer, what deductions one can take, and how to show profits.

   Another spring event is highlighted on page 12 by our photography columnist, Ron Kness, taking pictures of wildflowers. With the abundance of gardening and nature publications, having a grasp of flower picture taking might be just the clincher you can use to land that writing assignment.

   On page 22, Colleen L. Reece introduces us to the H-A-S method for writers. If you ever write magazine articles, you should study this piece. If you like writing books, you might find her use of magazine articles as a launch pad for book writing to be just the tool you need.

   Humor writing isn’t easy, but it can be fun. See why Jennifer Brown is an award winning writer on page 41.

   The Write to Win! winning story had almost no errors, which made it easy for the judges to rank it highest.

   Excuse me while I rant for a bit.

   Yes, the fewer errors, the more likely the contest judges will like your story. Oh, you have to have a good tale, and it is nice to hold the readers attention, but if your entry is chock-full of misspellings, bad punctuation, and timeline improbabilities, it most likely will be tossed out of the competition.

   Who would send in an entry with obvious errors? Lots of people. Before you send in your entry, have someone proofread it. Then, have someone else proofread it. You might be surprised how many mistakes you have made. You might think it isn’t important to have a good story free of errors, but these are writing contests. The best plot in the world isn’t going to pass muster with a judge if it is nearly impossible to read without stumbling through grammatical errors.

   But, you say, you are allowing only a certain number of words to be used. Read what Mary Ann Duffy has to say about word count on page 56 in the “For Beginners Only” column. Then sharpen your pencil, boot your computer, start your recorder, and send us your best effort. The best overall story will win.

   Leon Ogroske, editor

Columns

  4       .....Marketing Helps, Janet Elaine Smith
           Spring Ahead

  5       .....Massaging the Muse, Lynne Pisano
           Run with the Ball

  6       .....Vocabulary Review, Carolyn Howard-Johnson
           Metaphor and Symbol

  7       .....Effective Screenwriting, by Christina Hamlett
           Time as We Know It
           Always start your story in the right place....

 10      .....Computer Business, by Angela Render
           What Types of Pages Do You Need?—Part 3 Stacking the Deck
           Building a Web site is like building a house. Changes are easy to make before you've broken ground, but time consuming and costly if you change something in the middle or at the end of the build—not impossible, just expensive and time consuming....

 12      .....Photography Techniques, by Ronald D. Kness
          The Awe of Spring
           To create the awe of spring, two elements are required—rain and sunshine. As the old saying goes, "April showers bring May glowers," and how to shoot those May flowers is the topic of this edition's column....

 56      .....For Beginners Only, by MaryAnn Duffy
           Making the Word Count—Reduce Word count Without Sacrificing Content
           Your idea is fresh; your angle, original; and your first draft, tightly written. However, the guidelines call for a word count of 1,000, and you have 1,300....

 59      .....Words...Tools of Our Trade, by Betty Garton Ulrich
           Do You Relate to Life Better by Seeing, Hearing, or Feeling?
          I read somewhere that, while people comprehend the world and events through all their senses, including sight, hearing, and touch (which involves one's feeling or "gut reaction"), nevertheless, most are stronger in one of these areas than in the others. The article, directed to writers, explained that fiction writers should know this and use this knowledge to flesh out their fictional characters.....

 60       .....WRITERS' Journal Market Report, by Laurie Graziano
            March/April 2008 Market Report Plus, Laurel Bowen of Contemporary Doll Collector and Miniature Collector
            Sixteenth-century Europe allowed artists to create dolls in wood, terracotta, alabaster, and wax. Two centuries later, Meissen porcelain, developed near Dresden, Germany, gave artists a new vehicle for production. A century later, glazed porcelain and ceramic dominated until twentieth-century molded plastic....

                   Markets: Contemporary Doll Collector, Miniature Collector, Item, Central Coast Magazine, Sarasota Homes & Lifestyles, ASTROgirl, Wine Adventure, In Style Weddings, Brandweek, Photo District News, the Hollywood Reporter.

Feature Articles

 13       .....Professional Writer or Hobbyist?, by Gary A. Hensley
            IRS Criteria
            There is more to writing than the study of the craft itself. Most of you reading this have attended writers' seminars, read books and numerous articles, visited Web sites, and attended college writing programs to learn the fundamentals (and perhaps even a few secrets) of professional writing. It's a good start, but it's not the whole story for the aspiring professional writer....

 15       .....What's Not a Memoir, by Carter Jefferson
            Not a Resume, Not a Travelogue
            Everybody wants to write a memoir—everybody, not just a few people who have discovered radium or traveled to Timbuktu, Everybody....

 19       .....I Don't Think We're in Kansas Anymore, by Rob Loughran
            A Self-Publishing Primer
            Cleanly shaven, dressed in a tuxedo, and ready for work, I opened the day's mail. Today's postal booty contained bills, a Victoria's Secret Catalog, and an SASE with a rejection slip telling me, "Sorry, but there is simply no market for joke books.".....

 22       .....Making Money with the H-A-S Method, by Colleen L. Reece
            Multiple Sales Bring in Big Bucks
           If you are the rare author who consistently sells your manuscripts to prestigious magazines such as Reader's Digest  and Good Housekeeping, stop here. You don't need this article. Most of us, however, must pay one's dues to get established and build credibility as writers. What is the best way to do so? Cash in—literally—with multiple sales, Many small magazines offset low payment by purchasing one-time, simultaneous, or reprint rights. This means acceptance or publication of a story or article can be just the beginning....

 41       .....Not Another "Cute Kid" Story, by Jennifer Brown
            Is Your Humor Writing in a Rut?
             If you dream of writing humor for a living, you probably already have an idea of what you'd like to write about. For me, it was always going to be about domestic living. I obviously had the Erma Bombeck style down pat, so why not go with my strengths?..

42       .....Writers' Notebook
           My Cousin
           Almost Everything I Needed to Know about Writing
          
44       .....Be Proactive in Promoting Your Book, by Wallace Wyss
           Do Not Let It Go Unnoticed
           As the author of more than half a dozen books, I was not nearly so bowled over when a publishing firm accepted my idea to write a book—a business biography of sorts—on a famous car racer/car builder....

 46       .....Go from Clueless to Ruthless, by Marge Jesberger
           Strategies for the Successful Writer
           You can learn to write through research, networking, seminars, or just paying attention to your intuition. Most writers use these techniques every day, but a gentle reminder might mean the difference between a sale and a  rejection....

More Fiction:

 27       .....The Tyndale Cemetery, by Amanda C. Dreher
            H. M. Winner of 2006 Horror/Ghost Contest

 28       .....The Rescue, by Jeanne Marsh
            H. M. Winner of 2006 Short Story Contest

 30       .....M.L.C., by Jennifer Taylor
            H. M. Winner of 2006 Short Story Contest

 35       .....Facade, by Michael Falino
            H. M. Winner of 2006 Short Story Contest

October 20, 2007 Write to Win! Winner

 38        ....."Granny Ginger"—"The house smelled of...," by Shannon Schuren

Poetry

 47       .....Every Day With Poetry, by Esther M. Leiper
            Intricate Song: H. D. and I
            Every poet wants to think that his or her development is unique, that no one has observed or recorded in the same way before. If that person is great, this is possibly true. Remarkable poems last, and their authors cast a glow on the pages of the ages. Yet, such writers had influences, role models plus particular backgrounds and locales. To please themselves or impress a mentor—whether early efforts are kept hidden or flaunted—literary ambitions flourish. Some youngsters discover early the urge to combine words....

 53       .....Esther Comments On..., by Esther M. Leiper
            The Winners—August 2007 Poetry Contest
            Coincidentally, I chose as the winners in this contest three poems that concern the human issue of control. When and how may one person legitimately act upon another?...