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WRITERS' Journal

Table of Contents
January/February 2010
Volume 31, Number 1

      .....Editor's Note

     I welcome a new year. As many print publications fall off, WRITERS’ Journal continues to be a favorite publication for many writers. Our medley of sound advice for writers and examples of some very good fiction continues to satisfy writers everywhere. At last count we were being read in nearly thirty countries! A big thank-you to everyone who helps make this publication The Complete Writer’s Magazine.

     This issue includes an instructional article on writing dialogue by Greg Riley on page 15. Almost every novel worth mentioning is carried by great dialogue. Dialogue gives readers insight into the makeup of a character; everything from dialect to pacing can portray subtle nuances about an individual that the reader accumulates throughout a story. Piece by piece a fictional character evolves into a believable persona thus giving that character depth. I believe most winning contest entries are plastered with good dialogue because in word-limited short stories the author doesn’t have the luxury of a lot of words with which to build a plot. One character’s conversation with another character helps the author quickly create numerous story features that move the story along, building it, pacing it, and concluding it in a manner that will satisfy the reader. An author who has a handle on dialogue will let the characters themselves write the story.

      On page 47, Val Dumond shares her opinion on how to avoid sexism in your writing. We dithered a bit on whether to publish this article, but we decided to go with it for all the good information it contributes. We don’t always agree with everything a writer says, but we feel it is important that writers be presented with a variety of ideas and techniques to make their writing better.

      I extend my apologies to Alicia Stankay, the 2009 Short Story Contest winner, for my misspelling her name in the last issue’s “Editor’s Note.” Authors can be, and rightly should be, a bit picky about editors’ getting their names right.

      This Romance Contest had many well-written entries; choosing a winner was no easy task. Kimberley Stokely’s “Bingo” rose to the top. The Write to Win! Contest winner used a common theme to win the judges unanimous approval.

Leon Ogroske, editor

Columns

 4       .....Marketing Helps, Janet Elaine Smith
          Rubbing Elbows with the Famous

 5       .....Massaging the Muse, Lynne Pisano
          Lost Laundry List

 6       .....Effective Screenwriting, by Christina Hamlett
          Paradise Lost and Found
          The new year has yet to hit its stride, but my nephew Eugene has already decided that he's not too keen on it. His insistence on a do-over stems from the cruel and unusual punishment of having his texting privileges suspended for a week. In Eugene's view, the family may as well have banished him to a remote island for the calamitous impact this will most certainly have on his social networking....

 9       .....Computer Business, by Angela Render
          Podcasting—Your Voice on the Internet
           If a Web site is an online brochure and a blog is an online newspaper, a podcast is an online radio program. It can be a valuable tool for generating interest in you and your book. A well-rounded Internet marketing platform should include at least one audio recording. It could be a recording of you during an interview or reading an excerpt from your work. Like many activities on the Internet, podcasting can become addictive. you might find yourself recording a whole host of things for electronic distribution....

 13      .....Photography Techniques, by Ronald D. Kness
           Garment Photography
           With the advent of online auctions and Web-based product catalogs, garment photography came into a business of its own. A good garment photograph reduces the number of words needed to describe the piece—as the old saying goes, "A photo is worth a thousand words."...

 58      .....For Beginners Only, by Jim Williams
          Earn $$$ Writing History for Your Local Newspaper
           Want to expand your income? Try writing local history for your newspaper. I've recently completed several articles for my hometown weekly....

 59      .....Words...Tools of Our Trade, by Betty Garton Ulrich
           Spare No Efforts!
           When we were raising five kids, it seemed to me that we parents sometimes sounded like broken records. The same instructions, over and over; Don't talk with your mouth full! Don't throw your dirty socks under the bed, put them in the hamper! Please clean your room; no wonder you can't find anything! We don't use words like that!  And so on and so on....

 61       .....WRITERS' Journal Market Report, by Laurie Graziano
            January/February 2010 Market Report Plus, Weider, American Media, Bonnier, and Dorchester Publishing
            In past issues of WRITERS' Journal, we have focused on various magazine titles by Weider Publications, which has a total readership of over 15 million. We also covered numerous magazine titles produced by American Media Inc., with readership totals in excess of 8 million....

                   Markets: True Love, True Romance, True Story, Organic Gardening, Hot Rod Magazine, Salt Water Sportsman, Budget Travel Magazine, Woman Rider Magazine.

Feature Articles

 15       .....Get Into Your Character's Head, by Greg Riley
            How to Write Better Dialogue
            Writing dialogue is perhaps the most difficult task involved in storytelling. Too often it sounds fake or forced. Other times it can sound more like an interrogation than a conversation between friends. So how do you avoid these traps and make your characters; voices come to life?...

 20       .....Facing the Dreaded Second Draft, by Dennis E. Hensley
            Don't Be Afraid to Edit
            Directing a college writing program and also traveling across the country instructing at writers' conferences, I encounter a lot of people who have finished writing a novel but are not having any success at selling it to a publisher. After a dozen or more rejections, they'll turn to a person like me, aka a "book doctor," and ask, " So, what's wrong with my book?" Often, the answer is simple. These people have not learned that "all writing is rewriting." they've written a novel, but, as yet, they have not rewritten a novel....

 21       .....The Writer's Conundrum, by Linda Lehmann Masek
            Pathways to Agents and Eventual Publication
            Writers from the beginning of time have been plagued with the most eternal conundrum of all: It helps enormously to have an agent sell your work. Yet you can't get a publisher to look at your work unless you have an agent, but you can't get the agent without being published. Question: How do you get around this difficulty, continue your career with an agent, and get into print? This article will show a tried-and -true method used by many writers from Alistair MacLean and Dick Francis to Mary Higgins Clark, Lilian Jackson Braun, and Sara Gruen....

 23       .....Focus on Income, Not Word Rates, by Scott Smith
           The Businesslike Approach to Freelancing
           The more you read that online freelance solicitation or that new Writer's Market listing, the more you salivate. This seems the perfect gig—it fits your personality, your expertise, and your time frame. But just as you're about to click "reply" or fire off the killer query, you read the last line: Pays twelve cents per word....

 41       .....Interviewing by Phone, by Laura L. Mays Hoopes
            Captivating Interviews Grow from Strong Preparation
           Learning to conduct a good telephone interview is an important skill for anyone who wants to write for magazines. In magazine articles, an interview can be formatted as questions and answers. A series of interviews can also enliven a regular article by adding personal experiences and perspectives....

 43       .....Writers' Notebook
           The Inviting Page, by Ace Masters
            How to Get $$$ for Your Words!,  by Mary Ann Kerl

 44       .....Inside Children's Book Insider, by Noelle Sterne
           An Interview with Publisher Laura Backes
           Children's books have come of age. An estimated 40,000 to 60,000 new books appear each year and, even in today's economic climate, publishers recognize that children's books still sell. Rather than buying for themselves, adults will often spend on books for children and teens. So if you crave to write and sell a book for children, now's the time....

 47       .....Ten Easy Ways to Avoid Sexism in Your Writing, by Val Dumond
           Write with Respect and Courtesy
           Aren't you weary of writing she/he or he or she and all that stuff called "politically correct?" So was I. As a writer, I decided there must be a better way, and I set out to find it. Here's what I learned....

Poetry

 51       .....Every Day With Poetry, by Esther M. Leiper-Estabrooks
           Baah—Baah—Bad Poetry!
           My alter ego Besse Loo Hartskert maintains that bad poems are like cow patties: they keep on coming and coming; gut, she warns, "Be careful not to cause them."...

 55       .....Esther Comments On..., by Esther M. Leiper-Estabrooks
           "Coffee Up" and " The Coffee Haus"
            My husband Peter and I, being day-long caffeine addicts, often finishing two pots of twelve cups; I can assure you I personally perk up (bad pun!) for poems about java. Before me now (beside my coffee-filled WRITERS' Journal mug) sit two poems quite different, save for their subject....