Back to homepage

WRITERS' Journal

Table of Contents
May/June 2010
Volume 31, Number 3

      .....Editor's Note

     Janet Elaine Smith meets the challenge of fiction writers who feel that marketing nonfiction work is easier than marketing their fiction work. On page 4 she focuses on different aspects of fiction works that make for excellent starting points towards successful book sales.

     In this economy you might think it ridiculous to turn down work. But wait! On page 44, Sara Rigg has some rather interesting reasons why it might be a good idea for freelancers to do just that.

     On page 48 Penny Lockwood Ehrenkranz shows how to make your characters speak to the reader through actions. Nothing enlivens a story more than accurate character and setting descriptions that show the reader more exactly who is doing what. Make your story jump from the page with some of her tricks.

     Esther M. Leiper tackles free verse on page 51. She admits that it is difficult to cover the form in one column, but her analysis should spark a creative fire in you.

      One of the contest judges is kicking around the idea of offering feedback on contest entries through a blog and is wondering if any interest for such a blog exists. If you have a comment or interest in a blog of this kind, please e-mail us with your opinion. Keep an eye on our Web site for a connecting link.

     Many interesting science fiction and fantasy stories were read by the judges, and “Gift of the Sky God” rose to the top of the list. The Write to Win! winning story grabs and hold the reader with lots of action and suspense. Thanks to all the entrants for their outstanding stories.

Leon Ogroske, editor

Columns

4       .....Marketing Helps, Janet Elaine Smith
         Finding Facts in Your Fiction

5       .....Massaging the Muse, Lynne Pisano
         Thinking Day

6       .....Effective Screenwriting, by Christina Hamlett
         The Terrible Twos
          When I was in high school, there were three sets of twins—two fraternal and one identical. The latter—a pair of sisters who were a year ahead of me—became a particular object of fascination. What would it be like, I wondered, to have a look-alike sib who just happened to excel in the very subjects that weren't my strong suit? Would our parents really know our personalities so well that we couldn't occasionally trade places? Would we ever ignore an opportunity to play tricks on our friends or make shopkeepers think they were experiencing deja vu?...

10       .....Computer Business, by Angela Render
          Google's Getting Smarter
           It's been more than a year since my last article on this subject, and we're long overdue for an update. Google announced big changes last fall, so I've run some tests and will share my findings with you....

12       .....Photography Techniques, by Ronald D. Kness
          Portrait Photography
           Several times during our writing careers, we may need to supplement our writing with a portrait image of the subject. Using a minimal amount of equipment, you can capture some terrific portrait shots. But first, let's discuss the different types of portrait settings....

58       .....For Beginners Only, by Sara E. Rowe
           Bite Your Tongue and Silence Your Keyboard
           The Internet has changed the face of freelance writing. Now, everyone—even your six-year-old neighbor—has the opportunity to be heard on the Internet through blogging and Web sites that allow just about anyone to write articles....

59       .....Words...Tools of Our Trade, by Betty Garton Ulrich
           What Happened Last Week?
           Have you ever sat there, racking your brain to remember what happened last week that you were supposed to remember this week—and you can't remember what happened or how it was supposed to tie in with something this week?...

60       .....WRITERS' Journal Market Report, by Laurie Graziano
           May/June 2010 Market Report Plus, William Jones of SnowEast Magazine
            The medium of print has undergone various changes since its inception more than 500 years ago. Each culture found a way to communicate an idea—from hieroglyphics in 3200 B.C. to the invention of the printing press by Johann Gensfleich (Gutenberg) in 1440....

                   Markets: SnowEast, Native Peoples Magazine, Angels on Earth, Patriots of the American Revolution, The History Channel Magazine, Yoga Journal.

Feature Articles

14       .....How to Write Series Novels, by Dennis E. Hensley
           Linking Past to Present
           Under my pen name of Leslie Holden, I write mystery-romance novels that are published in a series and have recurring characters. It's a real challenge for me to give new readers the background of what has happened in the previous novels while not boring the faithful readers who have already read those books.

16       .....Stalking Authoripus Intrudicus, by Timothy Masters
           Finding and Banishing the Intrusive Author
           The goal of much modern fiction is to immerse the reader in a vicarious adventure. A good novel guides the reader along a journey that doesn't just entertain or enlighten. A reader expects to fall in love, experience the pain of loss and the joy of recovery, use her brilliant intellect to solve a vexing mystery, or dive without fear into a den of thieves and bring them to justice....

22       .....New Continent Found in Translation, by Eddie Song
           Fly Your Book Across the Pacific
           Judy Merrill Larsen was doing laundry and planning meals last summer when she received an e-mail from her agent, who broke the shocker to her. The Chinese translation of her first novel, All the Numbers, was published in Taiwan the week before, debuting at No. 23 on the chart, with "no extra zero left off," she posted on her blog....

41       .....Them Was the Good Old Days, by Gwynne Spencer
           Everybody Has a Story
           Everybody's story matters. Writing your memoirs is a good way to make sure your stories are told your way....

43       .....Writers' Notebook
           Hiding Description, by Guy Anthony De Marco
           Cartoon, by Heiser

44       .....How Turning Down Work Can Improve Your Freelance Writing Business, by Sarah Rigg
           Choose Assignments Wisely and Reap Benefits
           You may have read the title of this article and wondered, "Is she crazy? Who can afford to turn down paying work?" I felt that way, too, when I stepped up my freelancing career a notch last year. However, I've since learned that occasionally turning down certain types of work will improve your freelance business overall....

45       .....Speak Your Piece, by Amy Miller
           An Open Mike User's Guide
           You pay $25 to hear a famous writer speak. Onstage, she's everything you'd hoped she would be —relaxed behind the podium, her reading effortless, her jokes genuine and off the cuff. The enormous audience doesn't faze her a bit; they're hanging on every word. You're sitting there, thinking, "How did she learn to do  that?...

48       .....Perfecting Nonverbal Communication, by Penny Lockwood Ehrenkranz
           How Your Characters Communicate Without Speaking
           Every day, whether we realize it or not, we observe nonverbal communication. We are able to understand more about the people with whom we come into contact because of this observation. When I was a women's crisis center volunteer, I learned that the best way to listen to people is by observing their whole body....

Poetry

51       .....Every Day With Poetry, by Esther M. Leiper-Estabrooks
           Free Verse: How Free Should It Be?
           Free verse is what some early critics thought of as "poetry so-called" because it doesn't have set rhyme or a set meter. Yet, to others, free verse offered a logical and innovative way to reflect on our constantly fracturing and evolving world—evolving today, of course, even more rapidly than in 1912 when free verse began....

55       .....Esther Comments On..., by Esther M. Leiper-Estabrooks
           "Somewhere Eden (A Villanelle)" and "On the Wings of Words"
           In this column you will encounter two villanelles, a centuries-old form brought to France by troubadours in the 1600s. This deft pattern's nineteen lines son proved popular, and today we label it among the French forms many poets enjoy attempting, along with other patterns, including ballades kyrielles, triolets, rondels, and sestinas....