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Writing Etc. – February 15, 2005

ISSN: 1545-5580

Tips, Techniques, and Resources to Transform You From An Average Freelancer to A Highly Paid Professional.

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Notes from Minnesota

Let’s Get Physical (With Emotions) By Dianna Winget

Recommended Resource to Jumpstart Your Writing Career

2006 Action Plan to Jumpstart Your Writing Career

Paying Markets

You Speak Out: Q&A

We Recommend…

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This issue is sponsored by:

While many freelance writers struggle to earn a decent wage, Bob Bly has proven again and again, year after year, that it’s not only possible to earn far more, it’s possible to to transform words into a $100,000 per year freelancing business.

And he shares all his secrets within these pages. Secrets like:

• The hidden market most freelancers overlook that can boost your income to unbelievable levels
• The “quiet” magazine market that’s easy to break into and often pays very well
• How to ask for (and get) the fees you deserve
• How to use Bob’s “positioning” techniques to set you apart from your competition
• How to write a “bullet proof” book proposal
• 22 rules for successful self promotion
• Insider secrets to effectively use the Internet to reach your income goals
• How to do more... in less time

Bly goes on to list resources... books, websites, organizations and magazines... that are designed to help you succeed as a freelance writer.

Bob Bly’s Guide to Freelance Writing Success is an indispensable resource for the serious freelancer. Bly’s track record is impeccable. And now he’s spilling his secrets.

Buy your copy today: http://filbertpublishing.com/bob.htm

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Greetings from Minnesota!

Cold snap here. Dang. I was getting used to the mild winter.

Lots going on in the world of freelancing/publishing. I talk a lot about it on my blog. You can check it out here: http://writingetc.blogspot.com

But for now I want to take a moment to thank everyone for their kind comments about John Carlton. (I talked a lot about him in the last issue of Writing Etc. You can read all about it in the archives.) Yeah. He is awesome. Even nicer in person than I ever thought he’d be, too.

I think it’s incredible when someone of his stature is so passionate about helping freelancers succeed. That’s mighty cool in my book.

He’s one of the big reasons why all of us at Filbert Publishing has a “pay it forward” mentality when it comes to writing.

Sure. You’ll find writing scams out there. Quite a few unscrupulous publishers, too.

But guess what else you’ll find.

For every one nasty person you encounter in this biz, you’ll run into at least ten fabulous, giving, stupendous and honorable professionals.

And that’s what we choose to focus on.

Scams exist. We need to acknowledge that. But the majority of what you’ll encounter in the writing world is utterly cool. And some of the most successful writers I know just happen to be some of the most generous people as well.

That’s not a coincidence.

I’ve observed that nearly every religion on this planet speaks of “sowing and reaping,” “karma,” whatever you want to call it.

There’s some sort of power in “paying it forward” beyond simply “doing something nice.”

Ah, but I’m getting way to philosophical.

Today, I’m asking that if you’ve ever been on the receiving end of a kindness, please reciprocate.

Make a donation to your favorite charity. Take a writer under your wing so they can succeed. Do something totally and completely nice for someone else… no strings attached.

Then be prepared to be amazed.

To your success,

Beth

P.S. Here’s our best seller list… be sure to pick up a copy of each of these titles. They’re awesome.

1. Jumpstart Your Writing Career and Snag Paying Assignments by Beth Erickson http://filbertpublishing.com/jumpstart.htm

2. Bob Bly’s Guide to Freelance Writing Success: How to Make $100,000 a Year as a Freelance Writer and Have The Time of Your Life Doing It. http://filbertpublishing.com/bob.htm

3. Weekly Writes: Exercises in Creative Writing by Shery Ma Belle Arrieta http://filbertpublishing.com/Weekly.htm  (You’ll get a ton of free writing/freelancing tools direct from Shery at http://WeeklyWrites.com when you order this title!)

4. Writing Wide: Exercises in Creative Writing by Billie A. Williams http://filbertpublishing.com/WW.htm

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~~~~~~~~~~~~ Feature Article ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Let’s Get Physical

(With Emotions)

By Dianna Winget

Emotions—to a extensive degree they influence, even direct our very lives. They’re potent, universal, and therefore easily described. Right? Well, if so, why do we find so many flat, overused descriptions of emotion? A fearful character is often said to have a pounding heart, an angry one may clench his fists, or an embarrassed one may flush red. And while emotions can and do produce these physical reactions, describing them in such simplicity often leaves the reader, well, simply unmoved.

However, I’ve discovered these widely recognized reactions serve as a wonderful jumping off point to writing fresh, more credible description. Let me show you a fun, effective way to greatly improve your ability to depict character emotion.

First, choose an emotion. Borrowing from above, I’ll expand upon fear. Now get a sheet of notebook paper and jot down five common physical reactions to fear. Here are the five I came up with.

1. rapid breathing
2. sick stomach
3. tight muscles
4. pounding heart
5. weak knees

Boring and cliché? Yes. But accurate as well. After all, who hasn’t experienced a pounding heart when startled? Or felt that ominous, sinking feeling when the phone rings at 2:00 a.m.? It's human nature. The trick is to experiment with fresh ways of describing these reactions. Let’s start with rapid breathing.

Pam's breathing grew rapid when she caught sight of the shadowy figure.

My first attempt at improvement resulted in:

As the shadowy figure drew near, Pam’s breathing turned into shallow half-breaths.

Better. But not good enough. After staring at the paper for five minutes, forcing myself to feel Pam’s fear, I produced:

As the shadowy figure loomed out of the darkness, Pam struggled for air, feeling as though she’d been forced underwater and barely made it up in time to save herself.

Ahhh. Now we’re getting closer. I can tell because reading that sentence leaves me breathless. But can it be improved further? Absolutely. In fact, the more attempts you force yourself to make, the better your description will become.

Let’s take a look at the second reaction on our list.

My stomach was sick with fear.

Let's assume a ten year-old protagonist so we need something a child can relate to.

My stomach turned into a hard, cold fist.

Better, but overused. How about something a little more concrete?

My stomach rolled, like it did when Miss Sims called me up to read in front of the class.

Or another I came up with and liked:

My stomach got all woozy, like I’d taken one too many rides on the tilt-a-whirl.

Ugh. Now I’m starting to feel a little woozy myself. So let’s try this exercise with a different emotion. How about grief? Here are the five physical reactions I listed.

1.      a lump in your throat

2.      pressure in your chest

3.      nausea

4.      teary eyes

5.      weeping

Can sadness cause a lump in the throat? You bet. But the phrase has become so trite it leaves the reader completely unaffected. Let’s see what we can do to fix that.

Mick wanted so badly to say goodbye, but he couldn’t squeeze the word around the baseball in his throat.

This too might be something a youngster could relate to. But how about something geared a little more toward older readers? After much effort I finally produced:

Mick wanted so badly to say goodbye, but when he tried to swallow to moisten his aching throat, the saliva seemed to block his words and he coughed instead.

Okay, now I’m starting to have fun. Let’s see what we can do with the second one on the list—pressure in your chest. Grief can indeed cause a crushing pressure, but what might it be likened to?

When Ann first learned of Charlie’s death her chest felt as though it was being squeezed in a vise.

Accurate? Maybe. But tired and predictable. How about:

When Ann first learned of Charlie’s death, her heart started a frightening flip of a beat, as though it couldn’t cope with the aching pressure and still do its job at the same time.

Ah, yes. Or here's another:

When Ann first learned of Charlie's death, her heart gripped in panic, twisting her into denial.

Now you give it a try.

When Ann first learned of Charlie's death _______________________________.

We could spend hours working through each emotion, but I’m sure you’re starting to get the idea. The important thing is not to be satisfied too quickly, but to improve upon your description until it zings with freshness and life. Consider a character's circumstances and place in history. Ask yourself, what might my character compare his emotions to? What would she be familiar with? 

Remember, too, there are countless reactions to any given emotion. For example, when my six year-old jumped out at me from behind the bathroom door, I felt the pounding heart all right, quickly followed by a hefty dose of irritation. But faced with the same scenario my husband would likely respond with a hearty laugh and a slap on the knee. So to take this exercise to the next level, go back and list all new reactions based on the intensity of the emotion coupled with the personality of the particular character you’re working with.

One final piece of advice, set a specific time limit for this exercise since the excitement of seeing your work improve is quite addictive.

Hmm. Excitement. What five physical reactions might that evoke?

~~~~~~ Recommended Resource to Jumpstart Your Writing Career ~~~~~~~

We currently have provisional consent to offer John Carlton’s “Kick Ass Secrets of a Marketing Rebel” to you. None of us honestly knows know how long he’ll grant us permission to offer you his astounding, and deeply personalized, copywriting program so I highly suggest you click this link now: http://bethannerickson.com/JohnC.html

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New Review!

Wow! Great news! You’ll receive our latest review next week! Watch for it. It’ll be a fantastic resource. Guaranteed.

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2006 Action Plan to Jumpstart Your Writing Career

Tapping into emotions sells. Always has, always will.

When you sit down to write your next writing project, take a moment to ponder how you can infuse your message with emotion. Any emotion’ll do.

Dry writing doesn’t sell, whether it’s ad copy, an article, a full-length manuscript… whatever.

If you feel “dull” and emotionless when you’re writing, chances are your reader will feel the same way.

Conjure emotions within yourself, then transfer those same emotions to the page. Then watch your writing take on a life of its own.

‘Till next time!

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Paying Markets – check ‘em out!

Dr. Dobbs Journal

http://www.ddj.com/ddj/authors.htm

Folks Online

http://www.folksonline.com/folks/sd/contrib.htm#TRU

Information Week

http://www.informationweek.com/aboutus.jhtml

Online Magazine

http://www.infotoday.com/online/OLForms/authors.shtml

Web Reference

http://www.webreference.com/writers.html

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You Speak Out: Q&A

No questions this week? How curious. Send in your question and we’ll answer it here.

E-mail if to Filbertpublishing(@)filbertpublishing.com with the words “Q&A” in the subject line. You just may get your question in an upcoming issue of Writing Etc.

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We Recommend:

Writing For Dollars! The FREE ezine for writers featuring tips, tricks and ideas for selling what you write. Receive the FREE ebook, 83 WAYS TO MAKE MONEY WRITING when you subscribe. Email to subscribe@writingfordollars.com -*- http://www.WritingForDollars.com

WRITERS FIND MARKETS EASILY - Worldwide Freelance has a NEW fully-searchable Markets Database. Discover writing markets from North America, Europe, Australia and other places. It's free, so come and try it out here: http://www.worldwidefreelance.com

Are your book sales in a slump? http://BethAnnErickson.com

E-Mag And Web Site Owners! Did you know that Filbert Publishing has an entire cache of articles you can use FREE. Just click the “Freebie” link to your left.

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Writing Etc.

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