Writers’ Block is A Dog

That has to be the best email subject line I’ve seen in ages. Sounds almost like a Zen koan, doesn’t it?

The email came from writer and friend Elizabeth Clarke. She went on to explain, “I got a puppy…” and it seems the lively little guy is getting in the way of her good intentions to stick to a writing schedule.

Being more of a cat person than a dog person, I am biased about this, but I consider cats better pets for writers because they’ll sit in your lap and purr while you sit at your desk and write. I imagine fish would also be good writer pets. And maybe rabbits–they’re nice and quiet, right?

I have no pets at the moment, but I am plagued by five — yes, I’ve counted them  — squirrels who chatter and squeal and scramble back and forth and back and forth across the rattly tin roof over my porch. They drive me nuts. I have a water pistol and am actually getting good at hitting one every once in awhile.

It’s so distracting, all that racket and all the time I spend trying to chase the little bastards away. Then again, writers are easily distracted. In fact, sometimes anyone watching might even jump to the conclusion that we’re intentionally even looking for ways to avoid writing. Can you believe that?

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I had a great conversation with a book design expert last week. Nick Zelinger has designed covers and interiors for many, many books over the last 20 years, most of them for authors who self-publish. I asked him for some tips about how my clients and I could prepare our manuscript files to prevent hang-ups and help him get the job done right and done smoothly.

I was expecting him to talk about formatting or fonts or the like, so I was really surprised when he said that the single biggest mistake new authors make is not hiring an editor(!) “That’s where a lot of money gets wasted,” he observed.

Nick is a conscientious professional, so when he gets a “bad book,” he’ll politely suggest having it professionally edited before he sets it.  But often, new authors will insist on skipping the editing step in an effort to save money.

The trouble is that when the interior is done and the client sees the manuscript all laid out and looking like a real book, the flaws and errors are suddenly obvious. The end result? Not only do they end up having to hire an editor after all, they also end up with the expense of having the designer do the book over.

According to Nick, a professionally edited manuscript is what “separates the one-timers from the people who make writing a vocation.”

Good advice, I’d say. I’ve seen how subtle revisions can make a big difference and prevent those little mistakes that can be so embarrassing. But being an editor and book doctor myself, I am admittedly biased on the subject.

So don’t take my word for it — take Nick’s. And while you’re at it, hire him. He does great work.

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Over the past year, many of you have been following my news about my client and friend Marc Warnke, who has had the vision and commitment to make the journey from hatching an idea, to creating a manuscript, to becoming a published author. The journey reaches its culmination today, folks – the book is now available on Amazon!

It’s called ONO, Options not Obligations.  The subtitle is, Enrich Your Personal Life by Rethinking Your Financial Life. ONO promotes Family First Entrepreneurism and teaches a lifestyle that will help create financial options rather than obligations.  The launch of ONO is today–April 22^nd. You can read excerpts and testimonials, as well as see and interact with Marc live on the 22^nd at www.ONOBook.com.

Marc did so many things right on this project. He engaged a great team of professionals to help with every phase, including a kick-ass editor (!) along with the amazing Maryanna Young to mastermind the launch and smooth the way with Marc’s publisher, Morgan James.

Marc is a shining example to aspiring authors everywhere!

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What comes to your mind when you hear the word “ghostwriting?” I recently had a great conversation with social media maven Jen Harris on the subject that really got me thinking about it.

People outside the world of creating, writing, editing and publishing books tend to think of it as something clandestine and maybe less-than-ethical.  They picture a scenario wherein some celebrity claims to be the author of a book, when really someone else — who gets no credit — did the actual writing.

But that’s not exactly how it works in my experience. Working with a ghostwriter is usually a highly collaborative process. And a good business move for a client who has knowledge, information, insights, or unique experiences to share with the world — but they’re not skilled at writing. Or maybe they are skilled at writing, but can’t take 6 months away from their business to put a book together.

So is hiring a ghostwriter cheating? Not by a long shot. For example, I’m now working as a ghostwriter on a book with a brilliant academic and businesswoman. She has already written a dissertation, collected mountains of research and case studies, and developed seminars and presentations on her topic. And she writes beautifully with an easy flow.

So where do I come in? My job is to help her turn that wealth of source material into a focused, relevant, highly readable book targeted to a specific audience. The information is hers, the voice is hers, the ideas and stories are hers; I’m technically the writer, but my role could also be described as the translator, the scribe, the reader advocate. I’m also the project manager who is responsible for making all of this happen in time to meet our deadlines.

My client has spent the last several years developing the source material, and after a few weeks of intense planning and collaborating, I will spend 3-4 months writing and organizing it into a book. In my mind, this is unquestionably her book, not mine.

Do I feel used? Not at all — it’s a joy doing this kind of work, and I’m honored to have the opportunity to contribute and to be paid for doing work I love.

Maybe what we need is a better word for the job, like co-writer or collaborator or writing partner…but my object is to use a title that will make it easy for clients to find me, and right now, that title appears to be “ghost.”

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I’m helping my friend Karla practice using words. We’re working from the sheet music for “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” and the page is heavily marked up. Articles and little prepositions are circled, so that they won’t get left out. Sometimes we have to stop to go over words with diphthongs or extra syllables. The word “bridge” seems especially tough for her this week.

Last March, my active, healthy, witty, competent, extroverted, young friend suffered a massive stroke that left her speechless and paralyzed on her right side. Since then, she’s made an amazing — albeit incremental – recovery, and is now living on her own again; hiking, driving, socializing, and going to various forms of therapy.

But speech remains a struggle. She can hear and understand just fine and reading is no problem, but finding the right words to say what she means and then retraining all those fine muscles of the face, lips, tongue and larynx to actually get the words out is an ongoing challenge.

Writing things down might be an alternative – but she’s right-handed and still can’t use her right arm well enough to use it for writing. Phone conversations are an uphill climb; email is like Everest.

We’re using music therapy to work on the words because Karla sings beautifully. And sometimes, the way music flows through the body and brain and heart helps bypass the blocked neural passages. Having been in choirs for years, Karla reads music, and she’s always on pitch and on the beat, so it’s a joy to do this together. And it’s got me playing guitar again, so it feels good to have an old skill that’s coming in handy again.

We get to the refrain, and she surprises me by breaking into the high harmony part. Damn, she can sing. She catches my eye and grins and we both feel uplifted, knowing that somehow the world is a better place because of the bright, clear sounds ringing off the walls in this little kitchen.

On this day before Thanksgiving, I am grateful to all the brave souls who find a way to express themselves in words, even when it means struggling against limitations imposed from within or without.

Keep speaking out, keep writing, and keep singing!

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I got to hear Greg Mortensen speak at the Morrison Center last night. One of the many amazing stories from his amazing journey was about the struggle with his publishers at Penguin over the exact wording of the subtitle for his book, Three Cups of Tea.

The publishers insisted on “One man’s mission to fight terrorism … one school at a time.” Mortensen did his best to convince them to change it to “One man’s mission to promote peace … one school at a time.”

Notice the profound difference just two words can make? He explained it simply and eloquently, saying, “Fighting terrorism is based on fear. Promoting peace is based on hope.”

The pros at Penguin very understandably assumed that “fighting terrorism” would sell more books—even though Mortensen’s mission is education, not militarism—and they prevailed. On the first round, anyway. Mortensen relented on condition that if the hardcover version of the book didn’t do well, the paperback version to follow would feature the “promoting peace” subtitle.

As for how it turned out—the hardcover edition only sold about 20,000 or so copies. The subtitle was changed, and the paperback edition with “promote peace” on the cover shot to the top of the New York Times best-seller list and has stayed there for 95 weeks as of today.

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I’m finally reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan. For somebody who makes her living keeping sentences short and cutting out the big words, this is a real feast. His writing is graceful, eloquent, full of meaning and literary allusions, and full of words that send me to the dictionary. With long, loping, looping sentences.

I’m loving it. The feeling reminds of the time I had tried to cut fats from my diet for about a month and then fell off the wagon for a slice of Lucky 13 pesto pizza just dripping with olive oil. What a blessed relief! Fat! Rapture!

I won’t give up my quest to perfect the art of writing lean when I’m writing copy, of course. A big book serves a completely different function than say, a web page or an elevator pitch. I open up The Ominvore’s Dilemma when I’m ready to curl up in a comfy chair for long stretches. Nobody ever curls up with a good trifold brochure.

So, while eye-grabbing headlines and bullet lists of benefits have their place in the world of word mongering, it’s heartening to find Pollan and to be reassured that beautiful, intricate, thought-inducing prose still resonates with people and still sells lots of books.

Good writing feeds the soul, and I’m glad to be reminded of the importance of enjoying a varied diet. And now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to read about the mysteries of mycorrhizal fungi and marvel at the wild mushroom’s talent for decomposing and recycling organic matter into digestive enzymes that support all life on earth.

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Nothing makes an English major’s day like seeing the word “grammar” in a news headline. Apparently, the lack of a gender-neutral plural pronoun in the English language is causing confusion on social networking sites: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080627/ap_on_hi_te/tec_facebook_genders

All writers struggle with this one. For example, take a sentence like “Every writer has ______ own unique style.”

Should one use “his” exclusively? Pretty sexist.

Alternate by using “his” this time and “her” the next? Hard to keep track of, as well as being confusing for readers.

Resort to the clunkiness of “his/her” or “his or her?” Interrupts the flow of the sentences and breaks the reader’s concentration on the subject.

I wrote a report on the subject for a linguistics class a few years ago and decided that my own stylistic convention would be to use “their,” even though it’s not technically correct. I find it less jarring than the other options. To me, this solution is preferable to implying that every reader is male or self-consciously calling attention to the controversy every time.

With my clients, I discuss the pros and cons of the various choices and advise them to choose a convention and stick with it, then I add it to the style guide I keep for each client. As with so many other grammar and usage questions, there are choices and the important thing is to have a good reason for the decision you make and to be consistent.

So, what’s your preference? I’d love to hear other writers’ and readers’ perspectives and opinions.

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I’ve been working on new content for Dr. Jennifer Anacker’s website this week and needed to learn more about chiropractic treatment and subluxation so I could describe them briefly and clearly for her readers. That meant starting with research and taking lots of notes. And thanks to a lucky accident — running out of graph paper — I discovered a way to focus my efforts and save a few steps.

My typical process is to start every project by writing longhand on graph paper with my current favorite pen, getting down everything I can think of or find that relates to the subject. I’m a big believer in the spew-now-edit-later approach, and usually end up with many pages’ worth of raw material.

The next step is to winnow it down, sift out everything but the good stuff, and transcribe that to a fresh Word doc. Then comes hammering that into the actual first draft, which then goes through several more iterations before it becomes the so-called first draft the client sees.

But on this particular morning, I was all out of graph paper and loose-leaf paper. I didn’t even have any used-on-one-side printer paper. The only thing around to write on was a small stack of used envelopes (I recycle these for to-do lists and random notes to myself before ultimately putting them in the recycle bin). So I decided to see whether I could capture the gist of what I needed to know and explain using only the front and back sides of one used #10 envelope.

It worked beautifully and helped me keep a straightforward task from getting more complicated than it needed to be. I filled up my “canvas,” transcribed the notes to a Word doc, and realized I had a serviceable draft right there, already.

With some projects, you need to write a lot in order to discover what it is you’re really trying to say. With others, it works best to spend more upfront time cogitating and nailing down your points before you start to write. Writing takes time and focus and lots of practice either way, which is why people hire me to do it for them. The hard part is the blank screen or the blank page, getting that first draft out. Then comes the easier, fun part: tweaking and polishing and fine-tuning.

Discovering the envelope trick turned the hard part into a game, the object of which was to stay within the lines and make a linear journey from point A to point B, leaving out the hand-wringing stage entirely. I love it when that happens.

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I was the guest speaker for a lively group of business analysts at the Treasure Valley IIBA lunch meeting today. During the Q&A they gave me some wonderful examples of miscommunication. (For those of you who don’t already know this, I’ll explain here that I collect such examples to use for trainings, workshops, and just for a good laugh, so please send me any good ones you come across.)

At the meeting, we were discussing business writing and the importance of putting yourself in the reader’s position to check for things that could be misunderstood. One of the analysts told the story of a client of hers who is a short-term disability expert. The client habitually refers to her field as “STD” and recently sent out a customer sales letter touting the benefits of STD, talking about how everyone needs STD, etc.

In this client’s mind, STD means short-term disability coverage. But to the rest of the world, the first thing that comes to mind when we see STD is “s**ually transmitted diseases.”The moral of the story? Get a second opinion about what you’ve written before sending out any important piece of communication.

It is especially helpful if your reviewer/proofreader/editor is NOT in your field or your profession, because they’ll be more likely to catch any terms or concepts that only insiders are familiar with.

It’s very difficult to imagine how it feels not to know the things one knows well. That’s why so many how-to books do such a poor job of explaining how to do something. Being able to work from a beginner’s mind, even though you are an expert, is the secret to being a good communicator, a good teacher, even a good business analyst. One of the best ways to find out whether you’re succeeding is to get feedback, whether from your target audience, a friend, or a professional communicator.

The other example the group gave me was a joke (with special thanks to Jane Francis!):

A truck driver has penguins in his truck and is on his way to deliver them to the zoo. His truck breaks down. He flags down another trucker and says,“I’ll pay you $500 to take these penguins to the zoo.”“OK, I’ll be happy to do that,” says the second trucker.

Hours later, the first trucker is in town and sees the second trucker in a crosswalk with the penguins following behind him. “Hey, I thought I told you to take the penguins to the zoo.”

“Right,” trucker two replies. “We went to the zoo and had money left over so now we’re going to the movies.”

As George Bernard Shaw once said: “The greatest problem in communication is the illusion that it has been accomplished.”

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