31 Writing Subjects I’ve Found on Twitter

Twitter on my desktop and via Hootsuite on my iPad2.

“Twitter?  It’s a waste of time.  You’re crazy to even be on it, let alone find anything useful!”

So spoke my friend, who shall remain nameless for protection reasons.  Do you hear this sentiment at all?  What is your Twitter experience?  Mine is great, as I explain over and over in this recurring discussion with people of my generation; in fact, it’s so great that I started cutting and pasting useful articles, links and all, to a Word file.  There I reference the material when I need it.  Here are 31 categories of articles that I’ve collected and the file keeps growing.  Periodically I print out the latest pages because I do have a recurring fear of losing files on my computer.  I guess it’s the

Jessica Aspen Details Her Writing Journey

One of the marvelous surprises about becoming an author is the people you meet along the way.  Jessica Aspen is one such wonderful surprise for me.  She has kindly agreed to post here today about her writing and her growth as a writer.  Thanks, Jessica!

Thanks for having me as your guest today Elaine. I enjoyed writing about my transformational journey to author. I’ll be looking forward to responding to comments. Leave a comment today on On Becoming a Wordsmith and tell me about it HERE to enter to win prizes in celebration of the upcoming release of Little Red Riding Wolf.

From Writer to Author, the journey of a year

When Elaine asked me to write about my journey to being an author, I had to stop and think: when did this journey begin. Was it when I first discovered as a tiny girl that these marvelous books had people who wrote them? That was when I first remember saying, “I want to be an author.” What about when I finished my first story in fifth grade and my Language Arts teacher told me I was very creative? Or was it when I took my first

Agent Sam Hiyate Gives Great Tips to Writers

I spent a productive day on the weekend at a session put on by the Writers’ Community of Durham Region. Sam Hiyate of The Rights Factory in Toronto spoke to about 21 attentive writers and I’m not sure who had more fun, him or us. Sam’s enthusiasm as he talked about several of the books he represents kept the writers enthralled, each of us hoping to be the next published author whose story he might tell.

Some of the projects he mentioned were Claire Letemendia’s The Best of Men, of particular interest to me as it’s historical fiction, Andrew Kaufman’s The Waterproof Bible, Hothouse Flower by Margot Berwyn, and The Film Club by David Gilmore. Oh, and Skim, by Marika Tamaki, an amazing project using drawings in a novel way.  All sounded great and are unique, very original projects.

Any time I can listen to a writing expert for six hours, I’m there. And, usually, I get a great payback for my trouble. This session made my two-hour drive well worthwhile. Here is a list of just a few of the tidbits Sam mentioned.

1. 90% of books don’t earn back their advance.
2. Pre-emptive offer and option are two types of offers authors might receive.
3. 95% of movies come from books.
4. In Canada authors don’t have to pay back what a book doesn’t earn of the advance. In the US, apparently they do.
5. Within the first 30 pages the book must show what the stakes are, introduce a sympathetic character with a problem, and introduce the central relationship.
6. A query should include the hook, what the book’s position in the market might be, and the author’s bio.
7. Never tell the ending of your book in the query letter.

Participants had the opportunity to have their prepared query critiqued and, naturally, I grabbed the chance. One of my better decisions. Getting personal time from a roomful of writers and a professional agent helped me hone my query letter.

Monday morning I launched it with all the good wishes of a luxury liner setting sail. Bon voyage!

What workshops or conferences have you attended lately?  Were you glad you went? Consider leaving a comment about your experiences.