Write Words

Tags: march writing prompts, Ten Prompt Thursday, writing prompts
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Resources for Christian Writers

February 25th, 2010

As most of you know I got my start by writing primarily for Christian magazines. My work has appeared in over 100 Christian markets over the last decade. No doubt, Christian writing is my first love. Here are three resources every Christian writer can benefit from.

Christian Writers’ Market Guide 2010 by Sally E. Stuart. If you’re serious about marketing your Christian books and/or articles, you need this resource on the shelf. Each year Sally Stuart compiles this list of Christian book and periodical publishers. You can search for a specific publisher or according to the genre of writing. Also includes a section on specialty markets and helps for writers.

Write His Answer: A Bible Study for Christian Writers, 2nd Edition by Marlene Bagnull. I purchased this book in 1999 when I first started marketing my work. I refer to it often to keep me grounded in my calling to write and speak. The short chapters and questions for reflection are designed to help you stay faithful to the craft.

8 Steps to Successful Nonfiction Christian Magazine Writing by Angela Dion. My success in this genre has allowed me to teach others how to write for Christian magazines. This is a workbook and two audio CDs of one of my most popular classes. I walk you step-by-step through the process of how to write and sell your articles to Christian markets. Includes how to write queries for four types of Christian articles, the eight top new-writer-friendly markets, how to generate ideas, the most popular types of Christian articles and much more. You get everything you need to successfully market your nonfiction articles. Order with Pay Pal, debit or credit card by following this link.
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=5368812

Try one or all of the resources to support your Christian writing career in 2010 and beyond.

Happy writing,

Angela Dion
Dion Communications, LLC
The right words at the right time.
angela@dioncommunications.com
Let’s Talk about Race

Tags: christian writers, Christian writers' market guide, how to write Christian magazine articles, resouces for christian writers, write his answer
Posted in Christian Magazine Articles, Christian Writing, Get Published, Magazine articles, Writing Resources | 2 Comments »

Thoughts for the Rejected Writer

February 18th, 2010

Sorry, but if you can’t handle rejection writing probably isn’t the business (or even hobby) for you. In freelance writing, you will experience the pain of rejection. A lot. You can either concentrate on the rejection or you can learn from it.

You’ve heard of John Grisham’s numerous rejections before finding a small publisher for The Firm. Emily Dickinson only had seven of her 1800 poems published in her lifetime. My first book, Dear Son, was rejected 19 times and Let’s Talk about Race stayed with a publisher for almost a year before they rejected it to work with another author on a “similar” project. I’ve also gotten as many as four magazine rejections in one day.

Rejection sucks. It does. You want to quit, wonder if it’s all worth it, question whether you’re any good. And yes, after over a decade of writing I still get rejections and I still question my writing. But then I’ll get what I call a kiss from God.

An e-mail from a mom grateful for my article on talking to teens about drugs, a card from Kentucky – she just finished Let’s Talk and wants to use it as a teaching aid in her church, a Facebook message from a stranger saying she placed a child for adoption and reading Dear Son changed her life. I once got a message from an editor – a gentleman read one of my articles and wanted to know if I was single! These affirmations make all of the rejection worth it.

The truth is the more you write, experience rejection, and revise, the better writer you become. The better your writing, the fewer negative and more affirmative responses you experience.

Are you feeling an onslaught of rejection lately? Trying to find a place for your poetry, articles or books? Or are you afraid to send something out for fear of rejection? You’re in the company of many great writers, trust me. Rejection, as much as writing and editing, is an ingredient of the trade. Move past it. Keep revising. Keep submitting.

The road to success is paved with setbacks. Yet, in the end, it is our persistence despite rejection that will make us the writers we were meant to be.

Here are a few of my favorite quotes for the rejected writer.

Opportunity…often it comes in the form of misfortune, or temporary defeat. –Napoleon Hill

Experience is what you get when don’t get what you want. – Dan Stanford

If you don’t risk anything, you risk even more. –Erica Jong

A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit. –Richard Bach

The fear of rejection is worse than rejection itself. -Nora Profit

If you’re a singer, you lose your voice. A baseball player loses his arm. A writer gets more knowledge, and if he’s good, the older he gets, the better he writes. Mickey Spillane

Next to trying and winning, the best thing is trying and failing. – LM Montgomery

You have to know how to accept rejection and reject acceptance. -Ray Bradbury

Happy writing,

Angela Dion is the owner of Dion Communications, LLC. To subscribe to her free e-magazine Write Words and get the free 9 page booklet, Write Killer Queries, go to http://www.dioncommunications.com./newsletter/?p=subscribe.

This article may be reprinted freely as long as the entire article and bio are included.

http://www.csmd.edu/Training/Register/#Register

PS Two upcoming classes:

Writing Seminar – The Research Paper Class (ages 12-17)

College of Southern Maryland, Waldorf

Wednesdays, 3/3/10 - 4/28/10, 12:30 – 2:30 pm

Tuition $25, Fees $108

Eight Steps to Successful Nonfiction Magazine Articles – Telecourse Instructor

AuthorSmart/Write Well University

Tuesdays, March 30^th – May 18, 2010, 5:00 – 6:15 pm

http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?Clk=3387689

Tags: rejection in writing, writing classes
Posted in Articles, Get Published | 1 Comment »

Blizzard Editing

February 10th, 2010

If you live on the east coast you’re experiencing record snowfall this year. I’m looking out my Southern Maryland office window and watching the snow fall even as I type this. I have electricity but who knows how long as more snow is expected through tomorrow and later this week. I suggest this might be the ideal environment for a writer. We have an excuse to do nothing but write, write and write some more.

However, every great writer knows the real work of writing is in the editing. Grab your Red Pen. I’m assuming every writer has a black or blue pen and pencils handy, but make sure you have a red pen in your supplies as well. Red pens are the tool for self editing.

Here are three suggestions to make your piece sing.

Print a hard copy of your book, article or query letter. The obvious first step is to look for typos and grammatical errors. Read your piece out loud and see if it sounds natural. Often this simple step will eliminate a lot of communication noise – anything that comes between the reader and the message.

Now circle all the verbs in red. Ask, “Is there a stronger verb I could use here?” Maybe where you wrote “walked,” strolled, trotted, wandered or roamed would be more impactful. Do you use passive voice (usually indicative of a multitude of to be verbs – are, was, is, can, etc.)? Instead of, “There was a man who walked.” how about “The man strolled.”

Man, pretty weak noun, huh? Next circle all the nouns. Do you have weak pronouns or names (the man, he)? Maybe use an actual name (David Hollingsworth wandered) or occupation (the pilot roamed, the priest strolled) to describe your character. All of these convey more personality than “he” or “the man.”

So, be thankful for the snow. It allows us writers the occasion and the inclination to rewrite, rewrite and rewrite some more. I leave you with a few of my favorite quotes about self editing.

The completion of any work automatically necessitates its revisioning…Joyce Carol Oates

The key to turning out good stuff is rewriting…Forest McDonald

Writing is a kind of free fall that you then go back and edit and shape. - Allan Gurganus

Happy writing and editing,

P.S. Congratulations to Gerald Spence on the publication of his first book The War: 361 Days, 12 Hours and 27 Minutes in Vietnam. Find out more and order the book here.

Angela Dion

Dion Communications, LLC

The right words at the right time.

PO Box 21, White Plains, MD 20695-0021

301-645-9427

Tags: editing techniques, self editing
Posted in Editing, Success Stories | No Comments »

Ten Prompt Thursday - February Edition

February 4th, 2010

A couple of announcements before we get to the ten prompts. First, thanks to all who applied for the internship at Dion Communications, LLC. Please welcome our two new interns Shelley Mascia and Velvet Jacobs. Shelley is an editor and substitute teacher. Velvet is a graphic artist and poet. I’m looking forward to working with them both in the coming months.

Second announcement. My first blog with the Kirwan Institute on Race and Ethnicity was published this morning, check it out http://www.race-talk.org/?p=2552

Also, if you missed the Maryland Independent article about the Diversity Forum, it’s here (I usually don’t like my pictures, but this one I’m okay with) http://www.somdnews.com/stories/01272010/indytop171706_32230.shtml

Ten Prompt Thursday – February edition

Here are your ten prompts for February. Remember the goal is to write for ten minutes a day at least ten days a month. How’d you do in January? It’s never to late to start a writing habit. You can use these, modify these or make up your own. Just write.

It’s Black History Month – write from the perspective of a person in history, what’s your story?
You’re a groundhog. What do you think of all these humans using you to determine how they’ll spend the next six weeks?
Write to a soldier serving overseas, it’s International Friendship Month.
Do you have a pet? Write what your life would be like without your pet. Don’t have a pet; make up something about your pet frog.
Start your free write, “The Super Bowl…”
Elmo’s (from Sesame Street) birthday was yesterday. Write a birthday card for Elmo and let him know what he means to you.
Write the pros and cons of organ donation.
What’s your opinion on Mardi Gras?
Write about a time you ate humble pie.
I couldn’t have a February prompt list without Valentine’s Day. Write something to a Valentine past, present or future.

View past prompts at http://dioncommunications.com/writewords/?cat=153

Happy writing,

Angela Dion

Dion Communications, LLC

The right words at the right time.

PO Box 21, White Plains, MD 20695-0021

301-645-9427

Tags: february writing prompts, writing prompts
Posted in Ten Prompt Thursday, prompts | No Comments »

To Cliché is Passé

January 27th, 2010

Clichés are a dime a dozen, too good to be true, not worth the paper they’re written on…you get my drift?

By now most writers know not to use clichés in their writing. A cliché is a saying, expression or idea that has been overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect. Why would any self-respecting writer use an unoriginal word or phrase that had become, well, cliché? I should include a disclaimer here for fiction writers who have a character who uses idioms or nonfiction writers who are writing about a real person who uses them. But, for the rest of us, no clichés allowed!

Challenge your creative talent. Look through something you’ve written and find the overused phrases. Transform them into something fresh, exciting and intriguing. Another option is to take a commonly used cliché and make your own. Here are a few of my favorites:

A mind is a terrible thing (my friend’s mother)

All men are created equal, but not all men are created the same (my husband believes this is his original thought but won’t argue with anyone who has seen it elsewhere)

I think, therefore I am confused (this is mine and it’s often true as I tend to over think)

Do you have a favorite reworked cliché’? Send me your new expressions and I’ll share them in a future post. Better yet, take one of your new idioms and develop a story or essay around it.

Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth (sorry, had to include one more). Take the tired clichés out of your writing and I promise a stronger, more powerful read will result.

Happy writing,

Angela Dion

Dion Communications, LLC

The right words at the right time.

PO Box 21, White Plains, MD 20695-0021

301-645-9427

Tags: cliche, self editing, write for fun
Posted in Articles, Editing, Lazy Writing | 5 Comments »

Is self publishing the best option for your book?

January 21st, 2010

One question I’m asked more than anything else is, should I self-publish my book or try to find a traditional publisher? My answer is always the same, it depends on what you want. You have to decide why you wrote your book, who you want to read it, when you want them to read it, how much control you want with it, how much money you want to make, etc.

That’s a lot to think about, I know, but until you know those answers you won’t know which publishing option is best for you. To help with your decision, I’ve attached a PDF file that compares traditional publishing and self publishing. It lists exactly what each type of publishing is, the pros, cons and the money breakdown. This page is directly from my book Write, Publish, Market and Sell Your Nonfiction Book.

You should know that however your book is published, your sales will be a direct result of your marketing attempts. For nonfiction that means establishing yourself as an expert in your book’s field, being willing to speak and teach about your subject, and getting comfortable with the news media.

Is this is the year you’ll finish your book? If so, consider purchasing the audio CDs and workbook for Write, Publish, Market and Sell Your Nonfiction Book. For just $24.99, you get everything you need to succeed at your own pace. It has query letter templates, a worksheet for identifying your target audience, a marketing checklist, ideas for how to organize your book chapters and more.

Also, I have a couple of coaching slots left for spring 2010. If you want someone to walk with you one-on-one through the process of writing, editing, publishing and selling your book, contact me for a free consultation. Remember, I only work with nonfiction authors.

Happy writing,

Angela Dion

Dion Communications, LLC

The right words at the right time.

PO Box 21, White Plains, MD 20695-0021

301-645-9427