New Literary Locales for Writing

The last time I wrote about Literary Locales was in November 2007. It has been mostly off line since that time. It was riddled with dead links, now cleaned out or replaced, and quite a few new ones were added (there are now about 1,160 sites). Site manager, Scott Rice, also wrote to say:

Thank you for plugging "Literary Locales." ...The more that people are aware of pictorial sites devoted to literary figures, the more likely that some may get out their cameras and create their own. I have long been amazed, for example, that no one has tried to do anything for the great American regional writer, William Faulkner. You would think that someone in or around Oxford, Mississippi, would be so inspired. In any event, if you or any of your contacts have suggested improvements, please let me know. I regard Web sites as collaborative affairs.

All right, Faulkner fans and Oxford Mississippians, the gauntlet is thrown down! Literary Locales is a fun, easy resource.

Writing Fiction About Family

For writers, one great side-effect of studying family history or genealogy is the mystery element: those unidentified photos in the old albums, family members for whom you have only the bare facts, and the ones you know an interesting little story about--and nothing else.

Consider my great-great-Grandpa Fred Fox. I'm lucky in that I have a picture of him, I've seen his fascinating tombstone, and I remember a story my grandmother told. Grandpa Fox is a goldmine! When I view his faded photo, all in shades of brown, his visage and stance all shout to me "Indian fighter"! Part of our family's land includes an ancient Indian burial mound. Although fighting Indians wasn't much of a feature in southwestern Ohio, Grandpa Fox could have gone off to the west and had an adventure, then returned home.

His tombstone features a life-size carving of a small-breed dog. At least, that's the way it looks to me. The legend is that when old Fred fell off his horse, the little dog ran all the way back to the farmhouse and alerted the family. Alas, Fred drowned in a rain-filled hoof print (another story), but everyone was so impressed with the dog's loyalty that they honored him on Fox's grave marker.

Finally, there's the story about the origin of another family member. My grandmother said that one day an Indian woman deposited her papoose with one of our aunts, promising to pick up the child later. Perhaps she was an itinerant come to help harvest the potato or tobacco crop. The mother never returned, so aunt Leola raised the black-haired beauty as one of her own. When I look carefully at the woman's face, I see Grandpa Fox's mouth and eyes set in dark skin and hair. All these relatives lived contemporaneously along Pennyroyal Hill Road, on land once inhabited by Miami Indians.

The creative part of my mind could easily string all these incidents together in a story. With the photos and personal knowledge of the setting, "all" I'd need to do is come up with a poignant plot. Yes, my family tree is ripe with such tidbits, "story plums" about to drop into my lap. How about yours? Interview the oldest members of your family before the interesting memories disappear and storylines are lost forever.

Find Writing Sources

Beginning freelancers are often stumped about how to find people to interview for an article. I just learned about a (new?) free resource operated by Peter Shankman "If I Can Help a Reporter Out". You don't have to be a reporter to use it. Several times a day, Shankman emails batches of queries to people who have signed up as sources. Often these are publicists and public relations reps, seeking placements for clients (experts for you to interview).

On the other hand, if you are an expert at something/anything or have a cause to promote and are willing to be interviewed, you can sign up as a Source.

And I don't see why you couldn't play both sides of the street at the same time. Say you want to promote one published book or product while writing a different topic, or you need fresh interviews for a sequel. Sign up for both of Shankman's services, and make the man doubly happy.

Creating Characters Online

Some innovative methods to develop characters for your fiction, using partly free online services:

• sign up at a matchmaker like Chemistry, fill out the interminable questionnaire (save a copy of the questions and your responses) and save the resulting profile


• get a handwriting sample from someone like the character you are working with, and get an analysis from Sheila Lowe (warning: excruciatingly long questionnaire)


• visit TAAZ and play with redesigning a portrait photo for a limited idea of an appearance (works best for women)
  

Would it be unethical of you to use these services for this purpose? I don't think so, although I wouldn't encourage you to leave up the profile your create at the matchmaker's site, both for others' and your own sake.

Ladies: the TAAZ site is so fun! Made me look young and gorgeous. Did absolutely nothing for the turkey neck, however. You can see and hear more about this incredible software in a YouTube video.

Writers' Online Research Resource

The Gale Group, people who put out useful directories and other reference materials usually found in libraries, offers an interesting online service, AccessMyLibrary - News, Research, and Information that Libraries Trust. If you have an account with a member library (only in the US, sorry), you can research topics from newspapers, magazines, newsletters, journals and other publications your library holds. MyAccess claims to cover 29,614,182 articles from A Friend Indeed to Zap2It.

When you find an article, you're presented with a snippet of the beginning, which ranges from a few lines to a couple of paragraphs. To read the full article requires selecting a library you belong to (it might even be your public school's) and entering, well, I'm not sure what. They say "bar code" but present a text box. Because the San Diego Public Library is part of a different online catalog, and that's the only library I belong to, I can't test out this part myself. I'm guessing the box wants your library card number. You can also have a password for some libraries. An alternative way to see articles is by signing up for a 30-day free trial membership.

Using this type of service rather than just doing a general search of the web ensures that the reference sources have already been vetted by authorities (librarians or information specialists). This provides you with more reliable and dependable results, especially important if you're a freelancer and need to send an editor a list of sources for an article that you write.

Quotations for Writing

The Quotations Page claims to be "the oldest quotation site on the Web, established 1994. We have over 26,000 quotations online from over 3,100 authors, and more are added daily." That would make it probably the first on the WWW, which began about the same time. This resource also has a forum and a blog and several other features listed in the left column.

One feature interested me: My Page. If you register (free) with the site, you can automatically save quotations from any part of the website. Deletions from you personal list are also allowed at the click of a mouse. I can see how, after diligently searching out quotations on a particular subject, this would be an easier method to collect them in bulk instead of tedious individual cut-and-paste operations.

You might want to carefully read the site's disclaimer to determine if you can or cannot use the material found there in your own publication or manuscript. If not, at least this resource might point you toward a quotable primary source.

Donate to P&E Defense

From the Preditors & Editors news page:

Unfortunately, there are those who do not like P&E or its editor because we give out information that they would prefer remain hidden from writers. Usually, they slink away, but not this time. P&E is being sued and we are asking for donations to mount a legal defense in court. Please click on the link below and give if you can to help protect P&E so it can continue to defend writers as it has for the past eleven years.

Please visit the page and scroll down to the clickable PayPal graphic to donate to defend this wonderful writers' resource.

If you distrust that method of helping, visit PayPal and send money directly to the d.l.kuzminsky[AT]att.net account. (Dave Kuzminsky runs P&E and is named in the suit.)

Preditors & Editors lists thousands of writing services with notices about scams and bad deals and recommendations for the good ones. You can research potential assistance for your writing at P&E at no charge. It is one of the best uses of the Internet that I've run across. The service is hosted by Another Realm magazine of speculative fiction.

Free Trade for Writing

If you're getting started as a magazine freelancer or looking to supplement your income while waiting for the fiction to pay off, consider writing for the trades. Trade magazines offer decent pay and, once you become established, regular writing gigs. The editors like to keep a stable of dependable writers both to commission and ones who can find good stories to query about.

As always, however, you need to know the market before trying to break into it. With magazine writing, that means reading, no, studying several issues before querying. How to get your hands on the trade rags? Here's good news: free subscriptions are available through at least two websites:

Free Trade Magazine Source

TradePub

Both offer search services and you can sign up for email alerts when new publications are added. TradePub even offers RSS feeds by category -- a truly handy feature for those who intend to specialize in this type of business writing.

Master English Words - VOA

When I was growing up in southwestern Ohio, way out in the country near a tiny town called Mason, a field of very tall radio towers reached toward the clouds. From far enough away, on a clear day, a viewer could see the towers were topped by large antennas. A little sign, I think, indicated they were broadcasting Voice of America programs. We were going to talk the mean Russians into submission. (It was the Cold War era.)


Eventually I learned what the Voice of America did and then thought little about the activity until I discovered the digital version, VOA News.com. Better yet, the service provides a Wordmaster section subtitled "A Weekly Analysis of American English". It features grammar, idioms, slang, regional English, topical issues and an archive of articles/programs. What a wonderful resource for American writers, as well as its intended audience overseas. And it is a virtual wellspring of more resources. Peruse the list of programs, and you'll see what I mean.

Copyediting Terms Writers Need to Know

If you think "flush and hang" is surfing terminology, don't know a digbat from a curly quote or kerning, a quick glance at 140 copy editing terms will give you a handle on the jargon your copy editor might use.

It has been a while since I visited About.com, which used to be a tacky and confusing website of questionable resource. What a joy it was to discover that the Grammar and Composition section is now under the watchful direction of Richard Nordquist, Ph.D. with enormous credits. The website is much less cluttered-appearing. The part under Nordquist's jurisdiction is neat and useful. I skated in, looking up the term "bastard title" in Copyediting Terms - Glossary of Copyediting Terms.

New Pages of Good Reading

Here is what NEWPAGES.COM has to say about itself:

Good Reading Starts Here! News, information and guides to independent bookstores, independent publishers, literary magazines, alternative periodicals, independent record labels, alternative newsweeklies and more.

Especially rich is their guide to "the best" literary magazines in print right now. The full listing page for each individual magazine offers a wealth of information about the publication, including a link to its website (if available).

I'd like to see a search engine for this database, but you can get listings alphabetically on the complete list page. The alpha listing on the guide page mentioned is only to sponsors.

Learning to Write from John Baker

British author John Baker wrote a series of 31 articles about learning creative writing in his blog. They began in June 2006 with Learning to Write I - John Baker’s Blog. At the end of that first piece are links to the other 30 articles, ending with one in June 2007. You don't absolutely need to read them in order, and I wouldn't dare to reproduce each tidbit here, but this is a handy list of the links to all the juicy parts:

Table of contents for Learning To Write from John Baker's Blog

1. Learning to Write I
2. Learning to Write II
3. Learning to Write III
4. Learning to Write IV
5. Learning to Write V
6. Learning to Write VI
7. Learning to Write VII
8. Learning to Write VIII
9. Learning to Write IX
10. Learning to Write X
11. Learning to Write XI
12. Learning to Write XII
13. Learning to Write XIII
14. Learning to Write XIV
15. Learning to Write XV
16. Learning to Write XVI
17. Learning to Write XVII
18. Learning to Write XVIII
19. Learning to Write XIX
20. Learning to Write XX
21. Learning to Write XXI
22. Learning to Write XXII
23. Learning to Write XXIII
24. Learning to Write XXIV
25. Learning to Write XXV
26. Learning to Write XXVI
27. Learning to Write XXVII
28. Learning to Write XXVIII
29. Learning to Write XXIX
30. Learning to Write XXX
31. Learning to Write XXXI

Amazon's Best Books of 2007

At this time of year, traditional material for regular nonfiction writers are either "Top or Best ..." or "Resolutions". I try to live just one day at a time, instead of proclaiming annual resolutions . If I am in a change process, that's about as long as I can focus or handle. I do, however, believe in setting goals and offered a system for reaching them last month.

I wasn't going to give in to the "tops" tug until I ran across this page at Amazon: Amazon.com: Best of 2007: Books. It is most handy because in addition to the editors' top picks (with no explanation of the selection process), Amazon lists Customer Favorites, the "100 topselling books on Amazon.com during 2007. (Ranked according to customer orders through October. Only books published for the first time in 2007 are eligible.)" At last, a measure with a metric rather than whimsical evanescent criteria. "Top selling" I can understand, even if Amazon has contracted the words into one. There's still time for you to vote on that page for your favorite from among the top 25 best sellers of the year.

Back on the main page of Best Books of 2007, bonuses are the breakdowns of Customer Favorites into 30 "top ten" categories, (find the list in the right column). That's enough sections to enable market research for anyone considering writing a book. What's more, you can also study similar rankings for the last sevan years! (See box at the bottom of the left column.)

Find Data on the Internet

So often I see questions in chats, forums and message boards asking, "Where can I find information on ... ?" Fill in the blank with whatever is puzzling you. My flippant response is "Did you Google it?" I realize what follows can be a tedious process, unless you know how to craft specific searches and use Google's special features. It would help to know where to find information on the Internet from more direct sources. That's where Robert Niles come in. The Pasadena journalist's statistics page has long been my favorite resource to recommend for understanding and using numbers, especially from research reports. Now he also has a page on Finding Data on the Internet. (Data is the more academic term for information.)

Rather than presenting a course on how to do Internet research, Niles has gathered a list of the most credible sources of information from Agriculture to Safety, with "Other" and "Basics" categories thrown in, covering more general resources. These will get you started in the right direction.

Freelance Writers' Resource

I don't think I've mentioned WritingCareer.com as an all-round resource for writers. It is subtitled "Expert Career Advice for Writers and Freelance Writers", and it offers sections on Career Guides, Advice, Websites, Jobs (aggregator), and Workshops and Resources. Some of the latter include free articles, podcasts and ebooks. A blog, Creative Freelancing offers even more material with such provocative titles as "What is Freelance Blogging". I'd better read that one! Another section holds information on writing contests, although accessing it via http://www.freelancewriting.com/writing-contests.php is better because that page has a search engine you can set to "newest" or "deadline". This appears to be a related website with a forum I was once thrown out from because I questioned the moderator using the members email addresses to advertise her (for profit) classes. Meow!

Calendar for Writers

Thanks to Dorothy Piper, who posted this resource in a section of the Writer's Digest forum. I think that the Time and Date calendar is one of the most useful tools I've come across, especially for fiction writers. As Dorothy said, "This super link lets you choose any year in any country. It gives holidays and observances for the chosen country, plus moon phases. Horror writers would benefit from that, I should imagine." Great find, Dorothy. Thanks for sharing!

Find Agents at LitMatch

There's a new free service for book writers: LitMatch - Literary Agent Database and Online Query Tracking. When I just checked, they boasted, "Listing 1680 Agents in 770 Agencies." Better yet, the site's search engine allows you to zero in on specific agent and agency details. You can search by location, many genres, whether they're currently accepting queries, have a blog, website, or membership in AAR, and whether or not the agent has updated the listing. You can also find an agent or agency by a single field, or any combination of fields. For example, I looked for agents in San Diego who handle nonfiction. I like the sort results feature that allows them to be grouped by agency (why bother the same agency by contacting different agents there about the same MS?) I haven't tried the tracking part, but owner Chris Hawkins has some interesting, relevant posts on the service's blog.

Where Writers Complain

It is said that it's an art to get angry with the right person at the right time over the right issue. When you feel you've been treated unfairly by a publication, contest or service, don't just grouse about it in forums and chat rooms. Submit your complaints to services that can remedy the situation and/or warn others. Here's a short list:

Angela Hoy's Whispers & Warnings -- angela@writersweekly.com

Rip Off Report --http://ripoffreport.com/user.asp

The FBI Internet Crime Division -- https://complaint.ic3.gov/Default.aspx

Absolute Write's Bewares and Background Check at:
http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=22

Preditors & Editors -- prededitors@att.net

Epinions -- http://www.epinions.com/register/

Writer Beware --beware@sfwa.org

WritersNet -- http://www.writers.net/forum/

Better Business Bureau -- https://odr.bbb.org/odrweb/public/GetStarted.aspx

The Chamber of Commerce and state attorney's office where the company or person does business.

Blogs for Aspiring Writers

Bear with me for another day of conflagration crisis mode. I'm still in my home, but the threat to my community is somewhat less as the weather conditions improve a bit.

Here's another post about a compilation of resources for writers. I'm not certain who runs the Online Education Database, but I discovered A Writer's Edge listed as number four on its 150 Useful, Educational, and Inspirational Blogs for Aspiring Writers.

What do they say about this place? "Write, write correctly, write anything!". Well, thanks for the plug, OEDB folks, back atcha!

Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites

Last week we looked at 100 More Tools, and today it is Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites. These are a gift from PC Magazine. Some are humorous, others technical and limited to a particular system or gizzie, but many appear to have the potential for being a resource for writers, especially for researching. Now, I must admit, my favorite is I Can Has Cheezburger?, but after the harrowing time I spent yesterday on the verge of evacuation, I feel entitled to all the comic relief I can find.

About the fires? Oh. Officials say the worst may be yet to come. Stay tuned. I'm trying to hang loose. Thanks for every comment and personal email. I'm still in my home, still threatened, and there's no comfortable place to go (all hotels full).

100 More Freelancers' Tools

Gems from the email bag:

Hi Georganna,

We recently published The 100 Tools Freelancers Can't Live Without. I figured I'd bring it to your attention in case you think your readers would find it useful.

Either way, keep up the great blogging!

Cheers,

Rich McIver

Listen to the Writers

Like to listen to authors talk about themselves, their writing and sometimes read from their works? Then you'll love the unedited full Don Swaim recordings available at Wired for Books. Swaim worked with CBS in New York, which broadcast monthly two-minute excerpts from 1982-1993. You can also hear them at Book Beat. The Wired for Books MP3 Page: Essays, Interviews, Stories, Plays, and Poems contains priceless materials, too. It's a free service of the WOUB Center for Public Media at Ohio University.

Strategies to Sell More Books

Scott Jeffrey of Become a Best-Selling Author offers a free eBook, 60 EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES FOR SELLING MORE BOOKS (.PDF format). Not only does he list the strategies and write about implementing them, but he also suggests tools for the processes, including creating an author's website. The 76-page eBook also contains links to other useful resources.

When I mentioned this fabulous FREE resource on the Writer's Digest Forum, I just knew it would appeal to Jeff Yeager, The Ultimate Cheapskate, as he prepares for his new book, The Ultimate Cheapskate's Road Map to True Riches, to be published in January 2008 by Random House (Broadway Books). In fact, he responded:

Thanks Geo. This is a TERRIFIC resource. So good, in fact, that I'm actually going to spring for the ink to print myself out a hard copy (ugh) [ed. note: typical Cheapskate attitude] ... much of the advice re: things authors should do is useful to all writers, whether you have a book that's already published and needs selling, or if you're just starting to write, looking for an agent, publisher, etc. Thanks again for bringing it to our attention.

Taxes for Writers

Confused about doing your taxes as a writer? I'm specifically referring to U.S. income taxes, governed by the IRS (Internal Revenue Service). For a quick overview, see my new free article on the subject on the Writing Help page.

Here's something I just couldn't resist: run your mouse around and on the kitty (if you see him below.)