An Author's Life: Being Kind to Yourself and Other Authors

I love writing articles for the Internet because they are short projects that yield quick results. But I've been berating myself lately for not writing more articles. When I see only eight articles posted in a month I am disappointed in myself. Surely I could have written more, a dozen or so, at least. Then I return to reason.

In the last few months I have written two books -- projects that required more time and effort. As often happens, these projects consumed me and I wrote more than 10,000 a week. Now I'm trying to sell these manuscripts. If there is a moral to this tale it is "Be kind to yourself."

Beginning and experienced authors need to keep this in mind. When we're kind to ourselves we don't push ourselves too hard. We take breaks from writing. Most important, we call "time out" for our families and children. How can we be kind to other authors?

1. Be a mentor. I've mentored several writers and enjoyed the process. Their ideas and energy motivated me. From my perspective, honesty should be the foundation of mentoring. Several months ago I met with an aspiring author about her children's book idea. I read the manuscript and sent her an email tutorial. She never thanked me and I don't know if her book was published. Though mentoring doesn't pay in the traditional sense of the word, your pay is seeing a new author's work in print.

2. Tap networks. Many networks are available to authors. I belong to an organization of health writers and stay in touch with them via email. The topics authors write about are fascinating and I'm also fascinated by the help that is offered. Email answers contain names, addresses, phone numbers, and short bios. These emails reveal the strands of the organization's network and they are strong.

3. Give credit when credit is due. If another author has helped me with a writing project I credit him or her in print. That is the least I can do. Similarly, I hope other authors will credit me for any information I have provided. Ethical standards keep us on track, on target, and provide legal protection.

4. Share your writing. I write articles for a grief support website and am also a volunteer editor. Both tasks fascinate me. Writing for websites and journals makes me feel good and I think it will do the same for you. To save time and disappointment, it's best to check with the webmaster or journal editor before you submit an article. Follow the author guidelines and stick to the word count.

5. Respect boundaries. I have set some writing boundaries and one is that I won't change another author's style. As much as I want to help other authors, I will not dictate sentences or dialogue to them. As Robert Frost wrote in his poem about mending a rural fence, "Good fences make good neighbors." If another author becomes demanding (which has happened), I put up a conversational "fence" that shows the boundary.

Kindness spreads like prairie wind across the grasslands. We can accomplish more when we are kind to ourselves and other authors.

Copyright 2011 by Harriet Hodgson

http://www.harriethodgson.com/

Harriet Hodgson has been an independent journalist for 35+ years and is the author of 30 books. Her 26th book, "Smiling Through Your Tears: Anticipating Grief," Lois Krahn, MD, co-author, is available from Amazon. Centering Corporation has published her grief resources, including "Writing to Recover: The Journey from Loss and Grief to a New Life," a companion journal, "The Spiritual Woman: Quotes to Refresh and Sustain Your Soul" and "Happy Again! Your New and Meaningful Life After Loss."

Hodgson has two other new books, "101 Affirmations to Ease Your Grief Journey," and "Real Meals on 18 Wheels: A Guide to Healthy Living on the Highway," Kathryn Clements, RD, co-author. Both are available from Amazon. Please visit Harriet's website and learn more about this busy author.

Relaying Backstory - The Prologue And Other Methods

One thing I have discovered very quickly is that there are some people, be they writers of fiction or readers of the same, who hold some very seemingly illogical opinions. One such thing I find people very passionate about are the means though which an author should provide backstory. More than a handful of people I have encountered say really strange things on this topic like that they do not read prologues because if it something not part of the "main" story they are not interested in it and that the author should give all information the reader requires during the course of the story.

This boggles my mind because prologues are and always have been considered parts of the stories to which they belong. Many famous and great works of fiction have prologues.

Are people who so ardently claim to be against prologues saying that when they go to see a classic play like Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet they refuse to take their seat until after the prologue? Nonsense! Silliness!

Even I am not using prologues, right now, in any of my stories, I do have ways outside of the main body of the story to introduce important backstory elements. Why? Because back story is important. And every story requires the backstory to be told. But not every story can effectively integrate flashbacks or dialogue between the characters to accomplish this task.

In my novel in progress I am currently using aside chapters thought the book to relay backstory that was not easily integrated into the bulk text. Putting it into the main text has an awkward feeling and to accomplish the telling of much of the backstory in the story proper resulted in long monologues about what someone recalled.

These aside chapters are two or three pages of historical text written by someone other than the main point of view character and are there to provide some counter knowledge and perspective that his own prejudices and the prejudices of the characters he interacts with simply does not allow.

For another project I have opted to provide back story prior to each chapter with a one or two-line quote about events and perceptions provided from various people in the world. Some of these people appear in the story and others do not.

My advice to all authors is to write your story the way it needs to be written. If your story needs a classic prologue then use one. If it needs some other means to disseminate historical information that happened before Chapter 1 then do not be afraid to incorporate that information for fear that someone with an irrational fear of that method might be offended.

Mathias Cavanaugh is an aspiring fiction writer who blogs about his experiences writing and trying to get published at MathiasCavanaugh.com