Doing Scary Things

I mostly write creative nonfiction for the Chicken Soup for the Souls anthology. Over the years I've been published in 16 of their collections, so I've enjoyed some success. However, I've tried to stray out of my comfort zone from time to time. I've dabbled in romance short stories (laughable--literally), flash fiction (something I want to do more of) and I've written several manuscripts. Only one completed book-wannabe has earned the right to see the light of day--it's currently being shopped around.

Dipping my toes into different genres isn't exactly scary, but it is challenging.

However, in mid November I will be a guest speaker fast talker at a local university event. I changed it to "fast talker" because I'm one of three speakers who will have 8 minutes to inspire the audience of teachers with my story about how my students transformed my writing and how my writing transformed my teaching practices.

I'm nervous. Not that talking in front of a group of people makes my palms sweat. I can talk to any group about anything and feel at ease. (If car repair was the topic, I'd fill the time up with detailing my ignorance, and probably even get some laughs from the audience.)

The reason why I'm apprehensive is because I'm sharing the journey my manuscript has taken me. I feel extremely connected to this story. Last summer I made a movie about my emptional rollercoaster and when I talked about it, I got teary.

I'm afraid I won't be able to convey how committed I am, how driven I am to get my manuscript published. I'm worried that the audience won't see how emotionally I'm connected to the main character and his story...

... which made me think of other things I've done that make me fret a bit.

• Author Talks  I've been a participant in a couple of author talk sessions. What made me tense was this: Would my "part" fit in with the other participants' parts? I didn't want to hog up too much time or fill too little of the evening. I wanted to make sure I didn't repeat anything the others had already said or what others (who hadn't spoken yet) were planning on sharing. 

• Book Events  The scary thing for me is getting out from behind the table and being a bit brazen about trying to convince people to buy one of my books. I'm not especially good at it.

• Writing Critique Groups  This may seem like an odd thing to consider "scary," but I've been a member of the best critique group around. (You want to arm wrestle me over it? You think your group is the best? Come to St. Louis, roll up your sleeves and we'll fight it out.)  Over the years, some members have left and new ones have joined. I've started another group that meets less frequently (made of all teachers).  For me, it makes me figuratively bite my nails worrying about how the groups mesh. Sometimes writers come for just a session or two. How will they fit in with the others? Will we be able to give the writer what they need to polish the piece?

What about you? What is scary when it comes to writing/revising/sharing/marketing? Maybe we could shake hands over it, and swap some palm sweat...

Sioux Roslawski (on the left; on the right is her cruise partner) didn't get nervous when riding on inflatables around the coast of Iceland, but she does get nervous over the prospect of becoming a marketing marvel and a stellar salesperson... once her book is published. When will that be? Sioux's asking the same question but until then, you can check out her sporadic blog posts at Sioux's Page.

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2 comments Chicken Soup for the Soul, writing nerves

Am I Ready For a Rocking Chair?

I turned 60 this past summer. No big party (thank goodness). My family thankfully listened to me about what I wanted, and we had a great dinner at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants.

No huge gala, but a huge pause. Things start happening after 60. Bad things.

Sixty is the time when people start perusing the obituaries... They create a bucket list and tally up all the things they haven't done yet... At that age, some people slow down.

I saw a story about a man named Ray Boutwell. He's 93 and just launched his "boozy cupcake" bakery business. It's going so well, he's expanding into the space next-door.

"I'm gonna make ice cream... on the level of Ben and Jerry."

According to him, working gets his blood going. It's obvious he wouldn't dream of slowing down, or truly retiring.

Several things get my blood going: teaching, writing and traveling.

Teaching

Four years ago I retired from public school teaching, and immediately began my second teaching "career" with the local archdiocese. I'll continue working with students until 1) I no longer enjoy it 2) I'm no longer an effective educator or 3) I'm no longer able to do it.

Traveling

(Yeah, I'm saving the best--or at least the most imporant to me--for last.)

I've been to France three times. I've done a bit of traveling in the U.S. I've been to Turkey twice, a couple of evenings in Spain, and circumnavigated Iceland in a homemade sailboat that I handled all on my own on a cruise ship. This next summer I'm heading to the islands north of Scotland, and I'd love to go to Greece, Ireland and Italy, too. My son and daughter-in-law have put down Japan as their #1 choice when it comes to where they're stationed--after next year. If they get their wish, I'll have a free place to stay in Japan.

Writing

When I was younger, I wanted there to be a book--any book--on bookstore shelves with my name on it.

Now I'm driven to get a particular book published. I've been submitting it to agents and publishers, I've been shot down with form rejections as well as complimentary, "thanks but no thanks" emails. Getting this story into book form gets my blood going. I've cried over some of the obstacles. I've been bolstered by emails and blog comments and beta readers' reviews. I'm determined not to head to a permanent rocking chair until this story somehow gets told.

I'd also like to get a few more Chicken Soup for the Soul stories published. So far there are 16 anthologies with my stories in them. I'm competitive (with myself, mostly). I almost always want more.

So if you consider yourself too old to begin a huge project like a novel, or a memoir... if you are saying to yourself, "Well, I'll probably be ___ years old whenever I finish the manuscript" so why bother... if you think of yourself as ready to slow down--maybe you need to speed  up. Maybe you need to remember that you'll be ___ years old whether you're working on achieving a dream or not.

 Get busy on what you want to do with the rest of your life. Time's a wastin'.

(And if you can't make it to Ray's Boozy Cupcakes, Etc. in New Jersey, check out these spiked cupcake recipes.)

Sioux Roslawski, on her trip this summer, found out that Icelandic people believe in trolls. This picture is proof that trolls do indeed exist.

She also believes in her WIP... and won't rest until it's published.

You can read more about Sioux on her blog.

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6 comments Chicken Soup for the Soul, Ray Boutwell, writing bucket list

The Extroverted Introvert (In Other Words, A Writer)

A couple of weeks ago, this was my horoscope:

An extroverted introvert is a person who is proactively outgoing to avoid being rude though they prefer plenty of time to themselves to recharge and enjoy the hours however they please. Can you relate?

First of all, how is that a horoscope? That’s just a statement, thrown willy-nilly out into the universe.

But second of all, of course I can relate. I didn’t know that there was such a thing as an extroverted introvert until a few years ago, but as soon as I found out about this personality classification, I nodded. That’s me, all right. 

And it’s confusing, I know. I started out life as a total so-shy-I-wouldn’t-speak introvert. I became sociable and outgoing in my adolescence, an extroverted introvert (though I didn’t know it), through sheer will power and doggedness. So I know it’s possible to turn from wallflower to witty life-of-the-party. And now maybe you’re wondering so what? Who cares about extroverted introverts?

Well, perhaps you do, if you’re a writer.

It’s no surprise that many writers lean toward the introverted side of the personality scale. We tend to love introspection and prefer living in our imaginations rather than the real world. Just about every writer I know will admit to thinking up stories while fixing dinner or changing babies or driving to work…um, maybe we shouldn’t admit to that one.

The point is, writers live an interior life. Or would prefer to, if we didn’t have the outside world banging down our doors. And that can be a problem for a writer. Because these days, we have to regularly and purposefully go out those doors and engage with the world if we want to be successful in our writing careers.

This week, I participated in a Twitter party to launch the Chicken Soup for the Soul Miracles and More, and I really, really didn’t want to jump in. Wasn’t it enough that I posted the announcement on my Facebook page and blogged about it?

It was probably better than doing nothing. But I did realize the importance of spreading the word about a new release as far as the Chicken Soup publisher’s business goes, and I knew that if I jumped in, I might gain a couple of new readers and/or followers. So I put on my extroverted pants and waded in.

And I had a lot of fun. That’s the thing about us extroverted introverts. Once we get into the swing of things, we thoroughly enjoy ourselves! Or at least, I do. What starts out at a conference or a workshop or a party as me going so as not to appear rude ends up as something entirely different.

Turns out that in small doses, I like meeting people! I make new friends, and I invariably help my writing business, too. So here’s my advice to introverted introvert writers: follow the “Just for today” philosophy.

You know, like, “Just for today, I’ll go to this conference and I’ll do a little schmoozing.” Or “Just for this evening, I’ll mingle at this party with agents and editors.” Or even, “Just for this hour, I’ll talk to someone I don’t know.”

You can become an extroverted introvert, and you can even enjoy it! And best of all, after that conference, that workshop, that Twitter party, you can fall into your over-stuffed chair with a good book and a cup of tea and not speak to anyone for hours.

(Or maybe that’s just me. You do your own recharge thing, friends. You do you.)

Cathy C. Hall is a kidlit author and humor writer and extroverted introvert. See her latest story in Chicken Soup for the Soul's Miracles and More, "God of the Little Things." And if you have interesting stories, go check out the Chicken Soup topics for this year. Maybe she'll see you at the next Twitter par-tay!  (Or come visit Cathy at her blog where she's sorta the life of the party every day.)

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10 comments Cathy C. Hall, Chicken Soup for the Soul, extroverted introvert, marketing advice for writers, Miracles and More, personality, Twitter party

A Rack-Up of the Year

Another year is almost gone. If you're old like me (pushing 60), time passes in a series of eye-blinks. Every time you blink, a couple of seasons pass. If you're still in your 20s or 30s, time goes by a bit more slowly and you can savor it instead of rubbernecking as it flies by.

Many writers keep track of their progress during the year. They tally up their acceptances and their rejections. Or, they look back on the goals they made at the beginning of the year and examine how successful they were at meeting those goals. Most of them have Excel spreadsheets or even a cat calendar where they keep track.

Not Sioux. Sioux is more fast and loose, less organized, more loosey-goosey than that. Even though I love writing, I teach full-time. Writing is--unfortunately--only a part-time thing for me. In the evening when I hit the threshold of my home, the bra is coming off and the sweatpants are coming on. I'm too exhausted to spend too much time beating myself up over the goals I'm not meeting (which might explain why I don't have a book out there or why my work only appears in a couple of publications).

So my year-end rack-up is going to look vastly different than successful most writers. Maybe after you read this, you can suggest some goals even I can meet...

• I finally rowed to the shore after months and months and months of sailing down the river denial. I had a manuscript that I was hopeful about. Optimism A writer's love of their own work A severe head injury sustained by beating my head against my desk repeatedly Being too close to the forest to see that the trees had all been burned down, deep down, I wondered if it was the most fabulous thing that had ever been written. A little closer to the surface, I wondered if it stunk. I gave it to a couple of writing friends. They said, "Suckola" in a very kind way. I sent it to blogging friend Shay who also said, "Suckola, big time," but also in a constructive and kindhearted manner.

         I now have a doorstop I spent a couple of years on. However, as I wrote it, I got some free 

         therapy and got to heal over a family issue I'd been grappling with for several years. Put a 

         tally mark under the "win" and a tally mark under the "loss" column for that one.

• I've meant to foray out and submit to other markets. Literary magazines. Publications put out by AAA and AARP. I've even been to workshops about how to crack various markets. However, I haven't done diddly-squat about it yet, so that's another tally mark under "loss."

• After a concentrated effort, I've started using ellipsis less frequently in my writing. In the past and in some of my stories, I've relied on that bit of punctuation seven or eighteen times in each paragraph. Recently, I've gotten so conscientious about it, some of my pieces have not even one set of ellipsis.

         Oh, who am I kidding? I haven't given up those dot-dot-dots nor have I slowed down on 

         them. But I have thought about it, so I'm gonna put a little tally mark under "win" for that 

         one since it's the thought that counts, right?

•  I have a NaNoWriMo from 2016 that I'm now revising. That's one for the "win" column. However, I keep saying I'm going to actively hunt down an elderly person to get some help on some of the details. (The story takes place in 1921.) Just like I've done nothing to break into a different market, I've done nothing to find a historical consultant, so I'm going to have to make a mark under "loss" as well.

• In 2017 I got a story called "My Ferguson" published in Chicken Soup for the Soul: My Kind (of) America. It had been a while since I'd gotten anything accepted by them, so that's a "win" and it was a story I'd tried to get published for quite a while, so by the way I count, that's another "win." (See how my creative math makes this a more positive process?) Some stories matter to us more than others, and this particular tale was quite important to me. Before President Trump was elected, he said that "Ferguson is one of the most dangerous cities in the world." I worked in Ferguson, and knew this was not true. In my story, I was able to share what the real Ferguson is like...

• I got to show off my funny. Years ago, I was part of one of the St. Louis Listen to Your Mother shows. My piece was a heartbreaking story about my search for my birth mother. In 2017 I was part of the show again, but this time I got to tell a humorous story about my tatted-up son. Getting people to laugh is quite satisfying, I must say. Since I was one of only two writers who's been in the show twice, I'm going to put two tally marks under the "win" column.

        So, as I tabulate the tally marks, I see three under the "loss" column and 116 under the "win" column. (What can I tell you? Math was my worst subject, followed closely by science. But sometimes, ineptitude can be a good thing.)

       Which means I need your help. What goals do you think I should set for 2018? I really would like to do better--writing-wise--this next year... but I need your assistance.

Sioux Roslawski is an unorganized freelance writer who sometimes does more thinking than doing. She'd appreciate a nudge or a push or a jab with an electric cattle prod from you, so please leave what goals she should set in the comments section, and if you'd like to read more of her stuff, you can check out her blog.

 

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15 comments Chicken Soup for the Soul, Ferguson, goal setting for writers, Listen to your Mother, NaNoWriMo

What's Your BHAG?

Not too long ago, Renee Roberson wrote a post about her bucket list of writing goals. In her reply to one of my comments, she claimed that everyone should have a BHAG--a big, hairy audacious goal.

I wholeheartedly agree.

Not surprisingly, my BHAG is the same as one of Renee's: publish a novel.

photo by pixabay
Notice I chose a scary-looking mountain--quite a formidable one--because
my BHAG is a bit scary...

I've been more successful as a writer than I previously predicted. Years ago, I figured my poems and stories would never see the light of day. Well, my poems are still only seen by my students (you're welcome!) but when it comes to my stories, I've gotten 16 of them published in different Chicken Soup for the Soul collections. I've done NaNoWriMo six different years and only crashed and burned during three of them. I wrote a horrid manuscript but it led to wonderful healing (of me). I wrote, side by side, next to my students every day for a whole month.

And now my BHAG is looming over me like a terrifying mountain.

I don't know what Renee is doing about her novel. Knowing her, she's probably not in a corner whining about what could have been and what should have been. Probably she's working on hiking up that mountain, a few steps at a time. If she's stopping at spots and camping out for a while, that's cool. Most people don't reach the peak of a BHAG through nonstop work. It helps to occasionally take a break, catch your breath and reorganize.

Right now I've spent too much time in my base tent... just gazing up at the snowy top of the mountain. I have a manuscript. The second draft is finished. Have I shared it with my students (like I promised)? No. Have I shared it with my writing critique group (like I want to)? No. The reasons behind my reluctance is something I’m still working through.

For some, their BHAG might be submitting (probably more than once) to a large market. A national magazine maybe. For others, it might be writing the difficult-to-tell memoir. For one writer I know, it’s the illustrations that are holding her back from reaching the peak of one of her goals. Lynn Obermoeller has written the text to a picture book. The pictures, along with the zentangled text, has caused her to reach an impasse. (I guess in this case it’s the way the text is displayed on the page, along with the illustrations, that has gotten her stuck.)

As writers, we have daily, weekly and monthly goals. Daily ones might include writing for at least thirty minutes every day. Weekly? Weekly goals might involve being prepared for a writing critique meeting. Submitting to a particular market that has a themed monthly call for submissions could be a goal of yours.

Those are fine goals, and when I can nail them, I’m thrilled. But when I’m just trudging along on a level surface, with those regular goals in my sights, I’m not using my full potential. To keep myself challenged and growing, my reach should exceed my grasp…

… which means I need to drag my fat rump out of my tent, sling my provisions into my pack and start climbing up that mountain of a BHAG.

What's your BHAG? And what are you doing as you hike toward achieving that goal? Or if you're making very little progress (like me) how big of a stick of dynamite do I need to light under your rear? Reluctant minds want to know...

Sioux Roslawski is a hiker of easy trails on flat ground. Recently (like right after finishing this post) she has decided to engage in more strenuous hiking. She's put on those pointy-bottomed things onto her shoes (see--she knows all the lingo), she's gotten some rope (it's around her waist--not around her neck), and she has a particular mountain peak in her sights. Sioux's evenings are spent working on drafting creative nonfiction and her days are usually taken up with teaching middle-schoolers how to write and how to appreciate great books; if you want to read more of her stuff, go to Sioux's blog.

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15 comments Chicken Soup for the Soul, Lynn Obermoeller, NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, novel writing, Renee Roberson

How To Get Your Story in a Chicken Soup for the Soul Book

A few days ago, a group of my writer friends in Missouri met at a local library to present a panel discussion on writing for Chicken Soup for the Soul books. They know a thing or two about writing these kinds of stories; among this one group, they’ve probably published in over fifty different Chicken Soup titles.

Yep, they’re that good.

But you don’t have to be that good to get your story published in a Chicken Soup title. You just have to follow a few steps:

1. Check the Chicken Soup website regularly for the book topics they need. The editors will give you the subject and lots of ideas about what they’re looking for in that topic.

2. Follow the guidelines for a Chicken Soup story. Don’t go over those 1200 words (and keeping your word count at around 750-850 is even better).

3. Submit your story as soon as possible. The closer you submit to the deadline, the more stories there are ahead of you!

I know what you’re thinking. Is that all there is to getting a story in a Chicken Soup for the Soul book?

Well, those are the basics. Considering that there might be 3,000 stories submitted for each topic, it’s a bit more challenging to actually get a story selected. So I asked a couple of my writing friends from that Missouri group to share their best tips.

Linda O’Connell said, “I have more success when my opening paragraph is filled with images that illustrate the book title. For the beach lovers book I wrote, ‘The ocean tugs on my Midwestern soul with the same intensity that the moon pulls the tide.’ Any landlocked beach lover can relate,” she said. “Your opening has to engage the reader.”

Linda should know. She’s been published in 23 Chicken Soup for the Soul books!

And then there’s Sioux Roslawski who has a badge on her blog stating that she’s a 10x contributor. But by my last count, she’s been published in at least 15 titles! Here’s what Sioux had to share:

“Relive the memory like a movie. You have a story idea, a moment in your life that would make a great Chicken Soup story? Go back to that instant, and take your time as you retell it.

See the story in your head, like you're in a movie theater. Pretend it's happening to someone else. Imagine what your facial expressions were, your gestures. If aromas or sounds would help tell the story, sneak them in. Be sure to include a bit of dialogue, even if you don't remember exactly what was said. (It's okay to make up things like that, as long as you stay true to the tale.)

And then let the story unfold... as you put it down on paper.”

Finally, here’s advice that I think any of us, from 1x to 20x contributor, would share: If you live in Missouri, get yourself in that writing group! (But if you don’t live in Missouri, then read plenty of Chicken Soup for the Soul books to get a feel for what the editors like. And then write, submit, repeat until published!)

~Cathy C. Hall

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7 comments Cathy C. Hall, Chicken Soup for the Soul, Linda O'Connell, Sioux Roslawski, writing tips

Singing the Summertime Writing Blues

(With apologies to George Gershwin)

Summertime, and the writin’s not easy.
Words won’t come, and your brain’s a hot mess.
Your plottin’ stinks, and your hubby wants dinner.
Hush, now kiddies, don’t you cry.

One of these mornings, you’re gonna rise up writin’.
You’ll have an idea—and you’ll pull out your pen.
But till that morning, you’re gonna need a vacation,
With a cool drink standing by.


It happens to the best of writers. Summertime rolls around and all we want is a break from the everyday grind. And you know what? A break might be exactly what you need to get your weary writing mind back to work. Try one of these mini-vacations and see if you can change your summertime blues tune.


A Reading Romp

If you’re a writer, you need to be a reader; that’s a tip you’ve heard a hundred times. So you’re writing and reading and reading and writing and whew! You can’t remember the last time you read a book just for the sheer joy of it. So take a break, turn off your writer’s brain, and read just for fun. Read a children’s classic that you somehow missed in your youth. Try one of those bodice-ripping, makes-you-blush, beach reads. Dip into something so scary, you have to sleep with the lights on. And then read a handful of swell books in the target audience you want to hit with your work-in-progress. Hey, you think, I know what’s not working in my manuscript!

Now you’re ready to write again.


The Think-Don’t-Write (So Much) Break

It’s entirely too hot to come up with 60,000 great words. You can’t even come up with 600 great words. But maybe you can come up with 60 great words. Honestly, it only takes half of that number to come up with a pitch. And you don’t even need the novel to come up with a pitch. In fact, if you haven’t figured out a great pitch first, then your novel is destined to be ho-hum. So a summer break can be the perfect excuse, er, time to sit around, thinking up great pitches.

After you have the greatest pitch ever developed, possibly a steamy murder mystery involving cabana boys and Mai Tais, you won’t be able to wait another minute to write it.


The Write-Don’t-Think (So Much) Break

But what if you’re not working on the Great American Novel? What if your work is coming up with ideas? I know how the psyche can take a beating after sending out queries and pitches to non-fiction markets, day in and day out. You need a vacation, need to take your brain away from work and try something different. Like a light-hearted essay (Check out Chicken Soup for a topic) or a couple blog posts on a just-for-fun subject. Or maybe, secretly, you have a book in you, too. Let your imagination run wild and write that crazy first draft. It may stink, but that’s okay. You’re on vacation! Before you know it, you’ll be itching to get back to work—and writing what you know.


I do so love summertime. And the writin’ will be easy—if you give yourself a much-needed vacation first (and don't forget the drinks with little umbrellas).


~Cathy C. Hall

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8 comments Cathy C. Hall, Chicken Soup for the Soul, George Gershwin, Porgy and Bess, queries, reading, summer writing, writing pitches, writing tip