Roger W. Nielsen
Create Your Badge
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Shouting It Out
by Roger W. Nielsen
This week we uploaded a book trailer for "One-Mission Man," a book I co-wrote with David Ririe and Carolyn Ririe Nielsen, marking our first attempt at producing a trailer. You'll find our final product on YouTube. Let me know what you think; I'd be ever grateful for your review.
--------------------------------------- I
am sitting in my home office, staring at a blank computer screen and
waiting for inspiration to strike. Outside heavy snow flakes are quickly
piling up on the patio and the wrought iron chairs I have forgotten to
carry to the garage measure about 4” of the white stuff on the seats.
The backyard cherry tree quivers in the howling wind pouring through the
nearby mountain pass as my Magnavox radio softly resonates, “Let it
snow, let it snow, let it snow!”
For the past twenty years at
least I've been writing a book for young adults with the working title,
"The Bully of O.E. Bell." O.E. Bell is the name of the junior high
school I attended, a public prison if there ever was one, its rank halls
pervading my dreams even today, especially since I recently moved back
into the area where I grew up. Driving by the old two-story, purple
brick building, now a renovated office complex, memories flood my mind.
Every once in a while I drag the manuscript out of the file cabinet and
add to the story. I'm into the book several chapters but finishing seems
an elusive task. The following is an excerpt that I started to write
for the book this week but as I wrote it suddenly veered into the
Twilight Zone. Since I kill off my main character I doubt I'll use in
the "Bully" book but it is prime example of a story taking a life of its
own. .
---------------------------------------- Time to Start Cutting
For some reason I have lost my enthusiasm for writing a memoir for a client.
Two weeks have passed since I wrote a word. Last week I did borrow 18
books from the library on the subject and scribbled copious notes. Yet
here I sit staring at a blank computer screen, the desire to write as
elusive as the wind blowing outside my window. Part of the reason for my hesitancy is that there is so much material to cut It almost hurts to start slicing away at the golden prose the writer spent so many months placing on the page.The bleeding will be horrendous but it will be so much better when I am done. Ah, well, where is my scalpel? I might as well get started...
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Writing Content Now Available as an E-book on Amazon.com
You can now find Writing Content, Mastering Magazine and Online Writing in an e-book version at Amazon.com.
The transition this week went smoothly from tangible to intangible,
although the process, for some unexplained reason, took a day longer
than Big Games Handbook.
I'm delighted in offering books this way. I'm a little sorry to leave
my printer out of the equation but I won't miss shipping duties or
postage costs. Now to get both books on other downloading sites. ----------------------------------------
Big Games Handbook E-book Now Ready at Amazon.com
My latest book, Big Games Handbook, went live today on Amazon.com as an ebook. The transition was smooth and easy. Next up: Writing Content is coming on board as an ebook tomorrow. We live in exciting times!----------------------------------------
Book Signing for Writing Content in St. Louis
I will be signing copies of Writing Content during the 2011 Missouri Writer's Guild Annual Conference, Saturday, April 9, at the Sheraton Westport Plaza Hotel in St. Louis. Stop by and say hello if you are in town. Wendy Drew of Rose's Bookhouse (O'Fallon, MO) will be handling book sales for me at the conference.
---------------------------------------- Recent Lectures (and Books) of Note
I attended a lecture at University of Missouri Kansas City
entitled, “The Collapse of Key 20th Century Political–Economic
Assumptions (and the Paradoxical Economy-Democratizing Possibilities) of
the New Era," given by Professor Gar Alperovitz, who has written a new book entitled, "America Beyond Capitalism, Reclaiming our Wealth, Our Liberty, and Our Democracy."
Aperovitz explained how the first century after the creation of this
country the economy was driven by an abundance of free land. But during
the second century the economy was driven by two major world wars. What
will drive the economy this century was up for speculation as the
respected professor wouldn't hazard a guess but he made the following
declarations: - The top 5% of Americans own just under 70% of all financial wealth.
- The top 1% of Americans now claim more income per year than the bottom 100 million Americans taken together.
- The top 2/10th of 1% makes more on the sale of stocks and bonds in one year than everyone else combined.
This week Carolyn and I also attended a lecture sponsored by the Audubon Society on
how to involve the black community in nature activities, such as bird
watching, presented by a visiting ornithologist, John Robinson from
Baltimore. Robinson has written a book, Birding for Everyone, Encouraging People of Color to Become Birdwatchers,
in which he encourages the appreciation of nature through birding.
Despite the generic title, Robinson caused quite a stir among the black
people in the audience when he requested they become mentors and leaders
for black kids in the inner city who seldom have anything to do with
nature. I think they felt overwhelmed with the task. ---------------------------------------- Time to Join a Writer's Organization
A
great help for beginning writers getting started is belonging to
professional writers’ organizations for a specific trade. The majority
of these associations are non-profit, non-partisan groups organized to
motivate and reward members for good works besides providing networking
opportunities. They organize conferences, present awards, and provide
accurate, reliable information relevant to the professional writer. As
in most industries, networking is an essential part of the productive
rhythm of writing. Take time to get to know your peers and learn how
others are succeeding.
Two trade associations I’ve belonged to over the
years are the American Agricultural Editors Association and the Construction Writers Association.Currently I belong to the Missouri Writer's Guild and while I was living in those states, I belonged to the League of Utah Writers and the Idaho Writers League.
By joining a organization you meet people (editors) personally and get
to know their personalities and gain their trust much quicker than you
do through emails and phone calls.
----------------------------------------
To Write for Trades, Know Your Market
To
successfully break into trade publications it is imperative you know
your market. For example, in the construction market, you’ll need to
know the difference between a do-it-yourself publication and a
contractor publication, which are different markets with different
readers. Contractors don’t like do-it-yourselfers. Do-it-yourselfers
don’t like contractors. Trying to combine the two in writing is like
mixing water and oil.
Moreover, some builder magazines focus
more on management than how-to instruction. Builder magazine, the
official publication of National Association of Home Builders, for example, talks more about political issues affecting the industry than construction techniques. In contrast, Journal of Light Construction, which essentially serves the same market, contains more articles on building projects than on political trends.
Also, you must be aware of geographical differences. Western builders
build differently than those in the East. Techniques have different
names. Footings in the West are footers in the East. Costs as well as
where readers can buy the products and services featured also differ
geographically. Ready-mix concrete prices, for example, vary from market
to market. Nonetheless, genius is everywhere in the construction
industry.
My point is, before writing your query to a trade
publication, try to find out what the magazine—and the industry—seeks.
Be on the lookout for new techniques for the trade you are writing
about. Become aware of industry trends—then try to keep up. The leading
edge is where you need to be, because whatever is unique now will be
standard before the decade is out. The best way, in my opinion, to stay
abreast of what is happening in any industry is to attend trade shows.
Most trade show managers crave publicity and go all-out to encourage
members of the media to attend by orchestrating press conferences and
other events.
One of my favorite trade shows in the construction industry is World of Concrete,
an annual gathering of 40,000 to 50,000 concrete contractors, ready-mix
suppliers and equipment manufacturers from around the world. The show
hosts a press room open to writers and editors, giving them a place to
meet industry leaders for interviews, research the Internet, or rest
their weary feet after traversing the exhibit hall containing hundreds
of booths. In the press room, exhibitors leave press kits containing
information on what they are introducing to the show. In addition,
exhibitors often sponsor press conferences or free events where members
of the media meet and interview company officers.
During one of
my first visits to World of Concrete, I attended a press conference
sponsored by a company about to introduce a new concrete forming system
made of polystyrene foam that insulated the finished concrete wall.
Imagine my surprise when I arrived to find only two other men in the
room—the company president, Lance Berrenberg, and Jay Williamson, the
marketing director. Out of a couple hundred members of the media who
attended the show, I was the only one who showed up at the press
conference. Both Lance and Jay were a little embarrassed and hesitant to
make their formal presentation to a single person.
But they
could see that I was interested. So we pulled a few chairs together and
talked for a relaxing hour and a half. Afterward, I wrote about the new
forms in Permanent Buildings & Foundations.
The story turned into a full-blooded scoop. In the years that followed,
insulating concrete forms (ICFs) changed the concrete construction
industry. Because I was in the right place at the right time, I became
the first to write about the new generation of ICFs as a serious
building material worth considering. Better yet, I formed a lasting
friendship with Lance and Jay, who both went on to became leaders in the
concrete construction industry.
In sum, you must know what’s
going on in an industry before you can write about it. Meet people, talk
to them and learn from them. See the world from your reader’s
viewpoint. Weigh subject matter on the reader’s scale of values, not
your own.
---------------------------------------- Want to Get Started Writing for Magazines? Write for the Trades
I
have spent the bulk of my professional life between being an editor and
a writer for trade publications. Trade journals are publications that
concentrate on specific occupations, professions, industries or hobbies. Most of these publications are ones you probably have never heard of—Concrete Construction, for example. Ever hear of Potato Grower? How about Onion World?
Trade publications are great for the beginning writer to get started
because they are easier to get in to, the editors are more accessible,
there is always opportunity to earn a steadier income than with consumer
publications, and there is always something exciting to write about. In
my career, I’ve written about everything from growing potatoes to
racing motorcycles to raising cattle to building basements. Moreover,
trade journals are always seeking articles, and they often request more
than just the story. At Permanent Buildings & Foundations we requested that photographs, captions and headlines accompany article submissions as part of the package.
A positive with trade publications is you’ll have more face-to-face
interaction with the editor. Most trade publication staffs are small.
Some have but one person who serves as editor and publisher who is also
the owner. Working with the man in charge translates into more
opportunity to negotiate rates. You can bounce ideas off him in a phone
call. You might call him by his first name. He might even list you on
the masthead as a contributing editor, not just because he likes you but
because he has advertising clients to impress. You’re a warm body on
his staff listing.
On the negative side, trade publication
assignments—unless you are an aficionado—sometimes lean toward the
monotonous. In other words, you may have to write about the same subject
over and over. It’s also easy for trade writers to become so
intractably pigeonholed that some magazines won’t consider you for
assignments outside your area of expertise. ----------------------------------------
Getting a Foot in the Magazine Door
How
do you break into trade publishing? The same way you get a foot in the
door at consumer publications: come up with a great story idea, research
its potential, write a query letter, meet deadlines. But there are some
subtle differences with trade publishing. First, it is imperative you
know something about the publication and the industry. Unless you can
prove to the editor you know something about the subject and his
publication, he won’t give you the time of day. A peeve of mine while
editing Permanent Buildings & Foundations was receiving queries for stories about some new building technique that used lumber as the material of choice. Permanent Buildings & Foundations focused on concrete construction. These writers didn’t even take the time to look at our publication or Web site.
If a writer isn’t accurate in his query, how accurate is his article? Shame on him. Shame on me if I buy his piece.
Competition between trade journals is intense, even more so than in the
consumer side. Trade publishing is a small world. Editors see each
other at seminars and trade shows. They read each others’ publications.
They know what the other is saying about industry trends. They might
even be friends and play cards together with their wives every Friday
night.
If you write for one magazine, you can’t write for the
competition. If you do, you could be blackballed. You’ll be marked as a
player for the other team. Nothing will be said; you’ll be paid
everything you’re due. You just won’t be given any more assignments from
that moment on. Yes, it is unfair.
As with consumer
publications, staff turnover is high with the trades. If you write for a
while for the same publication, you may be called upon to train the new
editor—and you’ll do it gladly. Also be aware that if the only
publications you write for are trade publications, it’ll be harder to
break into the consumer side later on. They’ll want to see what you have
written for consumers. Make sure you write for consumer publications
occasionally so you’ll have a few consumer-oriented clips in your
portfolio to prove you can work both sides of the street. Show them
you’re well rounded.
---------------------------------------- Keep Faulkner on the Shelf
I
finished reading Jay Parini’s biography of William Faulkner, "One
Matchless Time". My take: Faulkner is the most unnerving writer I’ve
ever studied. Parini’s biography is weird, too. Four hundred and thirty
three pages of book summaries sprinkled with tidbits documenting
Faulkner’s life as a drunk. He is definitely not someone I want to
pattern my life after. After I finished the biography I started one of
Faulkner’s novels I bought in Oxford called “Light in August.” I read
about 200 pages when it transformed from an interesting story into a
pornographic mélange of lust, anger and hatred with racist undertones,
so much so that it turned my stomach. I doubt that I will ever finish.
Granted, Faulkner writes descriptive copy very well and he is a superb
storyteller but his stories are dark, vulgar and depressing. According
to Parini’s biography, Faulkner’s life was cut of the same cloth so
apparently he wrote what he experienced. As far as I am concerned, I’m
going to place his books on the shelf and only retrieve them when I am
researching transitional phrases that I can steal, as I am always
looking for a good transitional phrase. ---------------------------------------- Life, the Universe and Everything Writer's Conference
Carolyn
and I attended the three-day "Life the Universe and Everything"
Symposium sponsored by Theatre and Media Arts Department at Brigham
Young University in Provo, Utah. Although science fiction and fantasy
are not normally my genre of choice, I attended at the invitation of my
daughter Katrina who lives near by and wanted to attend and because I
have had a fantasy story that has been languishing in my mind for an
embarrassingly long time. Besides, the seminar was free, always a major
attraction.
Many of the seminars were panel discussions packed
with successful sci fi and fantasy writers such as Brandon Sanderson
(Elantris, Mistborn, et.al.), Brandon Mull (Fabelhaven) and James Dashner (Maze Runner), L.E. Modesitt Jr. (Arms-Commander) and many other writers who spoke off the cuff about the craft of writing. Other seminars, especially Dan Wells (I Am Not A Serial Killer)’s
presentation of a seven point system how to structure a story skeleton
were very helpful no matter what your level of writing experience. For
example, Dan suggests that after you get your story in mind, i.e., the
characters, setting and major conflict, start writing the end where
everything gets resolved. You start with the ending because it is
usually the hardest part to write and because it helps you know where
you are headed.
Once you’ve figured out how your story is going
to end, turn to the beginning. Start with the opposite state (weak) in
which you want your lead character to become (strong) and have him/her
grow into it. Now work on the midpoint, where things begin to change.
In between the midpoint and beginning, and between midpoint and end,
inject a couple of plot turns to introduce conflict and help set story
in motion. Now apply pressure with pinch points, places where things go
wrong and forces your hero to step up to the plate. This creates the
skeleton that you flesh out with rich environments, subplots, rounding
out of characters and additional try/fail cycles.
Dan then
dissected several well-known stories in a variety of genres (Romance:
Pride and Prejudice; Tragedy: Othello; Horror: “Tale Tale Heart.”) and
demonstrated how the seven point structure works in all of them. I am
anxious to give the system a try and get my fantasy story, which I
started when my oldest son was four or five years old, off dead center.
I’ll let you know how it goes. ---------------------------------------- A Visit with FaulknerDuring
the holidays my wife, Carolyn, and I traveled to Oxford, Mississippi,
to be with our son Stu who is working on his PhD in biology at the
University of Mississippi, Ole Miss. Much of Oxford was closed during
our five-day visit but the Saturday after Christmas the three of us
toured Rowan Oak,
novelist William Faulkner’s private residence that we discovered tucked
neatly in the woods next to the university. Except for the young
docents, we had the old Greek revival house that was built in the 1840s
nearly to ourselves. Faulkner bought the house in 1930 and lived there
until his death in 1962. I have never read any of Faulkner’s writings so
I frankly didn’t pay much attention to him. As a non-fiction
construction writer who has toured many houses I confess I was more
interested in the home than the man who once owned it. However, Carolyn gave me a copy Jay Parini’s biography of Faulkner, "One Matchless Time," as
a Christmas present and I am enjoying getting to know Faulkner,
especially now that I have seen his environment. I really don’t have an
explanation why I haven’t read Faulkner, other than I have heard the
content of his books is not what a young Mormon
boy from Idaho ought to read, although I have lived nearly half my life
in the South and know how strange and interesting the South can be.
To be truthful, my first impression of Faulkner was one of disgust. His
heavy drinking, incessant lying, laziness and immorality does little to
recommend him. But as I read Parini’s summaries, whose treatise at
times reads more like a doctoral candidate’s thesis than a book for the
common reader, I am astonished with Faulkner’s imaginative plots and and
vivid descriptions of his imaginary Yoknapatawpha County, especially
since I now am in the process of writing my first novel. How did he do
it? As I am only into Faulkner’s biography about 150 pages, the
jury is still out whether or not I will read all of his two dozen or so
novels. Parini’s summaries suggest I probably won’t read them all
although I did purchase Light in August at Oxford’s Square Books
bookstore (an interesting place worthy of describing in a future blog)
which our tour guide at Rowan Oak said was, in her opinion, Faulkner’s
best work. But I haven’t cracked the cover yet and don’t plan to until I
finish the biography. She did say my first choice, "Absolom Absolom!"
was “hard to read” and my second choice, As I Lay Dying, ” too
strange.” In any case, I do believe Faulkner was a literary
genius. Of this there is no question. From the excerpts Parini shares, I
find Faulkner’s word usage incredible. I just don’t like books that get
deeply into life’s perversions, like detailed descriptions of what
happens at brothels and lynchings. I know they exist but I’m just too
parochial to be comfortable reading about them. I realize it’s unfair to
judge a book or its author before reading it so I’ll let you know what I
think as I get further along. If you have a favorite Faulkner novel,
let me know. You will save me a lot of reading time by pointing me on a
direct course. |
