|
Burning the Midnight Oil Book Zine Archives Index
|
Subscribe
|
|
| << November20, 2006 - Burning the Midnight Oil Book Zine -- Issue Twenty-Six |
February08, 2007 - Burning the Midnight Oil Book Zine -- Issue Twenty-Eight >> |
|
Burning the Midnight Oil Book Zine - a FR*E*E monthly ezine for writing parents. ************************************************************** You are receiving this e-zine because you subscribed through e-mail. Unsubscribe information is below. ************************************************************** TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. WELCOME NOTES 2. QUOTES FOR THE MONTH 3. EDITOR'S ARTICLE: DON’T FIND TIME TO WRITE – MAKE TIME TO WRITE! By DAWN COLCLASURE 4. CONTEST CORNER 5. ADVERTISEMENTS 6. GUEST ARTICLE: WHAT IS TECHNICAL WRITING? By TIM NORTH 7. BOOK EXCERPT: Q&A: THE WORKING SCREENWRITER By Jim Vines 8. BOOK GIVEAWAY 9. WHAT’S UP WITH THE BOOK’S WRITERS 10. BOOK NEWS 11. SITES SITED 12. FREEBIE CORNER 13. WRITING PARENT TIPS FOR JANUARY 14. SUBMISSION GUIDELINES 15. UNSUBSCRIBE INSTRUCTIONS ************************************************************** WELCOME NOTES Hello, Everyone! Welcome to another issue of the Burning the Midnight Oil Book Zine! As always, feel free to send me any email at BurningMidnightOil@myway.com with comments, suggestions or just to plain chat. In this issue, my short article “Don’t Find Time to Write – Make Time to Write!” encourages writers to make that time to write instead od planning that time to write. We writing parents can’t get away with planning away our daily lives; we’ve got to get the ball rolling and just RUN with it! But to “make” that writing time, three things must happen. Check out the article to see what those three necessities are! This month’s guest article, “What is Technical Writing?” comes from a seasoned tech writer breaking through the confusion surrounding technical writing. Just what exactly is it, anyway? Read Tim North’s article on tech writing and learn all about just what it takes to break into the field! Enjoy this issue! Hugs, Dawn Colclasure Editor and Publisher http://dmcwriter.tripod.com/ ************************************************************** QUOTES FOR THE MONTH “Don’t count every hour in the day, make every hour in the day count.”—Unknown “We say we waste time, but that is impossible. We waste ourselves.”—Alice Bloch “Yesterday is a canceled check; tomorrow is a promissory note; today is the only cash you have - so spend it wisely"—Kay Lyons “Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in.”—Henry David Thoreau "Time stays long enough for anyone who will use it."—Leonardo Da Vinci "To choose time is to save time."—Francis Bacon "To get all there is out of living, we must employ our time wisely, never being in too much of a hurry to stop and sip life, but never losing our sense of the enormous value of a minute."—Robert Updegraff "To think too long about doing a thing often becomes its undoing.”—Eva Young "Until you value yourself, you will not value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it."—M. Scott Peck "We always have time enough if we will but use it aright."—Goethe "Time is equal to life; therefore, waste your time and waste of your life, or master your time and master your life."—Alan Lakein ************************************************************** EDITOR’S ARTICLE Don’t Find Time to Write – Make Time to Write! By Dawn Colclasure Don’t find time to write – make time to write! Too many times we spend time thinking about how to spend our time. We plan our time. We organize our time. We schedule our time. But we need to put the focus on how to MAKE time! “Making” time to write isn’t about using a dayplanner or a Sidekick to pencil or punch in the day’s tasks and when they should get done. It’s not about deciding you will write at 8 a.m. when the kids are in school. It’s about grabbing those little moments of freedom that crop up here and there every day. That’s the secret behind making time to write: You don’t even know you are making time to write. You’re just doing it! Write in between commercials while watching your favorite TV show. Write before you go to bed or while you wait for breakfast to cook. Write while the baby naps. Write will standing in line. Write while waiting for the kids to get to the car during outings. Write while the kids play at their friend’s house, the laundry is drying or while everyone is sitting at the table eating lunch. To make this time, you have to be flexible. Use paper and pencil, a laptop, the home computer, your Sidekick or even a tape recorder for your writing. When you go out, have one or more of these items with you. Try to have at least a pad of paper and pencil in every room of your home. You also have to be compromising about what exactly “writing” is. Anything can be writing, as long as you make sure it can be used in your writing. Lists can be writing, a poem is “writing,” a paragraph is writing and even a short exchange of dialogue for your novel-in-progress is writing. Finally, to make time to write, be firm about it. Stick to your guns so you can write something, ANYTHING, each and every day. Your writing career is important to you; prove it’s important. Be firm with people who try to keep you on the phone “just a little longer to talk” if you have children coming home from school in ten minutes. Be firm with yourself, too. Nix the time-wasters like TV, Internet and video games. Make every free moment you get free time to write. If you only have five seconds to write, or even five minutes, grab that free spot of time and use it to write. Don’t find time to write – make time to write! *** Dawn Colclasure edits and publishes the Burning the Midnight Oil Book Zine, which is a product of her book: BURNING THE MIDNIGHT OIL: How We Survive as Writing Parents (Booklocker). She also writes for the newspaper SIGNews and the Web site, The Shadowlands. She’s been published both on and off the Web, in magazines such as Mothering, American Fitness, Home Education Magazine and HOMEspirations, and Web sites such as Absolute Write, Writing Etc. and Writing World. Visit her on the Web at http://dmcwriter.tripod.com/. ************************************************************** CONTEST CORNER Hi, I'm writing to tell you that due to popular demand, Memoirs Ink has decided to host another contest each year. We're calling it the Half-Yearly contest (not to be confused with the Nordstrom sale--different deadline). The deadline is February 15, 2007 and in keeping with the 1/2 theme, we are requesting half the word count. That's right--1500 words max. The prize money remains the same (proving once again that less is more). First place: $1000; Second: $500; and, Third: $250. Please visit our website www.memoirsink.com for the full guidelines and our new mailing address. The entry fee is $15, but as a previous contest entrant you only pay $10 (just mention this email.) Also, if you know any young writers, pass this along: For the last three years Memoirs Ink has hosted a yearly contest open to writers of any age, and every year we receive some amazing entries from writers as young as 12 years old. It took as while to catch on, but we finally did. Next year we will host our first ever Young Writers Personal Essay Contest for writers under 18 year old. The grand prize is $700, Second place is $400, and Third place is $200. We won't tell you what to spend it on, but if you win the contest, college might be in your future. The deadline is April 30, 2007. Please log on to www.memoirsink.com for the full contest guidelines. We're looking forward to what you all have to say. Sincerely, Jill Evans Memoirs, Ink. www.memoirsink.com *** The Third Annual Writing Contest for Study Abroad in Europe ---------------------------------------------------------------------- When I was notified about the award, I'm not sure what the most exciting prospect was: going to Madrid for a month or studying with such terrific writers. After the first day of class, I knew I'd be a better writer by the end of the summer's workshop. At the end of the month, not only was my writing better, but the way I saw myself as a writer had changed. And that is perhaps one of the most important tasks any MFA program can undertake, to impart to students not only the craft but the confidence and empowering practices of writing. Add to this the bonus of getting to know and love an amazing bunch of students and faculty. I can't see how it's possible to go to Madrid with the UNO people and not come out the other side of it all as a better writer with the support of a close writing community. Thank you, UNO!--Jill Drumm, nonfiction winner, 2006. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The University of New Orleans, the pioneer in writing programs abroad, is pleased to announce the third annual writing contest for study-abroad in Europe, Summer, 2007. Full fee waivers will be granted to one writer each in the genres of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction. Partial awards and honorable mentions may also be granted. Winners may attend either of UNO’s 2007 study-abroad writing programs: Madrid Summer Seminars Writing Workshops in Montpellier (Please see http://lowres.uno.edu for complete information about the programs.) Click here to read about past winners... Guidelines Submission Deadline: January 31, 2007 (postmark). Eligibility: Anyone writing in English who has not yet published a book of 45 pages or more in the genre of application, except faculty and administrators employed by the University of New Orleans. Entry Fee: An entry fee of $25 must be paid for each submission. Please pay fees at the Division of International Education web site. Do not include payment with your submission unless you are unable to pay electronically. If you must include payment with your submission, make checks or money orders payable to UNO. Cash payments cannot be accepted. Click here to pay fees online now. Multiple Submissions: Applicants may submit multiple applications in one or more genres, however each application must be complete with entry fee and other application materials listed here. More than one submission may be included in an envelope, and payment may be made in aggregate, but each submission must have its own cover page. Submission Format: Submit up to 15 pages of prose (double spaced, 12 point type, stapled, with page numbers) or 3 pages of poetry (maximum 3 poems) in a 9x12 envelope (do not fold into a smaller envelope). The submitted work must be unpublished at the time of submission, though it may be under consideration. The author's name may not appear anywhere on the manuscript. Include a cover page which includes: The author's name, address, phone number, and email address. The manuscript title(s) and genre(s). A signed statement certifying that you have not published a book of 45 pages or more in the genre of application. Note that the cover page should contain only this information. Any letter or communication should be separate. Submission Address: Writing Contest University of New Orleans Metropolitan College Division of International Education New Orleans, LA 70148 Acknowledgements: No manuscripts will be returned. Acknowledgements by email query only. Each applicant will be emailed a list of winners when the contest has been decided, near the end of March. Questions may be emailed to wlavende@uno.edu. Details: http://lowres.uno.edu/contest.cfm ************************************************************** ADVERTISEMENTS New Message Board for Writers, Writing Parents and Booklovers!!! The Write Stuff is a new message board created by Dawn Colclasure, a disabled writing parent who loves books! The board offers anyone of similar situations a chance to discuss being a disabled writer, a writing parent or a booklover! The write Stuff offers registered members a chance to swap books, talk shop or discuss Dawn’s books, as well! All writers and booklovers of any age or stage are welcome to participate! Check the new board out here: http://p105.ezboard.com/bthewritestuff66370 *** Check out the FREE Ebook for writing parents EVERYWHERE! From one writing parent to another, “Survival Strategies for Writing Parents” by Dawn Colclasure gives the lowdown on finding time to write, strategies for writing the “skeleton” article and tips and ideas for your home office! Details: http://dmcwriter.tripod.com/id31.html *** Pop artist BRANDON is back! Brandon who gave us the Top 100 Billboard HITS like “Kisses in the night”, “Destiny” and the classic dance tune “Moves” is ready to do it again! Bal Harbour Records Inc. is proud to present our featured artist Brandon with his new single "Don't Go Away". Available now for purchase at our website at: http://www.balharbourrecords.com Go ahead and surf into our website and listen before you buy. Let Brandon take you on a freestyle journey into a whole new dimension. A Portion of the proceeds from the sale of this CD will go to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation (SOWF) The foundation provides college scholarship grants, along with financial aid and educational counseling, to the children of Special Operations personnel who were killed in an operational mission or training accident. www.specialops.org Thank you for all your support Now lets get this party started! Bal Harbour Record Staff *** In Husbands, Hot Flashes, and All That Hullabaloo!, award-winning humor writer Vicky DeCoster takes you on a hilarious hormonal journey from bikinis to granny panties and control top pantyhose to knee-highs as she teaches you not to take yourself too seriously. Any woman tackling the second act of her life will relate to DeCoster’s humorous personal essays as she makes fun of matrimony malfunctions, female fervor, corporate craziness, parenting pandemonium, and aging anatomies. This new-age Erma Bombeck entertains readers with her comical anecdotes on dieting with her husband, the roller coaster of emotions that accompany trying on swimming suits in your forties and beyond, and the unwelcome neuroses that often occur during parenthood. DeCoster amuses with outrageous tips on how to knit without catching the yarn on fire and her witty spin on the story of a mall Easter Bunny gone wild. It’s safe to say that you’ll never suffer through a hot flash the same way again after you experience one through her eyes! Husbands, Hot Flashes, and All That Hullabaloo! will have you laughing out loud at the realities of life as a middle-aged woman, ultimately leaving you with the comforting secret that life is too funny to take seriously. Visit her web site at www.wackywomanhood.com for more details on how to order the book! *** Learn More about Promoting! To promote better, authors need to know the ups and downs, ins and outs of contests, not just the same old, same old. Here's everything a writer needs to know from sponsoring a contest of her own to how to use contests to improve her writing. Yep, they can be used for that and more! Contest Facts: How to Add Award-winning to Your Name Instructors/producers and moderators are: Allyn Evans Joyce Faulkner Kathe Gogolewski Carolyn Howard-Johnson Published by Double Dragon Press: Our Price: $9.99 USD SALE PRICE: $8.49 ISBN: DDPAUDIO00002 Genre: Self Help - Non-Fiction Audio Duration: 60 Minutes Published: November 2006 Imprint: DDP POD RADIO Go to: http://double-dragon-ebooks.com/single.asp?ISBN=DDPAUDIO00002 *** What's Momfidence? It means believing Oreos make a fine snack...TV won't rot kids' brains...Locks are for doors, not toilets...Hollering happens...Toy guns are harmless fun...And Saturday mornings are for sleep, not tiny-tots soccer. Worry less, wing it more. MOMFIDENCE! An Oreo Never Killed Anybody and Other Secrets of Happier Parenting by Paula Spencer "Bold, true, and a hoot." —Jacquelyn Mitchard, The Deep End of the Ocean, mom of seven "If I weren't dead, I'd give 'Momfidence' Five Stars!" --Erma Bombeck Based the popular "Momfidence!" column in Woman's Day and Paula's features in Parenting and Baby Talk Crown/Three Rivers Press To pre-order: http://tinyurl.com/rty64 http://www.momfidence.com http://www.paulaspencer.com/work1.htm *** Got a book inside you? Having trouble landing a publisher? Like the idea of actually making a living off your book? If you haven't checked out my latest, here's the scoop... The Well-Fed Self-Publisher: How to Turn One Book into a Full-Time Living http://www.wellfedsp.com As most of you know, I self-published both The Well-Fed Writer and TWFW: Back For Seconds, and together, these two books - over 50,000 copies in print - have provided me with a full-time living for over five years (and counting…). This latest work explains, in step-by-step detail, exactly how I did it… But that's not all. To truly simplify your marketing efforts, I assembled virtually every piece of marketing material I created in the course of my successful book promotion campaigns in one phenomenal 100-page ebook resource called… The Well-Fed SP Biz-in-a-Box To quote one of my first buyers: "I took a quick look at the Biz-in-a-Box. You're drastically undercharging." You said it, my friend. You have to see this beauty to believe it. The cost? Ridiculously low. About what an evening at the movies (okay, with popcorn and drinks…) would cost: $29.95. But, it gets better… Purchase the Biz-in-a-Box along with the book, and it's only $19.95! Check it all out at http://www.wellfedsp.com. And may all your writing - and now your books, too! - be "well-fed"! Peter Bowerman Know anyone who dreams of making a GOOD living as a writer? Steer them to www.wellfedwriter.com for a FREE report, “Why Commercial Writing?” by Peter Bowerman, author of the award winning Well-Fed Writer titles - how-to standards in the field of lucrative commercial freelancing. Subscribe to THE WELL-FED E-PUB, the critically acclaimed FREE monthly ezine and companion to The Well-Fed Writer series: www.wellfedwriter.com/ezine.shtml. Just Released! The Well-Fed Self-Publisher: How to Turn One Book Into a Full-Time Living. For full details and FREE report, visit www.wellfedsp.com.. www.copywriter.pro - Freelance Copywriting Services *** My newest e-book is here!!! Whether you're a first time home buyer or already living in a great house, "Home is where the Heart/Money Is" will build your financial future. This 135-page e-book is filled with savvy tips and designer secrets to turn your house into a haven for your family and friends. Buy "Home is where the Heart/Money Is" for only 19.99 and download it instantly. From realizing your dreams of home ownership, to living a thankful life, "Home is where the Heart/Money Is" will help you build wealth and give you a great foundation for your financial future. Buy it today! --SHAUNNA PRIVRATSKY http://www.vonage.com/startsavingnow/ *** Hello Fellow Writers, In celebration of the successful release of my new novel, Pressed Pennies, my publisher has proposed the following: Although the book can be found on B&N.com, Amazon.com (please see posted reviews) and in your local bookstore, you can now purchase the book directly from the publisher at www.SunpiperBooks.com for $10.00, a $5.95 discount (just click on the *Book Clubs Only button)! The publisher's hope is that you will enjoy the book and spread the word to other avid readers. Early Reviews: “Steve Manchester has a gift for expressing through his writing the complicated and transcendent beauty of the human experience with poignant clarity.” – Yolanda King (eldest daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King) Higher Ground "Pressed Pennies is priceless! Steve Manchester has an obvious love of words and an amazing ability to use those words to create lasting images in the reader’s mind. His detail-oriented, richly drawn characters and descriptions make this story leap off the pages." - Joyce Handzo, In the Library Reviews "Pressed Pennies is a tale of love and second chances and affirms that love can come at any stage of life if we are just open. This is a book that is sure to warm your heart." - Roberta Austin, The Compulsive Reader Sincere thanks for your time and consideration. Best, Steve www.StevenManchester.com ************************************************************** GUEST ARTICLE What is technical writing? By Tim North, http://www.BetterWritingSkills.com Before setting up shop as a proofreader (www.scribe.com.au), I worked as a technical writer. When I told people what I did, I was often met with blank stares bordering on total incomprehension. These days, I'm often asked how to get into the field of proofreading, and I usually suggest a stint doing technical writing first. Again, I'm often met by the same response. :-) Thus I thought I'd set the record straight and finally answer that question that has (I'm quite sure) been keeping you awake at nights: Just what is a "technical writer" anyway? Technical writing is the profession that involves translating scientific and technical information into more easily understandable language. Technical writers may prepare scientific and technical reports, operating and maintenance manuals, catalogues, assembly instructions, sales materials and project proposals. They may also plan and edit technical reports and oversee the preparation of illustrations, photographs, diagrams and charts. Some technical writers work full time for a single company for many years; others choose to do short-term contracts (usually of three to twelve months duration) for a variety of companies. Some hold a managerial (or other) job in which technical writing is just one of many tasks that they perform. Some technical writers may specialise in a particular field such as medicine or computing. Others may write about a wide range of areas. Some start as general writers and then acquire specialised technical knowledge. Others start as technical professionals and then learn technical writing "on the job". To be a successful technical writer (whether full time or just occasionally) you need many skills: * You need a degree -- or at least a great deal of experience -- in the field (or fields) about which you're writing. * Obviously, you need to be able to write well. At a minimum, this involves having a good vocabulary and a strong command of grammar, spelling and punctuation. * You also need to be able to organise information well. When writing a technical report, you need to be able to arrange the information into a suitable order, delete (or de-emphasise) less important information, cross-reference the information and more. * You need good people skills. Sometimes the only people who will be able to answer your questions about the material you're writing about will be scientists, programmers and engineers. These folk are not always the best communicators! Regardless, you'll have to be able to organise time to talk with them, tease out the answers to your questions, and have them check your work for technical correctness. This requires good interpersonal skills. * You will need good Internet and library skills as these can be vital sources of information. You need to know how to use them efficiently. * It helps to be a fast and accurate typist. Often you'll be working on a deadline, and two-finger typing will be a disadvantage. It's a challenging career, and not an easy one to get into. If you work at it, though, it can be both financially rewarding and professionally satisfying. ----------------------------------------------------------------- You'll find many more helpful tips like these in Tim North's much applauded range of e-books. More information is available on his web site, and all books come with a money-back guarantee. http://www.BetterWritingSkills.com ************************************************************** BOOK EXCERPT EXCERPT FROM: Q&A: THE WORKING SCREENWRITER By: Jim Vines ISBN#: 9781425968465 Publisher: AuthorHouse The book can be purchased via Barnes & Noble and AuthorHouse (Available soon at Amazon.com and Borders and The Writer's Store) Folks can also find links to these booksellers on my website: http://www.theworkingscreenwriter.com/ Why a screenwriter… Katherine Fugate: "You either have a burning desire to tell stories that move other people or you don't. My father often asks in wonder how I can write 10 pages much less 120. I ask in wonder how he knows how to put a television together. It’s who I am." Outlining… Brent Maddock: "The single biggest mistake beginning screenwriters seem to make is to start writing the script before they should. What good is a beautifully crafted scene, great dialogue, nice visuals if you discover you don’t need it? Draw up the blueprints, then build the building." Being rewritten… Rebekah Bradford : "Rewriting is a very delicate subject among writers. It’s like having another artist come in and repaint your painting because someone thought you used the wrong colors, or the wrong canvas, or the wrong subject for your piece." Allison Burnett: "I have had many movies inches from production and then at the last minute some executive decides it ‘needs something.’ So he hires another writer to do a three-week polish. Six months later, the new writer hands in crap. They panic and give him another chance. Six months later, it’s still crap and the movie has lost all its momentum and dies. I don’t mind being rewritten at all, I just want to be rewritten well." Brent Maddock: "Steve [Wilson] and I wrote The Wild, Wild West. The difference between our script and the sad, muddled, rewritten thing they actually shot tells you all you need to know about why the studio system is so dysfunctional." Research… David J. Schow: "You have to know what you're talking about, or at least be able to fake it like a pro." Procrastination… Katherine Fugate: "I imagine writing a check to pay back the producers or studio that hired me to write the movie. The thought of giving them their money back and saying, "I can't do it," usually scares the hell out of me so much it gets me back into my chair." Doubting your own ability as a writer… George Saunders: "There are innumerable ways for a writer to get gored in Hollywood ; probably actors and directors, too, but they get the real pretty girls. Writers end up with Door Number 3 and the ten cans of octopus food." Why most first-time writers overwrite their scripts… Rolfe Kanefsky: "The big thing to keep in mind is that a screenplay is not a novel. You don’t need to make complete sentences. It’s about getting an attitude and visual mood across. Not writing poetry. You don’t need to write five paragraphs to describe what a person looks like or what he or she is wearing. On breaking the "screenwriting rules"… Rolfe Kanefsky: "Picasso painted in the classical sense before he started adding three eyes and two noses to his painting. He mastered the traditions and then branched off. It’s the same with filmmaking. Learn how to put a camera on a tripod before you start to artistically hand-hold everything. I think the same goes for writing." Receiving notes from development executives… Katherine Fugate: "Everyone has notes and everyone feels compelled to share them. You have to learn how to accept them and keep an open mind; because sometimes something is said from the most unlikely of places that can trigger something else and there you go with a new idea." Overwriting a script… David J. Schow: "The arc of a script from first to final draft is all about condensation and concision, and the more scripts you write, the more you learn to express things visually instead of verbally, which is why they are called "motion" pictures in the first place." A "submission" screenplay: An entertaining page-turner or a blueprint? Neal Marshall Stevens: I've never bought into this 'blueprint' notion. When you write a screenplay, what you are trying to do at every stage within the limitations of a hundred or so pages, is to make people see the movie. Far from a blueprint, it's much closer to those architectural paintings they produce where they show the finished building in its natural environment, with the cityscape around it, and people and trees. That's what you want to create. That's what you want readers to get a sense of—not bare lines on a piece of paper, but that sense of a finished building as it will actually be when it's completed. That's what you want the reader to get a sense of—what the finished movie will be like up on the screen. Because if they don't see that, they won't buy your script. Knowing your ending… John Rogers: "I always know what the thematic end of the story is. What physical events occur within the script to get us there? Well, those can shift around depending on what you’ve discovered about the rhythm of the script or the characters along the way. But I always know how it ends emotionally, how the characters need to wind up." Age limitations (too young or too old) for finding success as a screenwriter… Allison Burnett: "In TV, yes. It’s a young person’s business and medium. When it comes to screenwriting, no. If an agent, producer, or executive loves a script and thinks it can make money, he doesn’t care if it was written by a toddler, a grandfather, or a moose." David J. Schow: "One of the great myths that leads people to believe that anybody can undertake this sort of job is the idea that all someone has to do is "write a great screenplay," and the bitch goddess of Hollywood will flop on her back and spread her legs for you. That sort of thing hasn't happened since the 1940s..." The importance of developing relationships in the film industry… Mylo Carbia: "I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched a producer with a stack of scripts on his desk read the one that was just hand delivered to him because someone he knows asked him to read it. I mean, L.A. waiters with connections get read more often than screenwriting scholars who mail their stuff in from somewhere else." Pitching your scripts… Steve Latshaw: "I went into a company with a director a few years back to pitch an adventure movie. The exec turned it down and said ‘what else do you guys have?’ I immediately pitched a spec action script I had about domestic right-wing terrorists. That was on a Friday. On the following Tuesday I was signing a contract for that same script. Be prepared." When a writer knows he’s ready to seek representation… Steven Susco: "It’s show business, not tell business—you can talk until you’re blue in the face about how you’re a wonderful writer. But if people don’t have anything to read, it’s not going to go anywhere." COPYRIGHT 2006 BY JIM VINES. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NO PART MAY BE USED WITHOUT PERMISSION FROM THE AUTHOR. REPRINTED HERE WITH PERMISSION. ************************************************************** BOOK GIVEAWAY No book giveaway this month. ************************************************************** WHAT'S UP WITH THE BOOK'S WRITERS? The following is news of writers you can read interviews with in Volume One of the MIDNIGHT OIL book. Got this from JIM VINES, interviewed in Volume One: Dear Friends: This is just a quick message to let you know about my new website… TheWorkingScreenwriter.com …a site that provides common sense, nuts-and-bolts information for screenwriters on the path to becoming a working screenwriter. Also on the site you’ll find information about my new book… Q & A: THE WORKING SCREENWRITER An In-the-Trenches Perspective of Writing Movies in Today’s Film Industry Foreword by David Trottier, Author of The Screenwriter’s Bible The book contains a compilation of informative interviews with 16 working screenwriters, including: Allison Burnett (Autumn in New York) Katherine Fugate (The Prince and Me) Brent Maddock (The Wild, Wild West, Short Circuit, Tremors) John Rogers (The Core, Catwoman) David J. Schow (The Crow) Neal Marshall Stevens (Thirteen Ghosts) Stephen Susco (The Grudge 1 & 2) Each of these writers—plus nine others—imparts a wealth of real-world experience that will inspire and encourage any burgeoning screenwriter. If you want to gain a better understanding of what it takes to become a working screenwriter in today’s film industry, you’ll find Q & A: The Working Screenwriter essential reading. Thanks for your time—and we’ll see ya on the new website! Jim Vines “When I began my own writing career, it was a book of interviews that inspired me the most.” — David Trottier, from his foreword Q & A: The Working Screenwriter is now available online at: AuthorHouse Barnes & Noble Vroman's Bookstore (Coming soon to Amazon.com and Borders.com!) ************************************************************** BOOK NEWS What's the latest with the first volume of BURNING THE MIDNIGHT OIL: How We Survive as Writing Parents? No book news this month. ************************************************************** FREEBIE CORNER Various writing freebies: http://www.writewinningproposals.com/freebies.html Free writing lessons and reports: http://www.write101.com/freebies.htm Educational freebies: http://www.nobleednews.com/educational_freebies.htm ************************************************************** SITES SITED The following are interesting, helpful sites that I’d like to pass on. The Working Screenwriter: http://www.theworkingscreenwriter.com/ FlyLady.net: http://www.flylady.com/ Squidoo: http://www.squidoo.com/browse/homepage EURweb.com: http://eurweb.com/ ILove Languages: http://www.ilovelanguages.com/ The Mystic: http://www.themystic.org/ ************************************************************** WRITING PARENT TIPS FOR JANUARY: Tip: Give yourself one day out of the week as a “day to write” and take some time away from home to relax and write. Hire a sitter for the day (or swap babysitting favors!) or drop the kids off at your relative’s to get away for 3 or 6 hours to do nothing but write. Your muse will thank you for it. ************************************************************** WANNA SUBMIT TO THIS E-ZINE?? I am always open to submissions for the E-zine!! Feel free to submit any of the following: 1. An article. Any style and length. Articles must relate to writing, being a writing parent or successful business/marketing ideas. If the article is a reprint, you must own the reprint rights. 2. Tips for writing parents. 3. Advertising info, a freebie link, fan mail or, if you are included in the book, news and updates on what’s going on in your writing life! PLEASE NOTE: Payment for submissions has been restored to $5 per article, payable on publication. And, please, be sure to include your bio with submissions. It gets everything moving a little faster. :) ************************************************************** You are subscribed to this E-zine because you requested a subscription or signed yourself up on your own. To unsubscribe, send a blank e-mail to: 59308-unsubscribe@zinester.com |
|
| << November20, 2006 - Burning the Midnight Oil Book Zine -- Issue Twenty-Six |
February08, 2007 - Burning the Midnight Oil Book Zine -- Issue Twenty-Eight >> |
|
Burning the Midnight Oil Book Zine Archives Index
|
Subscribe
|
|
|
Archives powered by Zinester's Mailing List Service
Details on Burning the Midnight Oil Book Zine |
Browse for more newsletters at Zinester's Ezine Directory
Managed by Zinester's Mailing List Management |