The Easy Way to Write

February 24th Newsletter

From Rob Parnell, The Easy Way to Write

This issue is sponsored by Robyn Opie

Proud Author of 63 Published Books!

Have you ever wondered what the secret is to writing eminently publishable manuscripts? Let me show you. Click here now. You won’t believe what you’ll learn...

Dear Fellow Writer,

Heartfelt greetings to you. I hope you’re well and happy and full of passion for your writing!

Last couple of days, I’ve been reading a lot about this business between Oprah and James Frey.

It’s all very sad. The last thing we want is for Oprah to lose her faith in writers.

The story now goes that, after having his MS rejected 17 times when he submitted it as fiction, James Frey re-wrote parts and changed its category to non-fiction – presumably to enhance its salability.

As soon as he made that fateful decision, A Million Little Pieces was picked up and he has since sold over 4 million copies – though admittedly because readers (and the publisher – and especially Oprah) thought it was all true.

But I don’t really think Frey intended things to get this much out of hand. I think he meant well – wanted to write a truly powerful book - and might still believe that his version of his own life is more ‘true’ and ‘honest’ than other facts might indicate. As a writer, he has a right to feel that way, surely.

And ironically, despite A Million Little Pieces apparently being ‘fictionalized’ in part, the book has undoubtedly helped a lot of people overcome very real addictions.

Truth really is stranger than fiction it would seem.

Anyway…

Today I thought we’d look at something that is rarely spoken about:

Inspiration – how to get it and what to do with it when it strikes!

Inspiration - Oh, What a Feeling!

You can wait for days, weeks, months sometimes for it to strike.

It seems you can’t will it, force it or otherwise pluck it out of the air.

It’s actually hard to know exactly what it is!

But when inspiration strikes, it hits hard. Excitement fills you. You’re convinced – there’s a surety inside you – you are on to something. You’ve just had the most original and enlightening thought anyone in the world has ever had.

And then what?

Do you act? Do you rush for a pen to jot down the idea? You should. Sometimes even the best and most profound ideas are fleeting. But sometimes not.

I’ve noticed over the years that when you get a really good idea, it tends to stick. Not only that, it can literally change the direction of your life.

Think about this:

You’re an author. One day, a character occurs to you – someone you like and think could be a good focus for a story or two. You write about them, your story becomes a novel, your book gets published and suddenly your character is out in the world. Isn’t that just an amazing concept? That a single moment of inspiration can create so many consequences?

Now you can see why good ideas should be considered precious – you never know how valuable they could be to you – and you never know where a good idea might lead.

So where do you find these ‘good ideas’?

Well, if you’re not used to being regularly inspired, you may have to work at it.

But it’s not so hard. It’s just about practice.

Many of the seasoned authors I know complain they have too many ideas – and not enough time to act on them. It’s because they’ve spent so many years expecting inspiration to come that it does – and all the time.

Try this:

Write down 5 ideas for magazine articles. How long did it take you? Ten minutes – an hour? Good but someone used to writing articles or regular columns could come up with ten in probably less than thirty seconds.

They’ve gotten used to thinking up ideas on the spot. They’ve trained their minds to do it.

You can do the same.

Before you go to bed at night, tell yourself you’re going to get some really good ideas tomorrow. In the morning wake up and tell yourself how much you’re looking forward to the good ideas you will have later in the day.

Whenever you’re inspired by something – or receive a flash of insight, write it down, promise yourself you will work on it – and move on.

Be consistently aware that good ideas are everywhere. Most often it’s just seeing the norm from a slightly oblique angle – or making a connection in your mind between two apparently disparate objects, ideas or concepts.

From a writer’s point of view than can no better starting point for ideas than the ‘what if’ question.

What if chickens wore clothes? What if an ocean liner overturned? What if there were real witches, or vampires? What if the sun didn’t come up tomorrow?

These are the sort of questions that will train your brain to think in this way – to reprogram mind and re-invent it as an ‘inspiration creator’!

The Readers’ Station Tour Guides Take Readers for a Trip Into the Worlds We Create in Our Books

Launch Date: February 22, 2006

All aboard the Readers' Express as it pulls out of the Readers' Station. Welcome to the Readers' Station. Our tour guides will transport you to other places, times and worlds for trips of a life time. Get your tickets here.

Have you ever wanted to...

ask your favorite authors how they develop their story ideas?

create the characters you love to read about?

know how long it takes them to write the book?

learn how they decided whether to write a series of books instead of just one?

learn more about the setting of one of your favorite books?

This is your chance to get your questions answered as our tour guides transport you to other places, times and worlds for trips of a life time. Will you be on board to experience a new adventure? Get your tickets at WelcometoReadersStation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. The only admission required is your imagination.

In the coming months, we will offer guest author chats, contests, excerpts from our books, news about upcoming events and new releases. We welcome all sort of readers to join us at the Readers’ Station. You can peruse our website for more information and join our message board for a chance to meet our tour guides. We want to reveal more about the settings and backgrounds for our books. If you are an author, reader, editor or anyone else who wants more information, please contact Nikki Leigh at NikkiLeigh@ReadersStation.com

The Readers' Station offers non fiction and fiction readers of all genres a chance to meet the authors and to learn more about the books and the authors who write them. Won’t you join us at the depot The Readers Station Engineer, Nikki Leigh, and all the crew invite you to hop on board today at The Readers Station (www.readersstation.com)

Want to submit your own article, point of view, or advice to this newsletter? Let me know!

Many thanks for reading this newsletter. If you'd like to offer feedback or inquire as to my ad rates, feel free to email me.

Keep writing!

rob@easywaytowrite.com
Creating Better Writers
www.easywaytowrite.com