Jan Fishler

Author and Happiness Coach

Falling off the Blogging Wagon – Writing Fiction

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Falling off the Blogging Wagon – Writing Fiction

Since the beginning of the New Year, I’ve fallen off the blogging wagon. It’s not like I haven’t been writing though, I just haven’t been keeping up with my blog. This morning I woke up at 5:30, and decided it was time to get back into my morning blogging routine, so now, here I sit with my cup of Chai Masala Organic Tulsi tea from India waiting for my muse. How, when I had so much blogging momentum going, did I manage to lose my way?

The trip to Arizona did it. In early February my daughter, who had been struggling with Lyme Disease for the past eight years, called to tell me she was going downhill fast, and I needed to help her find something that would work. By the end of the month, we were in Scottsdale where she started treatment. (Check out www.SundridgeMedical.com). We were there for a month, returning at the end of March, and today her health continues to improve. In fact, she’s going back to school in a couple of weeks and is looking forward to getting her cosmetology license and working in her field. After so many years of being sick, it is such a relief to see her firmly planted on the road to health.

While the outcome of the trip was successful, the change in my routine derailed me. Instead of writing each morning, my daughter and I would put on bathing suits and trot across the road for a hot tub and swim—what a wonderful way to start the day! Because I’m someone who is also in the habit of blogging in the morning, within days, I was adrift. And I’ve been drifting ever since—catching up on bills, organizing taxes, weeding out my closets, planting a spring garden, seeing friends, and writing fiction.

Since completing my memoir, I’ve wanted to write a fictionalized account of my birth mother, Jane, who I never met. I even followed 74 days of writing prompts and blogged about the book I was going to write (see the posts at www.searchingforjane.com). While the prompts didn’t get me to write the book, they did get me to think about it. I picked my characters, outlined a plot, wrote some dialogue and even cranked out a couple of scenes, but I wasn’t serious. About a month ago, I joined a fiction writing group. We meet every other Monday evening and I’m taking the commitment seriously. The members of the group are published authors and I couldn’t ask for better company. Because I feel privileged to be part of this group and have tremendous respect for their feedback, I am motivated to show up with my five pages. It turns out that accountability motivates me.

Having a writing routine does the same thing. It keeps me on track, and forces me to be accountable—even if it’s only to myself. Starting today, I’ve made a commitment to write every morning. I’ll blog at least two mornings a week and spend the other mornings writing scenes for my novel. I know this is only day one, but It feels really good to be back on the wagon.

My Blog Content: 100 Writing Tips & Prompts

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My Blog Content: 100 Writing Tips & Prompts

I finally got clear: from this point on, my blog content will focus on writing tips and prompts and anything else that will help new and experienced writers enjoy the process and stay on the path.

I spent the last part of 2012 launching my new business, doing everything people do to get started–from planning to developing a website, and everything in between. So far, my blog content  has meandered covering everything from SEO and getting organized to eBook publishing and social media planning. It occurred to me that it would benefit me and my readers if I had a focus that supported my work as an author, writing coach, and developer of the Write YOUR Story workshop.

My half day workshops are designed for people who think they can’t write, who don’t believe they have time to write, or don’t know how to begin, but who want to record a legacy, share an amazing experience, heal a painful memory, or write for fun and enjoyment.In addition to the workshop, what information could I provide that would be helpful and motivational?

Every time I asked myself this question, the answer was: writing tips and prompts. Tomorrow, I’m meeting with my graphic designer,  to finish up a pdf, “100 Writing Tips & Prompts To Keep You on the Writing Path,”  that will be my gift to blog subscribers. The tips and prompts come from my own experience and from classes and workshops I’ve attended as well as from such classics as The Elements of Style. All of the prompts are short and to the point.

Experienced writers might want to read through the entire list in one sitting and use the tips as a refresher. New or newer writers might want to spend a day or more on each tip, taking time to digest the information, perhaps even doing additional research on your own.

Regardless of whether you’re writing in a journal, posting to your blog, writing poems and short stories, or working on the great American novel, the idea is to enjoy the writing process as you improve your skills. After all, writing is a craft and, like anything, the more time you put in, the better you are likely to get.

I’ll say it again, from this point on, my blog content will focus on writing tips and prompts and anything else that will help new and experienced writers enjoy the process and stay on the path.

The Next Big Thing

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The Next Big Thing

My thanks to Ron Cherry for inviting me to be a part of this week’s The Next Big Thing blog posting group.

The Next Big Thing is a meme that is creating an ever growing wave through the blogs of authors who write in a variety of genres, with each participant answering the same questions about either a work in progress or a work currently being marketed.  Each author then chooses five other authors to keep the chain going.  The following is my contribution:

1. What is the title of your book?
The title of my book is Searching for Jane, Finding Myself. It’s an adoption memoir.

2. How did you come by the idea?
I always knew I was adopted, but I had no information about my birth mother other than the lie that she had died during childbirth. When I was forty, I decided it was time to search. Whenever I told someone my story, the response was either, “Oh my God, you should write a book about it!”, or “Oh my God, you should be on Oprah.” Finally, I did.

3. What genre does your book fall under?
Memoir. It’s a look inside the heart and soul of my adoption—how being adopted affected me growing up and my perspective as an adult—one who is not only older, but also wiser.

4. Which actors would you choose to play your characters if it were a movie?
I always saw Jamie Lee Curtis playing the lead. When my hair was short I was often told I looked like her. Because of the resemblance, I thought mistakenly that Janet Lee was my birth mother. Also, Jamie Lee Curtis has adopted children of her own, so I imagined she would have an interest in the movie.

5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Searching for Jane, Finding Myself inspires us to find the truth, however difficult and fearsome the search may be.

6. Will your book be self-published or traditional?
Tin Cat Media, is my small, independent publishing company.

7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
I wrote the manuscript in my head for about 7 years. When I finally sat down to write, it took about three months.

8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
There are several memoirs on the topic of adoption. Most are about adopting children from other countries. Identical Strangers: A Memoir of Twins Separated and Reunited is a compelling read. I also thought Found A Memoir and Mamalita, An Adoption Memoir were captivating adoption stories

9. Who or what inspired you to write this book?
Friends and family inspired me to write this book. Anyone who ever talked to me about adoption know how important it was for me to discover the truth—whatever it might have been. I wasn’t looking for a relationship with my birth mother, I just wanted to know who she was, more important, who I was. My ethnic background, my religion, where my ancestors came from—the things everyone else takes for granted.

10. What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
Readers who enjoy good human interest stories will enjoy my book.  It’s an easy read and an honest expose about what it feels like to be an adopted child. If you’re not adopted it’s a peek into mind and heart of an adoptee. If you’re part of the adoption triad, it’s confirmation about your own feelings.

The four authors I’ve chosen to continue the chain on or about December 24rd are…
Tony Richards:  http://raineslanding.blogspot.co.uk
Delinda McCann: http://delindalmccann.weebly.com/blog.html
J. A. Vasquez:  http://www.BooksThatSow.com
Ron Cherry: http://www.rlcherry.com
…but don’t wait that long to visit these interesting blogs of 4 very different writers.

Copyright © 2012, Jan Fishler
—
Jan Fishler
Author ~ Writing Coach ~ Presenter
Speak Your Truth, Write Your Story
www.janfishler.net
Phone: 530-264-5105

 

 

 

New Words for Writers: Expanding Your Vocabulary

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New Words for Writers: Expanding Your Vocabulary

If you don’t know about it, be sure to check out wordsmith.org. If you subscribe, you can receive a word a day in your mailbox. This is a great way for writers to learn new words. Each week the words are organized around a theme.  This week’s theme, for example, is eponyms, a word I had to look up.  In case you too are wondering, an eponym is “a person or thing, whether real or fictional, after which a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named.”  For a list of eponyms, go to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_eponyms_%28A-K%29

Today’s eponym is mithridatism, another word I didn’t know, but I love the definition: “noun: The developing of immunity to a poison by taking gradually increasing doses of it.”

What poison have you developed an immunity to?  What price did you pay in the process?

These questions take us to feelings of shame, something we don’t generally like to talk about, but feelings—especially those on the darker end of the spectrum, are where we writers need to go if we want to develop stories that have substance and deep meaning. Sometimes, if we have the courage, we share these stories, and in the process heal ourselves and others. Sometimes, it’s best to simply write them and leave them be.

However you look at it, writers need new words, and ideas and wordsmith.org has them.

A Morning Writer at Night

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Usually, I do my five minutes of writing first thing in the morning, but some mornings get away from me. I am definitely a morning writer. This morning, for instance, I grabbed my coffee and started working on my website, which is taking me a long time to create.  Learning WordPress has been a bit of a challenge, even with the help I’m receiving from Cat, my Web guru.  This morning, for instance, I added 100 Writing Tips that I will be giving away to people who subscribe to my blog. They weren’t supposed to show up, but there they were. I gave up trying to figure it out and went to the gym.

This afternoon, I met with a woman entrepreneur who encouraged me to move my workshop online. I do like the idea of bringing the process to more people–even businesses, especially entrepreneurs, who all have a story to tell.  I’m going to look into what exactly is involved. For me to be successful, I know I need to create a plan and then work on it slowly.

Because I’m a morning writer, it’s difficult to write at night. My brain doesn’t seem to engage. Finding the right words is a struggle, which is why I’m going to sign off now and  see what tomorrow morning brings. I’m definitely not my best at night!

 

Blogging – 10 Reasons it Helps Your Business

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If driving traffic to your website is your goal, then blogging needs to be part of your online marketing efforts. Blogging showcases your expertise and passion about a particular topic and is a way to send hundreds of visitors to your site.

Blogs are a great tool for telling your target market about your products and services. There are several ways blogs can help your business. Blogs:

1.      Are easy to start

Creating a blog takes less than five minutes, and posts can be added almost instantaneously. All you have to do to start a blog is go to one of the blog sites like WordPress, Google Blogger, or Typepad and sign up. Populating a blog with relevant content takes some time, but if you write about something you know and are passionate about, you should be able to write between 300 and 500 words in less than half an hour.

2.      Lead to updates

How often should you post? It depends on how much you have to say, how much time you can spend promoting your posts, and how much time your target market is willing to spend reading. Keep in mind, high posting frequency can attract new visitors and help you retain repeat visitors.

3.      Provide a platform for building credibility and establishing yourself as an expert

Clients and customers feel more confident buying from someone who is perceived as an expert. Even if you’re a relative newbie in your field, a series of well-researched posts can go a long way toward setting you ahead of your competition.

4.      Have a longer shelf life than an email blast or a newsletter

Depending upon your business, you might want to use your blog posts to show photos of your product line, instruct clients about processes and procedures, feature members of your staff, or provide health tips and other strategies. The beauty of a blog is that content is easy to record, and references will last for years to come.

5.      Allow for commentary, questions, and feedback

Once you have a following, you can turn your blog into a focus group of sorts. By asking questions or making comments and requesting feedback, you can gain valuable insight about your products and services and make your customers feel like they are an important and valuable asset.

 6.      Help build a consumer-based community

Community building means developing authentic relationships among people who have a common interest. A group of people who read your blog and support your work and efforts can be a key factor in creating a viral buzz about your products and services. This can be a very good thing.

7.      Create a permanent online record

Having an archive of what your company is thinking and the direction it is headed can be a very useful tool. It can enable you to see how far you’ve come, when the most innovative and creative processes took place, and what trends developed into worthwhile ventures.

 8.      Collect your thoughts and present them in a succinct manner

If you take the time to write an idea or thought down and then share it with others in a public forum, it’s more likely to become a reality than if you simply make a statement at a meeting or send an email around to co-workers.

9.      Provide a constant source of fresh, relevant content that search engines love

Like articles, press release, web pages, eBooks, and other content, blogs give search engines what they’re looking for. As a result, rankings go up and more people find your site, ultimately increasing sales and your bottom line.

10.  Are free or very affordable

Even in these difficult economic times, every business can afford a blog – one of the most effective tools available for growing your online presence.