|
Sunoasis X 2005 V2 Issue 5
|
David Eide
|
May 31, 2005 21:43 PDT
|
S U N O A S I S X 2 0 0 5
Volume 2 Issue 5
May 2005
"Fine writers should split hairs together, and
sit side by side like friendly apes, to pick
the fleas from each other's fur."
-- Logan Pearsall Smith
_____________________T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S
1) [Professional Notes- Reading]
2) [Feature Article: 10 Tips For A
Polished Public Reading]
3) [Resource Notes]
4) [Markets and Leads: Journalism and Writing publications]
5) [C/Oasis- new stories and poems]
6) [New Forms of Publishing]
7) [The Free Media ]
8) [Community]
9) [Etc/Etc/Etc]
http://www.sunoasis.com/sunoasisblog.html
Switch to the online version right now!
http://www.sunoasis.com/honor.html
I'm not charging for subscriptions but will use the Amazon
Honor System. I like to think I'm more like PBS than CBS.
Enjoy this issue! Forward any comments to:
eide-@earthlink.net
===========================================================
INCREASE YOUR PER-PROJECT WRITING FEES UP TO 50%
Direct mail graphic designers are paid very well; sometimes
more than copywriters! Surprisingly, most "designers" have
little or no formal training. Add this valuable service to
your copywriting business to both increase your income AND
make your writing services more marketable. Learn how here:
http://www.thedesignerslife.com/rh/soc6
__________________P R O F E S S I O N A L N O T E S
I get out "The Art of Writing," and read this quote from
Su Dongpo, "The secret of writing lies in reading more and
writing more..." That was written during the Song Dynasty
around the twelfth century. And it got me thinking about the
magic and necessity of reading.
There's no reason to lecture writers about reading. And I
don't know of anyone successful or ambitious who does
not take time to read a good deal. Of course, there is the
President of the United States but he had connections and
married a librarian.
http://poynter.org/column.asp?id=52&aid=35459
"If you want to be a writer," Marge Piercy and Ira Wood
declare, "be a reader." This quote is from Chip Scanlan and
is part of his "joy of reading" column. Scanlan has a lot
of articles about resourceful books on writing. Check
it out.
Now, for a computer junkie such as myself the screen has
become a marvelous reading oasis. It's like the old science
fiction program that declared, "We control the horizontal...
we control the vertical."
One lesson I've learned is that a rich reading life will
subvert the horrendous overload of information that comes
pouring through the Net.
The best books on writing emphasize the need for concision
and putting life back into old worn out words.
So, what should writers read? That's a rather impossible
question to answer. For the sake of convenience let's
divide reading into:
*Resource
*Enrichment
*Fact and Information.
| | | | | | | | | | | | >>>R e a d i n g F o r R e s o u r c e<<<<<<<<<<<
|
|
|
|
|
|
The shake-out is fierce in the writing game.
One way to survive is to avail yourself of the best resource
books around.
Any book that throws light on the procedures of the writing
business is good for someone, like me, who lacks them. "The ASJA
Guide to Freelance Writing," for instance.
Some of the most useful books are written by agents and/or
editors who explain to writers what they are looking for and
what they expect. Read these books because the editor or
agent is usually telling the writer exactly what they
need know. "Forest For the Trees" by Betsy Lerner to put
forward one such book.
And I'm the first to agree that the writer should be the
center of the publishing world but they should learn to
trust the people who can help them.
http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/22076/
After reading this snide article on j-schools I thought to
myself, "writing is a profession of masters, not licenses.
You don't take a board test to certify yourself as a writer.
You read the masters, assimilate, imitate, fight them,
move on, and start to feel your sea-legs." School is
important to get the basics and to get exposed to resources
the students usually don't use. But, the more experience
you get the more important the resources become. Don't wait
until you are fifty to find this out.
Go into a reference library and partake of all that is there
and familiarize yourself with the resources in the library
and online. Make friends with the reference librarian. Follow
up references to credible things you read.
When excellent writers like Jon Franklin or James Stewart
tell you how they write a feature story, listen.
Encyclopedia's, Roget's Thesaurus, an oddity like Fowler's
Modern English Usage, the AP Stylebook, and a few decent
books on grammar and editing also help.
Even though a lot of these resources are online I still
prefer the book form. The internet contains a vast
conversation on the craft and art of writing by writers
and teachers. It is a storehouse for every agency, every
institution that a writer can plunder for the enrichment
of stories.
| | | | | | | | R e a d i n g f o r E n r i c h m e n t<<<<<<<<<<
|
|
|
|
Enrichment is an eternal component that draws in the young
and naive. And it arrives again after a terrible battle
with disillusionment, as one makes their way into middle-age.
The books we go back to time and again and never seem to wear
out are called classics. I would hope young writers would get
the opportunity to lay siege to an excellent library, either
in a great city or on a great campus. Read until your
eyeballs fall out. And learn everything you have not learned
in school. And walk among the great personalities of the past.
And take on problems that people in history have had to take
on. And let the mind walk on the vibrant avenues of Rome
at the time of Tactitus or Cicero. Or hunt with the bushmen
of the Kalahari.
Every time is "existential." Shakespeare, as he walked in the
streets of London, knew and felt himself to be at the very
end of time. And here we are, at the very end. And we know we
won't be the last. And Shakespeare knew he and his cohorts
weren't the last. Therefore, melancholy and, even, tragedy.
Reading is an enrichment because we can be everywhere present
within the hard casing of our own skulls.
When language is creating mindfulness or play or wisdom,
then it is enriching us. That's fairly common when young
but it is trickier as one gets older. So, how to keep that
wonderful sense of enrichment alive?
You start off with a thousand enrichments and end up with
five. Those five are meaningful. And, in truth, the other
995 are meaningful as well because you can't get to the
five with going through all the others.
<<<<<<R e a d i n g f o r F a c t s>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
This necessary activity should be rationalized as fully as
possible and be part of the writer's disciplined day. Read
good newspapers. Cut things out and create folders
for different subjects. Use colored pens to circle concepts
and facts you want to further investigate. Question the facts
you read. Get a good book on fact-finding. Newsweek has
proven lately why fact-finding is so important an activity
in non-fiction writing.
http://www.sunoasis.com/resourcemedia.html
On my media resource page I have links to the great daily
papers, the great opinion journals and a few of the decent
columnists.
If nothing else blogging is quick to jump on a fact and
discredit it if it's warranted. While I trust most media
to be fairly vigilant about fact-finding I trust the
instincts of the bloggers to ferret out the wrong facts.
Neither can be fully trusted.
The following are excellent journalism sites for fact
gathering. I always say that journalists and librarians
are the most resourceful people around and to trust their
ability to find the right things.
http://www.assignmenteditor.com/
Some of AssignmentEditor.com is fee-based.
http://annotatedtimes.blogrunner.com/
The Annotated New York Times is resourceful enough.
http://www.journalismnet.com/
So is journalismnet.com.
___________________________A F E A T U R E A R T I C L E
I was reading a Poets & Writers magazine several months
ago and came across an article by Erika Dreifus. Lo and
behold, the next week she sent me some submissions and I'm
proud to run one of them, "10 Tips For A Polished Public
Reading."
"Not long ago I read one of my short stories aloud at a
writers' conference. It was hardly the first time I'd
presented my work publicly before an audience (comprised
primarily of strangers) seated and listening to my words,
but nonetheless I experienced some twinges of anxiety.
The truth is, I almost always do.
At the same time, I'm also always reassured by the awareness
that my fifteen minutes of fame (and more often than not my
reading usually does run just about that long) forms part of
my job as a writer-and by the fact that I've prepared fairly
thoroughly for the occasion. I'm not just talking about all
the time and effort that I've put into crafting the work to
be read. I'm also calmed by the knowledge that I've learned
and can follow some "rules for readings" that have worked in
the past, for me and for others.
Whatever your genre you, too, can prepare for public
readings, and you can follow some guidelines that will
demonstrate your professionalism whether the moment marks
your first reading or your fortieth."
For more of Dr. Dreifus' article click here:
http://www.sunoasis.com/erikaread.html
_______M O R E N O T E S F R O M T H E E D I T O R
http://www.poynterextra.org/eyetrack2004/index.htm
Poynter did a study on online reading. They used newspaper
websites for the most part and came up with a graphic way
to track the eyeballs moving about the screen. It proved
to them that people do read text online and that the eye
does seem to search out a pattern. If you write for the web
or have a site I recommend looking at this study.
* * * * * * * * *
We need to filter out opinion as much as hard news. We sponge
everything up at the risk of losing all sense and being carried
away by one nonsense or another. And, after the deluge, a
feeling of great waste; that we've become bankrupt rather than
enriched. A hungry mind can get fat and happy very quickly.
A lot of blogging is a kind of positioning in the new world
order. It will all change very quickly. Perhaps, in the
long run, blogging will produce a new class of readers.
______________________________R E S O U R C E N O T E S
All-time Sunoasis List of Writing Books
Follow The Story by James Stewart
Writing For Story by Jon Franklin
Fiction Writer's Handbook by Hallie and Whit Burnett
The Elements of Authorship by Arthur Plotnik
The Art of Writing edited by Tony Barnstone and Chou Ping
The Elements of Style by Strunk and White
On Writer's Block by Victoria Nelson
Forest For the Trees by Betsy Lerner
On Writing Well by William Zinsser
******** advertisement********
http://makeashorterlink.com/?E2D6228CA
Read Nick Usborne's review of Bob Bly's course, "Selling
Yourself as a Copywriter - How to Earn $100,000 a Year".
******** advertisement********
=========================
For Freelancers Only:
=========================
http://www.creativeink.blogspot.com
Wendy Hoke is a Cleveland writer who has interesting things
to say about writing "extreme stories." That is, freelance
writers who go trekking in the outback with old nasty
characters or going to an Amazonian village no one knew
existed. One of the best ways to get ideas, according to
her, is to talk with people who are wild and crazy themselves.
http://tinyurl.com/8vnpy
This is a very informative discussion on freelance writing
from the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation.
____________________________________________C R A F T
http://www.wga.org/craft/
The Craft of Writing for Film and Television
http://www.writecraftweb.com/
WriteCraft Writers Resource Center
http://www.askoxford.com/
AskOxford.com
http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/
Common Errors in English
http://www.phrasefinder.co.uk/
Phrase Thesaurus from England. There's a fee.
http://www.pnl.gov/ag/usage/deadwood.html
Deadwood Phrases
______________W R I T I N G O R G A N I Z A T I O N S
http://www.ahcj.umn.edu/
Association of Health Care Journlists
http://www.constructionwriters.org/about_us.htm
Construction Writers Association
http://www.cpj.org/
Committee to Protect Journalists
http://www.ewa.org/
Education Writers Association
http://www.inlandpress.org/
Inland Press Foundation
http://npc.press.org/
National Press Club
http://www.tjgonline.com/
Travel Journalists Guild
______________________________P U B L I S H I N G
http://www.newyorkbusiness.com/article.cms?article_id=22978
A story on the future of newsmagazines.
http://www.mediabistro.com/articles/cache/a4349.asp
And this writer says that, relatively soon, magazines will
simply be ways to get people into their websites.
http://tinyurl.com/cyrrl
Another take on it by a former copy editor.
http://www.investors.com/editorial/feature.asp?v=5/17
This fair analysis suggests one solution to the "death of
newspapers and magazines." Get school kids to read more.
http://tinyurl.com/d3g8g
Thoughts about the "death of the book" and the
"napsterization of publishing," from the Guardian Unlimited.
http://tinyurl.com/c33y5
Google and publishers are at odds over Google's intention to
digitize public domain works for libraries.
__________________________M A R K E T S A N D L E A D S
JOURNALISM AND WRITING MAGAZINES: Make sure you locate the
editor of a magazine, contact her and request a sample copy
and writer guidelines. If you think you have a story for
her, send an excellent query. Search back issues and try
to understand the type of articles the editor looks for.
We provide the guidelines or mail addresses and phone
number of the publications when available.
http://www.ajr.org/ajrgart.asp
American Journalism Review
Pays $1,500-$2,000 for feature articles
http://tinyurl.com/bm2j2
E Content Magazine
Pays up to 50cents/word for features
http://www.mastheadonline.com/calendar.htm
Masthead, The magazine about magazines
Pays up to $350 Canadian for articles
http://www.pw.org/mag/guidelines.htm
Poets & Writers Magazine
Pays up to $300 for articles
http://www.writersdigest.com/wdguidelines.asp
Writers Digest
Pays up to 40cents for feature article
http://www.apexawards.com/contactus.htm
Writing That Works
Pays up to $150 for 500 word article
==========================================
Don't hesitate to tell us what you are looking for:
http://www.sunoasis.com/oasisfeedback.html
There is an index of writer guidelines here:
http://www.sunoasis.com/sunoasismarkets.html
| | | | | | | | | | | | >>>>>>>>>>Job Openings<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
|
|
|
|
|
|
Seeking Full-time Copywriter
Location: Chicago, IL
RPM Advertising, Inc. is a full service marketing
communications agency serving regional and national
automotive, retail, financial, home furnishings,
technology, and gaming and entertainment product
categories. We are seeking a fulltime Copywriter
to join our creative team! The Copywriter will
report to the Creative Director.
For full ad:
http://www.sunoasis.com/rpmadv.html
___________________________________________________________
SENIOR EDITOR
Location: Chicago area
One of the most facilitated advertising, publishing and
production companies in the country is growing its
magazine publishing division. To assist our growth, we
are seeking a Senior Editor.
For full ad:
http://www.sunoasis.com/imaginepub.html
___________________________________________________________
Seeking Experienced Ezine Copywriter
Freelance/Contract position
This small e-commerce company is seeking a copywriter who
has experience writing for ezines, & understands not any
writer will do.
For Full Ad:
http://www.sunoasis.com/adultcopywriter.html
___________________________________________C / O A S I S
http://www.sunoasis.com/sidewalks.html
Sidewalks, a short story by Marta Palos
He spotted the woman coming his way for the second time
that week. Shoulders hunched, nose thrust forward, she
scurried along the sidewalk, now and then casting a
glance about her as if on guard against some invisible
danger. The Mouse Woman, he called her.
http://www.sunoasis.com/mccurreypoems.html
Poetry by Jim McCurry
The Calm Desperado
http://www.sunoasis.com/sablepoems.html
Two Poems by Marina Lee Sable
The Mystic Dancer and the Hookah Pipe
Inhabiting a Distant Moon
http://www.sunoasis.com/roypoems.html
Two Poems by Sabyasachi Roy
Angel in Disguise
Metropolis, this
| | | | | | | | | | | | >N e w f o r m s o f p u b l i s h i n g<<<<<<
|
|
|
|
|
|
http://tinyurl.com/eygaf
Read about a new class of "citizen editors."
http://tinyurl.com/9w7cs
How old media can survive a new world from the Wall Street
Journal
http://tinyurl.com/7mdp5
The Ventury County Star has stopped posting reader comments
on its website. The explanation they give tells a lot about
the beast.
| | | | | | | | | | | | >>>>>>>>> t h e f r e e p r e s s <<<<<<<<<<<<<
|
|
|
|
|
|
http://www.editorsweblog.org/2005/05/indias_booming_.html
One place newspapers are booming is in India.
http://searchviews.com/archives/2005/05/craigslist_call.php
The call for the amateur journalist.
http://www.cjr.org/issues/2005/3/blum60min.asp
What is ailing 60 Minutes?
_______________________________________C O M M U N I T Y
See the Tips Page for more information:
http://www.sunoasis.com/tips.html
http://www.continuetolearn.uiowa.edu/iswfest/
The 2005 Iowa Summer Writing Festival runs from June 12th
through July 29th.
http://writing.shawguides.com/search?t=June
Shaw Guide for Writing Conferences in June.
_______________________________________E T C/ E T C/ E T C
Editor/Publisher: David Eide
Sunoasis X 2005 is fully protected by copyright.
Please ask permission if you are going to use any or
all of this publication.
Reprint rights belong to the authors.
Contact them if you wish to use their material.
Unauthorized use of any material is strictly
forbidden.
Our hope is that we can help and enhance the world
of writing, publishing, and editing.
**********************************************
|
|
 |
|
