Tips for writing features #2*: Stick with good contacts

I'm working on a feature at the moment, and nothing is going right. The experts that I have called are not calling me back. The time frame that's been allocated is simply not enough. I'm fast running out of hours and options. But my many years in this game have given me one amazing asset for moments such as these: trusted contacts.

These are people I've interviewed many times over many years. A psychologist or two. Some financial advisors. Nutritionists, dietitians, parenting experts. Relationship gurus. Fashion experts, beauty experts, organising experts. I know that when I call them, they will give me exactly what I need. They know how my questions work, they know where to fill in the gaps. I know that when I call them, I do not need to explain myself, or my credentials. They know me. Well enough to say 'just put that into proper English for me, will you?' and trust that the quotes will be correct.

Every general features writer needs people like these. If you interview someone for a story and it goes particularly well, ask them one extra question: "Do you mind if I keep your details on file and call you again for future stories?" Chances are they'll say yes. Then you cross your fingers that they like that first story you did together so that the next time you call they're pleased to hear from you.

I keep up my end of the bargain. I don't call too often, I ensure they're credited as fully as I can, I am mindful of their time and keep my questions succinct. It's no coincidence, I'm sure, that my expert team are also people that I really like. They're people that I've connected with - a certain sense of humour, an ability to go off on tangents with aplomb. I've never met any of them face to face. Not one. But I'm sure they'd recognise my voice on the phone.

I'm always looking to add new people to my team. It's important to keep voices and ideas fresh. But I cannot tell you how happy I am that I have them in my life, particularly on nights like this, with that deadline looming.

And now I must go. There's a psychologist I need to email about an interview...

*I know this is out of numerical order, but I realised I forgot #2 in my list!

[image: Speaking of sticking, how cool is this wall decal from Urbanwalls?]

Fibro Q&A: Mark Dapin shares his writing secrets

I'm quite excited about this week's Fibro Q&A. Usually when I am talking to Mark Dapin, we discuss roundabouts, penguins, social media, beer, driving, children, our mutual friends, the state of the world and the state of our various projects (his more exciting than mine). It is a rare event for me to actually drill him about writing. I'm not sure why. Maybe I'm shy (and I can hear him laughing from here...). Maybe I don't want him to know how much I truly don't know. Probably it's just that the conversations about roundabouts are far too scintillating to warrant a change of subject. Something like that.

Anyway, he writes a popular column for Good Weekend, first-rate features, (probably) best-selling non-fiction books, award-winning novels... possibly even poetry (but no doubt that's hidden in a drawer). His debut novel The King of the Cross won the Ned Kelly Award for Best First Fiction and his new novel, Spirit House, is now in bookshops. So, despite the fact that he does not look like a writer*,  I took advantage of his extreme shortness** and invited him to the Fibro to view my asterisk collection*** While he was here, I asked him about writing.

Given that you practice so many forms of writing, do you have to take a different approach with each?
Mark Dapin: "Not really. If I'm writing a feature, I try to approach it as if it were a short story. I identify the main characters, give them a narrative arc and - if the storytelling works - use my 3000 words to gradually reveal the mystery at the heart of the story. I try to write an introduction that drags the reader in, and a conclusion that offers a surprise twist, a kind of reward for reading that far. I use the same technique with the chapters in my novels and slightly scaled-down version**** for my column."

You put a lot of yourself into your columns and feature stories - does having such a strong voice make fiction writing easier or more difficult when you have to write from a character's perspective?
MD: "I think every character in every novel written by every writer is, in part, an extension of an aspet of the writer's own character. When a writer pits good against evil, they're really, on some level, just detailing the conflict within themselves. So no, not really. I can write hundreds of different Mark Dapin characters - black, white, men, women, short, extremely tall..."

Did you suffer from second novel syndrome when writing Spirit House? Or did having a deadline and certain expectations help you get the job done?
MD: "Yeah, it was much harder to write the second novel than the first. I had to do almost a year of research. I would never do this again. I advise strongly against setting a novel in Singapore in 1942 when you were born in England in 1963. Also, I did a lot of work with my publisher on the plot, which kept flying off in odd directions."

Given that the role of the author seems to involve so much more marketing/promotion these days, and you also write a weekly column plus regular features, when do you fit in your fiction writing? Are there days when you never want to see another word?
MD: "I just prioritise. I make a (mental) list of what I most want to accomplish in the day, and I do that first. Some weeks, it's journalism every day, some weeks it's fiction all week. It kind of depends on my deadlines and my mood. It doesn't mean the other stuff doesn't get done, just that everything is completed in the right order. And if I get stuck on fiction, I turn to the column. If it get stuck on a column, I write a feature, and so on."

What would your advice be for anyone starting out in the writing game - any genre - today?
MD: "Learn to write. Don't use cliches or formulaic constructions. Read good writers and try to figure out how they avoid repeating the words of others. Every time you finish a sentence, think to yourself, "Have I read this somewhere before?" If you're writing dialogue, ask yourself if real people talk that way, or just characters on TV. Realise that other people are just as complex as you are and a two-dimensional portrayal of anybody - in journalism, or in fiction - is likely to show up the writer as more shallow than their character. Don't be precious. Almost everything improves with cutting."

Spirit House is at the top of my To Be Read pile, covered in a thin layer of renovation dust. I cannot wait to read it. I know that, for me as a reader, it will be funny, and unexpected, and thought-provoking. I know that, for me as a writer, it will be motivating and inspiring and, yes, envy-inducing. You can buy it here. You can also follow Mark's blog, where he writes about roundabouts (oh yes, he does) among other things. 

*have a look here if you don't believe me
**rumour has it that he is just 9cm tall
***My collection will never match his, but the ruse worked.
****This is a genuine Mark Dapin asterisk. Yeah, yeah, 9 centimetres.

Tips for writing features #9: Case studies will always surprise you

I'm on a bit of a roll with writing posts this week. Apologies to those who are looking for Alla Hoo Hoo or updates on my garden, but I find with (almost) daily blogging that you can only write what you can write. I've got a lot of work on at present, across three different forms of media, so writing is on my mind.

Which brings me to this post about case studies. I've spent much of my week looking for 'real people' for various things. I love the term 'real people'. Like celebrities aren't people. Or real. Which, I guess, in a way they're not. I've written before about finding 'real people', so this post will not go into the trials and tribulations of life pre-internet ("does anyone know anyone...?"), nor how much I love Twitter for its instant gratification approach to rustling up case studies. Instead, I want to focus on the 'surprise' factor of case studies.

When I worked at CLEO in the late 90s, we were all about the case study. All magazines were. It was new and exciting stuff to feature 'real people' in those days. Prior to that, mags had been full of stories by staff writers featuring 'my friend Alice'. No identifying details, no photographs. Suddenly, it was all about pics. Two of my first assignments when I joined the team were to find eight women of all shapes and sizes to pose nude, followed by ten men of all shapes and, er, sizes to pose nude. My friends started to avoid my calls after those two.

It always surprised me what people were willing to share with the hundreds of thousands of readers of a magazine. Why their wedding dresses hung, unworn and forlorn, in their wardrobes. How many times a week (or even day) they had sex. What they really thought about their partner's dress sense - and what they'd prefer he or she wear. How their mothers made them fat/thin/happy/unhappy/mad. Where they thought the clitoris was (not always where one might expect). For every idea we came up with in a features meeting, there'd be (eventually, after a lot of stress) at least three people willing to share their stories.

Often I'd be asked 'do you make that stuff up?' My response? "I couldn't if I tried." The thing that always amazes me about case studies is how incredibly interesting people are once you start talking to them. Everyone has a story and I feel so privileged to be able to ask them all about it, even if it's only a tiny part of their lives that my feature is focussing on.

I also learned early on what a responsibility it is. To listen hard. To question the details. To get it right. And to be aware, even if they're not, that words take on extra weight when they're printed and published.

 So, tips for interviewing 'real people'.

*Firstly, get the names right. It's the one thing they'll never forgive you for getting wrong.

*Be prepared to have a 'chat' to begin. Talk about the weather. Kids. Dogs. Whatever works. You need to establish some kind of connection before you hit them with questions about their sex life/birth story/shoe size.

*Have a list of questions ready to go, but be prepared to wander down a few side roads to get the best story possible - so often the crux of a case study has come from an aside or from a little throwaway remark right at the end of an interview.

*Sometimes you'll need to ask the same question two or three different ways to elicit the response you want. And be prepared to discover that the response you thought you wanted may not be the best response on the day.

*Know when to stop. Sometimes, particularly if the subject is intense, it can feel awkward to extricate yourself from the conversation. Be gentle, professional and firm. This may sound like a strange piece of advice, but as someone who always wants to know more and has to stop herself asking people round for coffee, it's a lesson learned the hard way.

So (and here I am being gentle, professional and firm) that's it. Any questions?

[image: love this garland from saratops/etsy]

What did you talk about this week?

Well, here we are at the weekend. Time to relax, unwind and recharge. Also time to look back at the week that was. The Fibro was a hive of activity and conversation this week. Mostly centred around splashbacks and cupboard profiles. But we did manage to fit some other stuff in too. Some are personal, some are professional (as in, for a story). I'll leave it up to you to decide which is which...

Cold Chisel, prawns that had been hidden in a bag in our laundry for five days, freezing said prawns in container, under-bench top sinks, the wall that was and then wasn't, green olives, balsamic vinegar, visitors, moving house, bathroom cabinets, community grants, worm wee, soccer, concentration, Lego mini-figures, birthday parties, Cars 2, scooters, vacuum cleaners, milkshakes, organising one's office, organising (specifically) my office, the decision to have a baby, fitting in 'relations' as a working mother, Mosman, blogging, bloggers, pitching, ideas, the state of the freelance writing market, finishing the damn book, feeding the fish.

What did you talk about?


PS: I'm Rewinding at And Then There Were Four this weekend. Link up an old post for new comment love! Hope to see you there. 

[image: Disney/kidsfunreviwed.com]

Too many words

Ever had the feeling you were swimming in words? Long words, short words, words of one syllable, words of three or more syllables. Verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs (don't shoot me, not often). Hyperbole, onomatopoeia, dictionary. Quotes. Case studies. Fact. Fiction. Faction. Fict. Google (thank you person on high for Google).

That's me right now. Freestyling through the word flow. Trying to keep my head above the many and varied fonts.

So I have only a few left in me for tonight.

Have you donated to an appeal for Japan? They need us.

Save The Children
Red Cross Australia

[image: original art print by FlyingHouseStudios/etsy - simply gorgeous!]

Tips for writing features #5: Stick in the middle

Despite my best intentions, I did nothing useful today. I made a few phone calls, collated a few notes, sent a few emails. Anything but face the article that needed writing. It sat there, looming large, dark, silent, brooding.

It wasn't the Muse I was waiting on. It wasn't a format, or a fact, or a quote. It was a beginning.

Find the beginning for a story and you'll find the story. I've written before about armpits and angles. About navigating your rowboat in a straight line through a sea of ideas. All of which is just fabulous in theory. But sometimes it just doesn't happen.

So what's a girl to do?

You start with what you know. What I know, for this particular story, is the middle. I have already decided that it will be an intro/q&a/ending format. I don't know the intro. I don't know the ending. But the middle - well, that's a matter of wrangling my questions and quotes into submission.

This I can do.

Hopefully, once it's done, an intro and an ending will have suggested itself. Simple, really.

Now all I have to do is to do it.

{image: via WeHeartIt}

'Twas the work before Christmas

The world is going to end on December 25. It must be. It's the only explanation for why every single thing on my To Do list has that particular deadline.

Everyone wants to 'catch up' before Christmas. Like we will not be here come Boxing Day. Multiple Mum has moved her entire Christmas 'catch up' list to January 2011 and reports great success in lowering stress levels in the Multiple household. We should all try it.

Everyone wants copy in before Christmas. Like we're not all going on holidays for at least a week or two, leaving said copy to languish unread and unloved.

December is always insanely busy. Every year I am surprised. Every year I complain about the work. Every year I forget. Temporary amnesia. The same reason women can cheerfully get pregnant with their second child, knowing what's ahead.

For now, though, I am slogging through it. One foot in front of the other. In time to Jingle Bells.

I can only imagine how Santa must feel. Now there's a man with a looming December 25 deadline.

{image: via squidoo}

Three top tips for would-be freelance writers

I had such a good time with my Q&A with Gillian Martin and Emma Kaufmann, authors of Cocktails at Naptime, last month that I've decided to do it all over again. If there's one thing I love, it's asking questions. This time around, my victim target is my former colleague Valerie Khoo, now director of The Sydney Writers' Centre in Milsons Point.

Valerie and I shared cupboard office space together at CLEO and I've watched in awe as she's gone on to broaden her career from editor to entrepreneur, writing five books and countless articles along the way. I shouldn't be surprised. She's the poster girl for career change, having been an accountant with PricewaterhouseCoopers before finally giving in to her passion for writing - and finding a way to make it work.

Why have I chosen Valerie for this Q&A? Because I'm often asked how to break into freelance writing. And while I'm qualified to offer a few pointers, Valerie has gone out of her way to devise entire, affordable courses based around that very subject. She knows her stuff. You can read more about the centre, its wide range of courses (including magazine writing, travel writing, business writing, screen writing and more) and Valerie, here.

It's about here that I should point out that this is not a sponsored post. No ethics or integrity were injured in the creation of this post. And nothing changed hands either, unless you include *waves* via Twitter. I'm looking for interesting people to talk to about writing, and Valerie is about as interesting as they come. Particularly if you want to do what she's done and jump from your current career into writing.

What do you think are the key attributes of a professional writer across any genre?
Valerie Khoo: "Discipline, discipline, and a little bit more discipline. If you want to make a living from writing, you need to... write! And you need commitment to hone your craft, improve your work and learn from your mistakes. It's not about waiting for inspiration to hit. It's about making yourself put your fingers to the keyboard or pen to paper. Which is not to say that creativity is not important. But I believe that we are all inherently creative beings - but not all of us have the discipline needed to channel that creative energy into a full-time income-producing career."

Why did you set up Sydney Writers' Centre?
VK: "Basically, I created the kind of writers' centre I wished had existed when I was first dipping my toes into the world of writing. When I was transitioning careers from accounting to writing, I was desperate for resources and guidance to help me make it happen. SWC is the dynamic, inspiring place I would have loved to attend.

"We have a huge range of courses, but our most popular courses are creative writing and magazine writing. We offer both of those online so that students can learn from anywhere in the world - as well as in our Harbourside training rooms here at the Centre."

How do you choose your course presenters?
VK: "Our presenters need to talk the talk and walk the walk, so to speak. They have to be currently working in the industry and they need to be dealing with the subject they teach day to day. We're committed to offering courses that are very practical so that students leave with new skills that they can use immediately. Our presenters share their inside knowledge and give students a realistic insight into what they need to do to get published or write with confidence."

Do you think writing for blogs differs from writing for other publications? How?
VK: "I think blogs are wonderful. They offer a creative outlet and an opportunity for your writing to be read by an interested audience. Blogs are similar to other publications in that they need to attract and sustain an audience. But they're different in that you receive instant feedback. That can be very satisfying."

What are your three top tips for would-be freelance writers?
VK: "1. Know your market. You can be the best writer in the whole world but that's a moot point if you don't know how to write for a specific market. You need the ability to analyse a magazine and, from there, be able to work out the tone and style of writing that you need to employ, the angles the magazine would be interested in, and the case studies or interviews you'd need to use. We teach that in our course 'Feature Writing for Magazines and Newspapers', and students constantly tells us how valuable it is. Without it, you can't build a viable career as a freelance writer."

"2. Get over the fear of pitching to editors. This can be debilitating when you are starting out. I always think it's a shame when I see someone who's just too scared to pick up the phone and pitch their story idea to an editor. The reality is that if you've done step 1 (above) and analysed the magazine to ensure that your idea is a good 'fit', then you significantly increase your chances of your article being accepted. I know it can seem daunting, but you have to get over it. The good news is that it gets easier every time you do it!

"3. You can make very good money as a freelance writer. "Some people think that, as a writer, you need to live like an artist starving in a garrett. I don't agree with that. There's nothing romantic about that in my books - not with Sydney property prices the way they are! I think that you can make a very healthy income from your freelance writing if you treat it like a business and make sure you're professional in everything that you do. It can be useful to try to get a mix of higher-paying corporate projects and the editorial projects that feed your soul (but which may not make you rich)."

{image: magazinedoctor.co.uk}

I'm guest posting today over with Diminishing Lucy, all about the joys (and otherwise) of being a WAHM. Come on over and say hi!

If you don't start, you simply don't

I realised today that I have been freelancing for a long time. It was startling. I also realised, in the course of a conversation, that one of the reasons I enjoy it so much stems back to a job that I didn't particularly like. My last-ever fulltime job to be precise. I became a part-timer/freelancer because I never wanted to be miserable five days a week ever again.

Motivation is everything.

I was talking to a new friend about how to get started in freelance writing. She is stuck at the procrastination stage. Mostly because she thinks she doesn't know what to do next. She has so many ideas, so many things she wants to do - but she's not doing any of them.

My sage, Obi-Wan advice to her? Start something. Pick one thing and have a go at that. Pitch one story to one publication. If you do nothing, nothing happens. If you do something, you never know what the result will be. So start. 

Still she was worried.

"What are you worried about?" I asked.

"I don't know," she admitted.

"What's the worst that can happen?"

"They might say no."

Yep, they might. Not really the end of the world when you put it like that. I promised her that magazine staff are well trained to write polite rejection emails. They always save their hysterical laughter at your off-beam ideas for the office. But you don't see that, so what do you care? 

She managed a laugh at that, which is a great sign for her future freelance career. Seriously, the thin-skinned need not apply.

We narrowed down a couple of options out of her long list of many, and off she went with a short list of tasks. A To Do list (you know how I love those). A start.

I went home to work on my Obi-Wan impersonation. I did okay with "The Force will be with you, always", but I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to work "The Sand People are easily startled, but they will be back, and in greater numbers" into my next conversation.

Hmm. Perhaps I'll focus on finding myself a long, brown cloak. Everybody's got to start somewhere.

I'm participating in the Tuesday Blog Hop at NimblerGrove - go visit for a world of fab blogs to read.

The secret to becoming a famous author

I had an important job to do today. So I cleaned my desk. I couldn't think about the important job - it was too hard. So I decided that the fact that I was unable to begin said job was all down to the fact that my desk was a bomb site and set about rectifying that situation immediately.

In the course of my cleaning blitz, I unearthed an article that I'd printed off in March, intending to read immediately. Clearly that did not work out for me. However, as I was in major procrastinating mode and as the deadline for the important job ticked ever nearer, I decided that today was the perfect time to finally knock that article over.

It was a series of the top 10 tips for writing by a collection of famous authors - think Margaret Atwood, Elmore Leonard, Roddy Doyle,  Jonathan Franzen - and includes everything from 'get a good accountant' to 'don't open a book with the weather'. (You'll find it here.)

One tip that comes up regularly - and is ubiquitous in 'how to write' guides the world over - is the Write Every Day maxim. At the recent RWA conference, one NY Times bestselling author repeated over and over that she got up, went to the gym, went home, and wrote about 2000 words. Every day. All I could think was that she clearly did not have small people insisting that she attend their assembly/reading/Easter Hat Parade.

I write every day. Some days, I write up to 5000 words a day. More. Unfortunately, these words are not confined to one particular project. Today, for example, I did some work on my important job. Some work on another important job (with a more forgiving deadline). I wrote a blog post. I wrote a letter to Mr6's teacher explaining that I needed to drag him out of school and off to see a snoring specialist. I wrote three polite emails requesting interviews, one polite email following up a request for an interview, and several other emails organising my social life.

I suspect that this is not quite what the famous authors had in mind.

I think part of my problem can be found in Jonathan Franzen's number eight tip: "It is doubtful that anyone with an internet connection at his workplace is writing good fiction."

So I have decided to concentrate on the words of Margaret Atwood (one of my favourite writers): "Take a pencil to write with on aeroplanes. Pens leak."

See, if more famous authors gave groundbreaking tips like this, we'd all be famous authors.

{image: The Storque}

Tips for writing features #3: Anyone know anyone...?

As a features writer, I've spent a lot of my time asking variations on this question: "Does anyone know anyone who [insert wears blue nail polish/howls at the moon/is willing to get naked for a readership of 500,000+/had a baby early/had a baby late/had a baby on their own/had a baby with another mum/etcetera etcetera etcetera]. Most features in the lifestyle category require at least one case study. Preferably three. Or, five. Or, gloriously for one particular story, nine.

When I first started out as a journo, case studies were a nightmare. Imagine yourself sitting in an office, with a phone and a computer that's not connected to anything but the wall. The internet is 'happening', but not in your sphere, not yet. And you need to find someone over the age of 40 who had a baby on their own (just as an example). Your social network has an average age of 22 and is spectacularly free of mothers of any age. Where do you start?

By ringing everyone you know, of course. Which is why my friends learned to 'accidentally disconnect' the phone every time they heard my voice on the end of it. Particularly once I started at CLEO and they discovered that many of my queries involved either nudity or embarrassing public disclosure or both. It becomes a measure of one's charm, tenacity and sheer bloody desperation that some of those stories come together (see here for details of one particularly memorable feature).

That particular job involved phone call after phone call, and arm twisting, and convincing people that a 'really nice professional photo' was reason enough to get involved. Ingenuity helps. When in need of naked people, start with the professionally body conscious: strippers, life models, body builders. In need of brides with unworn wedding dresses? Thumb through the classifieds - and then be prepared for some awkward 'Hi, I'm from CLEO, how do you feel about sharing your heartbreak?' conversations. Looking for first home buyers? Ring a real estate agent.

Of course, the internet changed everything. Suddenly, we could advertise on a magazine's website for people to contact us to get involved (bliss). There's an association for everything and every association has a website with contact details. And now there's social media, where one 'tweet' can garner a dozen responses - perhaps not definitive case studies, but all-important leads. (If you're needing a case study, I recommend you check out sourcebottle.com.au - dream service.)

One thing I learned through those earlier, desperate years, however, is this: not every case study is the right case study, and it's really, really difficult to explain to someone who's keen to be involved that they're not 'right'. The reasons they might not be right vary wildly, but mostly it just comes down to the angle of their story not being strong enough. Yes, you need to fill a hole in your story with 'real person quotes', but if those quotes don't advance the story there's no point. On one memorable occasion, I tracked down 34 different case studies before finding the 'nine' (yep, that's the story) that the editor was happy with. Often, it's not until after you've done the interview that you realise it won't work out. Which makes it even worse.

So what's a girl to do in a situation like this? The same thing that writers have done since time immemorial. Blame the editor.

Writing + Pregnancy = a little bit too similar sometimes

Today I gave birth to a 20-kilogram feature. That’s what it felt like anyway. Every word seemed to be dragged out of me, kicking and screaming. When it was done, the relief was so palpable that I felt lighter and brighter, giddy with joy.

Like most features, it began well. There were no particular signs that this one would turn toxic. As with pregnancy, there was joy and excitement. I was genuinely looking forward to writing it, as it was an idea I’d pitched myself and I had several leads ready to go.

It was about the halfway point that things changed. I got led astray by a new contact, lost my direction and ended up with a couple of useless quotes and a case study I hadn’t counted on. At which point, I put my hands over my eyes and prayed the whole mess would go away.

It didn’t, of course. The deadline passed, I was still looking for an interview to save it, hoping for a miracle. Nothing happened. So I turned to a trusted source, one who knew what I needed, one who would give me some solid foundations on which to balance a structure that was looking decidedly wobbly.

As I sat down to write it today, I felt sick. I’d left it until the last possible moment, waiting for The Muse (who, as we’ve discussed before, is beholden to no woman and clearly had a blow-dry appointment this morning). Through sheer persistence, I found an opening, a way in to the story, and from that it flowed. I managed to construct a frame that allowed me to wedge my material into the brief. And it worked.

I have no doubt that every journalist has stories like these, that grow into millstones around their necks. I also have no doubt that most of those stories would involve case studies, the finding of ‘real’ people to fit a niche in the story. One day, when I’m feeling stronger, we’ll talk about case studies a bit more.

But not tonight. Tonight I’m pouring a glass of wine (I know, on a Monday, outrageous!) and toasting the Muse (who is no doubt out dancing and not sitting at home waiting to hear ‘cheers’ from suckers like me) as I wet that story’s head.

And then I’m going to get started on the next one.