Monday, June 29, 2009

Show, Don't Tell!

This blog is about a writer’s life. Mine, in particular.
Today I’m stumbling. Not writer’s block. Social etiquette.
Today I speak for writers one and all!
Have you ever asked your professor how much money he earned last year? How about your favorite grocery clerk? Your clergyman? Doctor, lawyer, Indian chief?
Why, oh why, does everyone want to know how much money a writer makes? Are they planning on writing the next great world-class novel, becoming an agent, or competing in the freelance market? Maybe they just want us to pick up the lunch tab.
They want to know if we are serious writers. When they see us out and about they deduce we're not working and therefore writing must be a hobby. If they don’t see us out and about they assume we’ve become recluses. Does The Shining come to mind?

I think Burton Rascoe, famous for his quotes with good reason, said it best.
“What no wife of a writer can ever understand is that a writer is working when he’s staring out of the window.”

Hard to get paid by the hour for that.

Thank my lucky stars my husband understands. And it can't be easy!

BTW, I shop at Walmart and Neiman Marcus.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

The 'M' Word

OK, guys, chill out! I'm not talking Marriage here. 'M' is for marketing.

But writers protest. 'Not me, I'm an artiste. Marketing is so bourgeois. Boring. Bothersome.'
Move over, ego. Get humble, get real, and get busy!

Everybody has something to sell. Shrinks sell hours with a lick, a promise, and serious pharmaceuticals. Garbage men sell out-of-sight, out-of-mind. Churches sell redemption.
The fact isn't going away. If you're going to succeed you need to sell. The sticky icky part is that you're selling your talent, true or imagined. That annoying little detail quickly rises to the top of the quicksand of procrastination.

I published an article on an extraordinarily successful living artist. An oxymoron at its finest. “Obviously he’s a huge talent," says a collector. "He doesn't hesitate to promote his work"..."in this competitive market you can’t sit around and wait to be discovered." Full article link below.

Is it beyond your comfort zone, this marketing? Probably. Johnny Mathis sings it best in my all-time favorite song, Arianne. '...what a writer has to feel like when suddenly he's discovered he's been read.' To listen to the lyrics see link below.

We are our commodity. Some will embrace our driven souls. Some will scoff. All will know we're up at bat!

My pitch today? I'm tweeting a character interview. Find me on Twitter @ lalacorriere.


http://www.tucsonlifestyle.com/index.php?category=Home%20and%20Garden&ref=HG_RegionalArtisan_Nov07&src=gendocs



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiOEOETObTs