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Tag: getting unstuck

How a Writer Turned a Rejected Modern Love Pitch into 3 Published Articles

When you really, really want to write for a blog, magazine or newspaper, you put in serious effort to make your pitch stand out. You study the content, you align your writing with their style, and you polish your submission until it’s perfect.

And yet sometimes, your submission still gets rejected. And it sucks.

After receiving rejections, I’ve winced, cried, deleted entire pieces and fallen victim to writer’s block. And then one day, I received the kind yet firm “no” that pushed me over the edge.

Rejection: A case study

Long a reader of the New York Times’ Modern Love column, I dreamed of submitting my own story, but knew it needed something special to stand out. Then Hurricane Sandy happened.

As my fireman husband saved our neighborhood, I hunkered down as first responder to our one-year-old, alternating between worrying for his safety and ours. What relationship story could compare? I knew this was it. This was my Modern Love piece. It wasn’t — but the editor was very nice about it.

Rather than letting the rejection ruin my day, I decided to change my outlook and strategy to fire myself up. Here’s how I turn every rejection into my next accepted pitch.

[bctt tweet=”.@dawnturzio turns every rejection into her next accepted pitch. You can, too.”]

Let yourself be mad

Acknowledge your emotions. It’s disappointing when the piece you poured your energy into doesn’t live up to an editor’s standards!

You’re not likely to do your best work while you’re focused on your shortcomings. Take a break to go for a walk or squeeze a stress ball until it no longer takes on a round shape. Whatever activity helps you move forward, don’t start working again until you’re able to focus on your writing again without as much emotion.

Find other potential outlets

Once you’re able to look at your piece again, reread it and brainstorm a list of markets that publish similar content. You already know who doesn’t want it, so investigate other options — and look beyond your usual contacts. Usually stick to print? Add a few blogs to your list. If you’re all about online writing, why not aim for a newsstand glossy? If you normally stick to U.S. publications, try an international magazine.

This list, your starting point for the reject’s rebirth, is also a great resource for future submissions.

Figure out what makes your story stand out

Take a fluorescent marker and highlight parts of your piece that make it unique. Ask yourself, “What makes my piece different? How is this a story only I could write?”

If you are telling a traditional love story, for example, there needs to be a point of entry that sets your tale apart from the others. In my case, being the wife of a firefighter who is obligated to work during catastrophes was unique in comparison to other stories of Hurricane Sandy, which gave me a leg up when submitting.

Know your audience

As you revise your work, consider who will be reading it. Can you convey your story in such a way that it reaches more than one demographic?

When I realized I wasn’t descriptive enough while explaining my husband’s role as a rescue fireman during Hurricane Sandy, I added that he also responded to the airplane crash in the Hudson River in New York City in 2009. While this addition increased the tension in the essay, it also broadened my audience from the targeted female readership to also include men and other first responders — making it more salable.

When you tell a story that spans several demographics, you’re better able to sell a clip to multiple markets, so long as you retain copyright and are careful with giving exclusivity to publications interested in your work.

Toss the rejected query

Get rid of the query letter you sent with your original submission: the one that kindly asks the editor to consider your idea. In its place, create a new one that contains an action-packed paragraphor an innovative tip that simply cannot be ignored.

Construct your query to read as clearly and concisely as the completed work you’ll be presenting, and you’ll start to see results. For example, that once-rejected essay of mine was later picked up by a popular relationship website, MSN Living, and a professional magazine for firefighters — and this last one even ran it as the cover story.

When you inevitably find your piece in an editor’s rejection pile, don’t throw in the towel. Get back to work and turn that reject into your next published piece.

How have you dealt with rejection as a writer?

July 14, 2014
How Writers Can Use Meditation to Build Focus and Productivity

When you think of meditation, what comes to mind? A yoga studio? Cheesy new age music?

How about increased productivity and better writing?

It’s true: meditation is scientifically proven to improve concentration, which can help you keep writing.

Willpower: your secret weapon

You sit down at your desk, ready to start writing. Perhaps you’ve even armed yourself with some fancy new apps to help you concentrate or keep you organized. Nothing can stop you now!

Or can it? You blocked Facebook on your computer, but can you cheat with your smart phone? Perhaps you should grab a snack before you start writing or brew another cup of coffee. Before you know it, you’ve lost an hour of your day. Again.

While tools and apps are helpful, in the end, willpower is what matters — and it’s the very thing many of us seem to lack.

That’s because willpower is a finite resource. The more you spend keeping your hand out of the candy dish or staying calm on the phone with the cable company, the less you have left over to help you hit your writing goals, says Dr. Kelly McGonigal. The Stanford University psychologist released a book, The Willpower Instinct, based on her popular course “The Science of Willpower.”

But can you actually increase your baseline supply of willpower? The answer is yes, and meditation is one of the best and easiest ways to do it.

Meet your prefrontal cortex: home of the willpower you need to be productive

The prefrontal cortex is the part of your brain right behind your forehead — the area you smack when you do something silly. As it turns out, there may be a good reason for this: the prefrontal cortex controls executive function, otherwise known as the power to connect your actions with their future consequences. That includes resisting temptation and working toward a previously-defined goal — like finishing that first draft.

In short, the prefrontal cortex makes sure you’re doing the right thing, even when the right thing is hard to do.

How does meditation fit into all this? Here’s the thing: meditation actually increases the gray matter in your prefrontal cortex. That’s right, meditation will strengthen your self-control, just like regular exercise will strengthen your heart.

Think you’re “bad” at meditation because your mind always wanders? That’s okay. In fact, it’s more than okay. As Dr. Kelly McGonigal writes, “being ‘bad’ at meditation is exactly what makes the practice effective.” The act of reining your focus back in gives your prefrontal cortex the workout it needs.

Here’s a challenge worth accepting: take just five minutes each day to meditate before you start writing. Record your progress toward your writing goals over the course of a week, including how many times you succumbed to tiny distractions like checking email or Facebook.

New to meditation? Here are five easy steps to get you started:

1.   Get comfortable. Find a position you can maintain for five minutes without getting sore or losing circulation.

2.   Set a timer for five minutes and close your eyes.

3.   Bring your attention to your breath. Say the words “inhale” and “exhale” in your mind as you take each breath.

4.   As other thoughts begin to invade (and they will), calmly return to thinking about your breath. The key is to remain objective as you notice the distraction and refocus.

5.   If you get tired of saying “inhale” and “exhale” to yourself over and over, try focusing on your breathing through what yogis call the three-part breath: first, fill your belly and lower abdomen with air. Then, on the next breath, fill your chest as well. Focus on the sensation of your ribs expanding. Finally, feel your collarbone and shoulders lift as your whole torso fills with the third breath. Repeat to your heart’s content.

Ready to try a longer practice? Try the guided meditation exercise available as an mp3 on McGonigal’s website.

You may feel discouraged if — or, more realistically, when — you still find yourself distracted and off-task despite your daily meditation. Try to take the long view. After all, you wouldn’t expect overnight success if you decided to lose 10 pounds and train for a 5k after not having exercised all winter. Your brain, like the rest of your body, needs time to get into shape.

Daily meditation won’t work miracles, but it will hone your focus and willpower, which is exactly what you need to hit your word count goals.

Do you meditate? How do you find it affects your writing?

April 30, 2014
How Passion Can Make or Break Your Writing Career
If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you likely fall into one of these two categories:
1. You’re passionate about writing and want to learn as much as you can about the industry
2. You think writing sounds like a great way to make easy money from home, and you want in on the riches
People from one of these groups are likely to build solid writing careers, while those from the other group are inevitably going to crash and burn. Pretty obvious, isn’t it?

Using passion is crucial to fuel your writing career. If you’re 100 percent committed to writing for a living, you stand a better chance of succeeding than if you’re just in it for the money.

If you’re not sure whether you love writing enough to make a serious go at it, it’s time for a gut check.

Why passion is important

Passion is the driving force to success.

In a technology forum at BYU, Mark Zuckerberg said:

“I think it’s important if you’re going to take on any big challenge, that you just love and really have faith in what you’re doing. That I think is the most important advice I would say, more than any specific technical thing about how to build a company.”

Billionaire Warren Buffett also said, “You have to love something to do well at it.”

And what about Steve Jobs? He said, “People with passion can change the world for the better.”

These insanely successful people have one thing in common: they all believed in themselves and had a passion for what they did.

Here’s why passion will help you succeed:
- You’ll put in the hours to learn the craft.
- You’ll be energized to work towards your big writing dreams.
- You’ll keep writing even when you don’t see results.
To use your passion to your biggest advantage, make sure you do these two things:

Continue learning. No writer’s talents ever peak. Keep learning and keep improving.

Share your passion with the world. Publish a blog post. Self-publish a poetry collection. Submit your novel to publishers. Whatever project it is, share it with others.

How to find your writing passion

Simply being passionate about writing doesn’t always guarantee success; you also have to have a passion for what you’re writing about.

Explore your passions and you’ll be driving yourself toward success:
- Look at your current passions and hobbies. Can you write about those?
- Test drive different subjects and decide which ones you enjoy writing about.
- Create meaningful goals to help you on your journey.
- Try different types of writing (poetry, fiction, blogging, etc.) to get a better idea of what type of writing you enjoy.
- Write for 15 minutes a day about anything. You’ll begin gravitating toward the things you love most.
- Step away from your computer and start trying new things.
For a more in-depth exploration of your writing passion, check out Barrie Davenport’s post on “6 Key Steps to Finding Your Passion as a Writer” at Write to Done.

How has passion helped you succeed as a writer?
March 26, 2014
3 Steps for Creating Meaningful Goals That Will Help You Make Progress as a Writer

Have you found yourself feeling rudderless with your writing?

Maybe you’re writing and even publishing regularly but don’t seem to be moving toward any specific destination. Or maybe you can’t even find the motivation to sit down at your desk for more than an hour.

There’s a good chance you feel this way for a specific reason: because you don’t have a clear goal for your writing career.

When you have an overarching goal you know:

+ Where to pitch

+ What to write about

+ What types of articles you want to write

+ Where you want to publish

+ Whether you want to write short or long form

So what’s the best way to create goals that will help you produce work you’re proud of?

Here are three steps that will help you create clear goals and accomplish the things that really matter.

Step 1: Identify your big picture

This goes beyond setting goals for individual projects and instead spans all parts of your writing life, from pitching to craft to the business side.

It also means identifying your WHYs. Are you writing to present yourself as an expert in a particular area? Do you want to support yourself through your fiction writing? Or maybe you plan on strategically guest posting to bring an audience to your website who will buy your books or other products?

Brainstorm all the things you’d love to see yourself accomplishing as a writer. Once you’ve got your ideas down on paper, streamline those thoughts by writing in one sentence that encompasses your overall objective for writing.

For example, here’s my overarching objective:

I want to build a writing and education business that empowers and inspires people to express themselves creatively while allowing me to work where I want.

Step 2: Outline the steps you must take to accomplish your objective

Each big picture requires a different set of tasks. And each short-term goal will flow naturally from your big picture goal.

In my case, if I want people to see me as someone who can help them write books, memoirs and short stories, I must show I know what I’m doing. So I regularly write, pitch and publish articles about how people can move forward at all stages of the writing process.

I also want to make sure my clients know that my writing expertise is hard won through personal experience. Thus, I continue to write my own books and fiction that I share with my clients and audience.

As for where and what I pitch, I focus on writing for an audience interested in the information I offer.

Step 3: Set benchmarks to create accountability and assess forward movement

Create specific dates by which you want to reach each short-term goal. It may initially feel strange and groundless to set deadlines when you’re unsure of how long things should take. Do it anyway. You can always go back and edit. In fact, you should regularly edit and tweak your goals as you gain expertise and knowledge. (Click to tweet this idea).

Also set specific monetary goals that you want to reach by certain deadlines. If you’re looking to make money via guest posting, decide how many articles you want to publish and how much you want to make over the next six months.

Remember, you can make money when paid directly for your writing, but don’t discount guest blogging as a form of marketing to sell products and services on your own website.

If you want another example, take a look at how I break down my objective into specific goals, tasks and benchmarks.

Making room for change

When it comes to setting and sticking to goals, remember: change is a normal part of this process. After all, you’re not going to be able to predict every possibility and option when you first sit down to create your goals.

You should regularly review your objectives and goals to make sure you haven’t outgrown them. If something no longer fits your plan, change it. It’s as simple as that.

The most important element is creating the structure and accountability that supports you and your writing and allows you to grow as a writer and entrepreneur.

What are your goals for your writing? How have they helped you find direction and stay on track?

December 23, 2013
7 Secrets to Writing Stories That Change Lives
When you think of transformation, what images come to mind? Perhaps a caterpillar becoming a butterfly, or a classic rags-to-riches tale.

Transformation can mean a thorough or dramatic change in form or appearance, or a metamorphosis during the life cycle of an animal.

When you instigate transformation through your writing, you’re creating transformational writing. Transformational writing is writing that changes lives.

Think about how your writing can transform lives on the following levels:
- Transform yourself: How will your life be different as a result of your writing?
- Transform your reader: How can you change the life of your reader? What could you say that could positively impact the lives of others?
- Transform your world: How can your book make a significant difference in the world?
The seven secrets of transformational writing

When you write, consider these elements in order to ensure that your work maximizes its potential impact.

1. The secret of meaning

Every word has meaning. Each action or plot twist in your story should also convey some kind of meaning. This isn’t to say that every element has to be some kind of profound life-changing event, but consider the concept of parables and hidden meanings.

Think about ways to add new levels of meaning to your writing. What is your story or book really about on its deepest level? What are the deeper meanings your writing can convey through stories?

2. The secret of legend

Joseph Campbell, author of The Hero with a Thousand Faces, popularized the storytelling concept known as the hero’s journey. Also known as the monomyth or metanarrative, the hero’s journey is a deeply imprinted story template that connects people from diverse cultures throughout history. There are several variations of the hero’s journey, but the basic elements follow the protagonist or hero through a departure, an initiation, and a return.

The departure begins in the hero’s ordinary world with a call to adventure, a refusal of the call, a bit of aid (often supernatural), and the commencement of an adventure. The initiation phase consists of the road of trials, meeting with a mentor, some form of crucifixion, and a resurrection or transformation. The return is where the hero demonstrates mastery of both worlds and brings back the reward. Along the journey the hero may meet various characters including a herald, a mentor, a trickster, a god or goddess, several allies, and of course, some enemies.

There are many variations of the hero’s journey, but if you look closely you will see the template in many popular stories and myths. How can you create a larger-than-life legend in your own writing? Who is your hero?

3. The secret of vision

When visionary filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille headed west to make movies in 1913, California was nothing more than “orange groves and desert” and movies were considered a passing fad. He followed his vision and went on to establish Hollywood as the motion picture capital of the world with over 70 major films to his credit.

Henry Ford said that if he had listened to what the people wanted, he would have created a faster horse. Instead he invented the automobile, something that nobody knew about or wanted until it was created. When John Bunyan wrote Pilgrim’s Progress in 1678, nobody had ever seen a novel before.

What is something new that you could say or create that no one has ever seen before?

4. The secret of showing

One day Buddha silently held up a flower to the assembly of his disciples. One disciple smiled, understanding completely and became enlightened. Words were not needed.

The human brain reacts more to images and stories than it does to explanatory instructions. Think about an early storyteller weaving tales around a fire; perhaps he described how a leopard pounced on his younger brother, who was walking alone along the dark path under the mango tree, and tore him to shreds. Wouldn’t that have more effect than simply telling the audience that leopards can be dangerous animals?

Show, don’t tell. Check out the award-winning film The Artist or watch the short film Nuit Blanche for wonderful examples of visual storytelling.

While writing your book, even if it’s nonfiction, imagine how your stories could be translated into images. How can you make your storytelling more visual and less explanatory?

5. The secret of releasing

Many of my greatest writing successes have come when I wasn’t looking for them. When I was in my second year of law school I began having second thoughts about my future career. Did I really want to become an attorney?

Even though I was still doing well in school while working a full-time government job, I began to wonder whether I had made the right choice. Around that time I received a call out of the blue from a previous publisher who asked me if I could write a book about identity theft.

Realizing that my heart was more into a writing career than practicing law, I accepted the assignment and took a leave of absence from law school. I later returned to graduate school, but this time to earn my Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. I let go of my plans for a legal career and my writing career took off.

This also applies to certain projects after you’ve done everything you can. Sometimes you just need to let go and move on. (Like this idea? Click to tweet it!)

What do you need to release in order to take your writing career to the next level?

6. The secret of silence

What if you spent less time talking about writing and more time writing? What if you listened more than you talked?

Become aware of the still, small voice within. What is the space between your thoughts? Learn to listen to the silence. Take time every day to sit or walk or stand in silence. Whether you call it meditation, silent prayer, or waiting in the stillness, listen for the voice inside you. What does it want you to know?

7. The secret of action

Have you ever known someone who is always talking about what they are going to do someday, but they never take any action?

I’ve met many aspiring writers who spend a lot of time talking about their stories and telling people what they are going to do one of these days. I’ve known others who are always reading books about writing, taking writing workshops, and going to writers groups. But they never get their books written. They often start but never finish. Many never get started.

I’ve done this myself: I recall telling a counselor that I had just checked out half a dozen books on writing from the library and enrolled in a writing class. When he asked me if I had started writing anything yet, I had to tell him no.

Sometimes the smallest actions can yield the greatest results. Sometimes less is more. Rather than getting overwhelmed with thinking and talking about all these major projects that you don’t have time for, take small actions on a consistent basis. Learn to take baby steps. One word at a time. One page at a time. Five minutes at a time. One day at a time.

How can you break your writing into baby steps? What will you write today?

How has writing changed your life? How will you transform the lives of others with your words?

The seven secrets of transformational writing are excerpted from Transformed by Writing: How to Change Your Life and Change the World with the Power of Story.
December 17, 2013