Linda McHenry

Category: Meanderings

  • 3 Reasons to Join a Writer’s Group

    3 Reasons to Join a Writer’s Group

    The older I get, and the longer I write, the more convinced I become that writer’s groups are an essential component of a writer’s life, success, and mental well-being. Why?

    -1- Writer’s groups provide a sense of community, of belonging. Although my professional background has always been in sales and marketing, I have never felt comfortable in large crowds of people (unless I was teaching). Until I walked into my first writer’s meeting in Boston in the late 1980s. There’s nothing that compares to being in a roomful of other creative people. When I’m with other writers, even those I don’t know, I no longer feel just a step out of sync with everyone.

    -2- Writer’s groups offer a wealth of information you can’t get anywhere else. Not only do the members of writer’s groups provide you with objective, factual information about the craft of writing and the publishing world, they share their personal impressions and perceptions. Let’s face it, little about storytelling and writing is set in stone. Everyone has their own likes and dislikes, and preferences. But listening to divergent opinions and insights, and blending the ingredients into a recipe that works for you, is an essential element of growth as a writer.

    -3- Finally, writer’s groups provide inspiration and motivation, propelling you on to accomplish great things. Why? Because they hold you accountable. If you’re a member of a writer’s group, you keep writing. And that’s the most important benefit of all. I don’t care what you write, so long as you write, you’ll get where you need to be.

    The first book I completed was [what I considered] a romance. A couple of mystery publishers agreed. Unfortunately, the romance publishers thought it was more of a mystery. Despite my confusion, and disappointment, I kept writing.Why? Because. It’s just something I do.

    I wrote chapters that never saw daylight. I began writing magazine articles. And a business newspaper column. I wrote short stories. I journaled.

    Eventually, I wrote and published a mystery novel and a non-fiction business book. Then I began writing continuing education (CE) courses in the insurance industry (where I worked my “day” job). Then, I was recruited to write insurance CE textbooks for multiple national CE providers/publishers.

    My goal was always to be a published writer who supports herself with her writing. Be careful what you ask for, kids, because you  just might get it! Seven years ago, I realized my dream, and began making more money than I ever had. I SHOULD have asked to be a published fiction writer who supports herself with her writing and hits the bestseller list over and over…

    Anyway, I now find myself in a position where I whittled my client list down to two, and I spend part of my day writing insurance stuff. I know most people find it boring, but I love it. I spend the rest of my day writing fiction. In fact, right now, I have a fiction novel (the first in a series) on the desks of both an agent and an editor–both of whom I met at a writer’s conference in April!

    Only time will tell if I ever hit the best seller list, but I’m writing. And getting paid for it. And working from home without having to wear makeup, a suit, or–thank God!–pantyhose.

    You can write your own version of what I consider my success story. Please, join a writer’s group. Write. Stick with it. Your hard work will pay off.

    P.S. I’m a member of both the national and regional chapters of the following organizations: Romance Writers of America, Mystery Writers of America, and Sisters in Crime. And here is a link to lots of other writer’s organizations.

     

     

  • What Does Summer Mean to You?

    What Does Summer Mean to You?

    Call me a creature of the sunlight. Like a little kid, I wake up as soon as dawn chases the darkness away in the morning–regardless of what the clock says. Summer is mornings, freshness, new beginnings.

    The vivid colors of the trees, flowers, and sky paint pictures I remember once the winter turns them sodden and blurry. Sometimes I think to snap an actual photo. Usually, I don’t.

    I collect sea shells, herbs for drying, and long walks once life cools down in the evening. I love bare feet, shirts without sleeves, windows thrown open to the wind.

    To me, summer means Freedom.

    What does summer mean to you?

  • Freedom of Expression

    Freedom of Expression

    As a writer, I have always embraced the right to express myself freely, without censorship. That’s one of the best things about being an American and living in this country: each of us has so many freedoms.

    When I write–regardless of whether my creation is a textbook, workshop handout, short story, novel, or blog post–neither you nor anyone else is forced to read it. You can skim it, read it from beginning to end, or skip it entirely because you have the same rights I do. Although I consider your response when I write, I don’t tailor my words to it.

    When speaking, I do try to consider how other people will respond.  I’m not nearly good enough at thinking before I speak,  but I try. I know I have the right to say whatever I want, whenever I want, to whomever I choose.  I also understand that saying something hurtful or nasty actually impedes the goal of communication.

    We all want people to agree with us,  like us, and understand how we think and feel. Finding the right words, proper tone, and best method of delivery is the most effective way to accomplish that goal.

    I believe today’s society would be more agreeable, and less angry and critical, if we thought before we spoke. I wonder what would happen if, for just one day:

    Each of us wrote down what we planned to say before we spoke the words…

    Each of us considered the impact of our opinions before they left our lips…

    We restructured  verbal assaults, replacing them with constructive comments…

    The vituperation and anger I see in the world today is scary. I believe it is propelling us backward rather than forward.

    Why have we forgotten that while we all have the right to express ourselves freely, our rights should not infringe on the rights of others? No wonder so many of us choose the solitary pursuits of reading and writing.

    What are your thoughts about the subject of freedom of expression?

  • Do you know your slang?

    We all know you don’t say certain words in public. Or, God forbid, when your mother is in the same room.

    Slang is defined as informal speech that’s used in a particular setting or environment, or by people in a particular group. When I was in high school, our slang included the terms groovy, batshit, and way out.

    In my current novel, two of the present-day characters have ancestors who lived during Prohibition in the 1920s. Did you know the following terms were coined back then?

    Skid row was originally “skid road,” a place where loggers hauled their goods. During Prohibition, these logging roads became meeting places for boodleggers. (Skidding is a logging term for pulling cut trees out of a forest.)

    Hooch is an abbreviated form of “hoochinoo,” a distilled beverage from Alaska that became popular during the Klondike gold rush. This idiom was used for low-quality liquor, usually whiskey.

    If you had a beef, you had a big problem. If you were given the bum’s rush, you were ejected by force from a drinking establishment. If you had to see a man about a dog, you were explaining in code that you had to leave to go buy bootlegged whiskey. If you were a piker, you were a cheapskate (my father used this term all the time–he was born in 1929).

    Here are some other terms coined during Prohibition that we still use today: babe, beat it, carry a torch, tighten the screws, and on the up and up.

    One other thing I learned about Prohibition is the huge number of synonyms for drunk that were coined nearly 100 years ago, including:

    bleary-eyed, bent, blind, blotto, boiled, boiled as an owl, canned, corked, crocked, four sheets in (or to) the wind, fried, fried to the hat, ginned, half-cocked, half-shot, high, jazzed, lit, loaded, on a toot, ossified, out on the roof, owled, pie-eyed, pickled, plastered, polluted, potted, stinko, soused, stewed, tanked, primed, scrooched, zozzled

    What are some of YOUR favorite slang terms?

  • Why you THINK you’re so much better in the morning … or at night

    Why you THINK you’re so much better in the morning … or at night

    Circadian rhythm: It’s the reason you find yourself full of energy at a particular time of day (or night) and really dragging at another time.

    Biological clock: Your internal timing device; usually a 24-hour clock. Your biological clock produces your circadian rhythm.

    So, what does this have to do with your productivity and whether you’re a morning person or a night owl?

    Well, your circadian rhythm is based partly on DNA and partly on external factors, such as daylight. “Larks” wake up and go to bed early; they tend to find themselves more productive in the morning. “Owls”  rise and hit the sack later, preferring to get their stuff done in the evening or at night.

    But researchers have found that most people hit their peak, creatively speaking, at precisely opposite the time they’re most productive. I, for one, agree with them.

    I’m a morning person. When it comes to balancing my checkbook, editing my writing, or having to use my left brain, I perform much better between 6 a.m. and noon. However, the best ideas I’ve ever had for my writing–and ways to solve plot and character defects–always come in the middle of the night when I wake up to go potty or just after I slip into bed at night.

    How does your circadian rhythm work with respect to your creativity?