WRITER'S FORUM

Writing is Easier than Talking
Wednesday, June 29, 2011

The only difference between talking and writing is for the first you use your tongue and when writing you use your finger. Simply write as if you were telling friends your story. Think tongue - think finger. Write for you. If you were a gifted artist you wouldn’t necessarily paint pictures to sell: You would paint because you like to paint for yourself; your family and friends. Writing is no different.

You do not have to use your own name. You can choose any pen name you wish.

Any story long or short is based on five times ‘W’: Who, When, What, Where and Why. Your story is about you; your background, what inspired you or led to the crossroads and dramas of your life. Who? You. When? Think of your story or bio as a diary. What? What happens? Where? Where these dramas happened. Why? What motivated you through life; your successes, failings, inspirations; your feelings, life’s little and big dramas.

It isn’t essential to start at the beginning. Get the easy bits out of the way first; the dramas you want to get down. The beauty of writing is you can chapter build, not necessarily in order. You can start at the middle; get the reader intrigued in the high dramas of your life. Some authors begin at the end and work back. You can go back to start as and when you chose. For instance; I could write about the dramas I experienced as a seaman. I could then go back to my childhood and what inspired my seagoing career.

Ignore writer’s block. Just begin to write even if it is nonsense. You can always re-write it later. Writing it like pausing at the pool’s edge; once you’re in you realise it is fun and you don’t wish to stop. Don't look for perfection; that is futile. The best authors do not so why should you be any different?

Keep trivia to a minimum; it is filler only. No one wishes to read small talk between two ladies strolling through a park; unless it is jaw-dropping gossip.

If your story might embarrass others then change their names; disguise the situations.

Feelings do matter; express them. Readers want to empathise; they will imagine how they would have handled your situation. They will laugh with you, weep with you. Writing is truly liberating; you can write about situations that you might find difficult to talk about.

An author photograph or other photographs help the reader to identify better with the storyline.

Don’t worry about lousy spelling and syntax, grammar, flow and flair. Writing to retail standards is a gift, which few people have. Even Jeffrey Archer employs a ghost-writer. 40 percent of all books are ghosted; 80 percent of celebrity bios. Just tell it your way as if you were writing to a friend who really wants to know. I do that bit for you. Books are rejected by publishers not because of poor storylines but because it is not up to retail standards.

Your ghost re-writes it; corrects; edits, lengthens, shortens, adds flair, character and gives it that essential page-turning formula until you are both happy.

Size is not important. A story or biography does not have to be paperback size (80,000) words. There are some beautiful short stories and mini-bios of around 20,000 words. Most famous writers started by writing short stories but they must be interesting and must have a beginning and end.

It isn’t essential that your book is written for publication. Take it one step at a time. Even if it is not publishable or you don’t wish it to be. It is a record of your life or your story. It has been set down for posterity. The publishing option can come later. You can even post it on the internet free of charge.

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Are There Skeletons in Your Cupboard
Sunday, June 26, 2011

You are rummaging through the attic of your home that has belonged to the family for generations. Imagine the excitement let alone fascination of finding a written account of a family member’s life in the 18^th Century?

Many of your forebears will have led interesting lives. They may have been servants in grand houses. We can presume that some knew hard times as farm workers. Others will have been sailors who visited new worlds; perhaps fought in great sea battles. Others will have undoubtedly been soldiers or otherwise served the Empire. Is there a murderer in there somewhere; a family member who was transported or executed for stealing a little corn? Their lives were far different from our own and would prove enthralling: We can only reflect on how those stories may have read had they taken the trouble to set them down.

Writing wasn’t easy back then. Few could do so and it is unlikely they had the time. Back in the 18^th, 19^th and 20^th centuries people worked hard from dawn to dusk. Publishing life stories was exclusively for the rich. Perhaps people back then didn’t think of their lives being of particular interest and it is unlikely they were attention-grabbing to their contemporaries. But our lives, which we might think boring, are fascinating glimpses into the past for future generations.

I never regarded my own life as being anything special but my son is absolutely amazed at my accounts of postwar British and Irish austerity: ‘Ration books, dad?’ Then there was my world travels as a young seaman for it was a far different world back in the early sixties. To him I must be like a Crimea War veteran; there has been so much change in fashion, entertainment, technology, travel, lifestyle, education, conflicts, and global shifts. There has been more change in my lifetime than through all of Queen Victoria’s reign.

Why don’t you set your own story down? Size in this case doesn’t matter: It doesn’t have to be a 100,000 word blockbuster. A 20 – 30,000 word biography will likely be perfect. This is not as formidable as you might think, especially when you follow the tips in my next blog. This small article you are reading now is over 500 words long. You will be using words to paint a picture of your life and those whose lives have made such an impact on your own.

There’s no excuse for not doing so. Many of your forebears couldn’t write; they didn’t have free time and were unlikely to have a typewriter. How much easier it is for you: All you need do is sit at your PC keyboard and let your heart do the typing. Furthermore, once written it will be available for all time and will be read many years ahead, even centuries after you have passed this way.

Someone in the 22^nd or 23^rd centuries is pleading with you to reveal all. Will you disappoint them? As I say, watch out for the tips that will follow in a day or so. – Michael.

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Poetry Pays
Saturday, June 25, 2011

I have no way of checking but recall reading that the third most popular subject sought online is poetry related. This suggests one of two things. Statistics can be whatever you wish or people have turned to online poetry in the belief that there alone one finds real poetry. By this I mean poetry as a separate art form rather than the fashionable ‘nonsense’ which, like modern art, tends to leave people scratching their heads.

Does poetry pay? Is there a market for poetry? I think so but words come cheap, specially the words of poets. If fame beckons you can be sure it will come after you are kicking up the daisies. Therapeutically I turned to poetry during a time of personal upheaval and how my pen flew. Poetry became my passion.

I wrote about real people just as an artist sketches from life. Before long people were asking for copies. One enterprising rogue was actually selling copies of my poetry claiming it as his own. I was later introduced to another poet and shown his work; it was mine.

Knowing something about small press publishing I thought I might as well self-publish and see what I could achieve. This was at a time when the Writer’s and Artist’s Yearbook was advising against printing more than 500 copies of poetry collections as ‘poetry isn’t popular.’

As there was little price difference between printing 500 or 1,000 copies I stuck my neck out and ordered 1,000 copies of my first anthology. Within weeks I had completely sold out and it was suggested I publish a second collection. Bursting with confidence I published 2,000 copies of Believin' of Liverpool. They sold so quickly that I limited sales. I had no wish to sell out and print another 2,000.

This probably sounds like madness but each booklet was priced at a reasonable £1.95. After publishing costs and a third mark-up for booksellers I was making only about 75p a copy; add postage and it seemed everyone was profiting except me. But, it was great for the ego. It showed also that real poetry remains popular and so in that respect poetry paid off for me. Here are three of my favourites from the several hundred composed.

Ma Vourneen

When time and distance separate us,

Then you will find the spirit of our togetherness,

In a glass of wine.

My darling; Make it a long stemmed glass,

To remind you that even the minute apart is the longest one.

Fill it to its very brim to symbolize the fullness that you bring to my heart;

Sip it gently, and often, that you may know that each slight touch or glance is a kiss from you.

And most of all; let its spirit warm you as yours has warmed me.

Raise the glass and salute both the past and the future that link us;

But most of all, toast the emptiness that lies between,

Without which there could be no anticipation.

And if the spirit of the glass brings warmth, peace and joy to the inner you,

Then you will understand what you have brought to me.

Let the shimmer of the wine’s sparkle on your lips,

Hint at desire;

The coolness of the chilled bottle the long ago.

The chuckle of its pour, the future.

But most of all may it, as it becomes part of you,

Remind you that you are a part of me.

(Ma vourneen is Gaelic for My Darling)

The Cattle in the Lea

The summer air was heavy on the meadow by the stream,

Where cattle flick their tails - I wonder,

What do cattle dream?

They dream of neither morning nor of evening yet to come;

They dwell upon the moment, not the future yet unspun.

Upon the now, not after; of neither when nor where,

Beneath the ancient oak tree in the still of summer's air.

A Tall Ship

I saw a tall ship sailing by,

I wept inside, I knew not why,

The spirit of the wind should breathe,

To bring my broken heart to grieve,

For distant shores, a warmer clime,

A place where bougainvillea climb.

I saw a tall ship sailing by,

Its masts were waving to the sky,

And as a compass needle's drawn,

I felt my soul was being borne,

Across the seas, across the waves,

Where sailor men cross sailor graves.

I saw a tall ship sailing by,

It flew so fast the foam would fly,

And as it stood upon the beam,

I wished myself aboard to dream,

Upon the tall ship sailing by,

To seek a place where I might die.

Michael Walsh 2000

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Recognise a Bargain When You See One
Saturday, June 18, 2011

Writers occasionally ask why my fees change from anywhere between €15 and €35 per 1,000 words: It is called supply and demand. If as occasionally happens journalism is keeping me busy I am not too enthusiastic about taking on more work. As ghost-writing is not something you can sub-contract out I can either say, ‘thanks but no thanks’, or I can put my fees up.

Right now a change in circumstances means I have more free time and I am open to €15 per 1,000 words. The savings are considerable. On a 50,000 word manuscript it is a saving of €1,000.

I cannot put a date on prices going up; this will happen as soon as circumstances change again. If you have been mulling it over but have yet to take the plunge this may be the time for you to go for it.

SPOT THE DIFFERENCE

Don’t make the mistake of looking a gift horse in the mouth. My fee for two chapters; a synopsis and essential publishers letter of introduction is approximately €250 at my present rate. A commercial ghost-writing company like www.ghostwritingcompany.co.uk charge (click ‘fees’) £1,500.

I always invite enquirers to shop around first; ask for prices, testimonials, and examples of work done. If you use other ghost-writing companies or freelances you will find that a small 60,000 word novel costs between £4,000 and £8,000. My fee would be €900 at 15 Euros per 1,000 words or 1,500 Euros at €25 per 1,000 words.

IF YOU ARE A SERIOUS WRITER

Remember, the chances of a book being considered, let alone published or reviewed is remote. Even professional writers can find it difficult to have their book accepted so what chance the novice?

If you plan to sell your novel or biography as an e-book potential readers will peruse sample chapters and reviews. If it isn’t written to retail standards it simply will not appeal to buyers. All those hours you spent writing your blockbuster will be nothing other than therapeutic; now that isn’t much value for money.

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Make €8,700 + Selling Your Experience
Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Glancing through the classifieds or browsing the internet one finds books revealing ‘how to’ trade secrets. These will make you richer; improve your health or lifestyle. Only fools are sceptical about such claims. Imagine the money you would save if you could take an expert with you to the home, car or boat auctions. Think of the added value to your break on the Costas if you had with you an expat guide who knew the ropes; travel, trips, and watering holes.

You are starting a business. Can you think of a better adviser than someone with decades of experience prepared to patiently show you how to avoid pitfalls and make it profitable more quickly? Weight loss, giving up smoking; dealing with addiction, gardening, pet ownership, beauty tips, dealing with autistic children; the list of ‘how to’ opportunity booklets is endless.

Our Experiences Help Others

Most of us have acquired knowledge that to others is invaluable. The experience between your ears is worth thousands of Euros to beginners. You can supply a need whilst making money from your skills. Some are selling hundreds, thousands of books at anything between €4.95 and €19.95; books which cost them just €2 each or less to publish and market. You don’t need a ‘how to’ book on accountancy to work out the profits.

The Economics are Simple

Let’s take a booklet entitled The Business Booster. It is a 32-page booklet of 20,000 words. The Business Booster was compiled by a successful business man. It reveals tricks of the trade that will save the reader / buyer tens of thousands of pounds; truthfully.

The booklet took the author one month to write using his PC. Whatever his business skills he is not a professional marketing writer. He places his finished work with a ghost-writer and gets a bill for €400. The printing and publishing cost for 1,000 copies is likely to be around €700 or less: It is a competitive trade. Prices drop remarkably if 2,000 or more copies are printed. The ghost-writer’s fee is a one-off.

Make €8,700 per 1,000 Booklets

When the boxes containing his (or hers) 1,000 books arrives the investment will have been a maximum of say €1,250. The books are sold at €6.95 - €9.95each. You advertise them online free of charge, set up your own website, free or low cost classifieds, etc. You make €5.70 - €8.70 for each book you sell. Every book you sell after your first 125 copies is clear profit. Are you still sceptical?

Those less doubtful are passing on their skills to those who value good advice and mentoring. You will find their ‘how to’ booklets in your local classifieds. Why isn’t your booklet there too? Those already doing so also earn a steady extra income for a very modest outlay. I can recommend budget-price book printers. My clients receive free marketing advice; a sales sheet synopsis and a Press Release. www.michaelwalsh.es

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Why Not Suck and See
Monday, June 13, 2011

A potential client’s concerns suggested to me that his problem might be commonplace. He could stretch to the ghost-writer’s fee but didn’t fancy hawking his masterpiece around ‘unsympathetic publishers’ and risking his outlay. It was a fair point.

Every time someone puts pen to paper it’s a gamble. This includes famous name authors. Writing is an act of faith but thanks to the internet; e-books now outsell conventional books. It has never been easier for new authors to be published. The market is massive and is now worldwide. There is also potential for spin-offs such as your book providing source material for documentaries or better. One of my clients is looking for television dramatists; another has signed a contract with a movie producer.

PUBLISHING IS EASIER TODAY

Things have improved immensely for aspiring authors. Today, instead of the enormous cost and effort in compiling weighty sheaves of manuscript; synopsis and specimen chapters to expensively post, authors use the internet to identify and approach publishers. If your book is marketed online there is outlay but effortless sales and financial returns are far better than the miserly 10% offered to authors by conventional publishers. Tens of thousands of people are now making a good living by selling their books, advice paperbacks, potted biographies online. A book that sells at €9.95 may have cost as little as €2 to publish.

Publicity for your book is important. A good ghost will provide an introductory letter and synopsis for potential publishers and publisher’s agents. These can be printed and used endlessly as can the publicity review for newspapers.

WHY GO ALL THE WAY

You don’t have to go all the way. Let me suggest an idea by which you can test your book’s potential. Why not place your finished work with your ghost with instruction that he work only on the first and a random chapter? This is all a potential publisher wishes to see before making a decision. In this way you pay for example 10,000 words plus €40 one-off fee for the introduction, synopsis and publisher / book agent’s letter. Your risk is reduced by as much as 90 percent.

While your ghost is getting on with it you can spend your time drawing up a list of potential publishers and book agents e-mail addresses. When your e-package arrives from your ghost you can then start your mailing. Hopefully a publisher will show an interest and at that point is unlikely to mind waiting whilst the rest of your book is ghosted. By doing it this way you reduce the risk of total outlay investment whilst at the same time achieving what the full length fully committed MSS author has always been able to do. In effect you have committed only effort and a few hundred euros. Check out www.michaelwalsh.es.

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How Much Does a Ghost Cost
Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Unless you are a professional writer your copy will need to be re-written to publishable standards; if it is not it will go straight in the bin. It’s the real world; sorry. Horrified at mistakes in a concert organiser’s press release I offered to tidy up their next one. My kindness was accepted. Before long my free input was selling an extra one hundred €20 tickets every month, which was clear profit. Not surprisingly they were thrilled and I was now being asked to write several press releases each week. I mutinied and suggested they pay me €250 a month, which they declined. That business today is no longer viable. It is called spoiling a ship for a ha’porth of tar. No wonder many businesses fail.

A good copywriter / ghost-writer will increase sales of products, services and books. A professional writer will spend 2 – 3 hours on each 1,000 words titivating and correcting your work until you are so pleased you write as did this author: “I never really thought it possible for anyone to bring to life my biography as you have done. I don’t exaggerate when I say you far exceeded my expectations.”

At just €20 per 1,000 words that is value for money. I invite all who contact me to browse ghost-writing companies; I am confident that I cannot be beaten on price or quality. Typically, the ghost-writing company of London charges £120 per 1,000 words. I contacted a professional ghost-writer to ask his opinion. He wrote to say my fees were far too low. I was undermining the market.

Lesson learned; I will increase my prices when I have an office, sub-contract staff; overheads, and work is coming in faster than I can handle it. If in the meantime you can get yours professionally ghost-written for €20 per 1,000 words don’t look a gift horse in the mouth; you have a bargain.

The copywriter or ghost-writer’s fees are returnable because they increase sales. Companies with products and services to sell; household name authors like Jeffrey Archer, employ copywriters and co-authors. A well written book will have an enhanced cover price so the author’s investment in a co-author is returned.

Note: A complete list of testimonials is available on request. Write to Mike at quite_write@yahoo co.uk or visit www.michaelwalsh.es

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Have You Ever Seen a Ghost
Saturday, June 4, 2011

Ghost-writers, sometimes known as co-authors, are privileged to share the experiences of others. They do so with an understanding that is often emotionally draining. To express the writer’s feelings I put myself into the same situation, to in effect become the first person.

An author’s experiences as a young boy, after being sentenced to over four years in an Irish corrective institute run by the so-called Christian Brothers, was harrowing to the extreme. There were several times when his appalling experiences, whilst being re-written, were so distressing that I had to take a break to recover from the emotional turmoil. He later told me that I had written the perfect reflection of his own feelings.

Another biography told the story of a young German boy who was born in the wrong place at the wrong time; Hamburg, 1938. His father, an officer in the Wehrmacht, was captured on the Eastern Front. The account of his return home after many years in the Soviet gulag was heart-wrenching. Indeed the book was a chronicle of triumph over adversity. Dieter’s story provides a fascinating glimpse of a terrible period, war and occupation, through a child’s perspective.

One of the most nail-biting biographies I ever worked on was that of a young woman who married a man old enough to be her father. The marriage in itself was fine but her husband was inappropriately attracted to children. The mother had to keep one step ahead of the social services to keep her children safe from the possibility of being taken into care. Like father like son; to cap it all her stepson was later convicted of paedophilia.

The biggest ‘fictional’ biography I ever worked on was double the average paperback size but what a story. I can honestly say that for nail-biting emotionally draining drama it has no equal. The author's finished book has already attracted the interest of an internationally acclaimed Argentinean movie producer based in Hollywood.

I recall a writer who pushed several hundred Euros at me with the instruction that I just get on with his book and that was before I had even seen it. I refused until I had checked it out. It was in fact a wonderful story. Another client was an Iranian artist of rather Bohemian lifestyle who to my surprise had no wish for me to ghost-write her book; just editing was fine. Otherwise I edit, add flair and substance to all written content but give me a good book anytime. www.michaelwalsh.es

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Could You be a Paige Turner
Friday, June 3, 2011

Paige Turner would make a wonderful name for a novelist. The choice of character and pen names is important when writing. English literature has been enriched by such persons as Scrooge and Oliver Twist. Anything from humour to pathos can be created with a name so do choose carefully to avoid the following real life disasters.

Imagine being named Justin Case. If you think that is bad what about Stan Still. Now retired, Stan says, “My name has been ‘a blooming millstone around my neck. When I was in the RAF the CO used to shout: ‘Stan Still Get a move on‘. Then he would fall about laughing.”

He isn’t alone. Being called Terry Bull is no laughing matter. What about Mary Christmas or Anna Sasin? Or imagine having to introduce yourself as Hazel Nutt and then wait for the reaction. Rose Bush actually loved her name but other unfortunates probably didn’t. These might include, Jo King, Priti Manek, Pearl Button, Annette Curtain and Bill Board. He shouldn’t complain. Albert Hall might have been a little more considerate when naming his son Jim Hall but Jo King is quite happy with hers. Then there is also the unfortunately named Jenny Taylor and Daisy Picking.

Often names have a strange way of identifying not just a person but the trade they follow. Les Flack is a San Francisco dentist. Susan Frame who qualified as a lawyer married a banker named Robert Mee. So now she is known as Sue Mee and he is known as Rob Mee.

The students’ union president at London’s Imperial College once decided to do his bit for charity by changing his name to Sydney Harbour-Bridge. The deal was that he must keep it for 12-months. He found it such an advantage that he kept it. At the turn of the last century it was common to name girls after flowers. This led to much teasing for three sisters. Their names were Ivy, Daisy and Rose. Fine, but their family name was Roots. It could be worse. What about Dawn Hobbs (think about it). One you don’t have to think about was Penny Bunn. Yes, character or author names can help – or destroy a book.

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