Freelance Writing and Regular Income

If you're like me and all the other freelance (ie, self employed) people I know, you may be a little concerned how you'll maintain a regular income from what is, when all is said and done, an irregular income source.

The best solution, and one which many writers in particular employ, is to create 'multiple income streams,' preferably as 'hands-free' as possible so you can concentrate on the job you enjoy doing, and the internet is one very good place to create and maintain those streams. For one thing, much of the income can be automated, and for another it's a global market, less subject to the waxing and waning of individual countries' economies.

With that in mind, I'd like to introduce you to a new, potentially massive and totally free system for creating at least one income stream that will require the minimum intervention from you once you've registered. Registration takes about thirty seconds, by the way. Furthermore, they even pay you for joining! Okay, so it's only ten dollars, but it's a start.

What it boils down to is advertisers paying you for receiving their ads. In practice, they pay the organisers for access to your mailbox and the organisers pay you for every ad you acknowledge receiving, on a points basis. It's small now, but growing rapidly, and the potential is simply enormous.

It's also a terrific way to build up a swipe file of effective (and ineffective) sales copy - probably the most valuable thing in a copywriter's armoury. Every successful copywriter I know has a swipe file, so thay can literally steal the best ideas and most effective copy to adapt for their own use. If you're serious about copywriting for a living, you should have one too. All you have to do is read the ads that get your attention and print the best of them off to 'swipe' later.

For the swipe file value alone, this is a terrific opportunity. That it can earn you money too makes it a fantastic deal.

And it's free - and they pay you!

Click on this link to sign up: http://www.taketheinternetback.com/index.php?refId=5083

It's one income stream, and you really should have as many as you can to counter the vagaries of a freelancer's income, but let this be the first. Here's the link again: http://www.taketheinternetback.com/index.php?refId=5083

I'll have more to say about swipe files soon.

Roy

Writing Fiction - 3

Getting Published

However good you are, however talented and dedicated you may be, you will only be read once you're published. And you'll only be published if you write what people want to read. And publishers should know - their business depends upon it, and these days publishing is a business like any other.

So, it follows that you should write for the market rather than seeking a market for what you want to write, and that way you'll save a lot of time, effort and heartbreak. Therefore your major task as an ambitious writer is to be a voracious reader, especially of the genres you like to write for but as widely as possible, too. That way, you'll be much more able to write what's in demand and also much better equipped to assess your own writing honestly and objectively in comparison to published work.

Once you've done that, and you've written some stories of your own, you've really no excuse not to start sending them away; releasing your babies into the big bad world to fend for themselves. But you must only send them where you have good reason to believe they'll be welcomed, having read and researched just who publishes what. The biggest publishers of single short stories are women's magazines, so they're often your best bet to start with. You should read their guidelines and all publishers' guidelines carefully - each magazine and publisher will have their own - and don't expect to be the exception to their 'rules', especially as an unknown writer.

Aim to use the type and level of language your target publisher or magazine usually employs, make your story the length they usually publish, keep a copy for yourself and record when and where you send every one - you will forget otherwise.

Then you'll have to be patient, I'm afraid. If your story is 'right' for the place you've sent it, there's a reasonable chance it will be used. If it's almost right, they may tell you what needs changing, but remember they're busy people, working to tight deadlines, so they very probably won't. If they decide don't like your story or can't use it, expect to hear eventually, but it may take up to two or three months.

Meanwhile, divert your mind away from your 'baby' by keeping busy with other writing projects. And reading. Lots of reading.

And if you conclude at this point that you're not ready for publication yet, that doesn't mean you never will be. It doesn't mean you will be the most in-demand writer on the planet one day either, but you can only keep trying!

Roy

PS. Don't forget there's a free ebook available from published author Jacqui Carrel, on all aspects of making money from your writing, and with other products in the pipeline for coming months. Click here to find out more.

The Beatles Directory

I've just added a new branch to the growing network of Well Versed sites. This time, it's a brand-new Beatles Directory, available here.

As you might gather from time to time from my other online activities, The Beatles have been a big part of my life.

Take a look.

Roy

Writing Fiction - 2

Novels or short stories, or...

Well clearly, novels contain a lot more words than short stories, so on that basis alone they should be more difficult and demanding to write. Certainly, we'd expect them to be more time-consuming. It's not necessarily quite so simple, though. Author Michael Legat, who's written both novels and short stories - and much more besides - says that the short story is one of the most difficult forms, not least because it must be precise and concise, and it must impact on the reader much more quickly. Most short stories still need a beginning, a middle and an end, too. And all in a very short space of time.

So, whatever is said about the demands of novel writing will apply almost equally to the short story. And in the end, honing a short story may demand just as much time as writing a novel. That said, some people will polish a novel to the point of obsession, while others will produce short stories at a quite alarming rate. Which situation is much the same, in my experience, as in poetry, but that's for another time.

So, by all means write both, although I'd be tempted to recommend you start with short stories because they are, despite what I've said, usually a bit quicker to write. They're also easier to research in greater numbers so you can assess the market and plan your assault upon it.

Which leads us to getting published, which will form part 3 …

Roy

Writing Fiction - 1

I want to tell you a story…

Once upon a time, in a cold garret at the top of an old house in a quiet street in a grim town, there lived an unknown writer. He didn't mind being unknown because he knew he was a great writer, even if no one else knew yet, nor would know for many years to come, most likely some decades after his death. His death would most likely be the eventual result of starvation, neglect and some lingering romantic wasting disease or other; such was the lot of the great writer.

In your dreams.

Actually, to me that sounds more like a nightmare, but it's still some people's idea of what it takes to be a fiction writer. And it's both right and wrong. Certainly, if you want to spend your days alone in a cold loft that's up to you. You might even produce that great work of fiction that every century seems to demand.

Then again, you might do so whilst relaxing in a comfortable chair in a warm study, or in snatched moments in a library café, or on frequent Transatlantic flights between meetings for that matter. I'd just rather do it in comfort, thanks.

So, you can be a writer too. Almost regardless of your circumstances, if you can find the time and something to write with, and if you have stories to tell or something to say, you can be a fiction writer. Hundreds of thousands of people are and most of them are as unknown as our 'hero' above, and destined (like him, probably) to stay that way. A good number are quite sanguine about that, but maybe you're not, or won't always be...

So, before long you'll be wondering how to get published. We'll assume, for the sake of argument that you can write sufficiently well… But hold on, what have you written? What are you writing now?

More pertinent, what are you reading, and what have you read?

Roy

The New Well Versed Poetry Blog

I've been aware for a little while that the entries on this blog have fallen into two main categories - poetry, and the rest.

With that in mind, I've started a new blog, 'Well Versed Poetry,' linked to my main website, specifically for poetry and related topics.

From now on this blog will be focused more tightly on business writing, copy writing and other ways you might earn money as a writer. The benefit being that you'll know more precisely what to expect when you visit - either here or Well Versed Poetry.

Roy

Poetry Directory

Hello - I'm pressed for time right now, but I wanted to tell you about my new poetry directory. Let me explain:

Those of you who are regular visitors to the Well Versed blog will know that poetry is important to me. Even so, there are only so many hours in a day, and right now my other writing work has to take precedence. Still, I didn't want to leave the poetry realm totally uncatered-for in the Well Versed mini-empire.

So, I've put together a directory of poetry resources, here, which I know you're going to have fun exploring.

Meanwhile, if writing your own poetry appeals to you, you might like a copy of my Beginners' Guide to Writing Poetry. You can get that by emailing me here.

There are other writing resources available from the links to the left, specifically Jacqui Carrel's wonderfully comprehensive ebook on Making Money From Writing. You can also get that here.

If you have problems accessing any of the above, just leave me a message on this blog and I'll do my best to get it to you.

Marketing Yourself

Selling your services is mostly about selling yourself. That means selling the idea that your prospect needs your service in the first place, AND convincing them that you're the best person to provide it.

Let's assume that the service you're trying to sell is marketing-related. You write sales letters, brochures, business to business letters or web copy. You may even specialise in writing small ads.

Your problem is that every prospective client you approach has had his or her fingers burnt by marketing that didn't work. They had a marketing department, but it was so costly they closed it down or reduced it to a bare minimum, or they had a marketing budget that was grossly disproportionate to results.

Not surprisingly, they seriously doubt whether you can do any better, and they certainly don't want to shell out any more silly money for no return on their investment.

Even if they do hire you, they want to beat your price down so it's barely worth your while taking the job. You could try elsewhere, or you could accept minimal fees, 'just this once' in order to gain a client.

Stop.

If your service is worth having, it's worth paying for. If your skills are valuable you should be rewarded accordingly. More to the point for the prospective client, when your marketing actually works, anything they've paid you was an investment, not a cost.

That's the message you must get across when you market your services. Explain to them how the marketing you propose will be at lower cost, even counting your generous fees, because it will bring a higher return. In fact, if you feel confident enough to guarantee it (and you really should be that confident), you can even tell them that the more they pay you, the more return they are guaranteed.

Just don't take on any lame ducks where such returns are really impossible, or any client whose marketing is already top-notch, so that you're unlikely to improve on their results.

Frankly, though, there aren't that many top-notch marketers whose business won't grow by at least several times your fees in the next twelve months, so your guarantee should be safe.

The benefit for you, in 'positioning' terms, is that you can present yourself as exclusive and difficult to access (ie, in demand and desirable), merely because you warn prospective clients that you may have to turn them down.

Sometimes, it's just a question of holding your nerve.

Roy

Synthetic Poetics, or Codes and Couplets

I've just read a couple of amazing essays on the subject of machine-written 'poetry', by a writer and computer programmer calling himself 'Smallnumberofmonkeys.'

You'll quickly grasp the thinking behind his adopted name, I'm sure!

Briefly, it seems it's now possible to define language in terms recognisable to computers and to teach them to manipulate those components into more or less intelligible new phrases, and even lines of poetry.

Rhyme, rhythm, assonance and alliteration are all programmable, along with such ideas as precedence, while context and meaning are perhaps less simple. Nonetheless, some of the remarkable phraseology - stripped of the need for context and meaning - can be highly original and provocative.

While the bare, unmodified poems produced may lack a certain well, human touch, they can be a great springboard for a poet's imagination. And the technology is developing all the time, especially with the development of 'neural' programs, able to recognise dialect, etc.

The essays are packed with useful links to other work going on in the field and to biographical information on some of the other pioneers.

Essay 1 is here,

and 2 is here.

Just imagine what an 'ironed-out' program could do to the careers of professional poets!

Roy

Everyone loves AIDA

In crafting successful sales letters, the abiding principle that just about anyone who's anyone lives and dies by is AIDA.

That is:

Attention
Interest
Desire
Action

For The Love of Aida

It's tough to keep your principles
When groping in the dark
For the magical elixir
But the choice is very stark -
You must follow these directions
Even as you disembark:
Keep clinging onto Aida in the dark.

She's your friend and inspiration,
Experts long ago agreed,
She's your roadmap and your atlas
While you're getting up to speed,
She's the way to find your fortune
Is the copywriter's creed,
So keep clinging onto Aida in the dark.

She will be your friend forever,
She will tickle and amuse,
Smiling faithfully whatever
In the literature you use
And bring customers and buyers
You need hardly ever lose,
So keep clinging onto Aida in the dark…

Dear Aida is a winner,
Quite regardless of your views
So keep clinging onto Aida in the dark.

Roy

So, as I said to the Poet Laureate...

Well, not quite. But it was good to get a reply from the former US poet laureate Robert Pinsky to my comments on Quickmuse the other day.

Not all of the poets have found the time to be quite so forthcoming, but Mr Pinsky, or 'my pal Bob', as I'll now call him, was gracious enough to thank us for our responses to his recent 'agon' on www.quickmuse.com and even to answer my further comments.

With quickblog now underway as well, the Quickmuse site is coming to feel more and more like a community - and one populated what's more by the great and good. Or at least by the famous and talented!

Roy

From Headlines to Deadlines

Here are some more of the basic tips I put together recently, aimed at business people wanting to create compelling sales copy.

Once again, they're just as valid for you as a copywriter who's being paid to write it for them:

Naturally, you will start with an attention-grabbing headline. You have a few seconds at most for this to do its job, so it must strike a chord with your intended audience, by highlighting the main benefit of your product or service, which...

Eases pain

Reduces fear

Saves effort or time

Makes or saves money


And you simply must tell customers what you will do to help them, before you bore them with who you are and how your great-great-grandfather started the firm in his garden shed a hundred years ago...

In other words, benefits first. Always, or you've lost them already...

'You will impress customers with the quality of your service and your products and by the integrity of your dealings with them, not by the excessive verbosity or pomposity of your literature.'

So just say what you mean, and what your customer wants or needs to hear.

What they need to hear, and what you need to tell them, is what benefits they will get if they buy your product or service. Reduce this to its basest level - 'no more back pain' will sell far more than any explanations of how your painkillers or exercise programmes actually work, at least to start with. Some people will be interested or need convincing though, so have the detailed information readily available. Just don't lead with it.

Transfer ownership - that is, use 'you' and 'your' when you talk about your product and its benefits, so your customer can 'see' himself or herself enjoying the benefits rather than vainly aspiring to them - 'As you relax on your luxury yacht,' for example.

Build desire, by listing benefits, emphasising how easily those benefits can be obtained, and as a general rule by not leading with the price. Unless, perhaps, a new lower price for something you know they're already sold on is the main benefit.

Did I mention benefits?

And building desire, by listing benefits and transferring ownership?

Always close with a 'call to action'. Tell them exactly what you want them to do, and make it easy for them to do it.

And deadlines? Make them an offer they'd be crazy to refuse. Having sold them on the idea of buying, offer the product to them at a much lower price than usual, but for a strictly limited period. Or offer bonus items at no extra cost, but only if they order now.

Create urgency and they're more likely to act right away.

And countless studies show that if a 'prospect' doesn't act now they almost never act later and the sale is usually lost. So build on their fear of 'missing out' by repeating the deadline, limited numbers or whatever.

Make it very, very easy to act: a simple click on a website or email or a pre-paid envelope in a direct mail piece, and always offer them a cast iron money-back guarantee - the longer the better.

Whole books have been written about how to write sales copy. In fact probably hundreds of them, so I've barely scratched the surface here, but I hope it's given you a good start - and hopefully whetted your appetite to learn more. Believe me, it's a very lucrative business when you learn to do it well!

Roy

PS. Always include at least one PS which repeats the main benefit(s), repeats the fantastic offer and its urgency, and gives them one final chance to act.

That's really all for now!

Roy

Quickmuse Agon Again

The latest Quickmuse ‘agon’, which took place yesterday, once again featured an unusual stimulus for the poets’ muse, as you’ll see if you log on to http://www.quickmuse.com/.

The poets this time were Glyn Maxwell and Robert Pinsky, both of them previous performers on the site.

As usual, I couldn’t resist writing my own piece, too. You’ll find my poem and the item that we were responding to, here: http://www.quickmuse.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=83&pid=335#pid335

You’ll notice my poem is very different to the two main protagonists’ efforts, as are theirs from each other’s.

Glyn Maxwell’s, especially, is well worth watching unfold in its entirety. See why when you take a look.

Enjoy!

Roy

Searching for a plot?

It's been said, more than once, that there are just seven basic plots which recur throughout the long history of storytelling.

They are: Overcoming the Monster, Rags to Riches, the Quest, Voyage and Return, Comedy, Tragedy, and Rebirth.

It's been suggested, too, that there may be thirty-odd resolutions of these basic plots, but that even the most elaborate Hollywood blockbuster can trace it's lineage back to the earliest stories is readily accepted.

A basic plot, though, can be summarised in a few words. It makes for a very slim volume on its own, so there's clearly a lot more to plotting a book than just selecting a basic plot.

How should you go about it, then?

Assuming you haven't been fortunate enough to stumble upon the eighth basic plot idea, complete with all its ramifications, character developments, romantic asides and suspense-building subplots, you might like to cheat...

There's one way of finding a fully-functioning, ironed-out and bestselling plot for your next novel: borrow it.

Just go to your local second-hand book shop, charity shop or library and buy or borrow a novel, about seven or eight years old, with the legend 'Best-Seller', or similar, on the cover. Note: not 'By best-selling author...' - these are the damp squibs that followed the best-seller, unless you are certain you know otherwise.

Having got your best-seller, read it (of course), then write down the plot in as much detail as necessary. That's all the pertinent points but ignoring setting, era and even characters' genders.

Now, change the era, the genre, the genders, even the species, and anything else not essential for the plot, and write your novel, using the exact same plot.

One of the seven basic plots will describe the essential mechanics, your best-seller's plot will provide the wheels-within-wheels to make it work. Your genius will bring it alive and up to date.

Don't worry. It's been going on since at least the eighth story ever told (after the first seven had been used up). Jaws is just Beowulf, Ziggy Stardust was Icarus revisited, Terminator borrows from The Epic of Gilgamesh etc, etc.

But an eight year old novel (or even 2001, A Space Odyssey), is a far quicker read than, say, Odysseus. Just don't set yours on a spaceship or use any jet-black obelisks - Homer won't sue but Mr Clarke might.

Roy

PS If you're new to writing, or looking for information, tips and resources that will help you make money as a writer, don't forget to take a look at the great new ebook I've been telling you about.

It's absolutely free, along with an ever-growing number of other guides and reports, and it's available here. Just a couple of clicks away; the most comprehensive and comprehensible guide you're likely to find anywhere.

Any problems, email me or leave a message here.

Roy

A Few Notes on Writing For Business

I've put together a few tips for business people to use when writing their own material. It's just as relevant for professional writers who are being paid to do it for them, so here's an extract:

Except in highly specialised fields, language should always be as simple as possible, so long as it conveys meaning accurately and unambiguously.

Don't fall into the trap of 'near enough' synonyms, however - like using 'less' for 'fewer', for example. If in doubt, look it up - some of your customers at least will know if you get it wrong, and they won't be impressed if you do.

Keep punctuation simple. If you're unsure how to use them, avoid colons and semi-colons. Stick to full stops (periods) and commas. Dashes are okay these days, too, but never use a colon and a dash together, like this:- or this : -

Take great care with apostrophes! An apostrophe either indicates possession - David's shoes, for example, or indicates missing letters when a word is shortened or two words are combined and shortened, as in don't, wouldn't, etc. It should never be used for a plural (the famous greengrocers' apostrophe - Apple's 50p, for example).

For a plural possessive, the apostrophe comes after the 's', as with greengrocers' just then (more than one greengrocer, all of them guilty...). There are exceptions though - its, whose, yours, for example. Who's means who is or sometimes who has, it's means it is or it has. Yours is just yours to use as you like.

Sentences should be of varying length and rhythm, with at least some of them short and comma-free. Read your work aloud and see if you need to breathe halfway through a sentence. If you do, break it up. Don't worry about starting sentences with 'and' or 'but' - these actually add urgency and energy.

Keep paragraphs short. Four or five lines are ideal, though you should vary it, as with sentence length. Large blocks of text will intimidate many readers enough to put them off reading your piece at all. Only academics seem to want to plough through yards of unbroken text, though goodness knows why!

Unless you are very good at it, and very sure of your audience, generally avoid humour and never be offensive or insulting. Try to pitch your writing at the readership by reading other (successful) people's literature. Try to work out why some of it works for you and some doesn't, and copy the one that works. Generally, be chatty but not over-familiar and always concentrate on accuracy.

Always use a spellchecker, set to the correct form of English - UK for over here, US for over there, etc.

Oh, and keep exclamation marks to a minimum!

Roy

Poetry Please(s)

I've been indulging myself with a little poetry writing lately, inspired by a superb artist whose blog I stumbled across a couple of weeks ago. Visual art doesn't always stimulate my creative urges, but this artist seems to paint a little like the way I write. Or I see poem ideas in her pictures, anyway.

Have a look for yourself on www.scrambolo.blogspot.com and see what I mean. You'll find a few poems of mine amongst the comments.

Also, I've been writing some 'flash poems' recently. I explain that term, and also describe a few other ways of finding inspiration, including using visual art, in my beginners' guide to writing poetry, a free ebook I'll send you if you just drop me a line by email or leave a message here. Remember I'll need your email address to send it to you.

Meanwhile, here are a couple of my recent 'flashes':

'Undone'

I'm wandering the streets unmade
amongst the puddled mess,
quite unemployed and quite unpaid
and in a state of dress
I wouldn't wish on anyone
except that they were me.
Undressed, unsatisfied, undone:
and lost to history.

It wasn't much to ask of life
that I may make my mark,
but that I must employ a knife
is miserable. Hark!
a Peeler turns the corner there
and I must slip away,
to shadows' quite caressing care,
to cut another day.

'Sea'

I must go down to the sea again
to see if it's still there
to see if the sea can ease this pain
or make me unaware
that my great loss is someone's gain
and I can't help but care.

I must go down to the sea again -
I wonder if I'd dare.

The titles are the trigger words - we can never know where they'll lead us!

Check out that website, though. It may well inspire you, too.

Roy

Some More Thoughts on Ghostwriting

So, you want to be a writer, right? Which probably means you think you've got something to say, something inside you waiting to be created and let loose on a hopefully grateful world.

The problem being, the world doesn't know you yet and doesn't seem that interested in getting to know you or your work. Certainly, no one is throwing bundles of cash in your direction, so how on earth can you make it as a writer, writing for money?

You can keep plugging away, submitting articles and outlines to magazines, publishers and agents. Nothing wrong with that, but meanwhile you're still doing the day job, or worse still, don't have a day job, and you really need this writing lark to start paying, or you'll have to give it up like so many hopeless dreams.

No: you're a writer, so you'll keep going. But there's a quicker way to paid employment as a writer, and one that's perfectly respectable and quite good fun.

It just might mean you have to swallow a little pride, compromise on your dreams for a while, perhaps put the great manuscript to one side for now - and write someone else's masterpiece instead. Or just their article, course or ebook, their company report or even their award acceptance speech.

The point being, it's their words and not yours, but they're not able, for whatever reason to write them for themselves.

They're the ones with the story or the specialist knowledge, the pressing deadline or the contract already signed, and you're the one with the writing talent and the time.

It's a perfect match, and writers around the world make a very respectable living from ghostwriting, but with none of the attendant glory. Rest assured though, publishers, agents, experts and celebrities know the value of a good ghostwriter, and the best of them are paid accordingly.

And once a ghostwriter is charging enough and is efficient enough to only have to work part of the time on other people's work, he or she can devote the rest of their time to their own.

And think about it: wouldn't you rather be writing - almost anything - than the job you're doing now?

Quickmuse and Flash Poetry

It's something of a shock to realise that it's over a week since I posted on here. Even more so to recall how much I intended to do in that time, but still...

I hope you've been able to catch up with Quickmuse and that you've found it as fascinating as I have. If so, leave your comments on the site, but let me know what you think of it as well. I found Andrew Motion's poem more intriguing this time, which surprised me.

Since Motion and Paul Muldoon 'appeared', Quickmuse has already featured another head to head, but with a difference this time in that the poets, Geoffrey Brock and Jonathan Galassi, were set the task of translating a short poem in Italian by Giovanni Pascoli. I'll let you be the judge of how well they did.

You can also judge my efforts here on MoreWriting.

Coming soon, 'Quickblog'!

On the subject of writing poetry quickly, you might be interested to know that 'flash poetry' is one of the techniques I use, especially when inspiration is short but the need to write is still there.

I'll tell you more about that and some of the other methods I use, as well as some more tips and general 'how to do it' advice in my mini guide to writing poetry, which is extracted from the full-length course on the subject that I plan to release soon. If you would like a free copy of the guide, delivered by email in ebook form, email me here, or leave a message right here on my blog.

Remember I'll need your email address to send it to you, but as I say, it's totally free.

Roy.

Narrow Dog to Carcassonne

I just had to tell you about a wonderfully entertaining, erudite and uplifting book I read this summer. The book is not just a story but an education as well. French in fifteen minutes, to be precise. That's after how not to cross the English Channel and what breed of dog you should definitely not take with you if you do.

Read my review here: http://www.morewriting.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=12618

Enjoy!

Roy

Quickmuse - The Big Hitters

I know I keep mentioning this, but today's the day that Paul Muldoon takes on Andrew Motion.

I'm sure they'd play down the pugilistic element of the enterprise, but it should be a fascinating comparison even if it's not really a competition.

Log onto www.quickmuse.com to see what all the fuss is about!

How I Do It! (And how the greats did it) and How You Can Do It Too

As you'll see from previous postings here, although I consider myself quite an all-rounder as a writer, it's poetry that I often find myself coming back to.

With that in mind, I think it's high time I told you about a beginners' guide to writing poetry that I have been busy putting together.

The Guide will be in electronic form (which makes it easy to distribute via email) that's taken me some time to write but will soon be ready for release to the public.

As a taster, meanwhile, I've prepared a smaller but still useful ebook, extracted from the full length course, with lots of useful tips to get you started, with examples from my own work and suggestions for further reading.

In the book I tell you a little about my favorite poets, and why I think you may like them, too.

I suggest ways of beating the dreaded writers' block (if it really exists) and how you can decide what kind of poet you are or want to be.

I give you ideas on how to choose themes and even how to write when you have 'nothing to say'.

I explain some of the terminology of poetry and some of the poem forms you might encounter and those you might attempt yourself.

Who knows, you may be the next Lord Byron, or maybe Simon Armitage or Wendy Cope.

If you would like a copy of the guide, completely free to help you get started, drop me an email, or leave a message here, and I'll send you yours as quickly as I can.

Writing poetry has been one of the most fulfilling and satisfying things I've done in my life. It's helped me to understand and express some of life's less tangible thoughts and feelings, and I love to share it with others.

Now I'd like to share my methods and techniques, and a few of my thoughts and ideas with a new group of people. People who are ready and keen to attempt poetry for themselves, maybe for the first time.

As it's completely free (did I mention that?), you've nothing to lose by emailing me now for your copy.

Roy

Flash Poetry

This one I wrote in response to the work of a fellow poet, Peter Dixon, on the website More Writing. I've edited it slightly here.

I find I'm feeling young, and yet...
the certainties of younger years
I'd preach to any willing ears
have slipped away without the least regret.

But yet our struggle must go on
for open minds and kindly hearts -
how easily the slippage starts.
We'd follow where the certainties have gone

and, grasping for a finger hold,
clutch all the old familiar things -
the prejudice, that crap that clings,
for fear we will know nothing once we're old.

While I'm here, and before I forget, another reminder about an amazingly useful and informative ebook, recently published, on the subject of writing for profit.

It's by a successful and very knowledgable professional writer, Jacqui Carrel, and she's packed it with tips, links and information gleaned from her own experiences and those of her colleagues and associates, backed-up by months of research. It's totally free, and what's more, she'll be following up with a series of newsletters giving yet more advice and up to date information.

Frankly, if you want to write and you'd like to be paid for doing so, you really won't want to miss it. I've read and re-read it, and still I'm learning things I didn't know I didn't know!

Roy

More Writing

Just a quick plug for a very welcoming and encouraging writers' community that has been a real boon to me and to many others.

You'll find my 'Einstein Via Bohr' poem (and a great many more), on my space on the writers' website More Writing , along with the writery efforts of lots of other poets and writers.

Take a look. Join even (it's free).

Also, I had another look at www.quickmuse.com the other day and caught up with the last few rounds. If you haven't had a look, I'd highly recommend it. It's easier for you to visit than for me to describe, but it's basically top poets writing 'live' against the clock.

The site is US-based, so not all the poets are household names in the UK, but next up is a major head-to head - Poet Laureate Andrew Motion will be appearing there on September 20th, paired with Pulitzer Prize winner Paul Muldoon.

Roy

In The Beginning...

...you should be writing. Almost anything: essays, articles, poems, letters, emails. Anything that keeps your creative juices flowing and exercises your writing muscles.

And you should be looking for likely outlets for your talent, investigating markets and writing for them. Seeing what you're good at and what interests you most. Sending proposals, drafts, outlines and completed items to the most likely publications.

In short, you cannot afford to be sitting there (or anywhere) gazing into space and waiting for inspiration or, for that matter, an agent or publisher to come knocking.

Send your stuff to specialist magazines, to free magazines and local directories. They're often strapped for cash and short of 'copy', so you're unlikely to be paid but you are likely to be published.

In the beginning, that's your aim. To be published, to build a portfolio of published work, and to improve your skills. You'll also expand your list of contacts, and 'real' work can come from the unlikeliest sources - you'd be surprised.

Writing is fun and satisfying and sometimes easy and often very difficult, but the world is full of the written word and someone has to create it. If you're a writer, then that's your role.

And mine.

So. Time to write.

Roy

Science Writing for a General Audience (Popular Science)

Have you ever thought about writing popular science articles?

It's quite a skill to be able to turn complex theories and new ideas into accessible and arresting articles for the general public. I'd suggest you need to have either a science-based background or a bright and very enquiring mind. Isaac Asimov and Carl Sagan are excellent examples of the former category, while Bill Bryson might be just as good an exemplar of the second.

Like any skill, it's probably best to start with the simple stuff and work your way upwards, although if you're starting with an outstanding knowledge base, your journey may be in the other direction!

Because sometimes it might even be a disadvantage to be too highly skilled or over-specialised - you might find it really difficult to write at an accessible level. But wherever you come from, and by whatever route you arrive, if you are now a writer and you understand and take interest in scientific subjects, science writing might be just your thing.

One excellent writer, with a background in highly advanced mathematics, is Davide Castelvecchi, who features quite regularly in such prestigious publications as New Scientist and National Geographic. I recently came across his work in a New Scientist article on the rather esoteric subject of 'Loop Quantum Gravity' .

Davide is especially good at adjusting the level of his writing to suit the intended audience, but without it seeming anything other than intelligent and well-read. He'll never insult the intelligence of his readers and neither must you. Your aim should be to educate, inform and entertain your audience - not to show how clever you are.

I was so intrigued and inspired by his article that I wrote a poem on the subject (reproduced below), and sent it to New Scientist. Much to my surprise, they forwarded it to the man himself, who has asked if he can reproduce it on his website.

Naturally, I've agreed:


We measure time by movements,
To and fro -
And space by implication of that time,

But what if neither's real?

A universe where both are consequent
Of abstract mathematics,
Where the stuff
Of stars and all the emptiness between
Is braided formulae
And where the mass
Of all we know and all we thought to know
Has no real mass and yet just has to be.

From Einstein via Bohr the numbers call -
And Newton's apple simply had to fall.


Meanwhile, as a writer with a (less stratospheric) science background, I'm considering a couple of popular science projects myself in the near future.

Watch this space (pun half-intended).

Roy

After Keats, Millennia after Plato...

My first poem on here for a while is a reflection upon Keats' Ode to a Greek Urn. At the end of his poem, Keats seems to be saying that truth equates to beauty, and that the urn is telling us just that, but it's more likely a reference to Plato, whom I paraphrase here. Plato, for his part, feels that beauty can be a result, a consequence of truth - specifically truth in matters of the heart.

Keats is reflecting on the lives of the characters depicted on the urn, but also the life of the person whose ashes the urn contains, and he seems to draw attention to the appropriateness of the images from life to the representation of truth by the depiction of beauty:

Equating truth with beauty sees us fall
too eagerly for traps our eyes have set,
for beauty may delude us, after all.

But may we find this correlation yet
is less deceit and more simplicity?
For Plato said of this: As we apply
love's true expression, so will beauty be.
(Though not the obverse, we may hear him sigh).

To fall for beauty may be self-deceit,
but truth holds its own beauty: though we say
these urn-borne tales are simple, incomplete,
there are both truth and beauty in the clay.

For what survives, collected in the urn -
the urn and ashes from a mortal's pyre -
is death's own view of life, which cannot burn,
and our best hope for truth - beyond the fire.

Roy

'Quote, unquote'

The use of real-life quotes is a great way to add energy and realism to an article, news item or press release. Simply stating the facts from your point of view, often in the third person, will often leave a reader underwhelmed or unsatisfied. After all, unless you're well known and therefore quotable yourself, what do you know?

While simply putting your views into (eloquent) writing adds weight to your opinions, it will often not be enough to carry an entire piece.

Since everything you write will presumably have some human angle or some human involvement, some human quotes will almost always be a useful addition.

For example:
There is much concern over the environmental effects of the proposed new road carries far less weight than:
'We're terribly concerned for the futures of several rare species' said Miss Smith, protesting at the site.

Often, you will be able to contact the person concerned and ask them for a brief quote. Sometimes you will have to rely on someone else's quote on the subject, and sometimes you may have to quote from a classic source, like Shakespeare, but the more immediate (and relevant) the better.

For a press release, the person whose company or services you are helping to promote should be more than happy to give you a few words. You can always adapt their quote a little, with their permission, to make a bigger impact, although the change of voice will introduce a useful variety.

With a news item, the subject may be less willing to say anything more than 'no comment', but you should try to get as close to the source of the story as possible for a quote you can use. A bystander caught up in the drama will probably have something relevant to say.

With more general articles, where there may be no current source other than your own research, quotes from previous writers (taking care over copyright), previous press releases or comments in the public domain (i.e., the media) may be useable.

Sometimes, despite your best efforts, the aforementioned Wm Shakespeare may still be your best option.

Never mind, at least he was never known to say, 'No comment.'

Roy

Setting Your Price - and Getting It

I was chatting with a friend a couple of days ago, on the subject of pricing and selling services and products, amongst other things, and he told me about his mother, who paints.

He despairs of her pricing policy, which is basically this: cost of canvas plus cost of frame plus cost of paint plus 'a bit' (ie about 10 pounds or so). On that basis, she'll sell a painting which took her a week or more to paint for about 40 pounds.

Ridiculous?

And yet how many of us are much braver in pricing the things we write? On that basis, with no canvas, frame or paint to buy, we might be tempted to 'sell' our talents for next to nothing. And all too often, we do just that.

Of course, the advice to friend's mother is obvious: double your prices and see if you still sell as many. She probably would, as her work sells very quickly - as quickly as she can produce it. In which case, she might try pushing her prices up even higher.

Now, giving advice is one thing, and taking our own advice is quite another, but we must be brave. After all, we have nothing to lose but an unprofitable job.

An associate of mine recently took the decision to follow said advice and has never had so much work, or so much money from writing, as he has now. When one of his existing clients queried his rising prices he turned the tables and simply asked them to consider their priorities: price verses quality.

They could hardly backpedal quickly enough and willingly agreed to his new asking price. He's very good but he also has a strong nerve and growing confidence in his ability. He put both to the test, and passed with flying colours.

If you want to be a professional writer you cannot afford to work for nothing, except perhaps at the very start of your career when you're building a portfolio.

After that, if you're not charging enough to make a good living, you're not really being a professional.

Now, where did I put that price list?

Roy.

Released at Last - How to Really Make Money from Writing

For the past few weeks I've been telling people here about a great new ebook on the subject of making money from writing. I knew it would be good and I also knew it wouldn't be released before its creator was absolutely sure it was ready. There's no question of 'rush jobs' or 'cashing in' here - this writer's reputation is too valuable to risk that.

I promised to let you know the moment it was released. I have to admit that even I was getting a bit impatient, but only because I knew for a fact that it would be well worth waiting for. The best things in life generally are…

In fact, I was hungry for some of the information myself but I'm delighted to see that all my hopes for the book have been realised - and then some.

Well now, at last, the book is ready and you can download it in minutes (or less if you've got broadband access) today.

The ebook is written by one of the best writers I know, who mostly prefers to keep a low profile (especially in her ghostwriting guise), but finally she's been persuaded to make herself known and share her encyclopaedic knowledge of the writing business. Her name is Jacqui Carrel, and now her name is out I'm confident you'll be hearing and reading a lot more of her.

Apart from being an excellent writer, Jacqui is a great networker, and she's called in a few favours to assemble one of the most complete 'how to' guides to writing that you'll find anywhere. And yet she's giving it away. As I've said before, it's also packed with resources and links that will save you hours of research.

Better still, Jacqui has also created her own newsletter, in which she'll share the latest tips, news and ideas for turning an interest in writing into a productive and potentially lucrative career. Of course, she's making that available for free, too.

All you have to do to get her ebook and to sign up for the newsletter if you want that too is click on this link http://www.makebigmoneyfromwriting.com/ or paste the url into your browser window.

If you've any problem getting your copy, leave a message with me, including your email address (so it can be sent to you directly) and I'll pass on your details to Jacqui and do my best to get it to you right away.

That's it for now. As a professional writer myself, I don't think there's any better advice I could give you today than to say: click that link!

Roy

Make Money From Writing

Another brief reminder that there's a great new ebook out very soon that tells us in some detail how we can make money from our love of writing.

It's surprising how many financially rewarding ways there are for a writer to use his or her talent for words and this new ebook explains just about all of them. It also lists resources and provides links to information and websites that anyone interested in writing for money, either as a career or to earn additional income, will find invaluable.

From greetings cards to ghosting, it's all covered.

The book will be online in just a few days, and tell you here the moment I'm informed of its release.

Otherwise, just contact me here or by email and I'll personally see to it that you're told directly.

For nine-tenths of a century

Saturday marks the ninetieth anniversary of the first battle of The Somme. This one was also spurred by Glyn Maxwell's poem on the latest round of 'QuickMuse' (www.quickmuse.com), in turn inspired by an amazing piece of prose by Mark Twain. If you haven't sought-out quickmuse yet I suggest you do so:

For nine-tenths of a century
A sunset's bloody light has played
Across a meadow's memory
While poppies swayed -

Finally quite unafraid.

A flash of trumpets' brilliant sound
That calls a summer's day to end,
While in these flowers' roots are bound
Ends of men

Called home again.

Flowers that came like summer rain
Splashed up from its thunderous fall -
Reflecting only setting sun
- After all.

Roy www.wellversed.co.uk

Creating a dramatic opening and a crisp ending

Try topping and tailing, even when that means a little re-writing. Very often, we try to set a scene when the real story doesn't start until two or three sentences in. By deleting the unnecessary opening, we can draw the reader straight into the world we're creating.

At the end, too, there is a temptation to round things off and spell out the message or moral when our reader is quite capable of doing that for him or herself. In fact, he or she will be secretly flattered that we've assumed that degree of intelligence - and may feel more than slightly insulted if we seem to have assumed otherwise. Also, there are few sins for a writer greater than that of making the reader weary of the tale.

I followed my advice with this piece. Here's my original opening:

As a writer, you will often be striving to create a gripping or enticing opening sentence or paragraph to your piece, whether that's a short story, a novel or a non-fiction article. You'll have seen how this can often lead to an artificial-seeming start, even from the most skilled of writers.

A whole paragraph deleted!

And I deleted this closing sentence, too:

Better by far, to stop while the story still has some energy than to dribble on and on...

Point proved, I think.

Oops!

Roy

After Philip Larkin Once More

It seems there's something in those final lines of 'An Arundel Tomb' that just won't let go:

What Lasts of Us

You were right, not love survives:
these wearing stones mis-represent,
memorialize faux-simple lives,
preserve the errors they cement.

An endless line with gazing eyes,
inheritors of these mistakes,
turn backs on chaos, empathise,
clasped hands inclined to join these fakes,

knowing but unknowing yet
the errors that the stone repairs:
that messiness they'd soon forget
fills other lives and homes than theirs.

No, what survives are prints we cast,
impressions in the ageing mud
we trample in. And so the past
descends with such a gentle thud

we may not know the errors 'til
our own are brought us at our close.
What others saw they see there still:
even at our deaths we pose.

Submitting your book for publication

Just a brief note today to address a question many new writers are unsure of - what exactly will a publisher expect you to submit, and how much of your book do they need to make a judgement on its viability?

The answer is, many publishers these days are happy to receive a sample chapter or two plus an outline of the rest of the book, especially for a non-fiction book. In fact, a clear outline of your non-fiction book idea may be sufficient to interest them. Expect to be asked to demonstrate your expertise, though, before they even think of committing themselves. Of course, if you are already an acknowledged expert, a publisher may even approach you.

With fiction the situation is a little different. While some publishers will accept the first few chapters plus outline, there are still many who will expect you to show enough commitment to write the entire book before you submit anything. What you must never do is send a few sample pages - publishers seem to hate that!

Manuscripts should always be anything but manuscripts - that is, they should be typewritten or more often word-processor produced and double-spaced. Please don't forget to tell them who you are by enclosing a covering letter.

As for poetry, there seem to be wide variations, but a general rule is to send five or six (some specify six) poems, single-sided as a sample of your work. These should be single-spaced in the form in which you'd like them to appear when (if) published. Always add your contact details to each sheet in case they become separated and send a cover letter with more details about yourself as well.

Multiple submissions seem to be generally accepted now. When you remember that it can be months before you hear anything from each submission, that is just as well. Even so, there are a few die-hard submissions editors who object to writers sending to more than one publisher at a time. The best idea is probably to make multiple submissions but make it clear that you are doing so.

Who knows, if a publisher really likes your work that may even strengthen your negotiating position. I can't promise it will, but it might!

How to become a 'Guru' and reap rich rewards

Have you ever stopped to think what separates an 'expert' from someone who merely knows his or her job? Why one person may be paid a fortune for knowing little more about their subject than another person who only gets an average salary?

The answer is, they've achieved the status of 'guru'. A kind of super-consultant, recognised within and beyond their field as 'the' person to ask for advice, to invite along as a speaker or to be persuaded (with lots of money, generally) to bless lesser mortals with their wisdom.

How did they do this? In most cases they either appeared on tv or they 'wrote the book'. While tv may be out of reach for most, provided that they have sufficient knowedge or access to it, anyone can write 'the book' on their specialist field of knowledge. And if they can't do it, or don't have the time to do it, someone else can do it for them.

Ghost writing is not easy; at least, ghost writing well is not easy. But a skilled and sympathetic ghost writer can turn anyone's good story into a great book, or anyone's knowledge of their job into a valuable educational resource for those new to that business. And by so doing, turn a competent anyone into an expert 'someone', thereby growing their reputation, enhancing the demand for their expertise and massively increasing their earning power.

'The book' can be a conventional book on sale in all good bookshops, or it can be an increasingly popular ebook or manual. It can even be serialised as a course or series of newsletters, but for maximum prestige still, a real 'physical' book can't be beaten. Getting it published is no problem in these days of self-publishing and 'print on demand'.

I have to be honest and say that profits may be minimal or even non-existent on the book itself, especially at first, but in time the rewards can be enormous - in prestige, self-confidence and wealth!

So if you have expertise in any field (or a great story to tell) you owe it to yourself to consider writing 'the book' on it. If you can't manage that yourself, you might contact a ghost writer to do it for you.

Roy

After Odysseus - Long, Long After Homer

To Greece we travel; not as heroes, though.
No need for that heroic nonsense now.
Odysseus' Ionian, we know,
Was where he aimed for, finally, but how
He took so long Penelope, aghast,
Had asked a thousand days and nights alone.
And when he made the journey home at last,
Then how did her Odysseus atone?

I think they married, later than they might,
For many years had passed while they, apart,
Lay fretting for each other every night -
Penelope at least feared for her heart.

I kept you waiting longer than I should,
But love, I came as quickly as I could.

After Philip Larkin

After Philip Larkin came the gloom:
Pursuing that old poet to his doom.
He won't be resurrected
So the crime can't be corrected
But at least he's lying quiet in his tomb.

Which proves his almost-cliché almost true:
As much survives of him as will of you.
But a lie can't be corrected
If it's not closely inspected
And in Larkin's case the truth is overdue.

For his gloomy humour hid a human heart
Though depression often played the greater part.
And his poetry reflected
How his spirit was infected -
What lasts is what was given at the start.

Make Money From Writing

Just a quick note on a great new ebook on making money from writing that's out very soon.

As you may have seen in a previous post, I've had advanced notice of a new ebook that's totally FREE and full of great information. It should be released this week (the writer has been so busy with other projects, she had to put it to one side for a week or so).

I've sneaked a look at the almost complete item, and I'm sure you'll find it's well worth the wait if you take this whole 'writing for profit' business seriously. That is, if you actually want to make a living as a writer. Quite simply, the author has researched every aspect with more depth than most of us could contemplate and packed in more links and resources than you're likely to find in the average 'for sale' book, let alone a freebie.

As I promised before, I'll let you know here when it's released, but if you want to be kept personally informed, email me here, or at info@wellversed.co.uk or leave a message here.

Roy

Planning Your Book

There truly are some authors who can create an entire novel 'off the cuff', without plotting, character outlines or planning of any kind. Actually, I'm inclined to believe they simply hold all this information, or the bulk of it, but in a more informal way than we might define as 'planning', in their heads.

But anyway, for the bulk of us normal mortals, a degree of planning is essential. This applies to a non-fiction book even more than to a novel, but many of the principles are similar, whatever we're writing.

There are important differences, though. Whereas in a novel it's a very good idea (nowadays) to begin at the most exciting point of the story, drawing-in the reader and encouraging them to puzzle at the history, even disorientating them to good effect, with a non-fiction title the opposite is often true.

I'll exclude biography at this point, which is a hybrid form, in many ways more akin to the novel since it tells a human story in much the same way. Although there have been some pretty dusty biographies, of course...

Assuming for the moment that you wish to write non-fiction, perhaps a 'how to' manual of some kind, or an instruction leaflet for a new product, maybe even a guide to your favourite hobby, your first job is to set the background for the reader. Never assume your reader has a similar level of knowledge to yourself, or else why would they read your book?

First, try to establish just what level your readership is likely to be at, and aim to set your starting-point just a little lower (because you'll probably still under-estimate your own level of expertise). Well-informed readers can simply skim the 'easy' bits, although you can still surprise them with your own unique insights. Less informed readers will be able to gain a grounding in the subject, for which they will be grateful.

So, you need to start with the basics before moving on to specifics, and you must plan your book or manual in that way. The really mundane stuff can be put into a glossary at the end of the book, but your reader needs to be able to read through the book without constantly flicking back and forth, so don't hide important stuff away there.

This is especially important if you're given the job of writing an instruction manual for a new product. Manufacturers are understandably nervous about being sued by mis-informed or uninformed consumers who couldn't understand the manual, or found it too complex or incomplete, and managed to injure themselves or suffer some loss or damage. In those cases you must spell out absolutely everything, in words of one syllable if necessary, and don't worry about insulting anyone's intelligence!

Roy.

If you've any questions arising out of this article, or indeed anything to do with writing, from amateur poetry to absolute professionalism, drop me an email or leave a message here and I'll do my best to help.

Writing For Profit

One thing you may have difficulty with, especially if you take your creative writing seriously, is adapting your literary writing style to the commercial world.

It's difficult enough trying to write a successful novel, but at least bestselling novels and short stories can be literary and successful - even if not that often. When a 'serious' writer looks at the work of successful copywriters, they can often do little but wince or weep.

Frankly, most copywriters who've made it big will tell you straight: the 'rules' of English grammar you were made to learn at school and college mean little in their 'real' world. What works in copywriting is what works - in other words what works is what sells, and it's rarely pretty.

Now, if you're really good, you can combine good grammar, correct punctuation and a compelling message that persuades people to buy - but if you're really, really good you will realise that as far as copywriting goes it's only the last of those three elements that counts.

'Real' writers might decry the declining standards that exposure to advertising copy, sloppy speech on television and radio, 'textspeak', etc seem to encourage, but a copywriter will remind them that language has only one purpose - communication. If I want you to buy something from me, I'd better explain as clearly as I can just why you should do so, or I simply won't have communicated properly.

So if you really want to write for profit - and copywriting is the most profitable writing there is, you'll be doing yourself a big favour if you look at all the direct advertising you can find, and imitate what works as closely as you possibly can.

There's no point being 'precious' - your writer's skills are far too valuable!


On the subject of writing for profit, I've just had advanced notice of a great new ebook on the subject (not by me). It hasn't been released yet, but if you want to be among the first to get your hands on it, drop me an email or visit me at my Well Versed Ltd website and I'll tell you the moment it's available and how to get your copy.

It's written by a successful professional copywriter and ghostwriter; published author of many articles, editorials etc. She knows the business of writing and the writing business and she's cramming far more information and advice into this ebook than most people would bother with - hence the slight delay - so I can promise it will be well worth waiting for.

As I say, contact me and I'll let you know.

After You

I intended to resist posting too much of my poetry here, but I came across this one in my archives, and as it's almost the first anniversary of its writing, I decided to indulge myself. Just this once. It's called 'Between Notes':

There
I listened to your music
where
between the notes
the hesitating silence
made the room to breathe

and walls turned away in modesty
windows covered their eyes
and doors quietly closed
and opened
closed and opened

the quiet glow became
a brilliant noise

and I was dazzled
deafened
into dying...

But there
was never music
nor were we ever
making love.

Just sitting
hearing heavenknows
what
except a beating heart.

Through silences of opened eyes
I glimpsed the last
defining part
of my completeness

you brought to me
and carried off
through an opened door.

Remember though
that now I know
where it may be found
it's merely borrowed
like an absent sound

or silence between notes.


You'll find some more of my poems on my website.

After TS Eliot

After Philip Larkin (for now) but before I get round to Roger McGough, I thought I'd share this old Eliot inspired poem. As you can see, it's little more than a fragment compared to the works that triggered it. I quite like it though, despite the dubious grammar. I called it 'The Obvious Word':


Keen to avoid the obvious word
he held us up by his whetted sword
and pinned like pictures to his wall
said: not it, not it at all.

And I, avoiding cliches too,
avoided obvious words with you.
But pinned you, wetted, to that mast
until the obvious broke at last.

TSE, like thee and me
used words for what he thought to see.
Avoided obvious, truth his aim,
and at the end we do the same.

You'll find a slowly-building archive of my poetry (and eventually other works) if you go to my website

Finding Your Niche

If you want to write commercially rather than just for your own satisfaction, you may find it difficult to know where to start. If you've already been writing for a while, you will probably have realised that there are many more choices open to you than just composing the next Great Novel versus campaigning for the role of Poet Laureate.

Even so, it may still surprise you to learn that, bestseller writers apart, the best-rewarded (ie, highest paid) writers are all but unknown outside the ranks of their fellow professionals. Some are 'generalists' - that is, they'll write almost anything for almost anyone - but most of the more successful writers become specialists in one field or another. Often, it's the field from which they've 'escaped' in order to become a writer! Otherwise it may be an area they simply have an interest in, or have pursued as a hobby.

The reason is pretty plain. If I were to ask you to write a thousand words on something you know nothing about, you could probably do it but you would have to research and double-check everything. It would take you quite some time, and you'd be unlikely to bring many insights to the debate beyond perhaps a fresh 'outsider's' view. But if those thousand words were on an area you'd worked in, or a topic you've always been interested in, your main problem would be deciding what to leave out. Your learning and experience would show through, with authority and insights crammed into your thousand words. In short, it would be far easier to write and a much better read.

So, here's a very simple strategy you might adopt if you're unsure what to write about. At least at first, simply write about what you know. You'll be surprised how much you do know about your subject - and how much the general public and even new professionals can learn from you. The biggest mistake you can make, in terms of underestimating your worth, is to assume that because you know, 'everyone knows'.

The fact is, most people will know very little - but many will be interested to learn. You just need some lateral thinking to find a 'market' for that knowledge - and the confidence to realise its full worth.

Roy Everitt Well Versed Ltd/CinnamonEdge.com

See how Paul Muldoon does it!

Thanks to this Sunday's Observer newspaper, I've discovered a remarkable new website called 'Quickmuse'.

On this US-based site, anyone can watch a professional poet compose a poem against the clock. That may sound more mechanical than musical, but it's a fascinating process to observe. All that we don't see are the poet's fingers on the keyboard as the words appear and disappear along with their fleeting ideas and second thoughts.

The most famous poet to take up the challenge so far is Pulitzer Prize winner Paul Muldoon, who was tasked with creating a poem about the unnaturalness of poetry, or rather the effort to make the unnatural seem as inevitable as nature. As with all the poets, he was given fifteen minutes. Unlike most of them, he took every second to deliver his poem 'The Aim'.

This reminds me of a technique I've used in the past, generally known as 'flash poetry', where the idea is to write as quickly as possible, having been given three words which must be incorporated in the poem, but no set theme.

The diversity of subjects arrising in this way is astonishing when a large number of poets take part. Astonishing to the poets, too, as the idea is to not think consciously about the poem, but to let the words (and the subconscious) lead the way. If you're trying to write poetry but are stuck for ideas, this is a method well worth trying. Get someone else to nominate the words, though.

Meanwhile, take a look at www.quickmuse.com

After Philip Larkin

From 'Church Going'

...And gravitating with it to this ground,
Which, he once heard, was proper to grow wise in,
If only that so many dead lie round.

Surprisingly, perhaps, this serious and sombre poem spawned a romantic effort from me, entitled 'Standing Stones':

So, twelve weeks to go, and now the stones,
Standing tall as ever by the stars,
Diminish to the eye. Or do we grow?
It's permanence of stone that let's me know;
Reason that insists the vaulting spars
Are far as ever from the melting bones.

The space below is difficult to fill.
With sound it may be possible, but air
Is far too insubstantial, like the light
That sparks in isolation. Well, alright:
We'll have to fill the vacuum with prayer.
Not that prayer is needed, but we will.

It somehow seems appropriate to me
That as we grow together, we expand
Sufficiently to occupy that space.
Between the standing stones I'll take my place,
Encircling your finger with a band,
And say a prayer: to 'eternity'.

All of which would be far too 'soft' for Philip Larkin, I suspect!

After Philip Larkin

That was my most recent 'Larkin' poem, and followed my reading some of his less well-known works, although you may get some of the references.

We're often advised not to mistake the poem for the poet, and I think it's a mistake to take any writing as too representative of its author, even when the author would like us to. I wonder how much Larkin played up to his 'image'?

Certainly, much of his poetry was serious to the point of sombre, but there was some humour too.

After Roger McGough

Hi everyone.

On this blog I'll be introducing you to some of my poetry and also talking from time to time about writing for profit.

That is, writing sales copy for on and off-line, writing articles and getting them published, even writing a libretto.

I'll also be sharing some of my experiences (and lessons learned) as a professional writer.

So I hope to entertain, educate and inform, often at the same time.

As a poet, I'll admit to many influences, so my style will vary over time, but I think you'll detect a unique 'voice' anyway. Calling this first blog 'After Roger McGough' is a signpost to the way I'll employ these different influences to ring the changes as much as I can.

As a professional writer in other areas, it's more necessary to adopt different voices and styles, especially if we're writing 'on-spec' and trying to sell to a particular market.

So there you have my first tip - read thoroughly the publications you're aiming for and match your writing as far as you can to their house style. Don't try to 're-educate' them to accept yours!

I hope you'll enjoy visiting here.

Please feel free to comment and to ask questions.

Here's my first poem entry. In the event I've followed Philip Larkin. Roger McGough will follow in due course:

Reading Philip Larkin of a night
I'm taken with his easiness of grief,
his comfort in the fading of the light,
the way he shows despair as light relief,

and then despairs of others, turns to go
and writes of that departure never made.
Perfection's reprehensible, and so
he hates his own protagonist, who stayed.

He riles against religion and the cross,
but finds himself within the walls again.
His tomb speaks too romantically of loss,
preserves the loving lie for dying men.

But Larkin was a poet to the last:
his verses spoke of ambulance and flight
away from all we know, the fading past -
reading Philip Larkin of a night.


That's all for now. I'll be back with some more soon.