Author Archives: Jacinda Little

Compartmentalizing Your Freelance Writer’s Life

Posted on by Jacinda Little

“I’ve got it made.”

That’s what you should be able to say every morning, just after you gain consciousness and give yourself the liberty to choose what you’re going to do with the next 16 hours.

If you’re a self-employed writer, maybe you’ve felt this privilege: this freedom to spoil yourself into a blessed existence.

Or, maybe you haven’t reached the point where you feel in control of your own schedule. Perhaps deadlines are lording over your life, or all the other things you should be doing, instead of writing, are worming into your brain and taunting you into believing that you’re just a failed artist with no followers, no footprint…no future.

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Photo Credit: Fran Rosa of https://medium.com/@franrosa

I’ve been in both places, and in case you can’t hear me, I’m yelling: “You Can Choose!!”

I have found that by compartmentalizing my life, I can accomplish everything I need to accomplish–and maybe more importantly, all the things I want to accomplish.

Here’s the strategy:

  1. Wake up. That one’s easy when you love what you’re about to do.
  2. Determine your Mood. Ask yourself how you feel today. Goofy? Serious? Intelligent? Artistic? Melancholy? Ecstatic? Now choose an area or a task that will most intensely benefit from that state of mind. There’s no use trying to change the way you feel. Your work will suffer…as will you.
  3. Work Ahead.  This is the KEY component, and the one that will allow you to put point #2 to work. Determine where your focus will fall and do it full-on. Get more done than you have to. This will give you the freedom to make those disposition-based choices, rather than having to do what you’re not ‘feeling’ based on deadlines.
  4. Go All-In.  No matter what task or area you choose for a particular day or block of time, give it every bit of your attention. This should be easy if you’ve made the right choice.

Before I discovered this method, I felt like I was doing all the wrong things on the wrong days. I was cramming for band rehearsal while my mind was busy rolling over the best ways to brand a consulting business, or I was crunching numbers for a statistics blog with a mind distracted by the question “How am I gonna hit that note tonight?” I have even caught myself backspacing over lines of my own fiction because I couldn’t stop thinking about the flow problems erupting in the client’s book I was editing.

The people in my life have come to accept my working in this way. A ghostwriting client will have my undivided attention for a week, and then I might drop off for a few days. Or, my band members might feel pummeled with messages one day, and then think about checking with the morgue the next. The people in your life will learn this about you, too. And when you deliver work of exceptional quality, with a smile in your heart and earlier than expected, they’ll learn to love it.

What are your tips for building a blessed writer’s life? I’d love to hear about them, and learn from them. Comment here.

Have you heard? My Facebook page Jacinda Little, Writer for Hire is now called Jacinda Little. I made the change because I want that space to be for all lovers of books, reading, writing…not just those who wish to hire a copywriter or ghostwriter. So get on over there! We’re talking about stuff that’s gonna light you up (and if we’re not, I want to know what will). See you there.

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The Paris Architect: A Review

Posted on by Jacinda Little

One piece of writing advice offered by Stephen King tells us to combine two unexpected, seemingly unrelated, concepts. He did this in Carrie, when he paired up telekinesis with the hell that can be high school. Never mind that the manuscript was rejected 30 times…let’s focus on how that debut novel changed the way many of us view storytelling.

When Charles Belfoure built the foundation for The Paris Architect, he certainly followed this vein.

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As a person who knows little about architecture, I find it hard to imagine coupling it with anything other than perfunctory-type notions…after all, what conflicts with, and would therefore complement, the spatial elements of structural and artistic design? Well, I thought maybe I found the answer in Loving Frank, a novel based on the Frank Lloyd Wright’s long-time affair with his mistress, Mamah Borthwick Cheney. Architecture and romance: Unexpected, right? Yes, but not quite right.

Belfoure, however, got it oh-so-right.

His combo? Architecture and suspense.

Who knew?

For the love of all that is magnificent, who knew?

This novel, set in 1942 German-occupied Paris, follows a Parisian architect, Lucien Bernard, who is so flattered by the commissioning of his work during a time when most Parisians fear for their lives and subsist on bare rations that he agrees to design buildings for the manufacture of German armaments, despite accusations of being a conspirator.

This is only a slice of the story, though. What got him involved in this mess lies at the root of a tale filled with twists that captivate without confounding the plot. At first, he is reluctant to design hiding places for Jews in Paris homes and apartments, vowing over and over that each design will be his last; until he finds himself involved to the point that his fear for his own life becomes subordinate to other discoveries he makes about himself and what will become his mission.

The character development in The Paris Architect is superb. Not only do we get gratifying journeys through the minds and hearts of a number of characters, we see the real-time evolution of relationships and philosophical ideals. The emotional attachment developed with these characters is rich.

And I can’t forget the suspense. Belfoure knows how to keep you on edge, virtually experiencing the torture and death of so many innocents through your own mind’s eye.  You can’t help but transport yourself to war-time France, to ask yourself with the completion of every paragraph, with the anticipatory turn of every page…what would I do?

I celebrate the day I picked up this book at the suggestion of a librarian. Congratuations, Charles Belfoure. You have handily entertained and stirred the heart of a hard-to-please reader. You have not only packaged an unexpected combination into a brilliant demonstration of character development, pacing and setting, you have captured this historical fiction lover’s heart.

Penalty of an Artless Existence

Posted on by Jacinda Little

Manipulating cold, steel-edged words for those who will pin them up for inquiring minds to digest and regurgitate as currency.

Singing metered phrases crafted by forlorn and joyous hearts, raped and robbed by my unknowing tongue.

Riding the lines of another’s hand, lost and drowning in a deeply hued sea of his existence—a magnificent, sultry pool, though not my own.

*****

How is an artist to survive? When the must-dos and must-have of this, our perfunctory existence, demand that we repress the artist within? How must we speak to the ingenuity that was not only gifted to us, but that has been welded to our humanity—to every interaction, to every emotion, to every lens through which we view the biosphere?

How are we to survive when we feel compelled to silence this artistry—like the mother who suffocates her child against her breast to spare the innocent from an acute and critical enemy—in a world that seems rigid, black, gray?

Your artistry is not unlike a splinter entrenched deep below the skin, festering within your flesh. It must come out, and if you do not consciously extract it, it will exhume itself. Your artistry will manifest as anger, your ingenuity as hatred. Your imagination will turn black, your vision a translucent view of spoiled shades. Your ear will pluck pretentiousness over rhyme. Your soul will spin a web around your gift, until it begins to pulsate like some sickening omen, and you will wish for another chance at plucking that tidy splinter.

Some of us must create. It is the bread and water of our existence. We must output, in order to balance the input…lest we suffer the penalty of an artless existence.

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Drink in the creations of others; it is necessary for the awakening of your own. But do not resolve this as your portion. You shall starve.

“Use it or lose it” is what they tell the athletes. “Climb the ladder” is what they preach to the capitalist. And what is there for the artist? There are only two things: Self and Others Like Us. Never underestimate the power of these. Never suppress your need to create, your need to live as you were born.

No Thanks: Two Words Every Writer Needs

Posted on by Jacinda Little

This isn’t a story about good guys and bad guys; it’s not even a story about right and wrong. It’s a story about values, being honest with yourself, and the willingness to admit when something just doesn’t feel right.

If you’re a ghostwriter, copywriter, or editor, you’ve probably taken on more than one client who wasn’t the greatest fit for you—and if you’re just getting into the business, the in-the-moment, omg-I-have-to-pay-the-rent temptation to do so will be compelling.

This isn’t a business with steady paychecks. There’s no predictable income. And so, when someone contacts you to take on a project, you’re default answer is, “Yes. When can I start?”

Slow down there, cowboy. Before you accept that offer, I implore you to have a conversation that may sting in the present, but that will push you toward a future graced with a steady flow of [quality] earning potential. You see, when the clients you choose are great fits for the type of business you’re choosing to run, communications are clear, your work is appreciated, you get quality referrals, you feel fulfilled every night and motivated to get to work every morning.

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Here is the checklist that I use when opening conversation with a potential client, to determine if I can be of maximum benefit to him or her (and likewise, of course):

  • Take a close look at the initial contact message or email. If it’s filled with grammatical and punctuation errors, this person will not be a great fit for you. I know, this seems counter-intuitive. Isn’t this the type of person who needs you the most? And who will rely on you to keep them on the right path? NO. This is a person who has no regard for language, and will therefore have no regard for the quality of your work. In my experience, the people who have the lowest appreciation levels for language correctness (even if through no fault of their own) are the quickest to criticize without foundation. So if you’re a writer—especially one with a militant respect for literary precision—avoid clients with bad grammar.
  • Ask for a link to his or her website. This will be a technical exercise, as well as a gut-feel one. Does the content appeal to your sensibilities? Does it align with your areas of expertise, past writing experiences, or with an area you’d like to break into? It the content well-written? And if not, has the potential client expressed dissatisfaction with its quality. If the person contacting you takes pride in a poorly written website, steer clear. Likewise, if the material does not appeal to you, do both of you a favor and graciously decline.
  • Know your values, and draw parallels. You have a set of personal and/or corporate values upon which you’ve built your business (or on which you plan to build your business). These are the credentials you should be using to hand-pick clients. If your top values include precision, humor, timeliness, or honesty, then I recommend choosing clients with those same values. Not only will they recognize their values in you, and feel drawn to and vested in your work, you will enjoy working with someone who shares your worldview—or at least part of it. Look for key words that hint at values in their communications with you. Include hints at your values, and see how they respond. Use early interactions like a first date, in order to decide if you can “live” with this person for what could be an extended period of time.
  • Note response times. Are you the kind of writer who lives and moves by deadlines? Or are you in favor of a world that includes more lenience? Note how quickly the potential client returns phone calls and emails, and how he or she responds to your timeliness (or lack thereof). This will be an indicator to how well timelines will flow when projects are in full motion.
  • Consider past interactions and trust your instincts. This is a business that’s highly reliant upon networking; and quite often, we know (or have worked alongside) the people who are contacting us. If you were not impressed by this person’s work ethic or work quality through past projects, politely decline and move on. Remember, the best indicator of future circumstances are past events. To believe that someone will work differently because you’re playing a bigger role in their day is just folly.

Not every potential client is sold on YOU. Some are simply contacting you to ascertain your capabilities—to see if you’re a good fit for their project. Keep this in mind as you interact. And no matter your impression, always demonstrate professionalism that befits your business. Accept projects with gratitude, and show that same gratitude when politely declining due to lack of expertise, a maxed-out workload, or a conflict of views. You may also wish to offer access to your network by recommending a writer who may be better suited to the project. Goodwill never goes out of style, and will always open doors for referrals and the best kind of chatter about you.

Have you found other methods useful in hand-picking clients? Do have a story about a client interaction to share? Or a question about choosing clients? If so, please comment below.

Looking for more advice on how to get started (or to improve) your ghostwriting, copywriting, or editing career? Need more tips for saying “No Thanks”? Subscribe to this blog, like my Facebook page, or contact me for more on how you can make a living with a few of our favorite things: WORDS.

Self-Editing, for Independent Excellence

Posted on by Jacinda Little

No matter what you’ve written, hiring an editor is always a good investment; however, sometimes there’s just no wiggle room in the budget. So what’s a writer to do when there’s no one to turn to for criticism? He becomes self-reliant in the editing realm, with the help of some targeted recommendations.

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Here are some pieces of self-editing advice that I’ve gathered from other writers, as well as from experience:

  • If there’s enough time, put it away for at least a week. Don’t look at it. Don’t think about it. Don’t even entertain the idea of peeking at it. The idea here is to trick your brain into believing it’s someone else’s work. When you’re too close to the composition, you tend to read what you remember writing, not necessarily what’s on the page. How many times have I glossed over an “if” that was supposed to be an “it” or a “your” that was supposed to be a “you”? Too many to count. Why? Because I was reading what I thought I wrote, not what my eyes were telling me was there.
  • Read it out loud. Saying words aloud improves metacognition, or the process of understanding how we learn. For auditory learners, this is particularly helpful when attempting to remember something. For self-editors, it introduces another cognitive aspect, doubling the chances of those mistakes being caught. You might say that when you read aloud, your eyes and your ears are all on the job. Plus, you get the chance to determine if what you’ve written just sounds stupid.
  • Change the font. I have found that when I read what I’ve written in the same old font, I associate it with me, and it’s all-too familiar. If I change the font style, make it smaller, or make it larger, however, I see mistakes that had until then remained hidden.
  • Lather, rinse, repeat. This works especially well for shorter works, 500 words or less. Read your work with a critical eye. If you find at least one mistake, read the entire thing again. If you find another mistake, correct that error and read through again, from the beginning. Don’t stop until you find zero mistakes.
  • Give yourself an incentive. After you are certain that no mistakes remain, challenge yourself to find another one. Make a deal with yourself. You get a chocolate for every additional one you can find. If you can find five mistakes you get to schedule a massage for next week. The commodity is up to you – the point here is that if you offer yourself a tangible reward, it will act as a façade for the real reward: personal and professional excellence.

No matter your level of genius, editing your own work demands fastidiousness that transcends intelligence. Today, promise yourself that you will never again click on Send or Publish without knowing, to a high degree of certainty, that what you’re putting out there is your personal best.

Together, we can change writing for the better. I’d love for you to share your favorite self-editing practices here.

Need an editor? Contact me. I’ll put your writing through the wringer.

Copywriting: Selling Brands in the New Age

Posted on by Jacinda Little

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Copywriting is, quite simply, the writing of copy. Great copywriting is much more. It’s about knowing your audience, intimately. It’s about showing them your empathy for their pain, your top-shelf solution, and spurring them to action. Superior copywriting doesn’t stop there: it reveals the real, living and breathing substance beneath your brand because…

…are you ready?…

copywriting doesn’t sell products and services. It sells people.

A proficient copywriter can sell work boots to Paris Hilton – as long as that writer makes it clear that he recognizes her problem and has a solution that will ultimately, on some level, change her life forever.

Persuasion is not the same animal it once was. It has evolved to become less like a wolverine and more like a golden retriever. In the past, product was king, outrageous claims were made about those products, and clever wit found its way into most copy. Now, business names, straplines, and sales copy work to dig up the emotions that companies know will grasp the attention of their ideal clients and to create memorable experiences for the people who matter the most.

One example of effective copywriting is found with the long-established brand, Lysol. I’ll bet they wouldn’t have much luck selling their no-touch hand soap system using the product features and benefits alone. Let’s think about this: the product is costly to purchase and requires batteries and unique refills. It claims that you’ll stay cleaner because you won’t have to touch the germy pump…wait a minute. How good is the soap in that refill? Should we even have to worry about the germs picked up from the pump when the antibacterial soap is the best on the market?

None of this matters to Lysol’s ideal clients, who are, by definition, germ-phobes. They have come to trust Lysol as a market leader because its brand was built, largely by clever copywriting, to signify safety and cleanliness for self and family. And yes, the emotions they have tapped trump common sense. This is the power of solid, branded copywriting.

More than ever, this is the age of emotional purchasing. The economy has affected most of us, and one might think that would make price point a deciding factor. Think again. More than clamping our wallets closed, years of floundering economic status has made many of us emotionally raw, looking for security, a good investment, and something that just makes us feel good.

A great copywriter harnesses the power of emotion. He or she reveals you, your values, and the essence of your brand to the world so that people can make those emotionally driven decisions that have become all-too common in this, a new purchasing age.

Is your copy working for your brand? It is reaching the right people – and then touching them with words that grasp mind share and become ultimately unforgettable? Contact me today at jacindalittle@gmail.com for a free analysis of your current copy or to learn more about what a professional copywriter could do for your business. You may also like my Facebook page for writing news and tips.

The Perfect Day for a Book Review

Posted on by Jacinda Little

I finished reading Ray Harvey’s More and More unto the Perfect Day more than a year ago – for the third time. I had intended to write a review of the book immediately following each reading, but couldn’t gather my thoughts into a neat pile. Instead, I was left with crooked, overlapped, often torn conclusions of how the book had affected me. I have taken notes. I have made an outline in order to follow the storyline. I still find myself unable to write a standard type review, so instead, I’ll submit to my visceral reactions…as a human being; not as a writer, critic, or editor.

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First, it pissed me off because it attempted to challenge the beliefs that I have held dear for the entirety of my 38 years. For this, I commend it. A religious man’s faith is tested. The pages where this occurred in real-time are now filled with dry gorges — valleys that were formed by the weight of my tears. Old tears.

Second, the crooked, yet parallel, line it draws with my own life had me looking over my shoulder with the turn of every page. From things as provocative and significant as sourceless anger and spontaneous illness to spooky similarities like Cherokee heritage, acne scars, stretch marks, the names and appearances of family members…I experienced what I would call a one-dimensional, reflective haunting.

Here’s where I stop counting and fall into what flirts with a search for words. This book reached deep within in me. I am a deer that is not yet dead, but being prematurely field-dressed due to her poacher’s anxiety, guilt…something. A hand grabs at my trachea, cuts off the air, and pulls downward, to a place outside my own body. This book has found places within me that have been injured. Some of them have been healed. Others are now bleeding.

I’m not a philosopher, and don’t wish to be. I’m not an intellectual, though I sometimes envy those who are. That’s why it’s so difficult to qualify how and why this book affected me so profoundly. I’m still not sure I understand all the material. Maybe I never will; maybe it’s not intended to be fully understood.

I have found myself wishing I had never read it. Yet, I have read it numerous times. I have attempted to rid my mind of the images it imparts. Yet, I revisit them and curl up into the places they have hollowed out for me. Its lyrical prose is like a song. Its imagery is dark, shapely, and at times, far too real.

Thank you, Mr. Harvey. I don’t know if you intended to do this to me, but it has been done. I doubt I will ever read another book like yours, but if one comes along, the will power to keep my hands off of it will have to be strong. Thank you for demonstrating how good literary fiction distracts the conscious mind while implanting belief systems into the subconscious and unconscious minds. You have reminded me why I love the written word and why I am addicted to its effects – even if those effects are those which I’d rather not endure.

I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is NOT impressed by predictability, pedestrian prose, shallow characters, and ignorance as an ultimate form of contentedness. If you fit the profile, hold on. There’s no telling how deep this one will take you.

Trust your Readers

Posted on by Jacinda Little

As happens every six hours, AM talk radio had begun to depress my mood. There was nothing on FM to sing along with. The silence was too much to bear, considering I’d been alone all day.

A small voice came from the back seat. “Mom, I want to read to you.”

“That would be great! Let’s go.”

A rustling of pages ensued and my 10-year-old daughter started, “The animorphosisms stood before me. Around each one was an extremely disgusting pile of slime.”

“Honey?” I interrupted. “What did the pile of slime look like?”

She thought for a moment and responded, “It was disgusting.”

“Yes, but what color was it? Did it smell? Was it moving? Was it making any sounds?”

“I don’t know. It doesn’t say.” She turned the page forward and back again. “It’s just disgusting…that’s it.”

This reminded me that, in my own writing, I must remember to strive for a “show, don’t tell” process and product. Regardless of the age of the reader, the author must remember that the reader will feel much more satisfied — more fulfilled and willing to keep on reading — if he or she feels a part of the deductions made in every story, every chapter…every paragraph. Don’t tell your readers that something is disgusting. Tell them that the pile of flesh-pink and mold-green, coagulated material moved with sucking waves of nauseating slurp and expelled clouds of stink — stink that could only be duplicated by plunging 3 dozen rotten eggs into a vat of decaying skunk flesh.

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Trust your readers and they’ll trust you. Give them the information they need to draw their own conclusions — and if the information is crafted with heart and plenty of thought, their deductions will match your expectations.

Why a Creative Ghostwriter?

Posted on by Jacinda Little

A question has been posed to me recently:  “Why would I want a ghostwriter who’s creative?”

I can understand the mentality behind this question. Wouldn’t creativity on the part of the ghostwriter stomp all over the voice of the piece’s author? Wouldn’t it seemed contrived, particularly to those who have read things the author’s written in the past? Or to those who have made stereotypical assumptions about the type of voice the author should have?

I suppose the answer to the question should be something like, “Yes, a professional ghostwriter should be creative-minded.” Why? There are a few reasons:

1) Problem Solving: Roadblocks litter the path to objectives, and often, an author isn’t equipped to hurdle them. That doesn’t mean that he or she in incapable; it simply means that a bit of creative thinking might be necessary for overcoming one or more of these barricades.

2) Perspective Shift:  Because the author has been working as an administrator of some type of service in his or her own respective field, he or she likely has one perspective — the one from inside the lab coat, inside the batter’s box, or at the switch inside the execution room. What’s it like to be on the cold end of the stethoscope? Or on the mound? Or on the outside of the viewing glass? Maybe it won’t be appropriate to include these perspectives in the author’s story, but the creativity necessary for real or imagined empathy (or the ambition for seeking out those points of view) is necessary for delivering a finished product that will appeal to a larger number of viewpoints.

3) Idea Expansion: Every great idea holds the potential to be even better. When you add a creative mind to the mix, what you get might be something you never expected.

4) Willingness: Remember that creative minds are also open minds. In order to experience the satisfaction that comes with successful conceptualization, the creative mind is naturally more willing to allow masses of information to enter without bias. It is also more adept at spitting out a product not unlike a delicious dish that prompts the question, “What’s in this? I’m going to need the recipe.”

5) Professionalism: Finally, I should touch on the implication that I made earlier. A professional (in attitude and experience) ghostwriter will refuse to bastardize the concepts put forth by the author. The creative ghostwriter will distinctively expand upon ideas, make them digestible, use them to inform and/or entertain, and do it all while making the author feel that what’s on paper belongs to him or her…because it does.

Of course, creativity is a relative term, and every human possesses some degree of creativity. Those degrees vary when manifested, due in part to opportunity and to the evaluator’s criteria. No matter how you define creativity, the introduction of another mind to any project, when handled judiciously by the newcomer, can only enhance what you have to offer. Without creativity, a ghostwriter is not a ghostwriter at all — he or she is an editor.

Food for Fiction: Newspaper Funnies

Posted on by Jacinda Little

Where do you get your short story and novel ideas? No matter your chosen genre, you might look to authentic life for subject matter…and where better to find real life than in the newspaper? There, you’ll find the best, and most often the worst, of this pack we call humanity. When I have the occasion to generate a short story (the bills aren’t stopping, and therefore neither is my ghostwriting), I like to consult local and national newspapers for help with sparking story ideas.  Today, I stumbled across some funny headlines and couldn’t help searching for some of their twisted cousins. Here are my favorites:

  • One-armed man applauds the kindness of strangers
  • Caskets found as workers demolish mausoleum
  • Alton attorney accidentally sues himself
  • Condom truck tips, spills load
  • Man eats underwear to beat breathalyzer
  • Sewage spill kills fish, but water safe to drink
  • Panda mating fails; veterinarian takes over
  • Marijuana issue sent to joint committee
  • Students cook & serve grandparents
  • Hippo eats dwarf
  • Lost:  African elephant
  • Topeka cemetery clean-up in need of volunteers:  A light lunch to follow provided by Waste Management of Kansas
  • Tight end returns after colon surgery
  • Miracle cure kills fifth patient
  • All you need to know about Obama’s package
  • A-Rod goes deep, Wang hurt
  • Hooker named lay person of the year
  • Blind man denied Minn. gun permit
  • Statistics show that teen pregnancy drops off significantly after age 25

Deeper probing took me to the police blotters:

  • A deputy responds to a report of a vehicle stopping at mail boxes. It was the mailman.
  • Wal-Mart: Police receive a report of a newborn infant found in a trash can. Upon investigation, officers discover it was only a burrito.
  • The Learning Center on Hanson Street reports a man across the way stands at his window for hours watching the center, making parents nervous. Police ID the subject as a cardboard cutout of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

And I have to give proper credit to the classifieds:

  • Human skull, used once only. Not plastic. $200 OBO
  • Full size mattress, Royal Tonic, 20 year warranty. Like new. Slight urine smell. $40
  • Potty chair, solid oak, light brown stain

Quick — grab a pen. By the time your diaphragm stops cramping, you’ll have come up with a storyline involving a Hannibal-Lecter-wanna-be mailman who delivers special-recipe burritos, or a veterinarian who learns to embrace both the yin and the yang. Come on — if you write it, I’ll read it.