Creative Leaps

Authors At Work:  On Getting Published  Just having past and existing samples of traditionally published/ self published/ locally published work is a good way to  approach a new company if you are interested in getting "work for hire" gigs or  an in-house/ freelance job. H aving a new work to shop is how you get published. Work on a great query letter and make sure you have a new unpublished work that may be of interest before you submit. In other words publishers/ agents/ editors  are AT WORK. A submission package is not about having them "meet" you, or learn about your interests and creative passions. Professionals  are always looking out for a fresh creative idea and point of view, and yours is best exhibited through  a  new work. PUT  a viable, publishable property in their hands to earn their interest. It is vital to research what a publisher, interested in your genre, is look for in submissions, and in what format   they wa...

On Wakeful Editing : How to bring a fresh eye to your work (Reference: Editing Fact and Fiction, Leslie T. Sharpe 1997, Cambridge Press) A creative writer is not "a language autocrat". The desire to be right should never inhibit the development of voice, flow of usage, sensitivity to sound and simple common sense. Graduates of the "I have learned a rule and will apply it" school, run the risk of "ignoring the niceties of stylistic variation and also changing the meaning of some sentences by shifting the emphasis." Mastery of standard usage are not to be dispensed with, but unique style and original flavor arise from the kind of flexibility  that writers and editors  risk when they appreciate that language is not cast in stone and is a living, changing organism. Above All, Happy Writing, JJ