Written Creations, LLC

Showing a point rather than just telling it is one of the characteristics of good writing — whether it be fiction or nonfiction.  This has come up recently with a client.  It has definitely come up in the past with students.

In journalism having facts to back up statements is what is important.  Those background facts are often what will show a point rather than just telling the writer that something is so.  Here’s an example:

Telling: More women have been diagnosed with interstitial cystitis than men.
Showing: Of the approximately 1 million Americans who have interstitial cystitis, 90 percent of them are female.

While both statements convey the same point, the second one is more effective.  It shows why the point is so.  It’s more specific.  It gives the reader more information.  It’s just better writing.

The same is true in fiction writing as well.  The best books I’ve read are by authors who are good at showing versus telling.  Off the top of my head, the best authors I think of who do this are R.A. Salvatore, J.K. Rowling, Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins.  They give us characters and story lines that we are drawn into because they show us what is happening.   Here’s an example:

Telling: Alana was nervous as she waited for her interview.
Showing: Alana had bitten her fingernails nearly to the nub as she sat, tapping her foot, waiting for her interview to begin.

Again, the same point is conveyed by the “showing” sentence paints a clearer picture for the reader.  We not only pick up on the fact that Alana is nervous, but we can better see her being nervous.

Think about the difference between showing and telling next time you pick up a book.  If you become enthralled with it and transported into that fictional world, I can almost guarantee you are reading an author who shows more than he or she tells.

One thing I’ve taught in journalism classes is the concept of community journalism.  It’s that responsibility of journalists to report on topics to better their communities.  Sometimes that community can be much larger than a certain geographic area.

Stories that can help people are just as important as reporting the latest headlines.  The press is still powerful, even with the Internet.  And, like Peter Parker’s Uncle Ben said, “With great power comes great responsibility.”

I was reminded of this recently through another blog — this one from Al Tompkins at Poynter.  His post discussed a conversation he had with the mother of a serviceman who committed suicide after returning from Iraq.  She wanted to compel journalists to write articles about resources available to veterans for mental health assistance.

While journalists don’t like to be told what to write, we are also responsible to our readers.  Good writers and editors focus on what their audiences want and need to read.  I agree that listening to readers’ suggestions are important.  And this topic, in particular, is a big one.

I have written numerous articles about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, specifically in relation to war veterans.  It is a topic that I care about.  It is a topic that is not discussed often enough.  And if the VA is lacking in its response to veterans’ needs, who better than journalists to bring it to light?  Who better than journalists to give desperate veterans information on where they can go for help?

We have a social responsibility.  We must take that seriously and be careful to not sensationalize.  We must remember our true purpose: to serve those who read our work.  Articles written for any other reason are not worth the ink they take to print.

The New York Times’ announcement yesterday that it will start charging for content in 2011 draws strong reactions from many folks.  Some say they’ll never pay for online content.  Others support the decision.  I have to admit that I fall into the latter category mostly because of how the New York Times has set up its payment structure.

The newspaper plans to allow general users access to a certain amount of articles each month and then charge a flat fee for unlimited access thereafter.  Subscribers will have completely free online content.  The New York Times continues to by mum about how many articles will be free.  As long as it’s a reasonable amount, then I agree with their choice.  The new format is designed to still be free for casual users and only charge those who really do read the entire newspaper for free.

Honestly, that makes sense to me.  Newspapers are a business.  Real-life journalists don’t work for free.  I certainly don’t.

Other newspaper, however, are struggling with what to do to make up for revenue lost to their online versions.  My local newspaper, for example, has started running one “enticing” article a day that it only teases on its Web site.  For the entire article, readers must purchase a hard copy of the paper.  Mostly, I find this annoying.  I like the New York Times idea in that it doesn’t make me get up and go somewhere to get the article.  I’d rather see my local newspaper charge a small fee online and have all content available there.

Media outlets continue to navigate the Internet waters and figure out how to use the Internet to boost sales and interest while not running themselves out of business by providing all free content.  As one of the largest newspapers in the country, this decision by the New York Times will most likely have repercussions throughout the country.  Smaller newspapers may mimic the model.  And, I have to say, I think it is one that will work.

Hats off to the New York Times!

When I decided to pursue freelance full-time six years ago, I knew I’d have to deal with my own taxes.  I set up a meeting with an accountant to know what I needed to track.  I must say, the bookkeeping side of having your own business was actually a bit more than I expected.  While I still don’t enjoy the bookkeeping that I have to do, I’ve gotten my system down and don’t mind it so much.

All that said, fourth quarter taxes are due tomorrow (Jan. 15), so I have taxes on the brain even though the rest of the United States doesn’t really start thinking about them this soon.  While writing checks to Uncle Sam isn’t exactly a thrill, I do take solace in the fact that owing taxes means I’m making money.  I try to focus on that.  I know that if I’m having to pay taxes that’s because I am earning an income.  That means people are hiring me to write for them, which is the ultimate goal of having a business!

And when annual tax time rolls around in a couple of months, I will also be thankful that I have an accountant to help me sort through everything.  I give him my records and he takes it from there.  He charges me to do this, of course, but I am glad to pay for his services.  It saves me so much headache.

So as I write out my fourth quarter tax check today and drop it in the mail, I will remain focused on the positive side of tax time!

Working from a home office means not having to worry so much about a business wardrobe.  But, even when spending all day in the office, what you wear makes a difference.

I have always dressed up in nice clothes to go for article interviews, client meetings or teaching classes.  On days I don’t leave the office, though, what I wear doesn’t matter as much.  Clients, interview subjects, editors and students can’t see me over the phone or through e-mail.

I learned early on, though, that I really am what I wear.  On days that I stay in my pajamas until noon, I am a bit more lackadaisical about my work.  On days I get dressed and do my hair and makeup right after breakfast, I seem more productive.  Somehow what I wear makes a difference.  I take my work seriously all the time.  Getting dressed for it, makes it even more serious to me.

And, of course, working from home doesn’t require me to wear shoes.  Another trick I learned has been that on days when my motivation is lacking, I put on a pair of shoes.  When I’m wearing shoes I’m more likely to keep my feet on the floor rather than have one tucked under me.  Sitting more formally and less casually also helps keep me going.

I think the whole thing boils down to how I feel about myself.  While I am comfortable in my PJs, I don’t feel like I’m at my best.  I wouldn’t want people to see me.  Being more presentable makes me feel better about myself and, in turn, makes me have more energy to do the work I need and love to do!

Just in time for Christmas, my computer decided to end its life.  OK, it’s not actually dead just yet, but it’s well on the way.  If it were human, the family would have been called in.  It kept getting slower and slower.  My husband checked it out, being the wonderful IT guy that he is, and found the processor is going bad.  Unfortunately we were unable to buy a new processor.

So, after doing some research online and in person, we found a good deal and purchased a new laptop last week.  I realize during times like these how much I rely on technology.  I know I’ve written about this a time or two before, but I had to again.  The last week I’ve been in transition from one computer to the other.  Right now, my Outlook, which organizes my entire life, is still not moved over to the new computer.  So for e-mail and calendar functions, I pull out the old slow computer.  For just about everything else, I’m using the new one.

The transition should be complete within the next couple of days.  Then I’ll have a whole new issue to face — saying goodbye to the old computer.  Every time I get a new computer, I cry over the old one.  It’s insane, I know.  I just get attached and think of all we’ve been through together.  First it was classes we went through together.  Then it was writing my thesis.  Then it was starting my business.  You get the idea.  I have resolved not to cry this time around, but I do that every time.

I do, perhaps, rely too much on technology, but I’m not sure I have too much choice in this day and age.  I know my business wouldn’t be successful without it.  And so I mourn the loss of an old friend and look forward to getting to know a new one!

Bear with me as I go off topic from writing in this blog post, but I have something on my heart I must share.

As I write this with Christmas just days away, I am struck by the difference I feel this Christmas.  I have had Christmases that were different before.  There were two Christmases that were difficult after losing a loved one.  There was a Christmas spent in the hospital waiting to see if another loved one would pull through — and by the grace of God she did.

This Christmas is different in a better way, though.  This Christmas I have a daughter.  This Christmas I understand parental love.  I have always marveled at God sending His Son, knowing that He would have to die for our sins.  And I would think how I couldn’t imagine giving up a loved one like that.  I struggled to imagine even giving my beloved dog for that reason.  Now I look at my daughter’s precious face, and I know I couldn’t do it.  I don’t have that kind of love in me like God does.

I think about Mary and how she spent hours feeding baby Jesus and changing his diapers, just as I am doing with my daughter now, and I am breathless to think how she must have felt to see him hanging on the cross.

And I think about the cross.  I have always been grateful for Jesus’ sacrifice.  I have always been thankful for God’s faithfulness and love even when I fall so short.  But I am so much more grateful that He did those things for my daughter.  I want only the best for her.  I know He is the best, and I am so thankful that He was willing to give Himself for her.  I am awestruck that He loves her even more than I do.  I don’t think it’s possible, and yet I know it is because He is God.

So this Christmas will be different.  I will enjoy time with family.  I will enjoy giving and receiving gifts.  I will enjoy good food.  I will especially enjoy holding my baby girl.  But more than anything, I will be more thankful for the ultimate gift given to us in God’s Son.

May you have a joyous Christmas!

So, it’s been a couple of months since my last blog post.  I took some time off to have a baby.  Our baby girl is the first child for my husband and me.  Now I’m easing my way back into work — and working is a bit different.

I have always thought that working from home would be great whenever we decided to start a family.  And while it is great, it is also teaching me a few lessons along the way.  Those lessons will most assuredly pop up in this blog.

The first one I have to start with now is flexibility.  I have always thought that I am flexible with my work.  If someone needed to change an interview time at the last minute, I was fine with that.  If I had a big deadline and needed to work on an evening or weekend, I was also fine with that.  I am having to hone my flexibility skills of not being able to plan everyday quite as stringently as I used to.  Now I work around feedings that take longer than usual, dirty diapers and fussiness that just happens for no apparent reason.

I’ve gotten creative about when I get my work done.  The typical business hours aren’t really a factor any more.  I have become flexible.  I figure if I get through the day and have completed my work tasks and have a happy baby with a full belly and clean diaper, then I am OK.  So far, it’s worked, but I’ve only been at this for a week and a half.

I’ll continue to share tips and lessons along the way of what I learn about how to best maintain a home office while also “maintaining” a baby!

We all have moments where we do something and find ourselves embarrassed.  And for those of you like me, that embarrassment really does lead to a red face.

Today, I’m taking a jab at myself and the faux pas that I’ve made in the past when trying to be a svelte business person.  We all have them.

My most recent red-face moment happened a couple of months ago.  I was working on a series of articles for my local newspaper.  I was conducting interviews with business owners all over the city.  I headed to a downtown restaurant that is closed for a couple of hours between lunch and dinner.  The owner asked me to come during the downtime.

I entered the closed restaurant, told the employee who I was there to see and he went off to find the owner.  I stood beside the bar, waiting.  A minute later, a well-dressed man came walking through with a purpose.  I assumed he was the owner.  Trying to be assertive and overcome my natural shyness, I stuck out my hand and said, “Hi, I’m Stacey with The Star Press.”  The man kindly took my hand, shook it and responded, “Hi, Stacey.  I’m just passing through.”

I’m not sure what I said, if I even said anything.  I do know my cheeks turned bright red, though.  Now, it’s quite funny.  It was a bit funny then, but it was definitely more embarrassing.

And of course smaller embarrassments happen as well.  I have a small digital voice recorder that I often use for in-person interviews.  Combine that with my clumsiness and the formula for disaster is quite apparent.  I was interviewing a local school principal for an article when the recorder flew out of my hand and hit the floor.  Like everything I own, I’ve dropped this recorder numerous times, but somehow this time it hit just right and the cover flew off and the batteries rolled out.  Yeah, I’m a professional…  Definitely worth a good laugh now, though!

Even though it isn’t a work-related incident, I have one more red-in-the-face moment to share with you.  I suppose sharing my shame is cathartic!  Not so long ago, my husband and I were working around our house.  He needed to make a quick trip to the home improvement store.  I decided to tag along.  Since we’d been working, I had on old clothes and ran inside to change quickly into something more presentable.

I grabbed a green V-neck T-shirt from my closet and threw it on with some clean jeans.  We headed to the store.  I never looked in the mirror.  As we were walking in, I realized I was getting a breeze on my back.  Yep, I’d put my shirt on backward.  I looked down and realized the size information was on the front.  Not only was it backward, but it was also inside-out.  I was already embarrassed.

Fast forward to paying for our items.  The cashier looked at me a minute and said, “You’re shirt is on inside out.”  I mumbled something about how I knew that.  Then he said, “And it’s backwards.”  Yeah, thanks for pointing out my incompetence!  I was definitely red-faced over that one.

No matter what happens to embarrass us, at the end of the day we are at least left with good stories and good laughs.  We are left with lessons learned.  I know make sure to find out who is walking toward me before I introduce myself.  I am still working to clutch tighter to my recorder and not drop it.  And I most definitely check my clothes to make sure they are right-side out before I put them on.

Feel free to share your red-in-the-face moments so that I don’t feel quite so alone…

Part of this blog is to share with you the ins and outs of freelancing.  While I’ve listed the drawbacks of being a freelancer on here before, I also felt it was important to share some of the tasks I dread.  Though these are tasks that I personally dread, I know they aren’t dread-worthy for everyone.  Perhaps I just needed to vent them!

Updating my clips. I love what I do.  I love having articles published, but I hate organizing my clips once I have them.  Right now I have a pile in my office of clips that need to be organized.  I started by cutting out each article, pasting it on black card stock and inserting it into a sleeve in my portfolio.  I’ve stopped doing that for all articles because I have too many.  But, I still try to do that for my big articles that I’m most excited about and want to really showcase.  I also will scan clips to have the electronically for my Web site.  However, I put it off.  This task is especially easy to put off because I can justify that doing paying work takes precedence over non-paid work.  The downside is that I end up with older clips than I’d like to have on my Web site, too, which could inhibit my paying work.

Processing income. I also love getting paid for what I do.  But as a self-employed person, it’s up to me to track every check that comes across my desk for paying taxes.  I also have to track them to ensure I’m getting paid for the work I do.  I tend to let check stubs pile up until there are a few to process at a time.  I’m not sure why I put that off, but I do.

Processing expenses. This is pretty much the same as above.  I tend to wait until I have a few expenses to track, like mileage, office supplies, etc., before I knuckle down and just process the information.  All I have to do is enter it into a spreadsheet, file receipts and make sure my business check register is updated, but I still put it off many times.

Filing. This kind of goes along with processing expenses, but filing is another task I just don’t enjoy.  I’ll let the aforementioned receipts stack up a bit before filing them.  I’ll have a pile on my desk of papers that need to be filed somewhere in my office that I also let stack up.  I just put it off.

I guess that’s my top list of tasks that aren’t fun.  They are all part of my work, but I’d much rather be researching and writing than conquering these tasks.  Since none of them directly result in income, I find it all too easy to make excuses for putting them off.

What tasks do you avoid doing?