Beth Barany's Blog, page 8

Collaborative Writing: It’s Okay to Play! by Jasper Ezekiel

This week’s featured article is “Collaborative Writing: It’s Okay to Play! by Jasper Ezekiel.” Enjoy!

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Collaborative writing saved my marriage.

Collaborative writing is actually the entire basis of my relationship.

During the two years when COVID was at its worst, from 2020-2022, when I was doing college online and my husband (then-boyfriend) was going from job to job, we wrote a whopping 2000 pages together.

How did we do that?

Through a shared passion of writing and the rich characters we built together.

But wait, isn’t writing supposed to be a lonely art?!

It doesn’t have to be.

Let me share a couple of ways that I believe collaboration is vital to the creative process.

We’re Already Collaborating

Have you ever called up a friend to complain that your plot isn’t going the way that you want it to?

Have you ever told a stranger about your book and through the conversation, worked out a plothole you didn’t realize was there?

Has someone ever asked you a question about one of your characters that made everything click into place for you?

Congratulations! You’re already a collaborative writer!

Writing, just like everything else human beings do, is a social affair. It’s meant to be done with other people.

With their input, with their feedback, with their support.

Even if you are a lonely writer with no one who reads your work, even mentioning that you’re a writer to someone in public is a way of collaborating with the world and letting everyone know, hey! I do stuff!

A Deeper Connection

Writing with someone else is a great way to form a deeper connection with them.

The obvious example from my own life is the rich and deep history of writing between me and my husband.

Because both of us grew up roleplaying on message forums in the 2010’s, we both have a history of understanding collaborative writing.

When I entered the relationship with my husband, we were in an East Coast-West Coast long distance relationship.

Writing collaboratively kept our love life alive.

If I couldn’t actually cuddle with him or buy him gifts, I could write about our characters doing it for each other, which was close enough to the same thing that we survived until he was able to move in with me.

But collaborative writing isn’t only for romantic partners.

When I was a kid and learning how to write, in the rich days of really exploring the written word for the first time, I wrote collaboratively with all my friends.

We wrote fantastical escape stories about young kids who were abducted by aliens, who were secretly dragon princesses, who got on a magical train that never stopped.

It was a beautiful game of pretend we got to do, working on our parts of the stories at school and coming home to write together over the internet.

It deepened my relationships with my friends because we got to go on amazing adventures together while going to different schools and only seeing each other on the weekends.

You’re Never Too Old to Play

Playing pretend is something that’s hard to do as an adult, but play is a vital part of human living, not just for kids!

Collaborative writing is an acceptable way to play pretend with your friends.

Do you know someone who’s a writer who you want to explore the worlds of?

Do you have a friend who’s never written before who you know would be great at it?

Does your partner not have a creative bone in their body but loves to watch TV?

Try dropping them a line!

Collaborative writing starts with talking about your character and your plot and while you may never make it to the page, humans are natural born storytellers.

I’ve never started a storytelling game with someone that I know and walked away feeling bored!

Play with all the people you know! Maybe you’ll get a whole book out of it!

While these are some great reasons to write collaboratively, you might be wondering how.

Look for my next article for more information on some specific ways you can write collaboratively with the people in your life.

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About The Author

Jasper Ezekiel is a poet and all around writer from the San Francisco Bay Area. He’s also an illustrator, a photographer, a fiber artist, a jokester and a huge dork. His book of poetry is called Good, Clean Mania and is available on several digital platforms, as well as in print through Amazon.

You can find him on Instagram @s8nicangel

Good, Clean Mania is a collection of three zines that Jasper Ezekiel put together over the years of 2020-2022. These zines have been further edited into completion to be the book you hold in your hands today. Topics of Jasper’s poetry spans from things like God and love to a bad day at the hardware store to a connection with his cat right before she passed away.

https://books2read.com/u/mlxZ6A

The post Collaborative Writing: It’s Okay to Play! by Jasper Ezekiel appeared first on Writer's Fun Zone.

A Novice Writer’s Battle by Iman Llompart

Today we welcome a new guest writer to Writer’s Fun Zone, Iman Llompart who is stopping by to chat with us about “A Novice Writer’s Battle.” Enjoy!

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The Struggle with the Blank Page

As a writer, especially one who hesitates before diving head-on into the blank page, I need to be in the right mindset before taking the plunge.

Like someone psyching themselves up before attempting something daunting, I imagine myself shaking my head, rolling my shoulders, and preparing for the fight ahead. Writing is a battle, and I have to be ready.

Seeking Inspiration from the Greats

One thing I often turn to for motivation is reading interviews or blog posts from accomplished writers about their journey into this crazy profession.

Are these resources helpful? Absolutely.

Do they always push me past my fear of the blank page? That depends on the day. But they consistently make me wonder.

It’s encouraging to see others achieve their dreams, knowing that if they can do it, so can I.

But what about the rest of us?

The unknowns, the novices, the ones still clawing our way toward authorship?

Successful writers acknowledge their struggles, yet they rarely talk about the raw fear, anxiety, and inadequacy they felt before making it.

The Reality of the Novice Writer

We are at the very bottom, while they are far ahead. Sometimes, I think it would help to hear about those early-day battles–the constant mini-wars of finishing a manuscript, editing it, landing an agent, and eventually getting published.

I am one of these novices. 

I’m writing a fantasy novel, and sometimes I ask myself, What the hell was I thinking choosing this genre?

All writing is complex, but creating an entire world adds an extra layer of pressure to keep everything synchronized.

Drowning in the Writing Process

There are moments when my brain is barely above water, struggling to construct coherent scenarios.

At these times, reading about others wrestling with the written word helps keep me from spiraling.

Some days, I feel elated and inspired to write.

But those moments come in waves, and by the time I reread my work, that initial excitement has often faded under the weight of my critical editing voice.

Imposter syndrome is a constant companion, especially now that I’m nearing the end of my rough draft.

Currently, I’m on Chapter 24 of my planned 28-chapter epic fantasy novel.

I’ve been stuck on this chapter for over a week, writing mostly in my head and only putting words on paper over the weekends.

The closer I get to the end, the harder it feels to push forward. I almost miss the beginning stages–chapters 5, 6, or 7–when all I had to do was pose questions without the pressure of answering them.

Finding a Way Forward

So, how am I overcoming this?

I’ve joined writing sessions and sprints. 

Being surrounded by other writers in the same position gives me hope.

I remind myself that rough drafts are supposed to be messy.

Unless you’ve been writing forever, most first drafts are crap.

And that’s okay.

Even if my manuscript doesn’t end on a perfect note, editing will shape it later. I’m learning to give myself grace.

Perfection isn’t the goal right now–progress is.

That’s why connecting with like-minded writers, whether in person or through their work, is so powerful.

It fuels my fighting spirit and helps me win my inner battle.

Your Battle Against Perfectionism

What about you?

How do you push past the pressure of perfectionism when working on your project?

How do you silence your inner editor and keep writing?

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About The Author

Iman Llompart is a Spanish American writer based in Dubai, raised in Mexico, and currently navigating the final stages of the rough draft of an epic fantasy romance novel. Passionate about storytelling and the writing process, Iman understands the struggles that many novice writers face—the self-doubt, the isolation, and the challenge of completing a book. Through blog posts, insights, and personal experiences, Iman seeks to remind fellow writers that they are not alone on this journey.

When not writing, Iman enjoys reading, deep-diving into writing sessions and lessons, and watching book-based shows and movies. Occasionally, she also braves the unpredictable world of dating—an adventure that sometimes feels more daunting than crafting an entire novel. With a love for words and a mission to inspire, Iman hopes to one day share her finished manuscript and continue helping others through the power of storytelling.

Instagram @imanllompart • Instagram photos and videos

The post A Novice Writer’s Battle by Iman Llompart appeared first on Writer's Fun Zone.

How Ancient Female Warriors Shape Our Future

How Ancient Female Warriors Shape Our Future – How To Write the Future podcast, episode 146

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“Women have had an impact in world history throughout the ages. We just haven’t been told those stories.  So one of my missions in life is to bring these stories to life, both through fiction and through nonfiction.”

Dive into “How Ancient Female Warriors Shape Our Future”, an episode for How To Write The Future podcast, where host Beth Barany shares stories of female warriors throughout history, challenging myths and revealing their crucial roles shaped civilization. And how knowing these stories can help us shape our futures.

Content/Trigger Warning: Mention of sexual assault

Platforms The podcast is available on Apple Podcasts | Buzzsprout | Spotify | Podcast Addict | Amazon Music| YouTube

RESOURCES 

Free World Building Workbook for Fiction Writers: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/world-building-resources/

Sign up for the 30-minute Story Success Clinic with Beth Barany: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/story-success-clinic/

Get support for your fiction writing by a novelist and writing teacher and coach. Schedule an exploratory call here and see if Beth can support you today: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/discovery-call/

About the How To Write the Future podcast 

The How To Write The Future podcast is for science fiction and fantasy writers who want to write positive futures and successfully bring those stories out into the marketplace. Hosted by Beth Barany, science fiction novelist and creativity coach for writers. We cover tips for fiction writers. This podcast is for readers too if you’re at all curious about the future of humanity.

This podcast is for you if you have questions like:

– How do I create a believable world for my science fiction story?

– How do I figure out what’s not working if my story feels flat?

– How do I make my story more interesting and alive?

This podcast is for readers too if you’re at all curious about the future of humanity.

Transcript for Ancient Female Warriors Shape Our Future [00:00] Introduction to the Podcast 

Hey everyone. Beth Barany here with How to Write the Future Podcast. I am a creativity coach, book editor, book coach and novelist. I write science, fiction and fantasy. 

I run this podcast because I like to talk about issues and topics and ideas that can help us as writers shape the future, shape our futures. There is more than one future. We each have a road in front of us that will be created as we create it and collectively as humanity. There are many futures, 

[00:36] The Importance of Historical Narratives

One of the best ways to understand who we could be and what we could become as humans is to look at our past. Now, often when people look at the past, they only see the bad things and they only see what has been taught in school. But actually there’s so much more about human history that is still hidden.

And I have to tell you that it’s been a big question of mine my entire life: how come we don’t know the full history of our say of our family’s past? How come we don’t have all the stories of the different people that made up the past? History is not just by people who conquered or kings.

And in fact, half of humanity is female. So let’s include women and their impact in the past. 

[01:24] Women Warriors in History

Today I wanna talk about women warriors in history, specifically, based on these three books that I have that I’m gonna talk about in a minute. 

And I just wanna say that the power of storytelling, the power of media to shape our minds and our hearts when we’re children is huge.

No one can deny that. So we wanna give children images and stories about who they could be, and we do that by drawing from the past and drawing from mythology and fairytales and folklore and from the stories people write. 

Now, when I was a kid, I read folklore and fairytales like crazy. I loved them so much, but always, it was a boy going on an adventure, rescuing some girl sometimes, and sometimes just facing off against monsters and things.

And I really was disappointed about that. I thought, wait, where’s the girls going on adventures? I wanted to have adventures. How come I didn’t see that in stories? And maybe because I was brought up inside of a feminist family with a feminist legacy– a feminist legacy that goes back several generations all the way as far as I know, back to my great, great grandmother. I was like, how come the stories, these folk tales that feel so old and ancient and passed down through the generations, how come there’s no girls going on adventures? So that was my big question as a kid that really drove me as a creative writer eventually. And why I’ve written Henrietta the Dragon Slayer series, my Janey McCallister mystery Sci-Fi investigator series, and why I am so interested and excited when I first discovered that there are these books out here about women warriors. 

So I’m gonna talk about them and also, so I’m gonna share a little bit about them.

[03:14] Book Review: Encyclopedia of Amazons 

The first book I’m gonna talk about is the Encyclopedia of Amazons: Women Warriors from Antiquity To The Modern Era. 

Now this book was published in 1991 I bought a used copy because it’s out of print now. And it is a fabulous, historical oriented book. And it says here that “This book is a comprehensive compendium of often little known heroic female combatants through the ages whose lives and exploits are as remarkable as those of history’s widely known heroes. With more than 1000 entries, this meticulously researched work focuses on Amazons, martial nuns, meanedes, warrior queens, pirates, guerillas, avenging goddesses.” 

Okay, there it moves over into storyland. 

“And other unconventional women whose lives were spent in valorous combat. Excluding spies, assassins, and criminals, entries range throughout world culture to include ancient mythology, religion, literature, Native American folklore, Middle Eastern history, Wild West lore and stories of World War II resistance fighters.”

Okay, so she brings in story and fact.

“A uniquely original vision of women’s heroism and history, the Encyclopedia of Amazons should forever dispel the myth of women as weak and helpless or as passive participants in world history. “

That is my biggest point. 

“Women have had an impact in world history throughout the ages. We just haven’t been told those stories.” So one of my missions in life is to bring these stories to life, both through fiction and through nonfiction. 

I have to say that I did read this entire book. It’s organized alphabetically and I really I enjoyed it and I think I’d like to read it again.

One of the things that’s happened as I read these encyclopedias is I really wished for narrative, for story for each of them. 

Alright, let me talk about the second one. 

[05:27] Book Review: Women Warriors by David E. Jones

It’s called Women Warriors: A History. It’s by David E. Jones.

“Cultural anthropologist, David E. Jones takes the reader back through history and around the world to uncover a clear pattern of women as warriors. Women Warriors is the most comprehensive account of the female martial heritage available and a fascinating comment on the nature of gender, on the power of the warrior image and on the images source and history.”

Now, this book was published in, and I have notes, I wrote notes all over the margins, published in 1997. One of the things that I learned in these books is that in the British Isles before the Romans got there, or actually the Romans must have gotten there by then because they recorded Celtic history and then they destroyed the Celtic cultures. There was fight schools for women, and I saw that referenced in another book I have on Celtic Women.

“When researching celtic military customs in ancient Britain, I read of the two major martial arts schools of the time, both run by women warriors.” 

Now, if that’s not the start of a story, I don’t know what is.

So I like that he puts things into historical context. This book is organized by region, by geography, and it’s global, which I really appreciate: Arabia, Asia, India, British Isles Africa, Latin America, Egypt, Middle East, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, North America. And he has a summary chapter, the female martial heritage. 

[06:59] Woman as Hunter 

In the last few years, I heard a report that I will cite in the notes that archeologists have revised their, analysis of grave sites where they thought male warriors were buried and they realized that half of the archeological record is actually showing that 50% of the people that they thought were men who were the hunters were actually women.

There are women who, like myself, who are interested in the hunt, who are interested in the adventure. And I would say probably 50% of the women out there in the world are interested in being hunters and warriors. Just not all men are interested in being hunters. Probably about 50% of the men are also interested in hunting, that kind of thing.

Alright, one last, book I wanna talk about today. 

[07:51] Book Review: Women Warriors by Pamela D. Toler

It’s called Women Warriors and Unexpected History by Pamela D. Toler, and I have the hardback for this.

Let’s find the summary of this book. Let’s see:

“Who says women don’t go to war? From Vikings and African queens to cross-dressing military doctors and World War II Russian fighter pilots, these are the stories of women for whom battle was not a metaphor.”

I really enjoyed this book. It’s told from a historian’s perspective. There were no flights of fancy in here, only reference to the historical record, which I really respect, and I found that the writing style is very different than with the other two. 

So here’s a little bit more about this book, about Pamela Toler’s book. 

“The Woman Warrior is always cast as an anomaly. Joan of Arc, not GI Jane, but women, it turns out have long gone to war. In this fascinating and lively world history, Pamela Toler not only introduces us to women who took up arms, but also shows why they did it and what happened when they stepped out of their traditional female roles to take on other identities. These are the stories of women who fought because they wanted to, because they had to, or because they could.

Among the warriors you’ll meet are these: Tomyris, ruler of the Matai who killed Cyrus, the Great of Persia when he sought to invade her lands. The West African ruler Amina of Hausa, who led her warriors in a campaign of territorial expansion for more than 30 years.

Boudica, who led the Celtic Tribes of Britain into a massive rebellion against the Roman Empire to avenge the rapes of her daughters; the Truang Sisters Chung Track and Truang Nhi, who led an untrained army of 80,000 troops to drive the Chinese emperor out of Vietnam.

The Joshi Gun, 30 combat trained Japanese women who fought against the forces of the Maji Empire in the late 19th century. Lakshmi Ba Rani ab Jonsi, who was regarded as the bravest and best military leader in the 1857 Indian Mutiny against British rule, Maria, Butch Eva, who commanded Russia’s first all female battalion, the first women’s battalion of death during World War II.

Buffalo Calf Road Woman, the Cheyenne warrior who knocked General Custer off his horse at the Battle of Little Bighorn. Juan De a Mestiza warrior who fought in at least 16 major battles against colonizers of Latin America and who is a national hero in Bolivia and Argentina today, NAZA Rova, who served for 10 years in a Russian cavalry unit, disguised as a man, and was the first woman to receive the Russian Cross of St. George. By considering the ways in which their presence has been erased from history, Toler reveals that women have always fought, not in spite of being women, but because they are women.”  

[10:50] Book Review: Warrior Women by Janine Davis Kimball

I also wanna talk about this book, Warrior Women: An Archeologist’s Search For History’s Hidden Heroines by Janine Davis Kimball, PhD with Mona Behan. Behan.

This book. Wow. I was so impressed. This is the story of an archeological dig in what is now we’re talking, let’s see. Yes. Kazakhstan, a remote region, hundreds of miles southeast of Moscow, and halfway to Mongolia. So here is where this archeologist uncovered evidence for a culture that women seemed to have three roles.

And this is based on the archeological record. According to her interpretation, they were either, hearth, they took care of the hearth– food, cooking, probably children; Warriors. There’s evidence of women being buried with accoutrement of war and horse care. And the third role was shaman, someone who healed and visioned.

I really was impressed with this book, very engaging. And also there is a documentary about herresearch, I believe about 10 years after this book came out. And this book was published in 2002, copyright 2002.

[12:13] Conclusion and Call to Action

So this is my episode today on women warriors. Women have been warriors and fighters throughout history and hunters as well. And, from what we know of the archeological evidence.

So all this to say, history holds way more complexity and way more interesting stories that has generally been revealed in the textbooks that are offered to us as children. Thankfully, there are a lot more stories out there about interesting people in history and about women warriors.

So my dream is to create stories about these real women and create fictionalized stories so we can actually experience them. Just the way we experience a novel. It’s one thing to read a historical entry in a book. It’s a whole other thing to create a story around them and create a lived experience.

So that’s one of my dreams. 

[13:05] This is my sandbox + Invitation to connect

I really love having this podcast as a place a sandbox to explore ideas and share them with you, and also improve my skills and the video department, as well as the audio. And it’s also my way to interact with you, so I would love to hear your thoughts on women warriors in history. 

And is there any particular woman warrior that you would love to know more about?

I didn’t go into any detail today because there are so many to talk about, which is really wonderful. In the future, maybe I will.

I also wanna let you know that I am someone who cares deeply about the craft of fiction. And I love working with writers who care as well, and who wanna get their stories out in the world and need support, and especially, I’m really great at the one-on-one support as well as being a teacher and coming into writing organizations and teaching hands-on workshops that produce value right away.

If you are interested in connecting with me about my one-on-one work with writers, or coming into your group organization to teach, please contact me. All the details about this or at my website, Beth Barany dot com, how to contact me, the kinds of, programs I offer writers, and the one-on-one coaching and consulting that I do.

All right. That’s it for this week, everyone. Write long and prosper.

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***ABOUT BETH BARANY

Beth Barany teaches science fiction and fantasy novelists how to write, edit, and publish their books as a coach, teacher, consultant, and developmental editor. She’s an award-winning fantasy and science fiction novelist and runs the podcast, “How To Write The Future.”

 

Learn more about Beth Barany at these sites: 

 

Author site /  Coaching site / School of Fiction / Writer’s Fun Zone blog

CONNECT

Contact Beth: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/podcast/#tve-jump-185b4422580

Email: beth@bethbarany.com

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethbarany/

IG: https://www.instagram.com/bethbarany/

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X: https://twitter.com/BethBarany

CREDITS EDITED WITH DESCRIPT: https://www.descript.com?lmref=_w1WCA (Refer-a-Friend link)MUSIC CREDITS : Music from Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/fuzz-buzz License code: UMMKDRL02DFGKJ0L. “Fuzz buzz” by Soundroll. Commercial license: https://musicvine.com/track/soundroll/fuzz-buzz.DISTRIBUTED BY BUZZSPROUT: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1994465 (Refer-a-Friend link)SHOW PRODUCTION BY Beth BaranySHOW CO-PRODUCTION + NOTES by Kerry-Ann McDade#

2025 BETH BARANY

https://bethbarany.com/

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How Learning to Write Funny Improved All of My Writing by LA Bourgeois

Let’s welcome back LA Bourgeois as she shares with us “How Learning to Write Funny Improved All of My Writing.” Enjoy!

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When I began to study humor writing (which, full disclosure, happened after I began writing humorous essays for my Diary of a Lesbian Housewyfe newsletter and book), I discovered that incorporating those techniques into my craft improved it beyond helping me write funny lines. And that’s why The Elements of Humor: The Tools of Comedy that Make You Funnier, Happier, and Better Looking by Scott Dikkers made it onto the list of our Books for Thriving Creatives series.

The thing about Dikkers’ books about humor writing is that they give you solid, actionable tools that work every single time. And this newest book from him, geared toward the casual humorist, is filled with encouragement as well. As he writes, “Everyone is funny. Many of us just haven’t developed the skill.”

This book teaches the skill. And the magician’s trick in all of this is that, when you focus on injecting humor into your writing, you automatically improve it.

Scenes become visceral as you capture the feeling the hero has as he slips on that classic banana peel.

Situations sparkle as you transform that banana peel into an original whoopsie-doodle.

Word choice zings as you eliminate the unnecessary and find new ways to inject resonance for your readers.

Here are a few ways to get started with humor writing:

It’s a Cliché but…Get Rid of the Clichés

Uncovering clichés in writing and getting rid of them means discovering new ways to say old things and questioning typical word choices.

“In almost all cases, you have a choice,” Dikkers says. “You can communicate plainly or you can communicate humorously.”

By making the decision to communicate humorously, finding an original way to write the sentence automatically creates a resonance with the audience.

Play with Your Writing

“A writer or performer needs to riff on a comedy take to find new jokes that build on each other to expand on the initial concept and build out the humorous, askew world,” says Dikkers.

Once you’ve made the decision to pop some humor into a scene, play around with the concept.

Move words and sentences around.

Streamline the work.

Play with word choice. 

Read it aloud to friends and family to discover where people laugh.

Make It Positive

And, as you play, make it positive!

Dikkers writes, “A key formula to remember when creating humor is ‘comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.’”

By incorporating positive energy into your piece, the reader automatically begins to smile with the experience… and it’s easier to bring a reader from a smile to a laugh!

Thinking Differently with Funny Filters

Dikkers’ “Funny Filters” gave me a toolset to look at stories from a variety of perspectives.

Thinking differently about any subject cracks your mind and allows new inspiration to seep inside.

“When the humor works, this single incongruity, the thing that makes this new world different, is funny,” he says. Using these filters consistently helps me write delightful pieces with unusual points of view–and gets people subscribe (and pay!) for my Diary of a Lesbian Housewyfe newsletter and respond to freelance writing pitches.

Whether or not you plan on writing humor, learning this writing technique improves writing overall. Plus, the tools of comedy make it easier to write pithy social media posts, engage folx over email, and create sparkling art that enchants.

Encourage your inner comedian and level up your writing…in the funniest way possible!

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If you haven’t read The Elements of Humor yet, visit your local library or bookstore (or order online) and pick up a copy.

The next book in our Books for Thriving Creatives series is Choose Your Life Purposes: A Step-by-Step Guide to Self-Awareness, Empowerment and Success by Eric Maisel, PhD. Practically speaking, this book can be read over a series of visits to the bathroom since its chapters are only 2-3 pages long. What the what?! Talk about an easy read! This series of short essays rebukes the notion that we only have one life purpose, and leads you through a process to identify core values and foster personal growth. Grab a copy and begin reading today!

Need tips on finishing those pesky craft books? Read How to Finish Reading A Book . And for those who want to make sure they learn those lessons, check out How to Remember What You Read !

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ABOUT LA BOURGEOIS

LA (as in tra-la-la) Bourgeois is a Kaizen-Muse Certified Creativity Coach and author who helps clients embrace the joy of their creative work and thrive while doing it.

Get more of her creativity ideas and techniques by subscribing to her newsletter at https://subscribepage.io/unlockyourcreativity.

The post How Learning to Write Funny Improved All of My Writing by LA Bourgeois appeared first on Writer's Fun Zone.

Q&A with Lisbeth Mizula

Please welcome Lisbeth Mizula to our Featured Author Q&A series at Writer’s Fun Zone. Enjoy!

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If you’d like to be considered for an interview, check out our guidelines here.

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About Lisbeth Mizula

I’ve written and performed my own stand-up comedy material, published short fiction in local and national publications, and collected wins in writing contests.

I have a horror/romance novella in editing stage and am currently working on a humorous mystery set in Good Deeds, Texas — the small bay town where good deeds are legally required of all residents every Tuesday, the only acceptable excuses being jail, institutions or death.

I live with her husband, brother, and a dog named Noodle.

On to Our Interview!Q. Tell us who you are and what inspires you to write.

A. My parents loved comedy. I grew up watching sitcoms and Johnny Carson, and getting into trouble for drinking and taking drugs.

I sobered-up in 1985 but it wasn’t till taking a novel writing course in 2006 that I got the idea that maybe I could write a novel.

I got a part time job working at a bookstore planning to work around other people’s books while I tried to convince myself I could write one.

The novel kept changing. The one I just finished, Writing is Murder, will be my first published novel which I hope to have completed by December 2025.

Q. How did you get to this place in your life? Share your story!

A. Ha! Started off practically asking people for permission to write, then spent years looking for someone to tell me what to write.

Took courses, seminars, & webinars on writing, worked with mentors where I basically did squat.

The filled bookcases and piles of books on writing in my office are at the ridiculous stage.

But, I’m finally writing what I want — humorous mystery that makes people laugh.

As a kid, mom would encourage me… I’d do a comedy bit and she’d say, ‘You’re retarded. You’re just retarded.’ You can’t buy that kind of support.

Q. What are you most passionate about?

A. Comedy & encouraging people to follow their dreams.

I want to inspire people to love themselves as they are, and to make them forget for a moment their husband is in the next room with only months to live, or that there is no way in hell they are ever going to be able to pay off their debts.

Q. Can you tell us a little bit about your writing process, routine, and/or rituals around your writing?

A. All my classes, books, and mentor advice led to this:

Write first drafts by hand.

Know the night before the scene I’m going to be working on tomorrow.

Write basic details for scenes in the notebook and when I go to bed, put my notebook on my nightstand.

Upon awakening, the notebook comes with me to the coffee machine.

When coffee is ready, bring coffee, and a large thermos of ice water,  and notebook to the office.

With actual recordings of ocean sounds in the background playing on the computer, sit on comfy chair at desk, sip coffee, and apply pen to paper — write the scene I sketched out in the notebook last night.

Take breaks as needed for breakfast or bathroom and acknowledge the existence of other living beings when paths cross but do not let anyone go into details about ANYTHING — just hello, I love you, see you soon.

Even if I only had time for a writing session that lasted fifteen minutes – feel good about myself. I am doing what I’ve dreamed of doing for years.

Be friendly and supportive to all people I see for the rest of the day–I can afford it–I’m self-actualized.

Q. What are a few challenges you faced in creating, marketing, or publishing your creative work? And your solutions to them.

A. I’m facing them now.

What am I supposed to be doing here?

I’m looking at those books on writing and most of them have nothing useful to say about publishing or marketing.

I’m a member of Sisters In Crime, and just with this latest short story publication, I’ve become an active member for the first time in many years.

I’ve been in a few critique groups over the years and they all fizzled out for one reason or another except one where I go when I can get the time in –but at this stage I have a first draft I’m revising and am at the beginning phase of that so it’s not helpful yet to have other readers till I do quite a bit of clean up work.

I kept editing everything I wrote.

Nothing was ever good enough.

It went on for years and I was either going to go crazy, quit writing or do something different.

Now I’m trying to get myself to ask questions of the good people at Sisters in Crime and in my local writing group, Word Crafters.

For the first time I feel hopeful about writing and publishing.

Q. What do you wish you had known before you started writing fiction?

A. There is no perfect story, except the one that comes to mind and interests you enough that you’d want to read it.

Don’t wait for anyone to discover you, you discover yourself.

Be kind to you. This is a messy process. A lot of what you try won’t work — and that’s OK.

If you get feedback that can make your work stronger, listen up. If you get feedback that makes you think they don’t get your work, you’re probably right  — RUN!

Have fun.

Don’t take yourself so seriously.

Be serious about your writing – it’s an investment in yourself and probably one of the best investments you’ll ever make because if you can live in your own skin, guess what, it doesn’t matter what happens in the rest of the world.

Q. What’s next for you in your creative work?

A. I’m on the read through for Writing is Murder about a little writing group in Good Deeds, Texas. Finish read through then start revision and hopefully, publish in December.

Promote the anthology, Gone Fishin’ Crime Takes a Holiday and enjoy learning about the promotion/marketing process.

I need to send out thank yous to all the wonderful people who have helped me and are helping me right now.

Q. Is there anything else you wished I’d asked? Please share!

A. I’m grateful I had the opportunity to answer these questions.

No matter what else happens, every day I write is a good day.

Gone Fishin’ Crime Takes a Holiday by Lisbeth Mizula

This excerpt is from my short mystery, Travels for the Traditional Man, which shares an anthology with 22 other writers in Gone Fishin’ Crime Takes a Holiday, The Eighth Guppy Anthology from the 1,100-member Guppy Chapter of Sisters in Crime and published by Wolf’s Echo Press, February 1, 2025, edited by James M. Jackson:

The Diary of Mimi Sinclair

Dearest Carol Lynn,

If you’re reading this, your father has murdered me. It will look like an accident. Your mother married a greedy bastard, not an idiot. Because of his connections, we both know he’ll get away with it.

Should you feel compelled to get justice for your old Mom–never be afraid to use a method that makes sense to your way of thinking. You are my unique, my original, my dearest Carol Lynn. I’ll love you forever–Mom

Connect with Lisbeth Mizula

Site Link https://www.facebook.com/killerstories

Twitter @LisbethMizula

Facebook @LisbethMizula

LinkedIn https://www.facebook.com/killerstories

Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/writelisbeth

 

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Do I Need to Register My Copyright? by Kelley Way

Let’s welcome back monthly columnist Kelley Way as she shares with us “Do I Need to Register My Copyright?” Enjoy!

***

When I present on copyright issues during my speaking engagements, I am frequently asked about copyright registration and whether they need to register their copyright.

The truth is, you technically don’t have to (but finish this article to see how not filing could hurt you before you wash your hands of the matter).

Under the current Copyright Act, you have a copyright as soon as the work is completed and in some format that others can interact with — for example, when your manuscript is typed into your computer or your painting is on your canvas.

That said, registration is still an excellent idea for several reasons:

It puts the world on notice that you have a copyright and want to protect it.If you have to sue someone for copyright infringement, you can’t file the lawsuit until the copyright is registered. If it’s registered beforehand, you can get into court faster.If the copyright is registered before the infringement started, you can get statutory damages. In other words, the court will assume the infringer knew they were infringing, and they’ll punish them with extra fines.

In addition, the registration process is straightforward and relatively inexpensive since the Copyright Office wants to encourage people to register.

I offer this as one of my services, but I encourage people to look at the Copyright Office website first and decide if they feel they need a lawyer for this.

What about the “poor man’s copyright?”

This is one of those myths that refuse to die.

Every so often, someone asks me about this.

The story goes that if you don’t want to register formally, you can mail a copy of the work to yourself, which counts as a copyright.

Unfortunately, that’s not the way it works.

If your work meets the requirements for a copyright, then it has a copyright.

If your work is on file with the Copyright Office, then it’s registered.

Mailing a copy to yourself doesn’t change anything.

However, it can serve one purpose.

If you get sued for infringement (or you sue someone else for infringement), a postmarked, unopened envelope can serve as proof that the work existed in a certain format at a certain time.

So, mailing a copy to yourself can be useful, but not for the purpose of securing a copyright or a copyright registration.

If you have further questions, want to ask me about registering your copyright, or would like me to present on this or other intellectual property topics at an upcoming event or convention, you are welcome to email me at kaway@kawaylaw.com.

***

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***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kelley Way was born and raised in Walnut Creek, California. She graduated from UC Davis with a B.A. in English, followed by a Juris Doctorate. Kelley is a member of the California Bar, and an aspiring writer of young adult fantasy novels. More information at kawaylaw.com.

The post Do I Need to Register My Copyright? by Kelley Way appeared first on Writer's Fun Zone.

Women in Science: From Ancient Times to Modern Breakthroughs

Women in Science: From Ancient Times to Modern Breakthroughs – How To Write the Future podcast, episode 145

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“Did you ever wonder who invented Kevlar, the coffee filter, the car heater, or liquid paper? Would you be surprised to find out that they’re all invented by a woman?”

In this podcast episode, titled “Women in Science: From Ancient Times to Modern Breakthroughs,” host Beth Barany shares 3 books, great learning resources to uncover the history of women in science. Beth spotlights inspiring women scientists and inventors who revolutionized science, technology, and medicine, such as Barbara McClintock ,  Rachel Carson and  Patricia Bath who shaped how we live today. Plus, she shares a book about the ground-breaking actress, Nichelle Nichols, and how she and Star Trek helped advance civil rights.

Platforms The podcast is available on Apple Podcasts | Buzzsprout | Spotify | Podcast Addict | Amazon Music| YouTube

RESOURCES Books referenced in this episode

To Boldly Go: How Nichelle Nichols and Star Trek Helped Advance Civil Rights by Angela Dalton (Author), Lauren Semmer (Illustrator) https://www.harpercollins.com/products/to-boldly-go-how-nichelle-nichols-and-star-trek-helped-advance-civil-rights-angela-dalton

Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Change the World written and illustrated by Rachel Ignotofsky https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/534776/women-in-science-by-rachel-ignotofsky/

Women of Invention: Life-Changing Ideas by Remarkable Women by Charlotte Montague (Author) https://www.abebooks.com/9780785835004/Women-Invention-Life-Changing-Ideas-Remarkable-0785835008/plp

GET HELP WITH YOUR WORLD BUILDING – START HERE

Free World Building Workbook for Fiction Writers: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/world-building-resources/

Sign up for the 30-minute Story Success Clinic with Beth Barany: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/story-success-clinic/

Get support for your fiction writing by a novelist and writing teacher and coach. Schedule an exploratory call here and see if Beth can support you today: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/discovery-call/

About the How To Write the Future podcast 

The How To Write The Future podcast is for science fiction and fantasy writers who want to write positive futures and successfully bring those stories out into the marketplace. Hosted by Beth Barany, science fiction novelist and creativity coach for writers. We cover tips for fiction writers. This podcast is for readers too if you’re at all curious about the future of humanity.

This podcast is for you if you have questions like:

– How do I create a believable world for my science fiction story?

– How do I figure out what’s not working if my story feels flat?

– How do I make my story more interesting and alive?

This podcast is for readers too if you’re at all curious about the future of humanity.

Transcript for Women in Science: From Ancient Times to Modern Breakthroughs [00:00] Introduction to the Podcast 

Hi everyone. Beth Barany here with How to Write the Future Podcast. I am a science fiction and fantasy writer and writing teacher and coach, and this is why I have this podcast. I want to inspire you. I want to show you all the amazing resources out there, and I also want to show you women doing amazing things in science.

So this week I am sharing with you a few resources, a few books, that I really want you to know about. 

[00:30] Highlighting Nichelle Nichols’ Biography 

So I’m actually gonna start with a book that is a biography of a woman who played someone in science fiction. This is a book about Nichelle Nichols who played Uhura in Star Trek, in the original Star Trek.

This book is called To Boldly Go: How Nichelle Nichols and Star Trek Helped Advance Civil Rights. It’s a beautiful picture book. 

And just to let you know, it says this book has not been approved, licensed, or sponsored by any entity involved in the production or distribution of Star Trek: The Original Series. Just so you know.

And it’s a gorgeous picture book. It is definitely for kids, and I got to meet the author at a book signing last year, and I really recommend it for understanding the struggles that Nichelle went through and also what she stood for so many people in terms of playing an amazing character on this show.

I just wanna call your attention to it. I think it’s important that we see ourselves in media and it’s important, what Nichelle did in representing for her community. And also as a human being, bringing her beautiful acting skills and talents to the screen. 

I just really admire her. Learning about her story was so inspiring. So I highly recommend this book, especially if you want to share it to children who love science and, black girls who want role models. 

[01:56] Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers

So the next book I wanna talk about is Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Change the World, written and illustrated by Rachel Ignotofsky. All right. Here’s the beautiful cover. 

So this is a beautifully illustrated book and about 50 notable women in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. From ancient to the modern world; has gorgeous art, wonderful glossary, and it includes well-known figures like primatologist Jane Goodall, as well as lesser known pioneers. Such as Catherine Johnson, the African American physicist and mathematician who calculated the trajectory of the 1969 Apollo 11 mission to the moon, which actually there was a movie made about her. 

There’s one page per scientist. Here, for example, is Rachel Carson, Marine biologist conservationist and author. And I actually heard about her book as a child. It was called Silent Spring, and her research found that DDT was poisoning livestock, killing fish, fatally weakening birds, eggs, and wreaking havoc on the ecosystem. She even spoke in front of the US Senate and her book was seminal in the ecology movement. Here for example is Barbara McClintock, who is a cytogeneticist, which is amazing. so she was way ahead of her time. She was the first person to make a complete genetic map of corn. And she was considered a troublemaker at the University of Missouri because she was always wearing pants and working late with students. Her techniques were so advanced that her work was too confusing for most scientists at the time. And she was the Genetics Society of America’s first woman president. Also elected to the National Academy of Sciences. So she really changed the way we understand evolution and botany. 

If you wanna know more about these 50 women in science, I highly recommend that you check out this book.

There’s one more book I wanna talk about today. 

[04:04] Women of Invention: Life-Changing Ideas

It’s called Women of Invention: Life-Changing Ideas by Remarkable Women.

This is a fabulous big picture book.

On the back it says: 

Did you ever wonder who invented Kevlar, the coffee filter, the car heater, or liquid paper? Would you be surprised to find out that they’re all invented by a woman? Over 100 women are featured here, along with their innovative ideas and ingenious creations of invention in the fields of technology, science, engineering, medicine, transport and communications, beauty and fashion, culinary and food technology, domestic technology, healthcare, toys and games.

It’s organized alphabetically by the inventor’s name. It’s a beautifully illustrated guide. I was flipping through it and I was just really impressed. Wow, I didn’t know that. So for example, I’m very interested in science. 

So we have here Ida Freund shaping the teaching of science invention. Periodic table cupcakes and a gas measuring tube. She lived from 1863 to 1914. Hey, if you wanna teach kids the periodic element, table of elements, make cupcakes. It’s a wonderful hands-on tool. She was also a chemist and she also helped in the struggle for women to be able to gain admission to the Chemical Society in the early 20th century.

And she championed teaching science in girls schools, even though women were not permitted in the same laboratories as men in Cambridge, She was able to, hold special classes at Newham College. 

So there’s a lot of amazing women in here. I actually haven’t looked through this whole thing. Let’s see if we can pull another person outta here for you. Ah, really interesting. Here’s Patricia Bath making the blind see. She invented the laser phaco probe. Dr. Patricia Bath helped people who were blind. 

Patricia Bath started working on her amazing invention in 1981. And it uses laser technology to provide a less painful and more precise treatment for cataracts. And it helped restore eyesight of patients who had been blind for up to 30 years. In 2000 she patented a method for cataract treatment using ultrasound.

So cool. 

When I was a kid, I thought of inventions. I never got the training to be an inventor, and turns out I was way more interested in ideas and storytelling anyway. But I am so interested in the women, and men, but in this case we’re talking about women, who invented things. So I highly recommend you check out the women of invention if you’re curious about inventing things. 

[06:48] Conclusion and Resources for Writers 

Alright, that’s it for this week, everyone. If you are at all interested in finding out more about how I help writers go ahead and check out my services and my products and my programs at Beth Barany dot com.

And you’ll see in the show notes you can sign up for your very own world building workbook for fiction writers.

That’s it for this week. Everyone write long and prosper. 

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating here:  https://www.buzzsprout.com/2012061 

Need instructions on how to leave a review? Go here.

***ABOUT BETH BARANY 

Beth Barany teaches science fiction and fantasy novelists how to write, edit, and publish their books as a coach, teacher, consultant, and developmental editor. She’s an award-winning fantasy and science fiction novelist and runs the podcast, “How To Write The Future.”

 

Learn more about Beth Barany at these sites: 

 

Author site /  Coaching site / School of Fiction / Writer’s Fun Zone blog

CONNECT 

Contact Beth: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/podcast/#tve-jump-185b4422580

Email: beth@bethbarany.com

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethbarany/

IG: https://www.instagram.com/bethbarany/

TT: https://www.tiktok.com/@bethbarany/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/bethbarany

X: https://twitter.com/BethBarany

CREDITS EDITED WITH DESCRIPT: https://www.descript.com?lmref=_w1WCA (Refer-a-Friend link)MUSIC CREDITS : Music from Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/fuzz-buzz License code: UMMKDRL02DFGKJ0L. “Fuzz buzz” by Soundroll. Commercial license: https://musicvine.com/track/soundroll/fuzz-buzz.DISTRIBUTED BY BUZZSPROUT: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1994465 (Refer-a-Friend link)SHOW PRODUCTION BY Beth BaranySHOW CO-PRODUCTION + NOTES by Kerry-Ann McDade

C 2025 BETH BARANY

https://bethbarany.com/

For more “How To Write the Future” episodes, go here.

If you’d like to invite Beth onto your podcast, drop her a note here.

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How to Stay Motivated as an Indie Author by Laurel Osterkamp

Let’s welcome back Laurel Osterkamp as she shares with us “How to Stay Motivated as an Indie Author.” Enjoy!

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Do you have a traditionally published author friend–someone who scored a book deal with one of the Big Five?

Or, perhaps you know an indie author who’s killing it. She has a huge social media following, with book sales to match?

Maybe you don’t actually know anyone like this, but you go on Instagram and see posts by other, “more successful” authors that you follow. Either way, this can be demoralizing. You might even ask yourself why you keep writing books when success seems so out of reach.

Writing a book and putting it out there takes a lot of courage, hard work, and dedication.

You pour your heart and soul into your novel, hoping that it will be a big hit.

Unfortunately, with thousands of books published every day, an author’s road can be long and winding. Sometimes it’s hard to stay motivated and keep writing.

So, let’s explore some tips for how not to give up on your writing and publishing journey. (And if you don’t want to take my word for it, check out my famous author quotes!)

1. Remember Why You’re Doing It

You have stories to share with the world. It’s your main motivation for writing, and don’t forget that. Remember the joy and satisfaction that comes from creating a world and characters, and how much fun it is.

“Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self.”  – Cyril Connolly

2. Focus on the Process, not the Outcome

Yes, it’s important to market and promote your book, but don’t let it consume you. Even when sales are low and readers are few, you’re still learning something every day, and you still get fulfillment from crafting a story.

“You have to write the book that wants to be written.” – Madeleine L’Engle

3. Set Realistic Goals

It is easy to get caught up in the numbers and compare yourself to other, more successful authors. But remember, everyone’s journey is unique, and success looks different for everyone. Goals like writing a certain amount of words per day, or finding one new reader per week, are attainable.

“I write to discover what I know.” – Flannery O’Connor

4. Connect with Other Writers

There is a whole community of writers out there who are going through the same struggles as you. Connect with them through online writing groups, or by attending writing conferences and workshops. A support system can provide you with motivation, encouragement, and valuable feedback.

“A good writer possesses not only his own spirit but also the spirit of his friends.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

5. Celebrate Your Accomplishments

Remember to celebrate your wins, no matter how small they may seem. Did you finish writing a chapter? Great! Did someone post a five star review? Fantastic! Little victories keep us going.

“Writing is its own reward.” – Henry Miller

6. Remember that Failure is Part of the Journey

Every successful author has faced rejection and disappointment. They’re not indicators of your skill or talent; they are opportunities to learn and grow. Use them as motivation to keep writing and improving.

“You are never stronger…than when you land on the other side of despair.” – Zadie Smith

7. Believe in Yourself and Your Work

Be your own biggest cheerleader. Believe in yourself and your work, even when no one else does. Your stories have value and you have something unique to offer readers. Trust that your hard work and dedication will someday pay off.

“I love my rejection slips. They show me I try.” – Sylvia Plath

8. Market and Promote Your Book

Don’t give up after a few months of low sales. Keep pushing it out there, and don’t lose hope. Because your readers are out there, waiting for you to discover them.

“I was kind of broke. The Girl on the Train was a last roll of the dice for me as a fiction writer.” – Paula Hawkins

Being an indie author is not easy, but it can be rewarding.

Yes, the road to success may be long and bumpy, but with perseverance, you can achieve success.

Stay motivated, keep writing, and believe in yourself and your work. Most importantly, don’t give up on your passion for writing.

***

About the Author 

Laurel Osterkamp is from Minneapolis, where she teaches and writes like it’s going out of style. Her short fiction has been featured in Abandon Journal, Idle Ink, Tangled Locks Literary Journal, Bright Flash Literary Journal, and The Metawoker, among other places. Her new novel, The Side Project, was released on November 13th by The Wild Rose Press.

Follow her on social media:

Website – https://laurellit.com
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/authorlaurelosterkamp
BookBub – https://www.bookbub.com/profile/laurel-osterkamp
Instagram: Laurel Osterkamp (@laurel_osterkamp) • Instagram photos and videos

The post How to Stay Motivated as an Indie Author by Laurel Osterkamp appeared first on Writer's Fun Zone.

Should You Write Cultures That Are Not Your Own? by Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer

Today we welcome a new guest writer to Writer’s Fun Zone, Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer who is stopping by to chat with us about “Should You Write Cultures That Are Not Your Own?” Enjoy!

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A controversial question in the author community is: Are you allowed to write about cultures that are not your own?

I’m breaking this down from my viewpoint as a Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma tribal member, and as someone who has interviewed and written stories of people from dozens of tribes across North America, Alaska, and Hawai’i.

I’ve also written and published 17 historical fiction books featuring several American Indian tribes.

To answer this tough question, we’re going to look at the Mind of the Writer, the Responsibility of the Writer, and the Role of the Writer.

The Mind of the Writer

When I watch movies like Miss Potter and The Man Who Invented Christmas with non-writer family and friends, I overhear comments like, “Is she mentally ill?” or “Is he hallucinating?”

And I just laugh and laugh.  

Authors have unique gifts. We see people who aren’t there, or people who are, but we see them inside our story as fresh characters. We know we will “do wonderful things together.”

We hear snippets of conversation, or an unusual name, or a headline that has us whipping out our phones and jotting down ideas before they are lost to time.

That snippet will find its way into a story someday, we know.

There are also experiences in our relationships, our careers, and our childhood memories that niggle in the back of our minds and beg for their place in a story.

Then there are the cultures we encounter personally or through a story.

Sometimes these cultures are virgin ground for us or feel that way if our only encounter with them is through popular media.

Whichever the case, at some point, cultures not our own find themselves at the doorstep of our imaginations and we want to include them in our stories.

You envision the role this culture can play in your story, and how including it would educate and inspire your reader, all while offering an entertaining story.

Now, we know that to write a character well we must get inside the character. They become a part of us and go where we go, like Peter Rabbit with Miss Potter, and Scrooge with Charles Dickens.

But writing about people who you have no first-hand knowledge of, and even a culture that has had much taken from them, is different than writing rabbits in the garden or Christmas ghosts.

Yet I believe that you, as a writer gifted with a vibrant imagination and a special sense of empathy, can still do it.

Think about it–in every writing session, we become something we are not.

Because if we write only our own experiences, ethnicity, and beliefs, how can we deliver well-rounded, entertaining, thought-provoking, earth-shaking, keep-you-up-all-night stories?

Our minds are capable of more than writing our own experiences. But with that capability, comes responsibility to handle those stories with care.

The Responsibility of the Writer

No matter the genre, you face having to do your research. Research is the bedrock of creating a well-received story.

But how much research do you need to conduct when writing about a culture not your own? And how do you do it?

My top advice is to make friends in that culture. Build relationships with people first rather than jumping right into, “Hey, I’m writing a novel, can I ask all about your people, culture, and history?”

You need to gather insights first, otherwise, you will likely find the people guarded because they don’t know you or how you intend to use the raw information and stories they share with you.

Get to know them and the work they’ve done in their own culture, such as a historian who has written articles on the topic, or simply an elder who has lived it. Explain the work you are doing, why you chose to include their culture in your story, and ask specific questions to show you’ve done your homework.

This is wiser than broad-stroke questions they aren’t sure how to answer (or they aren’t sure they trust you with the answer). Then ask follow-up questions. Be prepared to pivot if they reveal something that just challenged an aspect you thought you understood about their culture.

If you build trusting relationships, you may open a door to ask for your connection to read your manuscript for fact-checking. (This is the route I recommend vs. hiring a sensitivity reader.)

If they offer positive feedback, consider asking for an endorsement. Put that on your sales page or your back cover blurb.

Again, this isn’t a simple task. It’s doable in most cases, but you may run into roadblocks that keep you from getting there.

Lean hard into your research and have a discerning eye during it to distinguish between stereotypes and true history and culture.

While you’re avoiding stereotypes, also look beyond modern trends and narratives. There’s something deeper, richer, and truer that you can only discover when you learn to look at a history and culture from the past, the present, and the future.

Whether they play a major or minor role in your story, great care should go into creating your characters from other cultures.

And that begins with research.

It is our responsibility as writers to get this history and culture right, to the best of our abilities.

Do the work. It will show and can lead you to play your role in the world.

The Role of the Writer

Writers were gifted with one of the most influential talents on the planet: the ability to change and shape the world with words.

We have a role to play when it comes to writing about other cultures. Often stereotyped or eliminated from popular fiction, you have an opportunity to bring authentic cultures to your audience.

Think about it–if you are someone’s favorite author, your story may be the only one they read that features accurate portrayals of that culture.

How incredible is that?

Yet all of this might feel like a heavy burden. If it is, take heart.

And take a look at me.

I’ve made mistakes along the way in writing stories about my own people. Thankfully, I had the input I needed before those mistakes made it to the public.

Those experiences drive me when I’m researching, writing, researching, editing, and did I say, researching?

As writers, our role is to have conversations with imaginary people, go hard at our research, and be a bridge between the unknown and the reader.

We writers have a vital role to play in the world. Let’s commit to doing it well.

Take Heart

This is a tough topic not often addressed in a hopeful way.

But my hope is to balance real truths while encouraging you to take heart in your writing journey.

Now, if the “other” culture and people group you want to write about is Native Americans, I created a course called Fiction Writing: American Indians to help guide you through.

In it, I equip you with:

Insight to write quality, authentic stories.Practical approaches to researching Native cultures.Answers to hard questions.

You can become confident in including Native characters in your stories.

Visit fictioncourses.com/americanindians to learn more.

Editor’s note: We have a special offer for you, readers of WFZ. Sarah has graciously agreed to give you a discount off her course when you use this link .

There, you can also download a free copy of my ebook, “5 Stereotypes to Avoid When Writing about Native Americans.”

Questions? Drop them in the comments below or contact me directly through my site.

Chi pisa la chike, my fellow author. I will see you again soon.

***

About the Author

Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer is an author and writing instructor who takes authors struggling to master the tools and knowledge of their author journey and helps them become confident in writing their books.

She has been featured on Joanna Penn’s The Creative Penn podcast, Jane Friedman’s blog, Writer’s Digest magazine, and more. She’s published 19 books, 11 of which she wrote solely by dictation. Sarah is also host of The Confident Fiction Author podcast which empowers authors to live their best creative lifestyle.

As a tribal member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, her signature course, Fiction Writing: American Indians, is equipping authors to write authentic stories that honor Native American history and culture. Her Fictation Digital Course takes authors through the exact process of mastering dictation to write fiction.

Discover more at www.fictioncourses.com

Listen to The Confident Fiction Author podcast on your favorite podcast app, or at: https://www.fictioncourses.com/blog

You can purchase my books from all the major retail outlets, or directly from me at: https://www.choctawspirit.com/shop/books

You’ll find my author Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/SarahElisabethSawyer

The post Should You Write Cultures That Are Not Your Own? by Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer appeared first on Writer's Fun Zone.

Staying Freelance Part 4 by Andrea Reider

Let’s welcome back Andrea Reider as she shares with us “Staying Freelance Part 4.” Enjoy!

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I wrote Staying Freelance to inspire and advise other freelancers on how to build and maintain their careers for the long-term. My goal is to teach people the art of staying freelance, and how to achieve financial stability.

An Excerpt From Staying Freelance 

The following is an excerpt from Staying Freelance:

I was mostly hard at work designing and typesetting books for a variety of large and small publishers and self-publishing authors.

My early Macintosh skills had placed me in a good position to attract new customers for my freelance business. If anything, I had better clients than I really deserved at first.

However, I was highly motivated to keep learning and eventually became a pretty good book designer and an even better typesetter.

I don’t think I would have even considered starting my own business if I hadn’t grown up working at my family’s men’s clothing store in Detroit, Michigan.

The store had several people working as tailors and seamstresses in a walled-off space at the back of the store. From an early age, I saw how they worked to satisfy the customers’ needs and even whims, while producing high-quality work–more or less on schedule.

The tailor shop seemed to be perpetually one day behind on their work, but could usually finish things up quickly if a customer came to call early or on-time for their tailored clothing.

I remember many times having to apologize to customers and tell them that their clothing wasn’t quite ready yet, and offering a cup of coffee or a glass of wine while they waited, or even worse, having to ask them to come back another time.

My experience working at the family business taught me many of the things I would need to know to manage my own business one day. But no lesson was as important as seeing how our expert salespeople interacted with our mostly affluent customers–doing their utmost to please everyone, while maintaining their own personal dignity and space.

Freelancing for the Professor

My connection with a coin collector and retired professor came through a referral from another client who had worked on the author’s last book. The new book had hundreds of photographs of rare and ancient bronze coins that had to be precisely arranged on the pages.

The professor was a well-known coin collector and a professor of psychology at San Francisco State University and had published many books on different topics. This book was a catalogue of his collection of ancient Greek and Roman bronze coins.

The professor was about eighty years old at the time we worked on the project, and was one of the few clients that I’ve ever typed a full manuscript for–let alone a book full of Green and Latin inscriptions. Luckily the work was spread out of several months and the professor was very understanding of any time constraints that arose for me.

We met each week at the professor’s home, which was filled with walls and cases full of rare and ancient artifacts from his collection.

I would give him the typeset pages from the last week, and he would give me new sheets of lined yellow legal paper with handwritten descriptions of the coins, including dates and the Greek or Latin inscriptions that appeared on the coins. The descriptions included things like: “Demeter holding a sheaf of wheat.”

The text appeared on one side of the two-page book spread. The opposing page had the coins neatly arranged in rows by a freelance graphic artist that the professor hired for the purpose.

Unlike me, who did everything on the Macintosh computer, this artist did everything by hand, pasting the photographs of the coins on white boards for the professor to review.

At one point, the artist decided on her own to vary the “dull” and orderly layouts, arranging the coins as though they were parts of a fancy necklace. The professor rejected the pages right away, but I think he kept a few of the necklace coin arrangements in the book, joking that readers would think that he had “lost his mind” during the production of the book.

Freelancing for Another Major U.S. Book Publisher

As a result of another one of my email campaigns, I connected with a production manager at a division of a highly respected U.S. book publisher, who hired me to work as a freelance book designer and typesetter for their textbooks.

I came up with a good idea for the design of my first book project, and at first they seemed to be very happy with my work. The editor told me she really liked the preliminary design samples I submitted for the book.

I was pretty upset, surprised, and shocked when I received her next email, writing that she was “extremely disappointed” in me for not submitting the proper forms along with the design samples. I sent the filled-in forms to her the next day, but the damage was already done.

They had sent me a PDF of an eighty-page production manual that I had skimmed over, but not read thoroughly.

No publisher had ever sent me anything like this before, and I foolishly ignored it, thinking that I already knew everything that they could possibly have to say about book typesetting.

I ended up making a small mistake in the preliminary design samples for the next book design and typesetting project, but they were happy enough with my work that they scheduled me for a third project.

For the first time in my career, the editor sent me the wrong files for typesetting the new book. She sent me an earlier, unedited version of the text.

The editor tried to turn the error into an advantage when she realized that a lot of my work would have to be redone, resizing some of the book’s photographs in a way that would effect the layout of every page in the book.

I didn’t fully understand what she wanted me to do, and when I sent in the new pages I soon received another harsh email, instructing me to return all of the materials and files that I had, and stating that I would no longer be working on the book.

I was once again very upset and shocked at this abrupt ending. I emailed the production manager, saying that I could fix the design right away, but she wouldn’t budge.

A few months later, having healed from my wounded pride and finances, I was moving into my first condominium in San Francisco, and sent the production manager an email with my new address.

I had no thought that they would be sending me more work, but wanted them to have my new address for sending out my 1099 tax form.

I was sent yet another unkind email, detailing all of the mistakes I’d made on the three books I’d worked on. She wrote that these were the reasons she was no longer sending me work.

A couple of years later the company was merged with an even larger publisher and all of the people I’d worked with lost their jobs.

Even if things had worked out between us, the job would have been temporary.

I ended up in a much better long-term position having found other publishers to work for without coming to rely on this publisher as a major client.

Staying Freelance is available on Amazon.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Andrea Reider has been working as a book designer and layout artist/typesetter for publishers and self-publishing authors since graduating from the University of Michigan in English in 1985 with a B.A. in English. It was the year of the Macintosh computer and “desktop publishing,” and her first job was managing a typesetting shop in Ann Arbor.

When Andrea moved to San Francisco two years later her Macintosh skills were very much in demand. Andrea began working as a freelancer for several book publishers and has been at it ever since. Her clients have included John Wiley & Sons, Addison Wesley Longman, McGraw Hill, Rowman & Littlefield, and hundreds of self-publishing authors.

Website: http://www.reiderbooks.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andreareiderdesign
andreareider@gmail.com
www.reiderbooks.com

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