Writing About Holidays

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

It's rarely discussed in the writing community but one of the most difficult type of writing for editors to find is tied to holiday themes. The good news is everyone has unique personal experiences during the holidays. Your opportunity as a writer is to capture the raw dialogue and unique elements, weave them into a story then submit them to print magazines. Print publications have a higher standard for their work than online (in general).

 

For example, when I was a magazine editor at Decision and our circulation was 1.8 million copies, we decided to do a February issue with a love theme (Valentine's Day). Personal experience stories which related to love combined with other crieria for our publication didn't naturally come unsolicited from authors. Instead, I had to create a list of authors and ask them to write what we needed. That experience and others at the magazine showed me the on-going need for holiday writing.

 

Your personal experience stories from holidays can be evergreen or an article which you can sell to many different magazines. Typically with a magazine article, you sell “first rights” which means after the article is published, the rights return to you. Then you can sell “reprint rights” to other publications. Depending on the publication, you can be paid more for a reprint right than the first rights. Each publication is different with different expectations. Make sure you read their submission guidelines before sending your article. In these guidelines the editor tells you exactly what they need. Many writers skip this important step in the submission process and then when their submission is rejected, they wonder why it didn't get accepted and published.

 

As you experience different holidays, make some notes into your computer or journal so you capture the essence of the experience and the raw dialogue. Then use these experiences to write personal experience articles and even how-to articles. After writing your article, send it out into the marketplace. I encourage you to keep track of your submissions and if you don't hear from the editor in a period of weeks, send them a gentle follow-up note to make sure they got it. I use the word gentle because if you push these gatekeeper/ editors, then you will likely get the response you don't want—a “no, thank you” or “this isn't a fit for us.” 

 

Are you using your holiday experiences in your writing? Let me know in the comments below. 

 

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Six Actions for the Silent Weeks

 

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

 

I understand 2020 has been a strange year with a worldwide pandemic. While many things have changed, some things continue in the same general pattern. Normally the period from Thanksgiving until after New Year Day becomes a series of silent weeks. During these weeks, many people are busy with other activities so they do not return phone calls or emails and it looks like everything is going into a huge stall. Here's an article I wrote for Almost A Writer about what to do in the silence.

 

The professional writer understands this season and still keeps pressing ahead in spite of the silence. In this article I want to give you six action-oriented ideas to move forward with your writing. You don't have to do all six of them—but if you did it would help you. I encourage you to read through these ideas, then choose one or two that you will take action and incorporate into your writing life. Nothing happens without consistent action. We can think about it all we want and that does not do the hard work of getting it done.

 

1. Start or keep working on your work in progress. Books take time. During the holidays you can choose to reduce your word counts and writing schedule. Or you can cut down the number and continue writing and moving forward. Even writing 500 words a day you will move your book forward. My encouragement is to keep making progress and keep writing even in this season.

 

2. Learn a new skill or work on launching a new website. In the midst of a busy season, my personal writing plans get set aside and during this time of year they are back in focus and moving forward.

 

3. Read a writing how-to book. I continue to read a how to write book every month. It's something I have been doing for years. There is a great variety of possibilities in the writing life. In the first chapter of Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams, include a fairly extensive list of the various types of writing. You can get it here (no opt-in needed).  

 

4. Pitch magazine editors, book editors, literary agents, podcast hosts, radio show hosts, and others. As I wrote about in this article, every writer has to pitch—whether you are brand new or have been a bestseller. It's simply part of the process.

 

5. Write a review on Amazon and Goodreads plus tell others about the book through your social media connections. I continue to write book reviews when I read or listen to a book. I encourage you to do the same. Most of my reviews are about 100 to 150 words. They do not take long to write but are an important way to support and help other writers. It's an important action everyone can do in a short amount of time.

 

6. Begin a new habit for your writing life or something personal. Organize a section of your office or on your computer. For example, several years ago I started a gratitude journal with short daily entries. I continue this practice today. Or about three months ago, my wife and I changed how we were eating and I'm thinner than I have been in a long time. It has not been easy but the consistent changes have paid off. You can read here about my daily habit that I continue to practice.

 

As you practice some of these actions, understand your consistent action may not pay off immediately but will propel you forward into the new year. Which action are you going to take during these silent weeks? Let me know in the comments below.

 

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Face the Silence With Action

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

Are you getting silence as you reach out to literary agents or editors during the holidays? Yes you might get a little response such as holiday greetings or Merry Christmas. From my years in this business, there is often a shift in the community from right before Thanksgiving until right after New Year's Day. People put off sending manuscripts. If they have a book contract from a publisher, they often delay to sign it until after January 2nd and any number of other decisions of this nature.

My authors are Morgan James are still active and corresponding with me but little is finalizing and moving forward—so mostly silent in some ways. How do you handle this silence? Does it stop your writing and your work in the community? In this article, I want to give you some pro-active idea of what you can do to be productive and face the silence with action.

1. Read books on the craft of writing. As you read these books, use a highlighter and post-it notes to take action on what you are learning. For example, my book, 10 Publishing Myths will release on December 17th. I encourage you to go to my website—and use one of the four different ways I offer to get the book. Also you can immediately get the 11th Publishing Myth (a chapter not included in the book).

I need your help to promote and tell other people about 10 Publishing Myths. Use this page for some social media posts as well as links to the various places to write reviews and much more.

2. Plan an event for January. Maybe you want to plan a webinar or a local speaking event. Send some emails or make some phone calls or take some action for this event to get schedule and promoted.

3. Write a new book proposal or begin a new book manuscript. You can also take my Write A Book Proposal course and begin step-by-step to learn the important craft of writing a book proposal. This proposal will be your blueprint for writing and marketing your book. Do this writing work during these days in December.

4. Make plans to get to a writers' conference in the new year. Which one will you select? Who will you pitch? Take this time to plan and strategize your next publishing steps.

5. Look for new writing markets. Get the first chapter in Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams (follow this link) and study the various writing opportunities. Pick one or two and try a new one.

6. Try some new ways to market your book. Get 1001 Ways to Market Your Book or a similar type of marketing book with proven ideas.

Each of us have the same amount of time. Let's seize the day during these silent days and move forward into the new year with great action and expectations.

How are you facing the silence in the publishing community? Let me know what actions you are taking in the comments below.

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Five Ways to Gear Up Your Writing

Gear up you writing with these ideas

Often within the publishing community, there is a noticeable shift right before Thanksgiving through the New Year. Emails don't get answered or returned as promptly. Phone calls and messages are ignored (unreturned). I'm continuing to work with authors, get new contracts and sign authors throughout this season. The overall pace has been slower.

For example, this week, I had several authors who have received new Morgan James contracts tell me they wanted to hold off and revisit it after the first of the year. I told them that would be fine and made a note to reconnect with them in January.

I understand everyone has a different mindset and agenda often during the holiday season. When I worked at a publisher years ago, I recall spending at least a day or two signing Christmas cards to authors. These types of activities interfere with the normal course of the publishing business yet are important.

If you are facing this type of response, what do you do? In this article, I want to give you five ways to gear up your writing.

1. Write query letters and pitch magazines for assignments.  It depends on the publication whether you write a query or the full article. Whatever your strategy, select some magazines and get your material out to them. If you don't know what to write, I would encourage you to write personal experience stories since almost every publication takes this type of article.

2. Create a new proposal. Use my book proposal checklist to get some ideas. If you have a proposal which has not been sold, pull that proposal out and see if it needs revision or updating then plan a strategy to get it back out to more agents or different publishers.

3. Work on a new information product or new online course. Information products continue to sell and it's a way you as an author can create something independent from a publisher and add an income stream. If you don't know what I'm talking about, listen to this free teleseminar from Bob Bly and follow his advice.

4. Get some new speaking gigs for next year. What groups tie to your book? Can you send email pitches or make some phone calls to get new bookings? Don't forget local civic groups like the chamber of commerce or these types of groups.They are always looking for speakers and need what you have for them. It doesn't happen  you aren't pitching so take this time to be pitch.

5. Beef up your social media conections. Do you need a new twitter header or a new blog header? Then go over to Fiverr.com and search for someone who can do it inexpensively for you and get it moving. In a recent article, I mentioned about expanding my connections on LinkedIn (currently about 600 more than my last writing. You can take time to expand your connections and see if it turns up some new writing projects. From LinkedIn, I've had articles published and met new authors. I encourage you to take this time teo expand your social media.

I know I promised five ways but I'm going to add a bonus sixth one: Read a how-to-write book then apply the information to your writing life. Whether you purchase the book or get it from the library, you can use this season to expand your writing through reading.

Did you notice something consistent about each of these suggestions? Anyone can do them. It does not matter your skill level or your experience. The key is to take action and move forward during this season. If I can help you in this process, don't hesitate to reach out to me (my email and phone is on the bottom of the second page of this link).

What steps are you taking with your writing during this season? Let me know in the comments below.

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Make The Most of Your Writing During the Holidays

Most of publishing isn’t good at communication any time of the year. Often it takes weeks to hear from an editor or literary agent. This time of year between Thanksgiving until after New Year's Day are an even slower time of year. It is like your submissions go into a black hole with no response.

As an editor, I understand that people are focused on holiday shopping, sending greetings and other events which interrupt the typical publishing responses. At Morgan James Publishing, I'm still processing manuscripts with authors and contracts.  Our publication board meets weekly (instead of the typical once a month) and has one more meeting before the end of the month. In a long-standing tradition, Morgan James will be closed from December 22^nd  until January 2^nd .

How can you make your writing life productive during this period? It is possible for you to be active during this silent period of publishing. 

Last week I had the opportunity to drive to Denver and do an in-studio radio interview about my book, Billy Graham, A Biography of America's Greatest Evangelist. Most of these types of radio interviews are 20 to 30 minutes and I “thought” that was what I was doing. As I settled into my place in the studio, they thanked me for co-hosting the program (which I learned was two hours). I loved the opportunity to talk for two hours about Billy Graham—even if unexpected. Here's a little seven-minute glimpse at that session (use the link to download it and then open it on your computer). 

Here’s six different ways to make the most of your writing during the holidays:


1. Work on building your platform and presence in the marketplace. Use my ebook, Platform Building Ideas for Every Writer on this topic or something else for some idea starters. Can you take some actions to increase your twitter followers or add to the number of people who are reading your newsletter?

2. Rework or update your website.  I've not reworked my own website in some time and I'm going to use this time to update some of my websites.

3. Write a free ebook for a list generator. Can you take a series of blog posts or articles and turn them into a free ebook that you offer to your mailing list? Use this time to create such an ebook.

4. Create your own event in January. Your new ebook (#3) could be the ethical bribe that you use with this new event. Now is the time to be planning the details of such an event. 

5. Read a book on marketing such as 5–Minute Book Marketing for Authors or Online Marketing for Busy Authors. Follow the links of those books because I wrote in detail about each of these books. When you read the book, apply some of the lessons to your books and writing.

6. Begin a new income stream. Writing has multiple paths and income possibilities. During this quiet time, select a path that you are not currently using such as affiliate marketing, then begin to develop a new income stream. I have a list of writing possibilities in the free sample of Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams. Follow this link to get this free resource.

You may not be able to tackle all six of these ideas but hopefully several of them help you. Notice each of them are something you can do without a connection to an editor or agent.

As a seventh way,I encourage you to polish or create a book proposal. Even if you are going to self publish, you will still need a proposal. The proposal is the blueprint for your book—especially if you are writing nonfiction. If you are writing fiction, you will still need this information for the platform and marketing section. A free resource to learn more insights about proposal creation is at: AskAboutProposals.com.

You can move forward with your writing even during the holidays. I understand this time of year has many things pulling for your attention. It is a matter of commitment and focus to get these actions for your writing in motion.

What suggestions do you have for your writing life during the holidays? Tell me in the comments.

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Five Ways to Increase Your Holiday Writing

Book publishing is more of a marathon than a sprint.  The publishing world often moves slowly and deliberately to produce excellent product and launch them into the marketplace. This deliberate pace slows even more during November and December of each year. 

As we go through the holiday season of Thanksgiving then Christmas and New Year's Day, the internal activities in a publishing business take a different focus. This shift means you hear even less from editors and literary agents. The holidays can be a time to turn away from your writing and be involved in other activities.  In this article, I want to suggest five actions to increase your holiday writing.

1. Write personal experience stories. Everyone has “different” personal experiences during the holidays. I encourage you to be sensitive to the value of these stories. Decide to write them into your computer shortly after they occur. When you write include the sensory details like the objects, smells, taste and dialogue. Why? Almost every print magazine uses personal experience stories and plans pages for the holidays. Thanksgiving and the Christmas season give you opportunities that do not happen any other time of year. Writing this material near when it happens gives you the raw material to craft and submit stories which can be published. If you wait, the memories and details fade. Write these stories right away.

2. Create new proposals and query letters. It takes time to craft new pitches and proposals. Even if you are going to self-publish, you still need to create the business plan for your book or proposal. If you don't know how to write a query letter or proposal. Take this time to learn this valuable publishing skill. Get my Book Proposals That $ell and read it. Use this time wisely to grow your writing life.

3. Schedule time to write on a new project. Maybe you would like to write a new book or new ebook or create something to give to your email list.  If you don't have an email list, now is a great time to learn to create one. Consider getting my List Building Tycoon ebook. When the publishing world slows down, it is a great time to move full-speed ahead on your creative time. Write the time into your calendar and keep those commitments to move forward on the new effort.

4. Read magazines and books. During the holidays is an ideal time to read trade magazines and learn more about how publishing works. Or read that novel you've been wanting to tackle. The reading process will fill up your creative well so you have the overflow to draw on for your writing. 

5. Tackle a new skill. Maybe you know you need to improve in copywriting or Internet marketing or figure out how to be better and consistent with your social media. While you can't expect to be skilled at every aspect of publishing, you can take small steps to improve your skills during the holidays. Get a new software program and learn how to use it. As I point out in the first chapter of Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams, there are many different types of writing opportunties. Keep growing as a writer and use this time. Download the free sample of Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams and study the possibilities.

If you take active steps with your writing, you will use the holidays as a boost to your writing life. As you write throughout the holiday season, you will be way ahead of those people who shift into a different gear and leave their writing out of their life. If you have other ideas, leave them in the comments below and if I can help you in that journey, reach out to me. 

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9 Ways to Jumpstart Your Writing During the Holidays

You can almost feel the shift in the publishing world when the calendar gets close to the holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day.  I'm receiving fewer emails. My phone calls and emails are not as quickly returned.  The culture is shifting into holiday mode where activities outside of publishing fill our schedule and less is happening.

While the schedule for others fills with holiday activities, your writing does not have to go on hold. In fact, from my experience, the holidays are a perfect time to jumpstart your writing life.  Here's nine action steps you can take during the holidays:

1. Increase Your Writing. Now is the time to lean into your novel or your nonfiction book and complete it.  No book manuscript is created overnight. It takes day after day effort to write your story and finish the manuscript. Make a plan for your writing then stick with it.

2. Create A New Product or Book. Do you have a new product or book idea? Take this time to lean into it and create. I encourage you to download The 24–Hour Product Creation Cheat Sheet from Jimmy D. Brown. I have several of these types of projects which have been on hold because of other work. I've started scheduling regular time into my work day to begin to move these projects forward and get them into the marketplace.

3. Write A Book Proposal. Maybe you have several book ideas and the place for you to dig in during the holidays is creating a new book proposal. If you don't know how to create a proposal, take my Write A Book Proposal membership course or use my free Book Proposal Checklist or take my free proposal teleseminar. Then take action and create your proposal.

4. Reach out to Editors and Agents. The holidays are often a great time to touch base with these publishing professionals. Send them a card or email and reconnect with them. Tell them some detail you appreciated about them and see how you can help them. Those simple statements may go a long way with that person. 

5. Read and Review books of others. I've written about this important habit but if you've never started it or forgotten about it. Now is a good time to read these books and review them. You will be practicing your craft of writing but also building good will among other writers as you read these books and write book reviews.

6. Begin a new program or tool. Do you want to learn how to make money with your blog or increase your social media presence? The key is to develope an easy system for you or to learn from someone else. I have a risk-free, detailed 31–Day Guide to Blogging for Bucks. Or listen to my free teleseminar on blogging or follow my detailed information on social media. Take committed time to work on developing a new skill or tool.

7. Get Organized. As a writer, I have piles of paper that isn't in a file folder (where I'm much more organized). I took some time this weekend to sort through the papers, put them into folders and get more organized. If I haven't used or read something,  I threw it away rather than lurking in a pile. As you get organized, you can be much more effective as a writer.

8. Pitch and Write Magazine Articles. Think about the publications you read and send ideas to the editor. If you have written for a magazine in the past, what can you write that they need? Approach the editor and see if they have a theme list online or one you can get from the editor. Then pitch appropriate ideas. 

9. Write to Look for New Opportunities.  Maybe you want to do more speaking in the new year or have a greater visibility at a particular conference. Work on expanding those possibilities during this season.

I include more than a dozen ways to jumpstart your publishing life in my book, Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams. The key is to take action during the holidays and move forward with your writing.

Why Pour It On During the Holidays

Each year the holiday season is pushed a little earlier. I started seeing Christmas packages in the stores in October. The activities related to publishing almost noticeably downshift into a lower gear. Instead of new book projects, the focus turns toward family gatherings and holiday events.


I love the holiday season and special time with the family. The music and memories are special to me. I love the celebration. Yet if you are involved in publishing, I have a different perspective on what you need to be doing during this time of year.


A large percentage of the publishing community moves into a different gear. Publication boards which make decisions about books don't often meet in December. Instead of a focus on editorial matters, the editors are tied up signing Christmas cards to authors and focused on end of the year matters. Last week I received a list of new proposals from an agent. I wrote right away and listed the ones that interested me. To my surprise, rather than sending them he thanked me for my interest, wished me a terrific holiday season and said he would be in touch. I don't expect that I will receive those proposals until after the first of the year. That pausing activity is a shame in my view because I would like to get reading them and moving forward with them to see if I can get a book contract in the next few weeks.


Rather than slipping into “holiday” mode, my suggestion is that you switch into a different gear and pour it on to move your work and writing life forward over the next few weeks.
Success magazine is one of the resources that I regularly read. Recently the publisher, Darren Hardy held a teleconference on How to Finish Big (follow this link to the YouTube version). 

I was one of the thousands who heard the event. I encourage you to watch the first part of it because Hardy provides a series of strategies you can use to finish the year big. He points out the small difference between a top golfer and someone back in the pack. That extra effort from the top golfer is what it took to succeed in a way which was exponentially ahead of the others.

Do you want to finish the year big or slide into the holidays? 

Here's six ideas of what you can do over the next few weeks to position yourself so the end of this year and the beginning of next year is a huge success:


1. Are you looking for a literary agent? If you have an agent, do you have the right agent for you? Pick up my free list of over 400 literary agents. It includes their names, addresses, websites, phone numbers and emails. Use this list as a research tool to target your approach to several agents and craft pitches which get their attention. 


2. Continue to build your visibility in the marketplace and your platform as an author. I've got a free ebook filled with ideas in this area called Platform Building Ideas for Every Author. If you don't have this ebook, then pick it up. If you have it, I suggest you read through it again and take action on some new ideas in it.


3. What print magazines would you like for your work to appear in 2014? Write some query letters and get some assignments. Some publications have theme lists from the editors about articles they want. Pitch those editors with targeted and on track ideas and you will be surprised at your success. Then write those articles and deliver them and reach a new audience.


4. Is there some topic that you teach on a regular basis? If so, I suggest you develop your own online course where you teach this material in a Fixed Term membership. I have a Simple Membership System product called Your Membership Course which will take you step by step through the process of creating such a course. It is the same system that I used to create my Write A Book Proposal course.


5. If you haven't taken my Write A Book Proposal course, this time of year is a great time to dig into this process and learn about book proposal creation. Whether you are writing nonfiction or fiction, you need to learn how to pitch your ideas and capture the attention of an editor or literary agent. This time of year is a terrific time to dig into the course.


6. Author 101 University Online has recently launched and you can get three timely teachings for free. Sign up and then take the time in the next few weeks to listen to the teaching and take action on the different ideas that you hear from the teaching.


Yes you can slide into next year or you can pour it on in these final days of the year and exceed beyond your wildest dreams. The choice is yours.

Capture Your Personal Experiences

Excitement was in the air at our house. For the first time in years, our adult children gathered at our dining room table for Thanksgiving. Weeks of planning went into this event with multiple trips to the airport (as well as to the grocery store). Finally the big day arrived.

The food was excellent and everyone gathered at the table—except for one son-in-law who was present yet uttered some excuse that prevented him from sitting with the rest of us.

Yes a disappointment yet also an opportunity. We decided not to let this person ruin our joy and thankfulness and instead we learned to choose to celebrate the gathering of family and our time together.

My story needs more detail but does give you a real recent event in my family. Yet notice I don't just tell it for the sake of telling it. I draw you to a point or take away or a reason for the story. 

We've just gone through the holiday of Thanksgiving and I suspect many of you have had unique and interesting personal experiences. Are you writing these experiences down so you recall the dialogue, the feelings and the taste and smells? 

These experiences can be writing opportunities for magazine articles, an illustration for your nonfiction book or fodder for your work-in-progress novel. I encourage you to capture the details shortly after it happens so you can recall it. Maybe slip away to your keyboard and write the words when they are raw. Or you can add them to a journal so you remember them.

Almost every magazine uses personal experience stories—and in particular they are looking for articles connected to a holiday. Often magazines are working three to six months in the future. If you have these holiday stories, they can be used for next year's writing assignments.

One of the critical elements for any personal experience story is to lead the reader with the stories to a single point or take away. The take away can be your final paragraph or sentences.

Some of these experiences will have great joy while others will be a challenge or difficulty that you found the path to complete. As you find that path and write about it, you can help others who travel the same journey and experience the same emotions.

In this holiday season, I encourage you to look for these little stories and build them into your writing life. 

Move Into High Gear

Time has marches on. We've reached the holiday season again. I can hear the Christmas music in the malls and watch the decorations spreading throughout my neighborhood. The family has celebrated their Thanksgiving feast and is looking forward to holidays together. I love this time of year.

In the publishing world, many of the key decisions grind to almost a standstill. When I was an acquisitions editor, it was almost impossible to have a publication board meeting to present new book ideas and authors. That means proposals and pitches pile up until after the holidays. Many of the publishing professionals are focused on sending holiday greetings, attending company functions and generally taking some time away from the office for family and vacations.

When you hear about this standstill you have two choices about how you react. You can throw your hands up and say, “Guess it's a bad time to send anything to publishers or agents.”

Or you can lean into it and decide it's a great time to move your work on a proposal or pitch into high gear. I encourage you to take the latter approach because it will help you move forward. Recently I held a free teleseminar about proposal creation. I answered many questions from writers. As I've held these events, I've found many people ask almost exactly the same question for a particular topic. This event was recorded and you can download the replay right away to your computer or iPod and hear my teaching. Plus you will receive a free 24–page resource, Book Proposal Basics when you go to the website. If you don't have a question, just type “no question.” Take action today and get my teaching about proposals.

If you want to push forward with your book idea and get your proposal in the best possible shape, I recommend you take my step-by-step Write A Book Proposal course. I set up this course on auto-responders which means if you sign up on a Tuesday, you will immediately receive the first lesson. Then seven days later or on the next Tuesday, you will receive the next lesson. This 12 lesson course includes a number of surprise bonus lessons and a graduation gift over three months. You complete the lessons on your own pace and it builds until you have a complete book proposal and sample chapter. You will be ready to hit the new year running hard and find a traditional book deal for your book.

Maybe you feel like you have a handle on creating an excellent book proposal. My next suggestion is to establish your own Simple Membership System. Almost every writer that I know has some skill that they teach to others. What do you teach? Can you take that information and repurpose or use it to create your own course? I believe the next few weeks create an opening for you to begin to craft your own teaching into an online course. The Simple Membership System is a complete package with three bonuses and detailed information to launch your own teaching.

If you are checking your email repeatedly looking for a response from a publisher or literary agent. You will be hard pressed to get a response during the next few weeks while they are focused on the holidays. It's not a time to relax but instead you can move your writing life into high gear.

I've written this article to encourage you to take action and move your writing into high gear. I'm taking my own advice and finalizing several of my own projects over the next few weeks. I believe you can achieve your publishing dreams. Yet it doesn't happen on its own steam. You have to take action each day to keep things moving forward.

For The Strange Holiday Experiences

The holidays are full of surprises and changes from the normal routine. Often we are with family that we rarely see or other people which take us out of the routine experiences. It's refreshing and good in many ways. Other times it brings challenges and even strange experiences.

I've had a few of those strange experiences over the last few days. There is no need to give you the specifics as I attempt to be diplomatic yet reach my point. When I have these different experiences, I'm committed to learning from them and growing through the strangeness until it is resolved in the best possible way.

If you write or want to get published (or have been publishing), I want to suggest several action steps with these experiences.

First, in your own private way, write down the incident, the feelings and the dialogue, Maybe you pick up an ink pen or pencil and put these words into a journal or open a file on your computer and type in the thoughts. I prefer the computer option since my handwriting had detoriated the point that people tell me they struggle to read my printing. Hey, I understand those comments because after the fact, I struggle to read it as well. While the concepts are fresh you capture the information. I've found time tends to blur the details of these experiences.

Next, look for places you can plug these incidents into your own writing life. For certain stories, you may have to changed the names or let family members read the stories and gain their permission before you publish anything (online or in print).

For some stories, I'd encourage you to go ahead and create the articles. Choose a potential publication or audience as you write so your completed article is an appropriate length in terms of word count and focus which means you lead the reader to a single point or message or takeaway. The polish that story and write a query letter related to it. Some magazines will only look at a completed article if they have first seen the query letter and expressed interest. Other publications will read the completed article. It is your responsibility as the writer to research the publication and understand their needs and preferences.

Some of the most popular and widely-read articles that I've ever written in my years in publishing come from these personal experience stories. Many magazines prefer first person stories for certain sections of their magazine or maybe even a regular column. Again it is your responsibility as the writer to locate these opportunities.

Seasonal stories are always in vogue for magazines. As a magazine editor, I recall the challenge of finding enough stories connected to holidays like Thanksgiving or Christmas or Easter or Valentine's Day or Fourth of July. Immediately when they happen is the best time to write these stories. You have several months to polish them before sending them out to the appropriate publication.

If you don't want to use them in a magazine article, then save the stories and weave them into a nonfiction book project or totally disguise the details and use them in a fiction project. You can even use a single incident in a magazine article (or two), a nonfiction book then as the spark of an idea for a short story and finally as an incident in your novel. The possibilities are endless.

I hear many authors bemoaning the limitations for their writing. Instead be aware of the boundless possibilities--if you capture the stories and proactively use them in your writing.