Rob Parnell's Writing Academy Blog

Writing is a vocation.  You may have to keep reminding yourself of this. Especially when you want everything - money, writing projects, publishing success - to go faster.  I read a guy's blog this week where he talked about burn-out. He was so determined to get a novel finished he wrote 16 hours a day for about three weeks. He said that suddenly he couldn't make out the words on the screen. He was looking at a foreign language and he realized his brain had shut down.  The experience frightened him so much that he stopped writing and suffered a long period - over six months - of angst over what had happened. For a long time he was too afraid to start writing again for fear that his mind would play this trick on him again. Luckily that's not happened to me yet. Sounds awful. The worst thing that happened one year was that I got one of those humps on my right wrist - apparently they're caused by hitting the keyboard too hard for too long. It took a few ...

  Recently, one of my esteemed students wrote me a letter - yes, an actual piece of paper with handwriting on it - gasp! She thanked me for one of my courses that she was working through at home. She said she liked my 'metaphysical' approach to writing because it helped her move out of a block she'd been having. I've never really thought about my instruction being 'metaphysical' to be honest. It's not meant to be. A better term might be 'holistic', in that I see writing and the writer as equally in need of guidance and advice. The writer, to me, is inseparable from the writing. You can't be a good, honest and effective writer if you don't aspire to be a good, honest and effective person. If that's metaphysical, then so be it! But you don't have to be perfect. In the same way as your writing doesn't have to be perfect. What's perfection anyway but an intellectual tool we use as a benchmark? Perfection is relative...

The following article seemed to hit home with a lot of writers when I sent it to my subscribers.  It was originally called The Medusa Syndrome but many learned scholars and professors (yes - they get my newsletters too!) pointed out I'd made a slight 'myth-take' when it came to picking a mythological creature for my syndrome. I hope you enjoy it - and please, feel free to leave a comment of your own! Have you ever noticed how you, as a writer, see-saw? For one heady moment you know you're brilliant and then, later, with just as much clarity, you know what you do is awful. It's the writer's curse. I've noticed this happens at certain times in the writing process. When the ideas are fresh and you're starting out on a project, the adrenaline is flowing, the words are spewing on to the page - everything seems so clear, so clever, to you. And then after, when you look back, the words seem dull, the structure contrived and the talent - well, non-exis...

Here's a cute lie that most people believe: Writing is more than a skill, a pastime or a way of making a living. It is a vocation - like being a nurse or missionary. In order to commit yourself, and impress those that would read your work, you have to want to do it for nothing. Indeed this is how many of us become writers - it's something we feel compelled to do, whether asked to, required to or not! Certainly I've noticed that when you first start dealing with publishers, your enthusiasm, commitment and talent are of primary concern. Any talk of money too early in the process will see you ostracized very quickly. You're supposed to want to write for yourself - for art's sake - first. I guess it's about trust. The people that would help us get our work seen - in other words, published - need to be sure that our motives are sincere. That we write for some purpose other than just to make money. Tosh! I have discussed this aspect of the writer'...

Probably the most consistent problem I'm asked to help with is how to sustain the momentum required to finish writing projects. Writing a book is apparently the secret wish of 90% of the population - as though writing a book somehow validates us as humans - and perhaps makes us a little immortal.  But only around 5% of people will ever rise to the challenge - and even they will falter more times than not. Of these would-be writers, less than one percent will ever finish their books - and just to be depressing now, only a handful of that one percent will ever be published, or publish themselves. Faced with this punishing reality, how do you find the strength to carry on writing? Let me answer by telling you a story. Once, a very long time ago, I asked a practising motivational guru how I could become rich. I say it was a long time ago because in those days I was very cynical and I asked the question as more of a challenge than a query. The guru gave me a quick answer: ...

You write a book for someone else, and they pay you to put their own name on it. Is that even legal?  It is.  And professional ghost writers defend their right to do it. There’s money to be made here because there are many people who have a lot to say but do not necessarily have the time nor the skills to write it all down. However, there are some pitfalls to the ghost writing business. First piece of advice?  Always have a contract in place before you start the actual writing. It will save you a lot of heartache - and lawsuits - in the future. It’s worth remembering that not all ghost writing will entail writing books.  Some corporate executives want their company statements written by someone else. Scientists and doctors sometimes procure the services of ghosts to write their dissertations and academic reports. Celebrities have been known to hire ghosts to maintain an online presence for them. Webmasters too will often want their sales pag...

It’s surprisingly easy to get writing work from local businesses. At least that’s been my experience. Basically, all you need to do is let businesses know you offer business writing services - and they’ll call. The main caveat I would offer you is that it’s best to contact business offline, in person - as opposed to just using the Net to attract business. Of course, you can use the Net if you like. All I’m saying is that you’ll likely be more successful - and more quickly - if you try to establish personal relationships with business people in your local area - rather than focus on large online corporations that will no doubt already have lots of their own in-house writers. Now, it’s probable you think that the most glamorous of corporate jobs is either writing their ad copy or their promotional material. Both are considered the most prestigious and influential of all corporate writing gigs - which is why these gigs are usually so well paid. However, I've foun...