Write On!

Posted on January 3, 2018 by Megan

I started 2018 – work wise – by listening again to an archived version of TED Talks. The speaker was Elizabeth Gilbert, author of freakishly successful (in her own words) novel, “Eat, Pray, Love.” Gilbert’s talk wasn’t about the book. It was all about fear and creativity and genius. Write on!

It made me laugh

In the past, muses were disembodied creative spirits, first called daemons and then geniuses. If your work bombed, it wasn’t your fault. Your genius was lame. Love it!

It made me think

Gilbert talks about poet Ruth Stone at one point, and how poems would come roaring down on her and she would have to run. Run like hell to get into the house and find and pen and paper to write it down before it roared right through her to find another poet. How is it that ideas come out of the blue? Is it that genius, that muse, that daemon waiting in the wings?

Elizabeth Gilbert doesn’t claim to be a pipeline, waiting for the genius to rush through her. She’s a mule, like most writers. She does the best she can and, in moments of doubt, occasionally talks to her genius and lets them know if they want the work to be better, they have to show up to do their part of the job. Write on.

Writing is work. Sometimes it flows and sometimes it falters. Sometimes it sings and sometimes it sucks. And sometimes… yes, sometimes there is genius. If you want to read more about Gilbert’s take on the whole thing, check out Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear.

It made me get to work

I’m still waiting… for the genius, that is… but I’m doing my part. New Year’s Resolution’s don’t work for me. This year, it’s more of a deadline-based project. I’ve dusted off my research files and started in again on a project that I have had on the back burner for years. It’s a children’s picture book. I’m going to be back off the work-for-hire educational titles and focus a little more on my own ideas. The title of this one will be “Run Percy, Run!”

I’m talking to my genius now. I’ll do my part if you do yours. Here’s the deal, by April 1st (no joke, it’s written in ink on the calendar), I will have the manuscript out to a publisher. With or without a muse, or daemon or genuis, it will get done.

What project are you holding back on?

Are you afraid it won’t be good enough? Join me in letting go of fear and getting the job done in 2018. Write. Onwards. Upwards. Let the whole world hear your words sing – genius or not!

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Finding Focus as a Freelance Writer

Posted on January 19, 2017 by Megan

Being a freelance writer is awesome – you get to pick when you want to work, do what you want to do, and go where you want to go. As I’ve said before, you drive the bus – or ride the mule!

Being a freelance writer is horrible – work never comes when you need it the most, almost always hits when you’ve planned to take time to travel, and because the paths are endless (fiction, non-fiction, travel, children’s, anthology, blog, e-book…) it can be hard to get traction to get moving. Sometimes, the mule gets a little stubborn and slow.

I don’t set goals or make resolutions in the New Year anymore because they always seem to start off big and fizzle out fast. This year I’m not making plans. Instead, I’m simply digging in to a steep learning curve to get this blog on track.

Hiking Northern Spain. (Photo: M. Kopp)

That doesn’t mean I’m not working on a e-book, still writing children’s non-fiction, and penning travel pieces – I am – but it does mean I’m focusing spare time on becoming a better blogger.

Let’s face it, I suck at consistency when it comes to non-paying projects. My aim is to make this blog a passive income machine. Pay it forward. Possible? Apparently. Over the next few months, I’ll post occasional updates on my progress.

First Steps – or how to get that bus moving again! I am starting slow and learning to walk before I run. Step one: sign up for a little education on the topic. I chose “From Blog to Business” by Wonderlass Allison Marshall. Part of her package is support and additional training opportunities, like a productivity party. Trust me, it’s not fun and games. It is all about sweat equity and it comes with a 25-page workbook. I’ve just finished p. 2 – Celebrate.

Celebrate – it’s time to write down your accomplishments over the past year. I was hesitant at first because it didn’t feel like I had a productive year in 2016. Well, colour me happy! I was pleasantly surprised when I took the time to look back at what I’d accomplished.

Deep thoughts. (Photo: M. Kopp)

Work

wrote 9 work-for-hire children’s non-fiction books
penned 9 articles for paying markets
taught 2 travel writing courses
submitted a post to new paying blog market
wrote a book review for a paying market

Training

attended SocialWest Conference
signed up for several Udemy courses (LinkedIn, iPhone photography)
attended Alberta Magazine Publishers Association’s Pitchfest

Travel

long weekend ski trips to Panorama and Assiniboine, BC and Waterton Lakes National Park, AB
multiple day trip skis and hikes
6-day mule trip into the canyon of Sierra de la San Francisco, Baja MX
month-long hiking trip Northern Spain and Morocco
6-day canoe trip on Bowron Lake Circuit, BC

A little slice of paddling heaven! (Photo: M. Kopp)

And More Travel!

12-day trip to Vancouver Island for family and backpacking
6-day backpack across the Chilkoot Trail in Alaska and the Yukon
6-day trip to Northern BC to spend time with a girlfriend
5-day road trip to Tofino with my daughter
11-day bike/hike trip to southern Nevada and Utah

Write down your accomplishments last year – go ahead, give it a try. Your accomplishments can be related to writing or work or fitness or travel or whatever it is that you do. The act of writing it down not only feels good, it gives you a clearer picture of what actually happened and it gives you “the motivation to keep moving forward.”

Keep moving forward! (Photo: M.Kopp)

Bring it on 2017!

Write Smart, Write Now!

Posted on February 17, 2015 by Megan

“Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it.”
– Albert Einstein

In my spare time, I’m always looking for ways to improve my freelance career. The path wanders and it includes everything from searching for new markets, to learning to be a better blogger, to brushing up on my writing skills.

Be a Better Writer is a new site for me. It’s geared toward fiction and I write non-fiction, but one of the posts caught my eye. I had to take a closer look. “Tight Writing Gets Published” is a perfect primer (or refresher) for self-editing – no matter if you are penning a novel or drafting a travel article or editing a children’s book. Get rid of those things, somethings, and somehows. Use strong verbs and resist adverbs. Cut the excess and your writing will improve.

In the words of Elmore Leonard, “try to leave out the parts that people skip.”

What sites would you recommend for improving your writing?

50! Kid’s Books Under This Author’s Name

Posted on February 3, 2015 by Megan

By: Megan Kopp

I finally sat down this week to update my list of published books and – surprise, surprise! – I’ve hit 50 titles bearing my byline. True, six are still in various stages of the publication process, and I’m awaiting author copies on a few more, but they should all be out in 2015.

A few of my books! (Credit: M. Kopp)

Now here’s a not-so-secret secret: these books are all non-fiction, work-for-hire (WFH). What this means is that a publisher comes to me with a series or a topic and I write the book. The idea belongs to the publisher, but I still get a byline as the author.

Pros of WFH

Editors approach you with an idea
Guaranteed income
Format established
Artwork (pictures, maps, illustrations) is completed by the publisher

Cons of WFH

You don’t own the copyright
You don’t have any control over artwork
You must follow a set format
The editor has the final say on content

After 50 books, it’s safe to say that WFH works for me. That being said, I plan to take a walk (or dogsled ride – hint!) on the wild side and write my first, completely author-driven children’s book this year. Stay tuned!

Resources for Writing Children’s Non-Fiction and WFH
Evelyn Christensen’s Educational Markets for Children’s Writers (website)
2015 Children’s Writer’s and Illustrator’s Market (book)
Children’s Writer’s E-News (email newsletter)
NFforKids (Yahoo group)

What writing project(s) are you working on in 2015?

Writing Old School

Posted on January 13, 2015 by Megan

It felt clunky and awkward. Words fell onto the blank page only to disappear in fury of eraser bits and dust. Writing without a laptop or iPad was surprisingly difficult. I couldn’t edit as easily, I couldn’t grab a word and move it up in a sentence. I couldn’t make it work… at first. And then the scratching of the lead against fine wood fibres began pulling me back into the art of writing old school.

Mosquito Creek Hostel provided the perfect writer’s retreat. (Photo: M. Kopp)

Spending a long weekend away from the distraction of internet a mere keyboard click away forced this writer to focus on getting the ideas down, rather than editing or breaking the flow to deal with the business aspects of being a freelance writer. Long after the lights of the hostel dorm dimmed, my headlight shone brightly on the notebook tucked firmly in a little corner of my bunk. The blue pencil flew across the page as thoughts and impressions and ideas poured from mind to page.

Productive? Definitely.

Do again? Absolutely.

When was the last time you took a break from writing with a computer?

Seasonal Inspiration

Posted on December 6, 2014 by Megan

Let’s face it, freelance writers often have to toot their own horns and beat their own drums. November and December are notoriously quiet months, work wise, but I sold a travel story to a new to me market this past week. I don’t have a horn and can’t keep a beat, but this a cappella version of Little Drummer Boy from Pentatonix should do the trick! It inspired me to celebrate this writer’s quiet season.

Seems this is turning into a month of Christmas v-inspiration!

What inspires you to write?

Maintaining Freelance Writing Focus

Posted on November 2, 2014 by Megan

Travel is good for the soul, but hard on a freelancer’s focus. Take my recent trip to Turkey. I came home inspired and bursting with stories to share. Reality hit when I had to sit down and decide if I wanted to try and find homes for these ideas in traditional markets (newspapers and magazines), or take a financial hit and send them to online markets, or put them up on my own blogs.

So many options for the same journey! (Photo: M.Kopp)

In the meantime, I’m now back in the office with two children’s book deadlines breathing down my neck. Most of the work has been done, but they need to be wrapped up, pronto! Travel stories and ideas – back burner.

A few days later… deadlines met. Where was I? Marketing travel stories, right. Before I can go there, I need to carefully sort through my ideas. Which ones have enough substance to be a magazine or newspaper article? Which slants are time-sensitive and better suited to online markets? And which story ideas are leftover for my blogs? Do I have sufficient, distinctly different, good quality photos to support each idea?

Off to market
Traditional markets – I’ll start there and try to get paid for my prose. It’s going to take time to find the right market, draft a strong query, and wait for a response, but as a freelance writer who makes a career from words, it’s worth the effort. Query #1 sent.

At the same time, I have lots of story ideas running around in my head. I think I’ll send one off to an online market I’ve worked with before. It helps keep me motivated by seeing something published with my byline. As with print, I need to find the right market, draft a strong query, and wait for the response – but online markets have a faster turnaround.

Query #2 sent. Response back in less than a day. The editor kindly passed on the idea… sigh. She’s going to be travelling back to the same area one day soon and doesn’t want to have similar material already up on the website. Fair enough, but now I’ve got to find another market for the idea.

Focus, focus, focus
Searching for potential markets – whether online or print – is an entertaining challenge. Unfortunately, it can also be a huge time suck as I find myself getting pulled off-track again and again and before I know it I’m reading blogs about Turkish food rather than finding a market for my own ideas.

Turkish mezes – choices, choices! (Photo: M.Kopp)

Four more children’s books… again most of the work complete… deadlines approaching… It is hard to stay focused at times. Maybe I should give up travel writing altogether. Or maybe the time has come to stop writing children’s non-fiction and focus solely on travel writing. My problem is that I love both genres.

Perhaps it as simple as just getting to work. Send off another online market query, work on the kid’s books some more and then send off another query. Keep moving forward, stay committed to getting things done rather than stressing about it all being hard on my freelance focus. Take one step at a time and accomplish something concrete every day. That’s the ticket.

Query #3… sent. I’ll let you know how it goes!

Find your path and follow it through. (Photo: M.Kopp)

How do you stay focused when you have multiple writing projects and story ideas buzzing around your brain?

New Kid’s Books

Posted on September 22, 2014 by Megan

Between travel, hiking and writing kid’s books, there’s been little time for updating blogs. But I’m sure that will all change now that fall is here. Well…

Maybe it will change once hiking is done for the season… or after a trip to Turkey… or just before the snow flies and ski season is upon us… or…

Okay, maybe I’ll just share what I can when I can. These treasures poured out of the big box that arrived in the mail today – proof positive that I do work hard when not out on another adventure!

Megan E. Kopp

FREELANCE WRITER

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