Open Question Night

January 8, 2010

 

Mary Rosenblum:  Well, this is the first Forum of 2010. And it's an open question night.
Mary, sometimes I share my newsletter prompts with friends at work, If they get posted on the bulletin board or passed along to their friends is it a violation of first rights?
Mary Rosenblum:  Charie, it's not a violation unless you want to sell someone first rights.  Technically, you can't do that anyway, since you've been published here.  But since this is officially a school website, not a public ezine, once I take the prompt down, if it doesn't show up with a google search, I figure you can offer first rights on it.  But if your friends have posted those prompts elsewhere and it does show up on a google search, not doable.

 Can we count prompts as clips?
Mary Rosenblum:  I would certainly count prompts as clips, sss. While it's true that I publish all the prompts I receive, the editor you mention the publication doesn't necessarily know that. So just say that you were published on the LR website. That's totally the truth.

So Mary doesnt that pose a problem if its been awhile and the editor tries to verify by looking at the LR site?
Mary Rosenblum:    Well, not really, wolf. If I tell an editor that I've been published 40 times in Asimov's Magazine how can that editor check? Those magazines came and went.  If you tell an editor that you write for National Geographic and your prose is really awful, that editor is going to seriously doubt that claim and may pick up the phone and ask. More likely he'll just reject your query.
If you write to the owner of copyrighted material to use the material and never receive a reply, does that mean you have to skip using the material or is there an alternative?
Mary Rosenblum:  Kard, you can't use the material. Maybe that person didn't get the query.  It can be hard to track down an author if you don't know their agent or they don't have one. Sometimes publishes will pass on your letter, but not if that person hasn't published with the company for awhile.
I'm pretty sure the request was received as it was sent by e-mail several times.
Mary Rosenblum:  Don't underestimate high level spam filters, Kard.  I'd try a different route...snail mail perhaps.
If you write a nf article about a place (zoo, museum, restaurant, etc) do you need permission to use their name or write about your experience there?
Mary Rosenblum:  Nope, charie. You can write about ANYONE. Now if you defame them, you can get sued for libel. Think about restaurant critics. Do you really think that restaurant gave an okay to publish that terrible review? LOL But that's not libel. It's one eater's opinion.
How about if you set a murder or other crime there, is that defamation?
Mary Rosenblum:  Not unless you say that the current owner, by name, kills people, Pearl.
Mary.. If I am writing an article for a magazine..how much of a problem is it that I don't have photos? do mags usually have photogs and writers separate?
Mary Rosenblum:  David, most big mags have photographers they job work out to.
Mary, is there a certain type of market for personal essays or do they count as articles?
Mary Rosenblum:  Awlop, personal essay/personal narrative can end up in any NF market where the topic matches the readership. Bailey White, who writes about family and the south, has been in a number of garden mags when her narratives featured someone's garden.
What about the positive use of a brand name item? Thermos? Kleenex? Coke? L'Oreal?
Mary Rosenblum:  Charie, it's not legal to use brand names but everybody does.
Mary one of my biggest road blocks is and has always been the interview
Mary Rosenblum:  David, good interviewing is a skill. Listen to Terry Gross on NPR. She's a very polished pro. You can probably find podcasts.
I hesitate in approaching people even when by phone. Man I hate the phone. For the most part with non fiction articles you do have to interview folks right? to get the first hand info?
Mary Rosenblum:  David, try interviewing people you know first, then move on to strangers.  Use a tape recorder and listen to yourself after. Practice on friends until you get comfortable.
I was chatting with some folks here couple days back.. about writing novels. Apparently if a book sells for 20 bucks the writer is lucky to get 5 of that maybe even 2.50.
David, you get about 8% royalties on paperbacks and about 10% on hard cover. Do the math. The epublishers and some small press pay larger royalties because they don't offer an advance.  David nonfiction pays MUCH better than fiction.
If I write fiction stories (and thus get writing practice) will that help in improving my writing for non fiction as well? or are the two just do different that only NF writing helps NF writing?
Mary Rosenblum:  Oh of course writing fiction will help your NF. A lot of nonfiction is narrative voice, visual description, pacing, dialogue.
[Mary Rosenblum ] 6:30 pm: They're the same thing, whether you're applying 'em to F or NF.
Lots of talk about creative writing. William Zinsser says in his book "On Writing Well," that...Creative writing is pointless whimsey." What's your take on this?

Mary Rosenblum:  Otto, William Zinsser just doesn’t like creative stuff much.  J If you read his books, he’s very informational NF. I bet he REALLY hates creative nonfiction.  But he’s not writing for every reader and neither is the writer of creative nonfiction. It’s a huge spectrum of readers and writers out there.  Still, he is GREAT for how to write lean, clear prose.
Isn’t  NF supposed to be creative writing?
Mary Rosenblum:  Well, no, sss.  Much of NF is not creative at all. It's simply conveying information clearly. The 'creative' in creative nonfiction is the use of the same literary dramatic techniques we use in fiction, but applied to NF. One  of the necessary skills in NF is learning slant, so that one pool of information nets you five or eight or twelve articles. My  freelancer buddies usually do a minimum of three to five pieces from, say, one interview.
How do you break up information into different articles? I interviewed a woman I know who makes dresses for the Renaissance fairs and Drag Queens. I can think of several different articles on the subject, but how do I get away with that without the fear of plagiarism?

Mary Rosenblum: Whom are would you be plagiarizing, Awlop?
Mary, my novel require more then one pov. Is it ok to put a date at the start of each chapter to help readers keep things straight?
Mary Rosenblum: That can work nicely, DLB.
Well, if I sell an article with quotes in from the woman to one magazine, if I use the same quotes in another article, wouldn't that be plagiarism?
Mary Rosenblum: You can't plagiarize yourself, awlop. :-) Plagiarizim means you steal another's copyrighted words.  As long as the articles are slanted differently you can use the same quote in all of them.
Well, I've read some markets that say you can't even use stuff you've written before. So I was wondering about that:)
Mary Rosenblum: Well, awlop that means the actual words you wrote.  Say you wrote a piece for the LR Newsletter and tried to sell that very same piece to Writers Magazine. They might turn it down, say they don't want reprints.  But you can use the same INFORMATION and write a different piece for Writers Magazine.  One of my students holds the record....she's up to seven published pieces from ONE interview! Something to aim for.

If you have personal information about a topic, you could write on that subject several different ways without interviewing anyone right?
Mary Rosenblum: Sure, sss.  I can write four different pieces about buying a plane for four different aviation mags, each with a different slant, and using my own personal experience.

So multiple articles based on same interview and information is that a learned skill? I’ve never been able to do that.
Mary Rosenblum: Of course it's a learned skill, David. What? You think you get born with a 'slant' button embedded in your scalp? LOL
How  I wish Mary. How I WISH
Mary Rosenblum: So okay, let's do a quickie lesson on slant.  I go interview a rose breeder. I can write for serious rose fanatics -- a profile of him That's one article. Maybe a look at where rose breeding is going. That's two. I'll write one on rose pruning for the fine gardening mags, using him as an expert quote. That's three  I'll write one for beginners on basic rose problems using him as my expert source. That's four.
A local slant on which roses grow best in their home region

Mary Rosenblum: There you go, Charie. That's five.  I'll write one on rose show for the flower show people. That's six. So here we are. One interview, six...SIX ...articles to pitch and we're not even warmed up yet.
The agony and frustration of rose breeding.
Organic slant on the fertilizers and pest control
Beetlemania
Mary Rosenblum: All good!  I suspect I'd schedule a half hour for the interview (I’d have my questions prepared ahead of time)  and we might spend an hour because I'd be very interested in what he's doing, but I'd get my info in a half hour.   Do you see how this works?  Nine possible articles to pitch.   It's not hard.  And it's not rocket science.  You want a good exercise?  Pick a story out of the newspaper or from the newsmedia.  Now think of three different ways to slant that information.  Say you choose a story about a local volunteer.  Find three different ways to write that piece. Do it every day.  Slant is a mindset -- you train your brain to see possibilities in every bit of information you get. Every time I talk to someone, I am mentally sorting out slants.  I could do this...and this...and this....
If you write a NF article from your POV in a group, do you use their names, get permission to include them in the article?
Mary Rosenblum: Not necessarily, Charie. I would change the names, personally. But if you don't libel them you're not legally in jeopardy.
Or just keep the group as generic background people, maybe?
Mary Rosenblum: That would be good.  Most people love it if you ask to include them in your writing, but some do not.
If John, is a mean, nasty, drunk, and you write that, is it libel?
Mary Rosenblum: Well, libel is hard to prove, but a punch in the eye or a lawsuit you have to pay an attorney to handle smarts. We'll talk about slant and nonfiction on Jan 22 at the next Friday Forum. Good night Everybody. Good writing.  And Happy New Year!