|
|||||
    |
|||||
 |
|
|
||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||
|
Outdoor Writing is a Business You, as a new member of the Texas Outdoor Writers Association, must always remember that your writing must be treated like a business which it truly is. As a business person, you have a product to sell – your writing. You must also be a good enough writer to secure a buyer of your business product. Like any other business, either full time or part time, you must learn to dedicate yourself to making your writing business profitable for the amount of time you spend both in researching and writing. You must produce a product that is as near flawless in writing rules as possible and one that adheres to the buyer’s writers’ guidelines. Don’t ever think that those guidelines are anything else than chiseled in granite. As a writer, you must always write with your readers in mind. You may well understand how to rig up a baited doopsy doodle fishing rig, but you never should believe that all of your readers absolutely know how to do it themselves. We all have stories to tell that others need to know or would like to know, but you must write so that the reader can understand and learn from them. Don’t write “Joe and John went fishing and caught XX number of XX fish” stories and expect the editors to pounce on your prose like a hungry coyote jumping on a field mouse – it isn’t going to happen. Instead, write where Joe and John went fishing (salt water or fresh water); what they were fishing for; the type of bait they used (real or artificial and what type of artificial); the techniques they used; and what time of year, listing both the water and weather conditions. If it is not your most “secret” fishing hole, then include the navigation coordinates. The same applies if you are writing a hunting or camping story. Put the reader right next to you in the boat, blind or gathered close to the warmth of your campfire. Make your reader see, touch and smell all of this through their eyes in a manner that they can “feel” that they are truly sharing the experience beside you as they read your story. Be careful not to prostitute yourself by writing untrue or exaggerated praise about an outfitter who wants you to sell a story on how good the outfitter’s services were just because they offered you a freebie hunting or fishing trip. Don’t claim or use another author’s writings as your own. Always be 100 percent honest in your writings – it is your writing reputation that you can ruin. Once you lose a good reputation with your readers or editors, it is very difficult to regain that trust. If I may be of further help to your and your writing career, please give me a holler at my address and telephone number below. Welcome to TOWA, one heck of an outstanding outdoors organization! Outdoors with the 2B’s |
|||||||||
|
|