The Unsuccessful Writer

The Amazing Life Writer

I was christened that title from a friend’s little girl who, after hearing the stories from my book “Through The Woods” referred to me as the “amazing life writer.” I was touched and so anxious for praise for my writing that it was validating that it came from someone so young and someone who had no idea on how not to be honest. She was absolutely correct. My life has been amazing and I was someone who would write about it.

As I continue on my path, working on book number 3, I am perplexed by a blank page staring back at me. I have all the facts in place. I have some of the visual things I need here with me such as photos and memorabilia from family members passed on. My chapters are structured and in line and I even have the music picked out and into a playlist so that I have the audio as well. I know, it seems high maintenance but I am a procrastinator and this is the best way that I cannot write.

You heard me correctly. Not write…and it is because each book, each story is something that I know that I can write but I am fearful that I will be unsuccessful at it. The rules are “a writer writes.” And don’t forget “a book doesn’t write itself.” Yuck! For me writing a new book is like the beginning of a new romance.

You meet the idea of the book and you get to know that idea until finally that idea is all you can think about. It is your obsession and your white whale so to speak. But what I can tell you is this. No matter how much you plan or no matter how much you sit at those keys with your fingers ready to strike, unless it is right inside of you the words will linger where they are and the page will remain blank.

For tonight I will be keeping this short. I am going to grab some tea, maybe a couple of cookies. Then I will   dust off my desk, wash my window and finally then I can write…or maybe not.

Until tomorrow,

What’s Eating You?

What’s Eating You?

I am an emotional being. I eat, sleep, laugh, cry, work and write with emotions (I warned you I write like I talk). That is the basis of where my stories come from. This is my foundation and there are numerous ways to find that foundation but I think that the best way is to allow what is eating at you direct the emotions from your pen onto the paper.

Being 62 years old I have learned that life is a process. And no matter how many times I start at the beginning I manage to screw things up and have to start again. Take for instance when I was still taking care of my mother, Joyce. After visiting her at the nursing home with yet another round of arguments and frustrating questions I would go home and write the angry parts of my book. Nothing spurs on creativity like an overbearing mother who feels that no matter what you have done it’s just not good enough but wait…that is for another blog.

When you are in love the best part of your book can reflect that. Your hero/heroine will be strong, sweet and sexy all at the same time. The memories of last night’s encounter will flow right through into the book and into your reader’s mind. That is how I perceive romance novels. Just like in that movie “Romancing The Stone.” The main character Joan Wilder, a world-class hopeless romantic who has just finished her last romance novel and was still looking for the mysterious lover that eludes her in every book. All of a sudden she has to leave and go to Columbia to rescue her sister from Zolo the villain of the story. Of course Jack T. Colton comes to her rescue and there is that sexual tension that goes from disgust to true love before the movie ends.

Even though the novelist in this movie was fictional it still proves that she was writing what was eating at her. She was alone and so in love with love that she had to create a real life adventure (just like in her books) to be able to write about it.

You will write from so many places in your heart. The feelings can come flooding through at a time that you will least expect it. And the best way is to go to your writing place, close the door and just start. In this process you will learn how to turn on and off this gift and yes it is a gift because not only are you clearing your own mind, heart and soul of some emotions that have been eating away at you, you are writing some of the best stuff you ever will.

In my book, “Through The Woods” my emotions came from the feeling of abandonment and acceptance. I was so sad that my parents’ divorced and that my mother went away to work in the city and follow her path as a jazz pianist. I was angry with my mother because I thought she drove my father away so I was missing him terribly and I didn’t even really know him yet. And I learned to accept and trust the love and gentle guidance that my grandparents Cleo and Bill Mauer gave to me. This book reflects all that emotion but is told in such a way that when you read it you actually feel good.

Here is the exercise that I want you to do today. Sit down at your keyboard, grab a picture or two of someone you love, hate or have lost. Allow yourself to go back in time and revisit that moment, those feelings and then take your character from your book whether it is fictional or not and write it all down. You can tell “anything” to the paper. What you write is as private as you want it to be because in an instant you can delete it or erase it or tear it up and burn it and be done with it or…you can keep it and enhance it and allow this a chance at a life of its own.

Don’t be afraid you can only be better from it…

Until tomorrow,

In the Beginning~

It all begins somewhere. We can be little sitting on our grandparent’s knee as they tell us a story or we can be telling a story to our grandchildren that we have made up and they ask for it again and again and again. You may not know it but you have become a writer. “Me?” “No, not me!” you say as you blush and stammer some inaudible jargon out of your mouth as you turn away or even close this blog…but mark my words you will be back. How do I know this? Because I was just that person. It begins somewhere deep inside of us and the only thing you can do is let it out, hold its hand and nurture it or go completely insane.

I have this defect. I hear a song later in the day and then it plays over and over in my mind. Some nights I can’t stop it and I will have to call for my savior. The only person in the world that can cure this “earworm” for me is Bette Midler. She sings the song “P.S. I love You” from the movie “For The Boys.” Once she walks onto the stage of my mind I see myself handing her the mic and no matter who was there singing some song before her they leave, and she sings and I am once again asleep. I need sleep because so much of my writing comes from my dreams. I take all the things that I have overheard or saw during the day and I file it away in my mind and then at night when my mind is calm I dream.

The reason I share this with you is because there is this saying by Edgar Allen Poe that says it all. “I am a writer. Therefore, I am not sane.” That is us…you, me, all of us. There is nothing wrong with it because if it wasn’t for the writers, this world would simply exist on just black and white for we are the color that brings life to this marvelous place.

I have an exercise for you on this first true entry in my blog. I want you to get a something to write with and on. It can be a quill pen or a feather pencil, an ink pen or a crayon. The paper can be a notebook, or card, an old receipt or a special writing book that for sure will make all the difference…right. Take a deep breath, a drink of your wine or a bit of your sweet caramel chocolate and write down 5-7 words that describes your surroundings. After you write those words I want you to take each one and write a sentence. Not just any sentence but something from deep inside of you and unique. Then you take those sentences and arrange them into a paragraph that tells a story. And that my friends is the beginning. I promise you will not be hurt and it will be the most exciting thing that has happened in a long time. And before you know it you will go back and read it again and again and you will smile as you know your adventure has begun. My example will be at the end of this page.

Until tomorrow,

Margie Mack

 Dark, small, full, warm, close, chair, desk, keys.

1.       My room was dark and set in the back of the house.

2.      It was small but not too small.

3.      The walls were full with pictures and memories.

4.     Sometimes the air was warm.

5.      I felt close to the ghosts that came here to visit me.

6.      My chair had just enough room for me to lay back and close my eyes.

7.      The desk I used was a child’s desk but I was small enough to fit.

8.      As I allowed my fingers to find the keys I suddenly knew that the adventure had begun.

I have decided to start something new. Not that writing is new for me and being unsuccessful at it is as comfortable as a worn out pair of sneakers. But rather, I thought I would take the time to figure out just went wrong on a seemingly easy profession. I have written and self-published three books, along with books waiting to be published as they sit on a flip-drive in my underwear drawer, books of poetry, children stories, screenplays and even a blog to help a family member who had breast cancer. I have a Facebook page just for my books that has 9000+ followers but unless I am showing a "visual" picture with a quote or two about my books no one pays attention. If I give away my books I have people waiting in line for that free book or two. And even if I give them the books for free (about 200 books so far) getting a review on Amazon might as well be asking them to go see the dreaded dentist. Putting all that aside, I have learned everything about marketing that I could. I took a marketing course on Groupon and have paid for reviews, been part of the "Book Daily" marketing plan, got my books on "Goodreads," "Reedsy," and "Wiselike" along with “Twitter” and whatever other social media that I can't think of right now. I sent out hundreds of postcards announcing my second book and even stuck in some news about my books in the 200+ Christmas cards that I sent last year. I think I am single-handedly supporting the United States post office. I joined a website called "Postcrossing" so that I can send postcards all around the world with the fact that I AM A PUBLISHED AUTHOR hoping to spark some interest to no avail. I have won contests that couldn't pay out the prize for my writing and lost miserably in most not even getting an honorable mention. I am doing Author fests and Arts and Craft shows to get my books out there. I even sent 25 books to the "Oprah Winfrey's leadership School for Girls" in South Africa. This next month I will be taping a standup comedy show at “Second City” in Chicago for the “WCIU show You & Me" because I answered a question about what is on my bucket-list and I said that I would love to do standup comedy to tell people about my life, my quest to be a story teller and the miseries of becoming a senior. And anyone who has read my books tells me that my stories helped them remember their own childhood and made it easier for them to understand about life and the struggles we have as children trying to survive. Not finishing high-school I accept the fact that I am lacking in the proper mechanics of the English grammar, sentence structure and punctuation. But let’s face it there are many, many well-known authors that never finished high school. Charles Dickens was one. He had to drop out of school at age 12 to help support his family when his father was thrown into debtor’s prison. Mark Twain was another 12-year youngster who had to drop out of school when his father suddenly died to help take care of his family. And one more would be H.G. Wells. At 11 years old, his father who was a professional cricket player fracture his thigh. That income was what sustained this family so he took an apprenticeship as a draper at the Southsea Drapery Emporium. His experiences there later inspired the novels "The Wheels of Chance and Kipps." I could go on and on but I am sure you get my point and what does this do for me or us anyway? I am really frustrated at searching the web at all hours of the day and night in hopes of catching that elusive whale...success. In this blog I hope to discover the secret to my success and possibly yours, after all, you will be coming along with me won't you? In the days and months ahead I will teach you what I know and I will allow the secretive process out on how to self-publish your books.  Out of this blog I hope to start my own publishing company. A publishing company that will try its best to allow the unknown, unagented and unsolicited writer a chance to become known.  I paid over $2500 for the benefits of book publishing and editing and I want you to know that I write like I talk and it isn't always correct. But that makes me who I am and I think we will get along just fine. My favorite quote is by Maya Angelou: "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." That is what I want...I want what she had...I want my words to mean something and to help all of you feel something. Validation is what we all strive for isn't it? I am ending today's blog with a dare. I dare you to respond to what I have said and be honest enough to share your good thoughts, frustrations and criticisms so that this unsuccessful writer can become successful and that way you can too. Sounds fair? Looking forward to hearing from you. 

Peace,