IdeaJones

Tag: writing

  • Writer’s Gold

    Writer’s Gold

    That’s what I call it, “writer’s gold,” when you meet someone who enjoys your writing. Writing is such a solitary art. It’s ceremonial. Writers have their traditions, habits and rituals. For me, it’s turning the lights low, getting a cup of tea, putting on some soft, quiet music, turning off the ringer on my phone, and surrendering to the gravitational force of the story. It pulls me in and I’m there, with those characters, seeing, hearing, smelling and experiencing what they do.  Mark says that you could light fire to my chair when I’m writing and I wouldn’t notice — and he’s not far off.

    But you walk forward, struggling to capture the vision in your mind and describe it, not knowing if anyone will understand what you’re trying to say, or enjoy what you’re creating. It goes out and (hopefully) people read it, but you don’t sit there with them while they do (and good thing — when a writer watches someone read his work, it’s uncomfortable for both parties. The writer is hyper-focused on the reader and trying not to ask “What? Where are you?” at each sigh, laugh, gasp or facial expression, which is annoying for the reader and I’ve been there, but trust me, it’s almost impossible to resist).

    So for the most part, a writer works in solitude, builds his paper boat, launches it onto the pond, and retreats to build another boat. That’s why it’s so great when someone has read something you wrote and really enjoyed it. I talked with someone the other day who read the opening of “Based On A True Story: Really (Almost) True Story,” and told me she enjoyed it a lot, it made her laugh, she recognized moments in it as moments like ones she’s had… She went on to talk about the scene with the cake and said she could see it in her mind and feel what was going on, laughing as she recounted it back to me… She also said that she was frustrated because she couldn’t keep reading and wants to buy the book!

    What I hope is that the book will give the reader a bit of an escape. Life can be stressful and when it is, books have been my refuge. This person has a stressful job, and the idea that for a moment she left it behind while laughing over our book makes me happy. Hearing her enjoyment gives me heart to build more paper boats and launch them.

  • Tips For Creative Types — Entertainment Sites and Artist Pages

    As we gather information from those who know about promoting artists and arts groups, we're sharing them. May your art thrive!
    As we gather information from those who know about promoting artists and arts groups, we’re sharing them. May your art thrive!

    Entertainment Calendars
    And Artist Pages

    Do you play music, write, dance, act, draw, sculpt or otherwise create? Do you give readings, show your work or perform? Do you have an Artist page on the entertainment websites that serve where you are?

    If not, you really should. Take Eventful.com for example. It’s a searchable site with information on entertainment options, used by residents and visitors to find that “something to do” we all look for from time to time.

    I just figured this out recently. On Eventful, you can create an account that lets you list events, but what some people don’t realize is that you can also create an Artist page. This is a chance to get your work, and yourself, out there, and a chance for cross-promotion. You see, when someone lists an event in which you’re participating, if you’ve told them you’re on Eventful, when they create the listing they can tag you as one of the people participating. You can only tag people who are on Eventful. When that person tags you in the listing, the event appears on your Artist Page as well as on Eventful’s searchable database. Someone looking at your page will see the event (good for the event) and someone looking at the event will see you.

    People can event click to say that they’d like to see you or your work where they are. If you get enough interest, you’re in a good spot to tell a venue or organizer in that town that there’s a demand to see you.

    Go to Eventful.com. If you haven’t set up an account, do. Then click on “My Eventful.” At the bottom of the page on the right, you’ll see “Add Stuff.” One of the options is “Add Performer Profile.” Click on that and follow the directions.

    There are other entertainment websites that also allow Artist pages. If you’re not listing on the entertainment calendars and websites that cover where you or your work will be, it’s time to take care of that. People can’t want to see your work if they don’t know you exist! Here’s a link to my new Eventful page so you can see what it looks like: http://eventful.com/performers/joey-jones

  • Arts Life — Dispatches From The Trenches #3

    As we gather information from those who know about promoting artists and arts groups, we're sharing them. May your art thrive!
    As we gather information from those who know about promoting artists and arts groups, we’re sharing them. May your art thrive!

    Continuing with Lesson #2, Why Should Anyone Give A Rat’s? or What The Gatekeeper Wishes You Knew:

    2) Think like your audience.

    A producer put it best… “Put yourself in my listener’s shoes. Why should he care?” I’ve been told one of the biggest mistakes made by people looking to get an event, or their work, mentioned (or that golden holy grail, coverage, with an interview and everything) is that they assume everyone will automatically grasp why it’s fascinating.

    Uh… no. First off, nothing is universally interesting to everyone. And chances are the person reading your press release or the person listening to that radio station knows less than you do about your event or the topic in general. Maybe nothing at all. She has no idea why she’d like to hear your lecture on 15th century art or listen to Seymour Garbick play French country tunes on his oboe.

    If you already like Seymour Garbick, or his music, or French country tunes, then yes, all you need to hear is that there’s an event with that involved, that you can afford, at a date/time/location available to you, and yay, you make plans. But an any artist or arts group survive only on the support of people who already know about it? What about people who don’t know much about it but might be willing to give it a try?

    When you’re in your car, what grabs you? What hooks your interest? Don’t assume that the public just needs to hear about your whatever to be fascinated. You should be able to explain in one minute why it’s interesting. You can expand on it, but there has to be a core. Is Seymour playing a song that hasn’t been played in 100 years? A song that’s played a lot, but Seymour happens to be the composer’s great-grandson? Or is Seymour a brilliant musician with a great reputation? Somewhere, there’s something about Seymour, or the music, or the oboe, or something that makes his performance different from the others happening that week.

    Remember that unless you’re talking to the people at Seymour Garbick Oboe Performances Monthly, your first hurdle is a Gatekeeper who may not know anything about any of that, who is looking for things of interest to other people who may not. Remember that story about the concert by the elderly guitarist? If you hear that he’s playing a song that is almost never performed, or that he taught someone well-known, or that he’s an expert but there are few chances to hear him play live, you might be more likely to pay attention, and go. Certainly the Gatekeeper is more likely to see why it might merit coverage.