To Pseudonym or Not to Pseudonym (Or: Why I Use the User ID I Do)

(Note: This is about what name I choose to use for various accounts/sites online, not for what name I choose to write/be published under.)

When I first found the internet in the late 1990s, I didn’t want my name out there. I didn’t want people to know who I was. At the time, I barely let people know I was a writer.

That, obviously, has changed. People know I write. They know I have had things published.

Sometimes they even look for me.

That is the main reason I use a version of my name as my user ID on sites like Twitter, LinkedIn, Plurk, etc.

There is a marketing strategy used among many professions, but seems most common among writers, of transparency. You make no effort to hide who you are or what you do. You’re open and honest about yourself, your business, and what you do.

That’s what I try to do.

There’s another reason, too, though. From time to time, disagreements crop up on the Internet, as in life in general. But there is a key difference.

On the Internet, you can use a pseudonym for your user ID. You don’t have to use your actual name. Because of that, it’s easy to hide from what you say. You don’t have to take ownership of what you have said and can pretend it didn’t happen.

In life, you can’t do that.

I generally don’t go to places where such things are common practice, but eventually, wherever I go, things are bound to happen that cause disagreements and confrontations on some level.

This is my name. I have to take responsibility for what I say. I can’t hide behind a pseudonym.

That’s another reason I use a version of my name online. It keeps me honest with myself as well as with whoever might read what I write.

Filed under: writing , Jen Nipps, jennipps, LinkedIn, Plurk, pseudonym, Twitter, user ID, write, writer, writers, writing

Quick Conference Wrap-Up

The Oklahoma Writers’ Federation, Inc., conference was this weekend. I came away with three great things.

1. On Friday afternoon, I had an appointment with Dan Case, editor of WritingForDollars and publisher of AWOC Books. Last year, I learned that he was doing a “Devoted to…” series of devotional books. As of right now, there are Devoted to Writing, Devoted to Cooking, Devoted to Fishing, and Devoted to Truck Driving. I wanted to pitch DEVOTED TO CREATING.

A few weeks ago, he posted on Twitter that he was accepting appointments at the conference (which I knew about) and I replied I already had an appointment with him. He asked me to e-mail 10 pages of “something” to him so we would have a more productive 10 minutes.

So, as I’m sure you’ve figured…He wants it!!

2. Also…In May, with the writers’ organization, we change officers. This year, I’m Publicity Director. I’ve already started on that. OWFI is now on Twitter.

I have ideas of other social media-type ways to promote the organization between now and the next conference.

3. My historical romance novel-in-progress, BENEN’S BURDEN, won 1st Honorable Mention in the Historical category of the OWFI contest.

The keynote speaker for the banquet on Friday night was the amazing Tess Gerritsen. I had a previous commitment/promise to help with moving some baskets, so I didn’t get to go to her booksigning afterward. She is a wonderful speaker. The crux of it, in my opinion, was her closing line: “Write from the heart because that’s where the stories are.”

Also on Friday, I hosted a buzz session on Twitter, microblogging, and blogging in general. Around 10-15 people came through (in & out). There is some interest in an actual conference session on it sometime in the future.

Who knows? It could happen.

Filed under: writing , AWOC Books, blogging, buzz session, Dan Case, historical romance, Jen Nipps, jennipps, microblogging, Oklahoma, Oklahoma Writers' Federation, romance, Tess Gerritsen, Twitter, write, writer, writers, writing, WritingforDollars

Busy Busy Bee

Early in the month, I had applied for a writing gig about writing health articles. I had resisted it for a while, but eventually common sense won out.

I do medical transcription. I have internists, gastroenterologists, pediatricians, neurologists, orthopedic surgeons, psychiatrists, and psychologists I can call in for expert sources.

So I applied for the gig and promptly forgot about it.

One day last week, I got an e-mail stating they were interested in working for me but would like a health-related sample article rather than the writing- and freelance-related ones I had submitted.

I weighed the pros and cons. I researched the company. I finally decided to take the risk and do the sample article. If they took it and ran, shame on me. I submitted it, as requested, by Sunday evening.

They didn’t take it and run.

I got an e-mail Wednesday afternoon requesting an invoice and mailing information so they could send me a check. They liked the article! They also asked when I could start writing for them regularly.

Of course, I said, basically, “whenever you want me to.”

So I got another e-mail with a list of topics for my next assignments due by next Friday.

The point, other than I’m very happy to have a new gig and have some work coming in that’s not from the day job?

Persistence pays off. Keep on keeping on. Set goals for yourself and work towards them.

I’m still doing that. What I have now isn’t enough for me to go full-[time yet, but I’m working on it and definitely making progress.

Filed under: writing , applications, article, freelance, freelance writer, freelance writing, goal-setting, goals, Jen Nipps, jennipps, submissions, write, writer, writers, writing

Membership in a Writers’ Group Vital to Writing?

On Saturday, I had a conversation with my Granny that went something like this:

Her: So are you still going to the writers’ group?
Me: No.
Her: Well, why not?
Me: The one here doesn’t really offer me anything useful.
Her: Well, are you still writing?
Me: Yes, and I’m starting to make some money with it.
Her: You are??

I’m actually proud of myself that on her question about if I were still writing, I didn’t go with my first reaction, which would have  been “DUH!“

I wonder, though, why some people think it’s of the utmost importance that writers be members of an in-person writers’ group. A good group, like the one I was a member of for several years, can be a great help and a marvelous asset. A bad one can drag you down, leave you uninspired, and eventually lead to lower writing output.

That’s not what I wanted for myself.

That’s why I decided the local writers’ group didn’t work for me. Yes, it can and will be an asset to someone else and I wish every single member in that group the best of luck with their writing.

I don’t think it’s all that vital to be a member of a writers’ group, though. At least, not an in-person one. I get a lot of feedback, support, and encouragement from online groups. Yes, I’d like to be able to go to a good in-person group again, but unless I want to walk 60+ miles one way, that won’t happen unless/until I start one myself.

(For that matter, belonging to Toastmasters is also somehow encouraging/inspiring writing-wise.)

So what groups do I go to online?

The main ones are Web Writing Wonders and the AbsoluteWrite Water Cooler, but there are others I go to.

Even then, do you think Dickens belonged to a writers’ group? What about Plato?

There have been writers a lot longer than there have been writers’ groups. They may likely have had their personal support systems, but that’s not an actual group.

Therefore, to my way of thinking, they’re not absolutely necessary. Helpful, yes. Necessary, no.

You — I — can be writers without belonging to any kind of writers’ group. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

Filed under: writing , AbsoluteWrite, AbsoluteWrite Water Cooler, Dickens, Jen Nipps, jennipps, Plato, Web Writing Wonders, write, writer, writers, writing

I’ll Be Teaching

A big part of writing, as I have always understood it, is teaching.

Most of the time, people read articles to learn something. Often, they read fact-based fiction (no, I will not call it “faction”) to learn something.

Many writers I know — Peggy Fielding, Romney Nesbitt, and Dusty Richards among them –  teach as a regular part of their writing.

It was around this time last year that I learned The Center of Continuing Education & Community Services at East Central University in Ada, Oklahoma, was looking for additional teachers to send proposals in for possible inclusion in the program.

I started working on a proposal, but there were a lot of unanswered questions for me. I didn’t know, really, how to go about getting the answers.

This year, I noticed they were still — again? — looking for teachers. There was a key difference, though. They were offering an informational class on how to do a proposal for the program. I signed up.

As a result of the class, I submitted a proposal for a class on how to make money writing. Unoriginally enough, I called it “Make Money Writing.”

One day last week, I found out that I will, indeed, be teaching that class this summer. It will be on Tuesday evenings from 7:00 to 9:00 June 2 through June 30. There will be a total of five classes. I plan to take participants through the process from finding ideas, finding markets, writing a query, and drafting the article.

Yes, there will be assignments throughout the class. Chief among them will be one I borrow from Peggy Fielding: Write at least 30 minutes every day.

A selling writer writes.

And, yes, I’ll be teaching.

Filed under: writing , East Central University, Jen Nipps, jennipps, Make Money Writing, Oklahoma, queries, query, teach, teaching, write, writer, writers, writing

Writing-World.com: A Website Review

WRITING-WORLD.COM: A WEBSITE REVIEW

When I became familiar with the Internet, one of the first web sites I looked for was none other than Writing-World.com. In between classes in college, I would trek down to the basement of the building that housed the English department and go to the computer lab.

Writing-World.com drew me in and taught me a lot more about writing than I had learned in freshman comp and even in reading Writer’s Digest. It still draws people in.

Benefits of the site include a free monthly newsletter. Articles for the newsletter are written by Moira Allen, who maintains the site, and other freelance writers. As a side note, Writing-World.com is a paying market.

According to the contributor guidelines on the site, there are over 600 articles archived. They are divided by type, date, and level of experience. The articles deal with such topics as the business of freelance writing, screenwriting, and publishing your book, to name a few. Articles discussing fiction are further divided by genre.

If you are a subscriber to the Writing-World.com newsletter and have had a book published, there is a section on the website where your book could be listed. There are instructions on how to contact them to get it listed on the “contact us” page, which opens in a new window, so be certain you either don’t have pop-ups disabled or press the control button on your keyboard while you click the “contact us” link.

The main disadvantage to the site is all of the ads that figuratively jump out at the reader. There are eight ads going down each margin, a medium-sized banner ad at the top of the page, and a very large banner ad at the bottom. Most of the navigation links are under the Writing-World.com banner at the top and are not affected by the ads. However, with the animation and changing colors, they are still distracting.

According to a report from Dead-Links.com, there are over 300 broken links on the site. In taking a closer look at the report, most of the broken links lead to Amazon.com and are likely to books being removed because of Amazon’s POD policy or because they are out of print.

Honestly, ads and broken links aside, I’m glad to have rediscovered this site. I have some reading to catch up on. Be careful when typing the address, though, and include that hyphen. Otherwise, as I discovered, you’ll land at a website advertising writing classes.

Rating: * * * *

# # #

Jen Nipps writes from Ada, Oklahoma. She is a member of the Tulsa NightWriters, McAlester McSherry Writers, and Web Writing Wonders. Her web sites are www.jenifernipps.com and www.theideapocket.com.

———

(Previously published in the OWFI Report, March 2009.)

Filed under: revisions , Jen Nipps, jennipps, Oklahoma Writers' Federation, OWFI, reviews, writing, Writing-World.com

On the Sci-Fi network Becoming Sy-Fy

You may or may not have heard the commotion about the Sci-Fi cable TV network changing its name to Sy-Fy. Honestly, when I first heard it, I thought it was a joke. Then I realized it wasn’t.

I have long thought that sci-fi (said “sigh-fie”) was a somewhat derogatory term for science fiction, as is “skiffy.” I suppose that’s why I don’t see the network changing its name as that big a deal.

Apparently, some people did — and do. That prompted these remarks from Sci-Fi network president David Howe.

Personally, I don’t lump fantasy, action & adventure, and horrror in with science fiction. Some do. I’m not going to argue about labels and semantics. If it works for them and that’s what they’ve been doing it, by all means, keep on keeping on.

Filed under: writing , action & adventure, fantasy, horror, Jen Nipps, jennipps, name change, sci-fi, Sci-Fi channel, Sci-Fi president David Howe, science fiction, skiffy, Sy-Fy, writing

1,200 what?

I am afraid I have bitten off more than I can chew.

Back in January, I queried a magazine about writing an article about how to write how-to articles. In February, I received what amounts to an on-spec assignment. (”Amounts to” because this magazine treats all submissions as on spec.)

I re-read my original query tonight. I know what I was thinking. I had done a quick article for eHow and decided to expand it. This is, interestingly enough, where my “What-have-I-gotten-myself-into”-itis comes in.

I know I can write short articles. That original article was approximately 350 words long. Other articles I’ve done for the OWFI Report, TutorialBlog.org, and Writing for DOLLARS! run between 500 to 750 words or less.

Actually, now that I’ve pulled up the drafts of a couple of those articles and found that there were some as long as 750 words or more, I can do this. It’s momentary anxiety.

Show me a writer who doesn’t get anxious, at least on some level, about their work and I’ll show you one who isn’t sending anything out.

Besides that, I’ve completed three novels and have received good feedback on them from publishers.

What’s 1,200-word article compared to a 75,000-word novel? (I’m 200 words in. Only 1,000 to go.)

Filed under: writing , anxiety, article, Jen Nipps, jennipps, novel, on spec, queries, query, submissions, write, writer, writers, writing

Is It May Yet?

I know, I know…The year is already speeding along and I’m wanting it to go faster?

Well…

Yes. Sort of.

May 1 and 2 is the annual Oklahoma Writers’ Federation, Inc., conference at Embassy Suites in Norman, Oklahoma. There is a pre-conference workshop called “Self-Editing without Self-Destructing” given by Robyn Conley Thursday, April 30.

I’m looking forward to that workshop. I try to self-edit, but I know there is a lot I could do to improve on that.

There are a lot more workshops and speakers I’m looking forward to as well. Tess Gerritsen is the keynote speaker for the Friday night Famous Authors banquet. (After the actual banquet, one side of the banquet hall will be opened up to anyone who didn’t go to the banquet but wants to hear her speak.)

As for the conference workshops themselves, there will be tracks for fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and memoir. I have no doubt I’ll have trouble deciding between a few of them. I also hope to have an appointment with an editor or agent. (Note to self: You won’t be getting an appointment if you don’t send the blasted e-mail.)

Other presenters include Jodi Thomas, Romney Nesbitt, Jackie King, Mel Odom, Elaine English, Sandra Dark, Merline Lovelace, Jordan Dane, and many more. (I’ll add additional links as I find them.) There will also be editors and agents available for appointments.

Friday after the banquet, there will be “buzz sessions” — informal gatherings/workshops that cover some of the same topics as what is discussed in the sessions and then some. (FYI, I’ll be doing one on blogging and microblogging — such as Twitter, Plurk, etc. And we’ll talk some about Facebook, LinkedIn, and MySpace too.)

Saturday, the banquet is the awards ceremony for the contest. I entered — I think — 14 categories this year. That’s a record for me.

I’m looking forward to connecting with new people and reqcquainting with friends I haven’t seen in a while.

If there’s something I’ve left out about the conference that you want to know, leave a comment here or send me an e-mail. Or you could check out the link to OWFI that I gave at the beginning of this post.

See you at the conference in May (or via the Internet between now and then.)

Filed under: writing , agents, conference, editors, Elaine English, Facebook, Jackie King, Jen Nipps, jennipps, Jordan Dane, LinkedIn, Mel Odom, Merline Lovelace, MySpace, nonfiction, Oklahoma, Oklahoma Writers' Federation, Plurk, Romney Nesbitt, Twitter, writing

Writing with the Muses

In Greek mythology, the Muses control the creative arts in one way or another.

I found out this afternoon that one of my friends passed away a week ago.

Ridley was a self=proclaimed cycnical old bastard, but he was a great writer and a wonderful critique partner.

Whenever I would receive a critique from him in e-mail, I’d read it immediately and disagree with over half of what he said. I’d close it and go back to it later. Sometimes later was a week or more, but I always went back to it. When I did, I’d see it from a fresh perspective.

More often than not, he was right.

I have missed — and will miss — his critique, his sharp attention to even the smallest detail, his wit, his reminders, and — yes — even his cynicism.

I consider myself priveleged to have been able to read THE PRICE, a political thriller (even though that is not my preferred genre), which he had been working hard to get published.

Write with the Muses, Ridley. You will be missed.

Filed under: writing , critique, cynical, cynicism, genre, Greek mythology, Muses, political, political thriller, thriller, write, writing