This fourth Monday of the month I’m dedicating this last Q & A of 2021 to some of the answers I have received to a question many of you, dear writerly readers—and workshop students— might find especially interesting.
C.M. MAYO: For those looking to publish, what would be your most hard-earned piece of advice?
DAVID O. STEWART: Nobody asked you to write that book. You’re doing it for you. If you can’t get it published, accept that they’re all a bunch of morons and move on.
SUSAN J. TWEIT: In the writing stage, be honest. When you get to a scene or place or event you want to skip over, stop and ask yourself, what am I afraid of? And then go there. Find the universal threads in your personal story—memoir works when it reaches beyond the personal into the territory that anyone can learn from. And when looking for an agent or publisher, be perseverant. Memoir is a crowded field these days, and yours has to be the best it can possibly be to stand out, and it also has to be so compelling that an editor or agent simply cannot put it down.
JAN CLEERE: Do your research before querying publishers and agents. You will save so much time if you know whether the publisher or agent you are querying accepts the type of book you are writing. There are several good websites that list publishers and/or agents and describe what they are looking for.
KARREN ALENIER: If a publisher says s/he likes part of your manuscript, ask immediately if you can send a revision. Don’t delay by feeling sorry for yourself or thinking someone else might like the whole thing. Take your openings when they present.
SOLVEIG EGGERZ: Don’t waste years seeking an agent, a large publisher, a small publisher, or anything. Instead invest time and money in getting your work read and vetted 1) by your favorite writers group and 2) by an excellent developmental editor or mentor. Once you feel confident that you’ve written a good book, do what feels right regarding publishing.
KATHLEEN ALCALÁ: Before submitting anything, research the market. If looking to publish in a magazine, purchase half a dozen or so that seem to be likely venues for your work. Look at them carefully and see if you fit in. This is a good place to start, rather than submitting book length manuscripts to publishers, because book editors read these magazines, too. It also gives you a chance to learn how to work with an editor, to receive suggestions and shape the best possible piece for the magazine.
CHRISTINA THOMPSON: Don’t be too impatient and don’t try to publish work that isn’t ready. Also, I do recommend having some readers for your work-in-progress: a writing group or a class can really help you identify weaknesses in your writing that you might not be able to identify on your own.
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My own hard-earned advice about publishing? Chances are, you’ll make some mistakes, some minor, others appalling, so why not lessen the number and the pain by learning from the mistakes of others?
My favorite answer is David O. Stewart’s: “Nobody asked you to write that book. You’re doing it for you. If you can’t get it published, accept that they’re all a bunch of morons and move on.” I would add to that, don’t overlook the option of self-publishing. But again, and with self-publishing especially, it helps to learn from the mistakes of others. (On my writing workshop page, scroll down aways and you will find a batch of posts on publishing.)
May 2022 be a year filled with health, happiness, prosperity, and inspiration for you and yours. And if you’re looking to publish, may your path be blessed!
I welcome your courteous comments which, should you feel so moved, you can email to me here.
C.M. MAYO: How has the Digital Revolution affected your writing? Specifically, has it become more challenging to stay focused with the siren calls of email, texting, blogs, online newspapers and magazines, social media, and such? If so, do you have some tips and tricks you might be able to share?
Down with social media!
LYNNE SHARON SCHWARTZ: “I avoid social media as much as possible—I think it is destroying critical thinking, as well as print journalism. A lot of it is simply garbage. I do like email, though I miss getting personal letters in the mail.” —From Q & A with Lynne Sharon Schwartz About Crossing Borders, Madam Mayo blog, August 23, 2021
MATTHEW PENNOCK: “I am not particularly prolific. I do not write every day, and I’m often distracted by all the shows I can stream, and podcasts I can listen to. Social media has never really appealed to me, so I am okay there, but other than that, someone needs to give me some tips about how to get a little more done.” —From Q & A with Poet Matthew Pennock on The Miracle Machine Madam Mayo blog, November 23, 2020
ALVARO SANTANA-ACUÑA: “While I am writing, I minimize interruptions, including turning off my cellphone and notifications. I only turn it back on when I am having a break. In general, I try to use social media as little as possible. What I do is to log in, scroll down a few posts, and, if I have to post something, I do it and then log off. The truth is that, when we are on social media, we easily loose ownership of our time, which we put for free at the disposal of these companies. We become their workers. I prefer to use my time for other things.” —From Q & A with Álvaro Santana-Acuña on Writing Ascent to Glory: How One Hundred Years of Solitude Was Written and Became a Global Classic, Madam Mayo blog, December 28, 2020
It depends…
CHRISTINA THOMPSON: “I think this depends on what stage one is at in the writing process. When you’re actually writing a book, all this stuff is a distraction and you have to be very careful not to waste too much time on it. But once your book is published, it becomes a lifeline to your readership, and the more you participate the better. So, I think it’s really a matter of making all these opportunities work for and not against you, and that takes a certain amount of discipline.” —From Q & A with Christina Thompson on Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia, Madam Mayo blog, January 25, 2021
Balance
JAN CLEERE: “While digital sources have made a writer’s job more efficient when it comes to finding pertinent sources, it has also taken away that spontaneous delight of uncovering a long lost letter or hidden journal that has not yet been digitized. I try to focus on the business of writing separate from the hours I spend actually writing. Not always possible but I have found by trying to compartmentalize the creative from the business end of writing, I am more productive. The trick is to balance these activities so that by the end of the day, you feel you have put out all the fires as well as progressed with your writing.” —From Q & A with Jan Cleere on Military Wives in Arizona Territory: A History of Women Who Shaped the Frontier, March 22, 2021
No problemo!
SOLVEIG EGGERZ: “Actually I love writing on the computer. I am not one to long for life in a cabin on a mountaintop where I write on a yellow pad free of technology. I don’t like to be surprised by “emergencies” days after they occur. I resolve the issue of disturbances by keeping my phone next to me, so I can glance at a message without shutting down my story. Maybe I am exaggerating my equanimity!” —From Q & A with Solveig Eggerz on Sigga of Reykjavik, February 22, 2021
KARREN ALENIER: “I’m used to being interrupted. I grew up in house of six children. I was eldest. The point is when I am working, I am able to ignore the lure of online wonders like YouTube, blogs and newspapers. However, I like to work in silence and know that listening to radio, TV, or music is too distracting. Yes, my smart phone is an interrupter. Still I don’t turn that off because someone important to me might reach out and need me. Some of my friends get annoyed that I don’t read their Facebook pages except occasionally. The best way for me to get something done is to put it on my list of things to do. I take great pleasure in ticking off those items.” —From Q & A with Karren Alenier on her New Book How We Hold On, the Word Works, Paul Bowles & More, Madam Mayo blog, September 27, 2021
DAVID O. STEWART: “For a lot of years, I was a trial and appellate lawyer with a dozen or more active cases at a time. I used to describe my work as a life of interruptions. Clients called. Colleagues dropped by (remember offices?). Opposing lawyers called. Dumb firm meetings. Interviewing job applicants. I was constantly dropping one subject to pick up another. I tried to be in my office by seven a.m. to get some uninterrupted time. So these days, working at home by myself, I actually get antsy if I don’t have a few interruptions. I’m used to working for a stretch, taking a few minutes off to do something stupid (see social media) or annoying (see call health insurer), and then getting back to work. It’s normal.” —From Q & A with Biographer David O. Stewart on the Stunning Fact of George Washington, Madam Mayo blog, June 28, 2021
Go into another world…
SUSAN J. TWEIT: “When I am writing, I am in another world. I turn off notifications on my phone and computer, so that I’m not distracted by the bing of email coming in or the ding of texts or news alerts. My daily routine is pretty simple: I post a haiku and photo on social media every morning (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram), and answer any comments on my posts. After half an hour on social media—I set a timer—I read the news online. When I’ve finished with the news—which is research time for me, as news stories, especially those about science, are raw material for my writing—I write until the well runs dry. And then, usually at two or three in the afternoon, I allow myself to go back to social media, answer other comments, check the news. Then I close my laptop and go outside into the real world and walk for a mile or two on the trails around my neighborhood to clear my head. Getting outside into the “near-wild” of the greenbelt trails in my high-desert neighborhood keeps me sane in turbulent times, and refills my creative well. Nature is my medicine, inspiration, and my solace.” —From Q & A with Susan J. Tweit on Her Memoir, Bless the Birds: Living with Love in a Time of Dying, April 26, 2021
KATHLEEN ALCALA: “All of this is terrible. I am so easily distracted. I will start laundry, open a file, take notes by hand, and forget what I had planned to do that day. For me, the best strategy is still the writing residency, away from home, where I don’t have any excuses and fewer distractions. This is especially needed when I am trying to organize large blocks of writing, such as the chapters in a novel.” —From Q & A with Kathleen Alcalá on Spirits of the Ordinary, Madam Mayo blog, May 24, 2021
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My Own Logbook and Stopwatch for Work on Madam Mayo Blog
The ever-increasing and OMG-so-many siren calls to the Internet—as a writer, it’s something I’ve been struggling with and pondering on for the past many years. I’ve had some continuing frustrations, but also some successes, and I’ve blogged about the latter (see my writing workshop archive). Tips & Tricks for Coping with Digital Distractions, that’s a book I’m not going to write because I’m already writing another book, with two others contemplated after that, in addition to hosting this blog. Enough already!
But I will offer a word on my strategy for fitting Madam Mayo blog into my week. This blog has been ongoing since 2006, and since 2019, on a regular schedule of posting on Mondays. Although for years I resisted establishing a regular schedule, to my surprise, it has made the blog far easier to manage.
One of the biggest challenges to the sort of blogging I do is that because there’s no editor, no paying subscribers, it’s easy to have the whole show just ooze on out into who-knows-what-who-knows-when.
If you enjoy writing, watch out, blogging can take over your writing life!
Blogging then, for me, is what behavior modification expert B.J. Fogg, in his book Tiny Habits, terms a “downhill habit,” that is, a habit “that is easy to maintain but difficult to stop.” (Of course, on the other hand, for many people, blogging is, as per B.J. Fogg, an “uphill habit,” that is, one that requires ongoing attention to maintain but is easy to stop.)
Starting in January of 2021, I have been attending to the tiny habit of logging the time I spend on Madam Mayo blog, aiming for about two hours per week, never more than an hour a day, and also aiming for putting my attention on it (including dispatching any related emails) only on Sundays, Mondays, and Wednesdays. When I sit down to work on Madam Mayo blog, I open a digital stopwatch app. When I’m done, I note the date and time spent in the logbook. Was it as scheduled, and within the time limit? If so, I give the entry a check mark and do the B.J. Fogg prescribed “celebration.” Yes, it’s kind of nerdy, but I have been finding this system, or rather, set of tiny habits, balancing, energizing, efficient and, hey, just fun.
I welcome your courteous comments which, should you feel so moved, you can email to me here.
“I was actually working on another project when I stumbled across a handful of journals written by women who had come west with their military husbands in the mid to late 1800s. I became fascinated with what these women endured crossing the desert and settling in Army forts ill-prepared to accommodate women. I also wanted to present their stories as they wrote them which means in today’s climate their words are not always politically or socially acceptable, but I felt they needed to tell their stories”—Jan Cleere
Jan Cleere’sMilitary Wives in Arizona Territory tickled my curiosity for two reasons. First, as those of you who follow this blog well know, I am at work on a book about Far West Texas, and its post-Civil War US military conquest is closely connected to that of Arizona. Early on in my researches I came across the writings of Lt. John Bigelow, Jr. on both Texas and Arizona, and—also essential for anyone looking at Far West Texas history— The Colonel’s Lady on the Western Frontier: The Correspondence of Alice Kirk Grierson, edited and introduced by Shirley Anne Leckie. Historians, among them, Cleere— already the celebrated author of several works on women’s history in the West— are doing important work to bring forth these long-neglected women’s letters, diaries and more. I salute Cleere and sincerely hope that her work inspires others. (And by the way, if you have inherited such papers— whether pertaining to the West or any other time and place—please consider finding a home for them in an historical society or library.)
Secondly, I’m always interested—and I assume many of my writerly readers are as well—in how historians, biographers, nonfiction writers of various stripes and writers of historical fiction work with and manage books, articles and digital materials. My own experience I would describe as an ongoing slog up the learning curve, so I’m always game to ask about that and learn what I can from other writers.
From the copy catalog for Military Wives in Arizona Territory:
When the US Army ordered troops into Arizona Territory in the nineteenth century to protect and defend newly established settlements, military men often brought their wives and families, particularly officers who might be stationed in the west for years. Most of the women were from refined, eastern-bred families with little knowledge of the territory. Their letters, diaries, and journals from their years on army posts reveal untold hardships and challenges. They learned to cope with the sparseness, the heat, sickness, and danger, including wildlife they never imagined. These women were bold, brave, and compassionate. They became an integral part of military posts that peppered the West and played an important role in civilizing the untamed frontier. Combining their words with original research and tracing their movements from post to post, this collection of historical narratives explores the tragedies and triumphs that early military wives experienced.
Jan Cleere, author of Military Wives in Arizona Territory, and many other histories of women in the West
C.M. MAYO:What inspired you to write Military Wives in Arizona Territory?
JAN CLEERE: I was actually working on another project when I stumbled across a handful of journals written by women who had come west with their military husbands in the mid to late 1800s. I became fascinated with what these women endured crossing the desert and settling in Army forts ill-prepared to accommodate women. I also wanted to present their stories as they wrote them which means in today’s climate their words are not always politically or socially acceptable, but I felt they needed to tell their stories with little interference from me.
C.M. MAYO:As you were writing, did you have in mind an ideal reader?
JAN CLEERE: Not specifically an ideal reader but one who enjoyed reading women’s history and who had an interest in how women coped during the early days of western development and expansion.
C.M. MAYO:Of the military wives, is there one who especially impressed you, surprised you, and/or frustrated you in some ways?
JAN CLEERE: A couple women stood out for different reasons.
One woman was so determined to accompany her husband into the territory that she defied her husband, sold all their belongings to pay passage for her and her infant son and joined him on the long march across the desert from California to Arizona’s Fort McDowell.
Another woman, fearing for her children’s lives during an Indian uprising at Fort Apache, lined her children up against the fireplaces in her home, hoping the resilient breastwork would protect them from flying bullets.
I was impressed with how these women reacted quickly to whatever the situation demanded.
C.M. MAYO:Which writers have been the most important influences for you?
JAN CLEERE: Because my books concentrate mainly on early Arizona, Tom Sheridan and C.L. Sonnichsen’s books are a mainstay in my library. I also find myself picking up old Arizona history books such as Thomas Farish’s 1915 History of Arizona and James McClintock’s 1916 3 volume set Arizona.
C.M. MAYO:Which writers are you reading now?
JAN CLEERE: Since my books require my delving into so much history, I like to read fiction for pleasure although the books that have stood out for me are historical. Jim Fergus’ 1000 White Women and The Wild Girl stand out as exceptional novels. But right now I am reading Pat Conroy’s memoir The Water is Wide.
C.M. MAYO:Researching a book like this requires extraordinary organizational skills. Can you talk a little bit about your working library and how you keep track of the books you read / consulted for Military Wives?
JAN CLEERE: I am certainly not an organized researcher or writer. I dedicate an area on my bookshelf for the books I use for a particular project and am scrupulous about documenting my sources but I have no strict method of organizing my materials. I am trying out the References feature in Word now to see if that will help me in future projects to maintain a record my sources.
C.M. MAYO:How do you keep track of articles, both on-line and on paper?
JAN CLEERE: I started this book before the pandemic and completed it during the crisis. Online research became more important than ever. I gave each women considered for the book an online as well as physical file. Research notes on each woman were cataloged under her name. General information about the military forts and how women were treated and perceived at the time was kept in separate files.
I utilize both digital and paper records for my research and am sometimes redundant with what I collect. One tool that I find very useful is a timeline detailing the life of each person I am researching as well as a timeline of historic events that occurred during her lifetime.
C.M. MAYO:Any other tips to share / hard-earned lessons in organizing one’s research?
JAN CLEERE: I am always looking for a better way to organize my research and am open to any suggestions. I have tried several types of software but have not yet found one that answers all of my needs. One thing I will emphasize is to back up your work constantly. In the past, I have lost valuable material and learned my lesson. I have both a physical backup on my computer as well as using the iCloud for storage. Redundancy can be a saving tool.
C.M. MAYO:How has the Digital Revolution affected your writing? Specifically, has it become more challenging to stay focused with the siren calls of email, texting, blogs, online newspapers and magazines, social media, and such? If so, do you have some tips and tricks you might be able to share?
JAN CLEERE: While digital sources have made a writer’s job more efficient when it comes to finding pertinent sources, it has also taken away that spontaneous delight of uncovering a long lost letter or hidden journal that has not yet been digitized.
I try to focus on the business of writing separate from the hours I spend actually writing. Not always possible but I have found by trying to compartmentalize the creative from the business end of writing, I am more productive. The trick is to balance these activities so that by the end of the day, you feel you have put out all the fires as well as progressed with your writing.
C.M. MAYO:For those looking to publish, what would be your most hard-earned piece of advice?
JAN CLEERE: Do your research before querying publishers and agents. You will save so much time if you know whether the publisher or agent you are querying accepts the type of book you are writing. There are several good websites that list publishers and/or agents and describe what they are looking for.
C.M. MAYO:What’s next for you as a writer?
JAN CLEERE: I am researching the lives of women who ran boardinghouses in the early west and have run across some remarkable stories of why and how these women started taking in boarders, how the business changed their lives and those of their children. The majority of the book will be about respectable landladies but I have also run across a handful of women who operated bordellos and might include some of them.
Excerpt from Military Wives in Arizona Territory by Jan Cleere:
Ellen Biddle and Martha Summerhayes had already lived on a variety of military posts before meeting each other in Ehrenberg, Arizona, where Ellen experienced an incident that would stay with her long after she and Martha parted.
On her way to Fort Whipple in 1876, Ellen traveled up the Colorado River from Fort Yuma toward Ehrenberg with her husband and young daughter aboard a small steamer called “The Cocopah.”
“We reached Ehrenberg just before sundown four days after leaving Fort Yuma,” she wrote in her journal. “It was only a depot for supplies that were shipped to the forts in all parts of the Territory; and here, entirely isolated from the world, lived Lieutenant and Mrs. Jack [Martha] Summerhays [sic]. . . . They were very glad to see us and gave us the warmest welcome, though we had never before met.
“We had a very good dinner, notwithstanding it was so far out of the world, for most army women learned to cook and make the best of everything that came within reach. I was somewhat surprised when a very tall, thin Indian came in the dining-room to serve the dinner, which he did quite well.
“There was much to talk about before I thought of putting my little one to bed, and I asked Mrs. Summerhays if I might have a tub of warm water to give Nelly a bath.
“In a little while she told me it was ready in my room (which I soon learned was her own she had given up to me). We said good-night, and going to the room I undressed the child and gave her a refreshing bath, the first that she had had since leaving San Francisco. She soon fell asleep and after I had straightened the room a bit, I decided I would get in the tub. I had just sat down in the water when my room door was silently opened and in walked the tall Indian carrying a tray filled with silver before him. I scarcely breathed so great was my fright. He walked over to the table, put the tray down, and as silently walked out, looking neither to the right or the left. It is useless for me to attempt to describe what I felt, it would convey nothing.”
Martha was not as distressed with half-naked Natives as was Ellen. She described her servant Charley who interrupted Ellen’s bath as appealing “to my aesthetic sense in every way. Tall and well made, with clean-cut limbs and features, fine smooth copper-colored skin, handsome face and features, heavy black hair done up in pompadour fashion . . . wide turquoise bead bracelets upon his upper arm, and a knife at his waist—this was my Charley.”
