#socialmediabuttons {text-align: center; margin: 0 auto; display:block;} -->
Friday, May 23, 2014

How I Found The Write Path - the Butler/Hrezo way :)

Aloha,

The amazing Carrie Butler and her lovely co-host, PK Hrezo (sir, I know you have pronunciation problems, but please... step away from the "H") want to compile a free e-book for writers who are just starting on their road to publication, using advice from the most brilliant, up-and-coming voices in the industry.

Now that all those people have sent their entry in, here's mine :)



THE PROMPT: 
Please write a letter/note to yourself when you first started writing toward publication and include the answers to the bold elements listed below (I told them to be good… but nooooobody listens to me):

(PS: My letter is meant for the me that sat on the patio of his 27th floor Chicago apartment… on the evening of Y2K:)

- A lesson you learned the hard way:
Dude, don’t be a chicken. Writing is your passion – you’re just afraid to admit it. Get over yourself.
Grow a pair. You will?
Good.
Now, sit down, be quiet – and write the damn story.

- Something you didn’t expect about the industry.

Writers care about each other’s success. You’ve always wanted to be a part of a group. Well, here you go. Take the plunge. You’ll absolutely tread water for a while, but they won’t let you down - or drown. Trust a little – and learn a lot.

- A writing-related resource you could never do without now
Twitter.
(No, you don’t have to learn the Chicken Dance.)

It’s something on the Internet (yes, I know it sucks paying AOL a monthly fee, but that will change, too.)
Anyway, Twitter is a way to quickly share information in 140 characters or less.
(No... it’s not at all like hanging with the little animatronic people at Disney’s “It’s A Small World.)


- One thing you’d change about your journey
You need to get out of restaurant management ten years earlier, work as a server in a swanky place and then spend the extra hours writing at the library or at Starbucks (yes, the coffee place.)


- One thing you’re glad you did.
In five years, you’ll apply and get that Staff Writer position with that Florida newspaper (even though you had neither the required two-year experience nor the degree in journalism.)
Nice one, and that’s what I’m talkin’ about, dude.


- Your number one tip for pursuing publication.
You haven’t got the looks or the education, but you are such a pain in the arse when you get your teeth in something that’s important, so don’t be a big gurl’s blouse.
Don’t quit on your dream.
Ever.


- Anything else you feel is worth passing on
Dude, raid the accounts and buy about $10,000 in Apple stock – more if you can afford it.
(No, it’s not a fruit producer or a new martini drink.)

Oh, and patent the word “Google.”
(No, not gaggle, Google… seriously, why do I bother. Yes, I know I’m stuck with you. Now, go. Write.)

And, if you’re stuck, go to Harvard. (Yes, the Uni. Yeah, the one in Bahston…)
Try getting some face time with some dude called Zuckerberg.
(He’s a student, and he has a neat idea that people will give thumbs up to... some may even like it…)

###


INFORMATION: 
My bonded name is Koopmans… Mark Koopmans...

You can find me on Twitter – simply click here.

If needed, the fabulous Carrie Butler has permission to use my entry in the e-book compilation.


 

15 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

I think a lot of us would tell our younger selves to invest in Apple. And what if it was called Gaggle instead of Google?

Elizabeth Seckman said...

I have never written in a Starbucks. Do you think that makes me less of a writer?

Nope, never give up!!

(And I'm a step ahead of you brother...I am making friends with all these writers that I know have talent and one day, I am going to ride their coat tails. Just don't tell them I'm pre-using them. Now go publish a book, get rich, take pity on your poor sister and hook me up!)

BECKY said...

Mark, I love this! Although, I'm with Elizabeth....I've never written in a Starbucks. I hardly even go to one, because....don't yell....I don't like their coffee! None of it! I'm basically a plain, black coffee gal...but it's gotta be mild. I don't drink mud! AND, I don't do Twitter. OMG, yes, there I said it. I wouldn't mind tweeting...but I don't understand it and no one has taught me, either...hint, hint. Okay, here's one of my mantras: "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined"-- Henry David Thoreau

~Sia McKye~ said...

Don't quit on your dream...yah, that resonates especially when all those pesky things of life get into the way. :-)

I think one of the riches in my life is the writers I've come to know. Especially those who tell it like it is, who admit to the things that still plague them and how they solve them, and use a torpedo on the blocks in the path. Gotta love them!

Sia McKye Over Coffee

Melissa said...

Lots of good (and funny!) advice, to be sure, but this was the best: "Don’t quit on your dream.
Ever." :)

Tammy Theriault said...

Glad you made it to the parrrrrrty. It's true that we like to see others succeed. And if not....get out of the way. We busy succeeding. Lol!

Michael Di Gesu said...

APPLE STOCK... NO SH*T! I should've taken the hundred g's I made on my first house and sunk in right into APPLE instead of buying this damn condo in CHICAGO... LOL. I'll be lucky to get half of it back.

ANYWAY back to writing. SO TRUE, never give up the dream.

At least you started writing professionally when you were younger. I didn't enter the arena until four years ago. EEK... SO many years wasted. BUT... I have LOTS of life experience to write about. You know me, always keep it positive....

Even the move to Chicago had it's rewards. Here is where I discovered my writing. SO it was meant to be....

Have a great weekend!!!!!

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

Would you have listened to that sage advice? I hope so. Have a great holiday weekend.

Elephant's Child said...

Rather than being a big girl's blouse - rock the look and wear one. Featuring coconuts no less.
And know that as well as the other writers there will be readers (who need you) applauding from the sidelines.

klahanie said...

Sir Mazza dude!

I should Google the word "Google." Maybe I might find out that you actually did pattern the word and you are fabulously wealthy and my long lost bestest bro..

Yep, writing is your passion and in your own unique, zany way, the proof is here.

Now go Google "Koogle" :)

Have a lovely weekend, good sir.

Gary in lil' ol' England....

Joss said...

I'm going to shock you now, perhaps and say that I have never, ever been to start bucks. Not once. Never, but I do know what it is, if that is any consolation. I would love to be able go and write in a coffee shop or cafe, or well anywhere really, but all we have where I live are two pubs and the idea of writing in those has never appealed. The joy of living in the country.
I loved your letter though, a very interesting read. :)

Annalisa Crawford said...

Lol at Gaggle! The world has definitely changed a lot in the last 14 years. When time travel becomes reality, Zuckerberg will have so many friends he won't have to invent Facebook at all :-)

Al Diaz said...

I think since Google is already taken why not to start Gaggle? Good advice here, Mark! I have not been at one Starbuck's yet but it looks like a nice place to write.

Carrie Butler said...

Koopmans! I'm so happy you took part in this blogfest/e-book compilation. Things are always funner—I can make up words; I'm a writer—when you're around. :D

Thank you so much for participating!

Nicole said...

Ha - could you imagine if you HAD patented the word "Google?"

Post a Comment

Dude saunters up to Dude-ette: You Comment Here Often?

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
 
;