Linked In

Okay, I’m gonna share a secret. My secret is LinkedIn. I’ve been secretly lurking on this site for some time now. I go, I read, I gain. I’m sure Linked In is more than just writers communing and discussing the business but it is all I use it for, gleaning info about the writing business. It is a professional network, not a social scene.

I lurk around many sites, meaning I visit them, learn and grow in my writing. I think my friend told me about Linked In many many years ago and I had no use for it because I was so busy with ‘schoolwork’ and teaching folks about writing that I didn’t see this site for the immense amount of information that it held.

It is really a site where writers link up or any professional field of interest. I’m sure if you’re an astronaut they have groups to link you up, or if you’re a librarian, yup link ups to other librarians. But to me, this is a source to link up to other writer’s, publishers and editors.

You join the group of people that are in your field of interest, and join in the discussions of others in your field. That simple. It’s a professional site, unlike facebook where you throw things out and friends connected to you throw things back. No this place isn’t a place to show your immature silly side loaded with pics. It’s all forums and sometimes the sharing of your work. Notice I say WORK; a place to share your professionalism.

Also on LinkedIn, friends can endorse your work. Other professionals see your profile, and find interest in your work. Some will even hire you for a job. You know, a job where you get money for your work?

LinkedIn is not the immature looney bin palace of MySpace or Facebook or other social networks where socializing with the world becomes a laughing stock. I didn’t list Twitter because all that that place is good for is PROMOTING your work. To socialize on Twitter is creepy!! No, Linked In is the place for the professional, where you AS the professional, put on your intelligence cap and let your light shine!

Another place I like to lurk is Faith Writers. That is a place for writers of faith, to share their work. Granted it has benefits when you pay for their membership. There is a no-fee way to post but all the benefits come from the ‘paid’ subscription. BUT it is an excellent place worth mentioning to my writing friends. I haven’t bought into the site yet, maybe one day.

I lurk on the sites, drinking in words like a warm cup of coffee. I’m not an obsessive person (unless it is cleaning the house) or a stalker but I do lurk and see who is watching and who is obsessing, and WHO is learning from me.

My hope is that as you follow me, you’re learning from me and not abusing the situation to suit your needs. I have a lot to offer. Use my info wisely. Thank you!

Professionalism

It only takes one person to change your life – you.
Ruth Casey

***

There comes a point in ones writing career when you realize the importance of acting like a professional. If you’re just writing to make friends, to be popular, to just plain old have fun, then you are in the wrong business. Maybe you should think of joining a circus, or a carnival, or perhaps a day care where the children don’t want you to be professional, they want a like-minded person who is funny and will play all the time. Remember, they WANT Bozo the Clown for a friend!

When you join the writing sites, it is pretty important that you come off as a professional. You never know if a prospective editor, agent, or publisher is sitting right next to you, observing you before she/he approaches you. If they see that you can’t even act professional, why would they want to take something as serious as getting you published and helping you with it, into their professional business?

Allow me to ask this, when you submit your work, are you going to put cute little hearts on your work, a few woohoos; are you going to sign it with (hugs)? I’m just here to tell you, that your work will go right in the trash! Why? Because not only did you not adhere to the guidelines, it was because you were very unprofessional in the submission of your work!

As teachers of writing, we have to set proper examples for the new writer to follow. When we act in a childish manner, the newcomer finds this as an example to follow and they go on acting like a child, then the whole class begins acting like a child, then the classroom erupts in crazy behavior and becomes a circus-like atmosphere. Which has me running for the exit. But it has the newcomer embracing the silliness, and then the entire school is acting crazy and unprofessional and makes me not want to be a part of the writing world!

I will not take seriously anything someone is trying to teach me if they continuously shout out “WOOHOO” with a smiley or the words, woohoo. An occasional smiley might make them feel welcome, but the annoying over use makes you appear not very knowledgeable, or better yet, very unprofessional in the field. You’re waging a popularity contest, an ego boost, and in hindsight, you’ve created a series of fellow performers. You were just suppose to teach lessons.

The RINGMASTER - YOU, the teacher! The one who is guiding and leading has trained:
CLOWNS - these are the folk that follow your insanity and lead others too!
TIGHTROPE WALKERS - these are the ones that stand high above you looking down, wondering what they got themselves into.
TRAPEZE ARTISTS - these are the ones who swing all around the place, trying to fit in, and showing off their silliness, as you taught them!
JUGGLERS - Who juggle many sites, doing the same thing. Running around being crazy.

Now don’t get me wrong, the newcomer is frightened as it is upon entering a new course, and when they see someone acting like a goof, they then think, “Hey, this is an okay place! I feel at home.” Then they go onto acting a little loose too, where otherwise they might have remained professional. I say this: Know your boundaries! Set your limits! Know that the writing community is full of professional people, just waiting to help you along your path. Even the ‘stiff shirts’ can be a little zany sometimes, but we know what our job is and that is to guide you in the RIGHT direction, not skirt you off to the circus!

Professionalism

"Writing is an exploration. You start from nothing and learn as you go." E.L. Doctorow
***

There is a time for fun and a time to be professional. When submitting work from an email iliv4U@ wahooza.com, I’m sure you don’t appear like a professional to the receiving market/party.

In the writing world especially at f2k, there is a lot of fun being had by members and mentors alike. I’m wondering if they come into the course thinking, “This is a fun place.” And maybe that is why they use quirky names to register, and sometimes don’t take the guidelines and rules as serious?

To me, that is a big turn off. When I’m in the writing community, I don’t want to appear a dimbulb, I want to make the appearance of a professional and I try to relay that to the students because when they get out into the real world of submitting, and being around other professional writers, they should not have the impression that writing is just all fun, games, and chat.

Writing is about writing. Don’t get me wrong, I like to have as much fun as the next person, but there is a place and a time for fun, and there is a place and time for work. Sure you can have fun at work, but don’t make a total fool out of yourself, so that people never take you as a person who is able to be professional.

If someone were to ask me, “What do you do for fun?” I would not be able to give them an answer. I see writing and reading as fun. I see mowing the lawn as fun, watching impending storms roll over the fields as fun, stargazing, (when they’re not hidden behind the clouds of said impending storm) and spending time with my son, now that is fun.

Running around acting like a wallapalooza maniac is not my sense of fun. I take professionalism as a very serious matter. And I take other professional writers as a serious matter. I see the ones as wallapalooza’s as people that are not really getting very far in their writing, because they really don’t take it as a serious matter.

Writing is hard work. We sit for hours tapping on the keys, searching markets, sending out our work and while we’re being accepted/rejected we move forward in our career. Rejection is as much a push forward as an acceptance. Being rejected you know that it is just a matter of working harder, the same as an acceptance. The push is there to make you sit up and take notice of how serious the matter is and how serious you need to be about what it is that you love.

As a professional writer, you are allowed to have fun too, but in the right place, at the right time. Take writing as a serious profession and you will get a lot further in your aspirations.

Write Right...its what writers do. :)