Entry # 48 - “Can A Peer Review Help?”

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"Where in the World Are We?" photo: Jan Bowman October 2011

This week I’ve thought about the most useful peer review information I’ve received on my own stories. I think of my stories as works in progress, even those that are published. I always see more I could have done to sharpen the vision. So what kind of advice helps a writer to improve work and fully realize a story’s potential? 

Some of my most helpful advice has come from peer reviewers at the Tinker Mountain workshops at Hollins University that I’ve taken with Daniel Mueller of the University of New Mexico.

Daniel says “responding well to another writer’s fiction is… as arduous an act of the imagination as writing fiction, for it requires us not only to imagine the fictional worlds summoned by the words the author has chosen, but also to imagine ourselves in the author’s position to her text.” 

If one has suitable peers to read and offer useful suggestions – then much good can come of having skilled peers give insightful suggestions to improve a story. So what are some traits of a good peer reviewer?  It seems to me that good reviewers: 

1. Read the work thoughtfully and carefully.  (Dan asks his workshop peer reviewers to read without a pen in hand for the first reading and then give it a little time before you read a second time with your pen. This allows you to reflect and give better advice.)

2. Analyze the work on three levels:  Structure, Character(s) and /or Idea (theme), and Language.

3. Discuss the work in terms of how it works - with specifics. This is not a time to tell the writer how to “fix” the work.  That is the writer’s job and any changes a writer makes must accommodate the vision of that writer. 
 

Based on my own experiences in a range of workshop peer reviews, I find that the best reviewers are kind, thoughtful and helpful.  A good reviewer does not attempt to make the author’s work his story. A good reviewer respects the hope the writer has for his or her story.

Sometimes one of a writer’s most challenging tasks is to KNOW what to use and what to ignore from a writer’s workshop “peer review” for not all writers are our peers.  Some are at the early stages of their development and might not have acquired the keen insights of those who have spent much time and energy getting in touch with the process. Others read seldom or narrowly and this limits their scope of knowledge. It's essential to find a talented reader whose honesty you trust.

I believe that writers are an optimistic lot. How else could we weather the slings and arrows of rejection that come from the submission process? But most of us have hope that something good can come of advice.  And, usually it does.

“I would rather be attacked than unnoticed. For the worst thing you can do to an author is to be silent as to his (or her) work.”    ----Samuel Johnson 

And next Tuesday, March 27, 2012 - a WRITERS TALK Interview with Ann von Lossberg, author of 1089 Nights: An Odyssey Through The Middle East, Africa and Asia.   Stay tuned! 

Jan Bowman’s work has appeared in Roanoke Review, Big Muddy, Broadkill Review, Trajectory, Third Wednesday, Minimus, Buffalo Spree (97), Folio, The Potomac Review, Musings, Potato Eyes, and others. She won the 2012 Roanoke Review Prize for Fiction. Her stories have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, Best American Short Stories and a story was a finalist in the “So To Speak” Fiction Contest. She is working on two collections of short stories and currently shopping for a publisher for a completed story collection. She has nonfiction work pending publication in Spring 2013 Issues of Trajectory and Pen-in-Hand. She writes a weekly blog of “Reflections” on the writing life and posts regular interviews with writers and publishers.   Learn more at:

Website – www.janbowmanwriter.com

Blogsite – http://janbowmanwriter.blogspot.com

Entry # 47 - WRITERS TALK - Marie Davies - Cozy Mystery Writer

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A few times each month - maybe every other Tuesday afternoon, I intend to bring readers an interview with someone from the writing world.  These interviews will cross genres, and include fiction, poetry, nonfiction, journalism and web-based writers.  Some will be unpublished writers, published writers, self-published writers, e-book writers, editors, publishers, writing teachers, which is to say anyone who might have something interesting to share about the writing world.  If you know someone I should interview (online), have them contact me.

Today I bring you the first,  an interview with a cozy mystery writer, Marie Davies.  She agreed to respond to a series of questions about her writing life so that I could share this with readers.

Background notes: 

Marie Davies is a former minister and Director of Chaplains for the Maryland State Police. She taught sociology and stress management at the Maryland State Police Academy and is a licensed real estate agent. Her real passion is writing. Currently, she is working on what will be her third novel though she admits the first two manuscripts are sitting in a file. When she isn’t in one of the local coffee shops working on her book, you’ll find her in her Catonsville home with Jay, her husband of twenty-six years, or paddling her pink kayak on the Patapsco River. Marie and Jay share their home with a very spoiled Jack Russell Terrier named Boomer, who adopted them 5 years ago.    You can find Marie on Facebook at  www.facebook.com/MarieDaviesAuthor or by email at thereaderhouse@gmail.com

Jan:     Marie, you write a fictional form called a cozy mystery and you’ve told me your particular slant is a paranormal cozy mystery, could you tell our readers about this particular type of fiction?  What is a cozy mystery? 

Marie:     A cozy mystery features an amateur sleuth who solves crimes.  The main character is usually female and she may or may not be willing involved in the situation. Think “Miss Marple” vs. “CSI.” My current novel does have a paranormal slant which means my protagonist won’t be using typical detective work to solve her mystery.

Jan:     Who is the intended audience for what you’re writing? And do you have a working title and publisher lined up yet?

Marie:     This book will be for anyone who likes to curl up with a cup of tea on a rainy day to read about solving crime but I think my readers will be largely women. A lot of the novel has to do with the power and importance of friendship between women. The working title is Murder in the Cards. As far as publishing I am seriously considering self-publishing for number of reasons but, mainly, because e-books have made it so much easier.

Jan:     Could you tell readers about how the idea for your current book project evolved?

Marie:      When I was kid my mom used to love going to a restaurant in Baltimore called the Palmer House. The restaurant was known for psychics who read palms and tarot for the customers. I started with the idea of a woman of certain age whose grandparents owned such a restaurant. And started asking myself “what if” questions. What if this woman could really see the future when using the tarot? What if she saw someone die?

Jan:     Could you describe your writing process? Writers always want to know how other writers work.  Do you set daily or weekly word count or writing goals?  When do you write?   How do you write - pen or computer or both?

Marie:     I like to write in the morning with a cup of coffee next to my laptop. I am one of those coffee shop writers. I write minimum of 2 hours most days. In terms of development, I don’t do a lot of outlining. I have rough sketch on a dry erase board and character names. I keep a hand written journal for ideas and character development. Then I stand back and let my characters drive the plot.

Jan:     I understand you’re near the end of a feedback and revision process loop on this, your third book.  Who are your readers and how does this process work for you?

Marie:    I’m not sure I’m near the end. I’d like to be near the end. I work with an on-line critique called The Writing Well. Our members are published authors or authors in the process of working on their books. As far as genres, we run the gambit from creative non-fiction to science fiction. Our members come from all over the world so we have great mix of idea and knowledge.

I send in a chapter at a time. The other writers will go through my work line by line making suggestions, comments, and corrections. In return I will do the same for them. We’ve a wonderfully talented group. I am very fortunate to have connected with them.

Jan:     What’s the hardest part of the writing process for you? In particular what part of the work on this newest book left you in despair? And what did you find exhilarating? 

Marie:      Editing is the hardest part. I love the creating end – just getting the words on the screen, letting the ideas flow and the characters take shape. The fine tuning is the tough part – making sure the writing is tight, and the grammar is correct.

Jan:     Tell us a little about your main characters.  What do you admire about them and why?

Marie:     My main character is Svetlana Borkowski Parker. Lana, as she is called, owns a coffee shop/used bookstore in the building where her grandmother once had her restaurant.  Lana is very smart, a savvy business person with a wicked sense of humor. The thing I admire most  about Lana is that she is a great friend. Her partner in the business is her BFF Rosemary and they’ve seen each other through the best and worst of their lives. Everyone should have one friend like Lana who’ll do anything for you and stick by you, no matter what. 

Jan:     If you had to give an elevator pitch to a publisher, what would you say to convince her to read and publish your book?

Marie:    Gosh that is tough. I would start with a brief synopsis – the kind of thing you see on a book jacket:       “Lana Parker grew up reading the Tarot cards in her grandmother’s restaurant. Few people knew why her readings were so deadly accurate. Lana has a special gift and she sees more than just the cards. When a vision takes murderous turn she must race against time to save her friends and herself. This isn’t the first time she’s seen death in the Tarot and she must face the harsh reality that her fear of what she might see in the cards may have already cost her life of the person she loved most.”

Then I would just cut to the chase and ask if they would like to mail the first three chapters or if they preferred email.

Jan:     Are there any particular writers in this genre that you admire and could suggest to our readers who would like to read a cozy mystery?

Marie:     I like Sarah Graves; Home Repair Can Be Homicide series and Diane Mott Davidson: Goldy Bear Catering Mystery Series.  Any of the books in those series will give you a good idea of the genre.

Jan:     What do you know about writing now that you didn’t fully realize five years ago? What advice has helped you the most? What advice would you offer to aspiring writers?  

Marie:     The lesson I’ve learned is - if you are going write and write well - you have let go of your ego. What writer doesn’t want to produce the great American novel on the first draft?  When you don’t, it is a bit of a shock. I’ve gotten to the point that I don’t have any expectations or maybe even don't have the desire to write THAT book.  But I do want my novel to be the best that I can make it, then maybe -  if I am lucky, someone will pick up my book and get a few hours of enjoyment from what I’ve written.

"The best advice I received is the same advice I give aspiring writers. Just write. Write daily. Even if you can only write fifteen minutes a day in a year you’ll have a book. You can have the most wonderful and creative plots all mapped out in your head, but you’re not a writer until you put words on paper or a computer screen."   Marie Davies - March 2012

Jan Bowman’s work has appeared in Roanoke Review, Big Muddy, Broadkill Review, Trajectory, Third Wednesday, Minimus, Buffalo Spree (97), Folio, The Potomac Review, Musings, Potato Eyes, and others. She won the 2012 Roanoke Review Prize for Fiction. Her stories have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, Best American Short Stories and a story was a finalist in the “So To Speak” Fiction Contest. She is working on two collections of short stories and currently shopping for a publisher for a completed story collection. She has nonfiction work pending publication in Spring 2013 Issues of Trajectory and Pen-in-Hand. She writes a weekly blog of “Reflections” on the writing life and posts regular interviews with writers and publishers.   Learn more at:

Website – www.janbowmanwriter.com

Blogsite – http://janbowmanwriter.blogspot.com

Entry # 46 - "Are You a Writer or An Author & What's the Difference?"

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Almost - Photo Credit Jan Bowman 3/15/12

After recent conversations with a couple of “writerly” friends, I’ve thought about the way people describe themselves. Some preferred to call themselves authors, while others, including myself, preferred to be called writers. Several others just include both words on their cards and websites.   

So what’s the difference?  And does it matter? 

The terms writer and author seem broad and inclusive across genres.  Whether you write poetry or prose, fiction or nonfiction, plays or journalism, blogs or tweets, the resulting process produces text in some form to be shared with readers.  But as I think about this a bit more, I think I prefer to be called a writer because I write.  And writing is an active process that brings to mind the active verb, to write.  It suggests engagement in an ongoing process, an active adventure conducted with a human mind, creative spirit, and the technical appendage of pen or computer. 

"Too Soon? Where's Everybody?"  Jan Bowman 3/15/12

It seems to me that the term author, suggests past tense or a passive process; one who is an author has finished a piece of work, patted it lovingly on the head, and sent it out into the world. She or he could decide to never put another word on the page. They would still be authors, but they would no longer be writers who write.  While that’s unlikely, unless a writer has ceased to exist in the present world, the two terms don’t necessarily mean the same thing.  Dead authors have works published long after they’ve died, but one thing for sure, they don’t write any more words.

And while publishers send out the work of writers and market the titles under authors’ names, authors seek to build a following of readers. And although stores of brick and mortar, as well as online stores, market these products and sometimes promote the authors of such work, the real work to produce coherent and thoughtful text still lies with the writer who dedicates the most valuable things he or she possesses – time and energy. Writing is an active process.  To be a writer, you must actually write; to be an author, you must have written at some point in your life.  And to me – that is a huge difference.

Spring brings thoughts of new growth and rich possibilities.  And for writers who would be authors who continue to write, spring's renewal helps us see how we might blend our hopes and creativity into joyful action.  

This afternoon The Roanoke Review contacted me to say my short story, "Mermaids" had won first prize in their annual fiction contest. I am thrilled! And you can call me writer or author.  Life is Good!

Jan Bowman’s work has appeared in Roanoke Review, Big Muddy, Broadkill Review, Trajectory, Third Wednesday, Minimus, Buffalo Spree (97), Folio, The Potomac Review, Musings, Potato Eyes, and others. She won the 2012 Roanoke Review Prize for Fiction. Her stories have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, Best American Short Stories and a story was a finalist in the “So To Speak” Fiction Contest. She is working on two collections of short stories and currently shopping for a publisher for a completed story collection. She has nonfiction work pending publication in Spring 2013 Issues of Trajectory and Pen-in-Hand. She writes a weekly blog of “Reflections” on the writing life and posts regular interviews with writers and publishers.   Learn more at:

Website – www.janbowmanwriter.com

Blogsite – http://janbowmanwriter.blogspot.com

Entry # 45 - "Processing Feedback"

-->As I have observed the responses online here to a writer's work from a workshop, I have wondered what I could say that might help both writer and teacher come to terms with the emotional power of feedback.  So here are some thoughts that I do hope will help.  I believe that we are all trying to help one another say the truths in our hearts and write with clarity.

Photo by Jan Bowman - October 2011 

 

Recently I read a delightful book by Joni B. Cole, Toxic Feedback: Helping Writers Survive and Thrive.  I wish I’d discovered this essential book when it was first published (2006).  It’s a gold mine of useful insights.  One of the topics she addresses is what to do with the feedback you get from others. 

Often after I get home from a workshop or I’m looking through peer review comments on a draft, I feel overwhelmed.  How shall I begin my revision process?  Sometimes I spin around for weeks or even months trying to decide where to begin and what to do.

Cole’s section on “Tips for Processing Feedback” offers these useful ideas:

1. Be Open.  In a workshop setting – listen – don’t talk – listen thoughtfully and curb your desire to defend your work.  You may - in your heart disagree and that’s okay, because ultimately decisions about your work rest with you. 

2. Resist the Urge to Explain.  Remember that readers can only work with what’s on a page – so you really do need to know where it’s not working.

3. Little by Little.  “It is easy to get overwhelmed when processing feedback, especially if you try to take it all in at once.”  Cole suggests that writers sift through all the comments once then put them away and select one of those things to focus on for the next revision.  “For example: it your plot is slow and main character shallow – on your next draft move your plot forward and tackle the character issue on a next draft.”

4. Ignore Feedback -- until you’re ready for it. “The value of feedback, and then putting it in your mental lockbox as you push forward, is that this allows your unconscious to quietly process the outside information in a way that informs your writing in sync with your instincts –without slowing you down.”

5. Try Out the Feedback.  For example:  “If your main character isn’t likable, write a scene inside or outside the story that shows him doing something endearing.  Whether you use the scene or not, this is a great exercise in character development.  No writing is a waste of effort.

6. Give Yourself Time.  “If you can’t tell if you’re making things better or worse,” Cole says, ---”STOP!”  Take a break.  Take a walk.  Start something new.  Let your subconscious work on it again.  You should be able to see when feedback is useful to improve your vision for the work.  If it’s not helping, wait a while and come back to it.

Cole makes a strong case that after finishing a draft and subsequent revisions writers need to find a suitable reader for the work. And a suitable reader is rarely someone who loves you unconditionally.  Rather, the suitable reader is someone who “gets” what you’re doing, and who is willing to give thoughtful, insightful impressions; someone who reads carefully and who understands the struggles writers face, but who has sufficient tact to be honest and perceptive; someone who is not inclined to be unkind.

In short – Processing feedback effectively means being receptive to hearing a variety of opinions, but filtering it all through your own writer’s lens.

And it helps me to remember that Thomas Merton said, "The true solutions are not those which we force upon life in accordance with our theories, but those which life itself provides for those who dispose themselves to receive the truth." 

So what advice helps you improve your work?  How have others helped?

Jan Bowman’s work has appeared in Roanoke Review, Big Muddy, Broadkill Review, Trajectory, Third Wednesday, Minimus, Buffalo Spree (97), Folio, The Potomac Review, Musings, Potato Eyes, and others. She won the 2012 Roanoke Review Prize for Fiction. Her stories have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, Best American Short Stories and a story was a finalist in the “So To Speak” Fiction Contest. She is working on two collections of short stories and currently shopping for a publisher for a completed story collection. She has nonfiction work pending publication in Spring 2013 Issues of Trajectory and Pen-in-Hand. She writes a weekly blog of “Reflections” on the writing life and posts regular interviews with writers and publishers.   Learn more at:

Website – www.janbowmanwriter.com

Blogsite – http://janbowmanwriter.blogspot.com

Entry # 44 - "Some Thoughts on Bulbs and Words"

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Photo Credit - Jan Bowman 3/9/12

This week as I watch the lovely process of  “Mary Amaryllis” (for this is what I’ve named her) reaching for the sun from the windowsill in my dining room, I am struck by how a bulb gives its all for the beauty of its bloom.  In fact “she” seems only to require air, morning sun, and just a little soil and water as she raises her hopeful face to the world. 

Just as writers rise early, their hearts and minds filled with hope – this Amaryllis blooms, even as I settle into the sunlight of my office to plant words in the hope of creating something lovely and powerful on the page.  And whether we write poems, fiction, or nonfiction, the task - the sacred work of writers - is to find words, the best words, that will touch readers as we share our connections to the complex beauty and pain of living.     

I found a poem, Bulbs, by New Zealand poet, Mary Ursula Bethell, (1874-1945) in a copy of Art & Wonder: An Illustrated Anthology of Visionary Poetry from The Metropolitan Museum of Art.  The work, selected and introduced by Kate Farrell, uses two works of art combining pictures, paintings and poems to explore “visions of paradise, secrets of existence, and the world of dreams.” 

Here is a portion of the Bethell’s poem, "Bulbs":

“I have planted lilies, but will they grow well with me?

Will they like the glitter of this north-looking hillside?

Will they like the rude winds, the stir, the quick changes?

Would they not have shadowy stillnesses, and peace?”

Mary Amaryllis - March 9, 2012

And later the poet answers her questions with a whimsical assessment of the process.

“All these lovely lilies. I wish they would grow with me,

No other flowers have the texture of the lilies,

The heart-piercing fragrance, the newly alighted angel’s

Lineal poise, and purity, and peace---”

Bethell’s poem is accompanied by a color monotype of two sheets by American artist, Mary Frank from her 1977 work, “Amaryllis” which I cannot post here. 

  

Today,  I include new photos of my “Mary Amaryllis” and I think these lines from the poem relate to the blooming of an amaryllis, as well as the growth process of writers as they paint with words, using the color of language and emotion on the page.

Waters Edge - Photo by Jan Bowman 3/9/12

    I am reminded that Harriet Doerr said, “I have everything I need. A square of sky, a piece of stone, a page, a pen, and memory raining down on me in sleeves.”

Any Thoughts on this process?

Jan Bowman’s work has appeared in Roanoke Review, Big Muddy, Broadkill Review, Trajectory, Third Wednesday, Minimus, Buffalo Spree (97), Folio, The Potomac Review, Musings, Potato Eyes, and others. She won the 2012 Roanoke Review Prize for Fiction. Her stories have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, Best American Short Stories and a story was a finalist in the “So To Speak” Fiction Contest. She is working on two collections of short stories and currently shopping for a publisher for a completed story collection. She has nonfiction work pending publication in Spring 2013 Issues of Trajectory and Pen-in-Hand. She writes a weekly blog of “Reflections” on the writing life and posts regular interviews with writers and publishers.   Learn more at:

Website – www.janbowmanwriter.com

Blogsite – http://janbowmanwriter.blogspot.com

    

Entry #43 - "Words for Your Inner Journal"

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Photo Credit - Jan Bowman - October 2011

This week I’ll continue a thread from last week about creating a purpose for your journal.  Last week I wrote about journal entries that focus on the physical outer world by describing, for example, travel, or food. This week I want to think about how we use journals to examine our inner world.  How do writers explore their inner worlds without getting so caught up in the mundane and ordinary?  Or does it matter if the journal does focus on private thoughts, observations and obsessions? Isn't that what a blogger does? 

I talked with several writer friends about the types of journals that, in their experience, allow a more detailed focus on the inner world.  Journals that explore the inner world include, but aren’t limited to: Personal Diaries, Therapy Journals, Health Journals, Religious or Prayer Journals, Wish Journals, Gratitude Journals, and Anger Journals.  I assume there are others, as well.  So inner world journals explore the most intimate, private thoughts of the writers and are rarely shared unless writers decide to mine these journals for ideas or content to be used in novels, stories, memoir, or general nonfiction.

Personal Diaries:  For centuries people across cultures and continents used personal diaries to describe their lives. Such diaries provided rich primary source materials for historians. In our current culture, perhaps driven by a human need to connect with people, the memoir has become a form of greater interest to the reading public. As a competitive nonfiction form it seems to have taken root as sales for memoir continue to grow.

Other Types of Personal Growth Journals: Some writer friends keep separate journals for their inner world or they alternate within the same journal describing daily experiences along side the more gut-wrenching perils of living inside a fragile human body in the world.  One friend devoted a year of journal entries to her first year after her divorce, while another is still writing about the baby she lost late in her pregnancy. Another writer friend from a workshop kept a two-year journal to explore her feelings of anger and betrayal after her husband’s suicide. It helped her heal and move forward.  So good  things often come from exploring thoughts on the page.  I recently read a couple of articles that talk about how such journals help heal the body, mind, heart, and soul.  And a writer in my journal class last session spoke eloquently about how keeping her inner journal was helping her sleep better and feel happier.

And while the technology seems to drive the form that journal tending takes, the desire to connect to the daily lives of others by sharing our own experiences is alive and well in the virtual world.  That is to say that traditional diaries have been replaced, more often than not, by blogs and text messages. People, who don’t necessarily view themselves as writers, write.  And they send photos of everything and anything in their world. And sometimes it’s more than you needed to know. Some well-intended folks send pictures of everything from their cats – to the kitchen before and after it was cleaned. My son recently emailed pictures from California of the table set for dinner, and another time he sent a picture of a lovely pizza just before he ate it. And yes, it helps me feel a connection to his world.

"Mary Amaryllis" Photo Credit  Jan Bowman

There is a basic human need for reflection and self-expression and a written record allows us to look within and assess our past and anticipate our future growth.

“What you plant in a journal today you harvest later. Seeds need sun and soil and water." Jan says.

A Special Thanks to Florence Miller for the Amaryllis Bulb - beginning to bloom here on the right.  Next posting will be fully opened flowers.  How exciting!   March 5, 2012

Comments are most welcome.  How do you readers and writers use your journals?

Jan Bowman’s work has appeared in Roanoke Review, Big Muddy, Broadkill Review, Trajectory, Third Wednesday, Minimus, Buffalo Spree (97), Folio, The Potomac Review, Musings, Potato Eyes, and others. She won the 2012 Roanoke Review Prize for Fiction. Her stories have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, Best American Short Stories and a story was a finalist in the “So To Speak” Fiction Contest. She is working on two collections of short stories and currently shopping for a publisher for a completed story collection. She has nonfiction work pending publication in Spring 2013 Issues of Trajectory and Pen-in-Hand. She writes a weekly blog of “Reflections” on the writing life and posts regular interviews with writers and publishers.   Learn more at:

Website – www.janbowmanwriter.com

Blogsite – http://janbowmanwriter.blogspot.com

Entry # 42 - "Growing Words in Your Outside Journal Garden"

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This week with spring hovering in the air, I’ve thought about how writers grow ideas in their journals, as they explore the interior and exterior worlds around them. It seems to me that writers, who explore both inner and outer worlds in their journals, develop insights that inform their creative efforts for fiction and nonfiction. The topsoil of journal entries helps compost materials for the wordsmith. So this week I’ll briefly write about journal entries that focus on the physical outer-world; next week, I’ll explore journals that focus on the inner-world.

Photo Credit:  Jan Bowman - October 2011

Travel Journals are among the most common of the outer world journals. Keeping a travel journal and recording the interesting differences in new places allows us to tap into our senses and explore sights, smells, and sounds.  For example: music or street noise, dialect/language patterns, food - in general and specifically - like the complex smell of spices and open flames from lamb kabobs cooked in an open market place are part of our external world.  When writers write journal entries about places, that is cities, like Chicago, New Orleans, Houston, Istanbul, New York City or Charleston, SC, (my birth city), think of all the vibrant colors, sounds, smells that come to the senses, giving each place its charm, vigor, and verisimilitude. Some writers include a food journal within their travel journal and explore foods and restaurants along the way.  Others keep a separate journal to catalog their restaurant experiences, both close-to-home, as well as those in more exotic places.  I’ve known a number of writers who rework these entries and submit them as magazine food reviews or to travel magazines, such as those found on planes.

I have written before about taking notes when I travel.  And I have a series of journal entries from my first trip to Istanbul – how awed I was upon hearing the calls to prayers from the minarets, and the waves of human voices chanting - an unforgettable sound, rising over the city. Amazing!  And while I am happy that I remember this - I am particularly pleased to have taken note of it in my travel journal.  And while I have not used this in a story yet, I do have that on my “To Do” list.  A couple of friends have used entries in their travel journals as springboards for nonfiction stories that they sold to magazines. Another friend uses threads from her travel entries in a novel that she is writing. 

But the truth is – writers don’t need to go to Istanbul to find rich material for their journals. Writers can find rich ideas anywhere; the local home front, whether it’s a library or coffee shop are wonderful places to collect journal impressions of what people talk about, how they act, how they look and interact.  All those expressions and subtle gestures that writers try to capture and use in their writing life can be journal compost, just as your left-over coffee grounds and egg shells from your ordinary day, can provide a nurturing substance to grow your gardening or larger writing efforts. Seeds for future work can sprout in the rich impressions of journal entries.

“Keeping a journal isn’t so difficult; beginning to keep it is the challenge.” ----from Deena Metzger’s Writing for Your Life: A Guide and Companion for the Inner Worlds.

Jan Bowman’s work has appeared in Roanoke Review, Big Muddy, Broadkill Review, Trajectory, Third Wednesday, Minimus, Buffalo Spree (97), Folio, The Potomac Review, Musings, Potato Eyes, and others. She won the 2012 Roanoke Review Prize for Fiction. Her stories have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, Best American Short Stories and a story was a finalist in the “So To Speak” Fiction Contest. She is working on two collections of short stories and currently shopping for a publisher for a completed story collection. She has nonfiction work pending publication in Spring 2013 Issues of Trajectory and Pen-in-Hand. She writes a weekly blog of “Reflections” on the writing life and posts regular interviews with writers and publishers.   Learn more at:

Website – www.janbowmanwriter.com

Blogsite – http://janbowmanwriter.blogspot.com