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Pink Think: "I begin with an idea and then it becomes something else." - Pablo Picasso
photo from Freephoto by winnond
The other day, I visited a Renaissance man. He is a number-cruncher by trade but also does fine art photography.
The day I stop in, his office/studio faces out into the cold light of a chilly autumn afternoon, classical music playing softly in the background. He exudes energy, constant motion. I want to visit longer, but I can tell he has things to do, places to be. So I don't impose. I visit only for as long as I need to. As I always have in the past, I am impressed by his glamorous-seeming life, captured in his photos. We are picking out a photo he could donate to a silent auction I am helping with. France. Scotland. Virgin Islands. I ask him what sells traditionally.
He laughs. "I've been doing this now for years," he says, "and I still don't know."
We pick out a familiar European landmark. If I can recognize it, then I am sure others will, too.
***
Lately, I write two or three op-eds before deciding on one to submit. Sometimes I can't get to what I am trying to say unless I draft it first. When I feel strongly about something, and am clear on where I stand, the op-ed writes itself. I could labor over an op-ed for a day, toss it aside, and then write a piece in ten minutes flat. The latter usually gets sent to my editor.
My freelance workload has been steadily increasing. I have two stories due by month's end, and of course my op-ed columns. Trying to balance all that with a fundraiser in early November. One of the stories is a "mini-memoir" for a magazine. Although the amount of work is daunting, I am excited to have a bigger canvas on which to draw an interesting life.
Funny how, as a journalist, my job is not just to write the story, but to find story angles which resonate with me and which hopefully will resonate with others, too.
That sellable idea.
***
How do YOU come up with your sellable ideas?
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
That Sellable Idea
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5 comments:
I really like what you said about: Although the amount of work is daunting, I am excited to have a bigger canvas on which to draw an interesting life. That's pure poetry. I read on Elana Johnson's blog about how whe heard Dan Wells speak and he suggested writing 6 new ideas per day in a notebook. I'm going to try that.
I've never sold something I've wrote and I'm amazed that you do.
Selling my writing is a tiny private dream of mine, maybe when my kiddos are older.
But when it comes to writing, I just write what I have to write. I've found that I most of my ideas are bossy.
Good question. I guess it just boils down to observing my surroundings.
For the two short stories that I had published, both were from that end result.
If I try to think in terms of sellable, I get paralyzed and can't think of anything at all. I have to write the stories I like and hope that others will like them well enough to buy them someday!
Alice: What a fabulous idea. I've read Dan, and he has one fantastic imagination. Thanks.
Kim: It's definitely doable! There are markets out there that do pay. When time's right for you, I would be happy to take a look at your query. And yes, some ideas sure take over, don't they?
G: Yes, it's fun when we can write from our own experience or where we actually are.
Hey Wendy! Yeah, sometimes it's hard to write when you know there's some sort of expectation. I love your philosophy. That's how my first drafts are, especially. It helps get over that paralysis :-).
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