>> Hey, I'm Mark [inaudible] and I've been
a professional writer for the last 16 years.
>> Mark, can you tell us a
little bit about the job?
What is it like being a professional writer?
>> Oh, man, it's hard.
Number one, it's extremely
fulfilling but what it's like?
You know, when I think about encouraging
people that are thinking about being writers,
I want to say first of all, write.
You've got to write.
And what you got to do is you got to
find something that you're passionate
about writing about, something that maybe you're
an expert in or that you have some experience in
and write about that 'cause
people are-- everybody's a writer.
You know, everybody has a blog these days.
Everybody has something they want to say.
But what's going to make you different is going
to be that unique voice that you can bring
and that unique experience that you can bring.
So think along those lines.
What could you imagine writing about
for free for the rest of your life?
That might be a good place to start.
>> Mark, how about an example of something
recently that you worked on or wrote and then,
you know, what was this process like?
You know, what's your schedule
like, that sort of thing?
>> Practical day-to-day stuff.
That's one of the best parts of freelance work
is that there isn't anything that's regular
or anything that I have to
do at any particular time.
That's also the most difficult part
about it because there's no structure
and there's no, nothing that I have to do.
That's what-- actually I love deadlines like
when an editor will give me an assignment
to write something and they'll say,
"All right we need it by next Thursday."
I'm like, "Great," you know?
And when I'm in a really good place of
mind, I'll actually work on it this week.
Normally, I'll wait 'til next Wednesday
and then do it, you know what I mean?
The smart people procrastinate, that's
what-- that's what most of us do.
But, you know, operating
that deadline is really good
for me 'cause it gives me motivation 'cause
sometimes as a writer it's really easy to feel
like you have to rely on inspiration.
I have to wait 'til I really feel something
and then I'm going to write about it.
The best writers are disciplined, and if you can
start that at a young age, oh my gosh, you are--
you'll be so much better off
than I am and most people.
If you could say, "You know what, I'm
going to commit to writing everyday."
Even if it's just for 15 minutes maybe
to an hour, maybe it's two hours.
But some of the writers that I've studied, they
said they'd get up 6 o'clock in the morning
and then write for 5 hours and that's
all they do, and then they spend the rest
of the day just, you know, drinking coffee
and taking naps which two of my favorite.
[Laughter]
>> Mark I think you just
said something interesting,
some of the writers that you've studied.
What is that?
Or can you kind of talk on that-- talk on that.
And if the young person and I wanted-- I want
to be a writer, any certain books I should read
or anything I should do to
sort of kind of prepare myself?
>> That's a great question.
Thank you, Billy.
[Laughter] There's a few
that I've written down here.
One of my most favorite writers and writing
instructor is a lady named Ann Lamott,
L-A-M-O-T-T, and she wrote a book called "Bird
By Bird" which is instructions on writing
and life and that book helped me so much.
I was actually-- I was writing a book at that
time and it was a fiction book, kind of a fable
and there's times when you just-- you feel like
the story isn't going anywhere and it never will
and you're a loser, okay that's maybe just me.
[Laughter] But that's what I
shoot at the middle of this.
>> I feel like that all the time.
>> Oh, all right, all right.
Well pick up this book then
because what she does is she's like,
"All right well, why don't
you try this exercise.
Why don't you take your character and write
a scene about him thinking about his father."
You know, and then so I sat down
and I wrote this and it became one
of like my most favorite parts of this book that
I wrote and so I feel like she really guided me
through that and there's something
about wrote practical exercises.
Another good one is Stephen King
on writing, very, very good.
Sol Stein, Stein on writing,
he's another one S-T-E-I-N.
And then two others that had
been really helpful for me,
one called "The Writer's
Journey" by Vogler, V-O-G-L-E-R.
That is really about story structure
if you're writing something again
on that story really good to understand
just the traditional structure,
what works when they tell a story.
And then another really good one, it's good
to do individually but really good as a group.
Julia Cameron wrote a book
called "The Artist's Way."
And if you're a singer or a
songwriter, an author, a painter,
whatever you are doing this creative person, she
addresses so many of these things that attack
as in, paralyze us, and she helps to
get us out of that through a variety
of different exercises, the Artist's Way,
really, really good, great, great book.
>> That's all really good advice.
Mark maybe a final kind of question, just
mention what you really love about the job
and maybe some of the challenges
that actually do.
>> Yeah, the thing that I love about being
a writer is that there's a lot of stuff
that I believe that goes
on in our heads, you know?
I think that we've all been gifted
with brains and life experiences.
And I believe it's the role of the artist
or the writer to process that for ourselves
so that then we can help other
people process it for themselves.
So basically, as I tell my story, I'm
helping other people to tell their story.
You know, you've heard some people say
things like, "Man, you said something
that I've been feeling but I didn't
know how to put the words on it."
That to me is the best complement.
That makes it all worthwhile.
That is why I write because I feel like
I want to make sense in my journey.
I want this all to be worth it.
And you know what?
It doesn't-- I can't just do that on my own.
I have to share that with other people.
That's when life takes on me
through that process of sharing.
So if you want to be a writer,
number one, write.
I believe that God has given
you a story to tell, all right.
Now, when you write, write with excellence.
Learn how to do it.
Learn how to do it well.
Read books, study, take classes, read a lot,
and then share it with everybody that you can,
you know, whether it's through yourself and
networking sites or people that you know.
Photocopy it, plaster it on the
bulletin boards, wherever you are.
I mean like, share your writing with people.
Get feedback.
Develop an ability to be humble
and take constructive criticism
from other people and then work on it.
And keep in mind why you're writing.
Have a purpose behind it.
Don't just write just to kind of be lofty in
front of this guy but just write with a purpose.
And be persistent.
If you want to make it professionally, you're
going to have to take a lot of rejection, a lot.
And you know, you're only a
failure when you give up, you know?
You're not a failure when somebody rejects you.
You're a failure when you
give up so don't give up.
You'll never be a failure.
So be persistent.
Keep going.
Share your work.
If you want to be an author, learn
how to write a really good proposal.
That's even more important
than writing a good book.
Learn how to write a really good proposal
'cause that's what the agent and the publishers,
the sales team, that's what
they use to sell the book.
Most people don't even read
your home manuscript.
They just want to read a really great proposal.
It's kind of like having a really
good trailer for your movie.
That's what sells it.
So learn how to do that.
But communicate, develop
your voice and say something
that is meaningful, you'll never go wrong.
>> Fantastic advice.
Mark thank you so much for talking to us.
>> You're welcome, my pleasure.