Tina Haapala, Excuse Editor

Writers and entrepreneurs have a lot in common. If you are a writer who plans to achieve any kind of financial success from your talent, you have to play the business game. If you are an entrepreneur who wants to get people excited about your product or service, you have to play the sales game. If you are like a huge majority of people, this may make you cringe. Watch a few minutes of “ Shark Tank ” on TV and you will see true rejection in action. Inventors, business owners and dreamers have put their sweat, tears, and often a whole lot of money into an idea they believe will both change the world and make them rich. Usually, someone tells them how wrong they are. It doesn't help that one of the guys is sarcastically called “Mr. Wonderful.” As a writer, you are standing in front of that panel of critics every time you submit new work for consideration. No matter how great your product is, it is not for everyone. You could have the most amazing slant on zombie-aliens from Krypt...

The Flower on my Pangea Organics business card For an entire decade, a full one-quarter of my life so far, I worked at a manufacturing/distribution company.  The company made stuff and sold stuff. I was perfectly content to support the company with customer service, administration and inventory management throughout that time.  The thought of selling anything, however, made me freeze. Marketing?  Fine. Sharing information in a trade show booth? Fabulous. Asking someone for their money in return for a fine product? I’d rather chew glass and wash it down with turpentine. That’s why I am so amused with my recent choice. I’m an Independent Rep with Pangea Organics skincare. It’s a skincare company focused on healthy solutions from natural, organic sources, so my diversion to the sales aspect would be more like washing a mouthful of chia seeds down with the blended juice of a cucumber, kale, and pineapple. You can read a bit about my decision here , but basically, ...

Before my recent memoir writing course , I hadn’t heard of the term “the muddy middle,” but I had sure felt it. Some of my work is still there, trudging along in the muck like those quick-sand “walkers” in last week’s episode of the Walking Dead   And like the zombies, you can’t just ignore the problem and hope it will go away, you have to figure out how to move on. And for this you need the ABC’s of Muddy Middle Elimination: A. Action . No matter how stuck you feel, the only way you are ever going to get any forward momentum in your work is to MOVE. Step away from the computer and take a walk to clear your mind, or turn away from the monitor and free write for 5-10 minutes, about the frustration, or how you may want to write the next scene but are afraid to commit to it, whatever. But stick to the action of writing, even if you take a few moments to move away from it, be sure to make your way back. B. B elieve . I get in those moods to cook unique things from magazines...

Why November was chosen to be the month writers are supposed to rally all of their energy  to work on their drafts at a Stephen King (or another prolific writer) pace is beyond me. Holidays are coming up; also it's the end of the year, which sometimes means day-job goals; and it turns chilly in many parts of the country/world--what better time to cozy up with a good book--that somebody else wrote? Instead, the folks over at Nanowrimo have shifted many  writers (or would-be writers) to believe they can write a whole novel (or nonfiction book, or a collection of blog posts, etc.) in 30 days. Since I follow blogs, Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, and Pinterest boards that are all about writing, I can't escape these messages. And the spirit is contagious. At least for the first week or so. In the spirit of Nanowrimo, WNFIN, and others, I have taken the challenge, in a way. Here's what I plan to do this month: Write every day . This is not  uncommon advice, but wh...

Writing is always a journey. The difference between this journey and that road trip you may take this weekend is you really you can't plan out where the road will take you. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't take it. I started an online class a few months ago to help jump-start the memoir I had been writing in my head for the last few years. Every time I would get a few scenes written, the focus would change, and I would go back to the starting line. Again. I was hoping the class would change that. It did, eventually. It would have changed it sooner if I would have allowed myself the chance to let the lessons sink in. No matter. Even the shitty first drafts will be of some use down the line, and now I have stopped crinkling the road map and throwing it under the seat of my writer's driver's seat. Instead, I've pulled over and I'm taking a good look at where I want this book to go. More details on the to come. In the meantime, at least one big lesson I...

I’m not here to discuss how great or dangerous it would be to have one of those treadmill desks (although I just came across a blog post where a writer found that while her husband and cats were perfectly willing to bother her while she had her butt in the chair, nobody bugged her while she was on the treadmill, so she started writing there ); I’m talking about the process of continuously “writing in place.” Many times over the years I have found myself reaching a writing plateau and I need to find something to shake it up. Taking stock of my use of treadmill writing is one way to break free from the writing stagnation it sometimes causes. Let me explain: Pro: Treadmill writing gets SOMETHING on the page. One of the most simple, yet true, pieces of writing advice is “Just Write.” Getting to the page eliminates the first obstacle, showing up. Pro: Treadmill writing allows you to get your writing in shape. If you are just starting, you get a chance to discover your limitati...

I'm not just the editor of excuses, I actually edit other writers' stuff from time to time. As a matter of fact, editing has become my one of my primary responsibilities at my day job. I'm very lucky, because I was originally hired as a temporary employee to help out doing financial things, which often involves numbers and math, and, well, let's just say its best for all involved that I stay away from that. Instead, the owner of the company asked me to look over one of his upcoming newspaper columns and I practically rewrote it. I liked the challenge to make a published columnist's work even better, and I wasn't worried that he would take offense. I was SUPPOSED to be temporary. It was clear my talents were better suited to low-calculator-use environments, so I shifted to the marketing department and have been there ever since. By editing my boss' and other people's work, I've learned a few lessons that serve me when I approach my own pages. ...