How Are You Spending Your Summer? The Value of Writer's Retreats

Like many creative artists who have jobs and families that demand attention, I sometimes dream of everything being quiet.  Of finally having time and privacy to get deep into my writing--without phone calls or texts or emails; with nobody to think about but my characters and the words they give me for the page.

Especially as we're coming out of a long hard winter here in New England, with the weariness that brings, I find myself dreaming of
a retreat.

A student from my weekend workshop in New Hampshire sent me a link in January that may have started this dreaming.  Julia Shipley runs a writer's retreat center on her farm in Vermont.  Photographs and description sound idyllic.  I spent some hours when her email arrived, imagining myself in the little cottage with its beautiful front porch, smelling meadow grasses and admiring green hills around me, writing as much as I wanted.

A colleague recently came back from an extended residency at the Vermont Studio Centers, renewed and enthusiastic about all she'd accomplished while on retreat.  I felt that familiar envy, viewing the circus of my life with its gifts and challenges of work, childcare, and other beloved responsibilities.

Was it time for me to plan a retreat?   

Creative Adventures for Writers
Retreats are creative adventures, and if the muse smiles, I get one each summer.  I find them as necessary as vitamins and pure water.  Retreats open doors for me.  I can get enough space to study my writing process--how I write--as well as think about whether my current book is going in the direction I want.  I can produce pages, revamp my storyboard, revise and buff chapters.  I can make my writing my sole priority.

What unheard-of luxury!

And while I love both the idea and practice of creative retreats, while I make a point to schedule one every summer, retreats terrify me.  It's just me and that blank page, after all, without any excuses.

So over the years of retreating, I've learned ways to balance the excitement and the terror, so that I get the most of my time away.  I've learned how to know what I need from a retreat.  I've begun to approach retreating with guidelines for myself.

It's paid off.  Retreats have given me more energy in my creative life the rest of the year, new depths accessed in my writing, several published books I'm quite happy with.

Facing the Blank Page:  What Writing Retreats Offer
Writing retreats give you a welcome break.  If you are able to do the impossible of negotiating time away from your responsibilities, a writing retreat can give you permission to be response-able only to the creative flame within you.

This freedom is priceless, especially in our overly stimulated world.  You may take along your iPhone but you can choose to disengage and remember yourself.  Nobody is making you check email.  Everything around you is asking you to go deeper.  Which is where the writing comes from anyway, right?  From yourself.

I use a family cabin in the Adirondacks for my retreats most summers.  August finds me spending a few days or a week up there in the woods by a lake, and two of my novels (one published, one in progress) are based there.  I go off to retreat with great enthusiasm and come home much renewed.  So retreats work.  I just have to work them, to offset the challenges of being alone with my work.

Since I also lead writing retreats each July, on Madeline Island in Lake Superior, I can witness this process in others.  The group comes in full of enthusiasm, and often a bit exhausted.  It can be hard to separate from regular life, even if that life is slowly sapping your creative energy.  Some writers come with a list of goals and others come with just their questions.  Slowly, over the course of the week, they learn from me and from each other.  Last summer, I saw such deepening of their work, such growth in awareness of what it takes to write a book, I was newly convinced at the value of retreats.   

I've mentioned this wonderful book before:  The Woman's Retreat Book by Jennifer Loudon.  Loudon believes in the value of retreats, but she also clearly acknowledged their scariness.  They cause a creative person to face herself or himself.

Facing the Terror of Yourself
But the reality is, many of us can't disengage.  It's way too scary.  While facing the blank page for a week or a weekend with absolutely no distractions sounds glorious, it's not that easy to actually do it. 

Over the years of retreating, I've learned it's important to have someone to call, see, talk with when the retreat experience gets edgier than I want.  Either I plan my retreat with others who want more than a social gathering, or I set up check-ins during the retreat with supportive others.  It makes the retreat process much easier.  You can still go deep, but when you fall, someone is there to pick you up.

The first summer I did a solo writing retreat, I didn't know this. After day three, I was regularly calling home to cry and shake.  My writing was taking me places I didn't know how to navigate, and being alone in a remote cabin made me feel slightly insane with the process.  I couldn't move between the inner and outer reality with any ease.  Now I plan retreats when I know friends will be in the neighboring camps.  In the evenings or midday if the writing gets tough, I can go out and find them, be with other human beings, and reorient to my regular life.  I'm still on retreat but I'm able to find balance again.

Solo Writer's Retreat, Guided Writer's Retreat, or Writer's Conference?
When I first got the nudge to retreat, I signed up for a week-long writer's conference, thinking it would let me really dive into my writing.  But I learned fast that diving deep was not easy among hundreds of people workshopping their manuscripts, skill building, socializing and networking.

Over the years, I learned that writer's conferences are great places to network with other writers and meet famous folks (who hopefully will remember you when you send them a request for a blurb or your manuscript).  They are most often places to learn new skills and find out how your writing stands up in critique and workshopping (round-robin peer review).  Some writers do accomplish writing during a writer's conference.  At one writer's conference I attended, my writing did get fired up and I spent hours on a short story, actually skipping many of the conference sessions.  I came home very satisfied--and with the realization that I had missed much of the conference by choice.  I realized I had really needed a retreat just then, not a conference.

So, conferences are intensely useful whenever you're aware of needing new writing skills or when you are ready to market a new manuscript.  Retreats don't offer skill building, unless they are guided retreats with classroom time built in.

Guided retreats are my favorite because they combine limited classroom instruction with one-to-one work with an instructor and plenty of solo writing time.  They also give you support--especially if the retreat group is limited to fewer than 20 writers.  If this sounds like a good option for you, be sure to check carefully into the retreat venue.  How is the lodging--will it offer you enough privacy if you need writing time?  Are there communal gathering areas where you can go to relax and share your process if things get edgy?  Is there a way for you to share your work-in-process and maybe get encouragement or feedback, but just enough to keep you moving forward?

It takes some work to find a writer's retreat or writer's conference that is perfect for your writing, just where it is now.  How can you locate the best option for you, if you are longing to get away with your creativity this summer?

Scan the top writing magazines, such as Writer's Digest, Poets & Writers, and AWP Chronicle.  Writers Digest and AWP both feature their own excellent writer's conferences in January and February, but they also list conferences elsewhere.  If you click on Poets & Writers (above) you'll see their online and very comprehensive directory of writing retreats and residencies.

This Week's Writing Exercise
1.  Spend 20 minutes on paper, asking yourself and your writing what would best suit you right now, if you were to get away for a week or weekend this summer.  Where is your book project in its journey?  Do you need skills, feedback, or networking just now?

2.  Check out some of the retreat options and conference listings below, to see what might work best for you.

3.  Find a copy of The Woman's Retreat Book by Jennifer Loudon to read about the different kinds of retreats you can structure for yourself.

A Few Summer Retreats and Conferences to Consider:  I've heard good things about many of them, or I've attended or taught at them myself. Click on the name to be directed to their website.  Please post your favorites (click on Comment, below)--I'd love to add your suggestions to this list I'm compiling!

Iowa Summer Writer's Conference
New England Retreat Centers (click on Vermont to see Julia Shipley's retreat)
Vermont Studios (residency for established writers--you must apply)
International Women's Writers Guild annual conference  at Yale University
Madeline Island School of the Arts (week-long retreats in all the arts, including writing)
The Loft Literary Center (week-long conferences on different writing topics)

Starting a Law Firm | Technology

I got an email from a guy who wanted to know what kind of a technology set up I have in my office. So here we go. This should be some fun, light reading for you all on a Friday afternoon! The way I'll do it is just go from initial client phone call all the way through resolution of the case. Here we go.

All of my client engagements start with a phone call or email from my website. Let's talk about the phone first. My set up is like this. I have a google voice number, which I've had for about two years now. I'll probably never get away from it. What I like about google voice is that I can take it with me wherever I want to go, it's free, and it's easy to set up and maintain. I've never had a problem with it. Ever.

I've also got the Google Voice App on my iPhone, which lets me make calls from my phone like I was calling from the work number. Makes it easy and convenient to make "work calls" from anywhere in the world without the other person getting your cell phone (and if they've seen your number before they know who you are).

When you call the google voice number, depending on what time of day it is, one of two things happen. If my assistant is in the office, the phone is forwarded to her number. That number is a Skype number. We have no physical phones in the office (except for our cell phones). When the skype number rings she answers it and the person on the other end of the line has no idea it's not a real phone. I think the cost for Skype with outgoing call is something like 4.99 per month per number. We both have a number. The reason I use Skype, in addition to it's cost, is it has many, if not all, of the conveniences of a typical office phone, and then some. It's possible to do conference calls, forward calls, mute calls, etc. And, on top of that, you can do videoconferencing if you want. It's great.

If the email option is chosen, then we obviously get an email alert that someone has filled out the form. We use the Google suite for our mail and calendar. It isn't necessarily as efficient as Outlook (I've tried both extensively), but it gets the job done. The only thing I really hate about gmail is that I haven't yet found a way to share all of our contacts with each other absent exporting a .csv file and importing them in. I'm sure Google will fix this soon, because I'm not the only one to complain about it.

With Google calendar and Google docs we have the ability to share all the information we need to without a bunch of fuss. It's really pretty easy to do. I've also got me email and calendar synced with my iPhone so I can immediately tell if I have conflicts with meetings or other court dates when scheduling something is necessary.

Once someone hires on we enter them into our client management system - highrise. Highrise is not necessarily set up for law firms, but I like it. It's simple, it's intuitive, you can collaborate with everyone in your office easily, and it provides an electronic "file" that everyone can work on and monitor progress on at the same time. You can attach documents, include contacts, copy emails, add notes, add tasks and assign them to people, and much much more. It's a great hub for all of our work.

My office set up is pretty straightforward. I have a laptop that I dock in a docking station. The laptop is a Dell latitude E5400. I've always worked with Dells and never had a problem. That's why I bought the one I have now. The dock is hooked up to two 21 inch monitors that I've pushed together. This allows me to view two documents at the same time, write a motion or email while referencing documents, and keep from having to open and close browsers over and over again.

I have a wireless mouse and keyboard by microsoft that I just picked up at the local Best Buy or Office Depot, I have a pair of Logitech wireless headphones with mic that I use for skype, and I have a logitech hd webcam that I use for video conferencing (which I don't do often).

Our printer is a wireless hp LaserJet P1102w that is about a year old. I bought it after my other one broke and it works like a dream. It's black and white only, doesn't seem to through ink too fast, and prints nice documents. And having it wireless means I can stick it anywhere in the office and my assistant and I can both use it as much as we want.

I keep all of my documents electronically using a Fujitsu ScanSnap S510. It's awesome. I've had it since I started my law firm and have never had any problems (it occasionally gets grumpy but has never broken down - sometimes you have to turn it off and then on to scan, particularly if it's been sitting idle for a long time). I've scanned hundreds of pages of documents at once (it's sheet fed so you just drop them in and let the scanner do the work). This is definitely something you should get.

For fax services I use efax. I think I spend about $25 a month on it. Never had any problems so never had a reason to look for something else. The price is worth it for a service that always works. There may be cheaper out there - Google internet faxing and you'll find plenty of options.

For electronic file storage (where I put everything once I scan it in) I use dropbox. You get 2 gigs for free and 10 gigs for 9.99/month. You can access it wherever you want and share folders with everyone in your office. This means you can all work on the same document, save all the changes in one place, and pull them up whenever you want. People always ask about security when it comes to this stuff and my stock answer is security is a concern for dropbox. If it wasn't secure no one would use it. There is nothing that is 100% secure. Not even your office. If you want something to be ultra safe, spend the money necessary and do it. In reality, very few people care about what you do, and even fewer want to steal what you have.

My legal research tool is LexisNexis. I think I pay $135/month for my state, my federal, and supreme court access. There are certainly cheaper, this is just what I locked myself into when I first started.

I have a physical office location. I have since the day I opened. I started by renting a single office from an established law firm, moved out and got a pretty small stand alone office with shared conference rooms, and in a couple of weeks will be moving to a stand alone office with my own conference room (app. 700 square feet).

That's about all I can think of right now. I'm considering getting an iPad for help with trial, but I'm not going to until I've done a little bit more research and know it will be useful.

If I've forgotten something leave a comment and I'll tell you what I do for it. Good luck starting a law firm! You can do it.

Starting a Law Firm | Marketing

I read a lot of other blogs (among other things) and on a couple of blogs I read there was a lot of discussion about marketing and how that reflects on you as a lawyer. What happened was, some guy right out of law school got onto SoloSez, the American Bar Association's website, and asked a question about marketing his practice. (Now remember, I am paraphrasing greatly here - if you know what I'm talking about and it didn't go down like this I don't care - there's a lesson here either way).

He started his law firm to be a civil lawyer but is taking criminal defense cases for courtroom experience (another topic all together) and was concerned because he thought a public defender program might take away his opportunity for criminal appointment work.

He came up with three ideas to help him with his practice:

1. Bite the bullet and pay for traffic ticket lists. Do mailings.

2. Pay for SEO to increase my website's search engine effectiveness.

3. Continue networking as much as possible

Since I try to write about marketing on Wednesdays, I thought I'd discuss his problem and show you how I'd work through it.

And before I get too far, if anyone stumbles on this post and wants to write about the idea of working in criminal defense for the sole reason of getting experience for a civil practice, take it somewhere else. There are a ton of other places that would love to talk about that. I don't think it's a great idea, necessarily, but that's not the focus of this post.

Step 1 - The Real Problems

Two things immediately jump out at me when reading this guy's plea for help. First, he seems to be really concerned about his criminal defense practice and not too concerned about his civil practice. Maybe that's just because he's worried about losing his criminal clients and didn't waste time on how busy he was on the civil side, but if it were me, and I was doing it just for the experience, I wouldn't worry about it going away. I'd focus more on what I wanted to do. He should know civil lawyers never go to trial anyway!

Second, he's come up with some suggested marketing ideas to get new criminal clients (I am presuming) but he doesn't have any ideas for growing his civil law practice. His concern seems to be entirely on saving his criminal work (maybe that's because he doesn't have any civil work? I don't know).

I see these are problems because by his own admission these aren't cases he wants to take. If you are a civil litigator why would you be worried about marketing to divorce clients? You wouldn't. Why is this guy so worried about marketing his practice to potential criminal clients? Again, I don't know.

2. How I Would Approach the Problem

If you want to be a civil lawyer, you've got to do civil law, period. Knowing how to beat a speeding ticket isn't going to help you one bit when you've got someone who is trying to collect on a car accident or wants to sue a supplier on a breach of contract theory. Knowing how to defend a DUI isn't going to help either. If you want to be a civil lawyer, go be one!

I'm not here to say whether or not doing criminal defense to pay the bills is right or wrong (actually I am, but, like I said, that's a conversation for a different day), but if that is your motivation, then make sure you remember that when it comes time to make business decisions.

For example, buying traffic ticket lists? Why would you do that? How does that benefit your civil litigation practice? It doesn't. There is no reason to chase criminal clients just because that work is going away for you. Why not invest your time and money into marketing toward civil clients?

3. Some Marketing Suggestions

If you are interested in marketing a civil practice you need to think about where the civil clients are and how to get in front of them to show what you are talking about. Here are a couple of things I've come up with in the past when brainstorming with people:

1. Hold a free seminar on why it's important to incorporate your business when starting out. (By the way I could come up with a million seminar ideas - you are only limited by your imagination. This is a great way to demonstrate your expertise and build relationships).

2. Offer a free "business review" to identify any potential problems and practices one might have with their business (contract review process, document retention, etc.).

3. Start a blog talking about things that are relevant to business (or your potential clients). Make a list of the most common questions your perfect client might have and then answer them in blog posts).

4. Find out who your ideal client is, think about where they go and what they do, and then think of some creative way to get in front of them.

Those are just a couple of ideas. And while they aren't magical, I can guarantee you they are going to be more productive than paying for traffic lists and paying for SEO (which you shouldn't pay for until you know what works and what doesn't - otherwise you might as well just send me your check, you'll get the same results). Throwing money at the problem isn't going to solve it. You are going to have to get out of your comfort zone and throw yourself out there.

Getting clients is not easy. Whether you are a grizzled veteran or a newly licensed rookie, you've got to work at it. Don't be discouraged - just work harder.

Do you have any ideas for marketing a civil law firm (by the way, it needs to be WAY more specific than this - I have no idea what you do and I'm a lawyer)? If so, let's hear about it!

Use supplementary appositives, noun phrase constituents designed to convey additional information, in all your sentences

(with thanks to Language Log)

The dog, a mottled grey lurcher with a lazy eye, regarded me superciliously. I had no idea how I, a simple dog-fearing man, would manage to sneak past it and through the gate, a rusted metal barrier, to freedom. I shifted on my feet, those fleshy and ever-so-slightly arthritic appendages, nervously.

‘Good doggie,’ I, an inexperienced dog-soother to say the least, said. ‘Do you want a bone, a hard, calcified material of which animal skeletons are constituted? Do you? Do you?’ I waved the bone, a sheep tibia, at him. I just had to buy myself enough time, the abstract concept describing the indefinite continued progress of events, to run away.

The dog, an imposing presence with its powerful jaws, two perfectly evolved pincers capable of crushing a human leg, one of the limbs upon which a person stands, growled. It was now, the conceptual moment at which these events were happening, or never, at no time in the future. I, the person trying to escape from the dog, the animal which was threatening my health, the state of being free from illness or injury, a specific instance of physical harm or damage, started running.

Inspiration and balance

My dear and lovely readers, thank you for allowing me to take a blog holiday and being there when I returned. I must say I feel very refreshed. Not only did I not visit my own blog, I did not visit many blogs at all in the time I was ‘in Paris with Sabine’ (catching up with my work).

Something I found out is that I am very suggestible and easily influenced by others opinions. I love reading others blogs, especially those encouraging of the French Chic lifestyle but find myself concerned with thoughts that are not my own. Does anyone have any suggestions on how they can stay on their own path and not be pulled off course by others beautiful writing and images? It even made me question reading books, but only for a minute though. And that thought especially stopped when my copy of Ines’ Parisian Chic arrived in the mail a few weeks ago.

Another thing to consider is the time factor. I have spent a lot more time off the laptop and in my life. And that’s what it’s all about isn’t it? Shouldn’t our inspiration be a springboard for our lives instead of being our lives?

With my quest to have balance, I will be spending less time on the computer and may not catch up with blogs daily. I hope you are not offended, but I may not even have time to comment, even though I will be reading. And in turn, do not feel obligated to comment on anything I post. Only do so if you really want to.

Of course I love receiving comments, it’s fabulous to have feedback, but I never want anyone to feel as if they have to or my feelings will be hurt. Part of being a grown up (and blossoming into a chic-er version of oneself) is deciding what you want to do and what you don’t. And not apologising for it. I hope I have found a way to continue blogging without it consuming vast amounts of time.

I also have another question for you. I would love to hear your suggestions for topics. I have many up my sleeve, but sometimes wonder if I don’t repeat myself. And if I wrote on everything that is in my ideas notebook I certainly would. I don’t think that would be a bad thing, as some blogs I love to read and have done for many years repeat their messages over and over. It creates continuity.

But for myself writing, I feel like I might be boring you. So I am putting it to you, is there anything you would particularly like to hear my thoughts on? You can let me know in the comments section (so much for not asking anyone to leave a comment!) or email me privately – how to be chic (at) gmail (dot) com.

Signpost your twists

Agent Sam Glowingly waved a hand at the tangled web of notes on the whiteboard.

‘So,’ he said, ‘we still have no idea who the killer is.’

‘No,’ said McSleet. ‘Unless we can find someone in the monastery who’s able to leap thirty feet off the ground, pass through a stained glass window without breaking it and kill his victim through the power of sheer terror.’

‘Not your average monk,’ observed Glowingly. ‘In fact, it sounds more like one of the legendary fighting monks that reputedly inhabited this very monastery hundreds of years ago, but whose secrets have been lost for generations.’

‘Aye,’ agreed McSleet. ‘But we need to find a real solution, not sit here chit-chatting about ancient history that has nothing to do with the case.’

‘You’re right,’ said Glowingly, getting up from his chair and adjusting his pistol holster. ‘We’ve got no time for idle talk about legends that neither of us has any reason to believe are even true, let alone relevant to our current investigation.’ He consulted his notebook. ‘Where next?’ he asked.

‘We need to interview more potential witnesses,’ said McSleet, fishing a battered pack of cigarettes from his coat pocket. ‘How about Brother Laurence, who’s been studying the ancient manuscripts which sat undisturbed in the monastery vault for centuries and who has also, incidentally, been working out quite a lot recently?’

‘Okay,’ said Glowingly with a shrug. ‘But I think we’re wasting our time.’

Don’t not use double negatives

Although I wasn’t unfamiliar with the failings of post-structuralism, this particular book lacked some of the omissions I didn’t expect to not find. I had neglected to overlook the index, but this was a lack of oversight which failed to concern me – that is to say, if I hadn’t neglected to overlook the index, my lack of neglect wouldn’t have concerned me less.

‘This doesn’t fail to be a non-trivial problem,’ I muttered to myself. ‘There couldn’t be the absence of something I’m failing to miss, could there?’

It wasn’t something other than nonsense to imagine that I’d succeeded in failing to untangle the many far from non-linguistic problems that this text certainly didn’t lack. I just didn’t seem to be able identify the missing elements – or rather, the absence of them. Perhaps my failure to find said omissions was itself not insignificant.

‘Maybe I’m being too negative,’ I didn’t not whisper to no one other than myself.

Five Fundamental Practices That Keep You Away from Writer's Block While You're Writing a Book

It isn’t talent that makes an artist succeed. Talented people fail all the time. Success comes from belief in yourself, persistence with your craft, and a good routine—setting aside regular, sacred time to make art. To dedicate time, you must believe in your worth.

As the painter and author Frederick Franck wrote, “You shall not wait for
inspiration, for it comes not while you wait, but while you work.”

You must believe your art is important and deserves your attention. So must your family and friends. I’ve found five ingredients that make a book writer’s practice successful. If all five are in place, they will support and sustain the long journey.

Five Fundamental Practices
1. Find and honor your best time to write.
2. Keep writing equipment private, secure, and in good working order.
3. Have a dedicated writing space.
4. Have a set time to write.
5. Close the door to the world when you are writing.


Some writers try these five, start a writing practice, have good success for a while, then suddenly give up. Life intervenes. But a close examination of what “life intervening” means, comes down to choice. There are always ten minutes to write, but when stress is high, it’s easier to face the evening news than face ourselves.
Writing takes us to scary places sometimes. Our interior lives are often more frightening than anything television can offer. We get overwhelmed with our books, the enormity of the project we’ve taken on. We begin to resent the routine, the demands of the book. We want to rebel, say, “Forget this!”

I watch for three signs of this: increasing self-critique, getting sick, and other people who “suddenly” need me.

Self-critique comes via that small voice that whispers, “Why bother? This is all terrible anyway.” It fuels self-doubt—Who are we to think we’re writers? Sometimes it also fuels anger, nudges us to prove we’re the boss and show it by breaking the writing rhythm.

If derailment doesn’t come via doubt or anger, it shows up with getting sick. I’ve come down with an unexplainable headache or cold in the middle of an important writing project, and I’ve begun to see this as a sign of self-sabotaging.

A third derailment comes via people who suddenly need rescuing. I believe in my own perverse ability to “manifest” this: I think it’s a law of attraction in the universe that when I need to rebel, someone needs me urgently. A dear friend will get sick and I’ll just have to stop writing to make chicken soup.

When my practice gets derailed by these kinds of fears and frustrations, I go back to my original vision for my book. I revisit my original motivation for writing this book.

Your Weekly Writing Exercise: Facing Common Saboteurs
This week, try this simple but effective exercise in self-inquiry.  It may tell you exactly where you're sabotaging your book.

Answer the questions below, then take action on one of the solutions.

1. Do you try to fit writing in between everything else?

Solution: Make a daily date for your writing and mark it into your calendar each week.

2. Do your family, spouse, partner, pets, children, or roommates hijack your writing time?

Solution: Have a family meeting to discuss why it’s important to you to write regularly. Ask for their help.

3. Do you lack the equipment you need to write well?

Solution: Get a laptop or desktop computer and printer. Organize computer files to keep research manageable. If you prefer to write longhand, get a really great pen and stacks of legal pads.

4. Does someone else commandeer your writing equipment?

Solution: Talk with them about the need to keep your writing private. This is basic. If you have to share a computer, get a password to protect your privacy. If it’s a desk you must share—then create a portable one. Put pen and paper in a briefcase, lock it, and leave it by your writing chair. You don’t want to feel restricted about which topics you can safely explore.

Excerpted from Your Book Starts Here:  Create, Craft, and Sell Your First Novel, Memoir, or Nonfiction Book, by Mary Carroll Moore.  To order a copy today, click here.

Recap the previous book

Daniel Peridue, newly appointed Captain of the Guard as a result of his heroics at the battle of Langtathon where he had single-handedly held the main keep of Castle Langtathon against a determined strike force of magically strengthened ape-men called Grathraks, felt uneasy. It had been three months since the Southern Enchanters had broken the centuries-old treaty and launched their attack under cover of night, only to be foiled by the swift actions of Eli Shiningheart, who had revealed himself to be the long-lost heir of Lord Langathon and thus fulfilled the Prophecy of the Protector, as passed down from generation to generation of Ingturon scholars and eventually into the teachings of Yath’l Cth’dang, last of the Ingturon, who had nobly sacrificed himself at the Mountains of Rehethihimah to save Eli’s life and grant him the mysterious power of the Ancient Ones. Now everything was quiet. Too quiet.

‘Are you thinking what I’m thinking?’ he asked his companion. Remi Longshanks, reformed thief whose skill with throwing knives had proved to be invaluable when he and Daniel had infiltrated the Enchanters’ inner sanctum and stolen their magical hearthstone, thus severing the link that allowed them to command the Grathrak army, looked up.

‘Don’t know,’ he said. ‘Were you thinking that peace has settled uneasily on these lands and that the dark shadow of the return of the Old Magic still lurks somewhere far to the South, despite our success in repelling the specific threats that previously faced us?’

‘Pretty much,’ said Daniel.

Loving your home

Today, on my day off at home I did one of my favourite things – potter. Pottering is part housework, part moving things around, part prettifying your abode. We live in a small home, and it’s a constant effort to not let stuff take over. I make regular trips to the charity store with drop-offs and work my way around areas as they bother me.

Because our living area is petite, there is not a large difference in the way I can rearrange furniture, but I do it anyway. I swap the sofas over (they go well together but do not match) and shift the side tables around. I turn the rectangular dining table to face longways rather than sideways. The art on the wall is moved around.

All ornaments are taken down, washed in the kitchen and then put back in other areas. Sometimes some are put away and others are taken out. We have very few surfaces for ornaments and rotating them makes you appreciate them more. At the moment I have a white theme going on.

And while I’m doing all this of course I can vacuum every part of the carpet including corners and edges, and polish the tables.

I only do it when the urge takes me, that way it’s fun. It really makes everything look fresh and new, having been cleaned and the furniture and paintings/prints in different places.

When your home looks stale and boring, dusty and uninspiring, it is tempting to go shopping for some light entertainment and buy a rug, candle or doodad. Resist that temptation for when you get home again, your dusty and stale home will still be there and you will have added an extra piece of clutter.

A pottering day (or even pottering-few-hours like I had) is just the tonic. Your home will feel like a très stylish boutique hotel. Sadly the image above is not where I live. It's one of my favourite places to stay - The Langham Hotel.

Letting Myself Exhale--Celebrating the "Empty Nest" of a New Book

I've just finished a book.  No, I mean, really finished it.  The last change is proofed, the last word typeset.  It's on amazon.com.  It's being ordered by bookstores.  It's published.

It's completely out of my hands.

That's a relief, and it's also a worry.  No longer is
the book mine alone.  It belongs to my readers, who can treat it well or hate it, who can love it and recommend it to their friends or never open its shiny covers to see what's inside.  This is the double edge of creating art.  What will others do with what you pour your heart into?

Your Book Starts Here is a guidebook to crafting a book in any genre.  I've been working on it for a long time.  It covers what I do in my classes and workshops--where I teach others how to plan, write, and develop a book--and I finally wrote it because there's nothing out there I could recommend to my students who ask me questions, desperately wanting a guide as they work their manuscripts into being.  Thanks to these students, I've gathered good tips and techniques over the last ten years, learning all about the walls writers run into as they face the empty page.  This book is large, 400 pages, and if I look back at my notes, it took active gathering for three years, writing and organizing for five.  Then testing for one more year, revising for two.  A lot of time and a lot of work!  It brought me unexpected passion for the craft, though, and it caused me to fall in love with book writing again.  I had to learn a lot, in order to teach it to you.

At first, I wasn't sure what I wanted to say.  That's normal when you begin a book.  Especially if your subject is vast.  Writing books are everywhere, but how many actually teach you how to improve your craft, as well as inspire and guide?  In the early days of putting this book together, I almost gave up.  It seemed impossible.  Many writing teachers believe you can't actually teach anyone to write.  You're either born with writing talent or you're not.  But I've seen this disproven time and again in my classes.  Plenty of writers succeed through sheer determination, by doggedly applying themselves until they learn the ins and outs of their craft.

Their stories fill Your Book Starts Here.   I admire their stubborness and skill, their originality of thought, their willingness to self-examine, their perseverance.

Finding the Real Subject of a Book
Before I wrote Your Book Starts Here, I had published twelve books myself, worked with about 2000 writers in all genres, helping them with their books.  I thought it would be easy to distill my work into a guide for writers.  But it was a tough subject.  I struggled over which topics were the most essential, which were the ones that writers in my classes obsessed over and asked the most questions about.

One topic that always came up was:  How do I keep writing regularly?  I know a writer needs a solid writing habit to complete a book.  So I devoted two chapters to answering that question.  Another topic was that stall-out that comes from self-doubt.  So I put together a chapter on the Inner Critic, and its gate-keeping function to keep us safe (and away from our creativity).  Writers struggle over genre and ideal reader.  So stories and information about that got added.

Most important were the major gateways that a writer has to pass through, to complete and publish.  One was the inner/outer story--the meaning as well as the subject  of the book--and how it gets brought to the page.  Another was the organization or flow of material, and using a storyboard.  Then comes the first draft, and its read-through and careful analysis.  Finally, a clean revision that transfers ownership of the book to the reader instead of the writer.  All these were necessary to get to publication.  I listened to hundreds of writers in my classes, I asked them about their book journeys, I captured the stories they were willing to share. 

Your Book-Journey Team
My students were the most valuable resource, and I wrote this book for them.  Such generosity in sharing their stories and questions!

But there were others too.  When you're writing a book, you need lots of help.  You can't birth anything in a vacuum.  My testers, who were students in my classes in New York and Minneapolis, tried out the exercises and tested the theories in my early drafts.  One of my advanced classes read through my chapters  and gave me very detailed feedback on what was useful, what wasn't.  I sucked it up, put my ego aside, and really listened to their right-on feedback.  It told me I had a ways to go.

Then I got the gift of an angel editor when I really needed it--a top-notch professional who came to one of my classes and gave my material a keen eye and a kind editing hand.  Then a proofreader appeared out of the blue (a student in my online class) when she was most needed.  Then there was the amazing cover designer and a typesetter who was patient beyond belief with my million changes. 

But in the end, I was alone with my manuscript.  Book writing is still a solo journey.  It is filled with 4:00 a.m. wakings to wonder if you've done the very best you could.  I worried over how best to describe storyboards.  Whatever could I say about voice and theme?  Should I even tackle the topic of pacing--a very tough element to describe, but oh so crucial to make a book sing?   

In the end, I did.  I did everything I could think of and now I just hope I loved the book enough.

Saying Goodbye to Your Creation
Ending a book is an amazing experience.  When you've done all you can to bring your idea to the page, it feels wonderful.  But it's also sad because there's always so much more to say, and you may have forgotten something important, and what if that explanation on page 155 isn't clear?  Isn't there something more you can do?

There's always more to say.  But it's time to say goodbye for now. 

When I was a new artist, I got a commission for a painting.  I spent months working on it, finally finished it, and shipped it to the buyer who lived about 2000 miles away.  About a year later I visited this woman's city and went to say hello (and see the painting, of course).

It looked good, but wait . . . what was that?  My skills as a painter had grown so I saw mistakes on her piece.  I left her house as quickly as I could because I knew if I lingered, I would beg her to let me take it home and fix it.

Your book will capture who you are right now.  If you pour your heart into it, it'll be the very best you know to write right now.  It's good to celebrate, even if you feel like a parent who just shipped their kid off to college. In that spirit, this week's writing exercise asks you to imagine traveling the journey to publication of your book.  To consider the passage from inside yourself.

This Week's Writing Exercise
 1.  Imagine your book published.

2.  Spend some time in your writer's notebook listing the names of the team who helped you get there.  Who would they be?

3.  Then write a bit about how it feels to have your book no longer your own--now the reader you are writing for owns it too.  They are beginning a one-to-one relationship with the book that excludes you, the author.  How does this sit with you?

4.  If you've been having trouble finishing your book, ask yourself if you're ready for the transition described in #3 of this exercise.  Why or why not?

PS  I would love to share my creative efforts with you who are writing a book.  To order a copy of Your Book Starts Here, click here.

Forget what you’re doing halfway through a sentence

He opened the door and got into the car engine shuddered into life and the vehicle lurched down the driveway. He knew it was only a matter of time was against him and he had to do something had to be done. If there was one thing he knew for sure as he could be under the circumstances were against him, he thought with a grim smile formed on his face the facts.

Suddenly, the car jolted the car. He hadn’t been watching the road came to an abrupt stop in front of him was a barrier across the road came to an abrupt stop. It was too late to slow down into the ravine below the car was a deep ravine. He jammed his foot on the brakes weren’t working. With a screeching metal screech of metal screeched as he flew into the darkness opened and swallowed him.

He screamed, ‘Nooooo!’ he screamed. His life was flashing before he even had time to think about what he had done with his life was flashing before his eyes filled with tears of regretted so many things he regretted in his life was flashing before his eyes had time to close his eyes filled with tears in his eyes closed.

Starting a Law Firm Book Review | Lawyer 2.0 Part II

I'm sure most you read my post on the starting a law firm book I reviewed on Wednesday. If not you can read that post here. It got some interesting comments, one from Carolyn Elefant, a former lawyer turned starting a law firm guru (who I admittedly got a lot of information from before she started solo practice university), and one from the author of the book. The both make a couple of good points, so I wanted to talk about them.

Carolyn's Comment on My Lawyer 2.0 Review

First, let's talk about Carolyn Elefant's comment. Here it is, in case you missed it:

If you review and pretty much trash a book, the least you can do is link to it. I notice that your idol Rjon uses my shingle as a key word for his videos on YouTube yet you won't even link to someone's book that you reviewed.

I'm not going to talk about the tone of the comment, as it's irrelevant in my eyes. What I want to talk about is the substance, namely why she mentioned what she mentioned.

If you read the comment you'll notice the emphasis here is on links and keywords. She is concerned that I didn't link to the book for people to go and check it out. I'm not sure what the point of the RJon comment is, but I think she's trying to say that when RJon does his stuff he is nice enough to use a keyword Carolyn has in many ways coined (I believe "My Shingle" was the name of her blog when I used to read it).

In my mind this is the type of stuff that should be included in a starting a law firm book - the importance of links and keywords in your posts. Carolyn understands the value of a good link, what that can do for a website in terms of Google ranking and visitors. That type of information is not only important but critical for building business, whether you are starting a law firm or writing a book about starting a law firm. It is the type of thing that you can do on your own without a lot of cost that can pay off huge in revenue.

Thanks Carolyn for pointing that out for me. And, if you'll see, I have added a link. My thinking in not adding a link at the time was that if I'm not endorsing a product I wouldn't include a link - that's why I gave the full name of the book so anyone could easily Google it and find it. But I have no problem adding a link, though I did make it no follow, which is internet speak for Google won't give it any credit as a link (though I encourage you to go check it out and see if it's something for you).

Josh Williams', the Author of Lawyer 2.0, Comment

I don't know why but his comment hasn't shown up on Blogger for me yet, but I got an email that it had been posted. It was long and I wanted to talk about it here, so I'll republish in case it is lost:

As I state prominently on the back cover of Lawyer 2.0 and on the first page of the companion website (www.lawyer2point0.com), “Lawyer 2.0 is a comprehensive summary and description of all the technological tools I utilized to build a six-figure solo law practice in less than 12 months.” Accordingly, I limited the scope of the book to a discussion of all the technological tools I use in my practice and describe how I use them; I felt that Carolyn Elefant’s excellent book, Solo by Choice (www.myshingle.com), more than adequately covered all the other considerations that go into building a successful solo practice.

The tools outlined in Lawyer 2.0 are what I have decided to use in my practice after considerable research and trial and error, and I felt other solos could benefit from reading about what has worked for me rather than go through the costly and time-consuming process of trial and error themselves in setting up an infrastructure for their solo practices. Thus, I think solos who need guidance with respect to the technological nuts and bolts of setting up a law firm--including a comprehensive description of how to create a paperless/digital law office--will find the book and companion website (where I give away half the contents of Lawyer 2.0 for free via blog posts) to be excellent resources.

For a discussion of fundamental business principles, ethical concerns, philosophical and other important considerations that go into building a solo practice, I recommend that solos read Solo by Choice; I am hopeful that the author of this blog will publish a similarly-helpful publication.

Okay, now that that's done let's go through this a little bit and discuss, because I think he makes some good points.

First, let's talk about the purpose of the book, to "a comprehensive summary and description of all the technological tools I utilized to build a six-figure solo law practice in less than 12 months." That is actually a great summary of the book and what the book is really about. If the title of the book was "The Technology You Need to Build a $100,000 Practice," my review of the book would probably be much different.

But this is how the book is billed. How to Build a Six-Figure Solo Practice in 12 Months or Less. To me, that sounds a little more comprehensive than "a comprehensive summary and description of all the technological tools..." It's a bit deceiving and is the reason I wrote the review the way I did. I didn't think it delivered what it was selling (and I apologize for not reading the fine print).

What's missing from this book is how he actually built the six-figure solo practice. I guarantee you it had less to do with the technology he had and had a lot more to do with the marketing and management aspects of how he set up his law practice. And before you harp at me, I know technology has something to do with both marketing and management. But instead of "I bought a Toshiba laptop," I would have expected something like, "when clients call this is how I answer the phone. I have a database set up that captures the following information and this is what I'm trying to figure out from the get go..." That is what is critical to successfully opening a law firm, not whether or not you have a live secretary or a virtual one.

Second, great shout out to Carolyn's book Solo by Choice. I feel like I've read it and was again left wanting more. But, just to be sure I'll grab a copy this weekend, read it, and let you know what I think. Make no mistake, Carolyn knows her stuff. Like I said, I used to be an avid reader. Though in the last year or so it's turned much more commercial, with classes and stuff that tend to be more of an ego boost than a reality check for what is required to be successful (and to be fair, I have not enrolled in any of her classes - they could be wonderful - this is just my opinion from the outside looking in). She's got some great stuff on her old website and blog, though, if it still exists.

Third, and finally, regarding why he wrote the book. I think that's great. I am all for the book. It has some useful information that some people care deeply about. Just don't bill the book as a how-to manual for building a $100,000 practice. If you followed everything in that book you'd have a great set up in front of you but you'd be waiting forever for the phone to ring. I would have liked to have known what you did to market your practice - if it's high volume you've got to have your hands in a lot of cookie jars (adwords, blog, facebook, twitter, newspapers, radio, television, etc.). I'm always interested in what works for people and what doesn't. That information is critical to the success of your firm.

The Book Does Fit a Niche Need

As I close this out, I do want to point out that this book fits a niche need. I'm sure there are people out there that are interested in a thorough review of how technological choices were made when starting a law firm. When I write my book it definitely won't have this amount of depth on this subject matter. If you want to find out why this guy chose a certain laptop or why he uses gmail as his email application, go read the book. It will give you a great understanding of that.

And, finally, I do want to give him credit for putting pen to paper. It takes a lot of time and effort to put something together like that, as I am quickly learning. And opening yourself up to criticism, fair or not, is just about as scary as starting a law firm. The book is well written, I just think it under-delivers.

I look forward to his review of my book when it comes out.

Have a great weekend. As always, questions and comments are welcome.

Starting a Law Firm | Lawyer 2.0 Book Review and My New Book

You all know that I've got big, grand plans to write a book about starting a law firm, right? And that my book would be different from all of the others because it would be updated to include today's technological improvements as well as be more focused on the "business" side of owning a law firm? Well, now I've got some extra motivation out there to get started - a starting a law firm book I read yesterday called "Lawyer 2.0 - How to Build a Six-Figure Solo Practice in 12 Months or Less." You can find the link to the book here.

I'm not going to provide a link because I don't think you should read it (though you know how hard it is to find it). What I'm going to do instead is review it and give you my take on why I think you should not buy it. Ready? Here we go!

I stumbled upon this book through my Google Reader. A blog I read regularly called "The Attorneys ATM" or something like that had a post pointing people to this new book about how to start a law firm. The blogger was touting the book because he'd been mentioned in the book as a helpful resource when it came to internet marketing. Because I'm kind of into this whole how to start a law firm thing I thought I'd check it out.

The book costs $20. I bought it with the idea that I'd review it here. If I thought it was good I'd say so. If I thought it wasn't so good I'd say so. And, as I've already alluded, I was pretty disappointed in what I found.

To get right to the heart of the matter, this book is too much like Foonberg's "How to Start a Law Firm" book that was written ten years ago. It talks too much about what kind of stapler to buy and whether or not to get a postage meter and not enough about fundamental business principals that can and will make or break your law firm. Here's a break down of the table of contents:

Introduction

Chapter 1 - Hardware

Chapter 2 - Practice Management

Chapter 3 - The Paperless Law Office

Chapter 4 - Legal Research

Chapter 5 - Online Marketing

Chapter 6 - Other Considerations

As you can see just from the titles of the chapters, it's really heavy on what to buy and what to think about when setting up your office and really light on preparing your law firm to be successful from the very beginning. To give you an example, there is an entire section on whether to buy a laptop or desktop and what to look for in your computer hardware configurations. I get that that's important, but I'm going to trust you can figure that out by talking to the computer salesman. Tell them what you want and they'll tell you what to get.

There's also the entire section on going paperless, which includes instructions on how to set up your filing system. I'm not saying this isn't important on some level, but it's not going to determine whether or not your law firm is successful.

And, by the way, I'm going to let you in on a little secret - it's not that hard to make $100,000 your first year. I did it. I'm sure many others have done it. And you can do it. But this book isn't necessarily going to help you get there.

Another way in which this book falls short is that it is geared toward one area of practice primarily - the high volume pump and dump practice. He talks a lot about what his practice is like and what you need if you have a practice like his. What he doesn't talk about is the thought process behind those decisions or why he chose one thing over another.

And by far the weakest area of the book is the online marketing segment. If you buy the book (and at $20, why not, right?), read it, and then dig around on this site for a little bit, you'll see just how short he falls. The first and largest red flag I see from reading this section is that the only references he makes to resources are other attorneys who claim to be online marketing experts. I've got news for you, there is an entire subset of people out there making a living based purely on their knowledge of search engines and how to rank high on them.

That's how I got my internet knowledge. I poked around until I found professional internet marketers who were teaching those fundamentals and learned from them. My references are to those people.

So, I'm going to start working on the book immediately. I just feel like I owe it to you all. There is so much misinformation out there that it's really kind of scary. And to give you an idea, completely off the cuff, of what my table of contents would look like, it would be like this:

Chapter 1. Why Do You Want to Start a Law Firm?

Chapter 2. What to do Before You Open the Doors

Chapter 3. Three Critical Questions You Must be Able to Answer (1. Who is your ideal client?; 2. How are you going to get clients?; 3. How are you going to get clients if your first idea doesn't work?)

Chapter 4. Fighting Fear

Chapter 5. Opening a Law Firm - the Essentials (I'd put all the nuts and bolts in here - 75% of the other guy's book condensed into one chapter).

Chapter 6. Internet Marketing (this would be the biggest chapter - it would also be worth the price of the book alone).

Chapter 7. Creating your team (accountant, bookkeeper, etc.)

Can you see the value in this material over the other? I hope so.

Okay, now that I've laid the gauntlet on myself I better get started. And I guess step one is figuring out how to write a book!

This post would be a great place to leave comments about what you would like to have in the book. I can't guarantee you everything will make it, but I can guarantee you it will have a shot if you let me know about it.

Online Class--Your Book Starts Here--Begins May 16

If you're interested in studying book-writing with Mary, there are a few spots left in the Your Book Starts Here online class, beginning May 16.  Sponsored by the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis, this 12-week course is entirely virtual, so you can access the weekly lessons, writing exercises, videos and articles on writing, and more 24/7 from anywhere.  Limited to 20 writers.  Includes weekly feedback from Mary on your writing and a wonderful online community of fellow book writers at all levels.  For more information visit the Loft at www.loft.org and click on Online Classes or call the Loft at 612-379-8999.  Register soon if you're interested!

Researching Your Book--How to Do It, When to Stop and Get Writing

A children's book writer sent me the following question:  "I am interested in writing a non fiction book for 11-18 year olds and wanted to know how to go about preparing myself to do the research for the book effeciently?"  This writer had a timeline for her book and wanted to complete it by the beginning of December.

Research is both a blessing and
a bane for the book writer.  It's very easy to research now that the world is at our fingertips via the Internet.

But this wealth of resources also poses a serious sidetracking problem:  How can you really tell when you're researching and when you're just avoiding writing?

I love to research.  I worked as an editor for a small press for 18 years and was constantly being asked to research this or that fact from different authors' books.  I knew how to get online and sail through the mediocre listings into the really meaty facts.  I became good friends (via phone) with several reference librarians at my local library--always a good call to make when stumped by the various options on the Internet.  Librarians (mostly) love research and they are there to help.

But often I found myself cruising from one article to the next, opening more layers of links, and finding it hard to actually come back to the writing I was supposed to be working on.

Since someone was paying me to get the editing done, and I was under a deadline, I always forced myself away from the research eventually.  But when you're writing your book, you may not have this outer-imposed structure.  You may be your only boss, creating your own timeline, as my reader above is.  How do you stay efficient with research and still get your book done?

Researching Your Readership
I have dozens of stories from students in my classes who discovered they were writing to the wrong readership--after they did some bookstore research.  One woman thought her novel was geared toward adults but after she spent an hour browsing the YA bookstore shelves, she realized her language, tone, and subject matter was really meant for younger reader, in their late teens, as she had been when she experienced the specific changes she was writing about.  Another student was preparing to finish his memoir when he did some belated bookstore research and realized he didn't want his story on the memoir shelf--it was way too raw and dangerous emotionally for him to imagine his family members picking up a copy of a "true story" that contained their histories.  So he switched horses in midstream and became a novelist.

This sounds basic, but many writers forget that bookstores (and online bookstores) hold a wealth of information to help us orient our book projects.  So researching your readership is first on the list.

For the reader who wrote me the question for this post, as someone writing a book for a certain age group, you really need to know your audience well.  What language do these readers prefer?  They may be much more sophisticated readers than you were at that age, or they may not be.  What do they learn in school--and is your topic too sophisticated or way to basic for them?

And if you're delivering a certain topic and need scientific, cultural, political, or historical data, you need to translate what you research into wording that kids would understand, crafting your writing to lead them point by point through the material.

Research Information
After you've researched your reader and gone through the steps to explore your book's topic, you may have the urge to spend time on the Internet, in the library, or in your own book collection, making sure your facts are in order.  This is really important, and it used to be the provenance of fact checkers at a publishers.  No more.  It's now up to the writer, and publishing contracts have long clauses to make sure the writer holds all responsibility for errors of fact in their manuscript.

I love to research place, and I do that early on in the research process for my books.  I physically visit the location of my book as many times as I can, read other books set in that location, and take lots of notes--especially sensory details like the way things sound, smell, and look in that setting.  It's important to convey accuracy of place to allow the emotion within the place to touch your reader.  And, believe me, readers who are familiar with the place will let you know if you've made mistakes in reporting the details of their favorite locations.

Historical facts are also important to get right.  Watch out for the Internet on this one.  When I was a professional editor at the small press in the Midwest, we rarely accepted the first or even fifth Internet mention of a fact as truth.  It took lots of browsing and comparing notes from different sites.  If a fact was repeated frequently, then it was more likely true.  But I collected a list of my favorite fact-checking sites that seemed reliable, and they were the ones I visited most often.  University research sites, library databases, and reputable publications online were the ones I leaned on most--and I strictly avoided the chats, blogs, and personal opinion posts that could be just that.

Putting Research in Its Proper Place
Make sure, though, that research doesn't take over your writing time.  It's a great time waster for us creative types, especially with the Internet making the world of research so very accessible.  Hours (days!) can go by while you happily browse, and not one word of your book actually gets written.

When I am deep in research, I set a kitchen timer.  When the timer rings, I stop--no matter how exciting that next link looks.  I go back to the writing, to the blank page, and do what I came here for.  It takes discipline to leave the candy store of research and actually write.  But it's the only way to make a book.

This Week's Writing Exercise
1.  Make a list of topics you'd like to research for your book project.  They could be more information on the setting you're writing about, historical facts, readership research, or anything you are interested in that might enhance your story.

2.  Practice disciplined research:  get a kitchen timer or set your cell phone alarm for 30 minutes.  Begin your research.  See if you can stop when the alarm goes off.  Make sure you make notes or print interesting pages.

3.  Make notes to remind you where you were, so you can return easily.

4.  Look over the research notes you've made.  Take a highlighter and underline sections that might be useful to inform a chapter, character, or focus of your book.

Write grammatically correct dialogue

I could feel the thrum of the bass speakers all through my body. When I spoke, I couldn’t even hear my own voice.

‘I am going to the bar,’ I shouted into the noise. ‘I intend to purchase a drink.’ Moopie didn’t stop dancing, but nodded, flicking sweat off her face.

‘That is a good idea,’ she said. ‘To change the subject – do you happen to know the name of the gentleman who was dancing with us?’

‘I am sorry,’ I said. ‘I am having a certain amount of difficulty hearing you.’

‘I was enquiring as to whether you knew the name of the gentleman who was recently dancing with us,’ yelled Moopie, leaning towards me. I hesitated for a moment. I knew who she meant, but I didn’t feel like talking about him, much less to him.

‘I do not know to whom you are referring,’ I said.

How to Start a Law Firm | Law Clerk Search

So I'm in the market for a law clerk. No, not a virtual one - and no, I don't want your resume, unless you think you are extremely qualified and want to work for an extremely low wage (insert sarcasm, sort of). Since I hope you are all looking for law clerks this time of year (they are a great way to leverage resources - they aren't that expensive and if you teach them well they can provide a great benefit) I thought I'd tell you about my process for finding a great law clerk.

I've got to worn you, I haven't completed the process yet, so it could be a bust, but the concept seems pretty good. So here we go.

First things first, I do criminal defense, so I want to try to get a law clerk that is interested in criminal defense. At the end of the day I may hire this person on as an associate - this should work out as an extended tryout if I do it right. Because of that I want to make it clear that the benefits of this job are closely related to the practice of criminal defense, and not other places.

Second things second (I'll stop doing that going forward, I promise), I want to make sure this person is at least minimally qualified for the job. The minimum qualifications include not being dumb, being in law school, being able to write a coherent sentence, and being able to follow simple directions. Because those things are important to me, I turned the process of submitting the application materials into the the first test. These are the things I've asked for: (1) cover letter; (2) resume; (3) writing sample. But it doesn't stop there.

Within the cover letter I've asked them to tell me three things, in addition to what a great person they are: (1) what their favorite sports team is; (2) what their favorite Seattle summertime activity is; and (3) why they are interested in criminal defense. I don't really necessarily care what the answers are (though if you yell me you like the Missouri Tigers or K-State Wildcats as your favorite sports team you better have outstanding credentials), what's most important to me is that they took the time to read and follow the directions. In case you didn't know reading the fine print in the practice of law is kind of a big deal.

If you don't follow those directions, no matter how much I like you, you get cut.

Third, once the first cut is made, I'm giving them a mini-assignment. I'm asking them to research a question (not a hard one) and write me a memo answering the question (2 pages or less). I'm actually doing this for two reasons. First, it's another chance to see if they can follow directions. Second, it's an opportunity to see how badly they want the job. Put a little time and effort into this thing and it will show. Throw something together and I'll know it.

Fourth comes the interview. I think I'll probably structure it like I did with my assistant search - the same questions for everyone. Just makes it easier. What I really want to see at the interview is that they've got some social skills and we can work together. My new office is big but it's not that big. If I get to pick who I work with I might as well like them.

Fifth, and finally, I'll probably do a final happy hour to top it all off. I mean, let's be honest, everything's better with a happy hour right?

We are just about to wrap up phase one - the application submission process. I'll let you know how it turns out and who I pick when I get to that stage.

What else? Oh yeah, set up payroll this week. Once that's all done I'll talk about it a little bit and give you some information on who you might want to talk to if you're interested in setting it up yourself (I need it for my assistant and the new law clerk - there's a program where the state will reimburse you for a portion of your law clerks wages, but you've got to have payroll set up).

As always, your comments and questions are welcome. See you next week.

Starting a Law Firm | Leaving Another Firm

I'm such an idiot. I have been writing these posts about starting a law firm here for a couple years now, and not once have I talked about what you should be thinking about if you are leaving a firm to start another one. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

Okay, I might be being a little hard on myself. But I have completely missed what is a very relevant topping with regards to starting a law firm. It took a lunch with a great attorney this week for me to realize people are doing this every day and I should talk about it on here.

I will probably talk about it more in the future, but for today I thought I'd break it down into the three most important things you should consider when starting a law firm by leaving a law firm. And, just to be clear, what I'm talking about is leaving to start a competing law firm.

1. They are Your Clients Too

Before I get too far into this, I want to point out that I'm talking in generalities here. Before you go running off half-cocked with half of your current firm's clients, make sure you are following the rules in your state regarding how this should be properly done. Okay, disclaimer over.

When I was in Kansas, I worked at a firm where I had no rainmaking responsibilities. The owner of the firm had his clients, and he was good with that. We didn't get to talk to the clients, and we weren't expected to bring in new business. We were truly just attorneys practicing law.

Most of you out there, though, aren't in that situation. You come to a firm, learn the ropes, and then start letting people know what you do. As they need help they come to you specifically or call the firm because of your connection and get signed up. You may not do all of the work on their cases, but you do some of it. In some ways you would consider these people "your" clients.

One of the first things you need to do when you consider opening your own law firm is to figure out how to let all of "your" clients know you are leaving and give them the option of coming along. I don't know the rules in every state but I do know this - it is the client that chooses the attorney, not the other way around. If you are leaving and you have been working with the client, they have the option of choosing to have you continue to help them.

Just because you can do that, though, doesn't mean you should tread lightly and think through in great detail how you are going to undertake this endeavor. You don't want to burn any bridges, but you are entitled to help people that want your help. If you have decided to open your own business you have accepted the responsibility of making tough decisions. This will likely be the first of many.

What would I do if it was me? I'd do two things. First when I let the firm know I was leaving, I would talk to them about my clients and work out an agreement for splitting any fees that may have already been placed in the trust account and an agreement for letting clients know I was leaving and what their options were. And I would put this in writing. You know what an oral agreement is worth.

Second, I'd let the clients know I was leaving, what I was doing, when I was doing it, and that they were free to come along if they wanted to. I would do it in writing and in person (if permissible). Remember, you aren't poaching clients here, you are allowing them to make an informed decision.

If you've been reading this blog you know that finding and signing up clients is the key to your success. To simply forgo a wealth of potential clients to avoid stepping on toes or making people feel uncomfortable is irresponsible of you as a business person.

Oh, and by the way, you should be prepared for the owner of your firm to get pissed. Let's talk about that next.

2. A Well Planned Exit Strategy

When you go and tell your boss that you've decided to go out on your own, open an office next door, and compete directly with him, typically one of two things will happen:

(1) You'll immediately be fired; or

(2) You'll help with your "exit," but you'll just be giving the owner time to make sure all of his or her clients are going to stay with them.

Either way, I'd say it's important for you to have a plan before walking into the bosses office.

Most of the stuff you can do on the fly, after you've officially announced your departure. Insurance, website, business cards, etc. can all be set up in a really short amount of time. What you want to have in place, your "plan," is a marketing strategy, a "how to keep some of your current clients" strategy, and a time frame for when you announce your departure to when you actually leave. It's possible that you could have to implement that strategy very shortly after you talk to your boss.

3. Don't Let the Cat Out of the Bag too Early

One of the things I talked about with the attorney I met this week was whether or not it was okay to talk to other attorneys about her departure from the firm. There was the opportunity to share some office space with some other attorney and they thought it would be a good fit. But the attorney was a little hesitant to talk to these other attorneys because they know the attorney's boss.

And hesitant they should have been.

If you are new to the practice of law or don't have a lot of contact with other attorneys I have one piece of information that is going to be invaluable for you - we are a bunch of chatty Cathys. We sit around waiting for hearings, waiting for depositions, going to CLEs and we don't want to talk about work so we talk about the next best thing - what our fellow attorneys are up to. It's human nature, and attorneys are bad about it.

I would expect the moment the attorney left the office that a phone call would be made to their boss about the exchange that just took place. When that happens suggestions one and two get messed up - you can't figure out how to keep your clients and you don't get to control the message of your leaving the firm.

Bottom line, keep this idea close to the vest until you are ready to let everyone know. You know the old saying by Ben Franklin: "Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead." The more people that know your plan, the more likely it is to get out.

4. Control the Message

I remembered this fourth one while I was writing this so I thought I'd include it. I'll keep it short.

One of the great things about having a plan for your move is that you get to control the message. You get to announce your departure to your boss, you get to announce your departure to your clients, and you get to announce your departure to your colleagues. When you get to do this, you get to spin in it in a positive light.

Put together a time line for client letters, new firm announcements, etc. before you leave so you get to frame your departure from your old firm and the beginning of the new.

Okay, that's it for today. As usual, if you have questions let me know. Thanks for reading. Hopefully I'll have something cool to say on Friday.

Preparing for Publication--Writing Your Book's Premise and Synopsis

A reader from Minnesota has gotten interest from a publisher, but the publisher has asked for a written statement of her book--often called a premise statement--and a longer synopsis with market analysis.  Hers is a nonfiction book that straddles memoir and investigative nonfiction, and she wondered about how to put these two items together. Her publisher was specific:

1. Descriptive statement. Please provide a 250-300 word description of your book that includes
a summary of its main points, what sets your work apart from other titles on the same subject, and any other important points that should be emphasized in promotion. Please also indicate the main audience for your work. This description will be used to generate jacket and catalog copy.

2. Short descriptive statement. Please describe your book's scope and theme in one or two sentences. Also, please list three features that make your book unique.


What needs to go into these two statements?  How carefully do you craft them? 

They are quite important, and they can be used to sell your book to a publisher or agent in the early stages  of submission as well as present your published book to bookstores, libraries, and online booksellers.  Spending some time crafting them is a good idea. 

I'll give an overview here, but more can be found in my new book, Your Book Starts Here, where I go into the making of a good proposal packet and how to craft the material you need to sell (and publish) your book.

Premise Statement
The short descriptive statement is also called a premise statement, and a good one combines the outer story and inner story of your book into an intriguing soup.

Two of my favorite premise statements come from a book called Making the Perfect Pitch, edited by Katherine Sands.  These premises resulted in publication, capturing the attention of agents and eventually a publisher.

“I am a Vietnamese American man, a witness to the fall of Saigon, a prisoner of war, an escapee, a first-generation immigrant, and an eternal refugee.”--from a memoir, Catfish and Mandala, by Andrew X. Pham

“When all the kids around him were coming of age, Robin MacKenzie was coming undone.”
--from a novel, The World of Normal Boys, by K.M. Soehnlein

To craft a premise statement, I recommend brainstorming a list of elements of your book, five from the outer story (what happens) and five from the inner story (the meaning).   Notice how Pham's book reveals enough of the outer story elements to get us interested (the first part of the premise statement), then he delivers the inner story with the words an eternal refugee. Soehnlein does the same thing, saying that his hero "was coming undone," a clear inner story hook.  Both of these also contain a little intrigue, which is common with well-crafted premise statements.  There is often a little twist, a play on words, perhaps, or a surprising direction.

Descriptive Statements
Descriptive statements, which often become back-cover copy for books, are longer and more involved. They present the book's story but also its potential uniqueness in the marketplace, giving just enough to let a reader in on what the book might offer, why they would want to pick it up.

Here's the descriptive statement for my novel, Qualities of Light:

On the morning of her brother’s seventh birthday, talented pastel painter Molly Fisher agrees to take him for an illicit boat ride, just the two of them, across Cloud Lake near their Adirondack cabin. Fifteen-year-old Molly risks her father’s anger over use of the boat, but she doesn’t realize Sammy has also stolen their father’s war-era jackknife, promised to him as a birthday gift.

On the lake, as the sun is rising over the mountains, Sammy drops the knife in the water and reaches for it, falling and hitting his head. Suddenly her brother is near death, and Molly faces the hardest summer of her life.

She feels unable to appeal to her parents—anguished airplane-pilot mother Kate and stoic, self-enclosed artist father Mel. As Sammy lingers in a coma, Molly tries to get out of the way of her parents’ misery and accommodate herself to the guilt and sadness she believes she deserves.

Then she meets Zoe, a daring young waterskier also vacationing at Cloud Lake. Zoe gets her to dance to jazz in the privacy of a secluded cabin, even though Molly says she’s given up dancing, and the two girls become best friends and unexpectedly fall in love. Molly struggles to reconcile the happiness and terror of her first love affair with the family tension and anxiety surrounding Sammy’s illness, and Cloud Lake itself begins to play almost as integral a role in Molly’s emotional rehabilitation as it did in the trauma of Sammy’s injury.

Qualities of Light explores the budding of forbidden romance in the face of family tragedy, the forging of a new relationship between a daughter and her difficult father/artistic mentor, and the inevitable changes that come as an adolescent girl is thrust into acceptance of her own qualities of light and darkness.

The descriptive statement will get tweaked by the publisher's editing staff, ideally.  Or you can work with an editor you hire to help you craft it.  Since it's the marketing vehicle for your book to bookstores, libraries, and online sellers, it needs to be clear, interesting, and present the uniqueness of your story.

As you craft it, ask yourself: What's different about my book?  How deep does the story's message go?    

This Week's Writing Exercise
1.  Craft a premise statement for your book.  First list five elements of the outer story that are the most important to you.  Brainstorm wording for these on paper.  Then list the elements of the inner story, your book's meaning.  Take the two lists and create a short phrase or sentence that could engage a reader.  Finally, add a twist, if you can, using the two premise statements above as models.

2.  Craft a descriptive statement for your book.  Brainstorm on paper about the unique aspects of your story.  Start by noting the details of the plot (if memoir or fiction) and what's at stake.  Give the overview of your method or theory (if nonfiction) and what benefit it will deliver to a reader.  For more examples, read the jacket (inside flap) or back-cover copy of your favorite books in the same genre as your book.  Notice how the wording demonstrates uniqueness, gives just enough of the plot or focus of the book to intrigue, and leaves us wanting more. 

Starting a Law Firm | The Conference Room Conundrum

I guess this blog is supposed to have some day to day type of stuff in here, so that's what this post will be about.

As I've already written, I'm in the process of relocating my office. I found a great space - here are some pictures (a before view - I'll show you an after view after I move in) - but I've hit a bit of a snag with the landlord.









As you can see, the way it is set up is completely open. I like this. But I wanted to have a space where I can have some privacy if necessary - for new client meetings, interviews, and the like. This space doesn't have that, so I was going to build it out. But I want a look like this. It's open, allows the light to get all the way to the back of the office, and leaves the office with that big, open feeling.



The only problem with that is that option is expensive. Like $20,000 expensive. Not worth the investment. Not at all. So I started looking for other options, and I found this as an acceptable alternative. Not exactly the same but very close. Doable. I actually don't have a cost on this yet, but am bidding it out as we speak.



The landlord understood what I wanted and agreed to give me a credit for what they would have built - a boring, closed in conference room with windows. I thought they'd give me about $1,500 because that is what it cost. I get the lease and you know what the allotment is? $400. You have got to be kidding me.

I call the realtor (the guy working for me) and tell him the landlord is crazy if he thinks $400 would put that wall up. Come to find out the guy only included the expenses (and it's still not enough). He didn't include labor because he's got guys that do it in house.

I like this space, and I don't want to look anymore (this is pure laziness, by the way), so I'm trying to come up with an option that works for everyone. I figure if he gives me a free months rent (app $900) we'll just call it good. I'll build out the conference room how I want and that will be that.

What do you all think about this? Any suggestions?

Bookeeper on the Payroll

My "team" will be nearly complete after this afternoon. I've now got a realtor, an accountant, and now I'm adding a bookkeeper to the mix. I'm doing this for two reasons. First, I'm putting Kelsey on the payroll and I don't want to figure out how to do it. Kind of one of those "my time is more valuable than that" things. Second, I'm hiring a summer law clerk. I can get reimbursed for some of the cost of that through their law school, but I've got to have them on the payroll. And third, it's only going to run me about $100/month, well worth the cost.

It seems like right now the law firm expenses are really piling up. But as you become more and more successful you'll see that things get more and more complicated. Paying an accountant and a bookkeeper a little every month, moving into an office that suits my needs completely, and hiring a law clerk are all costs that add up. But each one of those expenses frees up more of my time and energy to bring in even more work. One new client a month (total, not for each) still pays for more than those expenses combined. That means I'm making money by adding to my team.

RJon Phone Call Update

I wanted to bring your attention to this comment I received this week about RJon, my business coach. I think it's really important that you try to find someone like this to help you through that side of starting a law firm (even if you don't use him). Here's what Angela had to say:

Hi Chris,

I chanced upon your blog a while back after googling "how to start a law firm" or something similar. I read your information on RJON, looked at his website, contacted him from various forums and this Monday participated in the free intro call. It was a very inspiring and clarifying 40 minutes. I can recommend that anyone should take him up on his free call, its free and really not that much of a time investment.

I hope to participate in his program but you are right- it is expensive. I'd love to call you to ask in more detail how the program worked for you.

angela

I don't want to sound like I'm pushing you all too hard to RJon, because like I said, I don't care if you use him or find someone else to help you, but finding someone to coach you through this business stuff could be the difference between success and failure for you. It's not as straightforward as it seems, and there are some things that you can do to really make your practice take off at the earliest time possible.

Have a great weekend. Let me know if you have any questions, and I'll talk to you next week.