Janice Hally's Blog

Posted by Janice Hally

I've been Feature Writer for Suite101's Freelance Writing section for a few months now, and I've written a number of articles which give basic advice and information to anyone contemplating becoming a freelance writer.

I've decided that the time has come to draw the articles together in one place, so that they can be more easily referenced by people.

By the way, I'll be adding to this list, so remember to check back occasionally!

Getting Paid as a Freelance Writer

Types of Freelance Writing

Glossary of Terms Used in Freelance Writing - Words & Phrases Every Freelance Should Know

Practical Advice on Freelance Writing

Life as a Freelance Writer

Scams Aimed at Writers - Be Warned!

Grammar Tips for Writers

Posted by Janice Hally

Le Chef - thriller writer and my DH - and I had a foray into the world of live video broadcast last week which was.... interesting!

Considering we spent most of the 80s and 90s writing and producing prime-time British television drama, you would think it would be a easy-peasy to do a live video broadcast from the comfort of our home. And it was... or at least half of it was.

A bit of backstory. Le Chef's writing schedule meant that a US book signing tour was going to be impossible this year - so I came up with the brilliant idea of a live video broadcast via the internet to talk about his latest book Blacklight Blue and the other new editions in hardback and paperback which are coming out in the USA this year. The only thing was, to catch all the time zones around the world, I figured he should do two broadcasts. So he recorded part of the talk in four clips with some of his research video cut to music and we decided he'd kick off with that then switch to live for the Q & A session at the end.

So - at 4pm our time, we set everything up and it goes like a dream! Recorded stuff cross fades to live. Q & A is great, people online from Lochgoilhead in Scotland to Minneapolis, USA!

Cue a glass of celebratory bubbly. Phone to order a pizza from Georges. Collect Pizza to re-heat and enjoy after the next transmission... everything going to plan... the time rushes by and suddenly it's almost 7pm our time and we go to set up for the next broadcast....

With two minutes to go, we're sitting in Le Chef's study lining things up when we lose the internet connection.

Nada.

Zilch.

Re-set.

Re-boot.

Nothing!

It's too late for us to try and get to another internet connection and a mailing has gone out to all his fans across the world, so it's really important that we go live without delay.... If we can't do it - someone else will have to do it.

From France, we phone my brother in New York and do the old... "Okay, both the pilots are incapacitated, you're going to have to land the plane, oh and by the way, there's someone who needs an appendix taken out, but don't worry, we have a pilot and a gastric surgeon here in the control tower, and they'll talk you through it" routine.

So my brother logs in to the TV station online pretending to be Le Chef, he locates the four pre-recorded segments, he presses all the right buttons, cues up the first one and Bingo! Gets it transmitting - only 3 minutes late! We give him instructions about how to do the others, then start phoning friends trying to find somebody nearby who has internet. We have 27 minutes until the pre-recorded stuff is supposed to link back to Le Chef live for the Q & A. Of course the nearest neighbours are suffering the same internet problem as we are. We have to try further afield. Finally we locate a friend and try to explain the problem - in French - he gets the point that it's an emergency and tells us to come over.

A hair-raising drive, with laptop, in the dark through wee French country roads, up across the ridge, and down through a jumble of stone buildings (with a half an inch to spare each side of the car) to an 18th century converted barn which this photographer friend has converted to a studio. In we rush! Of course he's French so we have to kiss and shake hands and go through all the pleasantries. Then the wife and the son and the daughter-in-law and oh look you haven't met the new grandchild... all come out, to see us.... and they all have to be kissed and handshook..... and do we want a drink?

NOOOO!

It's an emergency - urgence! Comprenez!

What's the French for "Live internet broadcast"?!!!!

So down we dawdle to the studio where the photographer says to Le Chef, no problem - it's Wifi.

Yes, it's Wifi all right. Password protected Wifi. Can he remember the password?

Mais non!

He never uses it himself, it's in his computer.

But, he says, we can use his computer. Le Chef says it's a live internet VIDEO broadcast. So - he needs a camera. Is there an ethernet cable and he will connect direct to the modem?

Oh yes, the photographer is sure he has one... Somewhere around here...........? or here........... ? or is it here...........? Ah yes... finally..... here it is!

Le Chef gets his butt on to the seat, and logged in with his camera cued up just in time to hear his voice on video announce.... 'and I'll answer all your questions, live"..... cue camera.... action!!!

He was on! Breathing heavily, but on!

Answering questions from readers from Fife on the East coast of Scotland to San Diego on the west coast of USA. Unbelievable!

Oh how we laughed. Well, afterwards, we laughed. Well, after our second bottle of bubbly back home in front of the fire, we laughed.

And the best bit was three hours later.... the internet inexplicably came back.

And just as we were going to say never again, all these E-mails came in from folk asking - when is the next one?

Pheeww!

Apart from that ... it was a breeze...

So now the show's had more than 3500 viewings, I guess it was all worth it! If you want to see the recorded video, you can view it any time here.

....and now he's thinking it would be fun to do another one!

And if you are a writer who is having to think of ways to promote yourself - here is the easiest way to start...

Posted by Janice Hally

What happened to adverbs? Where did they go?

People "talk right", "do right", they even "write right", or they think they do. Me? I'll stick to "writing correctly" if that's all right with everyone.

Grammar is being taught less in British schools. More and more educational authorities lean towards the belief that grammar will somehow be absorbed during usage of the language. But what happens if all that people hear and absorb are errors?

I suppose that language is always evolving; but losing the sophistication of our language doesn't seem like progress to me.

It also seems an extraordinary idea to let the very foundation of our means of communication be passed on to children in such a haphazard way. Imagine if this principle were to be applied to other areas of education like civil engineering, architecture, or medicine.

“Yeah sure, man, I can design you a bridge, I’ve seen a lot of them. Been over a few, too. Yeah. Bridges. They go from one side of the ravine, or the river, to the other. You want a hump in the middle? A lot of them seem to go for the hump. It looks pretty cool. I can do you that - bridge - hump - no problem.”

Maybe we could ask the same guy to give us a hip transplant, after sitting in on a couple of operations, I'm sure he'd manage it - no problem.

Of course he might not get it right first time, but what’s wrong with trial and error?

Ridiculous? And yet, somehow, the English language finds itself in this situation. In Britain, students are no longer marked down for bad English in examination papers. As long as they can “make themselves understood” spelling and grammar are deemed not to be important.

There is one group in society to whom correct spelling and punctuation should remain important - writers. It seems that more and more people are expressing themselves, blogging, writing articles, trying to release that book that's trapped inside them.

Of course, rules of grammar need not be adhered to in the spoken dialogue of characters in a novel, or a screenplay; and an author’s own voice in a novel, does not require to be grammatically correct. Writers may wish to employ their own unique writing style which breaks all the rules, but it helps to learn the rules in the first place so that they can choose when and where to break them.

Bad spelling and glaring grammatical errors are guaranteed to put off any reader or editor.

Like a mathematical formula, English grammar is based on simple logic. There’s nothing difficult or mystical about it. I’m writing a series of articles with tips on how to avoid the worst errors. I hope they’ll show how easy it is to get it right...

Posted by Janice Hally

National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo for short, prompts many people to decide to stop procrastinating and make a start on that book they've always wanted to write. But while it's easy to start to write a book, it's a lot more difficult to see it through to the end and finish it!

I recently interviewed some professional writers exclusively for Suite101 about the habits and rituals that help to ensure that they produce the goods each day.

If you want to know their secrets, check out their articles, here....

Posted by Janice Hally

From my study at the top of the house, I look across a valley full of fruit and walnut trees which is scattered with medieval chateaux and small villages built of golden stone. There's a clear blue sky, and the autumn colours in the trees are dazzling in the sunlight. My home is a 200 year old farmouse in a tiny hamlet in South West France, and it's a long, long way from Glasgow in my native Scotland. To live and work here in France is a move I could never have made if it wasn't for the fact that I'm a freelance writer.

While it may be a life of insecurity, never knowing where the next job is coming from, there's no denying that the freedom to live and work wherever you like is one of the great benefits.

And it's all thanks to the internet. As long as you have internet connections, it's possible to be in contact with editors and publishers all over the world. In a second, your article or manuscript can be in the hands of someone10,000 miles away.

This is my first blog as Feature Writer for Freelance Writing, and I hope that the articles you find here will show that the world is a very small place when it comes to working as a freelance writer and selling your work. Whether you're in Beijing, Baltimore, or Budapest, this is the place to be.

Janice Hally's Blog

Freelance Writing - The Basics

Writing A Book Is Only The Start

Why "Writing Right" Is Wrong

National Novel Writing Month

Janice Hally's first blog post!

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