While
strolling around the neighborhood with my children, I noticed
that
somebody had wedged a magenta flower into the iron door handle
of a downtown church. Since most of the stem was missing, there
was no way to open that door without either removing or bruising
that brilliant blossom.
On
another recent walk, I saw ragged pieces of a white substance
blowing
around in the wind. I chased a few down and discovered them to
be ripped-up pieces of graduation photos, circa. 1960. The jagged
edges were pure white, so I knew that the photos were freshly
torn. Puzzled, I put the scraps into my purse, where they still
remain. Who
slipped that flower into the door handle? Why did someone rip
up photos, decades after they were taken? Well, I don't know.
But, I do know that, to be a freelance writer, you must carefully
observe the world around you to generate topics for your writing. So,
look around your own hometown, no matter how large or how small.
What information huddles in the dusty files of your local historical
society? What regal monuments grace your town square? Who rests
in that ancient cemetery? What intriguing clubs, festivals or
trade shows congregate in your city? What fascinating people can
you meet and/or interview? The
answers may be obvious - or, you may need to dig more deeply for
the real story. When I freelanced for a newspaper, for example,
I interviewed the photographer who taped cable television shows
for the local school system. He was a pleasant man and our interview
progressed well, but I feared that his profile would be bland.
Near the end of our conversation, however, I commented on his
ever-so-slight accent and then words spilled from out of his mouth.
He'd
literally gone from millions to mayhem; as a young child in Hungary,
he'd lived in a mansion filled with servants. Then the Nazis destroyed
his
idyllic life and by the time the photographer was a young man,
his parents
were dead and he was a newcomer in the country of America. He
knew how to take pictures, however, and so he supported himself
in that way. Everyone
has at least one good story to tell. It's the writer's job, however,
to uncover that story, because the subjects themselves often don't
realize how intriguing their tale. The photographer, for example,
told me that I could include his personal history if I thought,
"someone would be interested."
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Kelly Boyer Sagert has sold over 1,000 pieces of her writing to magazines,
newspapers, encyclopedias, literary journals and online venues.
She has also published two small press books and contributed material
to twelve other books. Sagert served as the managing editor of
an award-nominated magazine publishing company for nearly four
years and she currently teaches the following classes for Writer's
Digest online: Creativity & Expression, Focus on the Nonfiction
Magazine Article and Fundamentals of Nonfiction Writing. Sign
up for one or all three at: http://www.writersonlineworkshops.com/viewinstructor.asp?instructorid=1028
Sagert is also available to speak at writer's conferences and
she can be contacted at kbsagert@aol.com
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