Like most people in the Mid-Atlantic, I found that more than two feet of snow blanketed my house and cars yesterday.  The Mayor and Governor declared emergencies for the city and state respectively; all cars were ordered to remain off the road.  By last night, the storm had passed.

The following morning, I took the dogs outside and was struck by the silence.  No cars passing by.  No flights that would normally land in or fly out of BWI airport, only the crunch beneath my dogs’ paws.  It a moment like this that as a writer one appreciates the sound of silence.

First, being in a relatively quiet environment helps us to hear the sounds that might normally be drowned out by the cacophony of everyday life – to observe.  Second, this silence helps us to organize our thoughts – think.  Third, the shutdown of the roads and businesses gives us the time to do our business – write.

Observe.  Think.  Write.  We don’t always have time to do all three, but take advantage of days like this.  So take some time for yourself early in the morning or late at night and let your best writing happen during the stillness.

__

Claude Berube is the President of American Independent Writers and teaches at the U.S. Naval Academy. The co-author of two books, he’s published over thirty articles in academic journals, popular magazines, and newspapers.

Pubs. They took their name from Public Houses. When I lived in rural England, it seemed that every few miles there was a village of fifty homes, an Anglican church that dated from the 1200s and a pub that seemed just as old. There the regulars and even a few irregulars would gather where for centuries the pub served as a social center of the community. People met with their neighbors and traded stories about local news and gossip.

Before television, before radio, before telegraphs and newspapers and possibly town criers, pubs were the hub of information. The news made its way to the neighbors who carried it to other towns or vice versa.

Today’s version may be coffee shops. With their proliferation to the point that they seem to be on every street corner. Writers have been taking their laptops to the local coffee shop for several years now, typing away as they drank their white mocha, then using the wi-fi to get connected to the world and get ideas. But now they may provide writers new opportunities.

Are you looking for a meeting place for your writers group or book club? Local coffee shops offer a comfortable chair and nearby cup of joe. Or are you a blogger? Lately, I’ve attended a weekly local blogger’s Sip ‘n Blog. For one hour a week, the blogger discusses a topic of local interest with a special guest. During that hour, about a dozen local citizens have an opportunity to ask the guest questions. One guest was the publisher of the local paper. During the hour, the blogger also does a quick, regularly-scheduled five minute call-in to the local radio station. Imagine that hour as information reaches several media and personally reaches out to the citizens in attendance.

Have coffee shops become the new ale houses of old? Perhaps not yet, but as the print media industry faces growing challenges with diminishing returns, turning to an old establishment while employing one of the new media may be one way of getting your own blog started or revamped.

__

Claude Berube is the President of American Independent Writers and teaches at the U.S. Naval Academy. The co-author of two books, he’s published over thirty articles in academic journals, popular magazines, and newspapers.

Have you taken a class recently?  Will you in the near future?  If you’re a writer, then take advantage of what a classroom experience presents.

This is true whether you’re taking a humanities course (English, History, Political Science, etc) or a science course.  In addition to earning a grade or credit hours, make the course work for you as a writer.  Being in a classroom environment offers three important commodities to a writer.

The first commodity is time. How many times have you tried to write another article, especially under the gun, only to find yourself lamenting, “If only I had more time!”  Do you find yourself getting up earlier in the day or staying up later scrapping together a few more minutes here and there?  If you’re in a class, you have automatically found the time to write.  In fact, if it’s a humanities course, you’re required to write a paper.  You will, therefore, automatically be required to set aside time to meet the class deadline.

The second commodity is inspiration. In a learning environment, particularly in a graduate course, you’ll be exposed to new concepts.  With the instructor and from other students you’ll have the opportunity to flesh out your concepts; this is especially true in a seminar where the readings precipitate classroom discussions – and I’ve found that the most animated discussions produce the best ideas.

The third commodity is research. Throughout the semester or the year, you’ll have the resources whether it’s an academic library or interaction with guest professors, or even other students in a graduate course who represent a variety of professions from whom to learn.

Although you can’t use a paper from one course for another, you can try to publish the paper.  There are a few options.  The first is the academic route.   A paper I wrote about private security companies in a Naval War College course was accepted by a peer-reviewed academic journal which then asked me take my 3,000 word article to 7,000 words.  In a different course through the Naval War College, a paper I wrote on U.S. involvement with Ho Chi Minh in 1945 became the basis for an article in a popularly read magazine – and it paid!

While not every paper can be turned into a journal, magazine, or newspaper article, the next time you take a class, instead of dreading a writing assignment, use that opportunity to build your body of published work.

__
Claude Berube is the President of American Independent Writers and teaches at the U.S. Naval Academy. The co-author of two books, he’s published over thirty articles in academic journals, popular magazines, and newspapers.