Ask the Author: Ron Berler
Answered Questions (4)
Ron Berler
My wife is the speech pathologist at the elementary school about which I wrote. She knows I like to work with kids -- I managed Little League teams for 20 years -- and suggested I become a mentor at her school, guiding troubled boys to make better life choices. Over time I came to know not only the children I worked with and their families, but the school's administrators and teachers. Though the school was failing according to the standards set by No Child Left Behind, it didn't seem to be deficient to me. It appeared its educators were doing all they could to move their students forward. I wrote the book to address two questions: 1/What is a failing school? 2/How does the pressure of "failing" impact the way our children are educated?
Ron Berler
1/Just as an athlete must practice daily to master his or her craft, so must a writer.
2/Be yourself. Don't try to mimic someone else's style.
3/Write about what you know. That goes for fiction, too.
4/As a beginning freelancer, you are selling an editor less on your writing than on a great story idea.
4/Don't write for money. Write for clips. Clips get you noticed, and that is far more valuable than money.
2/Be yourself. Don't try to mimic someone else's style.
3/Write about what you know. That goes for fiction, too.
4/As a beginning freelancer, you are selling an editor less on your writing than on a great story idea.
4/Don't write for money. Write for clips. Clips get you noticed, and that is far more valuable than money.
Ron Berler
The commute. I can make it from my bedroom to my office down the hallway in five seconds. Seriously, though, I'm curious by nature, and journalism allows me to feed that curiosity. I write on a variety of subjects, all of which require massive amounts of background knowledge so I can properly do my job. Part of what drives me is this: I do not wish to appear as an idiot to those I must interview.
Ron Berler
Writer's block is a misnomer. It's not that you have lost the ability to put words to paper (or computer monitor). It's that you suffer from muddled thinking. You are lost, and don't know where to go with your narrative. The fact is, you will remain lost until you clarify your thinking. When you do, poof! You'll find your writer's block is gone.
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