The 30-Minute Writer: How to Write & Sell Short Pieces

by Connie Emerson

This book is for anyone who has ever said, "I'd love to write, but I don't have the time." Emerson dispels the myth that a writer needs large chunks of uninterrupted time to produce something valuable. With careful time management, 30-minute snips of "throwaway time"--waiting in the doctor's office, riding an exercise bike, waiting for a child to finish a music lesson--can be used to create short articles and items for the magazine market. As an experienced freelancer, Emerson supplies writing and marketing advice for such formats as news briefs, one-page articles, short profiles, op-eds, short humor, hints and tips, inspirationals, reviews, recipes, personal essays, children's pieces, and anecdotes. Each form is detailed in separate chapters, which end with a "Plan of Action" that breaks down the writing process into manageable 30-minute tasks.

Genres: Writing

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Nathan Albright · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who reads a fair amount of books relating to writing and the publishing business in some fashion [1], this book is written exactly for someone like me. There are a few aspects of this book that stand out particularly strongly concerning the author's approach and target audience. She is writing to versatile writers with a lot of demands on their time, and provides information that is intensely practical from the point of view of someone who wishes to provide encouragement that there are enough opportunities for many writers to succeed. This is a book with an eye both towards creativity and variety as well as flexibility with a focus on the writer's bottom line. This would appear to be an aspect of this particular publisher to keep an eye on. To be sure, a great deal of the author's advice would be different based on the changes in the business of writing in the last 30 years, but the author's approach about how to use short snippets of focused writing time to write short pieces is certainly an approach that this somewhat overly scheduled writer finds to be worthwhile to pursue. Even if a writer is doing most of what the author is talking about already, this is still a worthwhile book for those with more careerist ambitions as a writer.

In about 233 pages or so, the author manages to cover a variety of short writing that do not take a long time to write and that can earn a writer both a fair amount of income as well as relationships with publishers, who are discussed here invariably in the language of "markets." Beginning with a short introduction and a discussion of how a writer can allot precious and scarce time to worthwhile writing, the author then tackles different genres of brief writing, namely short takes from the observant generalist, zippy and focused one-page pieces, not-so-well-developed short personal profiles, opinionated op-ed pieces, humorous sketches, hot tips and tricks, inspirational pieces, restaurant reviews, reflective personal essays, critical reviews, contest pieces, writing for children, and anecdotes. The author then closes with a discussion of how short pieces written in isolated fragments of time can be combined profitably into larger projects. Many writers will no doubt find that they already do this sort of writing and may find that they adopt many of the tips included in the plans of action at the end of each chapter, but this book manages the enviable trick of being encouraging where the author discusses what the author is already doing and also worthwhile when there is something more that a writer could do that he or she is not yet doing. Authors would do well to imitate this model in their writings whenever possible.

Given that this book was published in 1993, when the publishing world was somewhat different than today before the depredations of the internet on the profitability of many writing markets, what value does this book hold to the contemporary writer? I cannot speak for everyone, but at least for myself I found that the book gave me a certain amount of encouragement as to what practical areas of reading and research can be added to try to find creative outlets for my writing. For the most part, at least so far, I have relied on people coming to me looking for writing or fellow authors sharing the places they have found to get free books for review. While this has been somewhat helpful, it is also quite reactive in nature. Other writers may find themselves at different stages in the process--some looking for how to keep up their writing in the face of immense pressures for their time, some people looking for inspiration on what sort of writing to do, and others looking at what to do with the immense backlog of writing in various genres that has already been developed, and how to put one's skills to profitable use. Wherever one is in one's trajectory as a writer, this book has something worthwhile to say that is of enduring value despite changes to the world of writing due to technologies.

[1] See, for example:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2014...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2011...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015...

[Terry Palmer · Rating 3 out of 5]

30-Minute Writer spurred my direction of time management. I'll use the time pieces from my busy days to write and edit, or research short articles for future sale. Her comments and examples are right on for todays busy writer, especially as the future is into on-line magazines with pictures, etc. thanks to Connie Emerson for making this writer a more efficient reader and time user. Terry palmer of Chronicles of Orm.

[Anne Harm · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed The 30-Minute Writer as much as an overview of (mostly) magazines popular in 1993, as anything else. In fact I think it would have been a good candidate for the time capsule, in that sense… author Connie Emerson does a good job of assessing the pros and cons of each of the available publishing opportunities she details, motivating any writer to get started in the pursuit.

[Kimberly Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very helpful book for those who are looking for ways to fourish in the writing business. It had a lot of helpful tips on how to always find a little time to write.