Suzannah Windsor Freeman

About Suzannah Windsor Freeman

Suzannah Windsor Freeman is a Canadian freelance writer and editor whose work has appeared in The Writer, Sou'wester, Grist, Saw Palm, Anderbo, The Best of the Sand Hill Review, and others. She is the managing editor of Compose: A Journal of Simply Good Writing and Writeitsideways.com. She lives in Ontario with her husband and four children.

Foolproof Strategies for Staying Creative During a Writing Slump

November 22, 2014 By Suzannah Windsor Freeman

For the last two weeks, my four children and I have been stuck at home trying to extricate ourselves from the evil clutches of the dreaded “stomach flu.” One by one we came down with it, and its effects have been long-lasting and producing vast quantities of laundry. We are bored with television and lazing on couches. We are weary of toast.

Thankfully, at this point in my life, I don’t hold down a typical nine-to-five career, which means I don’t have to take sick leave when we’re unwell. But as a writer and editor I still have commitments to keep up with, even if there’s flexibility in terms of timing.

When life gets (literally) messy, I’m exhausted from sleepless nights and struggling to even manage the basics, I still try my best not to give in to the temptation to let everything go. It’s not about pushing through the pain and forcing myself to continue being productive; it’s about acknowledging that I feel worse if I don’t maintain at least some level of interest in my writing.

For accomplishing that, I have a few strategies I’ve used over the years. I call them foolproof because you simply can’t mess them up. There’s no right or wrong. Even if they take you absolutely nowhere, they still help you maintain your creativity—with very little effort.

Jot down keywords.

My husband always says I have more notes—both handwritten and computerized—than anyone he’s ever met. True, but I also never run out of ideas. No matter how bad things are, if you can commit to writing just a few keywords for every creative idea that pops into your head, you’ll know those brilliant ideas will be waiting for you when you feel better. Use a notepad, a note app on your handheld device, or a virtual sticky note on your computer to record keywords for short stories, poems, articles, novels, revision ideas, and so on. For example, if your idea is to write a post like this one, you might write the keywords STRATEGIES CREATIVE SLUMP. Without going into any detail about how you’ll flesh it out, you’ve at least held on to it so you can develop it later. [Read more…]

How to Get Your Short Stories Published in Lit Mags

August 10, 2014 By Suzannah Windsor Freeman

Five years ago I would’ve said I was on my way to becoming a novelist. Today, my novels-in-progress have been shelved, but my short stories have been published in several lit mags and anthologies, and I even manage an online literary journal—Compose: A Journal of Simply Good Writing. There’s just something about the short story form I’ve grown to love, and I do feel that this tangent from novels has made me a better writer.

If short stories fell off your radar on your last day of high school English, the world of lit mags may be one you know little about. You might consider yourself a novelist, but there’s plenty that short stories can do for your writing and your career.

What are lit mags?

The terms literary magazine and literary journal generally refer to publications that feature short stories, poetry, and creative nonfiction (although sometimes literary journal is also used to describe publications that feature academic essays about literature). Some lit mags are created and run by the faculty and students of university MFA creative writing programs, while some are privately run. Each lit mag has its own style and focus, and some publish certain genres such as science fiction and horror. For example, Ploughshares publishes literary fiction, while Clarkesworld publishes sci-fi and fantasy, and Ellery Queen publishes mystery. Whatever you write, there’s probably a home for your work.

I write novels, so why should I care?

Last year I wrote an article for Writer Unboxed called “What Novelists Should Know About Short Fiction.” My three main points were that

Reading short fiction can make you a more knowledgeable writer.
Writing short fiction can make you a more accomplished writer.
Publishing short fiction can make you a more marketable writer.

Number 3 is important if you’re writing a novel or submitting a manuscript to literary agents or publishers. It’s entirely possible to get a novel published with no previous writing credits, but can it hurt to show agents and editors that you’re serious about perfecting your craft and seeing your work in print?

Writer’s Digest must agree, because they once ran an article called 12 Literary Journals Your Future Agent Is Reading.

10 Steps to Getting Your Short Stories Published

Read on for a rundown of what you need to know to get started submitting to lit mags:

1. Read as many short stories as you can. In my experience, the very, very best way to learn to write better is to learn to read better. I’m talking about critical reading. I mean tearing those stories apart and putting them back together. Check out some popular short story collections from the library, and take advantage of those you can read for free online.

2. Draft your story. When it comes to short fiction, I believe you can afford to be a pantser instead of a plotter (pantsing meaning you write without a clear plan of where you’ll end up). You’re dealing with a few thousand words—not a hundred thousand words—and letting your mind explore as you write can lead to a deeper, more meaningful story. [Read more…]

“Do I Have Writing Talent?” You’re Asking the Wrong Question

May 24, 2014 By Suzannah Windsor Freeman

Hemingway. Austen. Dickens. Woolf. Carver. We know these names well, these masters of their craft. Were they born with an elusive writing gene the rest of us just don’t have?

We not-yet-famous writers sometimes ask ourselves, “Do I have talent?”—the implication being that talent is what makes one a real writer. We want some sort of assurance that—like “the greats”—we were born to write, or else we might just be fooling ourselves.

But, coming to the conclusion that we either do or do not “have it” can lead to some unhelpful assumptions. For example, I’ve always been good at writing, so writing a book will be easy (very probably not true). Or, My novel was rejected, so I guess I’m just not meant to be a writer (not necessarily true).

I’m not arguing that talent and aptitude don’t exist, but we sometimes take the concept of talent to the point of fatalism, and that limits us in a number of ways.

Are Our Abilities Innate and Unchangeable?

A Psychology Today article I once read, called “The Trouble with Bright Girls,” rocked my world. The piece makes this claim:

“[B]right girls believe that their abilities are innate and unchangeable, while bright boys believe that they can develop ability through effort and practice.”

In my case, that was true—although I’d never realized it. I tended to view my abilities, and even interests, in a somewhat static state. I was good at some things, okay at some things, and terrible at others, and there was little I could do about it.

Years ago I told a friend, “I can write, but I could never be an editor. I just don’t have that level of attention to detail.” What did that even mean? Sure, I didn’t have the technical skills to be an editor—I hadn’t studied editing. But I suppose I thought editors were born with an inherent ability that I just didn’t have. Whenever the thought of editing as a career popped into my head, I quickly quashed it with the belief that I wasn’t naturally detail-oriented enough.

But not everyone thinks like that. My father—despite never having any apparent aptitude for photography—recently bought himself an expensive camera and enrolled in a professional photography course. He’s undaunted by his lack of knowledge and experience, because he really enjoys photography and recognizes it’s an art he can learn.

If you believe your writing is an “innate and unchangeable” talent, you may be less driven to practice your craft and less likely to seek (and graciously receive) constructive criticism. When you experience failure (all writers do), you might think you’ve only been kidding yourself that you have talent. Or, because you think you’re a natural, you might feel the need to overwork to live up to that standard.

On the other hand, if you enjoy writing but don’t see yourself as having natural talent, you may never even give yourself a chance.

[Read more…]

Second Chances: Rewriting Our Stories

November 10, 2013 By Suzannah Windsor Freeman

We all have stories. True stories, made-up stories, or ones that are a bit of both. Stories we’ve written down and stories we’ve lived. Stories that make us laugh, cry, or shudder.

For writers, all of these stories are important in their own ways. The written-down ones are often just as much a part of who we are as the real-life ones.

Today’s real-life story goes something like this:

I’m writing this post in my home office, surrounded by boxes upon boxes of stuff. Boxes of junk to be recycled, boxes of toys to give away, and boxes full of things I haven’t decided what to do with.

Nearly seven years ago, I moved from Canada to Australia with my husband, one child, and few belongings. In two weeks, we will return to Canada, this time with four children and few belongings. Almost everything in these boxes will be left behind. We are starting from scratch for the second time.

Even though we’re returning home, we’ve been out of the country long enough to make this something of an adventure. We’ll land just before midnight. Maybe we’ll hold our breath just a little as we step into the brightly lit airport where my family will be waiting to greet us.

Will my parents look older? Will I look older? As we drive away from the airport, will the city be the same as I remember it? Will my children shiver in the back seat, unaccustomed to the winter weather? Will we all be wondering the same thing . . .

What does this new chapter hold for us?

Even as life’s dramas unfold, our written-down stories refuse to take a back seat.

The other day, in the midst of my packing, I found a short story I’d submitted to a writing competition about a year ago. The story reflects some difficult experiences in my life at the time I wrote it, and I believe that’s where I went wrong with it. There’s danger in writing about things that are too fresh, too raw. We become so attached to the real-life feelings—and try so hard to make sense of them through our writing—that we simply can’t trust ourselves to be good judges of our own work.

I remember that just before I sent the story in, I thought this story is not as good as it should be. I knew it wasn’t truly finished, but I so desperately wanted it to be ready, I went ahead and submitted it anyway. [Read more…]

Change Your Mind. Try Something New. Write Something Better.

August 31, 2013 By Suzannah Windsor Freeman

Lately, something’s been bothering me about the blog I’ve managed for more than four years: the person I was when I started the blog is not the person I am today.

Or more precisely, the writer I was then is not the writer I am now. I’ve changed my mind on a lot of key issues. I’ve gained a lot more experience. I just feel…different.

The blog is still useful for a particular audience, but it no longer feels authentic to where I am in my writing journey.

Do I continue to invest time and energy in the blog when it’s not as personally fulfilling as it once was? Do I shut it down and give up a readership of thousands? Something in between?

Whatever I choose, change is the key word.

Change can be scary because it involves risk, but it can also be positive when it forces us to grow and write something better. Here are some ways in which changing my mind over the years has helped me grow as a writer:

Writing in different genres has helped me discover my strengths.

When I first started writing seriously, short stories were the last thing on my mind.

I spent at least the first year focusing on picture books. I became insanely interested in reading them, and I wrote and submitted tons of work to small publishing houses. But I saw little fruit for my labours, and eventually my zeal died down. I began looking for something more fulfilling.

For a year or so after that, I dabbled in longer forms—some middle-grade chapter books and a bunch of novel concepts that went nowhere. I had a great time, but they weren’t very good.

Then came a couple of solid years of working on mainstream novels. I wrote two of them, but something still didn’t quite feel right. I was on the right track, but not where I felt wholly comfortable.

Three years ago, I decided to try short fiction after all. The more literary short stories I read and wrote, the more I began to feel I’d found my strength. My stories started being published in journals and anthologies, which convinced me I was on the right track. Now, I see myself as working toward publishing either a collection of short stories or a novel written in short stories (like Jennifer Egan’s A Visit from the Goon Squad or Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kitteridge.)

It’s okay to change your mind about what you want to write, or what style you want to write in. Experimentation is key to finding out what you’re best at. And just because you enjoy writing in a certain style or genre doesn’t mean that’s the style or genre in which you’re going to be most successful. [Read more…]

What Novelists Should Know About Short Fiction

April 28, 2013 By Suzannah Windsor Freeman

When I first started writing seriously, all I wanted was to publish a novel.

I thought my intentions were honourable—that I wasn’t just another wannabe with dreams of making it big—but there was always that little part of me that still wasn’t ready to put in my dues.

I wanted it all, and I wanted it right away.

Then, something life-changing happened. An opportunity fell into my lap. I was asked by the publisher of a print magazine (who had been following my blog) if I would consider submitting a short story to their next issue. I hadn’t had much luck with my previous attempts at publishing short fiction, but I thought I’d give it a try.

A Writing Revelation

In order to be sure I was writing something that wouldn’t be rejected, I read and deconstructed a lot of short stories, listened to them on podcasts, and spent a painfully long period of time perfecting my piece. I really began to appreciate the things that short stories do best, and in the process of writing that story, I fell in love with short fiction.

My piece was accepted. It was then nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and later it was included in an anthology.

All of this changed the course of my writing forever. I put the novel aside for a while and focused more on short fiction. I still received plenty of rejections, but the acceptances became more and more frequent. Now that I’ve tackled some of the smaller indie mags and mid-range university journals, I have a much better chance of breaking in to some of the larger, more well-known publications.

And that could have a huge impact on my ability to write, sell, and market a novel.

If you consider yourself strictly a novelist, have you given some thought to whether short fiction can help you achieve your goals? Or, have you dismissed it as something that’s ‘just not for you’?

Consider:

1. Reading short fiction can make you a more knowledgeable writer.

You know how sometimes you hear the same authors’ names over and over, but have no real concept of who they are or what they write?

Short fiction gives you the opportunity to experience the work of some great writers without the commitment of reading through weighty novels each time. You might yawn at the prospect of reading Freedom by Jonathan Franzen, but you can still get to know his work by reading the short piece “Agreeable” (which is actually an excerpt from the novel, but it stands on its own). You have no time or inclination to push through Margaret Atwood’s Alias Grace or The Handmaid’s Tale, but in half an hour you can read “Stone Mattress.”

Reading short fiction offers an opportunity to become more widely read in less time. There are plenty of short fiction collections at your local library, and thousands upon thousands of stories available free online.

Start today: For one week, read a short story per day. You might do this during your lunch break or before bed, or you can even download an audio recording and listen to it while you exercise or commute to work.

Here are some stories I’ve enjoyed recently:

“Miriam,” by Truman Capote (Literary Fictions)
“The Swimmer,” by John Cheever, read aloud by Anne Enright (The New Yorker)
“Love and Honour and Pity and Pride and Compassion and Sacrifice,” by Nam Le (Zoetrope: All-Story)
“This Cake Is for the Party,” by Sarah Selecky (The Walrus)
“Dog Heaven,” by Stephanie Vaughn, read aloud by Tobias Wolff (The New Yorker)
“The Gilgul of Park Avenue,” by Nathan Englander (The Atlantic Online)
“The Gulf,” by Tania James (Boston Review) [Read more…]

4 Options for Improving Your Fiction

November 17, 2012 By Suzannah Windsor Freeman

We writers can be impatient—not only with the process of writing and getting published, but with ourselves for not being perfect from the get-go.

We readily accept the need for intensive training and ongoing skills development for our day jobs, but when it comes to writing, we often expect to just be able to ‘do it’.

I used to be a teacher. I spent four years completing degrees in English and education, then took three more professional development courses to expand my qualifications. Once I received my first full-time classroom position, I attended workshops every few months. I never questioned the need for this type of training.

However, it took me a year or two of writing (and failing at writing) to learn that the path to becoming seriously skilled was going to be longer and more difficult than I ever imagined. Even now, after having several pieces of short fiction published, I’m acutely aware of how much there is still to learn, and how I will never be done learning.

But that’s okay. Canadian author Daniel Griffin says:

If you’ve ever looked at your writing and seen nothing but problems, I’m here to tell you it’s a good thing: you’re on the right track. To be a writer is to be a dissatisfied reader of your own prose.

So, you recognize the need to improve your craft. What options do you have?

1. Self-Directed Study

I’m putting ‘self-directed study’ first in the list because I believe, in most cases, it’s the best place to start. Options can include:

reading widely and critically in your chosen genre
reading books and magazines about the craft of writing
following blogs and podcasts that deal with writing, publishing, editing and social media
practice, such as free writing, journaling, writing to prompts, etc.

Beginning with self-directed study requires little financial investment, and gives you a chance to decide if you truly want to be a writer. It also prepares you to be a lifelong learner of your craft, which is important no matter which stage of the game you’re at. [Read more…]

3 Fiction Tips from Stephanie Vaughn’s “Dog Heaven”

August 29, 2012 By Suzannah Windsor Freeman

Every so often, I discover a piece of writing I just can’t wait to share with others. The short story “Dog Heaven,” by Stephanie Vaughn, is one of
them.

I initially found the story on the New Yorker fiction podcast, and later bought Sweet Talk—Vaughn’s collection in which the story appears.

“Dog Heaven” is narrated by Gemma, who is recalling a formative portion of her childhood on an army base in Fort Niagara, where her father is in charge of the missile batteries. The story follows Gemma, her family, her friend Sparky Smith, and Gemma’s dog, Duke.

Aside from it being such an engaging read, the writing lessons I could extract from “Dog Heaven” are many. Here are just a few I’ve noted thus far:

1. Use creative license, but know why you’re using it.

“Dog Heaven” begins with the narrator, Gemma, saying:

Every so often that dead dog dreams me up again.

The first time I read that line, I thought, “Shouldn’t that be, ‘Every so often I dream up that dead dog again’?”

The next paragraph goes on to say:

[…]that dog wakes from his long sleep and imagines me.

At first glance, these images don’t seem to make sense, but they’re no mistake. The more times I read the opening, the more I began to understand what Gemma is trying to say—it’s just that I can’t verbalize it.

When questioned about these lines in this interview at The Rumpus, Vaughn says:

You are as much an invention of your memories as you are the author of them.

Now, there’s a statement that could launch a discussion.

Vaughn could have written, “Every so often I dream up that dead dog again,” and “I imagine that dog waking from his long sleep.” Instead, she used creative license to give us a unique opening, make us think, and prepare us for the memory theme which is woven through the rest of the story.

As writers, we’re free to break ‘rules,’ but we should know how and why we’re breaking them, and be prepared to explain our reasons for doing so. [Read more…]

8 Busy Moms Who Published Novels

January 8, 2012 By Suzannah Windsor Freeman

By all accounts, I’m a busy mom.

I gave up my teaching career a couple of years ago so I could stay home with my children—one school-aged, and one who has just turned two.

Soon, I’ll no longer be a mom of two, but a mom of four. We’re expecting a set of twins in early March, which means I’m as big as a house and every inch of my body hurts.

But, just because I’m ‘staying-at-home’ doesn’t mean I don’t work. In addition to all my normal mommy duties, I run a blog and regularly write for other blogs, write short fiction (some published) and novels (not published yet), and dabble in freelancing.

Still, I have worries and doubts. I ask myself questions like:

How long can I keep up with my writing routines while my children are young?
What will happen when we welcome more children to the family?
Will I have to give up writing until my youngest children are in school?

Over the past six months, I’ve been writing an eBook about balancing motherhood and writing. As part of the research process, I interviewed busy moms who were also published novelists. Some of them are not only novelists, but also freelance writers or editors.

I wanted to use these interviews to show other aspiring novelist-moms (and myself) that parenthood, though challenging, isn’t a death sentence for creativity or writing success.

Here are just eight of the many moms who’ve managed to combine their passions for parenthood with their passions for writing: [Read more…]

3 Tips for Riding the Rejection/Acceptance Roller Coaster

October 7, 2011 By Suzannah Windsor Freeman

The writing life is one never-ending roller coaster ride of rejections and acceptances, of form rejections and personal rejections, of thoughtful feedback and hurtful criticism.

One day, you’re down in the dumps. The next you’re on top of the world, and nothing can come between you and your victory.

Until the next dip in the ride.

Ever since I got back into writing short stories and submitting them to literary magazines, I’ve personally experienced the ups and downs of the writing life. With my most recent story out on submission, I’ve found the mixed messages especially difficult to deal with.

I’ve received form rejections from very small publications, which made me second-guess my ability to write. A form rejection from a tiny, nobody’s-ever-hear-of-you magazine hurts a lot more than a form rejection from a top-tier journal. If the little guys don’t like my work, does that mean it’s not very good? Should I just give up now?

On the other hand…

I’ve received personal rejections from higher-tiered journals, praising some aspect of my work and encouraging me to submit more. So, a few of the more well-known magazines have said they liked my writing and wanted to see something else. I don’t get it. I thought those form rejections meant my writing wasn’t very good. Does this mean there’s hope after all?

Just when a seemingly endless string of rejections—both form and personal—started to crowd my rejection folder, and just when I was seriously considering withdrawing my work from consideration… [Read more…]

Getting Short Story Credits is Getting Easier (Sort Of)

July 23, 2011 By Suzannah Windsor Freeman

When Writer Unboxed held their unpublished novelist search back in April ’10, the first post I submitted for consideration was called, “Do You Need Minor Writing Credits to Publish Your Novel?”

Back when I started writing my novel, I had a number of concerns about spending my time trying to get some minor writing credits:

Short stories are different to novels. What I really wanted to write was my novel, and seeing how the process of writing a novel and the process of writing a short story are very different, I didn’t think the experience would be that relevant to my long-term goals.
Snail mail submissions. The literary magazines I was familiar with took only snail mail submissions. What’s worse: I’m a Canadian living in Australia, and overseas postage was brutal. Even after I got my mom to send me a roll of Canadian stamps for my self-addressed envelopes, some of the journals still never got back to me about my submissions.
Exclusive submissions. The same magazines that only accepted snail mail submissions also had very definite policies against simultaneous submissions (where you send your story to more than one magazine at a time).
Long response times. With typical response times of 4-9 months, along with long mailing times and exclusive submissions, I figured I’d be 90 before I got a single credit.
Online journals=settling. Because at one time online literary journals were thought to be created solely for people who couldn’t get published in print journals, I was reluctant to bother trying those venues.

Essentially, after a handful of failed attempts to get my short fiction published, my position was that achieving print credits would be irrelevant, expensive, and potentially take years, and that online credits would be sub-par and not worth my time anyway. [Read more…]

The Aspiring Author’s Blog Isn’t Just About Platform

March 31, 2011 By Suzannah Windsor Freeman

Some of us aspiring authors hear the word ‘blog’ and automatically think about platform-building.

Jane Friedman offers some excellent advice on platform-building in her post, Audience Development: Critical to Every Writer’s Future:

Mediocre writers with sales & marketing savvy are more likely to succeed in commercial publishing than talented writers without sales & marketing skill.
[…] Even while producing your first manuscript, you need to find ways to meaningfully interact with others online, consider how your stories can reach readers in new or dynamic ways, and develop some skill at soft marketing and promotion (or branding yourself), before those skills are called upon to ensure the success of your published work.

I wholeheartedly agree with Jane’s thoughts. My blog Write It Sideways has helped me network, develop my marketing savvy, and establish social outlets through Twitter and Facebook. When a publishing deal comes my way, I’ll have an established platform on which to build my readership.

While that’s a great reason to start a blog before you’re published, there’s something else I’ve noticed happening. In some ways, I feel this other occurrence is an even more important development in my writing journey. [Read more…]