We wanted to get to know Ruth Thaler-Carter (NAIWE’s Networking Expert) better, so last month we sat down with her. Here are some thoughts she shared with us.

What are the key factors for success in your specific niche?

My factors for success include responding promptly to client requests, doing high-quality work, looking for new ways to provide services, and using networking to enhance what I provide. I aim to provide more than the minimum for every assignment and request.

How can you update your offerings or roll out new phases of your business to reach more clients?

We can update our offerings and roll out new phases of our businesses by being plugged into what’s going on with colleagues and clients through networking, reading reputable publications for trends and to confirm facts, doing training to develop new skills and improve existing ones, and generally being proactive rather than reactive. Not everyone needs or wants to find more clients, but we can often expand our services to current clients as a way to expand our businesses.

Do you periodically contact everyone you’ve ever worked with to let them know you are available for new projects?

Contacting people we’ve worked with in the past is a great way to generate new projects. It’s also smart to let current clients know that we’re available as needed and might have new services to provide.

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Many NAIWE members have been in business for several years, but nowadays, some might be feeling a little bored or burnt out, some have lost clients due to AI, some are experiencing stalemate, some seek new challenges — and all of us want to see our businesses not just survive but grow and expand. In our April webinar, longtime freelance writer/editor/proofreader Ruth E. Thaler-Carter will provide suggestions for taking an independent communications business to the next level and position ourselves for growth through new directions.

Ruth has been freelancing since high school and full-time since 1984. Over the years, she has expanded her writing business to include editing, proofreading, and speaking, and a diversity of topics. She has great insights into how to develop new skills and services to make an independent business go beyond static and toward sustainability.

She is the Networking member of the NAIWE Board of Experts, among several other association memberships, and will include perspectives on how active networking and membership can contribute to growing an independent communications business.

You can join in this conversation on April 16 at 7:00 pm eastern, when NAIWE will host a discussion on developing and expanding your freelance business. The cost for NAIWE members is only $10! Nonmembers can join for $30. Register today!

 

Ruth Thaler-Carter has been a full-time freelance writer, editor, proofreader, desktop publisher, and speaker for more than 40 years. She has been published locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally in, and does writing, editing, and proofreading for, publications, associations, nonprofits, websites, service firms, independent authors, and businesses. She sold her first freelance articles when she was still in high school. Often called the Queen of Networking, Ruth is active in about a dozen professional associations, serving as a newsletter editor, webmaster, publication author, speaker/presenter, blogger, program host or planner, and chapter leader. In 2006, Ruth launched the Communication Central Be a Better Freelancer conference — now cohosted with NAIWE — to help aspiring and established freelancers find greater success. Ruth is also owner and editor-in-chief of the An American Editor blog and owner of the Publishing with Flair publishing business. Her honors include member of her high school alumni hall of fame, in part for her publishing work and networking services; Writers and Books Big Pencil Award for teaching adults and contributions to the literary community; EFfie awards for writing, editing, and newsletters; an APEX award for feature writing; the Philip M. Stern Award of Washington (DC) Independent Writers for service to freelancers; and IABC/DC Communicator of the Year and Silver Quills for magazine writing and newsletters.

We wanted to get to know Jennia D’Lima (NAIWE’s Creative Nonfiction Expert) better, so last month we sat down with her. Here are some thoughts she shared with us.

How do you determine which life moments deserve to be written about and which should be skipped over to maintain momentum?

The answer to this mostly boils down to what is the focus and/or theme of your piece. If a moment doesn’t support either, that is usually a sign that it doesn’t belong and that it’s being shared from a place that benefits the author more than the reader. However, much like when writing fiction, you can also ask yourself, “What happens to my story if I remove this?” If cutting the moment doesn’t result in a loss of clarity or weaken a character arc, it likely isn’t bolstering the piece as a whole.

 

How do you balance “showing” (scenes) and “telling” (reflection) to keep a memoir engaging?

There isn’t a magical formula for this balance, but do be on the lookout for a passage that reads as though it is describing a chain of events rather than inviting the reader into the experience. There will be times when exposition serves the purpose better than showing can, but the trick here is to be aware of your pacing. If it drags when you’re revisiting that section or feels like it’s jumping from one statement to the next, consider revising at least some of the passage so it’s “showing” rather than “telling.” This is where early readers and trusted writing friends can be especially helpful.

 

What is your advice for authors struggling to articulate why their personal story matters to the world?

First, ask yourself why it mattered to you. How did you change, or how did you change your perspective, beliefs, understanding? What personal transformation occurred as a result? Identify who you were both before and after, and then think of all the other people out there who may have been in a similar “before” position who are perhaps in the “after” spot but feel alone and as if no one else could possibly grasp what they went through. When you question whether your story matters, think about those people and how you could help them feel seen by reading your story. These are no longer anonymous members in your book’s audience; they are now a personalized “why” behind why you’re writing.

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The shortest stories are sometimes the ones that stick with us the most. But while many of us are familiar with the many ways fiction can be written in a condensed format, we may not be aware of a trending market in creative nonfiction—the micro memoir.

The webinar will begin by defining what this form of creative nonfiction is and what it isn’t and what separates it from similar subgenres. Participants will then be shown how tips and tricks for writing short stories and flash fiction can be applied to creating micro memoirs. Examples, resources, and suggested reading will be supplied so that attendees will leave with the necessary tools and understanding to craft their own pieces.

You can join in this conversation on February 19 at 7:00 pm eastern, when NAIWE will host a discussion on working with agents. The cost for NAIWE members is only $10! Nonmembers can join for $30. Register today!

 

Jennia D’Lima is a full-blown logophile. She joined her high school’s newspaper in ninth grade, winning statewide awards for her writing, and expanded her journalism skills by continuing to write and edit throughout her high school years and as a college freshman. While earning her bachelor’s degree in psychology (and minoring in cultural anthropology with a focus on precolonial Mesoamerica) and her master’s degree in applied developmental psychology, her writing and editing naturally skewed toward all things academic. Writing for and publishing in peer-reviewed journals, editing papers for classmates, and writing parenting resource guides honed her research skills. Jennia joined multiple professor-led research groups and completed four internships throughout her academic career. After graduating with a master’s, she worked at a national nonprofit in Washington, DC, and as an assistant researcher at the University of Washington in Seattle. Jennia gradually transitioned to full-time editing. As the host of the Writing & Editing podcast, she loves connecting with others in the community. Jennia enjoys traveling, volunteering, and taking creative photos of books and book-related items in those rare moments when she is not reading or editing.