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How Taking the CELTA Helped My Writing (and Why I Was Missing For Over A Month)

Posted on October 12, 2011 Written by Pinar Tarhan

I try to post on this blog at least three times in a month, so I was pretty disappointed with myself when I realized my previous post was published on the 10th of September. But in between getting published on the travel blog Europe a la Carte, freelance website Freelance Switch and applying for CELTA, I was pretty sure I would get to publish a fun and useful post before the end of September. But then something happened: I was accepted to the CELTA course.

What the hell is CELTA?

CELTA is the Cambridge Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (whose mother tongue is not English). I took the one month intensive course from the 12th of September to the 7th of October- and I barely had any time to do anything else during that period. Trust me- I could hardly squeeze in the time to send my invoice to my publishers, so you can correctly assume that I didn’t have time to read/write/research anything that wasn’t related to teaching English. I didn’t have a social life, I barely slept and I spent half the time wondering why I signed up for the course in the first place.

Now, I love English. And I love teaching it. And while I had been giving freelance lessons and teaching English part-time for a while, I wasn’t officially educated and/or certified to be an English teacher. So when my part-time job gave me a month’s break, I jumped at the opportunity. After all, teaching English is a great way to make money doing something you love (and supporting your writing career- especially if you are not already a bestselling novelist or an on-demand writer who frequently sells $2000-articles to popular magazines) and keep your knowledge about the language intact.

Why I couldn’t write for over a month

When I signed up, they did warn me about how much time CELTA would take, and how intense it would be. But no one really warned me that I’d not have a life, I’d be depressed and frustrated half the time. CELTA demands %100 attendance, carefully crafted assignments, 6 hours of experienced teacher observation and 6 hours of assessed teaching practice.

And the teaching part is not the scary part. The scary part was to plan immaculate lesson plans, analyze your upcoming lessons and how you presented these to your tutors. It was also the teaching where you were observed by your tutor, who noted down every negative thing about your teaching (and yes, they also tell you the good stuff but by the time that comes up, you’ve freaked out that they totally hated it). And even if you have taught before, CELTA does have a whole set of different expectations.

Obviously there were some really fun times. I highly enjoyed the sessions where we were the students and our tutors showed us how we would teach to our students by modeling their methods through us. I made some really cool friends and learned a lot both from them and my teachers. But I am not going to lie to you; it was a bloody difficult time.

What It CAN DO for your teaching career & CV

It pretty much enables you to work in any country you wish, to demand higher rates and to apply for better jobs in general.

How CELTA Helps A Writer

– It makes you truly analyze the language, so it will really help with your editing. And it will make you question your knowledge of English, whether you taught before or not. Whether you are a native speaker or not. Some assignments might make you feel like Joey from Friends (while he was trying to speak French), even if English has forever been your strong point.

– It helps you develop a thicker skin. Were you upset when editor rejected you or ignored you? Try getting live feedback from a tutor who tells you all the negative stuff. Granted, you are given credit for the positive stuff as well- but the negative takes a lot more time, and can be difficult to digest if you thought you had done a good job one hour ago.

But then again, CELTA isn’t just about training people to become good teachers. It is about training people to be good English teachers according to CELTA standards. Which is pretty much the same thing when your writing doesn’t get picked up by an editor because it wasn’t exactly up to their standards. It doesn’t necessarily mean your writing is bad. It just isn’t made for that publication.

True, you don’t usually get a customized analysis from the editor as you’d get from your CELTA teacher, but it does wonders in helping you develop that thick skin.

-It makes you a better planner. When I first started planning my lesson plans according to their format, it took me more than 5 hours. My last lesson plan took me less than an hour. It also gives you a good idea what can be done in just 40 minutes. I’ll try a similar planning method for my writing & blogging related tasks. Who doesn’t want to improve her planning and time management skills?

-It does push your limits of productivity and hard work, as well as efficiency. As it turns out, I can work a lot more in a day than I thought I could.

-It provides you with new article/story topics and increases the number of people you know.

Should you try to get CELTA?

– CELTA isn’t recommended if:

You can’t truly commit yourself to a heavy schedule,
You don’t want to at least have a part-time English teaching career,
You don’t want to improve your ESL (English as a second language) teaching skills

– It is however, strongly recommended if you are a writer who also teaches ESL. Yeah, it’ll give you hell (and tons of tough love), but the pros will massively outnumber the cons- as long as you pass the course.

Writing What You Know/Live: The Movie Daydream Nation, and its Writer Character

Posted on September 10, 2011 Written by Pinar Tarhan

The Movie

daydream-nation-movie-poster — Daydream Nation starring Kat Dennings, Reece Thompson, Josh Lucas & Andie MacDowell

Daydream Nation is a drama from 2010. It is a little fun, a little depressing and a tad annoying. It is also heart-warming in a weird sorof way. While it is not a must-see movie in any way, it is also not a waste of time for those who like its actors (Kat Dennings, Josh Lucas, Reece Thompson, Andie MacDowell) or writers who, like me, enjoy seeing movies with writer characters. You can read more about the movie on my movie blog. But here, let’s get to our writer character:

The Writer Character

josh-lucas-daydream-nation — Josh Lucas as Barry. Photo from the movie Daydream Nation. Image via daemonstv.com

Barry Anderson (Josh Lucas) is the English teacher of a depressing industrial town’s high school. There isn’t much excitement going on in his life, and it is hardly a surprise when he jumps at the opportunity to fool around with his new student Caroline (Kat Dennings). While any teacher sleeping with his under-aged student is sure to ring loser bells, you can hardly blame Barry. He lives in a town where everyone seems to be going through a drug addiction, some level of depression or both.

Barry is happy in this relationship, and informs Caroline that she has inspired his writing and he is working on his novel. He even has an agent.

The Writer’s Story

Then one day Caroline gets to read his book, and it is just too much like a memoir. Unfortunately, Barry’s past has been even more pathetic than his present, and Caroline doesn’t like how she is represented in his novel. She decides to break things off, but when you are your boyfriend’s only muse & hobby, it can get tricky to get rid of him.

The issue here is that Barry didn’t even attempt to add a slice of fiction to his characters. Along with Caroline, we learn that his return to town as a teacher was an obligatory move when he failed in the city, both professionally and romantically. We learn that this 30-something guy is not really all that wiser or more mature than his druggie students. We finally see how much of a loser he really is, and that he makes no effort to change things.

Writers always debate whether you should write what you know or not. It actually depends on one thing: You! I always believe in writing what you love, because writing something you don’t care about is bound to be a disaster. So it doesn’t matter if you know the subject, because you can always educate yourself along the way. You just need to be passionate about what you are writing.

But usually, what you know (or you come to know through research) works best when combined with the depths of your imagination.

Barry doesn’t have much of one, and “what he knows” isn’t what he loves. It is what he despises. You could argue that a memoir, how depressing it might be, can serve as a therapy for the writer, at the very least. Unfortunately, Barry ends with 0 self-development, minus a girlfriend.

The Writer behind “The Writer”

All in all, as depressing and weird Daydream Nation is as a story, it is more entertaining and interesting than Barry’s “fiction”. I just hope that it wasn’t a memoir of the writer/director Michael Goldbach , as the movie also features a serial killer on the loose…

Me, The Writer

I once read that readers want sexy, engaging characters through journeys that entice them. And I agree. There was nothing enticing or engaging about Barry’s loser story. If he detested living it himself, what are the odds of anyone enjoying it?

I am in the midst of writing a novel that is a mixture of what I know. And I’ll confess that there is a part of me in some characters. But what happens to my characters in the novel didn’t happen to me. And for me, that is the exciting part!

You, The Writer

How about you? What do you think about writing what you know/live? How do you feel about writing stories based (solely) on your experiences? Please let me know in the comments!

7 Must-Have Characteristics to Make it as a Freelance Writer

Posted on August 28, 2011 Written by Pinar Tarhan

being a freelance writer, characteristics of a freelance writer — Freelance Writer image via ghostwriterdad.com

Writing can be a very lucrative and self-fulfilling career, but it hardly ever starts that way for anyone. You might love writing. You might be good at it. But unfortunately you need a couple of more qualities to start your writing career and accomplish your goals as a writer. Below are the 7 essential characteristics freelance writers need to possess:

Patience

I’m one of the most impatient people you can ever meet. I get bored very easily and I can’t wait for anything or anyone without doing something useful and/or fun on the side. And yet, I chose freelance writing as a career.

Now, I love writing. I am addicted even. So the girl who can’t even stand to wait for a couple of minutes chose a line of work where response times range from weeks to months, editors don’t necessarily write back, and you are required to spend countless hours researching, marketing, networking, writing, re-writing, editing and more re-writing.

Yet, I can handle it. After all, it is about knowing what’s at stake and jumping to it accordingly. It is not a walk in the park most of the time, but it is still worth it for me. How about you?

Persistence

The editors may not receive your e-mails, or they may not feel inclined to respond, even with a standardized rejection reply. Yes, they are incredibly busy but so are you. While they have to read millions of queries and make decisions, you are a one-person company. So if the guidelines say follow-up, follow-up. If there is still no response, follow-up for the second and final time. Just remember not to leave your bedside manners, even if you get nothing in return for a carefully crafted, perfectly relevant query. After all, you need a good reputation. And there is the fact that you probably submitted that query because you liked the publication. So you might want to pitch again.

The idea is to keep it polite and professional. If you think this sucks, please read the first must-have freelance writer characteristic on this list again.

Thick Skin

writer rejection cartoon via bo's café life — Courtesy of boscafelife.wordpress.com

You will get rejected. Every writer does, even the ones who turned into international bestsellers. So never take it personally. Make sure you work constantly to improve yourself, and keep submitting your work elsewhere.

P.S. When the going gets tough, just remember John Grisham’s first novel is A Time to Kill. He published The Firm first, because A Time to Kill was rejected everywhere. And after The Firm, everyone was after A Time to Kill, which also became a bestseller.

Passion

And you need to have fun. You need to be capable of fun, even when you want to slap someone or cry. You are writing because you love the craft. There is no reason to keep doing it if you are feeling miserable all the time.

Organization

You don’t need to be obsessive, but you do need to keep track of every idea, bill, manuscript, article and everything else that is related to your writing. You also know what to find and where. There is a great blog for writers that concentrates on the organization side of things. Check out OrganizedWriter.com for tips and resources.

Self-Discipline

You might be the type to start a project at the latest minute possible. I know I am- for the most part. But you need to make sure you keep the deadline and make sure your final draft meets every requirement, and is a good read.

Self-Management

You are your own boss, so you better be an understanding slave driver. Notice the oxymoron there? But it is true. You need to work really hard to make it as a writer. But of course you have the flexibility to choose your hours; as well as where, when and how you work. As long as you put in the necessary work, there is no reason you can’t enjoy the freedom.

Intimidated? Don’t be. You just might realize your personality and mind can work in mysterious ways to help you realize your dreams.

Cure Your Writer’s Block with Tristan Higbee’s 101 Ways to Battle Blogger’s Block

Posted on August 16, 2011 Written by Pinar Tarhan

Where This Freelancer Has Trouble

I guess I am like most writers. My brain never stops thinking about my next article, next blog post, next idea for a fictional story…

But I’m most comfortable finding ideas for and writing my blog posts. For me, freedom enables fun and creativity.

And a creative writer who’s having fun is usually a productive writer. But I do get stuck finding slants when I am pitching the other magazines/websites/blogs.

Most of the time, no two publications are ever identical. So having to come up with multiple (workable) ideas for each publication can be extremely frustrating.

And between all the publications, their topics and guidelines, I sometimes find myself unable to generate ideas productively.

You know you are in trouble when you can’t find any ideas that excite and/or entertain you. How can I convince an editor when I am not all that enthused myself? After all, it feels amazing when other people want to publish your stuff. The bad thing is, you are competing with many other freelancers.

Most Inspirational/Creativity Books Aren’t Helpful

I recently threw away a book on creativity, because its tips felt so abstract. And most books that are supposed to help you unleash your creativity only add to your block. Or they only offer stuff that you have heard before. Or they don’t appeal to your tastes/personality/mindset.

Why Tristan’s 101 Ways to Battle Blogger’s Block Rocks:

– You can use all his suggestions for all sorts of writing.

– They are fun to read and apply.

– Some of the tips are familiar, but you probably didn’t see them presented in a neat, concise package. It is only 28 pages.

– It’s free.

– It comes with 101 tips, so there are bound to be some stuff you haven’t tried before.

– Sometimes it offers contrasting tips, so you can get even more experimental to see what works better for you.

Some of My Favorite Tips: (The details are in the book)

Where were you X time ago?
Look at your photo albums.
Pick a (well-known). story/song/… and roll with it
Title a post after a song.

When I was reading his e-book for the first time, and saw this last tip, I pushed the next button on my mp3 player (which was on Shuffle mode), and I got Kansas’ Carry On My Wayward Son – a classic rock number (that is also a trademark song on the mystery/thriller/horror show Supernatural).

Think what I can do with it:

Carry On My Wayward Blogger/Freelancer/Writer….

Don’t we often feel wayward with how much we are supposed to do to reach our goals?

Who knows what other titles can bring to the table, or how many more ideas can be spun off this song? If nothing else, you can just relax, close your eyes and enjoy the song.

After all taking a break, is incidentally, one of the ways Tristan is suggesting. And this is only one of the 101 ways. ,

Tristan blogs on Blogging Bookshelf, a blog about “blogging,info products and internet business.” You can learn more about him here, and access his free e-books (whose topics range from getting noticed in your niche to getting ideas for books) here. Yes, I downloaded them all. You can’t always find that much fun stuff in the same place.