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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.

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.

Review of Wayne E. Pollard’s I’m Not Out of Work! I’m a Writer!!

Posted on August 12, 2011 Written by Pinar Tarhan

crazy writer, from Bo's Café Life — This strip reminds me of someone....Wait...I know! It reminds me of me. That's it! I'm so writing my book tomorrow....(I mean I need a book to try to get a deal....) Courtesy of boscafelife.wordpress.com

I’m a writer. When I tell people that, I get one of these two responses “Wow! It’s so cool!” or “Hmm. Can you make a living out of that?”

And as much as I want to say “Oh, totally!”, I am not there yet. My income comes from a combination of freelance tutoring, teaching, blogging and writing. While I love doing all these things together, I want to be able to say “That book deal changed my life (=aka my finances)!” or “Eat your heart Carrie Bradshaw, I write about relationships for a living, and I have got more than a closet full of expensive shoes to show for it!”

But as I said, I am not there yet. The tasks of a freelance writer never ends (just like a blogger’s never ends, but that’s a different post). I still have to finish that book that I was inspired to write in 2004. I still have tons of publications to study and pitch to. I still have a lot of new markets to discover, study and yes, pitch to. Then I have to keep writing my book, keep up the blogs, follow-up with the queries and deal with rejection, or worse – no answers from editors.

So I need other freelancers to understand me, who have been or are still are where I am. I want to laugh with them, maybe get depressed temporarily and then move on with them. And while networking with others help, I don’t have a freelance writer friend who l can talk to whenever I feel like it.

And since none of my friends are willing to jump the 9 to 5 wagon to join me, I found the perfect substitute. Wayne E. Pollard’s “I’m Not Out of Work!, I’m a Writer” is a collection of Pollard’s Bo’s Café Life strips where he simply and hilariously depicts the life of a freelancer, complete with other freelancer friends and their meetings in coffee shops.

writers, rejection Bo's Café Life — You can find many more painfully and hiariously true writing cartoons on boscafelife.wordpress.com

Bo and all his friends are appropriately represented by drawings of coffee cups. As a freelance writer who does most (and best) of her work in cafés, and who is also (shockingly!) writing this review with a cup of coffee nearby, the collection couldn’t have been more spot on.

I first stumbled upon Bo’s Café Life when I was trying to find funny, writing-related cartoons for this blog. I loved the cartoons so much that I e-mailed him to ask if I could use them on my blog, linking to his blog. He kindly said yes, and even sent me the copy of the book, which I finished in about 20 minutes and went back to read it again. Yes, it is funny and very relevant.

It is so easy to identify with his coffee-cup characters. The multiple rejections, never summoning up the courage to send/finish some of your stuff, consoling yourself with the rejection numbers of currently famous authors, almost living in cafés…

There are so many books on motivation and productivity out there. And while I enjoy reading the good ones, sometimes I need a fast boost in the spirits and I don’t have time to read (or the strength to carry) all the necessary motivational stuff with me. And thankfully, I just have them all in one tiny book now.

It’s recommended for all writers. Except maybe not for the likes of John Grisham. I mean the dude is my favorite crime writer, but he doesn’t need it anymore. I’m sure he did need it when he was trying to get A Time to Kill published and got rejected over and over again….Ah…remember the times when John Grisham was unknown and Hollywood didn’t turn one of his books into a movie every couple of years?

Wayne E. Pollard is a published author, who shares his wisdom on Bo’s Café Life and Wayne E. Pollard’s No B.S. Blog for Writers.

“I’m Not Out of Work!, I’m a Writer!!” will be hitting the shelves at the end of September. If you can’t wait, and are up for a challenge, you can join Bo’s Café Life Fiction Contest. Details are here. But be quick. The deadline is August 31!

How Far Should A Writer Go for a Story?: Ethics, Story Ideas and The Movie Beautiful Boy

Posted on August 7, 2011 Written by Pinar Tarhan

Austin Nichols and Maria Bello in Beautiful Boy — Movie still from Beautiful Boy - Austin Nichols (the writer) and Maria Bello (the mother of the shooter). Before she knew what he was up to....Image via aceshowbiz.com

Whether you are inspired by real events or love taking advantage of your imagination, coming up with a great story is hard. Especially if you are writing a book.

And having come up with a great idea, you are most likely going to do some research. But how far would you go for that research and story?

Yesterday, I watched a very compelling movie called Beautiful Boy, a story about how a married couple deals after their son killed many people at his school and then killed himself. And while it is not a crucial part of the story, the event that intrigued me the most involves a writer:

In the movie, the mother of the shooter is a spell-checker, and her current writer client runs into her after the tragic event and acts like a very understanding friend. And then we find out that he was writing a book about the events, and that his shoulder to cry on was a way to just get his story right.

And the interesting thing is, while I didn’t approve of his behavior, this writer character managed not to come off as a total jerk. Maybe he wanted to profit from the tragedy, and that is wrong. But on the other hand, he said that he wanted to shed light on the event – he wanted to show that anyone could be capable of such rage. And for a moment, I wanted the mother to call him back and let him write…

OK, obviously that didn’t happen. But when she found out his real motive, she didn’t try to beat him. She didn’t shout. She just told him to go. Sure, he should have come clean way before…but what were the odds that she would let him into the house, had she known?

So let’s say that you found this incredible story that you feel compelled to write. You need to research, and maybe you need to talk to people who probably wouldn’t talk to you if you said you were a writer. What would you do? How far would you go?