Finding the right approach for writing

I'm going to answer a question today. I'm not usually one for doing that, preferring, as we all know, to ask them. But it's a slow news day in the Fibro and I'm scratching around for a post. So...

When I ran my interview with Mia Freedman on Monday, Gill from Alice Becomes (great blog incidentally by Gill and Nic from Our Park Life) asked the following question in the comments:

"I would love to know your thoughts and how you balance and differentiate between separate styles of writing? Similar to Mia's point of view?"

Mia's point of view, just to refresh your memory, was this:

"Every type of writing I do - from Twitter to books - is different. It requires a slightly different approach and, often, a different tone. Since I'm constantly flitting between social media, Mamamia, my column and books, I barely even have to think about it now. Although, books can be a bit of a gear shift. You need to lengthen your concentration span, which is reduced constantly by tweeting and blogging."

I do agree. Magazine writing requires voice + objectivity. You are writing for a large, faceless audience who have certain expectations about what they will see in that particular publication. There will be a certain vocabulary that will resonate with that demographic (and you must never forget that each magazine has a specific demographic) and you may find yourself using such terms as 'BFF' and 'vajazzle', which you would not generally use. You must also in feature writing make room for expert voices, weaving them in and out, providing a balanced view of whatever your subject may be. Having said that, the essential tenor of the article must remain true to your own style and voice. Easy, huh?

Writing for a personal blog, on the other hand, requires intimacy. Here, it is all about your voice. This is what I love about it. You can truly give voice to your own voice in a way that you can't when you have an editor, a specified readership and others to please.

Twitter and other social media has been very good for my writing in a strange way. While it is not good for the attention span (I agree 100 per cent with Mia on that), it is superb for clarity. Getting a cohesive message into 140 characters can be a challenge and is a simple way to spot waffle at 20 paces. As for Facebook, there is an art to an excellent status update... one which I'm still learning.

Now for books. Ah yes. So many words. With non-fiction books, I usually break it down into chapters, write each as I would approach a long magazine feature and then work out where I've repeated myself so that I can cross-reference and double check. Fun.

Fiction, on the other hand, is a whole different kettle of fish. It comes back to voice - presenting your story in your own words - but also creating characters with their own voices. Not easy. There's also a lot of persistence involved. As discussed, I am not a plotter (though I am rapidly appreciating the value of having a map through a story), so I tend to just start and see what will happen. I find that fiction requires long periods of thinking followed by short bursts of activity. I put down 1000 words here and 500 words there, and then ruminate for a while before banging out another couple of thousand words. I know that many experts say that the best advice is to write every day, but my thinking on that is that I do - just not always on the same project. Perhaps this is why my fiction remains unpublished...

I also write for other websites, do corporate work (including newsletters and media releases), and write advertising copy. All of which require different approaches again (which we might go into a different day as I'm getting sick of the sound of my own voice here...).

So, yes, I am constantly switching between forms, but each has a quite specific approach. Sometimes I do find myself wishing that my next magazine feature was 140 characters long - but I have to say that writing short can be a lot more difficult than writing long. Less room to cover up if you get it wrong.

The one thing that carries over in every form of writing is discipline. Mostly, the discipline to do it.

{image: Natashanb/Tumblr}

Mia Freedman is in the Fibro

Mia Freedman's latest book launched into bookshops around the nation today. Mia Culpa: confessions from the watercooler of life (Penguin) is the newest installment in her series of books about her life, her thoughts, and, always, her opinions. She has discussed magazines, motherhood and mistakes. She now takes on pubic hair, social media and that moment in life when you go from being cool to being... not. Among other things, of course.

All of which provides the perfect excuse to drag her into the Fibro to answer a few questions.

The disclosure: Mia and I first met 1000 or so years ago (mine, not hers, because clearly she is not as old as I am) when she was editor of Cosmopolitan and I was dabbling in freelancing for the first time. I remember sitting in her office, surrounded by smiley Cosmo covers, wondering if I was wearing the right shoes. (In my defence, the Cosmo offices have had that effect on stronger women than I.)

She was bright, smiley, clever, gorgeous... the kind of woman you'd find reasons to dislike given half a chance. But she was also warm and friendly and, as she remains, incredibly supportive of other people's talents, insecurities and efforts. It was thanks to her that I got to write the now world-famous Hairy Armpits story. The rest, as they say, is history.

So yes, thanks for asking, I have great admiration for Mia's work. I don't always agree with her, but I respect her for tackling the big issues head-on on her website Mamamia and most weeks her Sunday Life column makes me nod in acknowledgement and laugh out loud.

Plus, she has graciously agreed to answer my five questions about blogging, branding and the boundaries of personal writing. So what's not to love?

You often draw on your own experiences for your columns, blogging and writing - what are your boundaries for your personal style of writing?
Mia Freedman: "Well, it's always changing. I have to be careful. Just when I thought I was very clear about my boundaries in writing, I recently told a story at a dinner party which completely embarrassed my son. Not that that's particularly difficult - he's a teenager - but his age is problematic. So much great material for me to write about and much of it is about my own experiences and reactions as a parent of a teenage boy, but I'm on eggshells there...

"Generally, I try to have a rule that everything is okay so long as I'm the punchline. I go to great lengths to protect my friends and family - I'll never put my writing in front of their feelings or their right to privacy. But mostly they're very accommodating. Which is lucky, because otherwise I'd have nothing to write about!"

I remember reading somewhere that you'd rewritten parts of Mama Mia, your memoir about magazines, mistakes and motherhood, because you felt you'd crossed over the line into 'too personal' - can you explain what 'too personal' means?
MF: "Memoirs are extremely difficult and sensitive because you're not just writing about your own life - you're writing about the lives of everyone in your life. So there were some things in there that were not mine to share and needed to come out. My choice. They didn't affect the story.

"The first draft would have been a bad book, actually - too raw, too emotional and just a bit all over the place. I kept probably 80 per cent of it and the end result was more balanced. Just as personal, but more layered and thus, in my opinion, a better read."

What do you see as the difference between blogging and writing for other media such as books and magazines?
MF: "I haven't written for magazines for years, although my column appears in a newspaper magazine... Still, that's different. It's not a monthly glossy or a weekly tabloid. Every type of writing I do - from Twitter to books - is different. It requires a slightly different approach and, often, a different tone. Since I'm constantly flitting between social media, Mamamia, my column and books, I barely even have to think about it now. Although, books can be a bit of a gear shift. You need to lengthen your concentration span, which is reduced constantly by tweeting and blogging.

"The slowness of books is both my biggest frustration and greatest joy when it comes to that medium. I'm into a pretty fast turnaround and short deadlines - with Mamamia, we often post within minutes of having an idea and Twitter just publishes practically before you've even thought something through (danger! danger!). But taking it slower and having more time to refine what you're going through to say is a luxury. I've come to see writing books like that."

Bloggers and writers are often encouraged to 'build their brand' - but is there a downside to your name becoming a brand? Do you think people fail to separate the 'brand' from the person, resulting in personal attacks?
MF: "The brand is the person in many ways, at least it is for me. It's too much effort to have to turn a brand on and off. I'm just myself, flaws and all. Hence the name of the book! I am inextricably linked with what I do and what I say and I'm fine with that. I don't take on any commercial arrangements that I don't believe in and I'm always transparent about them. You have to be!

Mamamia, the website, is about to undergo a big change, morphing from blog to fully fledged web magazine by all accounts - what's the reason behind that? Will there be less Mia?
MF: "Mamamia hasn't been a personal blog for a long, long time. There's only so much one person can say! And I never wanted to do a personal blog or a mummy blog. Love them, but it wasn't for me. I wanted to create something for a broader audience, with lots of voices, all as relevant and important as mine. I will assume the same role on the new site as I've been taking for a while on Mamamia - that of editor and publisher. So, in short, not less Mia, no. But more of everything else."