10 Things Writers Love to do on Facebook

1. Announce when they’ve got a writing assignment.

2. Announce what famous person they’re interviewing today for this assignment.

3. Post link to their published article.

4. “Like” their published article, which reposts the link to their published article.

5. Post link to blog post about published article.

6. Repeat 1-5 with each new project.

7. Keep track of what books they are reading on the Goodreads app. Always include own books.

8. Post quotes from famous authors.

9. Try to outdo all other friends (and/or famous author quotes) with pithy status updates.

10. Announce upcoming readings, workshops, or appearances.

Ok, fellow writers. Which ones are you guilty of?

Writing Workshops in Europe this spring

Three months into this baby abroad thing, Writer Abroad's boss is finally allowing her up to nine hours of uninterrupted sleep at night. So with this much rest, Writer Abroad actually has energy to share some news about upcoming writing workshops in Europe this spring:

First off, the Geneva Writers' Conference will take place February 3-5.

Then in March, Writer Abroad will be teaching a course, "Working as a Writer in Switzerland: Journalism, Copywriting, Blogging and more" during Workshop Week at the American Women's Club in Zurich on March 17.

Amal Chatterjee will be teaching a workshop in prose and poetry in Amsterdam from May 11-13th.

And finally, May 18-20, the Zurich Writers Workshop will hold their third writing conference. Featured authors include Diccon Bewes (Swiss Watching) and Sam North (The Old Country). More details and registration will appear soon on their website.

Any workshops to add? Please leave a comment.

Happy New Year

Writer Abroad isn't doing much of anything this year between Christmas and New Year's. Well, not much of anything except eating a lot of cheese. See, this year, she stayed in Switzerland for the holiday. The result? According to Mr. Writer Abroad, "I have such a big ball of cheese in my stomach that it is radiating heat like the sun."

Now that's the way to celebrate the season, Swiss style.

Alles Gute zum neuen Jahr from Writer Abroad.

Writing conferences, blogging, and more

With a whopping 6.5 hours of uninterrupted sleep last night, Writer Abroad can almost think straight. So without further ado, here’s the latest news from the international writing community:

The Geneva Writers’ Conference will welcome over 200 writers from around the world for a weekend of workshops in Geneva, Switzerland, from February 3-5, 2012. Registration is now open.

The Zurich Writers Workshop is organizing critique groups for writers living in Zurich and the surrounding areas. To join, submit your contact info before the end of the year.

Looking for writing training that’s not location specific? Over at the Urban Muse Writer, Susan Johnston has compiled a list of 5 Sources for Free Online Writing Training.

Want to make money as a blogger? Visit ProBlogger’s job board. You have to read the ads carefully to make sure it’s a good deal (i.e. decent pay instead of just ad revenue), but Writer Abroad once found a gig from this site and ended up blogging for that company for over a year.

Finally, Writer Abroad just completed something that makes her proud: her first assignment post-baby. She wrote the destination feature on Zurich this month for Serendib, the inflight magazine of Sri Lankan Airlines.

Anything you want to share that’s going on in your area? Please leave a comment.

Five Great Books About Life Abroad

There are a lot of books about life abroad out there.

But many of them romanticize the experience rather than tell the truth: life abroad is hard. Contrary to popular belief, the world is not just a place for Westerners to eat, pray, or fix up a holiday home. It can also be a place where a person with a Master’s degree doesn’t even know the word for beef.

Below are five books that paint a more accurate portrait of life abroad when you’re really, really living it for the long haul. If you're looking for a Christmas gift, I recommend any of these. And if you order them by clicking on the links included in this blog, you’ll help support Writer Abroad as well.

Me Talk Pretty One Day

By David Sedaris

Ruthless French teachers. Fears of speaking a new language so strong you wish meat were sold in vending machines. Trying to explain a holiday such as Easter in another language (Jesus shaves, anyone?). In these stories and more, Sedaris pretty much sums up the difficulties (and surprising rewards) that come from trying to make a life in another country. C'est bon.

Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven

By Susan Jane Gilman

A recent college graduate, Susan Jane Gilman was ready to conquer the world. She had romantic visions of backpacking abroad. But then she went to China, which in the 80s, had been open to tourists for about ten minutes. Between ant infested hotel rooms, broken down vehicles, and Chinese men who don’t know a word of English but can recite John Denver songs by heart, Gilman proves that “real travel” doesn’t get much more real than this.

Tales from the Expat Harem

Edited by Anastasia M. Ashman and Jennifer Eaton Goekmen

Before I traveled to Turkey last year, I read this collection of 32 essays about women who live there. One of my favorite essays was about a Christian evangelist from Iowa who was rescued by the very Turkish souls she hoped to save. Gotta love the theme: An American goes out to save the world and the world saves her instead.

Moonlight in Odessa

By Janet Skeslien Charles

What happens when a woman from the Ukraine becomes so tempted by the American dream that she becomes a mail order bride in order to attain it? This novel, written by an American expat living in Paris, has the answers. See the United States through the eyes of a Ukrainian as the main character, Daria, goes from being wide-eyed over things like garage door openers to finally becoming skeptical of the very materialism she dreamed of obtaining.

Kabul Beauty School

By Deborah Rodriguez

This is the true story of an American woman who goes to Afghanistan to teach women how to open their own beauty parlors. But teaching becomes interwoven with living as her students share their stories with her. From the woman who faked her virginity on her wedding night to the 12-year-old bride who was sold to repay family debts, this is an interesting look into the lives of Afghan women and also the affect they have on the American woman who came to empower them.

What are your favorite books about life or travel abroad?

Babies, Writing Conferences, and more

It’s official. Writer Abroad is now also Mother Abroad. Her little daughter was born a couple weeks ago and now her time management challenge between writing and mothering begins.

Not surprisingly, Writer Abroad has been inspired by Anne Lamott’s Operating Instructions: A Journal Of My Son’s First Year. So while taking a break from both her memoir and her novel, she’s decided to try a similar kind of journal, but with a living abroad twist. So far, the most she’s written at one time without being interrupted is about 1300 words. But the average seems to be more like 200 words. But at least she’s never searching for inspiration…

Speaking of inspiration, there’s an interesting literary festival going on in Lisbon next summer, July 1-13, 2012. It’s called Disquiet: Dzanc Books International Literary Program. The program features workshops in poetry, fiction, nonfiction and photography. It also features Philip Graham on faculty, who was interviewed on this site last year.

At the end of this month, Zurich’s first weekend-long book festival will bring more than 100 events to the Switzerland region. To add some English-language spirit to the festival, the Zurich Writers Workshop and the Nuance Words Collective have arranged an event at Widder Bar on Saturday, October 29, starting at 18:00. The event will lead you to Orell Füssli for its ‘Welcome to the Night Circus’ event at 20:00.

Well, that’s all the news for now. If you have any links to share or news about a writing conference or event, please leave a link below or contact me.

Do you write for free?

Lately, I’ve been getting a stream of emails from editors of online magazines asking if I would like to be a contributing writer.

These emails have a few things in common:

They often praise my blog or other articles I’ve written.

They say I’d be the perfect writer for their website or magazine.

They offer no mention of payment.

When and if I inquire further, the answer is usually, “Well, we hope to pay our writers in the future, but for right now, we pay in links.”

My response?

Delete.

My feeling is, you want a professional writer? One that would be perfect for your website or magazine? Then you should pay them.

Would you approach an IT professional and ask for free services? Or a lawyer?

Case closed. This is an overused topic on most writing blogs, so I won’t say much more. Except to encourage all writers to know your worth. It’s not necessary to write for free even if you’re trying to build a writing portfolio. There are local newspapers. There are trade magazines. And yes, there are even websites that pay.

What’s even more amazing is that editors are even asking established writers to contribute for free. I’ve been writing for magazines and newspapers for seven years now, and the requests to write for free still keep coming in. Luckily though, to balance out these requests, there are real assignments that get offered as well.

Have you gotten requests to write for payment in links? If so, how do you respond? Should writers write for free?