Mary Glazer would be a perfect choice for any aspiring writer to get advice from. Her work has already been published in several issues of Florida Gardening magazine. Now, she is the Gulf states regional writer for Lowe’s Creative Ideas online gardening magazine.
But if you ask her, she’s not a writer at all.
“I don’t consider myself to be a writer because grammar and punctuation is something I struggle with and does not come naturally to me,” Glazer said. “I am more comfortable with a verbal presentation, where I don’t have to consider where all the filler words fall or in what sequence.”
But the Writer’s Alliance of Gainesville thought differently. About 30 people sang and laughed as they listened to stories and tips based on Glazer’s experience as a published writer. The nonprofit organization hosted its July seminar series, A Freelance Writer’s Maiden Voyage, at the Millhopper branch library on Sunday.
The Writer’s Alliance of Gainesville is a nonprofit organization that promotes, encourages and supports aspiring and experienced regional writers. Members can participate in monthly meetings, writing contests, ongoing critique groups, public readings and “collaborations with schools and civic organizations to foster creative expression through the written word.”
Members also have the opportunity to have their work published in the Bacopa Literary Journal, which is free for group members. Glazer, a former member of the alliance, is now a writer who is under contract for the first time in her career. With this new experience, she found skills that could also help other group members in their creative writing.
“It was the first time in my life someone gave me topics to write on,” said Glazer on her first time writing for Lowe’s. “That really took a lot of pressure off of me. Anytime I’ve written for Florida Gardening, I pitched articles, and to no surprise, many of my ideas were turned down.”
In her “Five Tips to Sail” presentation, Glazer talked about the importance of using outlines to start a piece and never starting a new chapter with a blank paper.
She said that in past experience, she was not used to someone giving her deadlines for her work. She admits it was difficult to balance her work for Lowe’s while attending UF to pursue studies in ornamental horticulture.
“My editor had asked me, ‘Can you write an article a week until I get you caught up with the other nine writers in the country?’ and I said ‘Sure.’ Because what are you going to say when you have a full opportunity land in your lap? I have a huge stack of schoolwork from UF and I thought, ‘No. This ain’t going to happen.’”
But Glazer did make Lowe’s her top priority and said despite some mistakes she’s made, it always helped her to have someone else look over her work. She encouraged attendees to get feedback on their work from someone else.
Much of what Glazer said was very informative for several audience members, including potential alliance member Terri Regotti.
“I thought the meeting was great, and I really enjoyed listening to Mary,” said Regotti, who likes to write nonfiction pieces. “My takeaway was perhaps, in what I’m working on writing, I need to consider not naming real names.”
When Glazer is not writing gardening pieces for Lowe’s, she is working on a medical memoir but enjoys writing about plants, people and nature.
For more information on Mary Glazer or the Writers Alliance of Gainesville, visit www.writersalliance.org.
Mary Glazer may not consider herself a writer, but her presentation at the Writers’ Alliance of Gainesville Meeting Sunday showcased how to start a new chapter in your life and with writing.
