What’s your Golden Wheelhouse?

 

In accordance with the guidelines of the Insecure Writers Support Group, where writers share their insecurities and thoughts, I’m writing my post to coincide with the first Wednesday of the month. My topic for this post is the Golden Wheelhouse.

 

These little sounds and symbols are often triggers that set off emotional bombs. But what matters are the meanings of words and the truths they express, not the symbols themselves. ~ Paul Rosenberg.

 

All writers are in the business of these little sounds and symbols called words. But apparently, when we’re writing in our ‘golden wheelhouse’, our words become more heavily freighted with meaning and significance. I rather like this newly coined term which I’ve read in various articles and blogs on the interweb of late. I believe the term means when a person writes about the subjects and characters that hold the most meaning to them, the resulting book becomes greater than the sum of its parts.

 

 

 

 

How do we find what we should be writing?

I've always heard that you know you’ve found the zone which works for you when the subject matter and genre excite you, when the hours vanish and time has no meaning. I’m drawn to write about the big questions and ‘high concept’ fiction for children. Then, further, I'm the most interested in the fantasy genre and mythology. Those places are where the words flow for me, where it feels as if the prose comes from my heart and soul, so those things must comprise my ‘golden wheelhouse’.

 

Decide what’s important to you.

I’ve realized you can tell when a writer is working in their golden wheelhouse–that depth of feeling and experience comes across in every word. There’s an accompanying sense of the effortless in a story written this way as well. It has an uplift effect, and more importantly, the story has a beating heart. It’s alive.

 

A few years ago, I read a manuscript for someone, in which they had deviated totally from their golden wheelhouse to a new genre and the story came across as sterile and unappealing. It didn’t come across as authentic. The story had lost the usual soul and resounding impact.

 

Our task as writers is to engage our readers from go to whoa. In order to do this, it seems to me to be paramount that each writer decides what is the most important to them. Not what they think will be popular or will sell books, but what moves them to their core? What do they need to say? That's the key.

 

 

How about you? What’s your golden wheelhouse? Have you discovered it yet? I'd love to know!

 

See ya' in the funny papers!

Till next time,

Yvette K. Carol

 

"The talent of success is nothing more than doing what you can do well, and doing well whatever you do without thought of fame. If it comes at all it will come because it is deserved, not because it is sought after." - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Not So Accidental Blog Tourist Hop

Hi guys,

Thanks to Catherine Johnson for tagging me in the Not-so-accidental blog tourist hop started by Crystal Collier

Catherine Johnson is the author/illustrator of two poetry books for children, Weirdo Zoo and The Everglades. Zompoemz coming soon.

So these are the questions:

1.     What am I currently working on?

I’m working on the first book in my ‘tween series, the Records of Aden, called, Aden Weaver & the Or’in of Tane Mahuta.

What drives some people to greatness?
An ordinary boy has a score to settle against those who killed his parents, and a vicious warlord wants the boy dead. No matter what you do, Aden Weaver, don't lose your head.

2.     How does my work differ from others of its genre?

My books will fit in under the Amazon category ‘Shape-shifters and werewolves’ although there are no werewolves in the story! It's also called 'Alternative Universe Fantasy'. That’s where the work is similar.

 

Where it differs is that the shape-shifters switch between insects and humans with the residual features of their insect selves. So the dragonflies retain smaller, shorter wings in their human form. In human form they can still fly but for shorter distances.

 

A lot of people have said as they’ve edited my books, ‘Why insects?’ but to me, it’s a whole new world that is seldom explored. Why not insects? We get to see the world (in this case, the Planet Chiron) from their perspective, that of the small critters. Most scenes take place inside caves and trees and flowers, places within nature and underground. It holds an endless fascination for me, one that hopefully creates a magical and unique reading experience.        

 

3.     Why do I write/create what I do?

 

I tried writing for adults and it was boring! I’d far rather write to the unfettered imagination of young people.

 

As Nathaniel Hawthorne put it so eloquently in 1853, Children are now the only representatives of the men and women of that happy era (the golden age) and therefore it is that we must raise the intellect and fancy to the level of childhood, in order to recreate the original myths. 

 

4.     How does your writing/creating process work?

It’s a bit of a mix of the practical and metaphysical. When I’m in the ‘genesis’ stage of a book, I stick to a routine established from doing writing workshops with the wonderful New Zealand writer and lecturer, Kate de Goldi, who insisted on ‘non-stop writing’ for a prescribed time every day.

Then, I pay close attention to my dreams. I sleep with a pad and a pen by my bed because once I’m writing a book, the muse will strike at all hours. And I find that my best ideas and flashes of inspiration blow in through my dreams. They also will often hit when I’m out walking or running. Then I have to hang on to the words and race home to get them down onto paper before they blow away on the ether!

 

~~

Now, I have a confession to make. I admit that while I've managed the questions and the acknowledgement side of this blog hop, I have managed to fail wholesale on the 'hop' part. Of the ten or so bloggers I invited to take part, not a single person said yes. Folks are busy these days, that's all. Sorry, Catherine, I did try, but my part of the hop trail ends here. It was cool getting to answer the questions though!

 

 

 

See ya' in the funny papers!

 

Let me know, what do you think? Why do you create/write what you do?

 

Yvette K. Carol

 

 

http://www.yvettecarol.com

How do you protect your unique voice in the critique group experience?

In accordance with the guidelines of the Insecure Writers Support Group, where writers share their insecurities and thoughts, I’m writing my post to coincide with the first Wednesday of the month. My topic for this post is critique groups.
I remember many years ago when I joined kiwiwrite4kids, the organizer, Maria Gill, advised me to join a critique group.

Myself and Maria Gill at last year's Storylines Children's Literature Festival.

 

As Anne R. Allen said,‘Joining a writing group is one of the easiest ways to learn your craft. And it's way cheaper than hiring an editor.’

 

It’s taken me a long time to find the right critique group. Along the way to finding the group that really works best for me, I went through a disastrous experience with a writing partner who slowly undercut my confidence and reduced me to questioning whether I even wanted to be a writer. I’ve been in groups where it was all ‘take’ and no ‘give’ and groups where I was the only experienced writer on board.

 

As Anne R. Allen said in her recent blog post, when you’re in a group you’re not sure is right for you, ask yourself, ‘Do their suggestions give you an "ah-ha" moment, or make you want to toss the baked brie in the critiquer's face?’ 

 

And if the latter is the case, and these people appear to be more vicious than helpful, realize, ‘People like this are operating from a place of envy and fear. Nothing they say can help you, because they're only half-listening to your piece. They're too busy rehearsing their bitter bon mots. The fix: Run! Get out while you still have the will to live.’ 

 

Thankfully, I have finally found a group this year that fits my needs and my lifestyle and is peopled with others who give and take in equal measure.

The issue for me now is how do I utilize all their great suggestions while still retaining my style and protecting my voice? And this is an issue I’ve been discussing lately with other writers. It’s a real conundrum.

With one piece recently, I followed every single person’s suggestions to the letter, and the resulting story was neat as a pin. Only problem was it didn’t sound or feel like me anymore.

After a similar experience, my dear friend, the author, Maria Cisneros-Toth said, ‘I began to read aloud starting at chapter one. Horrified, I stopped. My character's voice was gone. I panicked, jumped up and went straight to my computer and began dropping in those parts that I had been told to delete. They were still fresh in my mind, thank goodness. And from there I fleshed out the story. I remembered my counselor's words and I still live by them even in my writing...sift and choose your information.’

My friends over on Writing for Children and I are about to critique one another’s stories for an anthology we’re putting together. I decided to address this issue with them, so I wrote this letter:

 

'This is what I want to say about critique, which I've just been learning recently, these are purely my thoughts, you don't have to take them on if they don't resonate with you. We're all different. Maria & I have been discussing this lately. It's just that if we take every single critique, even when we don't agree with it, then we may end up with a piece that's not authentic to us. Only take on board that which in your gut feels right. So feel free to use or discard my comments. It's up to you.'

Do you agree? What critique group experiences have you had?

See ya in the funny papers!

Till next time,

Yvette K. Carol

My evolution of art

I had a lot of fun this week doing something that’s been a long time coming. As the folks who read this blog and my newsletter know, I recently finished painting the interior of my house. But what most people don’t know is that I’ve had my own oil portraits waiting to go on the walls for the last fourteen years.

I guess the reason most people don’t know about my art is because I gave it up in 2005 to focus on the writing (more about that part in another blog).

 Right from when I first started writing fiction for children as a teenager, I started doodling pictures of the characters. And it evolved from there.

Black ink, The Great Adventures of Splat the Wonder Dog

Nature does not hurry and yet everything is accomplished. ~Lao Tzu
 

I started out as a writer determined I’d be one of those special hybrids, the author/illustrator, because I’d admired Tove Janssen’s work so much as a child. The next twenty plus years were spent pouring hours into the text and then just as many hours into the illustrations. Unfortunately, this only served to put more barriers between me and publication as publishers took umbrage at what they saw as my ‘taking work away from in-house illustrators’. I loved to illustrate my own stories though, so I continued putting pictures to the words.

Black ink and pencil, for The Great Adventures of Splat the Wonder Dog
 

Blessed are the flexible, for they shall never be bent out of shape. ~Anonymous

 

One day, I was showing work such as the illustration above to my friend, the great artist and sculptor, Liz Sutherland. “It’s good,” she said, “but you should take my class in oil portraiture. It’d teach you to be bold in painting and in life.”

My first two oil portraits, 2000 and 2001.

 

 

There is no shortcut, snake oil, or passwords to greatness. You just have to put in your time, fill up your sketchbooks, draw from life, say yes to scary assignments. Eventually, it starts making sense. These victories are ridiculously thrilling. ~ Zelda Devon

I committed to making the drive up to Kaukapakapa every Saturday, to take classes with the dynamic Mrs Sutherland. It was very different to any type of art I had ever done before. It was time-consuming and took months to produce one finished piece and yet it was so deeply rewarding. I understood Liz’s passion for oil paint—because of its depth and texture. As Liz said, “Sometimes an oil portrait can look better than a photograph because of the richness.”

My eldest son at 17.

 

Art is not a thing; it is a way. ~ Elbert Hubbard

 

A few years and two more babies later, I had amassed seven A3 size oil portraits. But now there were two small children to raise and I was no longer able to spend leisurely Saturdays sitting in the countryside, painting. Two of the portraits were given away as gifts. One was a commission. The others have waited for me to paint the interior of the house so that I could hang them on the walls.

My middle child, at 10 months.

 

“The most important thing about art is to work.” ~ Steven Pressfield

 

The paintings waited in bubble wrap until last week. The walls of the house had been painted. I’d purchased the ‘damage-free hanging hooks’ and spent half a day measuring the distances. The boys helped me hang the paintings and then they posed beneath their baby portraits. It was a cross-the-finish-line moment. As I said on Facebook, Victories are hard to come by so you've got to celebrate when you get them. Then I saw this comment echoed by my friend, author, Joanna Marple, who said, ‘Celebrate the small victories.’Yes, exactly!

The top right painting is of my youngest son, aged 12 months.

“The lyf so short, the craft so longe to lerne.” ~Geoffrey Chaucer

 

And what about your art, Yvette? you say, did you continue? Still thinking on this topic, partly because it's come up lately and partly because of getting to hang my portraits and look at them again. At any rate, we shall revisit this topic in another blog, never fear.

Do you paint, draw, or craft? What other creative outlets give you joy?

Ttl,

Yvette K. Carol

 

Does using social media really help you sell more books?

This week, writer friends and I have been talking on the interweb about the thorny issue of using social media to sell our books and art. An author and artist I know posted this status update on Facebook, I'm not convinced that having a self-promoting Facebook page and blog actually does anything for ones income after all.

It was this status update which inspired my blog post. What a great question!

I have conflicting feelings on this subject. I don’t have a ‘fan page’. I use my own personal page on Facebook for everything. I enjoy Facebook. I think it’s fun. I really get a kick out of communicating back and forth with friends over silly pictures or discussing favourite television programmes. It’s a good way of keeping up with family too in this busy life. I’ve found the community of writers online to be supportive and pretty great. Yet, a lot of times when I post some new thing on my page about something I’ve done to promote my book-in-progress, the comments and likes are low-to-none. The airwaves go eerily silent. You can hear owls hooting in the distance.

Sometimes, with something new, you’ve got to take things slowly....

People seem to be incredibly sensitive to feeling they’re being ‘sold something’, and I admit I'm exactly the same way. I don’t like it one little bit when I feel I’m getting to know someone, only to have them turn around and try to sell me something.

So when we have our work ready to share with the world, is it a good idea to promote ourselves on social media? Or are we all simply wasting our time?

One author responded to the Facebook post, I have FB, a blog, an awesome as website, twitter etc and nothing. I have paid to promote some of my FB posts about my books and it has not resulted in any sales. Your FB page, on the other hand, is awesome in that it keeps you in touch with people who already care about what you do. But, making money. Nah. Not me.

Another writer said: It seems to me that it has a more subtle role. Drawing attention to what you are about and finding those who are interested in what you do.

ThomasUmstaad gave a podcast, featured on Author Media recently about the seven key differences between published and unpublished authors, and number seven was Marketing. He said, Published authors see marketing as part of their mission to entertain, help & inspire others. Unpublished authors see marketing as their publisher’s job.

Utilising social media always comes at the top of every respectable bloggers list when it comes to how to sell more books.

And yet , there are always exceptions to every rule. According to one person who commented on our conversation on Facebook, I went to the exhibition of a friend who doesn't have a blog, twitter, Facebook, or even her own email address and watched as artworks priced between $3,500 and $10,000 sold within minutes.

The comments reminded me of hearing our famous New Zealand author, Margaret Mahy, speak once at a festival. I was surprised to hear Margaret  say she didn’t use email, or have a website, or have a blog or a page on Facebook. And of course, when you think about it, J.K.Rowling started out the same way. While I enjoy Facebook, and Pinterest, etc, I find the notion of not doing social media a relaxing thought. Mahy and Rowling were writers. They wrote. Perhaps we should all take a leaf from their book and spend more time creating? The really successful people don’t usually sweat the small stuff like the rest of us, it seems.

And this is where the conflict comes in. Self-promotion on social media probably doesn't work, and it is a pain keeping up with it, and yet it's also quite a lot of fun. Maybe the wisest thing we can do is lower our expectations of what social media can do for us? When you have a creative talent you wish to share with the world, do so, and tell people about it. Then move on to the next project. 

As Jim Carrey famously said, “Success consists of letting the universe know what you want and working toward it, while letting go of how it comes to pass.”

If it’s meant to be, it’ll all work out perfectly....
 

What do you think? Tell me, I'd love to know!


Joke for the week~
Why shouldn't you tell a secret on a farm?
Because the potatoes have eyes and the corn has ears!

Ttl,
Yvette K. Carol :)

The Creation of the seal for the Order of Twenty-four

The Creation of the seal for the Order of Twenty-four

Hands up who’d like to get paid?

It seems fitting on Insecure Writer's Support Group Day to talk about a tetchy subject that gives some of us the heebie-jeebies - that of self-promotion. This week, author and blogger extraordinaire, Kristen Lamb, was saying on Facebook that she’d received some flak for adding links to her book and classes at the end of her blog posts. She commented, ‘And this is what hurts writers, the belief that we should not be paid for what we do.’

I thought maybe people don’t realize the realities these days. It’s a different world out there now for writers, artists, actors, models, in fact for everyone. The reality is folks rely less on advertising to make their purchasing decisions. We listen more to  word-of-mouth and social media. Watching Fashion Police on E the other night, Joan Rivers took a few minutes to plug her new book, saying that it could be preordered through her website, and when you think about it, this sort of individual self-promotion is something we’re seeing more and more. Whether it’s a byline about your book at the end of a blog post or the list of URL’s following your name on emails or the website you attach to your name via Gravatar, these are perfectly respectable practices these days. As long as each of us is respectful and honest in our approach to sharing our work, then what’s wrong with that? If we’ve ‘tilled’ the land by writing a blog, or providing a service, or making people laugh, then surely we may plant another seed which may grow further?

One of the members of my critique group who is a literary editor and agent recently commented, ‘The good news is that one of my authors' books came out. With all the social media, emailing, and other marketing she's been doing, including an Amazon Bestseller campaign, she hit No. 1 in her categories. She sold 174 copies in four days! Marketing pays off!’

Like it or not, this is the reality for an author these days. I remember meeting an author once who said he was ‘the talent’ and it was over to the publisher to handle the marketing because ‘that’s their job’. For one thing, smaller numbers than ever before in history are knocking on the doors of traditional publishers. For another thing, even if you do win a traditional contract, I hate to break it you, but you’re still expected to do the lion’s share of the marketing It’s up to you. So hang your shingle out on whatever doors are available to you, and don’t apologize.

Stand strong!

Kiwi author, Julie Thomas, was asked, ‘A lot of people want to self-publish books. What’s your advice to them?’ Her advice was, ‘You need to publicize, every day.’ How do you publicize, every day? In small, continual ways that are easy to maintain like this at the end of my emails (which I just started doing this week, bad me):

http://www.yvettecarol.com

http://www.yvettecarol.blogspot.com

 

How else do we get the word about our books (or products) out if we don’t actively promote ourselves? Through publishers advertising us? Forget it unless you’re in the top tier of authors who receive the lion’s share of the advertising revenue. Through friends and family? Not likely, apart from the precious 1% who do, most people are just too busy to spread the word about your new book no matter how much they may love you. No. These days it’s up to the individual. Because remember, as Jane Friedman said, For all the hosannas you can hear on one hand about backing the car over gatekeepers and barreling down the honeysuckle-festooned byways of 99-cents self-publishing, there are: Tales of impenetrable thickets of discoverability.

 

Well, those are my thoughts on the subject. What do you think?

See ya' in the funny papers!

Yvette :-)