Category: Conversations with a Self-Publishing Writer

WRITING WITH FRAGRANCE…

Last week I used an analogy of a writer compared to a rose, both enjoying thousands upon thousands of unique species and hybrids.  I’m smiling—remembering a particular writing conference workshop titled: What Species of Writer Are You?  Wish I still had the notes from that discussion, but I can still give you the basic points scented with my perspective, of course.

#1…Just as every flower, leaf, branch and tree is uniquely different, so are you; as an intelligent being, as a person and as a writer.  It is extremely important to accept just how unique we are and that what we are inspired to write about is enormously valuable.

#2…Because we are intelligent beings, we can get lost in the adventure of learning.  Yes, we must develop the skills and abilities associated with our gift of writing; however, if we allow ourselves to get lost in the research, the story (article, poem, etc.) may never be finished and published.

#3…We are blessed with five (some folks say six) marvelous senses: sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell (and insight).  All of these natural abilities must come into play when we’re writing.

#4…A writer’s species becomes identified in the genre of writing they are drawn to, starting with what genre they read the most.  This also includes what genre of film one appreciates and/or enjoys the most.

#5…Marriages occur between species creating—exceptional—hybrids.  When a writer develops personal relationships (with family, friends, marriage partners, co-workers), other genre fragrances come into the mix.  The history professor (of a writer) questions an established “fact” of history and multiple “what-if” scenarios blossom.

#7…Or…the beautifully landscaped botanic gardens are destroyed by flood; Nature’s fury uproots everything and the gardener (writer) must begin again!  Not to worry.  The re-write will be better than the first.

#8…The hardy species survive and grow stronger.  Thus it must be with writers—developing the “thick skin” necessary to ward off barbs while still being able to accept/absorb the constructive nutrients from useful critique.

When that workshop speaker laid out gardening tools all around the podium, I almost got up and left,  but I’m glad I didn’t.  She visually portrayed the elements needed to keep writers “growing.”  She confirmed that a stagnant writer—who cannot “think outside the box”—is dying and if they’re not careful, they’ll be uprooted. She also confirmed the value of “planting” our work—publishing it—the minute we know that it is ready for release.

ABOUT ROYALENE DOYLE: Royalene Doyle is a Ghostwriter with Outskirts Press, bringing more than 35 years of writing experience to authors who need “just a little assistance” with completing their writing projects. She has worked with both experienced and fledgling writers helping complete projects in multiple genres. When a writer brings the passion they have for their work and combines it with Royalene’s passion to see the finished project in print, books are published and the writer’s legacy is passed forward.

A WRITER IS…

…a Writer, is a Writer—as a rose is a rose is a rose.  Within the genus Rosa (in the family rosacea), there are over 100 species and thousands upon thousands of exquisite hybrid cultivations, many of which are being created even as I write this blog.  That is how I see a writer—a person who has the vision to create a specific piece of writing, whether it is a blog, a novel, textbook, mechanics manual, tweet, or the most inspired and uplifting play and/or film script ever written.  Where do you fit?

When there is a concept flapping around in my thoughts and I can’t seem to get it OUT on the page, I take a walk.  Sometimes it’s a short walk down the hallway of our apartment building and across the scenic connection bridge to the café for their brand of coffee and back again.  Often I grab my sun hat and walking poles to enjoy the canal path just a block away.  Once in a great while I’ll drive up into the foothills and step into the illusion of being alone in the wilderness where seasonal wildflowers greet me and evidence of coyote, deer, or bear might be found on the trail.  And, all the while, those ideas for that writing project are sorting themselves out and settling into place.  That’s the working theory anyway, and I can happily report that most of the time it is successful—for me.

Last month I took one of those walk-in-the-wilderness excursions; four days of placing myself in a lodge away from my normal routine and setting myself up to focus on one particular project.  Sometimes we just must shake ourselves from normal patterns—like turning the soil around rosebushes and adding fertilizer—to allow the best writing that is within us to COME OUT!  That time away was (as the cliché states) a little slice of Heaven.  I’m attaching one (of over 160) photos I took during that time, just to give you an idea about that environment of inspiration.  Notice the rough marks on the standing aspen trees?  Deer or moose marked his passage there.

However, the unexpected happenings of such a get-away are often the most inspiring; the people met along the way.  The first motivator for me was the woman at the counter of the mountain gas/convenience store.  She politely asked me if I was on vacation (immediately aware that I wasn’t a local).  When I said I was taking a few “writing-get-away” days to get my book re-started, she said, “I should do that!  With all the different people who come through here, I could write volumes!”  (I hope she does!)

Then an hour later I was talking with the manager of the lodge and discovered that she’d “always wanted to write.”  Friends have been telling her for years that she is a “born writer.”  So, why is she managing a mountain lodge?  We talked about seasons-of-life and what they teach us in preparation for being the writer we’re meant to be.  Just think of the people (sharing their life-events with her) who have stayed in her lodge.  Imagine the mountain stories she’s collected from the town folks, delivery drivers, and back-country hikers.  Oh, she’s in a great season-of-life to delve into writing—and publishing.  I’ll be watching for her books!

ABOUT ROYALENE DOYLE: Royalene Doyle is a Ghostwriter with Outskirts Press, bringing more than 35 years of writing experience to authors who need “just a little assistance” with completing their writing projects. She has worked with both experienced and fledgling writers helping complete projects in multiple genres. When a writer brings the passion they have for their work and combines it with Royalene’s passion to see the finished project in print, books are published and the writer’s legacy is passed forward.

INSPIRED PERSPECTIVE

Walking through a shopping mall recently, I caught a conversation segment as a young lady’s voice rose to a higher pitch: “…and if I’d never seen that—for myself—I wouldn’t have believed it.”  Oh how I wanted to ask her what she’d seen!  I didn’t, of course, so my imagination was left to fly off in multiple directions.

Now, sitting at my computer, writing to other writers, I’m acutely aware of how inspiring that snippet statement is—confirming the fact-based nature of humans who so easily believe what they see—even if what they’re seeing is a special-effects fabrication.  Long ago, the marketing/public relations gurus recognized this element of human nature.  Their skill in creating just enough illusion in the sales-pitch of their products seems to increase by the hour as earth’s population becomes ever more susceptible.  We want “the facts” to be “true.”  Don’t we?

Well, that’s a bigger discussion than I’m able to provide in this space and time.  However, the concept—as it relates to writing—is a valuable one to talk about.  Below are two food-for-thought statements:

STICK TO THE FACTS in non-fiction writing.  Always?  Most-of-the-time?  The definition of this term non-fiction is: A report or factual account…history…empirically true assertions and descriptions written by an authority in that field.  The fact about non-fiction writing is that it is also a narrative and/or story of the topic/subject being addressed.  It is a cumulative work of research developed by an author who believes his or her facts are true.  These authors offer their readers their knowledgeable, inspired perspective on the subject matter they are writing about.

BRING ON THE WIZARD OF OZ!  Fiction writing is often labeled a theoretical, imaginary flight-of-fancy “invented” by an author to provide escape from reality.  Personally, I don’t like labels and I don’t appreciate that definition.  Elements of it are true; however, my version would go something like this: Authors of all fiction genres provide a unique and inspired perspective to their subject matter by incorporating “what if” scenarios giving readers the opportunity to explore possibilities they might not have imagined before.

THERE IT IS…the connective umbilical cord that supports ALL WRITERS…inspired perspective.  Over the last several blog entries, I’ve given examples of books that I consider to be superbly written by authors utilizing this gift—their uniquely inspired perspective.  From Anne Lamott’s BIRD BY BIRD: SOME INSTRUCTIONS ON WRITING AND LIFE to THE ROBE by Lloyd C. Douglas and THE MOTE IN GOD’S EYE by authors Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, each author has offered readers fact-based, imaginatively told stories meant to open hearts and minds to new and exciting horizons.  THIS IS EXCELLENT WRITING!

Without doubt, there is someone reading this blog right now who has this gift of writing!  ARE YOU USING IT?  Are you writing?  Are you ready to publish?  THEN DO IT!  Don’t make the rest of us wait any longer!  Search out the self-publishing company that best fits your needs and enjoy the satisfaction of holding that book IN YOUR HANDS!

ABOUT ROYALENE DOYLE: Royalene Doyle is a Ghostwriter with Outskirts Press, bringing more than 35 years of writing experience to authors who need “just a little assistance” with completing their writing projects. She has worked with both experienced and fledgling writers helping complete projects in multiple genres. When a writer brings the passion they have for their work and combines it with Royalene’s passion to see the finished project in print, books are published and the writer’s legacy is passed forward.

IT’S IN THE STARS-III…

…and it’s all about perspective.  Last month, the daughter of one of our neighbors (U.S. Air Force Lieutenant General, Susan J. Helms) came to our community center and spoke about her “walking in space” experiences.  That is, indeed, a unique perspective that few of us earthly inhabitants will ever know.  And yet, it was so easy for every person in the room to identify with her—to grasp the concepts she spoke about.  From expressing her excitement about the Space Program, Shuttle flights and her months aboard the International Space Station, to her world record 8 hour and 56 minute “walk” in space, her perspective filled the imaginations of every listener.  It was an honor for me to attend that gathering and meet such an extraordinary person.

That brief encounter with someone who has actually gone into Space—as I’ve occasionally dreamed of doing—also brought back marvelous memories of the Space Adventure books I’ve read over the years.  Possibly my favorite (and I say possibly because I have so many favorites) is The Mote In God’s Eye by authors Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle.  Yes, authors can work together to create a truly amazing novel—one that is more complete, more fully developed than if they had attempted it on their own.

This novel was first published in 1974 and I read it shortly thereafter, but have not re-read it (although as I’m writing this I know I will be reading it again, soon).  Yet, I can still recall vivid images that the writing produced in my mind.  Can you imagine it; society in the far distant future of 3017 when the people of earth have been involved in an “interstellar war?” Can you see the image conjured by the title; a blazing red supergiant star with a yellow (sun-like) star visible in front of it—looking (perhaps) like the Eye of God?  Do you perceive the conundrums being flung between the science and technology of space travel and human belief systems?  Can you imagine the rational (and irrational) need within human nature to know more—to go there?  And where do the human elements of faith, hope, love, integrity, greed and the hunger for power, prestige and fame intersect within this scenario?

Yes, I hope you will read this science fiction adventure novel.  But MORE than that, I hope you will write your own—yes—even collaborate with another writer whose imagination carries them “out of this world.”  There is something inexpressibly marvelous that takes place when two writers work together toward a common goal—with THE END of the story in mind; when both writers hear themselves saying, “Yes, YES, that works!” and the plot moves forward in new, exciting and unexpected ways.

That is what I feel when coming along side an author as a ghostwriter/consultant—a unique element of JOY!  And that is what your team of self-publishing co-laborers feel, too, seeing your book(s) through the production process and IN the hands of readers.

ABOUT ROYALENE DOYLE: Royalene Doyle is a Ghostwriter with Outskirts Press, bringing more than 35 years of writing experience to authors who need “just a little assistance” with completing their writing projects. She has worked with both experienced and fledgling writers helping complete projects in multiple genres. When a writer brings the passion they have for their work and combines it with Royalene’s passion to see the finished project in print, books are published and the writer’s legacy is passed forward.