Category: Royalene Speaks

Conversations with a Self-Publishing Writer, Royalene Speaks, Uncategorized

Conversations: 8/11/2017

S.O.S. – Writers Need Help, Too – Part II

jump skydive

SO you’ve “jumped off the cliff” and are diligently working to complete the book that’s been humming in your brain for years! You’ve outlined the plot from beginning to end. You’ve fleshed out the characters and built intrigue into their personalities. You’ve done your research and created multiple files of information about places, things, even weather patterns. The manuscript is almost complete, but you just can’t seem to quit writing it. Something is missing. Do you put those beautifully written pages in the drawer and wait—wait for the day, week, month or year when you’ll know what’s missing and can complete it?

PLEASE—don’t file that manuscript away! You’ve already sown your heart—and many hours of your life—into those pages. Take a big breath, and seek editorial help. Yes, I’m an “editor,” and IF we’re a good match, I’d love to help you. However, the purpose of this blog is to give you a few tips in finding THAT RIGHT MATCH so that your dream of publishing this book (and future ones, too) will become reality.

  • With the speed of the Internet these days, your query to find “manuscript editors” or “writing coaches” or “writing consultants” will give many options. Warning: beware of those who call themselves superstar editors. Their fees will match their opinions of themselves.
  • If your manuscript is a specific genre, search for “best” or “excellent” editors in that genre.
  • Personally, I prefer to talk with prospective clients either in person or by telephone. This first “consult” should always be FREE. If someone wants to charge you for that time, it is a good indication that they are more interested in your $$ than assisting you complete your book.
  • BE READY to give a clear, concise, conceptual idea of your story’s theme and the main characters who will be living the story.
  • Prepare a list of questions that can be asked of each person you interview. This should include questions such as:
    • Why are you in the editing profession?
    • How many clients have you done work for; and may I speak with any of them?
    • What do you consider as your editing strengths? Weaknesses?
    • What are your fees?
  • KEEP IN MIND that, even though you’ll be hiring an editor, you’re actually building a partnership. You and the editor you select will be co-workers, and that person must share the vision you have for your work. He/she will also:
    • Make sure your storyline “flows” through the pages with clear, concisely written sentences that convey what YOU want them to say.
    • That the voice of each character speaks to the reader as you (the author) intends.
    • If the manuscript is non-fiction, they will ensure that your voice—your speaking patterns—are maintained. This is vital when you are asked to speak at book signings, conferences, etc.

Bottom line: Seeking editorial assistance is one of the best decisions writers can make. Not only does it rescue that precious piece writing from the Land of the Lost File Drawers, but it opens the path to publishing an excellent book that Readers will enjoy for generations. ⚓︎

 

Royalene

ABOUT ROYALENE DOYLE: Royalene has been writing something since before kindergarten days and continues to love the process. Through her small business—DOYLE WRITING SERVICES—she brings more than 40 years of writing experience to authors who need “just a little assistance” with completing their projects. This is a nice fit as she develops these blogs for Outskirts Press (OP) a leading self-publisher, and occasionally accepts a ghostwriting project from one of their clients. Her recent book release (with OP) titled FIREPROOF PROVERBS, A Writer’s Study of Words, is already receiving excellent reviews including several professional writer’s endorsements given on the book’s back cover.
Royalene’s writing experience grew through a wide variety of positions from Office Manager and Administrative Assistant to Teacher of Literature and Advanced Writing courses and editor/writer for an International Christian ministry. Her willingness to listen to struggling authors, learn their goals and expectations and discern their writing voice has brought many manuscripts into the published books arena.
Conversations with a Self-Publishing Writer, Royalene Speaks, Uncategorized

Conversations: 8/4/2017

S. O. S. – Writers Need Help, Too.

Becoming a published author is a commitment—a big commitment—and for many of us it has been a lifetime goal. I took my first adult writing class in the mid-1970s. (You’re trying to guess my age now, aren’t you?) The instructor was in her sixties and just beginning a career in writing that she’d put on hold while raising her family. Her example of NEVER giving up on the dream of writing has continued to inspire me to this very day. She is now 103 years young and still writing! However, even with her constant encouragement there were times when I never thought I world (or could) call myself a “real writer.”

First: I’d like to share my personal definition of a writer: a person who thinks and enjoys the process of discovering more, then literally must write about it. This person is filled with words that seem to spontaneously combust in the imagination and, again, must be written; then comes the moment of illumination that leads toward a writing career and authorship.

Second: We know we’re “real writers” when our immediate environment—school, family, faith and friends—hone our perspectives (plural) and nudge us toward a particular genre. Eventually, every detail of daily life becomes a potential element in what we utilize to express what we see in words, phrases, sentences and paragraphs on the written page.

However, when all of this natural ability meets real-world expectations, I’ve seen too many “real writers” set aside their talents—and their amazing work now boxed on closet shelves—and give up. That’s when I want to shake them by the shoulders and say, “GET TO your keyboard and FIGHT! Pull out your favorite piece and talk to another writer about it! Go to a writers’ conference and just listen to all the other writers who have experienced what you’re going through—then ask for their help!”

ARE YOU THE REAL WRITER WHO HAS STOPPED WRITING? Are you the “real writer” who is embarrassed to ask for help? Please listen to what I’m sharing in my blogs this month!

Every writer on this planet has experienced these same thoughts and feelings—and many of them are now utilizing their writing talents and publishing expertise to help the rest of us. Not long ago, when talking with a publishing consultant (who also happens to be a gifted writer) her words of encouragement made me think of what John F. Kennedy said when speaking to graduating students at Rice University (1962).

“We choose to go to the moon” [to be writers]. “…not because it is easy, but because it is hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win.”

Now you know something else about me. I enjoy finding positive quotes that speak to me, personally, and hopefully will inspire others. That’s one of my little tricks to keep myself motivated and moving forward instead of looking back. Then, when other writers ask for my help, I can not only share practical assistance, but inspiring words.  So, I’ll close with one more quote from a favorite author, Ray Bradbury.

“Go to the edge of the cliff and jump off. Build your wings on the way down.” 

bradbury

 

⚓︎

 

Royalene

ABOUT ROYALENE DOYLE: Royalene has been writing something since before kindergarten days and continues to love the process. Through her small business—DOYLE WRITING SERVICES—she brings more than 40 years of writing experience to authors who need “just a little assistance” with completing their projects. This is a nice fit as she develops these blogs for Outskirts Press (OP) a leading self-publisher, and occasionally accepts a ghostwriting project from one of their clients. Her recent book release (with OP) titled FIREPROOF PROVERBS, A Writer’s Study of Words, is already receiving excellent reviews including several professional writer’s endorsements given on the book’s back cover.
Royalene’s writing experience grew through a wide variety of positions from Office Manager and Administrative Assistant to Teacher of Literature and Advanced Writing courses and editor/writer for an International Christian ministry. Her willingness to listen to struggling authors, learn their goals and expectations and discern their writing voice has brought many manuscripts into the published books arena.
Conversations with a Self-Publishing Writer, Royalene Speaks, Uncategorized

Conversations: 7/28/2017

IT’S JULY!

TIME TO CELEBRATE OUR FREEDOM TO WRITE! IV

My focus this month on the Freedom Legacy today’s writers have available to and for all of us has been an encouragement for me. I hope it has been for you, too. However, I would be remiss if I did return to the fact: Freedom is not “Free.” The Legacy of Freedom we carry forward today has come at a price—both ancient and recent. The cost has been dear, yet what we continue to experience through the written works of every author before us, only fortifies the foundation that supports us today.

Early Publishing in the Colonies: The American colonies found immediate publishing Freedoms with printing press pamphlets and writings from American authors such as Captain John Smith, Thomas Ash, William Penn and others. Histories, poetry and Bibles (or Bible sections) were the most frequently published. At this same time, England continued to restrict their printing by confining the presses to four locations where the government could monitor what was produced.

One of the first African American authors, Phillis Wheatley, published hephillis wheatleyr book—Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral—in 1773, three years before our Independence Day. She was born in Senegal (West Africa), sold into slavery at age seven, brought to American and was purchased by a Boston merchant. By age 16, she spoke fluent American-English and began writing poetry. Even though George Washington told her “the style and manner [of your poetry] exhibit a striking proof of your great poetical talents,” Wheatley still had to defend herself in court to prove that she’d written her book. This event became possibly the first “court recorded” recognition of African-American literature.

More Recently: Esmat Qaney of Afghanistan is a  novelist and short story writer. Because his work was judged “hostile” by the Afghan government, copies of it were burned, and Qaney was forced to flee from his country (1980) and subsequently settled in Pakistan. Then again, after publishing a collection of his short stories (Send Charity, God Bless You), the new authorities in Afghanistan—the Taliban—found that book to be “an insult” and decreed that Qaney and his publisher were “apostates.” All available copies were seized and burned. As far as I was able to research, Qaney remains in hiding, leaving his family behind.

In China, Wang Yiliang, a poet and essayist was involved in underground literary activities (1980s). He was kept under constant surveillance, was regularly interrogated and jailed, and he was banned from publishing any of his works. By early 2000, Wang was arrested for “disrupting social order” and sentenced to two years of “re-education through labor.”

And if you’re a writer in North Korea today, your chances of being published are practically zero. One “fiction” novel has been smuggled out, title: The Accusation, Forbidden Stories From Inside North Korea by Bandi (pseudonym). Kirkus Review says that this novel is, “Of more journalistic and sociological than literary interest, without the inventiveness of recent writing [techniques] south of the 38th parallel—but still an important document of witness.”

And so it must be. Writers who feel the palpable heartbreak of hundreds, thousands, millions of others, must tell the world what is happening whether through fiction, non-fiction or poetry. It is only through the courage and tenacity of such authors that Franklin D. Roosevelt’s hopes can be realized. He once wrote that he looks forward to a world founded on the essential human FREEDOMS and “the first is freedom of speech and expression.”

Returning to thoughts of my own FREEDOMS here in these United States of America, I am so thankful that what I write can and will be published, when I decide to publish. I will continue writing until I can write no more, and when I’m no longer able, maybe someone will pull out a desk-drawer manuscript of mine and publish it for me. I believe this is the deep desire of all creative artists. It is yours? Do something about it today. Write! Publish! …and write some more! ⚓︎

 

Royalene

ABOUT ROYALENE DOYLE: Royalene has been writing something since before kindergarten days and continues to love the process. Through her small business—DOYLE WRITING SERVICES—she brings more than 40 years of writing experience to authors who need “just a little assistance” with completing their projects. This is a nice fit as she develops these blogs for Outskirts Press (OP) a leading self-publisher, and occasionally accepts a ghostwriting project from one of their clients. Her recent book release (with OP) titled FIREPROOF PROVERBS, A Writer’s Study of Words, is already receiving excellent reviews including several professional writer’s endorsements given on the book’s back cover.
Royalene’s writing experience grew through a wide variety of positions from Office Manager and Administrative Assistant to Teacher of Literature and Advanced Writing courses and editor/writer for an International Christian ministry. Her willingness to listen to struggling authors, learn their goals and expectations and discern their writing voice has brought many manuscripts into the published books arena.
Conversations with a Self-Publishing Writer, Royalene Speaks, Uncategorized

Conversations: 7/21/2017

IT’S JULY!

TIME TO CELEBRATE OUR FREEDOM TO WRITE! III

Long ago I figured out that I needed examples of whatever I was attempting to learn. Of course, my algebra 101 teacher was thrilled to give me all the examples I could fit into my folder. With her help, I quickly concluded that “higher math” was not the path that would lead me into a satisfying career. However, the reading assignments (examples of excellent writing) given to me by English and History professors definitely opened new horizons for me. Each book gave me the FREEDOM to safely explore eras of war, famine, faith and pioneer courage—and imagine what my life might have been like had I lived in those times.  So, today, I offer you examples of excellent writing in the genres of Memoir and Fiction (action). These books are from self-published authors who took advantage of their FREEDOM to publish when, where and how they wanted—giving us fresh perspectives that can enhance our own book projects.

Larry Clayton tells us that his book My Memories Are My Testimony is “the true tale omy memories are my testimony larry claytonf a working man from a working-class family who never forgot from where he came,” including his “youthful misadventures that involved drugs, shoplifting, and a little bit of hustle.”  However, at some point in his young life he realized he had the FREEDOM to choose his next steps which took him into an Air Force career followed by his adventures in the corporate world. This inspirational and compelling memoir is proof that a man’s life need not be defined by his beginnings. Proof that the freedoms we enjoy—written into the Declaration of Independence—are alive and well today.

contra legem s michael siegalS. Michale Siegal is another amazing self-published author who has now produced his second fiction novel: Contra Legem. After retiring from nearly thirty-six years in law enforcement, Siegal has dedicated this novel to all of the men and women behind the badge who daily serve and protect our communities.

His main character, Officer Harold Cohen, has become a police officer, a very nontraditional occupation for Jewish men and women. So even though the scenarios of the story are fiction, Siegal’s personal life experiences and education bring significance and value to each chapter. This is especially true as Officer Cohen deals with the concerns of a mother who does not believe Jewish boys should become policemen, but would rather he find success as a minister, doctor, lawyer or entrepreneur. This highly accurate portrayal of the day-to-day life of a police officer demonstrates the balance they must find between a person’s heart desires, family and career—a career that literally has criminals aiming guns in his direction.

These two authors are, indeed, excellent examples of writers who have the purpose and desire to publish. They are following in the footsteps of highly successful “independent authors” such as Irma Rombauer who printed her book, The Joy of Cooking, in 1931 with A.C. Clayton, a company that had never printed a book before. Both the author and those company owners were practicing their FREEDOM to print want they wanted published; and such independent thinking remains “alive and well” with authors and self-publishing houses this very day. I am blessed to be a part of this Freedom Legacy, and I hope you are—or will be—too. ⚓︎

 

Royalene

ABOUT ROYALENE DOYLE: Royalene has been writing something since before kindergarten days and continues to love the process. Through her small business—DOYLE WRITING SERVICES—she brings more than 40 years of writing experience to authors who need “just a little assistance” with completing their projects. This is a nice fit as she develops these blogs for Outskirts Press (OP) a leading self-publisher, and occasionally accepts a ghostwriting project from one of their clients. Her recent book release (with OP) titled FIREPROOF PROVERBS, A Writer’s Study of Words, is already receiving excellent reviews including several professional writer’s endorsements given on the book’s back cover.
Royalene’s writing experience grew through a wide variety of positions from Office Manager and Administrative Assistant to Teacher of Literature and Advanced Writing courses and editor/writer for an International Christian ministry. Her willingness to listen to struggling authors, learn their goals and expectations and discern their writing voice has brought many manuscripts into the published books arena.
Conversations with a Self-Publishing Writer, Royalene Speaks, Uncategorized

Conversations: 7/14/2017

IT’S JULY!

TIME TO CELEBRATE OUR FREEDOM TO WRITE! II

Once upon a time there was a teacher. Her “student-teaching experience” sent her to a high school where she was assigned to a class of “low-performing students.” Walking into that classroom was a moment mixed with fear, courage and hope. She already knew that one student had allegedly threatened a previous teacher with a gun; and didn’t know what to expect from the others. Yet, from that very first day, she saw potential in each and every student. Her dream to “be a teacher” became her hope to help them find a FREEDOM they never dreamed possible—through writing!

The next school year—now a full teacher—she was assigned a sophomore class. That was the year of student “walk-out” protests because of political unrest. She listened to her students, and asked them to keep journals and write about the similarities of the “family feuds” they experienced at home or knew of in gangs to the families of Romeo and Juliet. She also gave reading assignments of books written by other teenagers in times of war: Diary of a Young Girl by Ann Frank, Zkata’s Diary by Zlata Filipović and Night by Elie Wiesel. Writing these journals helped many of the students as they anonymously passed copies of pages around the classroom and shared their thoughts. Slowly, these students, who once refused to even speak to someone who looked different, became like a family.

You may have heard of this woman—teacher, encourager, speaker, writer. Her name is Erin Gurwell, and she and her students created the book, The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them. The book was published in 1999 and remains a “go to” assignment for many teachers, today. I must admit that when I read book, some of the words made me feel uncomfortable; yet, I learned much about the circumstances of these wonderful young people. The movie Freedom Writers was released in 2007. And, there is now the Freedom Writers Foundation that encourages the Freedom Writers method of writing around the world.

freedom writers erin gruwell

OUR COUNTRY, and that Declaration of Independence document, set the stage for Erin Gurwell to dream of and become an amazing teacher more than 200 years later. Her education was filled with the writings of professors, poets, novelists and memoir authors. And she—like the American Revolution patriots—became an unforgettable example of how hard work, courage and the spirit of determination can change lives, and writing was the main tool she used.

Are you an out of the box thinker and writer like Erin Gurwell and the authors of the Declaration of Independence? If you answered, “No, not really,” please consider the following:

  • Do you enjoy brainstorming plot ideas? I have a neighbor who loves to read mysteries. So when my plot runs into a wall, I sit with her a while, and ask what she likes best about the plot of the book she’s reading. Those 30-60 minutes kick my brain into gear and my own plot comes to life again.
  • Do you like to re-write the endings of your favorite TV shows or movies? My husband (who has done some acting) and I really enjoy discussing “how we’d write that story.” Almost without exception those ideas find their way into my notes for an article, short story or novel.
  • Are you learning new things? Each and every time we research background information for our stories we are stepping out of the box of our genre and into the realm of new ideas.

Without exception, every writer I’ve ever met and/or worked with has enhanced my own abilities and given me new ideas—enriching my personal freedom to write new and better works. May we all appreciate and grow in our FREEDOM WRITING, and FREEDOM PUBLISHING, too! ⚓︎

 

Royalene

ABOUT ROYALENE DOYLE: Royalene has been writing something since before kindergarten days and continues to love the process. Through her small business—DOYLE WRITING SERVICES—she brings more than 40 years of writing experience to authors who need “just a little assistance” with completing their projects. This is a nice fit as she develops these blogs for Outskirts Press (OP) a leading self-publisher, and occasionally accepts a ghostwriting project from one of their clients. Her recent book release (with OP) titled FIREPROOF PROVERBS, A Writer’s Study of Words, is already receiving excellent reviews including several professional writer’s endorsements given on the book’s back cover.
Royalene’s writing experience grew through a wide variety of positions from Office Manager and Administrative Assistant to Teacher of Literature and Advanced Writing courses and editor/writer for an International Christian ministry. Her willingness to listen to struggling authors, learn their goals and expectations and discern their writing voice has brought many manuscripts into the published books arena.