Coping with a Cynical Critique, by Sandra Nikolai

Like any writer who wants to succeed, I spent years learning about the profession and refining my skills. I attended writers’ conferences, studied how-to books on writing and publishing, and read piles of novels in a variety of genres.

Armed with a draft of my first mystery novel, I took the next step in the process: I found a mentor through a writers’ group I’d joined. My mentor offered to review the first and last thirty pages of my novel and email her comments to me after a month’s time.

At the end of the session, her email arrived and I was eager to read it. As my eyes flew over the words, disbelief stifled enthusiasm. Her remarks were sarcastic and stung as much on screen as if she’d read them out loud in a room full of people. She proposed drastic changes to the characters, settings, and plot. She even advised me to re-write the entire story in the third person. (I’d written it in the first person.) In closing, she defended her position as a “tough editor” and hoped her comments would help me write a better book.

You’ve got to be kidding!

My next reaction was to send “Miss Sarcastic” a nasty email but I decided against it. It wasn’t worth the time or energy to respond to someone who was inconsiderate and rude. I’d just file a complaint against her on the evaluation form I had to complete and send it off to the writers’ group headquarters. And yet…

Available from Amazon Kindle http://www.amazon.com/Impressions-Michael-Elliott-mystery-ebook/dp/B0086WMMZ0/ref=sr_1_6?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1338295012&sr=1-6

I read Miss Sarcastic’s comments again. Her mocking attitude had dealt a serious blow to my ego, but what if she was right and my story did need a revamp? After all, she had a handful of published mystery novels under her belt and had mentored other writers. I was…well…green. Surely she must know what she’s talking about. And so I conceded, knowing that the revisions to my manuscript would entail a major upheaval. In fact, the task proved a lot more difficult than writing the book in the first place and took months out of my life. After I’d finished, I put it aside. When I read it a week later, I was disheartened. It was no longer my story. The changes I’d made had sucked the life right out of it. I hated it.

Not one to accept defeat, I reviewed Miss Sarcastic’s comments again—this time from an unbiased perspective. I dug out my original manuscript and integrated the changes that I felt would benefit the story and ignored the rest. After I finished, I had to admit it was a stronger novel.

I recently heard that my mentor has abandoned her writing career. Her book sales weren’t doing well, so she accepted a job with a media firm. If anything, I owe her a modicum of gratitude. The experience inspired me to set up guidelines that I’ve since followed when reviewing critiques of my work. I’d like to share them with other writers in the hope they might find them useful too:

1. Take the time to review a critique. Let it ferment. You might interpret it differently later on.

2. Try not to take a negative critique as a personal insult but consider it with an open mind.

3. A negative critique gives you a choice: either fix the problem or ignore it. Consider how any change will affect your story. Will it strengthen or weaken it?

4. No one knows your characters or plot as well as you do. If a suggestion for a change doesn’t fit— no matter how good it might sound, don’t force it into the story.

5. Growing as a writer means heeding your inner voice or gut feelings. Trust your writer’s instincts more often. If you believe that a change will improve the story, do it. If not, move on.

Happy writing!

Meet Sandra Nikolai

Sandra was raised in Montreal, Québec, and graduated from McGill University. As a young girl, she loved reading the Nancy Drew mystery series and was determined to write her own stories one day. Her career choices didn’t exactly lead her along the “yellow brick road” to writing mystery novels—though working in a bank and experiencing a string of armed robberies did ingrain terrifying memories worthy of a story!

In 2002, Sandra won an Honorable Mention in Canadian Writer’s Journal short fiction competition. She has since published a dozen short stories online and in print. False Impressions is her first mystery novel in a series featuring ghostwriter Megan Scott and investigative reporter Michael Elliott. She is currently working on Fatal Whispers, book two in the series.

Sandra is a member of Crime Writers of Canada and Capital Crime Writers.

You can catch up with Sandra at her beautiful website and blog:

• http://sandranikolai.com/
• http://sandranikolai.com/blog/
• Buy False Impressions from Amazon Kindle

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This blog post is Copyright Sandra Nikolai 2013. All rights are reserved Internationally. You may not reproduce it in any form, in part of whole, without the author’s prior written permission. That includes usage in forms such as print, audio and digital imaging including pdf, jpg, png etc. A fee may be requested for re-use if it is for a commercial venture.

The Best Kept Editing Secret

In 2000 I published a memoir writing course. It has been revised four times and edited by three trained editors: two at University level. I have put countless hours of work into perfecting it, but guess what? If you read through, you will still find very small typos hidden in it like Easter Eggs. That drives me to screaming point!

It’s not just me. Since I’ve switched to e-books, I am finding frequent mistakes in books from best selling authors, distributed through traditional publishing houses. One mistake was of an unrelated sexual nature and the spell checker, or editor, should have easily picked it up. It looks like the editing monsters are tormenting more souls than mine!

So why does this happen? Let me tell you the secret. When I researched “Unleashing Your Creative Spirit,” I delved into theories on memory and how it functions. Your brain is the busiest organ in your body. It runs your internal organs, all your movements, your memory, computes stimuli from your five senses, logs time, drives your subconscious thinking processes and deals with what you are doing now: reading. At the same time, it makes sure you aren’t hot / cold / hungry / thirsty / tired / in pain, or about to be run over by a bus! It has to compute what is around you, plus predict what to expect next.

That is a massive workload to achieve all at once! So the brain, being smart, has brilliant means of conserving energy. It’s actually very eco-friendly, but that’s sometimes to a writer’s detriment.

Have you ever been to a friend’s place and said, “You’ve repainted,” just to have them look at you strangely and tell you they did if five years ago? Of course, it will be the home of that friend you visit fairly frequently. It’s a common faux pas. We all go to familiar places and say, “I never noticed that before.” It happens because in order to save the energy it takes to log all the details, your brain does a quick scan and just takes in what is the most important. For what it considers to be familiar or non-essential details, it relies on memory, or blocks stimuli out.

How does this work with editing? When you have read the same paragraph ten times, it becomes too familiar. The brain automatically decides that you don’t need to re-log all that, so mistakes go unnoticed. You’ve seen those emails where you can still read sentences, even though the letters in the middle of the words are mixed up? They work because a familiar pattern is identified and you auto-fill the rest.

So, how do we overcome this? Make your work look new! When I started blogging, I discovered that I would pick up mistakes in WordPress’ preview mode that I couldn’t see in the writing window. In preview, the font size differed and words were in different spots on the page. If you’re working in a word processor, you can try for the same effect by changing fonts, changing margin widths, altering text color, or opening the document in a totally different word processor.

The other lifesaver I use is to put my work aside, wait 48 hours then edit again. That gives my brain a chance to re-set.

So don’t beat yourself up over the occasional small typo. We all make them. Do everything you can to prevent the slip-ups from happening and remember: it’s all because you’re just too efficient!

News just to hand: starting March 1st there is a free initiative running named “National Novel Editing Month.” Your goal is 50 hours in March. Join here: http://www.test.nanoedmo.net/

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Please click on the book cover to order. You’re also welcome visit Cate’s website for full book details and to read sample pages.

This article / blog post is Copyright Cate Russell-Cole 2013. All rights are reserved Internationally. You may not reproduce it in any form, in part of whole, without Cate’s prior written permission. That includes usage in forms such as print, audio and digital imaging including pdf, jpg, png etc. A fee may be requested for re-using her work if it is for a commercial venture. Link sharing and Pinterest pins are most welcome as long as Cate is the attributed Author.

No images on this blog may be copied, captured, or altered for your own purpose without the consent of the originating owner.

 

Getting to the Heart of Your Story: A Guest Post by Rossandra White

At 49 I felt compelled to write a book. Not something I’d always wanted to do. I figured maybe it was just time to finally record all those stories about my ancestors who had been in South Africa since the 1800s, as well as my own stories about growing up in a small Zambian copper mining town; plus a two-year stint on a sisal plantation in Zimbabwe. This was before the two countries were independent, when colonial power held sway, when the bush was full of animals. And then there were all those road trips my family took to the Congo, Malawi, Kenya and Tanzania. The time an elephant chased our car for over five miles, forcing my dad to reverse down an excuse for a dirt road before the elephant gave up. The time we spent in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro with a crazy Belgian who kept wild animals for film-makers’ use; as well as that episode in Kenya when the Mau Maus attacked the cattle ranch where we were staying with a family my dad had befriended along the way. I had a lot to write about. What I didn’t know was that I intuitively chose writing “to take fuller possession of the reality of my life,” to paraphrase Ted Hughes.

Mau Mau

So I started writing, most days after work and on weekends. I agree with Kurt Vonnegut who said writing made him “feel like an armless and legless man with a crayon in his mouth.” Three years later I ended up with a 500 page memoir of flashbacks. The poor volunteer reviewer from the National Writer’s Association I joined penciled these little round faces with downturned mouths in the margins, complete with dialogue: “Oh nooo, not another flashback.” The other reviews I received convinced me just how much I had to learn about writing. Starting over, I bought and read a library of how-to books and took classes; I learnt about structure, plot, conflict, pacing, and theme. I joined critique groups and re-wrote.

This time I started with an incident when I was poisoned by rebels as a six-year old in Zimbabwe and turned my messy tome into a young adult novel and sequel, with two teenage protagonists, a black boy and a white girl. The story had political and spiritual overtones, lots of action, but the white girl and her family were essentially me and my family. The black protagonist represented Africa and her people.

An interested agent told me that the story was a good one, except that it lacked a unifying purpose; I hadn’t found the heart of the story. I didn’t know what that meant. I didn’t know how to pull it all together, how to find that elusive heart. I kept writing. Only now I began to realize that I hadn’t connected in any meaningful way to my characters. I had plumbed the depths of the story’s message and meaning, I had plot points and a climax; I had my people say words that revealed character and furthered the plot, but I didn’t know how they felt about all the conflicts they were going through, how they felt about each other – not in any meaningful way. That was because I had avoided my own feelings from the past. It was too painful. But in order to find the heart of my story I had to do so.

I immersed myself in the past and all those feelings I had suppressed. The white girl became more vulnerable, a little less reactive and rebellious; her mother more loving and sympathetic than my own distant mother had ever been; the father more fallible than I’d always believed my own father to be. Overall every character grew, including Africa, a country with which I’ve always had a love-hate relationship. In the end, what I managed to produce was a fully realized coming-of-age story. Both for the protagonists, but especially for me. Through the power of words, I had set down roots in time and explored my own personal myths, uncovered their purpose and grounded myself in a way I might not have been able to do otherwise.

You can follow Rossandra’s blog: “A former bushbaby’s take on writing, appreciating life and everything in between” at http://rossandrawhite.com

Rossandra lives in a Hobbit house, along with her two Staffordshire bull terriers, Fergie and Jake, where she writes about them, her life in Laguna Beach and her African past.

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This blog post is Copyright Rossandra White 2013. All rights are reserved Internationally. You may not reproduce it in any form, in part of whole, without the author’s prior written permission. That includes usage in forms such as print, audio and digital imaging including pdf, jpg, png etc. A fee may be requested for re-use if it is for a commercial venture.

Pinning Down Success

In 2012, I wrote a blog post declaring: “this year, I have taken a new approach to new year’s resolutions. Instead of writing a list of goals, which I ultimately never get to fully achieve, I wrote a list of words which represented what I wanted out of my life. Life has a habit of taking us places we never thought we’d be and I would like to be more consciously open to that. Plus I will try not to fret if it goes pear shaped in places!”

A month or two later, I found out I couldn’t function without a list of goals! I needed something in writing, which was a marker of where I wanted to be by the end of the year. In hindsight, I did capture the spirit of the words, but by October, I was fretting as my goals had gone pear shaped! Yet again, I made that classic mistake: I set too many goals and I fell short with three projects. Pacing myself was one of the great lessons of 2012!

This year I am going to set a limit to the number of my writing goals. One visually creative project, one book to be written, plus two essential business maintenance goals. That’s it. Anything else I find time for is a bonus!

The experts say to keep your goals prioritised, simple and small in number. We are encouraged to reach our goals and dreams by making small changes, or taking small progressive steps… not by embarking upon an exhausting revolution! Small changes are the ones that stick, avoiding failures and regrets.

We all tend to overload ourselves with activity and then fall down in an exhausted, disgruntled heap. Instead, slow down and build your confidence one area at a time. To maintain a healthy work – life balance and allow yourself days off. If you can’t afford that time, at least take a thirty minute break for yourself once or twice a week. Use that time how you like and don’t feel like you’re being selfish or cheating! You’re not.

Logo and excerpt Copyright Wellness and Writing Connections

Trying to do everything will quite often trip you. Our society needs to learn to slow down as a whole. Achievement takes time as it involves learning and we all absorb new information at our own pace. Getting there is meant to be a journey, not rush hour! As writers, we will thrive if we learn to wait and strategically move forward when we know we have the energy, confidence and resources.

Pick a small handful of great goals; work on them, then add another if you can. Be kind and gentle on yourself.

“Wellness and Writing Connections” on Facebook makes a great point about goals. (http://www.facebook.com/WellnessWriting) To quote the page author, “Writing a list of the things we would like to see more of in our life is a common theme in resolutions. What if we also make a list of things we want to leave out?” What if your major goal was to resist things that pull you down emotionally? That can make a massive change to your quality of life. What if it is to gently pull back from a bad friendship and set yourself free from it’s poor influences? Sometimes knowing what you don’t want is as important as knowing what you want.

This article / blog post is Copyright Cate Russell-Cole 2013. All rights are reserved Internationally. You may not reproduce it in any form, in part of whole, without Cate’s prior written permission. That includes usage in forms such as print, audio and digital imaging including pdf, jpg, png etc. A fee may be requested for re-using her work if it is for a commercial venture. Link sharing and Pinterest pins are most welcome as long as Cate is the attributed Author.

No images on this blog may be copied, captured, or altered for your own purpose without the consent of the originating owner. Where images are marked as being iStockphoto.com images, they are paid for and licenced to Cate for use on this blog. If you take them, iStockphoto.com has the right to take legal action against you for Copyright Infringement.

Please see the Blog Content and Image Copyright page of this blog for further information in regards to Guest Posts, other images, Cate’s checks on infringements and Liability.

What’s More Important: Your Journey or Final Destination?

Today in Australia, it is Melbourne Cup Day. It is one of those odd Aussie ways we have down here. It had my husband shaking his head when he first encountered it… while trying to actually do some work! At 3pm, no matter where you are, the nation stops as people stop and turn on the television or radio to catch this race. It’s the centrepiece of the Spring Racing Carnival. As this post is about the joy of running, not just the finish line, I thought it was an appropriate blog post for today. Update: “Green Moon” won the cup, and possibly a prize for a name that is creative. It does stand out.

One of the mistakes people make with creativity is focussing on the success or failure of the final creation. While the product is important, the greatest aspect of creativity, and often the most enjoyable is the process of discovery. The value doesn’t just lie there. The journey matters… The process is how you get where you want to go: the problem solving skills you apply, the multiple drafts or experimental types or models you work with in trying to perfect and identify what you want; the mental processes of figuring out exactly what direction to take. Creative people can find that aspect the most empowering part of working on a project. Once the project is finished, if ever, the challenge and need to stretch your capabilities is no longer present. That termination can be disappointing.

Pablo Picasso is a vivid example of creative genius. Not only did he paint, he produced many kinds of sculptures, facial masks, costumes, dresses, logos, posters, theatre sets, numerous objects and art works in canvas, stone, ceramics, metal and mixed media. Picasso would paint a completed work every morning, then move onto another project in the afternoon. He didn’t stop and reflect on his ideas or progress, he created his works in a matter of hours. It has been debated how much care or sustained effort he put into his artistic works as they were, almost churned out of a one-man production line. Consider though, did they need the same sort of planning and time taken over them that other artists needed? Perhaps Picasso was simply sure of what he was doing? In total, he bought over 30,000 works of art and physical objects into being.

If you take the time to read about his personal and business life, Picassoʼs egocentricity and extreme narcissism is another example of his creative ability that generated the results and atmosphere he wanted, and achieved his goals. Love or hate what he did, and how he did it, you can argue that his ability to focus solely on himself, may have been what enabled him to tap so astutely into his creative impulses. Picassoʼs choice of artistic subjects are also said to reflect his total self absorption. He chose not to represent nature or landscape, despite fashions at the time, as nature was outside of his mind and his control, holding no interest for him.

Picassoʼs effect on the world of art is a legacy that holds great value for many generations past and to come. His work was groundbreaking, freeing many artists to pursue their own vision, rather than remain trapped in the clutches of what was acceptable and in fashion. You may like to read more about Picassoʼs life and make up your own mind as to whether or not he was really an untamable megalomanic, or simply a genius, whose drive to create and survive spurned him on.

This post is an excerpt from Cate’s e-book “Unleashing Your Creative Spirit” which has just been officially released. If you have an interest in enhancing your creative potential, the e-book will be of inspiration to you.

Unleashing Your Creative Spirit was written to help you turn your dreams into reality! It explores the process and practical aspects of creativity; and has been written for artists, writers, musicians, dancers, gardeners, cooks, craft lovers: anyone trying to tap into their creative potential. It looks at the mental processing behind creativity; philosophies that drive how we think about and assess our creative worth; creative character traits; historical role models; an extensive bibliography and web link list plus more. The content is practical, not just analytical. It will give you ideas on how to move forward in your creative life.

Topics covered include:

• Capturing the Muse
• Quieting the Internal Censor
• Building A Creative Space
• Working With Failure
• Finding Direction
• Techniques To Use

The abridged ebook is available now on Amazon Kindle. The full illustrated e-course version with additional resources and exercises is only available from me, as e-book formats cannot handle it. You can order it directly from http://www.virtual-desk.com.au/trainer.html. Please scroll down the the course list and the select the buy button.

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This article / blog post is Copyright Cate Russell-Cole 2012. All rights are reserved Internationally. You may not reproduce it in any form, in part of whole, without Cate’s prior written permission. That includes usage in forms such as print, audio and digital imaging including pdf, jpg, png etc. A fee may be requested for re-using her work if it is for a commercial venture. Link sharing and Pinterest pins are most welcome as long as Cate is the attributed Author.

No images on this blog may be copied, captured, or altered for your own purpose without the consent of the originating owner. Where images are marked as being iStockphoto.com images, they are paid for and licenced to Cate for use on this blog. If you take them, iStockphoto.com has the right to take legal action against you for Copyright Infringement.

Please see the Blog Content and Image Copyright page of this blog for further information in regards to Guest Posts, other images, Cate’s checks on infringements and Liability.

 

Petwrification: A Health Warning for All Writers

Have you ever suffered from this?

Petwrification / Petwrified (verb) pet-wri-fi-cation
A psychological condition affecting writers, characterised by sudden horror, cognitive paralysis or emotional outbursts. It occurs when:

(1) finding a mistake in previously published work;
(2) discovering a phrase or point of grammar used wrongly for years;
(3) suddenly becoming immobilized on a punctuation issue;
(4) receiving negative feedback or poor reviews; and
(5) when writers have compared themselves to other writers, concluding that they are comparatively deficient.
(Derived from the common word petrify and the Latin petra, meaning rock.)”

We all have days like that as a writer. Please read my full guest post for encouragement at Southern Writers Magazine’s blog: http://southernwritersmagazine.blogspot.com.au

The Southern Writers post is a shortened excerpt from Cate’s e-book “Phoenix Rising: Conquering the Stresses of the Writer’s Life.” This e-book addresses the challenges and frustrations of writers in the digital age. It has been written for all genres of writers and all forms of publication. If your creative energy is low, your word count flagging or the downsides of being a writer are taking away your joy, this book will give you new strength and hope with which to spread your wings and find new freedom. Available from Amazon Kindle.

Chapters Include:

• Measuring the Value of Your Work in a Digital Age
• Healing Creative Injuries
• Creative Dark Matter: Clear Out What’s Holding You Down
• Bomb Proofing Your Writer’s Ego
• Handling Criticism
• Moving Ahead in Small Steps: Why Revolutions Rarely Work
• Fat Free, Guilt Free Blogging Goals
• Escaping Mental Quicksand: Your “Time of Readiness”
• Is Your Writing Life Stuck Under Your Mouse?
• Balancing the Blogging Load
• Writers and Depression: Debunking the Stereotypes
• Writers Should Be Bathed in Blue: Boosting Your Productivity
• Which Wins? Creative Pleasure or Word Count?
• Petwrification: A Health Warning for All Writers

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The image in this post belongs to a clipart set I bought in 1994 or so… I have no idea whose work it is.

This article / blog post is Copyright Cate Russell-Cole 2012. All rights are reserved Internationally. You may not reproduce it in any form, in part of whole, without Cate’s prior written permission. That includes usage in forms such as print, audio and digital imaging including pdf, jpg, png etc. A fee may be requested for re-using her work if it is for a commercial venture. Link sharing and Pinterest pins are most welcome as long as Cate is the attributed Author.

Please see the Blog Content and Image Copyright page of this blog for further information in regards to Guest Posts, other images, Cate’s checks on infringements and Liability.

Healing Creative Injuries

http://www.istockphoto.com

Julia Cameron put a brilliant quote on Facebook which reads: “When creative injuries are buried rather than acknowledged, they create potent creative blocks.” I had never thought of writer’s block that way before.

Obviously injuries are caused by rejection letters, bad reviews, criticism by someone you care about, the joys of sharing the Internet with trolls… there are many ways. The question is, how do you heal these injuries? Wounds don’t necessarily get better with time. Sometimes they just get worse.

In medicine, put simply, there are two general types of wounds: superficial and deep. Superficial is skin surface or a little deeper. There is a small injury which time will heal. The deep wounds are the ones that can go down, literally, to the bone. In an environment where there is no light, fresh air or positive outside influence, infections set in and serious complications occur. You get a temperature, feel pain and it doesn’t get better unless action is taken. Does that sound like you feel after being the victim of something nasty? Hot under the collar, hurt and left limping?

So how do we heal these injuries so we can move forward?

1. Recognise the offence has taken place.
2. Talk it out with someone you can trust (not the one holding the sword), or journal it out. Say how you feel, why it was unfair etc. and get it out of your system.
3. Let go of the infectious emotions you are holding onto: anger, bitterness, resentment, jealousy etc. See them as the destructive forces they are and move on. At this point, if you have journaled out your feelings, you may want to burn that as a ceremonial letting go.
4. Move away from negative people or social media that are reinforcing your pain or adding additional hurts.
5. Do something for yourself that will build your self-esteem back up. Join an initiative which is positive such as Creative Every Day, ROW80 or NaNoWriMo. Remember to laugh, play with your creative media and find the joy again.

I wish the answer came as simply as taking a pain killer and the problem is solved! As with any hurt, it is not an easy process. However, the more you practice shunning the negative and embracing the positive, the easier it gets. At times we all need some constructive criticism in our lives so we can grow, but never let it become poisonous. You’re worth more than that!

The post is an excerpt from Cate’s e-book “Phoenix Rising: Conquering the Stresses of the Writer’s Life.” This e-book addresses the challenges and frustrations of writers in the digital age. It has been written for all genres of writers and all forms of publication. If your creative energy is low, your word count flagging or the downsides of being a writer are taking away your joy, this book will give you new strength and hope with which to spread your wings and find new freedom. Available from Amazon Kindle.

Chapters Include:

• Measuring the Value of Your Work in a Digital Age
• Healing Creative Injuries
• Creative Dark Matter: Clear Out What’s Holding You Down
• Bomb Proofing Your Writer’s Ego
• Handling Criticism
• Moving Ahead in Small Steps: Why Revolutions Rarely Work
• Fat Free, Guilt Free Blogging Goals
• Escaping Mental Quicksand: Your “Time of Readiness”
• Is Your Writing Life Stuck Under Your Mouse?
• Balancing the Blogging Load
• Writers and Depression: Debunking the Stereotypes
• Writers Should Be Bathed in Blue: Boosting Your Productivity
• Which Wins? Creative Pleasure or Word Count?
• Petwrification: A Health Warning for All Writers

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This article / blog post is Copyright Cate Russell-Cole 2012. All rights are reserved Internationally. You may not reproduce it in any form, in part of whole, without Cate’s prior written permission. That includes usage in forms such as print, audio and digital imaging including pdf, jpg, png etc. A fee may be requested for re-using her work if it is for a commercial venture. Link sharing and Pinterest pins are most welcome as long as Cate is the attributed Author.

No images on this blog may be copied, captured, or altered for your own purpose without the consent of the originating owner. Where images are marked as being iStockphoto.com images, they are paid for and licenced to Cate for use on this blog. If you take them, iStockphoto.com has the right to take legal action against you for Copyright Infringement.

Please see the Blog Content and Image Copyright page of this blog for further information in regards to Guest Posts, other images, Cate’s checks on infringements and Liability.

 

A Great Pick-Me-Up for Writers

This short video from Authors Magazine features the best writing advice from 21 well known authors.

Some of it may be what you know, but it just makes you feel better listening to it. Enjoy!

Handling Criticism As A Writer

One of the greatest problems creative people have had, is that really good ideas don’t always receive the reception they deserve. You will always come up against the grouches who wouldn’t do it that way, or think your ideas stink! Never mind the critics. They are thoroughly capable of being completely wrong! Do you think the authors of great novels were told any differently? Can you imagine what some people would have said to Suzanne Collins when she told them her idea for The Hunger Games?

Here are suggestions on handling criticism.

• Learn how to handle it, as some of it is useful. You can’t see your blind spots or where you need to grow, others can and an honest and well meant piece of criticism can be valuable.
• Stubbornness and being fiercely protective of your work can come from fear and low self esteem (self doubts). Work on overcoming this.
• “All creative work is a constant process of learning.” That process will involve mistakes, and sometimes others will pick up the mistakes you haven’t noticed. It’s up to you whether to see that as being good or bad.

This old post is an excerpt from Cate’s e-book “Unleashing Your Creative Spirit” which has just been officially released. If you have an interest in enhancing your creative potential, the e-book will be of inspiration to you.

Unleashing Your Creative Spirit was written to help you turn your dreams into reality! It explores the process and practical aspects of creativity; and has been written for artists, writers, musicians, dancers, gardeners, cooks, craft lovers: anyone trying to tap into their creative potential. It looks at the mental processing behind creativity; philosophies that drive how we think about and assess our creative worth; creative character traits; historical role models; an extensive bibliography and web link list plus more. The content is practical, not just analytical. It will give you ideas on how to move forward in your creative life.

Topics covered include:

• Capturing the Muse
• Quieting the Internal Censor
• Building A Creative Space
• Working With Failure
• Finding Direction
• Techniques To Use

The abridged ebook is available now on Amazon Kindle. The full illustrated e-course version with additional resources and exercises is only available from me, as e-book formats cannot handle it. You can order it directly from http://www.virtual-desk.com.au/trainer.html. Please scroll down the the course list and the select the buy button.

 

This article / blog post is Copyright Cate Russell-Cole 2012. All rights are reserved Internationally. You may not reproduce it in any form, in part of whole, without Cate’s prior written permission. That includes usage in forms such as print, audio and digital imaging including pdf, jpg, png etc. A fee may be requested for re-using her work if it is for a commercial venture. Link sharing and Pinterest pins are most welcome as long as Cate is the attributed Author.

No images on this blog may be copied, captured, or altered for your own purpose without the consent of the originating owner. Where images are marked as being iStockphoto.com images, they are paid for and licenced to Cate for use on this blog. If you take them, iStockphoto.com has the right to take legal action against you for Copyright Infringement.

Please see the Blog Content and Image Copyright page of this blog for further information in regards to Guest Posts, other images, Cate’s checks on infringements and Liability.

A Character’s Journey to Peace: The Monomyth

Enlightenment: the “full comprehension of a situation;” a spiritual revelation or deep insight into the meaning and purpose of all things, communication with or understanding of the mind of God, profound spiritual understanding or a fundamentally changed consciousness… Source here.

In many stories, there is a lesson to be learnt, a challenge to be overcome and ultimately, enlightenment to be gained. When that happens, things will never be the same for that character again. It is the crowning glory of life, perhaps even guaranteeing you a cushy afterlife.

As it is the grand prize, enlightenment is naturally, a difficult thing to achieve. It takes luck, hard work, guidance and the patience of a saint. It is like trying to pin down a dust mote dancing in the light, or capture a tornado in a jam jar. What does it take to portray it in your fiction writing? Is it a concept which is way too big, too spiritual or too complex and time consuming to address?

If you have read the plot outline of the archetypal heroes journey (resources below), there is a stage where our hero (or main character), has to face their own fears. Sometimes that is their own mortality. This is where enlightenment can be discovered or destroyed. This point in time is the testing ground of strength: they can run; fail and cower; retry then win; or conquer outright with a strength they never knew they had. (Cue dramatic cinema music here.) This is a stage in the journey sometimes called “The Ordeal.” It is about transformation, rebirth and growth. The kind of turn-around enlightenment enables, cannot happen without ordeal. It is a major focal point which then gives the freedom to pursue a new way of thinking, behaving and being. They believe. They can. The struggle was worth it. There is inward peace. Good things can come from bad.

Luke Skywalker’s journey in Star Wars: A New Hope, is a frequently quoted example of this rite of passage. George Lucas followed the formula of the monomyth deliberately. He drew on archetypes for all his characters and worked the plot out to convey age-old symbols to a new audience. There are moments of futility, danger, hope and despair. It is very dramatic. However, in working with people in real life over the years, I have found that the path to maturity and freedom is often made up of many far less dramatic, smaller stages, which I call mini enlightenments. They are checkered by failures, disappointments and face-palm moments where you could have done better, but somehow, just missed the boat. But that’s how you get to success. You fall on your face repeatedly, then find peace and a way of getting through the day that is easier, simpler and more rewarding.

Image Copyright Lucasfilm Ltd.

I would break down the process of enlightenment even further. We tend to see it as a singular thing: an event hard won. From my experience with spirituality, there doesn’t seem to be one big enlightenment, one “eureka” moment which covers everything. It is a series of revelations that build you to be stronger and wiser, the further along your life’s journey you go.

We don’t all dual Dark Lords of the Sith, but we do dual fear and doubt. We don’t rescue princesses, but you may be the essential listening ear for a friend in need. If you have never read the heroes journey, I’d like to encourage you to read it, then bring it down to earth in simpler terms. If you are writing epic fantasy, it is most probably perfect as it is and no simplification is required. But are humans really like that?

Can one event or quest really change everything? You decide…

Original Source Embedded in Graphic

About the Heroes Journey

In 1949 the writer, Joseph Campell, described man’s path to enlightenment in his book “The Hero with a Thousand Faces.” (Available through Amazon also.) He studied the great works of fiction and found a pattern which has been written into many timeless stories from all over the world. It involves distinct character roles and growth stages, starting from weakness and advancing towards being an transformed conquerer. The term used to describe this process is monomyth. I have seen a number of variations of the journey. For great information, please visit this site: http://www.thewritersjourney.com/hero’s_journey.htm

This article / blog post is Copyright Cate Russell-Cole 2012. All rights are reserved Internationally. You may not reproduce it in any form, in part of whole, without Cate’s prior written permission. That includes usage in forms such as print, audio and digital imaging including pdf, jpg, png etc. A fee may be requested for re-using her work if it is for a commercial venture. Link sharing and Pinterest pins are most welcome as long as Cate is the attributed Author.

No images on this blog may be copied, captured, or altered for your own purpose without the consent of the originating owner. Where images are marked as being iStockphoto.com images, they are paid for and licenced to Cate for use on this blog. If you take them, iStockphoto.com has the right to take legal action against you for Copyright Infringement.

Please see the Blog Content and Image Copyright page of this blog for further information in regards to Guest Posts, other images, Cate’s checks on infringements and Liability.

Grabbing a Willing Audience: Ingenuity in Action!

Throughout our modern Internet history, there have been a few initiatives which have really stood out to me as audacious achievers. One of these is most definitely Klout.

Klout Employees Being “Beardheads.” It looks like a fun, successful place to work.

I stayed away from Klout for a long time as I didn’t see the value in it, plus frankly, the last thing I needed was another social media commitment. I’m trying to run a business, a home and a tricky health situation. I put priority on knowing when to draw the line.

Then one day, someone very kindly gave me some Klout. I was touched, I thought it was a lovely gesture. However, knowing I had never signed up for Klout, I also considered that to be downright suspicious. The Internet is not always a safe place to be… In the interests of knowing my potential enemy, I signed up. It seemed OK. I linked up my networks, got a score and it all seemed kind of nice. I started giving Klout to people and that gave me a warm, fuzzy feeling of giving back. It was goodwill in digital form.

Harmless enough, or as they say on the Cheezburger network, “seems legit.” But it worries me. Klout is a clever marketing technique. It is most certainly not a self-sacrificing users service. I am seeing far, far too many writers measuring their self-esteem on their Klout score and worrying about it. After all, it’s the “Standard for Influence.” That is disturbing. We’ve walked straight into their business plan and people are being negatively affected.

Writers need to be enjoying their creative journey; not bemoaning their perceived low score, or worrying about how to boost it higher. Considering it only measures half the networks I am attached to and doesn’t accurately reflect all activity on those, it’s pretty worthless to me anyway. I still occasionally log in and give some Klout to show my goodwill to people. That’s about it folks! I’ve dropped six points as I dared to work less hours and have some annual leave. I couldn’t care less. It doesn’t really matter.

Interestingly, the brand name Klout comes from the word “clout, noun: authoritative power, authority, controlling power, directing power, dominancy, dominion, eminence, force, hegemony, importance, influentiality, leverage, mastership, notability, power, power of impelling, predominancy, prestige, prominence, puissance, significance, weight.” (Source: http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/clout)

Whoa! Now pulling in that word as your business name was a great move. Talk about building a strong image. That’s a master stroke in business and not easy to do.

May I challenge you to think about this a little further?

Klout’s Current Investors, July 30 2012

Don’t forget here that Klout came looking for me and registered details about me, without my consent. (See Red Flags below for their policy statements.) When you deal with mail harvesting robots, or unsolicited marketing on social media, you get annoyed and look for an off option.

So why do we consider Klout to be benevolent? Because it makes us feel good when we see words like “you influence” and our score rises. As friends contribute, it appears to be a sweetheart service. However, I can click on any of the people I influence, select anyone they influence (whether I know them or not), and give them Klout then brag about it on Twitter – which may also increase my Twitter following as I was nice to someone and they just “discovered me.” Awwww. How genuinely sweet is that? It’s not. It’s manipulation to get attention.

I think it’s great to give people positive feedback, especially through retweets, blog comments and shares. I have a large problem with doing it through a commercial service with investors, that gives you bragging rights and takes any of your information off the net without your permission. I don’t care if they call it public information or not, I didn’t give them a right to it and that, **to me personally, ranks the same as spam.

I have no issues with online enterprises making money to cover costs, but when it’s a business affecting people’s self worth (regardless of the fact it is our individual responsibility not to allow anyone to affect us), then I get somewhat riled up.

Don’t let it ruin your self-esteem!

Klout Perks Could Be Considered Ads. It’s a great looking car, I wouldn’t mind one. If I was looking for a car, I’d check it out from this picture.

Red Flags

“Klout collects public data in order to accurately measure influence. Users can control the data available to Klout by changing the privacy settings on individual networks. Klout will never access your private data unless we have explicit permission.”

All my privacy settings are already set to keep intruders out, so how does this work? As far as I am concerned, they should never have known about me, let alone scored me. I came in with a score of 41 and I had never used their service or given any permissions. They had to collect that without my consent somehow.

“Allow Klout to see which pages you like on Facebook. This will allow Klout to offer you better and more relevant perks, communications, and experiences!” I have a high distinction in marketing. I have worked with small businesses on marketing strategies since the early nineties. To attract investors and get people in the door, this is a really good move. These guys are smart! I meant it when I used the word ingenuity. They have it.

Just in case I haven’t convinced you yet that you’re not a money making opportunity: the perk providers undoubtably pay and in the terms and conditions for all of us: “To the extent the Service or any portion thereof is made available for any fee, you may be required to select a payment plan and provide Klout information regarding your credit card or other payment instrument. You represent and warrant to Klout that such information is true and that you are authorized to use the payment instrument. We reserve the right to change Klout’s prices at any time.”

**This post is a personal opinion post which probably sounds self-righteous and downright snarky. It is solely my own, taken from my own personal experience, which I have the saved files to prove. However a personal opinion is a right which United States and Australian constitutions and legalities allow me to have. It is based entirely on fact and is not libellous. All images came off their site on July 30, 2012.

Klout is most welcome to contact me and show their lack of appreciation for my personal views, but I am not interested in perks, apologies or giving any company, any promo. I have no sponsored ads on this site. I have never been offered or accepted any form or product for comment or promotion. I work very hard on my own business, no one else’s… Of course I want you to buy my courses and books, but I won’t harvest your details without consent to do so. I try hard to ensure this stays a blog with integrity.

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This blog post by Cate Russell-Cole is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. You are free to share and adapt it.

Secrets You Never Thought Of

Nothing puts you on alert like being aware of insidious undercurrents laying just under the surface of what you can see… For fiction writers, secrecy and loss of trust is a goldmine of plot twists, character weaknesses and gripping reading.

Every Sunday, I visit the Post Secret web site. Post Secret is clinical proof that truth is stranger than fiction. For me, many secrets illustrate viewpoints far outside my experience and comprehension! Post Secret is the place where people can send in their innermost thoughts and secrets to relieve the pressures of guilt and turmoil. The page is updated weekly and some secrets are not what you’d expect… For example:

The following are from their web page dated the week starting May 6th 2012.

The value of Post Secret is the post card senders get to be their real selves. The site has prevented suicides; generated discussion and awareness of taboo topics; and created a series of books which people locate in libraries, then place their secrets in the pages for others to find. It’s a safety outlet and a way to help others. At one stage there was an app, which sadly was taken off the market as bullies and trolls misused it.

Not all secrets are shockers. Some are things which you just have to say to someone.

So if you are looking for out-of-the-box ideas for your characters, I recommend the site  http://www.postsecret.com But please, consider it only for for respectful viewing. Some of these secrets are probably posted to shock, but many are shared by people who are hurting badly. Remember that we don’t know the full story.

Below is an interview with founder, Frank Warren, on TED talks.

This article / blog post is Copyright Cate Russell-Cole 2012. All rights are reserved Internationally. You may not reproduce it in any form, in part of whole, without Cate’s prior written permission. That includes usage in forms such as print, audio and digital imaging including pdf, jpg, png etc. A fee may be requested for re-using her work if it is for a commercial venture. Link sharing and Pinterest pins are most welcome as long as Cate is the attributed Author.

No images on this blog may be copied, captured, or altered for your own purpose without the consent of the originating owner. Where images are marked as being iStockphoto.com images, they are paid for and licenced to Cate for use on this blog. If you take them, iStockphoto.com has the right to take legal action against you for Copyright Infringement.

Please see the Blog Content and Image Copyright page of this blog for further information in regards to Guest Posts, other images, Cate’s checks on infringements and Liability.

 

Doing A “Depp” and Avoiding the Juicer

I am being asked more and more, “how do I sell my work?” “How do I write when I have no money for editing and book covers?” “How can I get my out-of-print books up and into circulation again?”

Writers seem to be getting lost in the market, thrown around my poorly deduced statistics and seduced by the demands of one-sided advice. It appears at times, that almost everyone that has e-published then has an urge to write a book on how they did it, as a self-proclaimed expert! Often, the advice is at best, partial; at worst, downright dangerous to a writer’s mental health! As I’ve look at some of the advice in the books, then look at a poorly written sample of that writer’s actual published novel, I’ve quickly developed an allergy to these ‘experts.’

What is really bothering me at the moment, is how often I see the same messages being repeated which are dictating how we are to blog, how we are to write, how we are to publish. We are being assimilated to a manageable norm. So are we having our creativity and originality juiced out of us? It concerns me that we are. If I read one more four character based novel with a predictable ending, I am going to scream. The writers are stuck in a formula rut. At times, it makes me stop reading. I’m bored with the same old thing.

So I decided to watch a few out-of-the-box movies, such as “Finding Neverland,” which is magic for writers, and “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.” I’ve always been intrigued by Johnny Depp’s performances and surprised at his ability to chameleon into roles. He is original and outstanding. I don’t watch a Johnny Depp movie to see him. The character always overtakes the real Johnny in appearance and personality. Depp is that character, rather than appearing as another reincarnation of “Star X now depicting the character Y.”

Reading more about Depp, I quickly discovered that he is his own man, takes his own path, frustrates the Hollywood norms… and wins. Labelled as frustrating, eccentric, unusual and odd, he won’t do the standard cliched blockbuster films, that enable the financial wheels of the movie industry to safely spin along their predictable path. Yes, he is also a writer. Just at the moment, that is the kind of role models many writers need…

Johnny has reminded me:

• You can still be successful by being yourself, rather than filling the mold;
• Reflect your own interests in your choices, not what’s popular now and thus liable to make the most money;
• If instinct says so, disregard the ‘shoulds’ from the experts: there is always more than one formula for success;
• Write for the love of writing, not the money, you’ll stifle your real self;
• Don’t be afraid to write outside your standard genre, step out of your comfort zone and do something completely different;
• If others raise an eyebrow at your work and call you ‘unusual’ that’s good! Negative criticism can be a long term positive.
• Never compromise yourself.

So “do a Depp.” Seriously consider where you are conforming to the norm in any way that is not you. Find your way back to your genuine creative self. Take a few risks: write something in a new genre and see where your journey takes you. The satisfaction of the creative journey is worth more than any payment or popularity. Plus, it can also become a winner for you too.

From Depp’s Point of View:

“The challenge for me is still to do something that hasn’t been beaten into the moviegoing consciousness. Otherwise what am I in it for?” 

As an undercover cop on 21 Jump Street, Depp emerged into the spotlight as a teen idol in 1987, but a future as a lunch box icon and not having any control over his own image, scared him. “I waited and waited to do a movie, because I wanted to do the right one. I wanted to go as far away from the series (21 Jump Street) as I could. The first film I did after Jump Street was Cry-Baby with John Waters. That was a great experience. After that I did another season of the series, and then I did Edward Scissorhands. During that movie I got the phone call saying I was out of the show. I felt like, Ah, possibilities. I was freed up. I swore to myself that I would never again compromise to the degree that I had. I swore that I wouldn’t just follow the commercial road. I wouldn’t do what was expected of me or what was necessary to maintain whatever it is –a popular or financially rewarding career. I promised myself that I would do that.” 

After the success of Pirates of the Caribbean he has been considered less of a non-conformist risk and more of a bankable movie star. However, his change in status has not changed the way he maintains his career path. Depp: “I’ve always been some distance from that game. I guess there have been times when I was on the brink of being bankable. But that’s all so weird. All these weird lists – top five star, top 10, “Let’s get this guy because he’s bankable.” I don’t think about that. You’re on the list two weeks and then – poof – you’re gone. It never jarred me that I wasn’t on the list. If I’m considered bankable this week, that’s great. Next week I’ll be totally off. I’m used to that. I’ve never had an allergy to the idea of commercial success. When you put a movie out and it’s successful, that’s great. I just wanted to get there in the right way, in a way that’s not too compromising or demeaning or ugly. Whether I’m there as a bankable movie star or not, I don’t know. If I stay there, who knows?”

“It’s just an odd game. I mean, I may want to do dinner theater. Maybe it’s not so bad. I’ve always said I might end up being forced to do McDonald’s openings dressed as Edward Scissorhands. You never know.”

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Aside from Mr Depp’s quotes, this article / blog post is Copyright Cate Russell-Cole 2012. All rights are reserved Internationally. You may not reproduce it in any form, in part of whole, without Cate’s prior written permission. That includes usage in forms such as print, audio and digital imaging including pdf, jpg, png etc. A fee may be requested for re-using her work if it is for a commercial venture. Link sharing and Pinterest pins are most welcome as long as Cate is the attributed Author.

No images on this blog may be copied, captured, or altered for your own purpose without the consent of the originating owner. Where images are marked as being iStockphoto.com images, they are paid for and licenced to Cate for use on this blog. If you take them, iStockphoto.com has the right to take legal action against you for Copyright Infringement.

Please see the Blog Content and Image Copyright page of this blog for further information in regards to Guest Posts, other images, Cate’s checks on infringements and Liability.

Elizabeth Gilbert, Writer of Eat, Pray, Love; on Coping With Creativity

Elizabeth Gilbert is the author of Eat, Pray, Love. This is an address she gave at TED about ways to capture the muse and cope with the emotional rollercoaster that creativity puts us through. She is asking the questions, “What if I don’t succeed? What if my last work was the best I will ever produce?” This will make you think about creativity in directions that may never have occurred to you.