~ Blogging 102 ~

Following on from my Toastmasters speech series – and subsequent blog series, see Blogging 101 – I am back with another post on blogging. As mentioned before, in the beginning, I started following social media guru and writer Kristen Lamb. She advocates having a professional (or at least professional-looking) headshot and using that same image across all your platforms. It helps you to create a cohesive brand. A friend who makes her living as a photographer took my headshot, and I use it for everything to do with social media except for my blog. I felt the homepage was a bit dark at the top and needed colour so I substituted a more colourful headshot in place of my usual.

It’s important to ensure you have linked your headshot to Gravatar, a service providing “globally unique avatars.” If you sign up with the site, upload your headshot, and provide your blog link, when people click on your headshot, they will see the link to your blog and discover you.
In the past, I used to have numerous social media sites, 7 or 8. And maintaining them all was nearly a full-time job. Then in 2020, I met Karen McMillan when I hired her as the publicist for my trilogy. In one of our meetings, she asked, “Just out of curiosity, how much time do you spend on social media?” When I told her she gave me solid advice. She said, “I avoid it mostly. Social media is a time waster! I only have two sites, and that is all you need. My advice is to delete them – and create more time for writing – but save the two you use the most.”
I deleted everything (even my website), leaving only Facebook, my monthly newsletter, and my blog. As my WordPress site now functions as my website, I added an About the Author page for my bio, an Influences page to share what has influenced me as a writer, and Yvette’s Work, which details my published books with links to buy.
The advice most of us hear when building a website or a blog is to place your “calls to action” (subscribe to my blog, buy my book, etc) on the top right-hand corner of the page. But, I preferred my homepage on WordPress with everything on the left, so the calls to action, photos, and so on stream down the left. Make the decisions that best suit your style and brand.

It’s a wise idea before launching to write several posts in advance. It will give you some backup if necessary and peace of mind knowing you are covered for the first few weeks. Even today, I will always have two or three posts on file in case cyclones or global pandemics happen so that I don’t miss a week. When you prepare to post your piece, don’t forget to add “categories” and “tags” (they will be in the design features of your blog publisher’s post templates), describing in a word or two what the post is about. This is basic SEO and will help drive traffic to your site.
Blog titles. There are a few commonly held beliefs about the best titles, which are designed to drive a gazillion readers your way. I have used all of them at some time or another. When I started my blog, the idea was that lengthy titles attract the most attention. Likewise, titles that promise something, like “How to…” are the most clicked, and titles with numbers like 5 Steps to Weightloss, 7 qualities Every Writer Needs. When I started blogging, I wanted to use enticing titles like these but as I went along, I found that the title would always present itself at some stage. I think somewhere in the last decade, between the death of my parents, Covid, and the cyclones, I stopped caring about engineering perfect titles for my posts and started focusing more on content.

I remember how nervous I was pre-launch in 2014, terrified that no one would read my blog and I’d fall flat on my face. My good friend, Robyn Campbell – fellow author and blogger – said, “Write the words, and they will come.” And since then, I’ve come to see she was right. If you are nervous about launching your blog, do not worry. Just write the words and they will come.
Happy Blogging!

Talk to you later.
Keep creating!
Yvette Carol
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“Don’t focus on having a great blog. Focus on producing a blog that’s great for your readers.” – Brian Clark

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~ Blogging 101 ~

This post is based on a speech I gave recently at my Toastmasters club.
In 2014, I read We Are Not Alone, by Kirsten Lamb, author, and social media expert. WANA was about how to navigate social media for authors. (*Note, I think this book is out of print now, but contact the author.) Kirsten advocated that authors should have blogs. She said that when we have to write an 800-word article a week, it is another form of writing and a discipline, one that helps us develop as authors. Before starting my blog, I read this advice and wondered how it would help. But having spent nearly a decade writing a post a week, I see what she means. When I go back to my earliest posts, the prose doesn’t sound like me, and I can see that writing my weekly posts is helping me develop my “author’s voice.”

Where do you start? You start by choosing a blog publisher. When I started mine in 2014, I was on Blogger. What I did not realize was that Blogger had no facility for “likes”. When there is no facility for “liking” a post, most people will read and move on without doing a thing. That makes it hard for the author to see what sort of traction they’re getting. And, it can be lonely.
Why do we blog? We have something we want to express, communicate, or sell. No matter your reason for blogging, no one wants to speak to an empty room. After a year and a half, I jumped ship to WordPress and had to start again from the ground up. But it was worth it because suddenly, I could get likes on my posts. Yay! You know there are people out there, receiving you and responding to you, which is a nice feeling. The week or two or three when I was unable to post over the last nine years, I missed it. It’s a chill and super fun part of my week.

For me, it’s not about building an empire but creating and maintaining connections with people. Treating readers with respect. The next day after publishing my posts, I like and comment on each reply. I make sure to visit the blog of each person who left a like and respond in kind. You are building a network of friends – an online community – and friendship is never a one-way street.

Where do you start? You start a blog by deciding your niche. Create a name for your blog and then check that no one else is using it. It’s helpful to have a subtitle as this clues visitors into your content. Design your blog appearance and title around that. Try to make your homepage as appealing as possible. Too often, I visit blogs that look dull. Make a blog visit pleasant for your readers, put a little creativity into your home page.

How often should you post? Blog as often as you like. Kristen blogs three times a week. Writing more often can build a blog fast. I find one post a week is ideal for me. Try to put your posts out on the same day each week, and then you can be relied upon by your followers to be consistent.

What else should you do? Join a blogging group. There are lots of them. I belong to the Insecure Writer’s Support Group. A blogging group like this will run regular events called blog hops, which you can participate in, and it will help build your connections with other bloggers. It also means that on one day of the month, you don’t have to come up with the idea for that post. It’s a win-win and again is about that online community.

Try to put your best foot forward. With your posts be as professional as possible, check for spelling and grammar, etc. I edit mine endlessly. Put out the best posts you can. And have fun!
What pitfalls should you watch out for? Realize there will be trolls. They are out there and will sometimes visit. I use the same policy I do with nice commenters, I like the troll’s comment but with trolls, I never reply. Treat them with the same respect as anyone else but do not engage. Don’t give them a reason to stay and argue with you.
There will also be pirates who will steal your work and publish it as their own. Make sure you put a little piece at the bottom of your homepage about copyright. (Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author is strictly prohibited, and so on.) Update it every year to make the year of your copyright claim current and include the copyright symbol. Also, protect yourself by regularly every second post or so linking back to one of your earlier posts within your content. That will filter out a number of the bad guys and help protect your blog’s integrity.
That’s all for now, folks.
Happy Blogging!

Talk to you later.
Keep creating!
Yvette Carol
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“What you do after you create your content is what truly counts.” – Gary Vaynerchuk.

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~ BACKYARD GARDENING 6 ~

Billy Williams once said, “I enjoy painting, cutting the lawn, and working in the garden when I have time. That’s therapy for me. I enjoy working with my hands.” I feel exactly the same way. For me, it doesn’t matter how screwy the world gets, it doesn’t matter how stressed I get, all I need do is go out and work in my garden, staying out there from dawn till dusk, and by the time I come back indoors all is well. Getting my hands dirty is therapeutic, maybe it reminds me of the carefree days of childhood. I love my garden and the constant nature therapy it gives me. Here in New Zealand, it is the height of summer. Gardening becomes impossible after midday. Cool breezes and temperatures have given way to blistering days and soaring temperatures.

As for the weeds, they don’t seem to be affected by the heat but carry on thriving in a bountiful fashion regardless. In my ongoing efforts to control weeds, I employ various methods. With small weeds, I dig them up with a hoe and leave them on top of the soil to die. With Kikuyu grass (Pennisetum clandestinum), I dig up and dispose of it. The invasive Wandering Jew plant (Tradescantia) can be dealt with in many ways. Either find someone with chickens and bag it up fresh for them, as my dad used to do, or put it into plastic sacks and tie them up. Leave the bags sealed until the weeds turn to liquid and can be used as fertilizer! Another way of eradicating Wandering Jew is to pull out every scrap you can scratch from the ground. Or you can cover it in large sheets of tin roofing held down with stones to prevent light from getting in and leave it for 6 months or more. Lack of sunlight and air will eventually kill it.

My good friend, Lyle, used to pile all the pulled-out weeds on the ground, cover them with a plastic sheet, and weigh them down. He said he uncovered it every few weeks, and turned the pile over with a garden fork, crushing under the gumboots, and covering it with a plastic sheet. The noxious weed eventually transformed into compostable soil. Be warned before you put it back on your vegetable beds. Even the smallest scrap of root will regrow.
With Oxalis (from the wood sorrel family Oxalidaceae), resist the temptation to pull it out. This only makes the weeds multiply virulently. You can either cover oxalis with plastic, or tin sheets, and weigh them down till they suffocate, or you can pour boiling water directly on the oxalis plants, which burns the roots.

This is coincidentally the season when Onehunga weed (also known as Prickle Weed or Bindii) flourishes anew on our lawn. While the seeds germinate in autumn and get spread by foot traffic and on the fur of animals, the plants are forming flowers by the middle of spring. These contain ripening seeds with spines. Then the seeds mature and drop by the middle of summer. The best time to cull them is to treat them in spring, preferably before they have a chance to flower.
I have experimented with various ways to combat Prickle Weed, and I’ll admit I resort to a potent pesticide for this issue. Hydrocolyte is the only treatment that seems to work for me. It kills only the Prickle Weed and leaves the grass and other plants to grow. I walk the lawns and spray it plant by plant as it appears in the grass. It has to be done twice in summer. Painstaking but worth it to have no prickles, especially when the granddaughter is here racing about the garden, or the times I want to walk barefoot on the grass.

Also, don’t forget to water in summer! It’s vital to monitor moisture levels on young trees, dwarf fruit trees, kiwi fruit and citrus, which are shallow-rooted and dry easily. Feijoas are in the same category and will produce far greater yields if they are kept watered. If plant roots have moisture they are able to take up minerals needed and will stay healthy and more resistant to disease.
Happy Gardening. More next time, green thumbs.

Talk to you later.
Keep creating!
Yvette Carol

“Remember that children, marriages, and flower gardens reflect the kind of care they get.” H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

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~ New Year’s Resolutions – Yay or Nay? ~

Do you write New Year’s resolutions? I used to back in the day. Then, I’d fret all year long because that list would stare me in the face with a baleful eye, reminding me I hadn’t followed through on anything. Then, I’d get all resentful, and it went downhill from there. The definition of the word resolution according to my handy pocket Oxford is this, Resolving; Great determination; Formal statement of a committee’s opinion. Well, my committee quit on the whole thing. I stopped writing resolutions in my twenties.
But naturally, being a writer, I couldn’t just go cold turkey. I had to write something. So, my sister and I came up with a reasonable alternative.

We started writing personal lists of “intentions” for the New Year. It has a much nicer ring to it and so does its definition. Consulting my Oxford, Intention means, With concentrated intention, What one intends to do. Sans the formality and sans the committee, writing intentions felt less intimidating and more doable. And likewise, the flavour of the items on the said list changed up a bit also. My New Year’s resolutions used to be grand and overwhelming like I will find a publisher this year. I will meet my soulmate, and I will travel overseas.
In contrast, I found myself writing intentions that were far more friendly and more doable like I intend to start doing a second daily meditation; slow down; do less; wear dresses more often, and so on.

They say that when goal-setting, you should set out the short-term, achievable steps needed to attain those big goals. If the steps are too large, or too far out of reach, people will typically never start. That might be true, but these days, I far prefer writing out intentions which give me a warm glow at the time of writing and also in the doing, and I leave my big life goals for noting in a separate notebook, no deadline, no time frame. I’m a firm believer in taking the pressure off myself where possible.
According to the College for Adult Learning, under HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT, LEADERSHIP & MANAGEMENT, they list 10 steps for effective goal setting:

1. Believe in the process
2. Write it down
3. Set specific goals
4. Set measurable goals
5. Set attainable goals
6. Set realistic goals
7. Set timely goals
8. Remain accountable
9. Don’t be afraid to ask for help
10. Continuously assess your progress

Each year around this time, I start to think about my list. It formulates slowly. I try to frame every thought with kindness towards myself and others. We writers tend to be fans of physical notebooks. I have at least a dozen. My usual tradition during the day on the 31st is to take a fresh page in my Intentions notebook and bling it up with stickers, glitter, and dodads. You can add emojis to a page on your phone, but where’s the fun in that?

Then, I ponder my intentions more closely, and I write them out with colour pens, adding flourishes, doodles, and love hearts! See, not so grown up after all. But it’s so much fun. And it gives me a feeling for where I’m heading and what I’m aligning myself with during the year ahead. It’s like a compass or a touchstone that I can come back to again and again for guidance. And unlike my phone, my notebook never gets lost, stolen, or runs out of charge. I love it and can’t wait to get started on my list for 2023.
What about you? Do you set resolutions? Happy New Year!

Talk to you later.
Keep creating!
Yvette Carol
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Don’t look back, you’re not going that way. ~ Mary Englebreit

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~ HOW TO MAKE A GIFT FOR THE WRITER IN YOUR LIFE ~

Still, looking for that perfect gift for your writer friend for Christmas? You could try making one. After attending a writing workshop by Graeme Simsion earlier this year, I wrote several writing posts sharing his best tips for writing a novel. One of Graeme’s fascinating ideas was the “bucket of scenes.”

When brainstorming the content for our stories, Graeme advocated having an actual bucket and using index cards to jot down a couple of ideas each day using the cards. We can then toss the cards into the bucket, aiming for 180 per book, though we might only use 120. ~ From my blog post, Step by Step

As the festive season approached this year, late November, or early December, I began to think of the people I wanted to buy gifts for and made my lists. For my talented writing group, the Fabulatores, I thought of Simsion’s bucket of scenes. Although I would not call myself a crafter, I am an ideas person, and I stumble through discovering how to craft things myself. If they turn out well and are after deemed valuable, then I will share the “how to do it yourself” information at some stage afterward, whether as a blog post or an update in my monthly newsletter. This is such.
Here, in a nutshell, is how I make the bucket of scenes:
What you’ll need:

Start by buying small buckets. Initially, when I walked into one shop, I was drawn to big silver, highly decorated buckets. Then I thought no, they would take up too much space. Far more practical to get the smaller variety.
I also bought a couple of packs of cardboard, some lined, some not, and some pages of adhesive letters. I needed a sheet of fancy writing paper, a ribbon, and a bag of chocolate coins.
The method:
Spell out the words “Bucket of Scenes” onto a blank adhesive panel and adhere to the front of the buckets.

Cut your cardboard down in size until you have 180 cards each.

The lined and the unlined stacks of the card I tied with ribbon separately – a sweet touch to give the writer the option in the heat of the inspired moment – whether they feel like writing on lines or want to scribble down a few words on a blank canvas.
Then write the quotation I’ve given above, taken directly from my notes from Graeme Simsion’s workshop, on a nice piece of paper. Tie with a ribbon to make it look like a scroll.

Put two stacks of the card in each bucket – one lined and one unlined. Pop the scroll of instructions in behind them.
Fill the gaps with chocolate.

Voila! You have a bucket of scenes, writer’s aid extraordinaire, with instructions.
Gift wrap and give to the writer in your life.
‘Tis the time of year for being jolly and giving and sharing love with others.

As my dear grandmother used to say, “Be kind.”
Happy Holidays!

Talk to you later.
Keep creating!
Yvette Carol
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“When we recall Christmas past, we usually find that the simplest things, not the great occasions, give off the greatest glow of happiness.” – Bob Hope

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~ MAKE YOUR OWN GREETING CARD back by popular demand (again) ~

When I started this blog, I shared how to make your family greeting card at this time of year. Every year since I have brought out the instructions, dusted them off, given them a re-jig, and re-posted them. The tradition of making my cards with photos of my youngest boys started with my middle son’s birth. Samuel was born with Down Syndrome and Autism, and it was a way of celebrating Sam by making him the feature.

When my youngest came along two years later, we added him to the greeting card, and I’ve made the same photo cards, updating the festive sibling portrait every year since. I love the ritual of taking photos for the card and then having a crafting afternoon to make homemade cards, bringing out all my card-making materials. Crafts are fun! Just seeing my glitter and stickers and the carefully saved paper brings a smile to my face. It’s like being a kid again. I am a fan of the homemade, custom look to festive things rather than the store-bought variety. In the beginning, I used to make a stack of forty cards or more for everyone on the family, friends, and acquaintances list. But, oh my gosh, it was a lot of work. The list of recipients whittled down slowly over the years. These days I only make about a dozen festive cards and they go solely to family members. I’ve learned to conserve my energy. With age, comes wisdom, one hopes!

This year, the sibling photo my son preferred for the Christmas card was the one where neither of them was smiling. I printed the photos and half-made the cards before I realized I wasn’t happy with the image. There was a nice alternative pic of both of the boys smiling. I printed that instead and began making the cards again. I loved the end result and put them in the postbox.

Here, in a nutshell, is how I craft our family Greeting card:

Start by taking a batch of cheap Christmas cards and cutting them down to nearly half the size, trying to preserve the greeting inside. Next, take the photo you want to feature on the front of the card. This is the top layer and, therefore, the smallest. Print the photos. You are going to build a couple of layers. I have cardboard guides for the size of each layer so I can keep the sizes regular, year after year.

You have the first two items needed for your card: a stack of cut-down cards (preserving the message inside if possible), and a stack of cut-out photos.

At this stage in the card production, I take any saved wrapping paper, or other coloured paper, set the iron on low heat, and iron out the wrinkles. Reduce, re-use, and save the planet!
*My tip, iron the paper with the picture side down, in case any ink comes away. Then it doesn’t mar your iron’s surface and protects the ink.
Now take a second cardboard “guide.” It needs to be smaller than the card and slightly larger than the photo. Cut your saved wrapping paper or other coloured paper to this size. You have your photos, cards, and cut-down paper that will act as frames for the photos.

My next step is to cut little flags of “Angelina Hot Fix,” a synthetic product made by Funky Fibres here in NZ. I’m sure you could find a similar product wherever you are. The fibers come in different funky colours. You spread a handful between baking paper, iron on low heat, and the fibres fuse, making a thin sheet of sparkly stuff. I make a few sheets of Hot Fix at a time and then cut out small rectangles for each card.
The first official step of constructing the cards entails gluing the coloured paper to the card, also trapping a wedge of Hot Fix in between so that one glittery flag extends. The second step is to glue the photo on top. *Tip: dry and flatten the cards after you apply each layer; I put them between chopping boards and pile weights on top.

The third step is the best part—embellishments! Time to decorate the fronts with glitter, ‘gems,’ stickers, and doodads to your heart’s delight. I believe the technical term is bedazzling.
I write a personal message inside each card. With each card, I post a surprise, usually a gift tag, or a miniature antique postcard. I like the thought of loved ones getting a nice surprise when they open the envelope. A card is a lovely thing to send and receive at this time of year. Why not try making your own? It’s easy and people love that you’ve put time and energy into them!
What do you think? Have you ever made your own cards?

Talk to you later.
Keep creating!
Yvette Carol
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Life is short. Kiss slowly, laugh insanely, love truly, and forgive quickly. ~ Paulo Coelho

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~ BACKYARD GARDENING 5 ~

Spring. My vegetable seedlings are growing. Unfortunately, the season of pests is also well underway. There is more whitefly whizzing around, more butterflies, etc. So begins months of trying to stay ahead of the critters, birds, and greeblies seeking to feast on my crops. I tend to use a combination approach. I will set several traps and use a variety of sprays. It’s a matter of figuring out what works best for you. I try to keep the use of chemicals down to a minimum, but if you don’t mind using chemicals, you can buy everything you need from the store readymade.

I started gardening when I took over maintenance of this property about thirteen years ago (though I have lived here as an adult for over twenty years). It has been learning by trial and error, as I have figured out how to get nourishing things to grow while also controlling the noxious things. I started out using every chemical they sold. But over the years, I have figured out ways I can make products myself fairly easily.
The homemade spray I do for whitefly works a treat. Cut up two onions and a bunch of garlic and put them in a sealable jar. Fill with water before doing the lid up tight. Leave this pungent mixture outside or in the garage to cure for as long as possible. In spring, open the jar and strain the liquid. Spray this obnoxious liquid on the underside of the leaves of all the bushes and trees where whitefly is congregating. The smell is so strong that it scares them away. This spray has cut the whitefly population in our garden by as much as half. The smell seemed overwhelming for us, too, initially. But, never fear. Though it quickly faded away, it was enough to deter the pests for a long time.

Stickies are a store-bought alternative. The flies get trapped on the long sticky tapers. You can buy the strips at hardware stores and gardening outlets and hang the stickies in between the crops.
At present, our fruit trees have bloomed and are losing their petals by the day. The guava moth is the primary pest for stone fruit and feijoas where we are. The moth lays eggs in the unripe fruit which then develops into a small caterpillar greeblie that burrows its way through the fruit, ruining it. The guava moth came over to New Zealand from Australia. In Australia, they are predated by a particular type of bird. But the moths have no natural predators here and are laying waste to neighbouring fruit trees far and wide. When the first green fruit starts to appear in our yard, I spray it with Neem oil. It’s a purely natural bug repellant, which you warm up and then add to warm water. Spray in the early evening after most bees and things have settled down. Spray the fruit, the leaves, and lastly around the base of the tree even coating the ground beneath. And repeat two to three times throughout the growing season.

Tackling the guava moth successfully requires a two-pronged attack, the Neem oil sprayed on, and a moth trap. I’ve tried all sorts of store-bought traps to reduce the population of moths on my property, and there is one extremely effective trap – The Little Bugga. It works by radiating a little solar ultraviolet purple light and the moths drown in the oil held in a trough beneath. It works well, getting a far higher kill rate than other traps, but it costs $90 and only lasts for a year. The inventor lives in the far north of the country and does not supply replacement parts or batteries. So the device operates as long as the batteries last, then you have to buy a whole new trap. These days, unless I do both the Neem oil and the moth trap, nearly the entire crops of plums and feijoas will be potholed.

For caterpillars, aphids, and other pests, I use a homemade all-purpose spray. Mix five litres of water with one cup of cider vinegar and a squirt of dishwashing detergent. Spray onto your seedlings and leaves every two weeks or less. For my tips on how to make your own slug and snail traps, check out my earlier post, Backyard Gardening 3.
It’s the time of year for a ton of work, frankly, but it’s worth it. I enjoy every stage of growing our food. Once the crops and fruits start producing more food for our table it’s wonderful, and the therapy of getting your hands dirty ain’t half bad. I love spring!
Happy Gardening. More next time, green thumbs.

Talk to you later.
Keep creating!
Yvette Carol

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Gardening is an active participation in the deepest mysteries of the universe. ~ Thomas Berry

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~ Middle Fiction ~

My friend said she soaked up the events at this year’s writers’ festival like a sponge. I know what she means. The “conversations,” the lectures, the workshops, and the performances that took place in August filled my cup to overfloweth. It’s worth putting aside a week each year for the festival. I’ve been attending for years and have a large old paper notebook spiral-bound that I have kept notes in since the first time. As promised, I will continue to report on the events I attended whenever I get the chance. The writers’ festival is a blast. The buzz of being around other scribophiles and learning more about the craft and the business is an intoxicating mix. As a card-carrying introvert, it takes a lot to drag me out of my cave, especially in winter. But events like that can do it. Then I go out and come home jazzed every single day. However, once it’s over, I must lie inside my cave for a while to recover.

The second session I attended was the Middle Fiction workshop with Kate de Goldi. I know! I am such a fangirl and have rabbited on about this much-lauded Kiwi author and tutor for years, and I got to attend another workshop with Kate herself! As soon as I saw her name on the agenda, I signed up. I’ve done several courses with Kate over the years, and they have always enriched, enlightened, and inspired me. Though I didn’t expect Kate to recognize me, I’ll admit I was chuffed when she did. We even had a quick chat about the workshops in the past, and Kate let me get an updated photo with her. Yay!
Kate is a passionate advocate of the middle fiction genre and maintains that ‘Much of the best writing for children can be found in the middle fiction space.’ I remember the first workshop I did with Kate in 2005. I was so excited about her perspective. “I don’t think you can say suitable for 9 – 13. I resist those divisions. It should be 9 – 99. Most of the great children’s books are read by adults.” This so mirrored my feeling about children’s literature that I felt at home, in the right place. “There is no difference between writing for children and adults, and there’s no difference in the level of craft.” My sentiments exactly.

This workshop with her was about exploring ‘language, voice, and characters of the form’ and was as brilliant as expected. Kate had some terrific advice on how to write at the middle fiction level. “If we bring the same armoury of craft to children’s fiction, we need to be observing. Polishing and excavating your sensory capacity is necessary. Seeing the world from a completely different point of view is essential.” Kate recommended we get in touch with the old child self. “Interview your 9, 10, and 11-year-old self. Your job is to practice noticing and to think about the emotional territory we occupied at that time.” The reason for that was simple. “Noticing, a sense of wonder, and being new in the world IS middle fiction.” I love it when a teacher can be reductive yet, at the same time, say everything.
As Kate doesn’t believe in rules for fiction or prohibitions, she has a free approach to teaching about writing, which I also appreciate. “Being in the world and thinking about your inner child self is a good place to start.” That, I can do.

And how do you learn how to write? “A plumber knows drains. Read your genre. Go to the library and read your genre across decades and authors.” That was how Kate had learned to write. She started as a reader. She said she was too underconfident in her writing to take a writing course and had learned by reading. Similarly, I was too shy to share my work for years, therefore I connected with that point. Usually, I feel daunted by the wealth of scholastic accomplishments achieved by my writing peers. At least now I can say I’m in good company.
How do you figure out what to write about? Kate said you should not come to the page wanting to write about X. “You should come with something you feel driven to say that you don’t fully understand yet. Interrogate your 11-year-old self. What were you puzzled by, conflicted by? A character propelled by something is a good place to start. After that, I get them walking and talking.” Easy, right?

While I’m busy fangirling, who are your favourite authors? Who would you love to meet in person?

Talk to you later.
Keep creating!
Yvette Carol

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“I think of middle fiction as the body of work that has most influenced children.” ~ Kate de Goldi

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~ Even More Step by Step ~

Lately, I have shared some of the information from the Step by Step writer’s workshop, run by bestselling author Graeme Simsion, at our local writer’s festival. Graeme based his writing advice on his latest book, The Novel Project: A Step-by-Step Guide to Your Novel, Memoir, or Biography.
He said there were two parts to The Novel Project; the preparation and the process.

Under ” preparation” there were four parts:
Overview of the approach – which was a precis of the workshop.
Being a writer – Focus on being the best writer you can be. Don’t waste your time on social media.
Creativity – Figure out what works for you. When do you get your best ideas? Start looking for patterns. No matter how hard you work, most ideas will not come immediately. They need incubation.
Structure – Be knowledgeable about story structure. Learn the language. A three-act structure consists of setup, conflict, and resolution.

Under ” process” there were nine parts:
Concept: “What is your book about? You must be able to define it in a sentence or phrase (an elevator pitch). Keep a list of good ideas. One good idea on its own will have been done before, but two ideas mashed up against one another will be original.”
Synopsis – plot: “Beats are the things that happen in a story. I want to be able to tell the story from beginning to end in a few key beats.”
Synopsis – characters (players and decisions): Graeme gave us the inside scoop, “the Graeme Simsion method,” for getting to know our characters. He focuses on the motivations for their most important decisions. “I ask my characters three questions. What would you tell your best friend if you were asked about this decision? What would you tell your parents? and What would you tell your therapist? and follow this up by asking the therapist, What would you tell us about the character? Then this forms the framework for the entire story.”

Brainstorming the story: “Write every idea down. Write scenes in random order. I want lots of material to play with.” See the ‘bucket of scenes’ method in my first post on this subject, Step by Step.
Organizing the story: “Put the cards (from your bucket of scenes) in order. Usually, the setup is too long, the resolution too short, and there will be a lack of acceleration in the middle. A convention of story is to have acceleration throughout the body of the book.”
Reviewing the outline: “Once you have the cards in order, type them onto your computer. As you work on the scene breakdowns add everything you can think of. Flesh them out.”
First draft (manuscript): Graeme’s target is to write 1000 words a day. “Don’t get it right; get it done. I look at the beats and say to myself to trust the process.”

Rewriting (or editing): How many passes to get a better manuscript? Graeme said when he started writing fiction, it took him at least 70 passes, but these days it’s more like a dozen. His advice was that we wouldn’t improve our stories on the first passes, that it wouldn’t be 100%, but on each pass, we would make them better. And we should expect the process to take time. “At some stage, if you can leave the manuscript a few weeks, leave it then come back to it.”
Working with your editor(s): About this, Graeme said something quite beautiful, that “we need to be reflective practitioners.” We need to be willing to be flexible and change our darlings, but only to a certain extent. He told us to remember something Neil Gaiman had said once, “When the editors say something is wrong, they’re always right. When they say something is definitely wrong, they’re probably wrong. And when they tell you how to fix it, they’re always wrong.” That made us laugh.
Thanks, Graeme! And that wraps up his intensive workshop.

Talk to you later.
Keep creating!
Yvette Carol

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“A story must have a beginning, middle, and end, but not necessarily in that order.” ~ Graeme Simsion

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Subscribe to my newsletter by emailing me with the words Newsletter Subscription in the subject line to: yvettecarol@hotmail.com

~ More Step by Step ~

Recently, I shared some of the insights gained from the Step by Step writer’s workshop, run by bestselling author Graeme Simsion, at our local writer’s festival. Graeme based his novel writing advice on his latest book, The Novel Project: A Step-by-Step Guide to Your Novel, Memoir, or Biography. He started the workshop by saying, “What I want you to have is what I have. When I get up in the morning, I know what I’m going to do, and I make serious progress on my novel by the end of each day.”
Then he gave us the seven principles from The Novel Project.

0: Be aware of the process: or how you work best: “I always write in the same place at the same time. I start by reading what I wrote the day before.”
1: Writing is a craft that can be learned: “Every trade can be learned. Improvement is a career-long process.”
2: Concentrate on one thing at a time: “To write at a professional level takes work. Don’t try to focus on everything at once. The best way to tackle a difficult task is to break it down into steps.”
3: Make your work explicit (and learn the language of structure): “At every stage, write it down. Whether it’s a line of dialogue or a character trait, keep notes.”
4: Manage your creativity (and give your unconscious a chance): “Set the time aside for creativity for your story. We can do tons of things to enhance our creativity. Your job is to figure out what works best for you. Notice when you get your best ideas and try to reproduce those. Think about improving the quality of your creative time.”

5: The process is mostly top-down, but not rigidly so: “Start with the idea and keep adding to it. Flesh it out. File every brainwave. The process is not a straightjacket; it’s a support. It’s not about rigidity but safety nets.”
6: Decisions are crucial to stories: “What makes a plot sing is plot twists and character development. When these two things come together, things happen. Character decisions are what makes a story interesting. A story outlined and conjure six or more character decisions, and you have gone a long way.”
7: Think in scenes: “It’s all about shape and structure. We are told ‘show don’t tell.’ A lot of writers don’t understand it. Try thinking in scenes. If you can imagine it on a movie screen, you are showing and not telling. You can stitch the reflections and the summaries in later.”

Great stuff, huh? The seven principles laid the groundwork. Then, Graeme shared the preparation and the process of novel writing, which I will detail in the next step-by-step post.
Even for pantsers like me, using a planned approach like this one espoused by Graeme Simsion will pay dividends. Graeme said, “If you write intuitively, you can still use structure. It pays to learn the language. Once I have my structure I have a safety net. Then imagination can take you somewhere stronger. Creativity loves a challenge, and constraints inspire creativity.”
Today, I’ll finish by sharing what Graeme told us about social media for authors. I’ve always struggled to manage all the social media requirements as an author. At one stage, I had seven different social media accounts. When I hired a publicist in 2020 to release The Chronicles of Aden Weaver, she told me to limit my accounts to two and focus on my writing. I quit every site except for this blog, and my Facebook page. It was one of the best decisions I ever made.

I found it fascinating that Graeme concurred with this attitude about social media for authors. He said, “Don’t waste your time.” And he demonstrated with a great example about the time Bill Gates mentioned his book, The Rosie Project, on Twitter. Graeme watched the stats that day, and he received virtually nil extra sales after the top-level shout-out. However, when Bill Gates mentioned his book during a television show, Graeme’s sales spiked through the roof. Likewise, when Graeme himself was interviewed on TV, his book sales rocketed. He said, “It’s a waste of time promoting your books on Twitter and Facebook and so on. Social media doesn’t sell books.” What a revelation, considering it’s currently touted by most folks in marketing as the snake oil you need to use most while promoting your book. It pays to listen to those in the know.

Thanks for the top tips, Graeme!

Talk to you later.
Keep creating!
Yvette Carol

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“It’s a process of constantly enhancing creativity. You can break the rules and then come back again.” ~ Graeme Simsion

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Subscribe to my newsletter by emailing me with the words Newsletter Subscription in the subject line to: yvettecarol@hotmail.com