Let your voice be heard

“It struck me that as writers, we have a unique opportunity – a responsibility, even- to voice our own truth and to help others do the same.”

                                                            Writer’s Digest editor-in-chief Tyler Moss

By Emma Palova

EW Emma’s Writings

Lowell, MI -I got an e-mail today from the BlogHer 18 Creators Summit seeking nominations for Voices of the Year. The deadline to nominate an inspiring woman influencer is May 31. The tradition of celebrating women’s voices has been around for 11 years in the ever-changing world of blogging.

Just a few minutes ago, I happily removed the metal stakes designating the driveway for snowplowing and stored away the snow shovel. Only our famous blade for the Jeep reminds me of a winter gone by. It’s too heavy for me to lift it.

I picked up my Fleet Street Missy spring coat yesterday at J.C. Penney in Greenville. I hope I won’t need it until late fall.

I ran into a fisherman at my favorite hideaway at the tip of the horseshoe-shaped lake three miles away.

“I am just poking for bass and pike before I get my boat out,” he said.

“Yes, it’s a very nice lake that gets really busy on weekends,” I said.

“Sure, that’s why I come out on weekday mornings,” the fisherman said.

Me too; I always come out to the lake in the morning seeking inspiration in its calm waters. Today, I also discovered my Lenten Rose poking its purple head out of the thawing ground.

Earlier in the week, I had an interesting interview with a writer for the Grand Rapids Magazine about me and my new book Shifting Sands Short Stories. My husband Ludek wished me good luck, as I assured him that I am equally comfortable on both sides of the interview.

I absolutely loved the question that Lauren had asked me during the interview at Jamnbean Coffee Co. in Ada.

“How do you want your readers to feel after they are done reading the book?” she asked.

I had to get to the right answer with a lot of prelude. Finally, I responded.

“Transformed and maybe bewildered,” I said, “because that’s how I feel when I am done writing them.”

The article  will come out in the print version of the Grand Rapids Magazine in July.

The interview was also an opportunity to list my forthcoming author’s events. I realized I wasn’t a great planner, by not being able to look that far ahead.

But, after reading “Roar,” a profile of emerging and groundbreaking authors in the Writer’s Digest, I realized something very important. And I quote:

“It struck me that as writers, we have a unique opportunity – a responsibility, even- to voice our own truth and to help others do the same.”

Editor-in-Chief Tyler Moss

Don’t Fret your own voice. It will shape your destiny.

As an author, blogger, screenwriter, journalist, short story writer and a novelist, I really have a unique opportunity to “Seize the day” or “Carpe Diem.”

Book me for your events in the physical world or on the web today.  Don’t wait another 100 years.

Following are the topics that I will be addressing in the upcoming months:

Creating an author’s platform & following

How to create your author’s platform using WordPress blog/website plus social media.

Writing your life story/memoir

Memoir writing does require an outline or a timeline with important milestones pertaining to your story. It should be chronological, but you can open each chapter with the most interesting episode/scene.

For example: When daughters write about mothers, their complex relationship does not necessarily end with the parent’s death.

When writing about a business that has been handed down from generation to generation, start with the generation that has made the most profound impact or the generation that has pulled the business through a major crisis or to new heights.

When capturing a segment of your life, focus on how has a certain experience changed you and why.

Researching your roots, ancestry. Why does it matter and to whom?

Getting audio/visual

Book trailers, video productions and podcasts are a must in an increasingly visual society. Always script everything you’re going to say. Create an audio version of your book.

Publicity

How to write an effective press release to get media interviews and publicity.

Have an email list of useful contacts. Inform your contacts on regular basis about your progress in a newsletter.

From idea to final

How to take the initial inspiration on a journey to the final product; whether it be a book, a screenplay, a movie or a video production.

You find yourself one lovely afternoon struck by a fast-fleeting thought that will soon disappear along with others into the imagination swamp.

How do you make it stay or how do you rescue your idea from the swamp?

Test and explore your inspiration.

What genre to pick, and what format to use?

Depending on your topic and how you treat it, it will land you with a certain format within a genre.

This may be a novel, novella, a short story, a play or a screenplay.

Don’t just go by what’s big now, because it could be little tomorrow.

By that, I specifically mean the current phenomenon of historical fiction.

Women’s fiction

Women’s fiction involves a transformation of the hero with a bit of romance, but not as the major plot.

Non-fiction writing

Pick something you know well, but give it a new angle. Pick the right market/audience from Writer’s Market.

Know how and when to pitch the right editors.

Become an expert in a certain area.

Don’t be afraid to stand out with a unique opinion a new perspective.

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