Writers in the Storm

by Fae Rowen

Announcement: Kristen Lamb will be our guest on Friday with "Novel Diagnostics".

At the beginning of the year, I usually cycle back to the questions "Who am I?" and "Why am I here?"

I was thinking about Chinese New Year and the Year of the Dragon and remembered it's been awhile since I visited the Chinese Medicine Five Element Personality Types I first read and studied a decade ago.

If you're familiar with Chinese medicine or Feng Shui, you've heard of the five elements: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water.

Imagine each element placed around a one-way traffic circle and you'll have a good idea of how the elements "work."  Wood nourishes fire, which feeds earth, which nourishes metal, which feeds water which nourishes wood to complete the cycle.

Each element has distinct characteristics associated with personality and physical, emotional, and spiritual challenges.

In real life an understanding of how we are influenced by the elements around us can make our life easier.  For instance, before I knew any of this, I was lucky to marry a man who's a strong Metal personality.  He indeed "nourishes" my Water personality.  His secondary characteristic is Wood, which my Water feeds.

Imagine if I'd fallen in love with a Fire element who boiled my Water element characteristics and made me steam.  Of course my Water element would have come in handy to douse his Fire nature.

Probably you know what your astrological sign is.  And you have some idea of signs that you relate to and signs that can be difficult to deal with.  What if you had another tool to help you interact with the people around you?

Better yet, what if, instead of building your characters from the ground up on someone else's chart, you gave your protagonist and antagonist the personalities and challenges of two Chinese elemental personalities?  You've got built-in conflict just by picking two elements.

If you're in the middle of a project, another way to use the "test" is to answer the questions like your character would.  You'll get information about your character's type along with possibilities for additional traits that would be true to the human nature of that type.  And, of course, potential for conflict with other characters.

If you would just like a quick overview of the five element types, try this link.

If you would like to answer questions to determine your type, you can visit here.

There are many more sites you can explore if you're interested in more tests and more information.  I highly recommend the book Between Heaven and Earth by Harriet Beinfield & Efrem Korngold.

Here is a summary of the five types with their challenges and contradictions.  You'll see many possibilities for conflict, both internal and external in this list.

Wood:

• Wants to be in charge but misses the companionship of equals
• Yearns to do, to act but subject to uncontrollable impulse
• Makes rules but likes to break them
• Demands freedom but needs to struggle
• Feels invincible but fears vulnerability and loss of control

Fire: 

• Desires contact, intimacy but needs solitude
• Loves sensation and feeling but fears being overwhelmed by intensity
• Loves to say yes and can’t say no
• Yearns for fusion and dreads dissolution
• Lives in the moment,but dreads the future

Earth:

• Being at the still points and feeling stuck
• Wanting to be full but feeling weighed down, overstuffed, and overwhelmed
• Seeking emptiness and fearing that there is nothing at the core
• Desiring change but wanting things to stay the same
• Wanting to be needed but wary of being absorbed, losing the self

Metal: 

• Wants relationship but needs distance
• Knows what is right  but accepts what is safe
• Aspires toward beauty but settles for utility
• Wants joy - but fears spontaneity
• Likes creativity, ingenuity but is intolerant of disorder, dissonance

Water:

• Yearns for truth but fears exposure
• Yearns for connection but is intolerant of contact
• Likes to be squeezed but scared of being squashed
• Wants to penetrate inside  but detests being absorbed
• Enjoys being left alone but dreads being abandoned

Feeling a little crazy?  Justifiably so, according to your elemental characteristics.  These are the knots we tie ourselves into and the challenges of the memorable characters we want to write.

I've got a little experiment for you.  Let the character you're writing now have your elemental personality.  Throw challenges related to what he wants.  Tie her into knots with her fear related to her challenges.

You just might learn something about yourself in the process.  Something that may help you resolve some of your challenges and related fears.  Who knows, you may figure out ways to deal with people in your everyday life a little better.  And who couldn't use easier relationships?

What's your element?  Is there a challenge your element helped you recognize?  This blog was condensed from a full day workshop.  I'll be happy to share more traits in response to your comments.

And if you need a "diagnosis" from Kristen Lamb, you'll want to check in on Friday for some super tips.

By Laura Drake

In the spirit of full disclosure, the seed for this blog was something I read over on Writer Unboxed about quirky character names. It got me thinking. I don’t know about you, but character names are as important to me as my titles . . . you don’t go messing with them (she sends up a prayer up to the Gods of publishing.)

I spend a lot of time naming my characters. What do I use as a criterion? Danged if I know. But I know a character’s name when I see it. I use Baby Names , or if the name must be ethnic, I use Baby Names Garden.

But really, that’s only a jumping off place. I usually know a lot about the character before I name them, so it’s really a matter of what name resonates with me when I hear it. Does that guy look like a Kale? This is obviously, totally subjective, and some of the logic resides with the girls in the basement, not with me, so I can’t be really clear about some of what goes into my naming.

Did you ever think about memorable names in books you read? I can probably take a guess at why Margaret Mitchell chose Scarlett for her Herone’s name, but why did Fitzgerald choose Jay and Daisy for The Great Gatsby? What made J. D. Salinger choose Holden for his protagonist in Catcher in the Rye?  There were people in the basement in on that those – don’t tell me there weren’t.

I don’t know where the names in my head come from, but I’m finding to commonalities: I like boy names for girls (Stevie, Dani, Sam) and I love, love, love, nicknames. Here’s a few from my books:

Charla Rae (yes, I borrowed it, with permission, from our own Sharla Rae) who goes by Char, or Little Bit.

James Benton who goes by Jimmy or JB.

I even have a nickname for their animals – Char’s horse’s name is Buttermilk, but since she’s fat,  Jimmy nicknamed her Pork Chop.

I’m not the only one hung up on Nicknames, I’m in good company. How about Harper Lee’s  (hey, there's a girl with a guy's name!) Scout, Jem, and Boo Radley?

Are you obsessive about your character names, or is it just me?

How do you choose them? Have you ever changed one?

We're proud to have with us today, Debra Holland, a Golden Heart winner, whose book was NOT picked up for NY publication. They said "sweet" historicals wouldn't sell. Well, as you'll read, they made an error. One that Debra is capitalizing on. Here is her inspiring story of the past year.

UPDATE! As of 1/28, Debra's Wild Montana Sky just hit #1 on the Amazon top 100 Western Romance list. Her number three book, Stormy Montana Sky, which hasn't even been out two weeks, is number 31 on the list.

What a difference a year makes! Last January 1, I'd hadn't even considered self-publishing. In fact, I had a negative view of self-published books. I was deep the process of writing my nonfiction (traditionally published) book, The Essential Guide to Grief and Grieving. At this point in the process, I'd had my two sample chapters accepted by my editor and was looking at writing 18 more in the next two and a half months.

I had secret doubts that I'd be able to write a GOOD book by the deadline. I used every motivational trick I knew to keep myself positive and on track. It was the one of the most difficult things I'd ever done. But the book is out now, I'm getting stellar reviews and making an impact on people’s lives, so it was all worth it!

Around February, Delle Jacobs posted her monthly self-published sales numbers to our group of friends, The Wet Noodle Posse. I was blown away. I made a mental note to self-publish my novels (that two agents hadn't been able to sell) and wished I wasn't buried in the grief book so I could do it now.

Once the grief book was turned in, I knew I had two weeks before my editor would get the revisions back to me. So I did a read through of each of my two fiction manuscripts, paid Delle to do my covers, made a 10 minute attempt to format the first book, Wild Montana Sky, before giving up and paying someone to do it for me.

Wild Montana Sky went live on the evening of April 28, and the next day, Starry Montana Sky followed. Of course I had hopes for some sales, but I never dreamed that they'd catch on and I'd sell so well: 27,069 (Wild Montana Sky) and 10,207 (Starry Montana Sky) for the year.

These numbers are a combination of Amazon and Barnes & Noble. There are probably another 100 or so sales through Smashwords, which reports quarterly. (Monthly numbers below.)

I've been flabbergasted, excited, and humbled at the success of these two sweet historical Westerns.

After the grief revisions were done, I began working on Stormy Montana Sky (which I'd begun in 2004 and stopped writing after 50 pages.)

I became a self-publishing cheerleader, speaking to my chaptermates and writing blogs because I wanted other writers to know they had options besides traditional publishing. I also began preparing the first two books in my fantasy romance trilogy for publication.

Sower of Dreams went live on July 31 (799 sales) and Reaper of Dreams followed on August 7 (243 sales.) As you can see, they didn't take off like the Westerns did, but they are selling steadily at about 100 and 50 a month. The covers are by Lex Valentine. They've paid for themselves by this point.

Although I’d finished Stormy Montana Sky by late November, it had to go to my editor. After my revisions, I sent it to several copyeditors, and didn’t get it back in time to self-publish the book in 2011. (Although it’s self-published now.)

In the meantime, I decided to self-publish my Romantic Space Opera, Lywin's Quest, (a 2005 Golden Heart Finalist.) I hesitated to self-publish it because it's EPIC at 140,000 words and the next two books in the trilogy are going to be a lot of work. It also didn’t have the copyedits finished in time to self-publish in 2011, although it’s now available.

Self-publishing has reawakened my creativity. When my books didn’t sell, I became discouraged. I stopped writing fiction and switched to nonfiction. What I didn’t know I was doing was stifling my creativity. I’d get a story idea and squash it thinking, “It’s too much work to write a book that doesn’t sell.”

Now ideas are flowing. The Montana Sky series has expanded (in my head and in notes) to two more full-length books, 3 novellas, and a collection of Christmas stories.

Having an income from writing, instead of spending money through taking classes, going to conferences, buying books, belonging to writers’ organizations, paying for editing, etc, is wonderful! Although I must say, checking my sales numbers has become an addiction.

Here's my sales breakdown by month:

APRIL
WMS 11 (.99)
SMS 5 ($2.99)

MAY
WMS 479
SMS 106

JUNE
WMS 2454
SMS 638

JULY
WMS 5085
SMS 1842
SOWER OF DREAMS (SOD) 3 (July 31)

AUGUST
WMS 5106
SMS 2180
SOD 97 (.99)
REAPER OF DREAMS (ROD) 45 (Aug 7) ($2.99)

SEPTEMBER
WMS 4348
SMS 1733
SOD 104
ROD 44

OCTOBER
WMS 3975
SMS 1445
SOD 104
ROD 47

NOVEMBER
WMS 2386
SMS 1047
SOD 119
ROD 57

DECEMBER
WMS 3232
SMS 1227
SOD 129
ROD 50

TOTAL SALES

WMS 27,069
SMS 10,207
SERIES 37,272

SOD 556
ROD 243
SERIES 799

During this time, I've done very little promotion. I've written some blogs and done some guest blogs. I've requested reviews from about 10 review sites and the books have been favorably reviewed by all those who said yes. I had a brief pop of sales in October from Pixel of Ink picking up the book. If you look back through my blogs over the last six months, you can read about other things I think work. http://drdebraholland.blogspot.com

Barnes & Noble sells very few of my books in comparison to Amazon. I'm frustrated with that company because there's so much more they could do to improve sales for all their authors. (But that's another blog post.) However, in adding up the numbers for this blog, I was able to see how the consistent (although small) sales can add up over time.

I'm more grateful than I can express to all the readers who bought my book and to the authors who led the way on the path of self-publishing and to those who continue to support and educate me.

I hope you are all taking the time to reflect on what you can do to make 2012 the best year ever! Best of luck with keeping all your New Year's resolutions. Here's to a wonderful, healthy, and prosperous 2012!

Dr. Holland has a master’s degree in Marriage, Family, and Child Therapy, and holds a PhD in Counseling Psychology from the University of Southern California, and is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. She has twenty-five years of experience counseling individuals, couples, and groups. Dr. Holland is a popular psychotherapist, consultant, and speaker on the topics of communication difficulties, relationships, grief recovery, stress, and dealing with difficult people. She is a featured expert for the media, and does entertainment consulting.