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SEASON 2 DA CREW PODCAST_EPISODE _47_ HOST BLAQUE DIAMOND · DA CREW Podcast

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Oh senor sy All things and what things used to Where had all the blue
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skys but boys in the bloats from the north somethings wa persons, all things
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and what they used to be? No, wait, Dallas, what work
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AA l A C. The Chance of your Dream book Tour in Expo is
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coming through your area. Mark your calendars May eighteen, eleven a m.
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To three pm Central Standard time. We have some amazing authors and some amazing
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business owners that's going to be sharing about their brand. We have some workshop
1:08
facilitators that's going to be coming out. They're going to be teaching on branding,
1:14
marketing, and networking. I want you to plan to be in the
1:18
building, to be educated and power in and churged come out support. Aspiring
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Authors Magazine is a founding sponsor for doc cru podcast. Get featured inside the
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magazine and allow your voice to be heard around the world. Aspiring Authors Magazine
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is an international magazine founded in May of twenty twenty by Queen Angela. Get
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featured at Wings of Transformation Publishing. We are committed to helping our authors reach
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their goals and pursue their dreams of becoming published authors. We work closely with
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each author to ensure a successful publishing experience, and we are dedicated to helping
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them tell their stories in the most meaningful and impactful ways. We look forward
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to putting you on the path to writing your book. Hello, Hello,
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Hello, and welcome to the Crew Podcast. I am the Visionary Queen Angela
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and welcome to season two. I want to thank you for tuning in and
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for all of your support throughout season one. We're back them devas up the
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airways, so thank you for joining us tonight. Share this with someone in
2:44
your circle. Basic Black after Dark, the all new podcast show with your
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host, Black Diamond. Everybody, This is Black Diamond from the Crew Network,
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and you're listening to Basic Black after Dark, the podcast show that meets
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you where you are and gives you what you ask for. Now. Some
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of you, some people I've met, told me that they have a story
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within them. They also said they've been writing things down and they think that
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they want to write a book. Some of you may not know that I'm
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an author as well, and I remember the first book I published. It
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was about fifteen years ago. I thought all I had to do was give
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it a little thought, write it down, and get it published. And
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there you go. Boy, was I wrong? Publishing book is no sting
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poor. It's a lot more detailed than what you may encounter. But I
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don't want you to think that, oh I can't do it because of what
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you're saying, Because everybody's journey with it is different. So if you are
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ready to amplify your gift or an influencer on the rise, then I suggest
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you get something, get a pen, piece of paper, and start writing
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down the ingreetings that's going to be told to you tonight. Please welcome my
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guests, multi award winning best selling author, international speaker, poet, literary
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coach and ghost writer Doctor Jackie. Hey, Hey everyone, Hey Black Diamond,
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thank you for having me on tonight. What the blessing is to be
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with you this evening? Oh my god, it's been a minute. We
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had a little bit of time to chat, but it's been a minute since
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we've seen each other and since we've gotten together. But I am so happy
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that you accepted to come in tonight, And it just couldn't have come at
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a better time when people are going to be going on vacation so they can
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start getting that writing down. But doctor Jackie's going to be here tonight to
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talk to you all about getting into the writing room and letting you know where
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she's at with it to help you out. So you've been writing for Jack.
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You've been writing for a while, haven't you. I've been writing since
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the age of twelve, A long while. Oh my goodness, since the
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age of twel See, we don't want to go there and tell everybody that,
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just say it's just been a little bad, just a little bit.
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We're going to get into a little bit of your story as far as you
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writing and what you do. But why do you believe some people write well.
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Some people write because it's therapeutic. Some people write to free themselves.
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Some people write to free others, inform others. Some people write because they
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have a story inside them that they want to tell. Some people write because
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they can't speak well and the only way they can really let you know how
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they're feeling is through paper and pen. So there's a multitude of reasons why
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people actually write. Not only that, I just find that for me writing
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is spiritual as well, because things you can put on that paper you can
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tell the Lord, or you can tell yourself things that you can't tell them
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one else, And once it's on that paper, you can put it away.
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It's not always for you to share what you've written. So there's a
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lot of reasons why people write. Well, you've given a lot of them
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there. I know I'm one of those that just wrote something and I hadn't
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planned on being an author at all. That wasn't even a part of my
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plan in life. As a matter of fact, I really didn't like.
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Well, I'm not going to deter anybody from English class, but that wasn't
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one of my favorite subjects. But I come to look at it now and
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I'm like, maybe I should have paid attention a little bit more than I
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wouldn't have been getting what we call writer's block. But I'm gonna get into
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that too. So if an inspiring writer wants to become a published author,
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what should they do first besides contacting doctor Jackie. Well, if anyone anyone
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out there wants to become an author, the first thing that you want to
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do is decide what kind of story it is you want to tell. And
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it doesn't necessarily have to be a story either. It can be informational,
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it could be self help, it can be a cookbook. Even like some
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people actually I want to say, they pigeonhole themselves into Well, I can't
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do this, so therefore I must can't write, or I'm not going to
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be able to actually produce something. But there's so many different forms of writing.
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It's not just a book. You can be a published author by putting
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forth a brochure, a blog post. Okay, you can also write just
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put out little inspirational moments through your social media, through texting people. All
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of that is a form of writing, an authorship. Now, if you
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want to become published again, you're really gonna want to think about what is
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it that you want to tell the world. Yes, I'm saying the world,
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because whenever you write anything, it's permanent. Want to make sure that
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anything you're putting forth is going to serve and be available to the world.
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That's why I'm talking in those terms. And I want people to also expand
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their horizons past their homies and their you know, their family members and their
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best friends. Whenever you're writing and you want to become an author, think
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broad, think why, think you want to reach the masses, and basically
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really now down what it is you want to say. When I'm doing my
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writing workshops, one of the things. One of the prompts I asked all
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of my participants is what is it that you want the reader to say when
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they finished your book, or when they finished your chapter, when they finished
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whatever it is you put together. What is it that you want them to
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say? What is it that you want them to take away? And I
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pushed them, I don't want to hear oh that was a good read.
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No no, no, no, yes, it's a good read. But
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I want to know deeper. What is it that you have wanted them to
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learn about, either what you went through, how did you start that business,
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how did you make me do that divorce? How did you raise them
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six kids? I mean, it's so many that you know. It is
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permanent. You know, it's like an email when you said it. Once
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it's sent through, it's there. It's in writing. It's like when you
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put stuff on social media. It's there, you know, for the world
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to see. And some people are criticizing, some people won't, some people
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will follow you, and some people won't. One of the things that I've
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come across a lot was some people say, oh, she's a writer,
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and then somebody else says, she's an author. What is the difference between
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the author and a writer. So for me, it depends that the defining
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To me, the defining divide is are you published? That's my opinion.
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To me, an author is someone who was published. But I'm one of
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those free spirited kind of people. So if you've written things and shared them
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on social media, I say you're an author. You may not be published,
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like have an ISBN, got your word copyrighted? Things of that nature.
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And some people may say to you, oh, that's what I consider
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published or that's what I consider an author, which is fine, But for
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me, I'm like, you already have it in you to be an author,
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you just haven't taken that step to get it published, right. And
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the writer is just someone who loves to write, someone who loves to be
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in the written word, who just enjoys journaling. I so appreciate when I
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get a written note card. I know that's old school, I know it
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is, but I so appreciate it because I think there's a lot of lost
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art in the written word too well. So I know when people had said
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that about me, you or writing or author, I just told them,
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no, I'm just a storyteller. I just enjoyed telling stories. At what
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point should a person writing stories, or being an author, or just whatever.
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At what point in their career, their writing career, should they consider
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themselves a writer or an author. I would say, if you are constantly
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writing, whatever it is that you're writing, whether it is at work,
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whether it is for pleasure, whether it is helping your helping someone else write
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something, an essay, or things of that nature, you are a writer.
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I've had I've worked with so many clients who told me, I don't
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think this is good. I don't really like to write. I don't really
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like you know, this is not really my strength. I'm better at math.
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And then when I read what they've written, I'm blown away because that
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self doubt already has started to creep in that the fact that what they wrote
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was not pristine or perfect or a plus, so therefore they thought they were
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not a writer. So I like what Black Died had said a few minutes
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ago about writing can be storytelling, it can be considered myself from the beginning.
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Absolutely. I often though that no Maya Angelo is an author, that's
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the author. That to me, that's the way it was for me.
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I'm saying I'm nowhere near that nor do I ever think that I would ever
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get anything close because she was one of the best for me and looking at
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her and that level. On that caliper I just said, no, I'm
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just a writer. That's a woman who wrote most of it was poetry,
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poems or whatever it was. But I guess she could have wrote in her
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sleep and it would have been something she could have said I but the way
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she said it, I would have just meant so much. You know,
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so do some people they write from experience and some people write fantasies. Would
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would you think experience would be their biggest asset in writing if it's more from
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experience? Well, yeah, in both sides. Do you think a person's
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experience Like you had mentioned earlier, some people write from some of the experiences,
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some of the things that they've gone through, like the divorce or raising
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kids, and that's the experience, so they can write on that. But
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then some people may fantasize about some of those kinds of things. So what
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do you think would be their best asset experience was just a fantasy? Well,
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I'm going to go with both because I write fiction and nonfiction, and
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fiction can be fantasy, mystery, romance, love, lust, betrayal.
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You know, I write fiction, but I also write nonfiction, which is
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experiences real life. You know, my mind is visually broad and like broad.
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Like that, I tend to think in both lands. But I always
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tell people whatever project, whatever your first project is, whether fantasy fiction or
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nonfiction, it should always be the subject you know the most about. Because
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if you try to write about something that you don't know about, or you
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gotta go and get all this information and all this research and call up people
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and all this other kind of thing, it's gonna become a distraction to you,
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or it's even gonna become disheartening unless you have a lot of time on
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your hands. But if you write from the point of view of what do
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you know the most about, what you have the most information about, that
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is going to be a much easier task to tackle. And see fiction writers
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a fantasy writers like myself and Black Diamond. By the way, you know,
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we visually see the characters. It goes back to the storytelling element.
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We see the characters. They come into our our world and we visually see
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them, and most of the time they speak to us and they tell us
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their stories and they tell us everything. How they look, how they smell,
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what their history is, or they're a good person a bad person.
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That's fiction writing or fantasy writing, right. But the other part of the
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I want to say, the nonfiction writing that does come from your experiences and
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how much of your experiences do you really want to share? That's why I
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descern it right, biographies, the biographies, the autobiographies. A lot of
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people write in those genres. I know my first book was that it was
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a memoir for me, and it wasn't intended to be published for the public.
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It was something that I was doing for my children and my grandchildren.
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And when I got it back, I was like, oh wow, my
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pictures on there and my name is on the side and on the front or
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wherever it was at. And I was happy with that. And then somebody
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called me and told me that, oh, I didn't know you had a
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book published, And I said, what are you talking about? Because I
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didn't think it was going in that route, because I wasn't thinking of being
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an author or a writer. But some people they start writing and then their
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fear comes over there and they stop. What tips would you have for them?
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Keep writing? Keep writing, even if you're fearful. The reason why
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I'm gonna say that is you started it for a reason. You started to
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write it for a reason. But like I said at the beginning, everything
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is not to be shared. Sometimes you're writing just to get it out of
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you. You're like, I have to tell somebody, So I'm gonna tell
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her to this paper, whether it's a journal, a keyboard, how about
17:38
a recorder. You can even record your thoughts. With those of you who
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are like I don't like typing and I don't like writing, you can record
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your thoughts and get your audio files transcribed. Okay, So there's no excuses
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if you want to write. But the thing is, don't be afraid,
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because at the end of the day, you don't have to share it.
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You could. I worked with clients who had me ghost right for them and
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put the book in the drawer, And that's because of fear. Like you
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said, Black Diamond. But I'm not going to force anyone to share it,
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because you have to own it and be ready for whatever you're going to
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put forth because you don't know what people. You gotta have thick skin in
18:19
this author world. Let me tell you, as people say. People say
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all kinds of things. But as long as you know that this was your
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divine path to put forth this particular written product, then you're going to go
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forth with faith. Right and at the end of the day, don't be
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afraid because again you do not have to share it. It might have been
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just therapy for you to get it out and then, you know, put
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it away until such a time to release it. Patrice said, what the
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devil put it in the drawer, And I'm guilty of that. As a
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matter of fact, I'm guilty of this right here. I have a book
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that's hoping to be published this year, but it's been in the back of
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my drawer for a way because I just it's not that I got stuck.
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We'll get into that being stuck. But I hope you guys got your pen
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and paper and everything together and taking some of these nuggets that Jackie is tossing
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now, it says, ain't that the truth everythick skin, It's right,
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that's right. Trice is one of my little my sisters here at the podcast,
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and she's a reviewer, so you guys shoul get in touch with her
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as well. Hey, Lasanya, one of the things I want to know,
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do you think people should self publish. Okay, So in the world
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of I forget what the number is thousands. I'm gonna go with thousands of
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books being published every day, I'm gonna go with yes. And here's the
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reason why. And this is true story. I was at an event,
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and actually it was an event where one an international Publishers Book award. I
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got to put a little plug in for my fiction drama edy heat it heat
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it Urban dramedy, Yes, indeed, but I gotta get that in there.
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So I was at that event and I met some fabulous authors and I'm
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just gonna make this story really quick for all of you. There was a
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girl there and she won. She won also, and it was the most
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gorgeous children's book, one of the most gorgeous children's book I've ever seen by
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a little girl of color. But the illustrations was wonderful. And I'm like,
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girl, you self published, like this book looks like it should be
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at you know, one of the major publisher houses. She said, well,
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let me tell you about that. She had a friend that went to
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a major publishing house. Or make a long story short, they signed her,
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They gave her an advance. That's every author's dream is that a major
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publishing company will pick them up, give them an advance, take their book,
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put on New York Times bestseller list, you know, get them in
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all of these places. But that is not exactly what happened. They gave
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the advance, they took over the rights of the book for five years,
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and then they gave it, say three to six months for it to make
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a profit. At the end of six months, and we're talking about major
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publishing companies, at the end of six months, it did not make the
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profit. They deemed successful, and therefore they put the book on the shelf.
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They put the book on their shelf and moved on to the next hot
21:21
commodity, and the author could not touch that book for five years because that
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was the contract that they signed. Sos is is number one. If you
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don't want to self published, then get yourself a reputable literary agent. Number
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two. Understand, Jackie, here you go. Understand that the literary agent
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is not only going to advocate for you, they're the ones that you can
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you should be able to trust to get you the best deal. That's the
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that's the pluses. Here's the minus. It takes a long time because the
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literary agent is one in a bottle of literary agents, and they're all knocking
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on the same doors as the other literary agents saying, hey, this is
22:15
the fantastic product. You have to read this, you have to sign this,
22:18
you have to read this. And that is few and far between.
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So if you have time, you really believe in your product, you want
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to get a literary agent to push your product through to the mainstream publishers.
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And then it's a waiting game. But don't forget what I shared with you.
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And by the way, at this conference, at this award show,
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multiple people told me the same story. They had a publisher who gave them
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an advance and then they locked down the book for three or five years,
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where you, as the author, cannot do anything with it during that time
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period. It just sits on their shelf. And then by the time you're
23:02
ready to do something with it is considered a book that's really out of commission
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unless you're going to make some major changes in that book, put it in
23:11
there, coverage different, you're spending more money on it. So that advance
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that they gave them, that's nothing to them. And you may think,
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oh, wow, five brand, I can do this with it now and
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publish and whatnot. But that book that you have now, yes, that
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five brand, hang on to it, that's hang on to it. Yes,
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yes, it takes a long time, Yes it does, Jackie.
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How important is it for a professional adding to it or editing to an author's
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book development? Now? You know who? You know? Who I am
23:44
black that And what I mean by that is I want them to know what
23:51
I know. Yes, I know, baby. That is one of my
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pet peeves is that a fabulous book did not have a professional edit. And
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I'm gonna let you know right now, and I'm not trying to offend nobody.
24:04
Let me put that for first. But Grandmama and them Uncle Jojo,
24:11
al right, cousin Lucy, don't take their edits for granted, take they
24:18
take the don't use their edits. Rather, don't tell me that they edited
24:22
your book. I've been down that route many many times. They mean well,
24:29
trust me, they mean well, they're fabulous, and you're gonna need
24:33
all those people in your corner, all them aunts and cousins and relatives.
24:37
And I've had some English teacher books come my way as well. If this
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is not their, if this is not their niche thank them and say I
24:52
love you, and then get someone who really does that type of work.
24:57
Okay, just speaking little bit of money, just a little bit of money.
25:03
Yeah, they spend a little bit of money on getting it edited.
25:06
Because you put that book out, then there has mistakes it because I know
25:08
somebody in a high position who wrote a book, and I purchased the book.
25:15
But when I saw that book, it had so many errors. And
25:18
then it's on the news that this person's book you don't talk about. The
25:27
book has so many errors in it. So when I got it and I
25:30
looked at it, I said, oh my god, what was this person
25:34
thinking. I guess they thinkured because of who they were, that they can
25:37
get those books out there and just sell them, sell them, sell them.
25:41
So when that happens, a lot of times people don't take you serious.
25:45
It's basically in the literary world, you know, because this person want
25:49
to collaborate with somebody, they would want to hold back because they see that
25:53
their thought pattern and the way that they write is just not what they would
25:57
want no matter who they are. That's that's just one of the ways that
26:02
things crumble. What would you say to new writers who believe they can make
26:06
a living at it as a writer. Woof, it's possible, but it's
26:14
gonna be a lot of sacrifice. It's very possible. People are doing it.
26:18
You know. If you want to make a living off of your book
26:22
or your product, I say, get a strong marketing team, right,
26:29
map out your strategy for sales. Figure out how much you need per month
26:34
to live, not survive, to live. Okay, so that when you
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just take up those nuggets, when you decide this is gonna be my full
26:45
time job. Okay, my full time this is all I'm gonna do is
26:48
be an author and a writer. You know, you gotta make sure you
26:52
have all of that in place first, a lot of planning and strategizing.
26:56
And I will say, don't quit your day job and this writing job.
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Your writing career really takes off where you can see that you can make,
27:04
you know, a good living out of it, and you're not struggling living
27:07
from paycheck to paycheck. So I've goten doable. Oh, five thousand dollars,
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is not it like a lot of room and Ned's mules in the beginning,
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that's right, Yes, yes, yes, it's it's definitely a definite
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what if no one connects with an author or the writer outgrows their story,
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should they change their writing style or genre? So when you say when no
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one connects with the author, do you mean that the author has put forth
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something and it's not going anywhere. It's not moving right. That requires some
27:44
focused groups and real love. Focused groups and real love. But what I
27:49
mean by that is have one of your good girlfriends, two or three of
27:53
them read the book and let them tell you what is wrong, why is
28:00
not connecting? Or if you had a target audience for your book, find
28:04
two or three in that circle and say, you know what, I really
28:07
thought this was going to be a hit. I thought it was going to
28:11
be some whole bunch of copies. Can you read it and tell me what
28:14
is wrong? And then just be ready again, like I said, that
28:17
tough skin and that tough love. Just be ready for that feedback and really
28:22
absorb it. And if you can, and this is where you have to
28:26
really expand your network, get some people you don't know who don't know you
28:32
from Adam to read your book. That would be very very telling if you
28:37
really want to know why it's not connecting, and that should help you shape
28:42
whatever you're going to do next. I don't want you, though, to
28:45
get discouraged by that, because, as you all know, everything ain't for
28:51
everybody, right. It's true, it's true, So everybody says love it.
28:56
L'atania says that it'll take a lot of sacdvice, and that's sound advice.
29:02
You know, some people you have to accept criticism, and they're not
29:04
doing it to be mean. They're just letting you know. You went to
29:07
them for a reason and you wanted them to be honest. So when they
29:11
in turn become honest with you, don't figure that, oh, you don't
29:15
know what you're talking about. You asks or their opinion and they're giving it
29:18
to you. Imagine if they didn't and you put it out there and you
29:22
put all of your eggs in that basket, you have some broken eggs.
29:26
People definitely have some broken eggs, Doctor Jackie. I can talk to you
29:30
forever, but we're going to take a quick commercial break, and when we
29:33
can come back, we're going to learn more about your literary coach, Doctor
29:37
Jackie. Turn off flight a candle, tonight a man mad, Let's take
30:18
a shower shower together. I was abandoned. You must not and some not
30:37
wealthy and say, Jay, turn on me. Come girl, don't want
30:59
to care you? What's so sweet? We're back with doctor Jackie, the
31:11
literary coach. I've heard of a life coach and many other types of coaches,
31:15
but what exactly is a literary coach? Yes, yes, yes,
31:21
So I am the person that is your accountability partner during your writing journey.
31:29
That's what a literary coach does. I'm the one that sits with you,
31:33
makes an outline, helps you decide your direction, keeps you on track,
31:37
do my best to keep you on schedule for whatever it is that you are
31:42
trying to write. And again, I do want people to understand writing is
31:47
not just books. It could be books. It could be a book,
31:51
it could be a brochure, it could be a guide, it could be
31:53
an informational piece. There's so many things in a literary space that you could
32:00
be writing. But I'm the one that helps you get to the finish line.
32:05
That's what literary coach does. But I take it a step further because
32:08
I do a lot of editing. I do a lot and I have learned.
32:13
The Lord told me that I'm a holistic editor. That's what he had
32:16
to teach me that I'm a holistic editor, and what does that mean.
32:22
Okay, some people have sent me stuff and said, Jace, I only
32:27
want you to clean up the grammar and sent it back to me. That's
32:30
all I want you to do. And jac can't do that. I had
32:35
to learn that I could not do that. It's not in my nature to
32:39
overlook all of the inconsistencies in a book, a chapter, a page,
32:45
or phrase. I cannot overlook it. I'm compelled, you know, it's
32:50
like a I'm drawn to say something about why it's wrong. I cannot just
32:55
fix a common at a period capitalized as a letter and just ignore all the
33:02
other inconsistencies, because that is the way that I edit. That is my
33:07
vision. That's what I see. So they're getting much more than they're getting
33:13
much more than what they bargained for by spaking with you and sending you their
33:16
work and tell me your path to becoming a literary coach. Well, this
33:22
happened several years ago, and I want everyone to know that several years ago,
33:28
I would not have been on this podcast. I would not have been
33:31
speaking, I would not have been in any conferences meeting Black Diamond because I
33:38
was basically still coming out of my trauma and my shell from my youth when
33:45
I was a closet writer. Okay, and when I finally did break free,
33:51
that's a whole other podcast and a whole other story. I met two
33:55
wonderful ladies correct a doctor wherever you are, I love you. And at
34:00
that time she had a partner, and I managed to muddle through a spiel
34:07
for my book, and when I got off the stage, she said,
34:10
girl, you know you need to be getting out here talking about your book
34:14
and everything that you do. And I'm going to help you. And I'm
34:16
like, you are. I don't think I'm ever going to be able to
34:21
like work with people of not even promote myself. And because of her belief
34:27
in me and her faith in me and her coaching and mentoring, here I
34:30
am today. Here I am. So, you know, just say,
34:34
coach, you don't just coach adults. I see that you also coach children,
34:39
youth. Tell me a little bit about that. Yes, So I
34:44
work with as you know, I work with Patricia Johnson Harris, who is
34:49
the founder of Youth Writers Challenge and under Youth Writer's Challenge, which is a
34:52
multima nonprofit, is youth writers rock. And what I do with the youth
34:58
is I helped them become publish authors. And it's for grades four through twelve,
35:04
and I tend to work with the high schoolers primarily on helping them become,
35:08
like I said, first time authors while they are still in school.
35:15
And so I just love that the children give me so much life as do
35:19
my adult clients. I learned so much, and I want to tell you
35:22
something about how God works. When I was younger, I wanted to be
35:28
a teacher. That was my first love was to be a teacher, but
35:32
then I got distracted, and now he has come full circle where I am
35:37
a literary teacher and a literary coach helping people become published authors. So you
35:45
work with both. So I'm not going to ask you which one is easy
35:49
to work with, the adults or the children, because can act like children
35:54
and then those children because I've seen through the Youth Writering Challenge program, I've
36:00
seen some remarkable youth coming there with some stories and the things that they've done
36:06
and the way that you guys work with them, and I understand they just
36:08
had recently had a graduation, and you guys should be so proud with the
36:13
way that you work with these children. Why do some people struggle at the
36:19
end, like when they're just about finished but they just can't finish, like
36:22
a cliffhanger and they just can't get over that hump. Why do you think
36:27
people struggle with that? Sometimes it is fear because they know they're about to
36:30
be finished, which means they're about to publish this book. And then are
36:35
they ready? Are they mentally ready to finish and let the world see what
36:40
they've written? As you know, Black Diamond, a lot of people's stories,
36:46
people don't know their true story. They know some, but they don't
36:52
know the real dale. But the Raildale is in that book, and they
36:58
have to and they and they may get stuck with actually finishing it because they
37:04
know that at that point they're about the birth the baby and they may just
37:07
not want to birth it. And I see writer his block in the comments,
37:10
but I know that you're gonna ask me about writers block, and I'll
37:15
just segue on into into writer's block if that's okay. And sometimes it is
37:20
that they are definitely literarily know that's a word doll stuck, so they can't
37:27
get past where they're stuck at But again that's where a literary coach comes in
37:32
as far as how to finish up something, wrap it up, segue,
37:37
move forward, and writers. Block is real. It is real. It
37:40
happens to me as well. And the ways that I get over right is
37:45
block is gonna sound really crazy, but I watch a lot of poor,
37:50
poorly scripted movies because I sit there and I say, dang, I know
37:54
I put a vote the script better than this. What in the world?
37:58
And then I start to often to the screen about how the ending should have
38:01
been. You know, it should have went this way, it should have
38:05
went like that, and how did y'all do this kind of this and that?
38:07
But that sparks my mind. It gets my mind to start thinking in
38:13
a creative in a creative space. The other way to unblock yourself is,
38:17
let's say you're stuck in a particular area, especially for those of you doing
38:22
self help, call a best friend that was around you during that era or
38:25
whatever you're writing about and say, hey, do you remember when we was
38:30
when I was going through this, this and this? And they will probably
38:34
say I sure do. And then you ask them what do you remember about
38:37
that that time period? And I bet they'll say something to you, to
38:42
you you totally forgot, and you'll be like, oh, you know what,
38:45
I forgot all about that that happened, you know. So there's a
38:49
lot of ways to become unstuck with writer's block. And then there's the obvious
38:55
one. Put it to them. Just put it down for a moment,
39:00
put it down, give it a break, you know, give it a
39:04
break. And when you go back a week later. Trust me on this,
39:09
a week later, maybe two weeks, read it from the beginning.
39:16
Do not read it from the part you were stuck at. Go to the
39:22
very beginning and read it all the way through. And a lot of times
39:28
that will also draw your memory on what you else you need to say.
39:32
And lastly, sometimes and I learned this from my editor, sometimes the book
39:38
is ready to end, but we're not ready for it to end. Put
39:45
an axflammation point on it. It's done. So it's really from writer's block
39:52
so many times, and right now in the middle of that writer's block.
39:57
And what I found was better for me is I changed my environ I left
40:00
from this state that I'm in to b movies. Lol. I left from
40:06
this state that I'm in and I went to see my father and while I
40:10
was there, you know, I had some of my material with me.
40:13
I said, you know, I'll have my laptop with me whatnot. And
40:15
I sat on his balcony and I was back home, and I just felt
40:19
so comfortable. And you know, you in New York and you're overlooking New
40:22
York City. Anything and everything happens in New York. But it just gave
40:27
me that and I was just so comfortable. I was back at home.
40:30
So I was in that writer's headspace at that point in time. It wasn't
40:36
the children or work or anything. So I would suggest change your environment as
40:40
well, because that could push you to maybe there's something within that environment that
40:46
may help out your story. That you'll see things different and you'll be looking
40:50
at it through a different lens. What to you are the most important elements
40:55
of good writing? I just did this children's character development mhm okay, storyline
41:09
having seen to read mm hmmkay. Take no drama mm hmm, humor,
41:20
a protagonist, love, lost, lies and romance, a laugh that's her
41:30
little all right? There? With that said, are there times when you
41:35
review a person's writing their books or novels and believe they should have chosen another
41:38
profession. Hmm. That's a good question. That mm hmm, like they
41:46
shouldn't have written this book, or maybe they just shouldn't be a writer period.
41:52
Like what the person is thinking a look at this, grandma, look
41:58
at just the whole kitten. That is a graz segue to ghostwriting, because
42:06
if I do come across that and the person is not, I want to
42:10
say they don't have it in them to finish the book the way it needs
42:15
to be done. That's where a ghostwriter comes in. Because you may have
42:20
an excellent idea, an excellent storyline, riveting and powerful, but you're just
42:27
not able to string it together in a reasonable way and it's and it's really
42:34
just stressing you out. That's where you get a ghostwriter because they'll write the
42:40
whole thing for you and you put your name right on it. But you
42:45
think that many of these many of these authors that are coming out with books
42:50
every three and four months, you think that they're writing it. I highly
42:54
doubt it. They may write a couple of them, they may review it,
42:58
but I can almost guarantee that they have a ghost writer or ghost writers
43:06
depending on something, to take that on their staff. That's right. So
43:10
I as long as they have a good, good storyline and they know where
43:15
they want to go on the journey, I'm there to help them. They
43:19
just may need a ghost writer who can do it for them. Please share
43:23
with our listeners how you use your platform as a speaker, an international speaker
43:30
to transform and empower women. So I am always looking for opportunities to speak
43:37
about how you can leave your past in the past in order to move forward.
43:45
That is my message, like sometimes like myself. If you heard me
43:50
earlier, I told you I would never have been on the stage before.
43:52
Okay, I was stuck in my own head, living in someone else's mental
43:58
prison because of something they said. And so many of us are stuck in
44:02
someone else's world. Mm hm. We riding on someone else's train, Okay,
44:09
we are. We are a passenger instead of a driver. So when
44:15
I'm to people, so when I talk, you know, please do because
44:22
the more we talk about it, the more we let people know. People
44:25
need to understand. Mostly I'm mostly minister to women, but men as well.
44:30
Is that I know we've heard this before. You are not your past,
44:35
right, But I know it's easier said than done because it happened to
44:38
me really, so my when I talk to people, when I speak with
44:43
people, depending on who the audience is, I really want people to understand
44:46
that you have a gift you have. Everyone has a gift and a talent.
44:52
Everyone has a purpose in life. And because of what someone said to
44:57
you last year, last week, last month, well ten years ago,
45:01
you have been stunted. Your growth has stopped and I've wanted to meet that
45:07
says you know. No, that was someone else's view, but that was
45:13
not your divine destiny. Wow. You shared so much with us tonight on
45:20
how they should write, how they can come into it, what to look
45:22
for. What is your communication style? My communication style? Oh, I'm
45:29
just open and free and I like to have fun. You know that I
45:34
like to have fun. I like to be open and free and with all
45:38
of my clients will tell you that I'm patient. I have a lot of
45:44
patients, and you need a lot of patients as a literary coach, but
45:47
you also need to have that open communication. And sometimes it's challenging because everyone
45:53
is in a different place in space with it. But I try to meet
45:59
people where they are and I here's the other thing about me as far as
46:04
communication. I do have a little contract that I get into it my clients,
46:08
but it's it's more to protect the clients than it is me. Right.
46:14
I mean, if I said we're going to be writing this book for
46:15
six months, ninety percent of time, it takes us a year and a
46:21
half. And that's okay because my goal, my main goal is to make
46:25
sure that number one, you have a quality product. Number two, you're
46:30
happy with it. Number three we're not rushed. Good good, good tips.
46:36
What would you suggest an individual who's writing and they finished their book and
46:40
everything as far as a book cover, would you suggest that they did their
46:45
own book cover because some people say, no, I want to do this,
46:47
or would you suggest they just go to a creative a writer, a
46:53
creative person that doesn't designer or anything like that. Just they do that,
47:00
or just do their own If you have the money, I would have a
47:05
graphic designer do your cover. Lately, I have been seeing cookie cutter covers.
47:13
So I have been seeing this one woman standing, well I'm still standing,
47:19
or I've made it through, or I'm victorious it's the same graphic or
47:30
or you know, both hands up, or it's basically what I'm trying to
47:36
say, is basically the same type of graphic. It's no. I want
47:40
to say, creative energy put into it, and I'm not knocking it.
47:45
Don't hear that. I'm just saying I am more towards Don't you want something
47:50
unique and that is really authentically you versus something that you can put get off
47:54
of Shutterstock or another one of these graphic graphic image places. So and it's
48:01
nothing to It's right, there's nothing wrong with it. Oh, when you
48:06
go to shut the stock it, I don't know if anyone notices if anyone
48:08
has visited there. It'll tell you how many times a particular graphic has been
48:14
downloaded. It'll say this graphic has been used thirty seven thousand times. What
48:20
I don't want that? And they also tell you what the fee is if
48:22
you want to purchase certain things. The Tanya asks is their fIF for ghostwriting?
48:27
Is the FIFA ghostwriting expensive? Absolutely? Because what I do or other
48:32
ghostwriters do, they are immersing themselves into your life. Because when the book
48:37
comes out, it should sound like you, It should represent you. It
48:43
shouldn't sound like me. And the only way I'm gonna understand your way that
48:47
you speak would be for me to do a lot of interview sessions, a
48:52
lot of trial and ever, a lot of me sending you stuff for you
48:55
to review, for you to say, oh, yeah, that sounds like
48:58
me, and you may come back and say, oh no, J say
49:00
I would never say this, but I would say this. So ghost writing
49:05
is still a partnership. It is a partnership, and it's time consuming because
49:08
the ghost writer, if they're excellent at what they do, they're spending a
49:13
lot of time with you. They're spending a lot of interview time. They're
49:16
asking you certain questions, and at the same time they're listening to the way
49:22
that you talk and the way that you say certain things and certain phrases.
49:25
So that's why it's quite expensive. I don't mind telling the audience my ghost
49:30
writing. If he starts at thirty five hundred, I don't mind. I
49:34
know it's competitive in the marketplace because I know a lot of people that started
49:38
seven K for ghostwriting, So but it's probably out there accent. You have
49:46
a payment plan for that or all of the units. I have payment plans
49:52
for all of my payments. I have all of my services. I have
49:57
payment plans absolutely, But yes, thirty five hundred is starting and that depends
50:02
on the page count. So so you know it's important to yes, not
50:08
do literary workshops for anthologies. I use I do literary workshops for aspiring authors,
50:15
and I also do advanced workshops too for those who need a little bit
50:21
more like like, for example, a workshop just on character development, character
50:25
and scene development and how do you do that? And all of my workshops
50:30
are interactive, it's not just me talking. You will do some work,
50:34
you will do some writing. You will because you have to pick up on
50:38
the writing style to know correct where you need to come in at, because
50:43
you can't just have them and I know, you won't just have them sitting
50:45
in there, you know and just taking their money and saying yeah that's good,
50:50
Yeah, that's good, and then they go out there and put out
50:51
something that's a mess. So yeah, I definitely, I definitely get that.
50:55
How could our viewers get in touch with you? Connect with you?
51:00
Absolutely? So you can visit my website ww Dot Blossom Litservices dot com.
51:10
All one word. I don't know if you can see it, Blossom Literary
51:14
Services, but it's www. Dot Blossom lit Services dot com that talks about
51:21
all of my literary services that I provide. You can also visit JC hyphen
51:29
Gardner dot com and then you can email me. Yes, send me your
51:35
email JC at Blossom Litservices dot com. So easy, yes, yes,
51:42
and you can contact You can contact Black Diamond two. If you didn't catch
51:46
anything, We'll be happy to send you my way and I would love to
51:52
connect. I also do a free introductory coaching session if anyone is interested in
51:58
and exploring their their literary dreams. So if you want to amplify your superpower
52:04
and achieve your literary dreams, go to www. Dot Blossom lit lit Services
52:12
dot com. Today's interview was questioned based about write and worthy and if you
52:19
want to become a writer that writer one with the motivation to make a career
52:22
as an author, consider doctor Jackie. Jackie, thank you so much for
52:27
dropping all these little nuggets on everybody. I hope that they've been catching them,
52:31
writing them down, recording them. Pick up the email address contact me
52:37
if you need to get her information, because doctor Jackie is the true deal.
52:43
Thank you so much for being a part of tonight's show. Now,
52:45
I'm usually on Fridays, but I have a bonus show Tuesday, April to
52:51
twenty four join me for Autism Awareness Month. We are talking with Joe Linderman
52:58
a special as you can you Know After eighth After Dark, a mercy pursing
53:10
me. All things ain't what things do? Stupid enough? Where did all
53:20
the blue sky that's blot boys and then re blow