Category Archives: Writing
On July 21, 2011 Irene Watson and Victor R. Volkman spoke with humorist and songwriter Tom Cornett. He is a Midwestern writer who has collaborated with country singers in Nashville as well as writing and co-writing novelty (comedy) songs and parodies. Tom is a student of the observational school of comedy and enjoys putting a twist on reality. He releases his comedy music under the pseudonym “Twisted Tom“. He spoke with us on a variety of humor writing points including:
- Basics of comedy songwriting
- Observing human nature as the source of the absurd
- The importance of collaboration
- Humor vs. satire
- Parodies
- Point-of-view in comedy
- Handling rejection effectively
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 Tom Cornett |
| Tom also writes a blog in addition to his music sites on ReverbNation and MySpace |
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On July 7th, 2011 Tyler R. Tichelaar and Victor R. Volkman spoke with writing coach and author Dion McInnis about how anyone can learn to write an engaging memoir. He teaches Memories to Memoirsworkshops at a variety of outlets, as well as teaching photography. He fell in love with writing by the time he was 12 and photography at 6. During the day, he is a university administrator, and every moment of every day he is a writer/photographer/speaker/poet. We covered a range of topics on memoir including
- Using writing cues to jog your memory
- The Horizontal Timelines and how they can co-ordinate the story of your life
- The importance of preserving your point-of-view while recovering memories
- Choosing fiction or non-fiction as your final product
- Using old photos to stimulate memories and discover context
- Non-verbal methods of bringing yourself back in time
- And much more!
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 Dion McInnis |
| Dion McInnis has always loved the stories of his life and the lives of those he encountered. He believes in the richness, wisdom and humanity of stories. Over time, he realized that it is harder to rekindle memories and find the ways to turn them into stories, whether for memoirs, autobiographies, short stories and so on. So, he developed a way to find the memories and turn them into words. His most recent book is entitled Daddin’: The Verb of Being a Dad. |
 Daddin': The Verb of Being a Dad |
On June 1st, 2011 Irene Watson and Tyler R. Tichelaar interviewed writer, publisher, and marketing guru Patrika Vaughn on how to choose the right mentor. Patrika Vaughn has 25 years of experience include every aspect of writing, publishing, and marketing. She is a columnist with articles published in more than 100 national journals and magazines. She spoke with us today on these key points:
- Know your audience and what potential mentors know about that audience
- Interview them: find one who is ‘on your wavelength’
- Know what type of help you need
- Be able to take criticism
- Don’t choose a dictator!
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 Patrika Vaughn |
| Patrika Vaughn’s books have appeared in print, audio books, and eBook formats. As a ghostwriter she has written books of both fact and fiction for industrialists, psychiatrists and psychotherapists, world travelers and international executives. As a Literary Agent, Patrika has placed writers with Prentice-Hall, McGraw Hill Publications, Harcourt Brace Jovanovitch, and other top tier publishers. She is currently publisher and President of Acappela Publishing |
 Everything You Need to Know to Write, Publish and Market Your Book |
On May 19th, 2011 Susan Violante and Alan E. Smith spoke with writing coach Carolyn Scarborough on the “Book Whisperer” — what one is and why you need one! Carolyn is a writing coach, who works with people to turn their “whispering” to write into a reality. Her most recent book is Backyard Pearls: Cultivating Wisdom and Joy in Everyday Life. She is an award-winning magazine writer, editor and newspaper columnist and has published more than 500 articles in magazines around the world. We touched on many aspects of the writing process, including
- What is writer’s block and how can we dissolve it?
- How do we stay motivated to write?
- Why do we tend to get so sidetracked with distractions instead of writing?
- How do we get in touch with our “writer’ voice.”
- What can we do to make writing easier and more joyful?
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 Carolyn Scarborough - The Book Whisperer |
| Carolyn Scarborough’s passion is inspiring people to tap into their inner wisdom, then share their message with the world through books, blogs or articles. She coaches people privately, as well in telecourse and live retreat formats. In addition, she serves as Program Director for the Austin chapter of the International Coach Federation, and is a member of the Writers League of Texas, Story Circle Network and The Association for Women in Communications. For more information, go to www.backyardpearls.com |
 Backyard Pearls: Cultivating Wisdom and Joy in Everyday Life |
