We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Carol J Parsons a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Carol J, so great to have you on the platform and excited to have you share your wisdom with our community today. Communication skills often play a powerful role in our ability to be effective and so we’d love to hear about how you developed your communication skills.
My ability to communicate effectively all goes back to my high school English teacher Virginia Duke, who said, “A writer’s job is to write.” She laid the groundwork for getting my thoughts onto paper and instilled a solid foundation of basic writing skills. I loved all the inventive ways she had to encourage us to write (way before it was common in high school classrooms to think outside the box). My college journalism professor Mr. Lovelace continued that education by teaching me to ask the right questions and winnow through facts and tidbits to distill a story down to its essence and arrange the facts in such a way that grabs readers’ attention. The standards they set kept me reaching for excellence and their encouragement kept me challenging myself, as well as believing any avenue was open to me. I took Mrs. Duke literally and kept writing fiction, even though those early stories were badly written. It helped me develop my voice, writing style and taught me what works and doesn’t work in writing. Another college English professor taught me to challenge the “rules and expectations” of others and to know when to stand my ground on what was important to a story, even if it didn’t fit others’ preconceived ideas.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I’m a retired everything, avid reader, grandmother of three boys armchair archeologist, dabbler in dirt (gardening), watcher of campy science fiction and anime and occasional video player. I have a BA in journalism, served as editor of The Colorado City Record for four years, served overseas in Ecuador as missionary for 10 years, have traveled extensively both inside and outside of the United States and started a second career as a teacher after I was 50. My favorite titles are wife, Mom, Grammie and author. I’ve been making up stories since first grade, although I didn’t actively start writing until junior high when I fell in love with science fiction. My stories are primarily sci fi westerns, space opera and gameLIT, although I do have one fantasy novel. My Christian faith fuels my stories and all the imaginary worlds I create are founded on Christian principles; that is the worlds operate with faith at the center even if the story itself doesn’t include the gospel or references to Christianity. Thus, all my stories are wholesome and uplifting with characters of integrity and faith. You won’t find profanity, sex, or gratuitous violence. My background growing up in rural Oklahoma and living in rural Texas has given me a solid understanding of traditional rural values which are reflected in my stories. My experience traveling and living overseas allows me to look at life from a different perspective.. Combined it gives my stories a strong foundation and fresh approach.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
One of the most important skills for any writer to have is a love of reading. The more you read, the better you write. Reading gives us access to different cultures, careers, people, and time periods. It expands our knowledge base and keeps us open to fresh possibilities. I’m a research junkie and love learning just for the sake of learning….and you never know when a tidbit is going to spark a new story. My faith has been the most impactful on everything I do or write, since I want every word to glorify Christ. My characters can respond to situations and events because I’ve seen these same responses lived out in my life, the lives of my family and friends within the Christian community. I can write heroes of integrity because I have personal heroes of integrity, so I don’t have to accept advice from a nay-sayer telling me people don’t act like that. I also think a solid understanding of grammar is vital for a writer. I know that’s not a popular trend today; however, like I tell my students. “You can have the most important and valuable idea in the world, but if it’s packaged in a trash bag people will think it’s worthless.” Valuable ideas/stories need proper packaging. Take the time to edit and get it right!
How would you spend the next decade if you somehow knew that it was your last?
Marketing is always a challenge for me. It’s not one of my languages or skill sets. but as an indie author it’s necessary. Indie authors don’t have the resources major publishing houses do in order to promote our work. Finding the right market for a book is hard work and takes knowledge most of us simply don’t have. Also, many marketing strategies rely heavily on a strong financial base and as someone on a fixed income that’s not available to me. Right now I rely on word of mouth and the occasional Twitter and free promo from Kindle. It’s not the best of promotional marketing, but it’s better than nothing. Hopefully, one day I will learn enough to do better marketing, or have a friend willing to show me the ropes. We learn from each other and that always gives me hope.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://cjparsons.wordpress.com
- Twitter: @CarolJoParsons
