Christa Wojciechowski visits Boomers on Books

by | Jul 8, 2021 | blog, Uncategorized

On Monday, I had the the pleasure of being on Boomers on Books with Vince Stevenson, a livestream show that features emerging and established authors. Vince is also known as The Fear Doctor and is a leading trainer and bestselling author on overcoming the fear of public speaking.

This was a most fortunate circumstance for me. Being my first livestream video, I was nervous. But you will see that Vince is a charming and skilled host, and we enjoyed a great conversation. We covered many fascinating topics other than my books—relationship dynamics, addiction and mental illness, self-doubt, and life in Panama. Not your same ol’ author interview!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2pBfpTV8hQ&t=981s

Click the time stamps below to navigate the conversation…

01:00 About the other writer in Christa’s family—her sister, Bia Bella Baker

02:30 The story of the SICK series

06:10 Evolving through relationships

09:24 The hardest part of writing

11:13 The story of the Writers Mastermind

13:45 How Christa and her husband weathered 8 months of separation during COVID due to airport closures

18:00 Research for SICK and writing from nightmares

22:34 How to get into the head of a madman

28:00 Writing in first person

30:45 When your spouse hates your writing

32:15 Christa’s greatest writing strength

33:35 Christa’s biggest weak spots

35:29 Building confidence through constant learning

37:43 Battling perfectionism and self-doubt

45:30 Dealing with stress

50:30 Vince’s experience in Panama

53:00 Advice to a young author

Boomers on Books

Boomers on Books is a video channel for emerging and established authors. We welcome authors from all continents, ages, genders, colours and creeds. The video interview is live-streamed on YouTube and available on-demand and indefinitely for people’s viewing. The hosts are boomer Vince Stevenson and boomer Mark Shultz (although due to Mark’s wife’s medical issues, Mark has been unavailable to participate).

Vince Stevenson

Vince Stevenson is known as the ‘Fear Doctor’ and describes himself as a ‘recovering speaker’. He works in London and around the world encouraging people to speak their own truth. Vince has worked from Brazil to Bangladesh with top companies and NGOs, assisting their senior executives to become improved communicators. He runs regular classes in London and is a popular choice as a conference speaker. Vince has a devilish sense of humour and he loves talking about his fears, foibles and failures. Vince can be contacted at the College of Public Speaking London.

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Christa Wojciechowski

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How to Turn Ideas into Stories

How to Turn Ideas into Stories

by | Jun 28, 2019 | blog

turning ideas into stories
Could you create a story about this picture?

I was recently asked by my good friend and writing buddy, “What do you do when you have a glint of a story idea but no story around it.” (I know she’s reading this. Thank you for all the post ideas you give me!)

This cannot be an uncommon issue. I collect pages of glints as I go about living life , especially when I travel. Sometimes it’s a sense of place, a what-if question, or an interaction with a stranger.

They don’t feel like they have the potential to develop into a story, but there is some reason the mind takes note of these details. Don’t ignore them.

Here are a few things you can do to develop these bits and pieces into full stories.

  1. Write down as many possible storylines and outcomes as you can imagine. Nothing is too boring or too crazy. The act of doing this alone will set dominos of ideas into motion. Choose the one that clicks with you and run with it.
  2. Combine two or more glints together. I did this with my story Manifesto. I wanted to make the cut for the Sirens’ Call Women in Horror Month and had no ideas. I pulled out my notes and combined two glints—a sense of place with a vague premise. Once I put them together, it set off sparks, and the dynamics of the story crackled into life.
  3. Start writing. Do I have to say it again? Yep. You will be surprised to find your mind has already been laying the groundwork. I’ve done this with several stories. SICK Part I was a glimpse of a scene I experienced in a nightmare. I couldn’t get it out of my head, so I started writing from the atmosphere and the emotional impression. The story materialized as I wrote. Once it was all out from beginning to end, I was able to discern what it was really about and fine tune it from there.

As with most things in writing, the most important thing is to not overthink it.

Leap, and the net will appear.

John Burroughs

Happy Writing!

–Christa

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