Introversion is My Superpower

By Olivia Swindler

I have always been quiet. As a kid, my teachers would often warn my parents that I was shy—as if this was an ailment—and suggested that I learn to speak up more in class. I was highly anxious, and the thought of walking to the bathroom alone made my palms sweaty. I was content to spend 90% of the day in my room. Without some coaxing, I don’t think I ever would have left my house.

However, I don’t consider my existence terrible. I think that my demeanor is a superpower.

More times than I care to admit, I realize upon leaving a party that I spoke a total of twenty words. But my lack of vocalization is never because I am bored or uncomfortable. In reality, the less I say, the better time I am having because, in these moments, I get to do one of my favorite things: observe. 

I realized from a young age that people say and do the most exciting things when they are given the space to. As a kid, I remember observing people and writing stories in my head about their life, their habits, how they had ended up wherever I found them. Writing imaginary stories of other people’s lives was how I spent the majority of my childhood.

I moved to France in 2016, wide-eyed and firmly convinced that, after spending more than seven years studying the language, I spoke French. It took less than twenty-four hours with my French host family for that theory to be proven false.

“After two weeks in France, you will be fluent!” people told me before I made my move across the ocean. They were wrong. I did, however, perfect my listening skills.

There are a lot of emotions that come with losing your ability to communicate with the people around you. Some of them are incredibly frustrating. (Once I spent forty minutes explaining to my host family mom that we make cookies with molasses in America and asking where I could buy it, only for her to go to the fridge and triumphantly produce mayonnaise.) For the most part, nevertheless, I have been grateful to hone my skills as an observer of human behavior.

All of those years I had spent quietly enjoying and observing the party prepared me well for my new home. I spent most of my first years in France observing. As a writer, especially, I could not have asked for a better source of inspiration. France is known for its cafe culture. It is not uncommon to spend three hours sitting on the terrace, slowly sipping a cappuccino, watching the world pass you by.

One of the essentials of writing is observing. I want what I write to be believable. I want my characters to be people that you would want, for the most part, to be friends with, and the best way to write a believable story is to observe the world around you. I have had the privilege of traveling to many different countries, but, no matter where in the world life takes me, I have learned the most in the moments when I unplug and allow myself to fully be where I am.

I have also found how important it is to lean into a story and how people find me approachable when I do. I have had the most interesting interactions with people in the airport. Almost every time I travel, someone befriends me. Nine times out of ten, they tell me their story. There is something miraculously beautiful about the people we meet along the way. It is such a gift to be trusted with other people’s stories.

I had a conversation with a mom who was moving to Croatia so that her son with asthma could benefit from better air. I had a comedian tell me about his career in Paris. I met a woman who studied in Hawaii but moved to Bali to finally live with her German boyfriend. Countless conversations with people I will most likely never see again, and all of these people have made their way into my writing, consciously or subconsciously. 

There is power in stopping and observing the world around us. It is an inspiring place, whether we live in France or rural Washington. I am constantly inspired by my life in France because I have created a life that allows space to be inspired. By sitting and listening to those around me, I have thousands of stories turning in my head, waiting to be told.
Stop for a minute today and see the world around you. You might be surprised by the stories that are waiting to be told.

Olivia Swinder is the Communication Coordinator for Young Life in Europe and the author of debut novel, Cynthia Starts a Band (October 2021, Morgan James Fiction). Find more about her and her book here at oliviaswindler.com.

Fandom is Love. Fandom is Family. Fandom is Representation.

by Rachelle Storm

There are two things to know about me as an author. One, I am a proud, Black woman who loves writing diverse, multiracial characters in complicated, nuanced worlds. Two, I have been an unapologetic fandom geek since well before it was popular to deem yourself as one. I love fandoms, popular culture, and embrace the truly powerful ways humans come together in fandoms when they enjoy a fictional universe. Depending on where you look up the definition, fandom is described as a “condition” or “state of being.” Fandoms are immersive and embody so much more than simply sharing a love for a fictional universe or world-building experience. In its best form, a fandom is a space of compassion, a sense of belonging, and a place to embrace diversity in ways many spaces in society still struggle with today.

As a Black woman, my love of fandom stems from the way I have been embraced and able to explore the intersectionality of my identity over the years. Whether it is at a convention or through the friends and connections I have made in online spaces, fandoms have given me the space I have always yearned for as a woman of color to explore my interests, fascinations, identity, and even my life philosophy. Fandoms have always been about more than just the fictional characters and canons we love. They are often communities of people moving toward common goals and human connections. For example, I remember how the Twilight fandom came together to pay respect to a fan that was tragically killed right before a Comic-Con event. Twilighters embraced the fan’s love of fanfiction to create a collection of stories in her honor and gave the proceeds from the donations to her family. Fandoms often contribute and donate to causes, such as Alex’s Lemonade Stand, The Go Campaign, and Saving Innocence as ways to connect their love with causes for the greater good of society.

Personally, the most impactful way a fandom has reached beyond fictional characters to connect with others is the way conversations in multiple fandoms about queer-baiting and representation led to a shift in approach for Hollywood studios. Whether it is infamously, rumored deleted scenes from Pitch Perfect 3 that left Bechloe fans irked or fans critiquing the use of Lena Luthor and Kara Danvers as queer-bait in the CW’s Supergirl, fandoms continue to demand diversity and inclusion onscreen and on the page. In the past five years alone, there has been a shift in the mainstream due to this demand. Teen Vogue’s 2021 article “On Racebending and Seeing Yourself in Fandom” and Rowan Ellis’s YouTube video “The Evolution Of Queerbaiting: From Queercoding to Queercatching” are examples of the impact fandoms have on problematic histories of discrimination in Hollywood and mainstream media. And while studios remain stubborn and discriminatory in their practices, change is on the rise due to fan reactions and the support garnered. The harsh truth is when it comes to mainstream media and popular culture, these spaces have historically been rooted in archaic tropes of identity while oppressing marginalized voices and representation. I have spent most of my life enjoying fandoms, but I will be the first to admit that when I first started engaging with novels, shows, and films where fandoms were embraced, I was painfully aware of how the spaces centered whiteness, heteronormative tropes, and stereotypical, flat marginalized characters. This is still an issue today, but there is a shift that only fandoms can cause, a shift in the mainstream.

When I wrote the first novel in the Absolution Series, I wrote with this shift in mind. I thought about how mainstream fandoms helped me when I was growing up, but also how they left me wanting more in terms of feeling seen and included in the worlds I admire so much. Absolution is unique because of its hybridity and way it plays with traditional tropes in fantasy and romance genres. The series embraces diversity with multiracial characters looking to break through the glass ceiling and shatter the expectations of what love interests and heroes in the genres of mainstream romance and fantasy can embody. The story is essentially a love letter to the YA fandoms of the past that embraced and welcomed me as a young adult, but also a universe with characters that represent more than just one type of human or ideal. Absolution is a statement as a fandom geek trying to remind us that the hero and love interest of mainstream fantasy and paranormal romances are not always predominantly white. Overall, Absolution is an epic fantasy romance that will hopefully remind readers of the YA fandoms they once belonged to and still probably do, but with more inclusion and diversity in mind.

While there are many stories out there focusing on diverse, often marginalized characters and representation, mainstream media and fandoms are still catching up to the way readers and fans choose to embrace the world. Whether it is on social media, websites, fanfiction, or fan events, fandoms continue to be a space for explorations of identity and this fandom geek is very happy to see so many outlets for readers from all types of backgrounds popping up. Fandom will always be love and family. I am just happy that love and family openly includes all of us now.

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Rachelle Storm has been a fandom geek since its earliest beginnings and never stopped. A Black scholar holding a doctoral degree in Writing Studies, she researches rhetoric, music, and popular culture. In truth, Rachelle never isn’t writing or sharing her knowledge with her fans. However, on the off-chance she isn't working or experimenting with paper and ink, you can find her at music festivals and independent bookstores. Absolution is her debut novel. The second book in the series, Absolution: Revelations, will be published July 2022. Find her online at rachellestorm.com or connect with her on social media (Instagram; TikTok; Twitter; and Facebook). Join the Absolution fandom on Facebook or Goodreads.

5 Ways to Avoid Burnout as an Author

by Dave Chesson

Maybe it's just me, but sometimes I can't seem to find enough hours in the day to do everything that needs to get done.

In these instances, I often feel exhausted and drained, and don't even want to write even when I have time.

I'm sure you've experienced it: the dreaded burnout. It's a real thing and happens to all of us at some point or another, but as someone who has written thousands of words while also dealing with dyslexia since I was a child, I've come up with a few key tactics to help.

Here are five ways to avoid burnout! 

Make Time for Yourself

Don't be afraid to turn off the computer/laptop/tablet etc., close your eyes, and just relax!  Take a walk outside if you can, or sit down with a good book. 

Additionally, you need to make sure you are taking enough breaks within your day, on your weekend, as well as taking vacations throughout the year.

This, perhaps more than any other tactic on this list, is one of the most important. If you wait until you are burnt out to take a vacation, it will not work as effectively. You need to plan these things ahead in order to gain the most benefit from them.

This is why I recommend scheduling your breaks. Use a Pomodoro timer or something similar during the day to make sure you get enough time to breathe, and make sure that you have time off actually scheduled in your calendar.

Find a system that works for you, and you will not regret it.

Measure Your Progress

One of the best ways to get motivated and stay motivated is to track your progress.

This can be done in a number of ways, from simply writing down how many words you write each day and checking it off as the days go by, or using one of dozens of apps designed for authors available online. You can even use a simple spreadsheet to do this.

I think you will be surprised at how motivated you get just by seeing how far you've come. This is one of the key aspects of motivation: you find it when you see success. 

And you can't truly see success, unless you are tracking your progress.

Try Dictation

If you are burnt out, or facing burnout, perhaps you could learn to write smarter instead of harder.

One way to work smarter and therefore write faster, is with dictation. 

With a good dictation software like Dragon Home or an equivalent, and with a little practice, you can write a lot more efficiently in the same time it took you to write before.

This doesn't necessarily mean that you should write more. In fact, it might be a better idea to not write more.

Simply write the same amount that you were doing before, and you will find that you do it in far less time, leaving room for you to do other things, not the least of which is tactic #1 above: taking breaks.

I've personally found that dictation has saved me time, which gives me more space to breathe, not to mention saving my fingers and wrists from a little bit of strain.

(I dictated this article by the way.)

Outsource the Tasks You Least Enjoy

If you're like me, one of the biggest reasons for your burnout is that there are simply too many tasks on your list.

But it doesn't have to be this way.

A solution would be to outsource some of these not-so-fun jobs (like bookkeeping) and hire someone else who can do them more efficiently than yourself. This will free up valuable time which you can then use to take breaks or write even faster with that dictation software!

Outsourcing can cost money but keep in mind that your time is valuable. Literally, you can assign a monetary value to your time.

Figure out how much money you make in an hour, then decide how many hours you work to do a certain task, then look at how much it would cost to pay someone else to do that same task. If the cost of outsourcing is less then the hourly cost of you doing it, then maybe it would be a good idea to outsource.

That's not to mention, outsourcing these troublesome tasks can take a load off of your mind, and sometimes that alone can make it worth it.

Follow a Healthy Lifestyle

Lastly, I'd like to talk about one of the most important items on this list that is often overlooked, and that is your health.

I'm not just talking about your mental health, I'm talking about your physical health. The two are inseparably connected.

In my own experience, I found that when I eat better and exercise, my mind is more alert, I have more energy, and I make fewer mistakes.

There is no doubt that burnout is closely associated with physical well-being. To affect one is to affect the other.

Now I'm not a medical professional, and can't give medical advice, but I do recommend that you seek out a personal trainer, a dietitian, or at the very least your primary care doctor to discuss ways in which you can take your health to the next level so you can avoid burnout.

I recommend The Healthy Writer by Joanna Penn and Dr. Euan Lawson, for more on this topic.

Final Thoughts

With so many different tactics to try, it may be difficult to know which one is best for your personal situation.

That’s why I want you to choose the tactic that sounds most appealing and give it a shot.

Whether you use dictation software or hire an editor, any solution is better than feeling burnt out from writing all day, every day. 

Dave Chesson is the creator of Kindlepreneur.com, a website devoted to teaching advanced book Marketing which even Amazon KDP acknowledge as one of the best by telling users to “Gain insight from Kindlepreneur on how you can optimize marketing for your books.” Having worked with such authors as Orson Scott Card, Ted Dekker and more, his tactics help both Fiction and Nonfiction authors of all levels get their books discovered by the right readers.