The Key to Heart-Centered Writing: An Interview with Author Robert Yehling
Posted by Kathleen Pooler/@kathypooler with Robert Yehling/@WordJourneys
“You have the potential to convey the essence of your life experience in every sentence you write.”~Robert Yehling, Author
Photo Credit: Flickr Creative Commons
Getting to the heart of your story and writing from the heart sometimes requires a nudge. Writing prompts can help stimulate the process but often are met with mixed reviews; some writers rely on them while others find them distracting. Wherever you stand on this issue, I hope you will find some writing inspiration in what my guest has to say.
Robert Yehling is an award-winning author, journalist and book editor who has written 11 books and co- or ghostwritten eight others. He is celebrating his 40th anniversary as a professional writer this year, about which he jokes, “isn’t too much a reflection of my age”; he was 16 when a San Diego County newspaper hired him in 1976. We met through our mutual publisher, Paul Burt of Open Books Press. I had the privilege of reviewing his latest book and found it to be a valuable writing resource for generating ideas and stimulating creativity.
My reviews can be found on Amazon, Goodreads, LibraryThings and Riffle.
Welcome, Robert!
Robert Yehling, Author
The Key to Heart-Centered Writing
KP: You dedicated The Write Time to “two schoolteachers, your mother and grandmother, whose legacy of heart-centered teaching inspired your work.” How do you define heart-centered teaching? How do you carry out this legacy in your writing?
RY: What a great question to begin! When I read something, and it stirs my heart and makes my blood move, then I know the writer is operating from a heart-centered place, where all of our best stories gain sustenance. Writing from the heart is the act of putting our senses and feelings into words, conveying not only what we observe and perceive, but what makes us happy or sad, angry or ecstatic, or causes change or transformation. Isn’t this what memoir writing is about? Showing our inner selves as we experience this aspect of our life? When we write like this, the reader feels it and also feels part of the adventure or narrative on the page. That’s when the pages keep turning.
Our minds are the storehouses of our material, but our hearts are the engines. Click to Tweet
KP: You mentioned that The Write Time is a culmination of writing exercises you have used over the years in classes you have taught. What inspired you to write a book, then put out a second edition?
RY: Over the course of 10 years, I developed about 300 exercises for classes I taught at retreats, writer’s conferences, colleges and high schools. I also created specific exercises for individual authors and clients. As more people asked for these, it made sense to group them together. Since 300 is not that far from 366, and I’m a firm believer in writing daily, I created 66 more exercises, shuffled the deck — and out came The Write Time.
KP: As I mentioned above, not everyone is open to using writing prompts. What would you say to someone who resists the idea? How do you feel your prompts stimulate creativity?
RY: My answer might surprise you, but I’m not a big fan of traditional writing prompts, either! They tend to be vague, general, not attuned to specific creative or story development needs. (Julia Cameron is a noteworthy exception; her prompts are excellent.) I love hearing back stories at readings — what went on in the author’s mind when creating a scene, character, or piece of beautiful writing. I brought that spirit into The Write Time.
I want each page to feel like you’re in the center of the story. Click to Tweet
As with my fiction and non-fiction, I try to appeal to the inner writer, and try hard to turn each prompt into an experience inside and out.
KP: The feature that I enjoyed the most in your book was the multiple ways you framed the prompt with a specific topic, a photo, a relevant quote and a link to a featured blog post that explores the topic in more depth. It’s always nice to have choices. How did you come up with this idea?
RY: I did this for three reasons. First, to clearly distinguish The Write Time from a typical writing prompts book. Second, to insert inspirational quotes from favorite authors, “pick me ups” — verbal cups of coffee. And third, to inject some fun and variety, keeping it playful and pliable, both huge bonuses when writing. As for the blog and website links, it’s presumptuous for any writer to think they hold all the tricks, secrets and solutions — so I always advocate turning to multiple sources. I included 125 top writing websites and blogs.
KP: How have you used your own prompts in your writing? Have your prompts inspired your books. If so, can you give an example?
RY: Whenever I’m feeling uncreative, or having trouble with a passage, I’ll whistle through The Write Time, and either do the exercise for that date, or one more apropos to my struggle. When I return to the page, I find what I’m looking for; I designed these exercises to apply immediately.
The prologue of my novel, Voices, started as a past-tense rehash of a rock concert. However, after doing the series of exercises on presence — ‘write here, write now’ — I changed it up to present tense so we could feel Tom Timoreaux in his last moments as a rock and roll star (sort of — you have to read the novel to see what happens next!). Made all the difference in the world:
Excerpt, Voices:
Cheers, smoke and electricity engulf twenty thousand delirious fans revering the rock god about to exit into mere mortality. Hoisted matches and lit cigarette lighters burn through sweat, herb and pyrotechnic exhaust. The singer slumps against his microphone stand; blue and yellow floodlights sweep across a stage of disheveled band mates.
Tom beams at the ecstatic fans. Those he can see, anyway: only the first fifteen rows are visible from center stage. Three Super Troupers, those magnificent light machines conceived with the sperm and ova of rock concerts themselves, course through the arena like comets, allowing him glimpses of the back rows and upper tiers. Packed. Swaying. Arms and screams flying. Exhaustion drips from his face, borne by another three-hour, non-stop, lights-out.
Sadness grapples with joy in a heart that spilled a quarter-century of rockers, ballads, paeans and dreams, many still spinning on DJ’s turntables, many embedded in the souls of two generations. This, my friends, is really it.
“One more show! One more show!” The thunderous chant may as well be the merger of all voices and hearts and dreams and wishes of Fever and rock fans globally.
In the front row, a heavy-set woman’s eyes swell to lunar size. “Tommy T! Come home with me!” Her screams disconnect her from the reason she’s here; to review for the paper she serves as editor. Next to her, a man and woman hoist a placard: “My Fever Burns Forever.” Fat, multicolored letters rollercoaster across the sign like a mash of Peter Max and a Winterland poster, circa 1968. Their daughter, maybe eight, throws her fists in the air, seized by the scene.
“I’m yours—RIGHT NOW!”
The shouter is a striking blonde, her legs clamped onto her boyfriend’s shoulders.
KP: Do you have any other writing tips to share?
Trust. Dedicate. Experiment. Experience. Finish. Trust what flows through your pen or keyboard, no matter your initial intent. Dedicate by writing something every day; that creates consistency and fluid, cohesive work. Experiment with different subjects, styles, genres; if The Write Time has a sub-theme, this is it. Experience as much of what you write as possible. Take adventures. Travel. Journey. Try new things. Do something fun, outrageous, deeply meaningful. Broaden your horizons. And Finish. You may be the best writer in the world, but if you don’t finish and circulate your work, how will we ever know?
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Thank you Robert for sharing your wealth of experience with us and for showing us how you put your writing prompts into action. I appreciate your focus on “heart-centered writing”. You are keeping your mother’s and grandmother’s spirits alive through your work.
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Author Bio:
ROBERT YEHLING began writing stories at age 7, and hasn’t come in from the playground since. After 25 years as a newspaper and magazine writer and editor, and sports and music event promoter, he fulfilled his boyhood dream — writing and editing books. He is the author of The Write Time and its companion, the IPPY Award-Winning Writes of Life: Using Personal Experiences in Everything You Write. He’s also the author of Just Add Water, the biography of autistic surf star Clay Marzo; Voices, a novel set against the backdrop of rock and roll; and Rooting, a memoir, due out in 2017. A former college writing professor, Yehling teaches at workshops, conferences and retreats nationally, and works with editing and co-writing clients of all genres worldwide. After following his career around the world, he has returned home to roost in North San Diego County.
Contact Information :
Twitter: @WordJourneys
Facebook: Robert Yehling — Author
Blog: http://bobyehling.wordpress.com
Website: www.wordjourneys.com
Amazon Author Page: Robert Yehling
Goodreads: Robert Yehling
Instagram: @WriterBob1959
Brief Synopsis of The Write Time:
The Write Time is a writing prompts and exercise collection — on rocket fuel. It combines stories, examples, motivational quotes, writing websites, and other triggers to present each of the 366 daily exercises for writers to experience, as well as write. The exercises cover all genres, styles, and techniques for fiction and non-fiction writers, memoirists and essayists, poets and lyricists, scriptwriters and journalists. Said the Midwest Book Review; “it’s the most comprehensive writing prompts collection on the market.”
Ordering link,
http://www.openbookspress.com/books/the-write-time.php
http://www.amazon.com/Write-Time-Exercises-Fulfill-Writing/dp/1941799205/
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How about you? What helps you stimulate your creativity? Do you use prompts? Do you feel your writing is heart-centered? If not, has Robert enticed you to try?
Robert has graciously offered to give away two of his books, The Write Time and Just Add Water: A Surfing Savant’s Journey with Asperger’s to two commenters whose names will be selected in a random drawing.
We’d love to hear from you. Please leave your comments below~
This Week:
Thursday, 04/08/16:
“Women on Writing Author Spotlight: Memoir Author Pamela Jane”
Pamela is the author of An Incredible Talent for Existing: A Writer’s Story. She has graciously offered to give away a copy of her memoir to a commenter whose name will be selected in a random drawing.
Next Week:
Monday, 04/11/16:
“Seven Lessons I’ve Learned About Doing Book Readings: Plan B Version”
