The Invisible Mentor

The Invisible Mentor Interviews C. Hope Clark, Editor of FundsforWriters

September 9th, 2010 |

C. Hope Clark – Your Invisible Mentor This Week

As usual, the interview is packed with lots of solid information for you to use. Hope is a writer and has an ezine, FundsforWriters, which she distributes weekly. For Part One of the interview, there are five great ideas that I have pulled out, after you have read the interview, what are your five great ideas?

5 Great Ideas from C. Hope Clark’s Interview

The more consistent and productive you are, the more motivated you get
Rushing anything before it’s ready is fool’s folly
With a serious well thought out plan and mindset, you can stop the train wreck you’re on and head in a different direction
Do the best you can at the job you are given and people will respect you
Stay hungry, to improve all aspects of your life

Tell me a little bit about yourself.

I write nonfiction for others and fiction for me. I hope one day to cross the bridge where each works for the other side. I adore the outdoors. When I lived three years in Phoenix, one of the first things I did upon returning to my beloved South was to hug a tree. Seriously. I’m married to a retired federal agent, and security/safety is huge in my house. I have two sons, two stepsons, a grandson and granddaughter (Yea, tell me I look too young. I love hearing that – that’s just the photography, trust me. You should see me in person. The years have left their mark here and there.) When I built my house, I told the contractor he had two main goals – place my writing room so it had the best view of the lake . . . and build my husband’s walk-in-safe exactly as he wanted. I said safety was key already, didn’t I? We live on the banks of Lake Murray in South Carolina.

What’s a typical day like for you?

Sleep until 9-10 AM. I’m a night person. Hubby fixes my breakfast. A few chores, maybe emails for an hour or two (I receive 300-400 per day), then something outdoors, if possible, especially if the day is nice. I have to get my daily dose of Vitamin D. I at least feed and greet my chickens – one rooster, 14 hens and a couple of babies. By 5-6 pm, I’m back at the computer working on FundsforWriters. Break for dinner, maybe a mystery/cop show or two with hubby (I adore mysteries), then back to the computer – by then writing on the novel until 2 AM. I love writing in the middle of the night, when no one is looking and I can think with the world silent, leaving me to my thoughts.

How do you motivate yourself and stay motivated?

I don’t get caught up in this “muse” business. Neither do I believe in writer’s block. Motivation, to me, is nothing more than being consistent. The more consistent and productive I am, the more motivated I get. So on those days when I’m dragging, I continue to drag my behind to the computer and work. The results are just as satisfying as when I’m positive and perky. Frankly, once you write something to completion, you really can’t tell what you wrote on a good day and what you wrote on a sluggish day. So the point it to just show up.

If you had to start over from scratch, knowing what you know now, what would you do differently?

Not marry my first husband? LOL. Seriously. I would take my efforts at writing more seriously. It’s probably normal for younger people to second guess their abilities, but I would have written more, sooner, and younger. I would have traveled this writing road harder with more purpose, because only after you’ve traveled it long and hard do you improve. It’s not a skill set you’re born with, regardless of what people think. All the great writers spent their lives putting words on paper in quiet rooms for years before anyone knew their names. And they took their writing seriously early in their lives.

What’s the most important business or other discovery you’ve made in the past year?

That self-publishing is a serious option with the explosion of ebooks. I’m normally NOT an advocate of self-publishing. I still tell new writers to avoid it until they’ve walked that long road I mentioned earlier . . . until they understand the publishing business. If they haven’t done either, then they need to leave the publishing business to the professionals and stick to traditional publishing. On a personal note, I’ve discovered/decided that my children need to struggle and fall on their knees so they can learn how to pick themselves up and become stronger people. I think every parent makes that discovery . . . or else they spend their lives in misery watching what they can’t control.

What’s one of the biggest advances in your industry over the past five years?

I’d like to say print-on-demand, but I think that predates five years. It was the first step in shaking the foundations of the big publishing houses because it put smaller presses on a more equal standing. But recently it’s been Amazon. I’ve learned you either hate or love Amazon, but you can’t deny that they stay on point in developing the reading world. They have single-handedly, in my opinion, thrust ebooks into the forefront of the writing business. Yes, there are others who followed, but if Amazon hadn’t jumped in in a big way, the others wouldn’t have done as much. Amazon gave ebooks dignity.

What are the three threats to your business, your success, and how are you handling them?

Three threats, in my opinion:

My age. Some may say I’m still young, others not so much, but I constantly feel I’m in a race with time to publish. That said, however, I clash with myself about the concern, because rushing anything before it’s ready is a fool’s folly.
The phenomenal changes occurring with social media. I study the changes and do lots of reading in attempt to keep up.
Peace of mind. I’ve worked hard to become very happy with my lot in life. At the same time I am competitive. So I have this constant struggle to live a simple life without overindulging in my career. I love my life, and I don’t want to sabotage it with the extreme busy-ness so many others seem to get lost in.

What’s unique about the service that you provide?

Frankly, I not so sure. LOL What I do know is that when I’m honest with my readers, they respond positively. They also like my conversational tone. I like to write in first-person, as if having coffee with a friend. But as with a close friend, I also speak frankly with a bit of a scolding edge, just enough so that the person realizes I’m saying this in a constructive manner. Readers adore that tone even more! But something else that makes a difference is the fact I am consistent. Every Friday, the newsletters go out. I meet deadlines. I try to research the material used, and keep it fresh. For ten years I’ve missed two deadlines: one when traveling in Europe, the other when moving my household cross-country. I believe readers appreciate it when I keep their interests first.

What do you observe most people in your field doing badly that you think you do well?

Respect others. Respect their interest, their level in their own professional (whether newbie or seasoned), their questions, their efforts, even their time. I respond to all emails . . . all.

Describe a major business or other challenge you had and how you resolved it.

I worked 25 years with a federal agency, ultimately reaching the rank of second in the state. However, I had the challenge of being the only woman amongst my peers most of the time. I hated the animosity, the vying for power. While I was good at it, it took a toll on me. So I created a three-year plan to get my finances in order and request an early retirement (dropping my income about sixty percent) so I could write for a living. I’d already been writing part-time and earning a few dollars at it. FundsforWriters was only a couple years old, but Writer’s Digest had already recognized it in its 101 Best Websites for Writers. That recognition was jaw-dropping to me and served as a tremendous catalyst. With a family on board with my decision to leave the bureaucracy, I leaped into writing and FundsforWriters. Even told the kids that I’d fund their college as long as I could, but if things got tight, they had to find ways to take up the slack. I’m proud to say that FundsforWriters covered both sons’ college tuition.

What lessons did you learn in the process?

With a serious, well-thought out plan and mindset, you can stop the train wreck you’re on and head in a different direction.

Tell me about your big break and who gave you.

That’s hard. I’ve never relied upon others and rarely sought advice. I’m a believer in doing lots of research and making informed decisions, rather than relying upon someone else. I will say that my current husband taught me to take chances and added a whole new dimension to my world.

Describe one of your biggest failures. What lessons did you learn, and how did it contribute to a greater success?

Being a fairly competitive individual, in my old life (pre-writing) I dared to step too far in my efforts to make a name for myself. I had to step-back (reassigned to another office) and analyze myself. I sought to identify the mistakes while holding onto the standards I believed in. A peer taught me this: Do the best you can at the job you are given and people will respect you – even in the midst of controversy. Best advice I ever received. I not only weathered that point in my life, but I also rose above it, achieving a promotion I never expected. We have to be honest with ourselves in order to improve.

What has been your biggest disappointment in your life – and what are you doing to prevent its reoccurrence?

Divorce. The second time around, my husband (also divorced) and I entered into our relationship with plans on how to avoid repeating history. Respect is huge in this house, as it should be.

What’s one of the toughest decisions you’ve had to make and how did it impact your life?

Again, the divorce. It kicked me on my butt even though I initiated it. Suddenly life was so far off-track I never thought it’d return to any sense of normalcy. But I told myself to take it one day at a time and that a year from now life would be better. And it was. I know today not to panic when life takes a negative detour.

What are three events that helped to shape your life?

Meeting my husband…shaped me on so many levels.
Becoming a mother…made me think outside of myself.
Daring to leave the nine-to-five to court my own self-employment.

What’s an accomplishment that you are proudest of?

Outside of family, reaching ten years of history with FundsforWriters, each year being recognized by Writer’s Digest Magazine. I flaunt that everywhere.

How did mentors influence your life?

Mentors gave me self-esteem, made me study my own strengths and capitalize on them.

What’s one core message you received from your mentors?

Be true to yourself and respect others. Stay hungry to improve in all aspects of your life.

As an Invisible Mentor, what is one piece of advice that you would give to readers?

Be true to yourself and respect others. How could I give any other advice when it’s been so good for me? When it isn’t all about you, you touch more people, make more sales, become more successful, fill-in-the-blank. It’s just a potent formula.

How can you use this information? What do you have to add to the conversation? Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right hand side) by email or RSS Feed.