My Top Three Skills

Month one of my Praxis experience is about building my personal brand, something that I’ve been lucky enough to be learning about for most of my life. Coming from a family of entrepreneurs, I’m often reminded that branding is more than an attractive logo and a catchy tagline. Branding is a relationship between business and audience, and I believe that relationships should be built on mutual trust. That’s why I strive for transparency here and on my various social media platforms. Sometimes, that means keeping my Twitter and Instagram followers updated on what I’m reading. Other times, it means blog posts like this one.

Today, I’m talking about my top three skills and how I’ve honed them over the years. In a continuing effort to remain transparent, I have to say that this might be the most difficult blog post that I’ve ever sat down to write. I enjoy giving others credit for their talents, but I’ve never been particularly comfortable talking about my own. It’s time to change that. I’m here, I’m me, and I’m ready to grow. Thank you for being here and being you.

1. Writing and Editing

I began honing my writing skills in sixth grade, when my Language Arts teacher asked if she could use one of my essays as an example for her future classes. The most important thing I learned that year is that there is only one way to improve one’s writing abilities, and that is to write.

Over the course of the last six years, I have written and edited nearly 300 blog posts, two yet-to-be-published novels, and I became the Managing Editor of Leaps and Turns Magazine, where I was given the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to interview Kelly Bishop. I dedicated myself to editing both of my novels until they gave me the same feeling of belonging as my favorite books. I learned that the best way to develop one’s characters is to listen to them and that successful “worldbuilding” is in the tiny details. There is still work to be done, but my joy surrounding it is limitless.

Before beginning the outline for my second novel, I spent months in a master class with James Patterson, who transformed my view of novel-writing forever. His processes of outlining, drafting and editing heavily influenced and inspired my own. Even as I embark on the outline for the final book in my debut trilogy, I see my characters smile, keep faith in the process and know that I was born to tell stories.

2. Organization/Attention to detail

I was the two-year-old who meticulously organized her Christmas presents, still in the unopened boxes, into her closet, lest she actually have to take them out of the boxes and clean up the mess. I have since found better uses for my organizational skills. As a homeschool student, I became exceptionally independent, and as a dancer with a job as a Managing Editor, I became proficient in the art of balance.

To say that my days are “structured” would be heavily understating the time and effort that I put into ensuring that what is expected of me (and vastly more challenging: what I expect of myself) is completed to the best of my ability every single day. I am a chronic list-maker, which translates into my having a memory akin to that of a dolphin. I know exactly how much time it will take me to complete daily tasks and how much food I have to bring to dance class so that I’m not force-fed cherry-flavored energy gummies by blessedly concerned friends.

It’s safe to say that I’m much like Lorelai Gilmore in that I am perfectly flexible—if everything is moving forward exactly as it should. An unfinished list to finish off my day is slightly devastating and, thankfully, rare, but I am learning to breathe and smile no matter what I plan or don’t plan to face each day.

3. Communication

I first realized my passion for communication in seventh grade, during a unit on WWII. Anne Frank Remembered by Miep Gies, one of several people who hid the Frank family during the Holocaust, opened my eyes to a non-fiction world of heroes. To this day, I find role models of ceaseless bravery in Miep, Corrie ten Boom and Eva Mozes Kor. They inspire me to listen, which, in my view, is the most important aspect of communication.

During my four-year tenure as a dance teacher, I entertained the comments and concerns of hundreds of students between the ages of two and 12, as well as many of their parents. I was forced to learn on-the-job how to squash my “I write better than I talk” philosophy and respond quickly to outbursts and altercations. Patience is a key factor in communication, especially with children. Like my own dance instructors, I developed a “we’re all in this together” attitude that I projected consistently to customers.

I also believe in authors as people-watching communicators. I must understand human nature before I can create believable characters. You can read more of my thoughts on that here.

Hopefully, this post has given you an idea of my top three skills and how I’ve honed and continue to hone them. Coming soon: what is worldbuilding anyway?