Julie Flanders, Writer: Fate Intended

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Social Work Training and Writing Skills - Guest Post from Elizabeth Seckman

I've been on a bit of an unplanned blogging break in order to force myself to focus on writing, so I'm thrilled to have Fate Intended author Elizabeth Seckman here to help hold down the fort. Elizabeth and I are both former social workers, so it was fun for me to read her take on how this training can help with writing. I hadn't really thought about it before, but I agree with her points. Especially the one about the low pay. :D

Take it away, Elizabeth!

Hi Julie! Thanks for having me over. Running around the blogosphere and trying to come up with ideas can be hard, but every now and then, an idea feels like a perfect fit. Like with you! I know we share a background in social work, and I don't know if you agree, but I think this background has helped me as much as English class in developing writing skills.

1. Social workers see all sides of the human condition. The good, the bad, the unbelievable. No need for flat characters when you have met so many characters.

Not a social worker? Read true stories on the human condition. Read the kind that make you cringe, A Child Called "It" ,and the kind that restore your faith like Mother Teresa, an Authorized Biography.

2. Social workers are paid to listen, to absorb the person's speech pattern and reflect it back to them. Imitating dialogue becomes a natural condition.

Not a social worker? Active listening is a learned skill. Listen without the brain noise. Stop thinking about what you will say next or what you need to pick up from the grocery store. Just be still and pay attention.

3. Social workers are taught to be information gatherers and evaluators. It's easy enough to write down all the facts, but what do they mean; how do they influence the situation?

This is one of those things where practice and organization makes perfect. I like to keep a folder for each project, so as I print information or take notes, I can keep them all in one place with a notation on top about what it's about. For a book I might have: setting, character, plot, etc.

4. Social workers are trained in personality and family assessment theory. We know that the family condition at age two can have an effect on personality twenty years later.

Not a social worker? Read books on personality development. One of my preferred reads in that area is Erikson's Identity and the Life Cycle.

5. Social workers are used to working hard for little money. Those tiny book checks barely phase the "oh so used to being poor crowd".

Now, that whole getting used to being poor thing? There is no book on that, but I suppose you could start sending your excess cash to Julie and me. We are natural team players, and we'd take one for the good of the group.

Fate Intended is the third book in the Coulter Men Series. Trip is the last of the Coulter sons to find love. He’s a handsome man with all the skills a young spy needs to succeed. But when it comes to love, he misses the target. Jane is a sweet beauty who may or may not be wanted for murder. She’s hiding out as a cleaning lady when chance brings her and Trip together. It looks like a happily ever after is in the cross hairs until reality tries to destroy what fate has intended.