On The Convo Couch With Pamela Freeman (Hart)
Key Takeaways from Our Chat with Pamela Freeman / Hart
This year we thought it might be cool to follow our interviews with a blogpost about the things that stood out to us as writers and women. For our latest episode we were on the convo couch with Pamela Freeman who is a bounty of information and stories. If you haven’t heard it yet go back through the feed on iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/writes4women/id1275851144?mt=2) or via our website (www.writes4women.com) and check it out. 
There were a gazillion interesting tid bits in this interview but the 3 we found the most striking were:
Setting
Spend time imagining your setting - this is important regardless of whether your setting is real or imagined. If it is a real place that exists in the actual world somewhere, then it is always best to ground the setting in researched fact. As Pamela points out, Google, Google Earth and Tripadvisor are lifesaving tools for being able to “travel” the world at your desk and get a sense of the backdrop to your story. But in order to give real dimension you have to go beyond the mere physical construct of the world creating, to the sensory one that supports it. By triggering the reader’s senses through the detailed nuances of setting, you can truly transport them into the heart of your story. These crucial details are the gifts that come from taking the time to imagine the many layers of the setting and the characters’ relationship to it.
Pen Names
Pick pen names to satisfy your different audiences - Pamela Freeman has 3 Pen’s names (for now) because she writes to 3 distinctly different audiences. When asked about the complexities of that choice its was clear that for Pamela it was a no brainer. She didn’t want her kids seeking out and reading her adult books and she didn’t feel her adult audiences would be interested in her kid’s stories. So she separated them by creating new names for each.How does she manage the different persona’s on the digital stage? Easily, she says. although admittedly she doesn’t spend huge amounts of time on it. Her main tools are her websites, pamelafreemanbooks.com and www.pamela-hart.com and her Facebook pages. Pamela also has a twitter account for each and she has created certain voices for each persona…for example Pamela Hart is a 'lady' whereas Pamela Freeman is a little more relaxed. So if you are planning on writing different genres with vastly different audiences it might be time to start thinking of some cool pen names. From an audience perspective it helps manage expectations and makes the author easy to find and follow and from a publishing perspective, it allows publishers to define, market and sell your books to a targeted audience.
Everybody Has A Story To Tell
There is no such thing as a boring family, a boring life. You just have to see it properly” - This is one of our favourite lines from the whole interview. It’s a sentiment we could not agree with more at Writes4Women and something we discuss constantly. Life is all about how you see and experience. The perspective you choose to take. Every single person has a story to tell, every single family has their dramas. Every relationship has it’s rollercoasters, crashes and rescues, and every child has to grow up, surviving sometimes horrible mistakes along the way. We all have regrets we never want anyone to know about and shining moments of pride we wish we could broadcast. We have all been the 'good' person and the 'bad' and we have all survived something. As writers and creatives it is our job, nay our duty, to excavate these stories of life and shine up the gems for all to see.So get digging.These are just a few of the great writing tips from the Pamela Freeman interview. You can hear lots more in episode 12 of the W4W podcast. To learn more about Pamela and her fantastic books go to her websitesPamela Freeman - www.pamelafreemanbooks.comPamela Hart - www.pamela-hart.comOr like both Pamelas on facebook and twitter for all the latest book updates.https://www.facebook.com/pamelahartbooks/https://www.facebook.com/pamelafreeman.authorKeep your ears pricked for the next fun episode of the W4W podcast dropping in February…all about setting up your writing/creative goals for the new year and then making sure you actually reach some of them.