In part one I explored what makes people confident, revealing their capacity to produce results and self-esteem are two vital elements. In part two, I added by including the well-known fact that sometimes the perception of ourselves has a significant impact on how people perceive us. I also included how to recognise what stops a writer from being confident.

What about balance and commitment? How do we balance everything so we remain confident?  How do we stay committed?

Balance is a key element to living well and staying healthy. So this is for everyone, not just writers. Ask yourself this. Is my life balanced? If not, then read on.

The idea of a balanced life will be different for everyone. A person whose life is out of control will not feel or achieve real confidence. Firstly, because they will be less likely to produce results, and secondly, their self-esteem is more likely to be very low.  But there are ways to achieve balance in your life.

Let’s look at what helps you achieve balance and commitment.

Daily routine.

Look at your daily routine. Is it working for you? Are you achieving your goals for the day?

1.      Remember to include nourishment in that routine. Don’t laugh. I know a lot of writers and non-writers who do work straight through their scheduled lunch break. Note: the body and brain needs nourishment to perform well.

2.      Always include one good affirmation a day.  My best friend bought me a box of affirmations for my birthday one year. Each day I change the card and sit it on my desk where I can read it every now and then throughout the day.

3.      Plan your writing day. Each person will have a different approach to this. Some decide on a weekly word count and vary their daily writing targets. Others keep to a set daily word count. Your approach is up to you, but always try to achieve your target.

All the above points (1-3) work towards you having great efficacy (capacity to achieve results) as explored in part one.

Focus on your project.

Staying committed to one project at a time will always see it completed. Don’t take on more than one project at a time. If you do have to take on more than one project, schedule your day to allow time for both projects and sick to it! If you have a day job, balance your writing by setting an achievable completion time.

Focus on you

Make changes to your personal life or situations to help you become more confident.

1. Seek out positives experiences each day.
2. Try to avoid negative people or listening to negative talk.
3. Commit to your own positive self-talk and affirmations.
4. Always remember to reward and praise yourself. (Don’t rely on other people’s praise) Learn to praise yourself. Only you can decide and experience the way you feel and think.
5. Greet people with a friendly attitude. Smile.
6. Be grateful. Say thank you. Give someone a compliment.
7. Learn to speak clearly and confidently.
8. Remember the techniques for coping with nerves. See part two.
9. Embrace your mistakes and learn from those experiences.

I’ll leave you with a quote from Deepak Chopra.

I have faith in my ability to manifest my desires

—    Deepak Chopra

Until next time, be brave and bold in your chosen field of creativity. And never be afraid to explore new techniques.

So let’s learn some more about Joanne Brooker and her wonderful creations. 

When did you decide to quit your day job and pursue caricature as a full-time profession?

My day job WAS caricature. I worked for ten years as an editorial illustrator for News Ltd. I created artwork for every section of the newspaper from sports, news, business to book reviews and features. I was required to create artwork in a wide variety of styles including realistic, symbolic, cartoon and a LOT of caricature. I specialised in political and sports caricature. I had the pleasure of having my artwork  printed in thousands of newspapers and delivered all over Australia every day.

Can you tell me more about the pure form of portraiture? Something that people may not know?

Caricature is a “pure” form of portraiture. Caricature is about face recognition. We all describe people by the areas of the face that stands out to us…a big smile, long nose, curly hair etc. This is how we recognise people unconsciously.

Caricature is about first understanding that this is how we SEE faces. When this is interpreted into artwork the person is MORE recognisable than in a photo! Our laugh or surprise when we see a caricature is the moment of sudden recognition. It is a very powerful art form

Caricature of Vacen Taylor by Joanne Brooker

.Has there ever been anyone you found really difficult to bring to life in a caricature?

The only people that are difficult to caricature are those without a lot of information to their faces. This tends to be the very young or people considered beautiful. They are “beautiful” because their faces are symmetrical. I have drawn thousands of people all over the world and “ beautiful “ is actually very common. Give me a face with character lines, a fabulous smile or sparkling eyes ( or even a broken, scarred “ugly” face) and I will give you a great caricature.  

 Before you begin a caricature do you like to know a little about the person? If so, how does this help you create their caricature?

A good caricature should be making a statement about the person, not just a likeness. This is why political caricature is so enjoyable. I had a great time drawing caricatures for the newspaper of Pauline Hanson and John Howard!

 Can you, or rather, would you be willing to tell me which caricature is your favourite?

I drew many caricatures of John Howard over the years and finally had an opportunity to meet him. To his credit he was not offended, laughed and signed the artwork. I am also fond of a caricature I painted of several Australian politicians dressed as the Spice Girls. It won a People Choice award in Canberra.

A lot of emerging artists are always looking for different ways to sell their work. How do you like to sell your work?

The internet and social media.  I have worked in this way all over the world with clients from many countries. It makes no difference if I am on the other side of the world or in the next room…with the internet the world is your client.

 It is vital to keep up with new innovations in selling artwork as the traditional methods are now mostly redundant. At the moment the illustration world is in a state of flux  and it is very difficult to find paying work as an artist. I believe that there will be resurgence in art that will be created and sold using new technology. BE READY!

 Do you treat your art as a business or a passion? Do you embrace the idea of “passive income”, being the method of creating something once and then getting paid for it thousands of times. Is this possible with caricature?

My art has always been my business and fortunately my passion as well.

Caricature is generally commissioned work so is paid for by the client one time… Print work is paid by copyright use so it may be used and paid for several times.

I prefer to be paid a thousand dollars once than a dollar thousands of times!

 Do you embrace any other creative forms other than caricature either for pleasure or future projects?

I have just discovered the pleasures of writing and illustrating my own Children’s Picture books! So far I have four that I am now submitting to various publishers. I am lucky to have the support and advice of some wonderful book illustrators. We have created the Brisbane Illustrators Group (BIG) where we meet once a month to share our experiences. I will continue to create books for the rest of my life and maybe even ONE DAY…have one published!

I am also an oil painter presently working on a series of portraits. These works tend to be far more aggressive and dramatic than my illustration work. I like to challenge myself with new art media all the time.

 Lastly, it’s great to be your own boss, but as a writer myself, I know it’s not always easy to make money from the arts? Do you have any advice for emerging artists?

I have worked as a freelance artist since leaving the newspaper in 2001. I have travelled all over the world as an artist. I was paid to go to China as a caricature artist on three occasions travelling to fourteen cities. I also went to Bolivia and Iran as a caricature artist as part of an exhibition and art festival. I have lived and worked in Dubai and Kuwait as an artist. Anything is possible if you want it enough.

My advice to an emerging artist is to work hard on your technical knowledge, create artwork constantly and create many folios to fit as many situations as possible. Take your artwork seriously as a product only you can create and market as such. Follow artists whose techniques you admire and watch how they sell their work.

Do not be limited by people expectations of how they believe you should create art. Always push boundaries and challenge yourself with new areas of art and expression. If you want to be an artist then BE ONE.

A big thank you to Joanne for allowing me to find out more about her and her wonderful creations.

If you would like a caricature by Joanne Brooker please visit one of the sites below.

Has anyone ever said to you or someone you know “We have every confidence in you.” Have you ever wondered why people say that? Well, it’s a well-known fact that sometimes the perception of ourselves has a significant impact on how people perceive us. The more confident you are perceived the more sure people will be that you will succeed.

What about when things happen that are out of you control? Say you’re speaking and the sound system explodes, sending sparks everywhere behind you. This is when confident people shine. They will calmly decide to speak louder and carry on, or make a joke about the situation, helping everyone else in the room feel comfortable as the sound technician scrambles around behind them.

Recognise what stops a writer from being confident.

The Comfort Zone

Stepping out of the comfort zone is tough.  I don’t like the old way of thinking when it comes to writing in set genres. “Only write what you know”  Even if you are not a writer I’d still say try something new. Step outside your comfort zone and you might be pleasantly surprised. If you “the writer” have a story bubbling inside you and it’s not in the genre you normally write I’d say, “Go on, have a go! Step outside the limits that can develop when you write what you know.” What is life if we don’t challenge ourselves? Yes, you can write and live safely just writing in the genre or doing the things you know well. But, are you really experiencing all that you can without challenging yourself in some new area? Yes, you might have to push yourself to learn new things, research a bit about the subjects you are writing about, but that’s adding to your own knowledge base, right?  And it’s worth it every time.

 Nerves

I suffer from terrible nerves when I have to speak in front of an audience.  We writers all know that we are often expected to speak at schools or functions. This comes with the territory of promoting a book today. It’s important to remember that almost everyone gets nervous at some time in their life. You may not be privy to their nervousness, but I can assure you there’s not a person on the planet who hasn’t felt nervous at one time or another. So what can you do? The techniques below can be done for almost any situation you find yourself in when you feel nervous about doing something new or challenging.

1. Breathe. This is always a good place to start. A couple of slow deep breathes in and out
2. Set aside all negative thoughts and replace them with positive self-talk
3. Be grateful for the situation you find yourself in at this time of your life. Say it mentally. This will help your confidence.  “I am grateful for what I’m about to do.”
4. Keep your thinking in a simple space. Don’t over complicate the situation by thinking too much. If you’re speaking, speak slowly, don’t let your nerves rush you through it. If you are conducting a presentation, be really well prepared, because this will help you to be more confident and less nervous about what you are about to do.
5. Have fun and remain in a happy space. 

 I’ll leave you with a quote from one of my favourite poets, Emily Dickinson.

After great pain, a formal feeling comes. The nerves sit ceremonious, like tombs.

― Emily Dickinson

Until next time, be brave and bold in your chosen field of creativity. And never be afraid to explore new techniques.

Some writers I know are quietly confident while others have a charismatic confidence. What makes them confident? Well, the answer is they have great efficacy (capacity to produce results) and a healthy amount of self-esteem. Confidence is not just about thinking positive and using affirmations. All confidence needs a good foundation which includes setting achievable goals and following through to make sure you reach those goals. Every single time you achieve a goal you increase your knowledge and competency. I can assure you if you set yourself a goal and reach it, not only will your confidence increase, but you will have certainly learned something new along the way.

Recognise what stops a writer from being confident.

1. Rejection

Firstly, but most importantly don’t let rejection get you down. This is the fastest way, in my opinion, for any writer (actually for anyone) to lose his or her confidence in what they do or write. Conquering the “rejection effect” is one of the hardest things a writer will ever be faced with. Never mind worrying about press conferences and speeches to large audiences, because if you as a writer cannot bounce back from any form of rejection you will struggle to feel confident about what you do and give up. Okay, so your manuscript was rejected or the publishers hated your pitch. What do you do? Well firstly, you uncurl from the foetal position, haul yourself up off the floor to which you collapsed, dust yourself off and say, “I believe in what I do.” Decide then and there if you can improve anything. There’s always room for improvement. Remember: even the best writers experience rejection. The difference is they DON’T give up.

2. Self-doubt

This is when you hesitate to believe in what you have written. You hear the mental talk, it’s not good enough to be published or to be read. All writers will experience this at some time in their writing career. The best way to combat self-doubt is to replace it with self-confidence. Sounds easy doesn’t it? Well, sometimes it’s not so easy. When you have hit a patch of self-doubt here is a couple of things you can try.

1. Take a break from thinking. It could be as easy as going for a walk or spending some time outside.
2. Put the negatives thoughts into prospective by writing down some positives things about yourself.
3. Make sure you nurture yourself and include some fun and relaxation in your life.
4. Spend time with others who support and encourage who you are as a person. All of us at times need to know that we are not the only ones who get stuck in a time of self-doubt.

I’ll leave you with a quote from William S.

“Our doubts are traitors,

and make us lose the good we oft might win,

by fearing to attempt.”

― William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure

Until next time, be brave and bold in your chosen field of creativity. And never be afraid to explore new techniques.

Remember: You don’t have to be famous to be influential.

Becoming a leader in your area of expertise or passion is an achievable goal for any person at any age. There are no age requirements for being influential. Children can be influential and inspire others. Teenagers can also achieve an influential status and so can the elderly. 

 Here are a few things I consider to be keys to being influential.

1. Believe in yourself and what you do.  Take positive action in those areas that you feel you need to build your strengths. Research courses available to help you build your confidence and skills.
2. Work hard and follow through with your ideas.
3. Notice trends and connect with people who are already successful in their fields and be ready to discover new opportunities.
4. Don’t just rely on social media to build networks. Some of the best opportunities come from real life meetings.
5. Enjoy being creative in your blogging and be open to exploring the social networking environment.  Remember to have fun in these areas, but keep a real time management program and schedule your time to suit your projects. Particularly in the area of “time online” so you keep your projects on track.
6. Don’t be afraid to build a platform prior to your project being completed.  I spent several years building a platform as an “emerging writer” prior to signing my first publishing contract.
7. Lastly, and I think the most important part of being influential is helping people on a regular basis.  Personally, I have volunteered for different organisations all my life because I believe in giving back to humanity as a whole. I participate regularly with organisations supporting many different causes.   I do it without expecting anything in return.

 Until next time, be brave and bold in your chosen field of creativity.  And never be afraid to explore new techniques.

This month it was my time to experience the emotions associated with the release of my first children’s book. In the early stages of development I wanted the whole series to be a quick read for the more experienced readers, but an achievable read for children who were beginning to experiment with new genres and expanding their reading challenges. The first review posted strengthened my belief that I had accomplished my goal. You can read the review here.

Starchild: The Age of Akra is a unique story created from a few simple questions.  What if the nations were divided not just by race but by a unique power? What if a group of children were brought together by a prophecy? What if the underworld craved the collective powers of the nations? This is how four children came together and became linked to the events that lie ahead. The struggle to bring peace to the world of powerful energies lies in their hands.

The Starchild blurb

When Mai is chosen to take a pilgrimage to the Valley of a Thousand Thoughts to train with the oldest and wisest master of their people, an ancient prophecy is set in motion. The events to come have been predicted but are not unchangeable. When the Starchild returns to the planet Sage, the foreknowledge of the prophecy begins to gain strength. 

Four children come together and become linked to the events that lie ahead. In The Age of Akra, the first stage of their journey has them facing the deadly spiderflax, only then to be confronted by a creature of the underworld, an evil Dementra called Amual.

The struggle to bring peace to the world of powerful energies lies in the hands of these four children and a strange little lizard. And it will not come easy. This journey is only the beginning.

Starchild is available in paperback or ebook on Amazon, Barns & Noble, iTunes, Kindle and Kobo HERE!