Oh, goodness! Did we have a great day with the Killer Voice gals yesterday??
Voicities? Did we determine if that was a word? Anyway, one more round of
congratulations to you!!
Okay,
back to today. Audra here. Today, we’re going from the excitement of contracts gleaned from
the Killer Voice competition to a competition that molds the winner right
before your very eyes. My personal favorite show of all time…The Voice! (I think I’ve mentioned this a time or two,
and it always bears repeating!!)
For
those of you who aren’t familiar with The Voice, it’s a performance competition
where contestants perform a blind audition hoping their “voice” will capture
the interest of one of the 4 judges. If the voice they hear stirs enough
interest, they tap their button and their chairs turn and they see the artist
for the first time. The interest of the judge is based solely on the voice
alone, there are no costumes, dance moves, or appearances that sway the judge.
Talent
alone buys you a ticket for the ride.
Like
I said, many of you know what an avid fan I am of the program. Yes, the show is
entertaining, especially the banter between the award-winning judges who never
fail to make me laugh. But more than that, it’s the respect the judges show the
contestants as they work their way up the ladder of vocal success that
impresses me season after season.
Enough
of my praise for this show, let’s get back to why I need to talk about it in
Seekerville.
This
last season, the selfless mentoring offered by the judges captured my
attention. Each of the judges brought a unique perspective to the competition
that when grouped together, showed the viewing audience what it’s like to take
a singer with obvious talent and then mold, and buff, and tweak, and manicure
that person until the finished product is a polished performer.
OMG,
do I ever wish I had the Blake Shelton of the publishing world bringing out the
writing potential in me!! Oh my, I digress…
Anyway,
let’s take a peek at how each judge challenged the singer and brought out the
best in them and how we can incorporate that advice in our writing:
Pharrell
Williams has a great talent for tactfully critiquing a performance without
offending the contestant. He’s all excited and up on his feet for artists that
perform well, whether they are on his team or not. In the same way, he listens
intently to performances and formulates helpful feedback to the ones who are
not quite there yet. A prime example of this happened while the contestants
were still in the battle rounds. A gal on, I think Gwen’s team, sang
beautifully. Her song was perfect as was her physical performance. Pharrell
acknowledged this and applauded her talent, BUT he went on to say he didn’t buy
her performance because he could tell it didn’t come from the heart. They were
just words sung perfectly. No connection; no emotional attachment. No heart.
Lesson
learned: You can create a perfect plot, write a flawless manuscript, yet if the
story doesn’t come from the heart, the reader will know it. Don’t write to
trends if that isn’t your bag. Write what you know; write what you love.
Honesty builds a dedicated fan base! Soul gripping emotion keeps your fans
wanting more.
Blake
Shelton is my man. Who doesn’t swoon at his accent, his sense of humor,
his tall frame and his touching songs – can you tell I’m a real fan? The great
thing is he approaches Team Blake with the same intensity he pours into his
songs. Each season he tries to build a well-rounded team of multi genres, but
in the end, country is what he knows and is great at, so many times, those are
the contestants that make it to the final round. The bottom line though is
Blake does know all aspects of the music world and you hear it in his comments
to the contestants. He encourages the artists to work on their core musical
talent. He encourages them to work on the control of their voices and stage
presence. He sees fundamental strengths in their voices and offers suggestions
that will grow their talent to the best it can be. The contestants should
listen to his advice.
Lesson
learned: If you don’t have a grasp of the fundamentals of writing and language,
any attempt you make at writing a story or novel will be doomed by pesky
grammatical and punctuation mistakes that snag the reader out of the story. If
it happens often enough, the reader may not finish the book, no matter how
fantastic the ending. To those contemplating the Indie publishing route, please
view this as a strong suggestion to invest in a copy editor; invest in a line
editor. These people are the support staff of your dreams!!
I
absolutely loved Gwen Stefani as a judge this year. I never expected such
encouragement and compassion from her (which makes me wonder why I had that opinion
in the first place since I don’t really know anything about her). Anyway, I had
to grin whenever she offered to give the contestants make-overs. Still, the
folks on Team Gwen received not only the opportunity to tweak their style and
voice, they also learned something about presentation. How you portray yourself
is essential to selling your talent and your image.
Lesson
learned: Take a good long look at the impression you want to make on your
reader. We’ve talked branding before here in Seekerville, but you can never
revisit the topic too often. What kind of author do you see when you look at
Debby Giusti, Missy Tippens, Mary Connealy? Each of them walks the walk and
talks the talk whether it’s military suspense or small town charm or cowboy
conundrums. Take a look at how you’re portraying yourself in your books, your
website, your FB page. Do they all speak the same language or is there room for
an identity crisis when fans google your name??
Finally,
we have Adam Levine. Quite honestly, I never know what tree he’s in on any
particular show as far as comedic relief goes, but as a coach, the man knows
what he’s looking for in talent. He can be the class cut-up between
performances, but as soon as the next contestant sings their first note, his
professional-Adam face falls into place and he immediately begins dissecting
the artist’s work. Very intense; doesn’t miss a beat. So many times his
assessment of the vocal work astounds me for the details – good and bad – that
he’s able to detect in a 90 second performance. To me, Adam is the coach least
likely to sugarcoat his opinions. He’s likable enough that he doesn’t tend to
offend people, but if there is a problem with someone’s voice, style,
presentation, he’s the coach to tell it like it is. And his instincts are
pretty right on. Eventually, odds are, if the contestant doesn’t take his
comments to heart, they might advance up a rung or two of the competition, but
when the live performances begin, they find themselves are a hard sell to
America.
Lesson
learned: When you send your work to a
contest or a requested full manuscript to an editor, listen to their feedback.
If contest feedback continually points to the same issues, then set ego aside
and study the problem. The opinions of one rogue judge at times are just that –
rogue. BUT if you hear the same comments time after time, there’s probably
something to the issue. More importantly though, if you are fortunate enough to
receive personal feedback from an editor, please realize they are interested in
your work and the changes/revisions they suggest are for your benefit. Prove to
that editor that you are an author they can work with and you might just be
surprised when that phone rings and it’s THE CALL.
This
season more than any other offered the prime example of how all the coaches
interacted together to create one exceptional artist:
• In the beginning, Blake Shelton chooses
Craig Wayne Boyd for Team Blake.
• During one of the rounds, Adam Levine
comments on the too rough edge to Craig’s Southern-rock style. In the next knock out round, Blake pairs
Craig against James David Carter since
they are both country singers. Craig continues with his rough country style
compared to James’ smoother voice. Blake chooses James over Craig.
• BUT, Gwen Stefani steps in and steals
Craig. With her image-conscious mentality ready to make a difference, she
“cleans up” Craig’s appearance a bit and suggests he works with a song a bit
out of his box to stretch his range. Craig incorporates her suggestions and
puts a more refined spin on a country song. Unfortunately, when it comes down
to the final knock out battle, Gwen chooses Taylor John Williams over Craig.
• BUT, in a heartbeat, Blake steals back a
more groomed and refined version of his man and the competition is on for the
live rounds.
• At one point during the live rounds,
Pharrell Williams makes the comment that Craig has demonstrated a giant leap of
growth from his very first audition and he now calls Craig a performer. This
confirmation of his talent seemed to give Craig the final boost to his
confidence and he indeed took possession of the stage and didn’t hesitate to
show America what kind of talent he had until the final vote was cast and
America pronounced Craig Wayne Boyd the winner of The Voice.
What
a ride! The process isn’t always so dramatic, but the journey of Craig Wayne
Boyd, unknown bar singer to Craig Wayne Boyd, America’s Choice is a journey
that’s made every day whether you’re a singer or an author.
Do
you see it? Do you feel it? C’mon people, dig deep into your souls and light a
fire in your characters!! I’m convinced if God lit the fire of desire in your
heart to write a book, He wants to see a depth of character and excitement on
the page!! You can do it!!
C’mon
2015. Let’s be the year of NO LIMITS!!
And
to help you find your inner character, I’m offering 3 Kindle copies of Rivet Your Readers with Deep Point of View by Jill Elizabeth Nelson. It’s a fantastic
book that points out the elements of characterization so your hero and heroine
can become as dynamic to the world as they are to you : )
Blessings
on all your adventures!
