5 Things You Need To Be A Successful Author Or Writer (Or Thinker)

I was interviewed recently by Kristin Marquet of Authority Magazine on this topic. It occurred to me that the original topic about success as an author or writer, could also be about success as a thinker.

Whatever you have to think about, or write about, some of the ideas below may help you.

Right brain — left brain combo. The right side of the brain is all about recognizing patterns, brainstorming and synthesizing things (the intuitive side). The left brain is about organizing thoughts, describing details, and analyzing things (the logical side). The right brain — left brain combo was a goldmine for my writing of scientific reports and books…

Some writers and authors have a knack for using language that can really move people. Some writers and authors have been able to influence millions with their words alone. What does it take to become an effective and successful author or writer? In this interview series, called “5 Things You Need To Be A Successful Author or Writer” we are talking to successful authors and writers who can share lessons from their experiences.

As part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr Ian Dexter Palmer. Dr Ian Palmer has a Ph.D. in space physics from Adelaide University, Australia, where he studied cosmic rays from the sun. He has consulted as a petroleum engineer all over the world, specializing in fracking, plus shale oil and gas, and has given training courses to industry.

Dr Palmer’s recent professional book is called How Oil and Gas Companies are Pivoting Toward Climate Change which is about the oil and gas industry slowly embracing some goals of climate change. His recent novels include Hiking toward Heaven, and FracMan Conflicted. For further information please click here.

Thank you so much Dr Palmer for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?

In my last year of high school my essay on camping in the Flinders Ranges of South Australia was ranked top and read to the whole class, so I knew I could write. During my PhD I wrote an article that was not published but the idea was discovered and published by an overseas competitor. As a result, I determined right then to write and publish lots of articles about my science expertise. Many years later I tried my hand at a novel called Hiking Toward Heaven, which included my religious experience wrapped up in hiking anecdotes; and that led to two other novels.

Can you share the most interesting story that occurred to you in the course of your career?
Soon after my PhD in Australia, I received an offer to work in Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, where they built the atomic bomb. I was to study high-energy protons and electrons detected by satellites that were monitoring Russian bomb explosions. But my charter was to study particles that were blasted out from a solar flare and traveled all the way to earth. Space science was a new field, and articles were readily accepted by journals.

What was the biggest challenge you faced in your journey to becoming a writer? How did you overcome it? Can you share a story about that that other aspiring writers can learn from?
My first challenge, as a scientist, was to gain confidence to do scientific research; this I learned during my three-year PhD. I was gifted with analytical abilities to manipulate data and find trends (left brain), but also being able to build mathematical models to explain those trends (right brain). Writing up scientific results to publish came easy to me, and I wrote in my career over 100 reports to publish.

My biggest challenge, as an author, was learning to create and write a book story to a non-scientific audience. I created a story by using my left brain to recall and capture and order a series of hiking anecdotes, and by using my right brain to imagine my grandchildren, on each of these hikes, interacting with an angelic figure called Michelle who wanted to learn about their humanness. Bingo: a novel called Hiking Toward Heaven.

It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
In Hiking Toward Heaven, my story about the hikes was realistic, as they were all hikes I had taken. But then I would weave the angelic figure into these hikes, including penetrating discussions with the grandchildren. Then came a surprise: a few early readers asked me if the stories were true. I was flabbergasted. I replied yes in part, no in part, and clarified the role of the angelic figure. That was unsatisfactory to me. Then I realized why, and I changed my answer to, “That question you have to answer yourself — what do you think?” I loved the mystery contained in the book and learned this can have a powerful effect on the reader.

In your opinion, were you a “natural born writer” or did you develop that aptitude later on? Can you explain what you mean?
My scientific reports came easy, and I think the right brain — left brain combo accounts for this. Two of my books were surveys of petroleum aspects of the oil and gas industry, such as fracking and earthquakes, and these came easy too. My three novels were a different matter. I joined a writing club who taught me about “showing not telling” and “use lots of verbal exchanges” and “end each chapter with an unexpressed question” and “use body-language wherever you can”. These aptitudes I had to learn from the writing club and by my own reading, and I developed them by practice.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?
I started a memoir a few years ago. This is likely to become my next adventure. As an elder, my mind keeps bending back to earlier memories, which make me a bit sentimental.

It just struck me that you may mean projects that are not writing. If so, I’m a rock-hounder, and my newest project is to place colorful small rocks I’ve found in clear glass jars filled with water. When the jars are placed in sunshine, the rock display is eye-catching. But that’s another story….

Here is the main question of our interview. Based on your experience, what are the “5 Things You Need To Be A Successful Author or Writer”? Please share a story or example for each.

1 . Right brain — left brain combo. The right side of the brain is all about recognizing patterns, brainstorming and synthesizing things (the intuitive side). The left brain is about organizing thoughts, describing details, and analyzing things (the logical side). The right brain — left brain combo was a goldmine for my writing of scientific reports and books.

As a university lecturer, I learned to present a new topic to the right brain first. For example, if teaching gravity, throw a tennis ball up and try to just reach the ceiling. Then move to the left brain and ask students why the ball decelerates as its rising higher. Write an equation for acceleration due to gravity, etc. The effect of the right brain — left brain combo is like the power of two hands grasped together. It also works in writing. Brainstorm the possible outcomes first (right brain), then start to type the words that describe the referred scene (left brain).

2 . Perseverance. Ian Fleming from England wrote his James Bond 007 books in Jamaica in his home called Goldeneye. He would sit in a chair facing a corner of the room and write 2,000 words every morning. He started his first book, Casino Royale, in 1952 at age 44. Later in the day, he would sometimes party with Hollywood friends.

3 . Where appropriate, add fact-based details. In one of his books, John Steinbeck described plant and animal life in a tidal pool at a beach. I read this when I was 16 in my last year of high school. Fact-based details were essential in my scientific career (still are in my writing as a consultant for Forbes). But even in fiction books, your credibility goes up if you portray the scene in fact-based detail. In my new book, How Oil and Gas Companies are Pivoting Toward Climate Change, I had to be very careful to present the facts of certain issues which tend to be controversial.

4 . Know your audience. Write to people who believe what you write. We don’t convince many people on the other side. I got this from a book launch by William deBuys, the author of The Last Unicorn: A Search for One of Earth’s Rarest Creatures.

5 . “If you want to grow and become vibrant, successful, and alive, live all your life on tiptoe, stretching and reaching for new things.” This is a quote by Roko Paskov that I’ve had pinned up in my house since I was thirty. It’s true of writing scientific reports as well as books.

What is the one habit you believe contributed the most to you becoming a great writer? (i.e. perseverance, discipline, play, craft study). Can you share a story or example?
Perseverance. This I got from my mother’s genes. She would never give up, and never wanted me to give up. In my science career, I don’t think I realized fully my gifts until later years, and would work harder to prove myself. I wanted to be respected for my books, as well as my scientific reports.

Which literature do you draw inspiration from? Why?
Novels by John Steinbeck and Ernest Hemingway, who inserted the details so cleverly. Ballad poetry, such as the Ancient Mariner, The Destruction of Sennacherib, and The Highwayman.

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
Raised as a Methodist (a Methodical Christian), I have come in later years to believe that to help other people is the greatest good. When I look around, I see almost everyone has troubles, and I have learned by practice that reaching out to offer help with time or skill or money can make a difference.

God can amplify this and further uplift troubled people. And the upshot is that I feel better when I do this. I have blogged on the subject in my website where I’ve suggested this is a key to Christian faith.

How can our readers further follow your work online?
Go to my website at www.IanDexterPalmer.com

Thank you so much for this. This was very inspiring!
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Other interviews on this topic are contained here.
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My own interview was published in Authority Magazine, which conducts in-depth Interviews with Authorities in Business, Pop Culture, Wellness, Social Impact, and Tech. They use interviews to draw out stories that are both empowering and actionable.

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Some people do not like to think. If one thinks, one must reach conclusions; and conclusions are not always pleasant.
Helen Keller