Karen Hellier, From Connecticut, 581 Fans, 199 Hubs, Joined 16 months ago
|
|
Hawaiianodysseus Interviews Karen Hellier
Inspiring advice from a copyrighter, blogger, teacher, and active HubPages community member
Karen, you’re very active in the HubPages community. Aside from your daily regimen of writing, you find time to read the works of other writers and provide generous and uplifting feedback to them. You respond in a timely manner to comments others make about your Hubs. Occasionally, you’ll sponsor a Hub Challenge. What would you say to fellow HubPages community members regarding the significance of being socially active in this literary community?
Being socially active in the HubPages community is extremely important in terms of not only learning from others, but being an encouragement to others as well. Most people in this community are here because they love to write. They also love to learn. Active participants can learn so much, not only about a large variety of subjects but also how to become better writers.
I have also found that writing Hubs, asking questions, leaving comments, and voting Hubs up and down through the Hub Hopper help an individual’s Hubber Score go up. A Hubber with a higher score can be an invaluable source of information on how HubPages works and can refer others to places to get help as needed.
The reason HubPages is such a wonderful place for writers is because there are people in this community who are actively involved in helping other members feel encouraged and supported. If you are one of them, thank you. And if not, what are you waiting for? Come join us in a wonderful writing and learning adventure.
You are a prolific and disciplined writer, having written about 200 Hubs in the span of 16 months. Do you keep a set schedule? Is there a time of day when you do your best writing? What was the most unique or unusual setting in which you wrote a Hub?
I do my best writing at night because I am a night owl. I write for HubPages, a blog, and for a copywriting website as well. My other job is substitute teaching, and while I would love to write full time during the day, I am not always able to do that.
I don’t usually know if I am working on a certain day until late the night before or maybe that very morning. What I try to do is have a set schedule on the days I don’t have a sub job. I have breakfast with my husband, who works from home, and then I write from about 9:00 a.m. till 1:00 p.m. After a quick lunch, we take a nap, work out, eat dinner together, and I try to spend at least two hours on my writing every night. This is the schedule I also follow on Saturdays if we don’t have plans. If I am working a sub job during the day, I only have one to two hours at night to write. I do try to take Sundays off to relax and recharge my mind. I am excited for this summer because I will have ten weeks off from my subbing job, and I plan to follow this writing schedule all summer long. So you can expect a lot more Hubs from me this summer! The most unusual setting in which I wrote a Hub (actually, more than one) was the Promenade deck of a cruise ship.
When you write, is there an imaginary audience sitting right in front of you? If so, who are they? What are their faces reflecting back to you?
When I write, there is no imaginary audience in front of me. I suppose, though, that in my head, there are friends of mine who have told me I write well. And that I write the way that I talk. So as I write, they are with me inside my mind, and I am writing to them. It’s as though we are having a conversation together, and I am trying to explain something to them. But instead of speaking my part of the conversation, I am writing it out. I have always been more comfortable expressing myself with the written word as opposed to verbally.
If you could pick a movie that best represents your collective body of writing, what movie would that be, and why?
This was a very interesting question because my writing on HubPages covers a large amount of subjects. But if I had to choose one movie, “The Sound of Music” would best represent what I have written about to date, except for the music and the Nazis! I will summarize the story and put the main themes of my writing in parentheses.
The movie centered around Captain von Trapp and his seven children. Captain von Trapp hired a novice named Maria from a nearby convent (faith) as a governess to care for his children (childcare). Maria was in charge of the children who ranged from children in elementary school to teenagers (children and teens). Maria and the Captain fell in love (love), got married (weddings/marriage/husband), and left for a month long trip for their honeymoon (travel). Maria became the mother of these seven children (motherhood). The family was forced to leave their beloved home in Austria to escape the Nazis. The last scene is the family walking through the Alps (travel) to their future.
If you know the story, you will realize that the story is based on true events, and that this family eventually moved to the United States and settled in Vermont (Vermont). Maria von Trapp wrote (writing) five books about her experiences.
In summary, many of the themes of my Hubs are included in some way in this movie. My grandmother took me to see this movie when I was thirteen, and it’s always been one of my favorites because of that. It’s only fitting that I have also written a hub about my grandmother.
Sometime in the distant future, a little girl will dig up a time capsule in her backyard. Which three of your Hubs will she find in there, and why?
In the distant future, this little girl will find three Hubs that may not be the most popular Hubs I have written, but are near and dear to my heart. I think they will send a message of hope, empathy, and compassion to people in the future.
The first Hub will be, “
What My Grandmother’s Cancer Taught Me,” because I express how my relationship with her while she was sick made a very strong impression on me as we talked about the most important things in life. It includes a list of the five most important guidelines I learned about how to live a happy and fulfilling life no matter how much time you have to live.
The second would be, “
12 Reasons I Love My Husband,” because I think it will send a message to women in the future about what kind of man to look for when considering marriage. And for men, it will set an example of how women should be treated in order for both of them to be happy in a marriage.
And the third would be, “
A Blessings Journal: A Way to Remind Yourself of All the Positives in Your Life,” because I am a Christian and was a social worker for many years. This Hub reflects that I like to help people and realize that life is sometimes extremely difficult for many. It explains how people can start a blessings journal in which they write entries to God about all the positives in their lives. Later, they can go back and read the journal when they are feeling down. This type of personal writing to God creates an attitude of gratitude and can be so uplifting. I believe a blessings journal will be as helpful to people in the future as it is today.
|
