 Now for this very reason
…in your writing… …apply all diligence …supply moral excellence …knowledge …self-control …perseverance …godliness …brotherly kindness …Christian love Diligence – steady application to one’s occupation or studies, persistent effort
Excellence – state of going beyond a standard, performing at a higher level
Knowledge – familiarity, awareness, or understanding gained through experience or study
Self-control – control of one’s emotions, desires, or actions by one’s own will
Perseverance – the holding to a course of action, belief, or purpose without giving way; steadfastness
Godliness – resembling or of the nature of God
Brotherly kindness – being generous, warmhearted, charitable, helpful, showing sympathy or understanding, considerate
Christian love – intense concern for another person
“For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful …” …in using your writing for our Lord Jesus Christ.
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4/24/2019 0 Comments Thoughts about Writing Nonfiction FOCUS IN
SET SOME GOALS
THE ACTUAL WRITING
REVISE AND GET FEEDBACK
“You write to communicate to the hearts and minds of others what's burning inside you. And we edit to let the fire show through the smoke.” – Arthur Polotnik 4/3/2019 0 Comments Awkward Critiques Critiquing and being critiqued can be a stressful activity under the best of circumstances. But sometimes situations arise that are difficult or downright awkward. The following address three of those times.
What do you do when a member of a critique group brings a manuscript you cannot critique? e.g. Is diametrically opposed to your beliefs or you find it offensive. First:
What do you do when someone doesn’t want to critique your manuscript? First:
What do you do when you receive an unfair critique? First:
In any of these cases, a writing mentor, or group leader may have additional suggestions for you. No need to mention names or info that would pointedly indicate the person you are struggling with—we don’t want to turn this into a gossip session—just ask for advice from someone with more critique group experience.  "All things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose" . . . and . . . for the fiction writer. Or at least they can, if you're willing. I’m not being flippant here. Let me show you what I mean.
Your child has just come home from school and confessed she cheated in class and got caught. After you deal with her situation, start thinking about a story for a church take home paper dealing with this or a similar issue. I did and the resulting short story sold to a girl's magazine. Your pastor asks you to step outside your comfort zone in a ministry area at church. Your friend asks for prayer for her participation in a ministry that fills her with fear. Use both your discomfort and her fear, plus how God came through when you each trusted Him, for a character struggling through a similar problem. Remember how shy you were? How someone might overcome shyness in a specific situation can become part of a story. Remember feeling so average that you had nothing special to offer? Later, you probably realized how God gifted you in areas that weren't so obvious. I wrote a short story showing a teenager coming to the same realization which has sold twice. God teaches you a lesson. A story about someone in a similar situation could help others learn the lesson in a less painful manner. A friend shares how she is caught in sin and asks for help in keeping her accountable. Imagining how that could be on the inside got me writing a story that might help others in the same sin, and the story sold to a magazine for young adults. Remember being really angry at someone? And peer pressure and how you caved in and did what you knew was wrong? I've had at least two short stories come out of this. One, my character did what I wished I'd done. The other, my character learned that caving into peer pressure isn't a good idea. The former story has been in print three times. What ministry areas have you gotten involved in? Feeding homeless, greeting, missions, worship team, youth, nursery, prison ministry, teaching special education children, Vacation Bible School, and prayer are all ministries I've participated in at one time or another and have all made it into fiction stories in one form or another. I've used the setting, I've used problems I've seen, I've used my feelings and feelings of others, I've gotten ideas for a character's personality and more for numerous stories. What experiences have you had? What are your hobbies? How about your family? Your friends? Acquaintances? Things happen: moving, losing a loved one, job changes, failure, temptation, frustration, success, etc. We all have highs and lows. You may not be able to solve a problem in real life, but you might be able to solve it in fiction or show how someone else survived. In my novel I used my fear of heights, my love of baking, a snowmobiling experience, things I’d learned about my sister’s small town to create my own small town, my family’s move, and more. How about all those times we think, "I wish I'd said . . ." in response to someone else. It could be we failed to share God's word or his values. It could be we responded impatiently or with hasty words. Or perhaps we even wish we'd kept our mouth shut. The magic of fiction is that my characters can do what I wish I'd done. This doesn't mean fiction characters are perfect and never make mistakes. We want them to be believable. They might even have some of my flaws as well as flaws of their own. I help round them out by using my own experiences, both good and bad. Isn't it great that "All things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose"? Even for the fiction writer?  ThaWhere did the idea for this book come from?
I enjoy reading military fiction, Christian fiction, and watching a ton of military/war movies and shows. One day I was watching one of my favorite television shows and wondered what would happen if a Special Forces Sniper married a SWAT officer. From there the ideas just kept coming and Clubs was born. How long did it take you to write this book? It took almost two years from the day I started writing Clubs until it was published. When did you know your manuscript was ready for submission? I had a pretty clear vision of the journey I wanted to take my main characters on. The ending came to me rather early in the process, so it was a matter of simply getting my characters from where they began, to where I wanted them at the end. Once the first draft was completed it went through revisions and editing. Only after my editors returned the manuscript, all edits were made, and I read through and did revisions myself was I comfortable with submitting my work. I want it as close to perfection as it could be before it went out into the world. What happened along the way in your publication process? I published Clubs through Amazon so submitting the manuscript was simple. I had to ensure I knew what genre to place the book in and write the back cover description so readers could get a feel for the story and decide if they wanted to give Clubs a chance. As an indie author I maintained complete control of the cover from concept to completion. I worked closely with my cover designer and we discussed all the fine points of the cover to ensure it came out exactly as I envisioned. Once I submitted the book, it was just a matter of waiting for it to go live on the website. What marketing are you doing for this book? My marketing is primarily though Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. My Author page is where I keep my readers up to date on all the latest news about Clubs and the series, as well as interact with my readers. Anything else you’d like to share about your book’s journey from inspiration to publication? The journey to publishing Clubs was a wonderful experience. Seeing a simple idea turn into a thirty-seven-chapter book, then holding the book in my hands, is quite an experience. I loved every step of the process (well, editing not as much) and look forward to repeating the steps from start to finish with the next book in the series. Where can you be found online? Website: https://marthapruett.wixsite.com/author Twitter: @mrspruett09 Facebook: Martha Pruett - Author Instagram: mpauthor Where can your book be purchased? Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KGL5XW3 Thank you, Martha, for sharing with us. 2/9/2019 0 Comments Committed to Writing Other writers have asked me how I get so much writing, blogging, etc. done. This often makes me feel like a fraud—I don’t feel like I’m doing very well. Comparison can be a dangerous thing. Someone is always more successful or less so than we are, at whatever we think of as success.
But I am committed to writing. Whether I sell it or not is a different subject. However, let’s discuss what works for me. First, set aside time. I’m very blessed to not have to work full time. That means I get up in the morning and write, or do writing related business. Let me explain the latter since it comes in many forms. It could be research for a project or for finding an agent or editor, catching up on reading newsletters or blogs focused on writing, working on a student lesson, submitting or querying projects, updating spreadsheets, critiquing for a client or work to find a client, etc. It often includes time spent on social media, although it’s easy to get sidetracked with that so I try to limit it. I also volunteer for a writing organization and may spend some time on that. The writing part can be fiction or short nonfiction and is 99% of the time done on a keyboard. If I’m in the midst of a novel, that’s usually the most compelling project for me to approach. Nonfiction usually includes blog posts for both of my sites, plus occasional articles for pay. On my writing for children site, I also do book recommendations. Of course, writing any of these can require me stopping to research a needed fact or two. This is another place I can get sidetracked... Whatever I’m writing, I may be at the getting words down part or revising what I already wrote. After lunch I return to the computer to do one or more of the above. This schedule is normal five days a week. Saturdays, I may write, or I may do family things. Sundays, we meet with our local church and usually rest and relax the rest of the day. However, I know many others who write after their full-time job is done for the day. They write in the evening and on weekends. Maybe on lunch breaks. So, if you’re working another job, don’t despair that you can’t also make progress on your writing. If you only writes 1000 words a week, that’s 50,000+ words in a year. Second, I’ve given up other things. I used to sew and do a few handcrafts. I haven’t done them in many, many years. Instead, I write. I used to do scrapbooking—I’d like to say I do it occasionally but can’t remember the last time I did so. Yes, of course, I read books—mainly in the genres I write. I even watch TV via Netflix or watch a movie in the evening. I spend time with friends—mainly my fellow writers—and family. And of course, I cook, clean, do laundry, pay bills in partnership with my husband. (Our children are grown.) Third, I’ve made a commitment to myself to write. What helps me stay committed? Love of the written word. Habit. Meeting with other writers. A regular critique group motivates to bring something to share. A scheduled writing time makes me show up with computer in hand and usually a project in mind. As Tony Fahkry says, “Success requires discipline, hard work, perseverance, tenacity, will, courage and faith.” Until I read that quote, I hadn’t thought much about the faith part. Yes, I believe I’m doing what God would have me do. But I have faith that my writing is worth something as well. Here is another writer’s story on being committed: “Three powerful lessons from my 2017 Writing Challenge.” Your path won’t look like mine or hers. But it’s amazing how deciding to commit to writing makes being committed to writing easier. |
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SM Ford writes inspirational fiction for adults, although teens may find the stories of interest, too. She also loves assisting other writers on their journeys. Archives
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