“Not yet,” I said. “We’re getting ready to eat supper.”
Eyes focused on me, his little hand reached into the container and grabbed several morsels. Before I could reach out, his full mouth smirked at me. Knowing there was more at stake than a spoiled meal, I marched my grandson to the waste basket and ordered him to spit out the candy.
Oh yes, I have acted just like my grandson. I, too, have a streak of stubborn independence. How many times have I asked the Lord about something, then gone ahead with it when I sensed a “no” or a “not now?” Many times, it’s not about bad choices but poor timing—like staying up late to work on a project then getting up for an 8:00 zoom meeting. Or, working through lunch, then raiding the snack drawer. Maybe it’s working on social media content instead of seeking insight for my work on deadline.
What makes us think we can get away with things when the Lord has said no to them? Are we so confident in His benevolence we believe we are exempt from the consequences?
Just like a grandmother knows a better meal is coming, God can see the bigger picture for the range and outreach of the words we write.
Exercise:
What does it mean to “have zeal without knowledge?” Proverbs 19:2 (NIV)
How can research help your WIP?
How does knowledge reflect self-love? Proverbs 19:8
Why is it wise to seek better understanding for your WIP?
Patience is a by-product of what trait? Proverbs 19:11
How could patience be applied to your writing?
Do you need to administer grace to yourself in your writing projects?
What does it look like to be a “prudent” writer? Proverbs 19:14 (NIV)
How does laziness creep into our work habits? Proverbs 19:15
What has God been asking you to give up, in order to pursue the better thing?
How do instructions offer life to our words? Proverbs 19:16
How is the Lord nudging your writing focus?
How does discipline bring hope to our writing? Proverbs 19:18
What are the plans you’re asking the Lord to bless? Proverbs 19:21
How is your walk with God giving life to your writing? Proverbs 19:23
What would Solomon say to us today? Be teachable! Proverbs 19:20
Over 140 of Sally Ferguson’s devotionals have been published in Pathways to God (Warner Press). She’s also written for Light From The Word, Chautauqua Mirror, Just Between Us, Adult Span Curriculum,Thriving Family, Upgrade with Dawn and ezinearticles.com. Prose Contest Winner at 2017 Greater Philly Christian Writers Conference.
Sally loves organizing retreats and seeing relationships blossom in time away from the daily routine. Her ebook, How to Plan a Women’s Retreat is available on Amazon.
Sally Ferguson lives in the beautiful countryside of Jamestown, NY with her husband and her dad.
In the dark weeks that followed, some unexpected glimmers of light appeared. Producer-director Bart Gavigan (End of the Spear, Luther) and Emmy and Bafta-winning writer-director Norman Stone (Shadowlands) read my unpublished manuscript. Film executives at this level are inundated with scripts. For them to take the time to read a novel – five times the length of a feature-film screenplay – was a huge gift. As was their response. Both were unreservedly positive and urged me to begin work on the script. Bart went so far as to offer detailed notes on how he felt the screenplay should be shaped; I liked these so much I decided to incorporate them into the novel.
A few months later, my newly-completed screenplay was passed to Ileen Maisel, producer of Golden Compass and many others. She invited me to a meeting at Claridges, where she had taken up temporary station. She informed me that it was impossible for her to take the project herself, as she was fully committed to a new series (The Dresden Files, soon to be aired on ABC). But she liked my work, and wanted to remain in contact.
As a result of this meeting, Island of Time then journeyed to Los Angeles. Soon after, so did I.
My third Hollywood meeting was with David Lipman (producer of Shrek and Ironman), then president of Starlings Entertainment, and his DD Emily Gottlich. They both were the exact opposite of everything I’d been led to believe about top-tier Hollywood executives. They were soft-spoken, highly intelligent, and as gentle as they were intense. Because they had simply asked to meet, without any actual response to my story, I had been warned by others that they probably liked my writing but were not interested in that particular script. So I had practiced pitching two other stories. For days.
Their offices were in a brand new building on the corner where Wiltshire Boulevard met the Pacific Ocean. Not really. Wiltshire actually dead-ends into Ocean Avenue, which then fronts a narrow park, then the cliff which drops down to the PCH, then the beach and the Santa Monica Pier. But when I exited the elevator and entered the Starlings penthouse offices, all I could see through the wall of glass was…
Blue.
And storm clouds. And rain. Because it was a freezing rain-swept February day in Los Angeles. For which David and Emily apologized. Like I was expected to be seriously bothered by the weather.
So I there I was, poised on the edge of their designer sofa, with the two of them seated with their backs to the Pacific. Ready for them to ask if I had anything else I could offer…
The words they spoke just didn’t seem to fit inside my head.
It actually took a while for their news to register. Probably thirty seconds. Less. But it felt like hours. Then…
They loved my script. They wanted to buy it. Not option. Buy. Put it into production. Immediately. They had decided to approach David Womark, producer of such hits as Deepwater Horizon, to run the project.
Boom.
I have flashing images of what happened after. They wanted to know if I had a sequel. Thankfully, I was so deeply engaged with the story that I already had an idea. I pitched that, scarcely believing what I was hearing from them.
Sometime later, I left. Floated down the park. Called my wife. Drove to the hotel. Too excited. Walked through the wind and the rain. For hours.
The next thing I heard was, their legal department would not get around to sending me the T&C Sheet (contractual terms and conditions, negotiated before the contract itself is penned) until after Cannes. At the time, the news was mildly hilarious – my project was delayed because of something they needed to get ready for presenting in France, and the same should happen to my film the following year.
My film.
The next four months seemed endless. A few high notes were reached; film budgeted at thirty million, my payment upon first day of filming was to be six hundred thousand dollars, and so forth. But mostly it was a time of tension, and trying to stay patient, and unanswered phone calls to the legal department.
Like I said, endless.
Four months stretched to five, then six, and suddenly the summer was over and autumn had started, and then autumn was winding into winter, and I still did not have the actual contract.
When the phone call finally came, it almost felt like I knew what had happened before the connection was made. Karine Martin, CEO of Starlings, told me in our first-ever conversation that Starlings was being sold. And the buyers only wanted their television division and their film-investment fund. And all of the current film projects were being dropped. And earlier that day, David Lipman had been fired.
Those words still weigh several thousand pounds. Each.
I actually don’t think the acquisition ever went through. Covid was probably the reason. In any case, Starlings is still an indie production group, and Karine Martin is still CEO. But what I think happened was this. And David Lipman, now a personal friend, agrees.
The acquirer was probably Lionsgate. And this illustrates a major issue I’ve faced from the beginning with Island of Time. And a barrier that David has confronted his entire career.
The standard tracks expected within contemporary fantasy run one of two ways. Either they hold to the teenage-angst-and-romance structure (Buffy, Twilight), or they are very dark indeed (World War Z). There are huge hits within both directions; and these structures represent common threads in contemporary entertainment.
And then there are people who seek a different path.
But current themes and directions in entertainment are not the topic here. So I will close with three possible takeaways for all you future creative stars.
First, my aim from the beginning was to apply a classical heroic structure to neartime fantasy. Use the naturally occurring elements of light and dark, good and evil, and magnify them by adding magic to this world. This core concept was a vague hope when I began writing. It came naturally; it is in some respects who I am as an artist. But it was only through this trial by fire that I started drawing this into crystalline focus.
If or when you face your own impossible delays, ask yourself this question. What lies at the very deepest level of my creative urge? What is it that drives me to create? What is most important? And how is it represented in this specific work?
Which brings us to the second takeaway, which is:
Beyond these core elements, do your best to remain open to critiques, and flexible to what needs improvement. Or change. Or cutting out entirely. This disciplined balance is crucial to your future. And your success.
And finally, accept the risk that such experiences may indeed be part of your own future.
When I speak with other full-time artists, particularly those working in Hollywood, and tell them about these events, there is a been-there-done-that element to their sympathy. It is, I’m sorry to say, part of the profession.
Last month my wife and I were invited to the premier of the new theater-musical, Back To The Future. Robert Zemeckis and his writing partner, Bob Gates, were there and spoke to the audience at its conclusion. They described the trials and hardship they went through to get the film done; it took them seven years from the completion of the script to the first day of principal photography.
I wish you every success.
Davis Bunn’s novels have sold in excess of eight million copies in twenty-four languages. He has appeared on numerous national bestseller lists, and his titles have been Main or Featured Selections with every major US book club. In 2011 his novel Lion of Babylon was named Best Book of the Year by Library Journal. The sequel, entitled Rare Earth, won Davis his fourth Christy Award for Excellence in Fiction in 2013. In 2014 Davis was granted the Lifetime Achievement award by the Christy board of judges. His recent title Trial Run has been named Best Book of The Year by Suspense Magazine. Lately he has appeared on the cover of Southern Writers Magazine and Publishers Weekly, and in the past three years his titles have earned him Best Book and Top Pick awards from Library Journal, Romantic Times, Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and Kirkus. His most recent series, Miramar Bay, have been acquired for world-wide condensation-books by Readers Digest. Currently Davis serves as Writer-In-Residence at Regent’s Park College, Oxford University. Until Covid struck, he was speaking around the world on aspects of creative writing.
Does it seem to take FOREVER to get a brilliant (they all are!) book published for kids? Even as a published author and an agent, months and yeas pass between burble of idea and book in hand.
The Idea
Somewhere between the Construction Equipment Phase and the Superhero Phase, the Dinosaurs roam. Kids are fascinated by the huge lumbering beasts. One theory is that small children, feeling powerless, imagine themselves as awe inspiring predators with gigantic teeth! Roar!
The original inspiration for this story was in fall of 2014, when my youngest grandson was 3 years old and had many things on his mind to do with dinosaurs but few with getting dressed. James was in the dinosaur phase where he can’t pronounce “broccoli” but can say “Pachycephalosaurus” and correct my mispronunciation. He also owned dinosaur themed shirts, hats, socks, jackets, and underwear. And hundreds of plastic painful-to-step-on in-the-dark dinosaur figures.
So how about a book that empowers the child to feel the capabilities of the dinosaur channeled toward the mundane task of getting ready for the day?
The Writing/Editing
It was a brain burble that became first a badly rhyming text – what rhymes with Diplodocus? (Hopped aboard a bus? Was oozing green pus? Super-flu-i-us?). By 2016, I shared “Dressing a Dinosaur” 12-page board book with my critique group. They found things to improve in the 199-word manuscript – and that is why I appreciate them!
A year of tweaking, renaming to How to Dress a Dinosaur and trimming to 181 words. They reviewed it in again in 2017 and thought Dinosaur was ready to roar.
In February 2019 I sent this manuscript to a critique service, and it received a “GO”!
The Publishing
On to my agent, which required a full proposal with marketing ideas, sales of earlier work, and comp titles – far more than 181 words. Luckily in the meantime no one else thought of this and wrote it!
The Book
By March of 2022 I expect to celebrate 10 chewable pages of How to Dress a Dinosaur! (In a later article I’ll discuss the stages of preparing the world for this jungle shaking this even!)
Soooooo…
If you are counting, that is a total of 8 years for a board book! Take away: know your reader, edit, edit, edit, wait wait wait, but believe that the best ideas out there will find a home! Even if it seems to take longer than the Pleistocene era!
Award winning author Robin Currie led children’s departments of Midwestern public libraries before being called midlife to ordained ministry. She has a special love for children’s literacy and Bible storytelling. She serves in Chicago area parishes and annually volunteers teaching English in developing countries. She and her husband actively grandparent 5 wonderful kids.
Robin has published seven library resource collections of creative ideas for library story times, and more than 20 Bible story books for children.
Aspiring to become a writer as a college student may seem retro from a certain point of view. With so many modern occupations related to IT, AI, and digital industries, becoming a writer can seem antiquated.
However, book publishing is still on an upward trend despite eBooks and audiobooks becoming more popular. As a college student, you are in the perfect position to shape your writer’s career into something truly special. Before you jump into it, here are a few things to keep in mind as you start your writing career.
1. It Might Take a While Before you are Published
Before you devote yourself to a writer’s career, you should know that getting published isn’t easy. Take Brandon Sanderson, a giant of modern fantasy literature, as an example. Sanderson wrote 13 novels before he managed to sell even one, after which publishers took notice of him and the rest became history.
His story serves to drive an important point home – you will need supplementary income to live off of before you go big as a writer. While he was developing his literary universe of interconnected works, Sanderson worked full-time in a hotel. Becoming a writer takes passion, dedication, and discipline. If writing is your calling, this bump in the road won’t stop you in the slightest.
2. Look for Inspiration in Contemporary Writers
While you can look for your writer’s muse in the literary geniuses of the past, it might be better to look to contemporaries for inspiration. Depending on the literary genre you feel drawn to, and whether you gravitate toward prose or poetry, there are dozens of writers to look to. Haruki Murakami is a writer whose surrealist writing is juxtaposed with existing historic facts about art, philosophy, and music.
He is the prime example of how pouring “yourself” into your writing can result in mesmerizing, world-renown writing. Research their careers and look for the roots of their writing career to see how they came to be where they are now. Taking “writing” from a pedestal and seeing it objectively will allow you to get a much better perspective on how to succeed going forward.
3. You will have to Dedicate Time to Develop your Writing Voice
When it comes to the subject of writing, originality isn’t as important as much as your writing style and voice. Take Dan Brown, the renowned author of Angels & Demons, and many other Robert Langdon books. His writing style is far from beloved by literary critics. However, each book he publishes is a best-seller almost immediately – why is that?
It’s not so much about “what” you write about as it is about “how” you write it. This is why you should also look for admission services help if you are writing your admission papers as a future freshman or college student. Put in the effort to hone your writing skills and a style unique to your personality – that’s what publishers and readers enjoy about authors.
4. Set your Daily Writing Schedule and Stick to It
Discipline is a major component of becoming a successful writer. While it is true that you cannot create art under pressure, writing a book is a monumental task that will take months, if not years. For a good example of a disciplined author, we need to look no further than Stephen King, who needs no introduction.
His writing habits consist of working on new materials four hours a day, each day. This has resulted in King producing writing materials for his publishers at an unprecedented pace. As you begin to develop your career as a writer, you will have to create a strict schedule and abide by it. Writing a few sentences here and there won’t help you reach the point of looking for a publisher any time soon. Put in the time to express your ideas in writing every day, and the results will speak for themselves.
5. Consider Freelance Writing as a Professional Exercise
Lastly, there is a way for you to both work on your writing style and earn an income while developing your career. Platforms such as Upwork and Fiverr offer a plethora of projects in a variety of niches for writers such as yourself.
You can work as a blog writer, ghostwriter, or content creator for websites in need of different types of writing. This will help you manage your financial situation until you reach a point where you are ready to present your work to a local publisher. Freelance writing is also flexible, meaning that you can pause or quit if a better opportunity arrives, making it a good choice for college students.
Getting from Here to There (Conclusion)
If becoming a writer is what you are passionate about, there will be no stopping you once you hit your stride in writing new materials. Be mindful of the reality that writing isn’t easy and straightforward. However – it is a battle with yourself to remain focused and dedicated enough. If you can manage that, you will build a successful career as a writer straight out of college, doing what you love.
Author’s bio. Jessica Fender is a professional writer and educational blogger at Bestwritingadvisor, an aggregator for useful college resources and websites. Jessica enjoys sharing her ideas to make writing and learning fun.
The beautiful prose that came to mind in the shower somehow transformed into clunky sentences by the time I got to the computer. The more I wrestled with the words, the more unwieldy they became.
I have often read that true writing is in the rewriting. Most of us are not satisfied with a first draft. We know it takes several passes before writing is shaped into something acceptable to show others
Yet I get frustrated going over and over sentences trying to make them both clear and winsome. Why is my thinking so muddled? Why do I take so many words to say what I mean?
Wordy written in red by my teacher often adorned my school compositions.
The person who performed my first paid critique mentioned my “long, convoluted sentences.”
My husband told me after we had dated for a while that he used to wonder when I’d get to the point when I told a story. (After being married for 40 years, I’ve learned to jump to the main point first, especially when talking about the car or an appliance. Otherwise, he spends my whole narrative wondering what he’s going to have to fix.)
Yet, I’ve received enough encouraging feedback from my writing that I am not totally without hope. And now that I am aware of my writing mistakes, I can battle them with determination and knowledge.
I’m encouraged by a legend concerning Michelangelo. Supposedly, someone asked him how he got the statue of David out of a hunk of marble. The artist is rumored to have said, “I just cut away everything that’s not David.”
Before we can create a work of art, we’ve got to drag out our hunk of marble. As many have said, we can edit a bad page, but we can’t edit a blank one. The marble that Michelangelo used had previously been considered and rejected by two other sculptors. He saw the potential in it that others missed.
So we dump the words in our head onto paper. We study the craft of writing and learn ways to “write tight.” We carve away unnecessary words and cumbersome descriptions. We chisel adverbs and polish with stronger verbs. We sand away passive verbs in favor of active ones. We brush away clutter. We chip off multitudes of facts and illustrations and keep only the most poignant ones. And we can pray with the Apostle Paul, “that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak” (Colossians 4:4).
Visualizing excess verbiage as clumps of rough stone adorning the statue of David helps encourage me to get rid of clutter-words in my writing.
A statue as detailed as David takes time to sculpt, and so does editing. Blaise Pascal once wrote in a letter, “I have made this longer than usual because I have not had time to make it shorter.” But the time is well worth it.
We might not become the Michelangelo of words. But we can sculpt our manuscripts as close to a masterpiece as possible.
Barbara Harper lives with her husband of 40 years in Knoxville, TN. They raised three sons, one of whom added a lovely daughter-in-law and an adorable grandson to the family. Barbara loves reading, writing, and card-making. She has blogged for almost 14 years at https://barbaraleeharper.com/. She wrote a newsletter for women at her church for 15 years as well as magazine articles, newspaper columns, and guest blog posts. One of her passions is encouraging women to get into the Word of God for themselves. She’s currently working on her first book-length project.
I learned in physical therapy every brain injury is different, no one can predict how a T. B. I. will affect the body. In the middle of the struggles of physical therapy, I did learn valuable life lessons.
Be patient, recovery takes time.
Be persistent, you will fall, mistakes are part of the recovery/learning process.
Be grateful for what you what you can do.
Use your time wisely.
These principles apply to the writing life. Every writer’s journey is different, although the end goal is the same. Each writer is at a different place in life and will eventually get to where they need to be. Writers must learn to be patiently persistent!
Patiently Persistent?
On a recent episode of American Idol, Katy Perry shared with some unsuccessful contestants, “It will happen when it is meant to happen.” This perspective teaches us to be persistent towards our goals, but patient in the process.
Writers must understand there is a reason for the process, just like in recovery. No one starts where they want to be. This requires tremendous patience on our behalf or else we will make careless mistakes and possibly harm our careers. This means more than just waiting.
The dictionary defines patience as, “The ability to remain calm when dealing with a difficult or annoying situation, task, or person.” In those early days of my rehabilitation, each setback was a blow to my self-esteem and I almost gave up. Like my desire to get back to normal life, a writer’s desire for publication can cause us to become frantic and do stupid things.
Recently I learned an old coworker and friend suffered a stroke. I reached out to him on social media to encourage him. He assured me he was fine. But I noticed his sentences didn’t make sense and were full of typos, which was uncharacteristic of him. I talked to another coworker who shared that our friend wants so badly to get back to work, but he doesn’t realize that he is mumbling and his postings are incoherent.
I know how my friend feels because I experienced it in those early days. A brain injury makes people impulsive and short-tempered. Sometimes I struggle with my impulsive tendencies.
Only slowing down helps us have a better perspective of our abilities and where we’re headed. No matter how confident we are of our abilities, impatience can distort our reality. There are many other reasons why we need to be patient.
It gives us time to understand our abilities. As writers, we can evaluate our skills.
It keeps us from hurting ourselves. It keeps us from making careless mistakes in our writing career.
It keeps us from hurting others. It helps writers refrain from hurting others with their words.
It allows us to heal and to get stronger. It gives writers time to grow in the craft.
It gives us a better understanding of our circumstances. Writers can see where they need to improve their understanding of the business.
Patience can benefit us in our writing journeys and helps writers endure the process. There will be times of rejection and discouragement. A patient writer can endure those seasons of disappointment.
Rejection isn’t meant to stop us, but to help us grow in the craft and become better writers. Rejection helps authors understand the business side of writing. You and your writing are an investment of an agent, editor, and publisher’s time.
I have heard stories of successful writers who post rejection letters on the walls above their desks to inspire them to keep going. Successful writers also know how to be persistent.
Persistent?
When I was in rehab, I had to go through a series of evaluation exams to test if I was able to advance to the next stage of my recovery. If I didn’t pass the exam, I had to continue in physical therapy until I was ready to progress and eventually be released from the hospital.
Never have I been so discouraged as when I was unsuccessful at doing the most common daily tasks: buttoning and unbuttoning a shirt, tying shoes, walking a straight line without stumbling. That season taught me a lot about growing.
Failures and mistakes are part of the growth process. When they occur it isn’t the end of life, just a reason to keep going. Be patient and keep growing:
You will make mistakes.
Mistakes aren’t the end of your life, giving up is.
We all fall down at times, getting up makes us stronger.
My leg muscles literally got stronger each time I had to pick myself up off the floor. Every rejection letter a writer gets should motivate them to keep going in their writing journey—it’s making us patiently persistent.
Martin Johnson survived a severe car accident with a (T.B.I.) Traumatic brain injury which left him legally blind and partially paralyzed on the left side. He is an award-winning Christian screenwriter who has recently finished his first Christian nonfiction book. Martin has spent the last nine years volunteering as an ambassador and promoter for Promise Keepers ministries. While speaking to local men’s ministries he shares his testimony. He explains The Jesus Paradigm and how following Jesus changes what matters most in our lives. Martin lives in a Georgia and connects with readers at Spiritual Perspectives of Da Single Guy and on Twitter at mtjohnson51.
After my accident, I was eager to get back to my old life. Why wouldn’t I? I was in college and those are supposed to be the best years of our lives. But, I spent most of my junior year in the hospital struggling to do everyday tasks.
I was young and full of life, ready to conquer the world. The only problem was, I didn’t understand the extent of my injuries. After only working with a physical therapist for one day, I believed I was strong enough to do everything I used to do.
The next day I wanted to use the bathroom like a normal twenty-something-year-old, so I convinced a new nurse to help me. Everything was fine until I leaned forward to reach for toilet paper….
It was like a bodybuilder slapped me on the back of the head. I lost my balance and did a belly flop onto the floor. The elderly nurse toppled with me and had to call in a second nurse to help get me back in my hospital bed. That incident taught me a lot about life and my new normal.
Passion can be good and bad.
We need to be realistic about our abilities.
Excitement isn’t the same as experience.
It’s important to be coachable/teachable.
When I first began my professional writing training, I came across a quote from Christian author Jerry Jenkins about how writers can succeed that has stuck with me to this day.
“In any writer, I look for the –ilities: humility, teachability, coachability, availability, and flexibility.”
Jerry B. Jenkins in Writing for the Soul
While passion and talent are crucial to a writer’s success, the “ilities” are key to funneling them into a successful writing career. You may know your story or prose, but the best writers know they don’t know everything. They understand the need to hone their skills; we all start out taking baby steps in our writing careers.
Baby Steps?
As 2020 comes to an end, most of us are excited to start a new year. With the arrival of vaccines for the Covid-19 virus, we are all eager to get back to life as usual. We are heading into 2021 expecting a better year.
But, it’s not exactly full speed ahead. There are still hurdles to overcome, precautions to take, and getting used to a new normal. Even if that’s not the news you want to hear, there’s still hope.
We are all going to have to start out taking baby steps, especially for writers. We can prepare and plan, but we must be realistic. Most of us writers have dreams and aspirations about successful writing careers, but the sad truth is few writers make a full-time living solely from writing.
Those who are successful didn’t start there. They too had to take baby steps in their careers. Having all of the talent in the world or the most riveting story concept can only get you so far in the modern publishing era.
As writers, we will crawl before we walk and some of us will never be able to sprint like the pros. Be patient and navigate the baby steps of the writing life. Start with smaller projects
The writing industry is constantly in flux. Successful writers keep learning the craft either by online courses or in-person conferences. Last month I attended my first conference in three years and I learned a lot. Goals like these are basic baby steps to getting the end results.
Getting Results?
Living with a disability is a lifetime of baby steps towards a new normal. Although baby steps aren’t the goal—they are a process of getting results.
Twenty-three years ago I began a process of baby steps of relearning everything in life. There are a few things I still cannot do, like play guitar or type, but I have learned to live with the new normal I gained through taking baby steps.
Stronger muscles.
Learning how to fall and get back up (hopefully).
Learning new skills.
Be patient (huh!)
Positive results don’t always come easy. Likewise in writing, we can only get results after taking baby steps.
Martin Johnson survived a severe car accident with a (T.B.I.) Traumatic brain injury which left him legally blind and partially paralyzed on the left side. He is an award-winning Christian screenwriter who has recently finished his first Christian nonfiction book. Martin has spent the last nine years volunteering as an ambassador and promoter for Promise Keepers ministries. While speaking to local men’s ministries he shares his testimony. He explains The Jesus Paradigm and how following Jesus changes what matters most in our lives. Martin lives in a Georgia and connects with readers at Spiritual Perspectives of Da Single Guy and on Twitter at mtjohnson51.
We live in a “hurry up” culture. If someone doesn’t answer their email or text you back right away, you figure something went wrong. From my years in the book business, I understand traditional publishing always moves to a slower pace. No matter what time of year you submit your proposal, it can take weeks and months to receive any response.
This year has been unusual with a world-wide pandemic. Editors and agents have moved out of their offices and are working from home. Depending on whether they have school age children at home, their work environment has grown even more complicated and makes getting a decision or any communication even slower than in the past.
I almost hate to tell you this pattern within publishing but need to prepare you for the final months of the year. During November and December, the response time changes to mostly silence or hearing crickets.
What significant actions can you take when your proposal submissions receive no response?
1. Discover new places to send your proposal Leading up to and during the holidays, some editors and literary agents turn to the unsolicited submissions and process them. The market is always changing. Find these places at your local bookstore or use a market guide from your library. Send your well-crafted proposal to different publishers and literary agents. Make sure in your cover letter or toward the first page of your proposal, you inform them it is a simultaneous submission. It is acceptable to submit to multiple places at the same time but if you use this approach, it is expected you will explicitly tell the agent or editor within the submission.
2. Review then rewrite your book proposal and sample chapter. If it has been some time since you’ve reviewed your work, fresh eyes can give you new insights and improvements.
3. Read in your subject area or a how-to book and take action to increase your connection to your audience. Get my free Platform Building Ideas for Every Author. Use several ideas to increase your audience.
4. Plan to attend a spring writers’ conference. Begin to study the editors and agents attending to prepare your pitch. Read their online guidelines and look at their recent publications to assure your book fits their editorial needs.
5. Purchase a resource like Book Proposals That Sell (http://BookProposalsThatSell.com) or take an online course like Write A Book Proposal then apply the new insights to your submission. When you learn more about how editors and agents operate and their needs, your submission will be more desirable.
If you make productive use of these quiet months, you can propel your publishing dreams to new levels of success in the months ahead.
When my kids were young we used to play a mandatory game. Whenever one of them was grumpy or having a bad attitude, I would ask them to list five things for which they were thankful. This was not a suggestion. It was the required payment for complaining. They, of course, hated it—because who likes to leave a pity-party to bask in a Thanksgiving parade? But something magical always happened after their lists were begrudgingly recited. The edge of discontentedness was eased when their thoughts shifted to gratefulness.
Writers have their share of challenges, disappointments, and burdens to carry. On top of dealing with frequent rejections and long wait times, we battle things like writer’s block, imposter syndrome, and platform anxiety on a regular basis. It’s enough to make the bravest hearted writing hero want to throw in his/her cape. But writing, unlike some lesser super-powers, is not so easily ignored. So we continue to write. Continue to press forward. Continue to hope, pray and … yes, WAIT.
Here are a few ways to cultivate gratefulness in your writing life so that the wait and challenges don’t overshadow the precious gift and calling God has given to each writer.
Take your thoughts captive.
Don’t let negative self-talk undermine what God has called you to do. The great Elizabeth Elliot once said, “Don’t dig up in doubt what you planted by faith.” I love that. Next time you’re tempted to give up or beat yourself up because of a writing set-back … don’t. Just don’t. Think back to your origin story. Remember the things God did to propel your calling. Rehearse the God moments I know you’ve experienced as a writer. We all have them. Remember those things and press forward by faith.
Choose to view every disappointment as a divinely planned opportunity.
We may not be able to see the purpose behind another rejection letter or a particularly frustrating meeting with critique partners, but God does. We can trust that His plan, which includes valleys, will ultimately lead us to the place He’s called us to be in our writing journey. We can trust Him to open the doors that need to be opened—which means others will need to remain shut—and lead us into our calling in His perfect time.
Make a list and say it out loud.
Try our family’s little game. I know it sounds crazy, but there is something so powerful about thankfulness. We all have many things to be thankful for. Next time you’re feeling discouraged try verbally listing five you’re thankful for. It won’t change the circumstances, but it will definitely redirect your focus to work around them.
Fun Fact or Helpful Resource: Back in 2015, my dear friend, Elaine Cooper, created a list of people for whom writers can be thankful. All too often it’s easy to forget about these valuable relationships. The link is below. Happy Thanksgiving! I am so grateful for each of you and for A3 for giving me the opportunity to share some tidbits of my writing journey each month.
Annette Marie Griffin is an award-winning author who has managed and directed programs for children and youth for more than twenty years. She has written curriculum for character growth and development of elementary-age children, developed parent training seminars to benefit the community, and counseled at-risk youth. Her first children’s book What Is A Family? released in 2020. She and her husband have five children—three who have already flown the coop and two adopted teens still roosting at home—plus two adorable grands who add immeasurable joy and laughter to the whole flock.
Over the past four months, we’ve had to follow a set of guidelines set by medical experts and our government to flatten the curve, which resulted in an economic shutdown of our country.
When the covid-19 virus made its way to America, nobody knew what to do or how it spread. Because it was a new threat to the entire world, each country endured the same learning curve:
Seven billion people all around the globe had to make some sort of adjustments to their daily lifestyle.
Everyone had to learn on the fly, which usually means learning from our mistakes.
Entire economies suffered financial crises.
As I write this nearly a half million people have died from the virus.
Sometimes the learning process of life involves loss and pain—welcome to life in the year 2020. Get over it, there is only one alternative and none of us are prepared for it.
If that sounds harsh, it’s reality; it’s something I learned growing up as an Army brat. My father was quick to discipline me as a child, not to hurt me but to help by giving me a set of rules to follow. For example: if you’re on time—you’re late, if you’re early—you’re on time if you’re late—you’re in trouble.
I didn’t understand it at the time, but his “guidelines” were part of the process of making me a mature man. Now I’ve learned to to trust the process.
Trust the Process!
No one likes rules or guidelines, but we all know we need them and they are a benefit to everyone. After I had my accident, my doctors and therapists let me know the guidelines for my recovery: never try to walk on my own, quickly report any changes in how my body felt, slow down and learn to listen.
During those early days, I had to learn to trust my doctors, therapists, and nurses as they followed the procedures for people with my specific injuries. It was hard and humbling, it wasn’t quick and painless like I wanted. But with each small victory, I learned to trust the process more.
Trusting the process applies to a writer’s journey, no matter how great an idea or story you have to share:
Learn the craft.
Build a platform.
Write your project.
Find an editor (a professional one with a good reputation.)
Seek representation (they are your partner on the journey.)
Publication isn’t an easy path, nor is it a fast track or pleasant trip. But every writer needs to learn to trust the process. Recently, I asked my writing mentor, Christian author DiAnn Mills, for advice to aspiring writers who haven’t learned to trust the process.
She replied with sage advice for us all.
“Writers are given the gift of communicating through the written word to teach, entertain, inspire, and encourage others. The ability to create is a process; we must learn to crawl before we walk. If we had the gift of art, music, dance, math, or science, we would spend hours perfecting our skills and abilities. To stay current with our gift, we continue to learn even if viewed as an expert. Such is the way of writing. We gather our tools, sharpen them, and continue to explore our craft.”
Crafts, like trades, are learned over time, not instantly. The wise writer understands the benefits of being patient in trusting the process.
Benefits?
When we slow down and allow the process to work we can reap the benefits. I am not a legalist, but because of my upbringing, I like boundaries and guidelines, mainly because they help keep us focused on our goals.
They help fix our attention and efforts.
They save valuable time.
They help reduce risk to ourselves and others.
They can be trusted.
Regardless of our career path, the process can be trusted because it has been tested by others who have gone before us and have achieved their desired goals. Ultimately that is why we need to trust the process.
Martin Johnson survived a severe car accident with a (T.B.I.) Traumatic brain injury which left him legally blind and partially paralyzed on the left side. He is an award-winning Christian screenwriter who has recently finished his first Christian nonfiction book. Martin has spent the last nine years volunteering as an ambassador and promoter for Promise Keepers ministries. While speaking to local men’s ministries he shares his testimony. He explains The Jesus Paradigm and how following Jesus changes what matters most in our lives. Martin lives in a Georgia and connects with readers at Spiritual Perspectives of Da Single Guy and on Twitter at mtjohnson51.
Covid-19 has had the world on lockdown since March and we’ve all made adjustments to our lives—life as we knew it has changed.
As the country begins to open up, it seems there are more nos than yesses. And no one is happy about it. Many are staging protests in defiance of laws and common sense. Even though these stipulations are put in place to protect us, people don’t want to listen.
In Georgia, where I live, the state was one of the first to begin reopening, much to the concern of many residents. The powers that be and impatient citizens wanted to reopen, regardless of the numbers. I believe we shouldn’t disregard our lawmakers precautions just to suit our selfish desires and needs.
Being older I’ve learned the wisdom of rolling with the punches of life.
We can’t always have what we want.
We need to learn to be flexible or else life will break us.
Patience is more than a virtue; it’s a necessity for life.
During my first days after my accident I didn’t understand these truths, but over time I learned my life had changed and being disabled was my new normal.
I heard more “nos” than “yesses”, and it depressed me. But on this side of my recovery, I understand sometimes in life the answer is just no and we need to hear it.
Navigating the Nos?
Those early days in the hospital inspired me to push myself, but there were a lot of tough times, like falling off the commode when I refused to listen to the nurses about my inability to walk.
The nurses and my friends weren’t trying to hold me back, they were trying to help me and I was too prideful to listen. When the doctors, nurses and countless specialists were telling me no, it wasn’t to discourage me, it was to protect me from hurting myself and possibly others.
After I transferred to rehab, I was walking with the therapist down a hall, and just before I entered a doorway, my neuropsychologist called out my name. In that brief moment I turned my attention towards her and accidentally walked into the doorjamb and hit my head. As I stumbled backward I hit my therapist causing her to lose her balance and almost fall. So when it came time for my review for release, my neuropsychologist refused to sign off and I was forced to remain in rehab.
Those doctors and therapists saw what I couldn’t about myself. They knew where I needed to improve even when I couldn’t see it. In my youth I resented their rules and regulations. Some two decades later, I am grateful for them.
The trained medical specialists knew what I needed more than I did. Their training and experience gave them the tools and insight to help me in many ways.
The same concept applies to the writing life. Often we writers are sure of our talents, knowledge, and stories. We want to skip the necessary steps to succeed. We want the easy route that doesn’t challenge us or help us grow in the craft.
This is part of the reason why we face rejections rather than a coveted acceptance letter. We haven’t honed our skills or heeded the advice of others who are trying to help us. Rejection letters from agents and publishers aren’t meant to discourage us, but rather to encourage us to continue to learn the craft and improve our stories.
It’s been three years since I attended my last writer’s conference. Although I didn’t get an acceptance letter, I made connections in the industry and learned more about the craft and since then I’ve tried to use what I learned. I’ve tried to be wise in how I handled the nos in my writing life.
Wisdom?
At that last conference, I made a new writer friend and we kept in contact for a few weeks. Then suddenly, when they didn’t hear what they wanted to hear, their attitude changed and bitterness set in.
As far as I know the writer no longer writes. They have dropped from social media and closed the door. It’s sad because, they had a great audience and market to write for.
What a lot of writers don’t realize is that after rejections many agents continue to follow would-be authors to see what they are doing. The wise use the rejection as motivation to get better. Others allow the rejection to make them bitter.
You have a choice, Below are a few steps you can take if you choose to become a better writer after rejection.
Continue to learn the craft.
Polish your writing.
Build your platform.
Nurture those relationships you make.
Before I was released from the rehabilitation as an outpatient, I had to spend some time in a T.L.C. (transitional living center) where I could be watched during daily activities. There I met other people with brain injuries who were struggling to deal with their nos. I spent a month there and saw many others taste victory before me. Each setback and failure only made me more determined to navigate the nos.
Martin Johnson survived a severe car accident with a (T.B.I.) Traumatic brain injury which left him legally blind and partially paralyzed on the left side. He is an award-winning Christian screenwriter who has recently finished his first Christian nonfiction book. Martin has spent the last nine years volunteering as an ambassador and promoter for Promise Keepers ministries. While speaking to local men’s ministries he shares his testimony. He explains The Jesus Paradigm and how following Jesus changes what matters most in our lives. Martin lives in a Georgia and connects with readers at Spiritual Perspectives of Da Single Guy and on Twitter at mtjohnson51.
Writing a book is the literary exercise equivalent of taking
a cross-country road trip. No matter how beautiful the scenery, after a few
miles even the most energetic drivers grow road-weary, and the “are we there yet”
questions start flying from the back seat.
That’s when we start thinking about shortcuts. How much
easier would it be to go ahead and take the tollway instead of the scenic
route?
Of course what I’m referring to here is knowing when it’s
time to stop editing and send your manuscript to an agent or editor. How do we
know we’re ready? That’s a question I’ve both asked and heard at conferences or
workshops.
The answers I’ve heard have varied, but I’ve collected the
responses that resonated the most with me and put together a little checklist.
This is what I’m using to determine whether my most recent works-in-progress
are ready to go.
Have you read your
work out loud?
One agent suggested that unless you’ve listened to your own
work out loud – whether you read and record then play it back, or have a
trusted friend read it to you – your work may not be polished enough to send.
Imagine you’re reading your middle grade novel to a
classroom full of fourth or fifth graders and really listen as you read. Is the
dialogue easy to follow? Do the jokes make sense? Are there scenes that lack
tension or is the pace awkward? When you hear it, you can fix it.
What does my critique
group think?
There’s truly no substitute or shortcut for good writing. If
you don’t have a trusted critique group or reading partner, you need to find
one or create one. The best groups will read thoughtfully and give sincere
feedback on what’s working and what’s not. If your critique group thinks it’s
ready, that’s a good sign.
Is this your fifth
(at least) draft?
I’ve heard a number of authors say that their agent never
sees the first five drafts of any project. Sometimes they don’t even submit
draft number six. They revise, polish, pause, revise again… you get the
picture.
It’s hard, but you must resist the temptation to submit your
second or even your third draft. Make sure you’re putting your shiniest, best
work in a prospective agent’s or editor’s hands.
If you’ve done all three of these things – read it out loud,
received the “go ahead” from your critique group, and you’ve revised the whole
thing a few times, good news! You are probably ready to submit. Now you’ll want
to research agencies and editors to check their submission guidelines, but
that’s a post for another day.
I am still on this road trip to being
published, and these are the biggest, most painful things I’ve learned along
the way. Please know I’m writing this
not to discourage anyone from submitting. Far from it. I am cheering for you
and I want you to succeed.
I’m writing this because I have made the mistake of submitting
manuscripts too soon simply because I was excited about a story.
I mean, I loved my
story, my husband and son loved it, so why didn’t the rest of the world? I’ll
tell you why. My husband and son read past the unpolished words and saw what
was in my heart. They love me.
Loving me is not an editor or agent’s job. Their job is to
fall in love with what’s actually written on the page. My job – your job – as a
middle grade author is to make sure the words on the page are worth falling in
love with.
Kell McKinney earned a B.A. in journalism from the University of Oklahoma and an M.S. in documentary studies from the University of North Texas. She’s a part-time copywriter, double-time mom and wife, and spends every free minute writing and/or hunting for her car keys. Connect with her on Twitter @Kell_McK or kellmckinney.com.
When I
receive a new submission at Illuminate YA fiction (teen imprint of LPC Books),
I can usually determine fairly quickly if the writer has sent an undercooked
manuscript.
It’s
disappointing, too, because many of these undercooked submissions offer
potential. The premise is intriguing. The main character
is likeable. But unfortunately, the content just doesn’t match with what was
promised in the cover letter.
To
illustrate this—let’s pretend you’ve bought a box of brownies to bake. The
picture of the fudgy brownies displayed on the box makes your mouth water so
much that you just can’t possibly wait 30 minutes for them to bake. You need
them now. So after putting them in
the oven, you trim that time and set the timer for 5 minutes instead. Shouldn’t
make much of a difference, should it?
But unless you want to eat
undercooked brownies (which doesn’t actually sound so bad to me!), that twenty-five
minutes will strike the difference between batter-brownies and cakey brownies.
So even though these Illuminate submissions may seem close to being of professional quality, we typically ask these authors to revise, according to our feedback, and resubmit no sooner than three months. Why? We know that, if we were to give them a small follow-up time window, we would risk receiving yet another undercooked submission.
The truth is—quality takes time.
Yes, I
know this may be a hard truth to swallow when it comes to your publication
dreams. The idea of holding your book may seem so alluring that you’re tempted
to do whatever it takes just to make that dream come true ASAP. And with the
ease of self-publishing these days, that temptation may actually be unbearable.
So why should an aspiring author
stick around for the long haul when short cuts are easily accessible? Is it
worth the frustrations that may come with waiting?
I believe so. Here’s why:
By
rushing, you get a book out there and may even garner some pretty good reviews.
But … you’ll sacrifice the potential to garner five-star reviews instead.
By
waiting, it may take a while to perfect the manuscript. But … the emails you’ll
receive (once it is published) from readers who rave about your book and its
strong writing will be priceless.
By
rushing, you throw your book together and can claim you have officially written
a story from beginning to end. But … the story never had a chance to gain the
kind of depth that could bring it to life.
By
waiting, it may be years before your dream comes to pass. But … this process
grooms writers into authors. The kind who are able to withstand long-term
author careers.
By
rushing, you can finally see your name on a printed book! But … your brand and
reputation as an author is now attached to an undercooked piece of work.
By
waiting, you may receive endless rejections and grow weary of the inaction. But
… you are developing patience and humility, both of which are necessary
character traits for an author to possess.
By
rushing, you will be able to tell people that you are officially an author. But
… you lack the sense of accomplishment you would have had if you didn’t take
the short cuts.
By waiting, you may grow
frustrated as you realize there is much about the writing craft and publishing
industry that is unfamiliar to you. But … during this process, you are
sharpening your craft and learning how the industry works.
By
rushing, you can have multiple books out on Amazon for the world to enjoy. But
… the joy of meeting each new author milestone may be cheapened and
underappreciated.
By
waiting, it may take years for you to prepare the fields and set the foundation
of your author career. But … the fruit that will result is the lasting kind
that will not spoil over time.
So,
rush or wait … which will you decide?
I would love to
hear what you think! Let me know in the comments what you believe are the pros
and cons of waiting vs. rushing.
In the next post, I
will share with you how you can make the most of these waiting seasons.
Now,
if you’ll excuse me … I have some brownies to take out of the oven!
Tessa
Emily Hall
is an award-winning author who writes inspirational yet authentic books for
teens to remind them they’re not alone. She writes both fiction and devotionals
for teens, including her upcoming release, LOVE YOUR SELFIE (October 2020,
Ellie Claire). Her latest devotional, COFFEE SHOP DEVOS, encourages teens to
pursue a personal relationship with Christ. Tessa’s
passion for shedding light on clean entertainment and media for teens led her
to a career as a Literary Agent at Cyle Young Literary Elite, YA Acquisitions
Editor for Illuminate YA (LPC Imprint), and Founder/Editor
of PursueMagazine.net. She’s guilty of making way too many
lattes and never finishing her to-read list. When her fingers aren’t flying 128
WPM across the keyboard, she can be found speaking to teens, decorating art
journals, and acting in Christian films. Her favorite way to procrastinate is through
connecting with readers on her blog, mailing list, social media (@tessaemilyhall), and website: tessaemilyhall.com.
That line from Psalm 46:10 is one of my favorite phrases in
the Bible and has long inspired me and other creatives. Many years ago, Steven
Curtis Chapman turned it into a song, one of his best, and, in another
lifetime, I even sang it in church. One of my new favorite groups, Citizen Way,
has once again used this verse as inspiration for a terrific tune on their
latest album.
It’s one of my favorite scriptures, but it’s a hard one for
me to obey. I have never been one to sit still. Instead of a human being,
I’ve been more of a human doing. I’m always on the go, flitting from one
task to another. Even in my job as a community college professor, I teach at
three different campus sites, so I’m never stationary at one place for too
long.
Proof that God uses the foolish things of this world to
confound the wise, He has called me, Mr. Fidgety-Can’t-Sit-Still-for-Too-Long
to be a writer.
Yes, it does, and I have managed to calm myself long enough
to achieve several publications, all with God’s help and direction. But nothing
could have prepared me for this winter.
Right around Christmas 2019, I developed a foot problem. And
then a knee problem on the same side. After numerous doctor’s visits and tests,
I was diagnosed with some issues that could be taken care of . . . with extensive bedrest.
Say what? Bedrest? Me, lying still for hours and
hours? What’s up, God?
I don’t have all the answers, but I have found God is using
this time to teach me to be still, to hear from Him. And, let me tell you, it’s
hard.
In the midst of the trial, I realized, in the hustle and
bustle of life, I had forgotten how to be still. With no other choice, I am re-learning
how to be quiet before Him. If you know me and how loud I am, you are laughing
right now.
I don’t know what fruit will become of this down time, but I am confident God has a plan and He knows what He’s doing. Who knows? Maybe I’ll even write something.
Carlton Hughes wears many hats. By day, he’s a professor of communication at Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College. On Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings, he does object lessons and songs with motions as Children’s Pastor of Lynch Church of God. In his “spare time,” he is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in numerous publications, including Chicken Soup for the Soul and several devotional books from Worthy Publishing—Let the Earth Rejoice, Just Breathe, So God Made a Dog, and Everyday Grace for Men. Carlton and his wife Kathy have two sons, Noah and Ethan, both of whom recently flew out of the nest, and a daughter-in-law, Kersyn. He is on the planning committee for Kentucky Christian Writers Conference and is a year-round volunteer for Operation Christmas Child. He is represented by Cyle Young of Hartline Literary Agency. His book Adventures in Fatherhood, a 60-day devotional co-authored with Holland Webb, will release in April 2020 from Worthy/Ellie Claire.
Wait. No. Not poignant enough. Let’s try this: from the depths of your soul, words—like drops of blood, trickled onto a thousand hungry pages. Eh … that’s cheesy, wordy, and a little weird—not what I’m going for. Better stick with the original.
You wrote your heart out. You spent hundreds of hours polishing, correcting, improving, and editting. Wait. Editting? That doesn’t look right. Duh, there’s only one t in editing. Why in the world would I type it that way? Oh yeah, because the original rule maker of English grammar adored rule exceptions and undoubtedly harbored a secret disdain for teachers and writers.
You wrote your heart out. You spent hundreds of hours editing your work. You then crafted a separate saga, called a proposal, and cradled your baby inside. Why is there a need to wrap a novel inside a novel? Simple. The document is a weed-out device. In case you somehow survive the all-consuming process of birthing a literary masterpiece from the loins of your gut, the proposal is intended to finish you off with one swift kick to your fortitude. But you’re a fighter. So, you rise from the ashes of platform fluff, shake off the lunacy of comparison titles, and plaster your best pageant smile across your pale, screen-bathed, face.
As you take your final lap around the ring and parade-wave to the crowd of agents and editors who are shocked at your survival, your confident stature assures them that you haven’t been knocked loopy by the ninety-thousand-word manuscript you just crammed into a two-paragraph synopsis. Then, with one click you hurl the fruit of your labor into a virtual abyss of hope and shed a tear for the memory of its tender upbringing.
Now, good and faithful writer, after months—perhaps years of toil and type you may finally enter into a rest-filled season of bliss and enjoy the reward of your hard work. Yeah, right.
In a fantasy land there would be no pause between the click of a proposal submission and the dings of your inbox flooding with offers. But this is reality. Not only is there no guarantee any agent, editor or publisher will find interest in your work, there’s no assurance you’ll ever receive a response to indicate they’ve considered it. Nope. You’re now stuck in the scary limbo that separates two parts of the traditional publishing process. And you dangle there like a comma between two independent clauses—confused and unsure of your relevance.
That comma may seem a harsh divider of time, but what if there is more to it than meets the eye? What if we could slice open the jot and use a microscope to examine its insides? And what if we could find an entire chapter of revelation hidden within the confines of that drippy period? I believe we can … well, as far as the comma relates to the wait period between writing and traditional publishing is concerned.
Throughout scripture we see examples of God’s children experiencing ups and downs and the pauses in between. Some of the most powerful lessons Christians can learn are hidden within those waits. Imagine if there had been no pause between Joseph’s adolescent dreams and the fulfillment of the promises? What if Jonah hadn’t experienced his hiatus in the belly of the fish? What if Moses and the Israelites had been teleported to the Promised Land? What if the Messiah had appeared on the scene before Adam and Eve could stitch their fig leaves together? The implications of such omissions are so far and reaching there’s no way to fully fathom the impact. But at the very least, it would have reduced our magnificent, living text into a very dull read.
The waits we experience in life carry the same significance as those we see in scripture. God is at work in us molding us into the image of His son. And, as all writers know, it takes time, patience, and many strategic pauses to create a work of art.
Still, the balance between waiting on the Lord and running our race can be tricky, especially when we’re tempted to check email a hundred times a day for a response to a submission, or we’re bombarded with other writers’ success stories on social media, or rejection letters seem more plentiful than spam mail. During those times it helps to have some practical tips to redirect our steps and keep our focus steady. That’s what I hope to accomplish in this blog series. I can’t wait to share with you what God has been teaching me and hope you’ll share with me some things you’re learning along the way too. Together, we will embrace the wait … with grace and excellence—for His glory.
Annette Marie Griffin is a award-winning writer who speaks at local women’s group meetings and women’s retreats on the topic of biblical womanhood and finding our identity in Christ. She is the Operations and Events Coordinator at a private school for special needs students and is the editor of their quarterly newsletter. She has written custom curriculum for women’s retreats and children’s church curriculum for Gateway Church in San Antonio, Texas where she served as Children’s Ministry Director and Family Program Director for over twenty years. She and her husband John have five amazing children and two adorable grands. She’s a member of Word Weavers International, ACFW, SCBWI, and serves on the Board of Directors for The Creative Writing Institute.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned in life it’s this—promotion always takes preparation.
That truth was never more evident in my life than when I took a magazine feature writing position at a worldwide ministry, only to be informed I’d actually be doing something entirely different…and I wasn’t thrilled about it.
My editor explained that they had a greater need for another ghostwriter, so I would be fulfilling that role. During my years at Indiana University Journalism School, I’d been told to “find my voice.” So, I’d been working hard every day since college graduation to do just that. Now, my new boss was telling me: “Lose your voice, and find somebody else’s.”
That just didn’t make sense to me.
“Let me get this straight,” I answered. “I’m going to be taking somebody else’s thoughts and words from a sermon or a presentation, and then I’m going to write an article weaving all of those thoughts together in that person’s voice? With no byline?”
“Exactly,” my Editor answered. “That’s why it’s called ‘ghostwriting.’ You are invisible.”
Little did I know, not only was God working out some of that stubborn pride from my heart, but also He was preparing me for a role that would be a great blessing in my life—spiritually, professionally and financially. I was able to learn to ghostwrite while getting paid to do so—all the while being mentored by one of the best ghostwriters in the business who happened to work two offices over from me. It wasn’t an especially easy season in my life, but it was a season of preparation, though I didn’t know it then.
A few years later, I was offered the assignment of a lifetime, ghostwriting a book for a celebrity I greatly respected. That book ended up being a New York Times Bestseller, which opened up numerous ghostwriting doors for me. Over the years, I’ve been able to ghostwrite for many wonderful people, and it’s been a privilege to help them tell their stories.
But I wouldn’t have had those awesome opportunities without that season of preparation at the worldwide ministry.
You know, there are examples of preparation proceeding promotion throughout God’s Word. Take Esther, for example. She was just living her life as a lovely young Jewish girl in Persia when she ran smack dab into her destiny—becoming the Queen and ultimately saving the Jews from annihilation. However, in order for her to step into that destiny, she had to go through a year’s worth of beauty treatments. (Esther chapter 2) During that season, God was preparing her both spiritually and physically for what was to come. Had she not gone through those 12 months of preparation, she wouldn’t have been in position for that promotion.
So, let me ask you, are you experiencing a season of preparation? If so, don’t be discouraged or grow weary in the waiting. Just know that you are being prepared for promotion, and rejoice in it!
Michelle Medlock Adams is an inspirational speaker, award-winning journalist and best-selling author of more than 80 books, earning top honors from the Associated Press, the Society of Professional Journalists and the Hoosier State Press Association. Since graduating with a journalism degree from Indiana University, Michelle has written more than 1,500 articles for newspapers, magazines and websites; acted as a stringer for the Associated Press; written for a worldwide ministry; helped pen a New York Times Bestseller; served as a TV host for TBN’s “Joy in Our Town” show; and blogged for Guideposts. Today, she is President of Platinum Literary Services—a premier full-service literary firm—and she serves as chairman of the board for Serious Writer Inc., and teaches courses for Serious Writer Academy. Michelle is married to her high school sweetheart, Jeff, and they have two grown daughters, Abby and Allyson, two son-in-laws, and one grandson, as well as a miniature dachshund, a rescue Shepherd/Collie mix, and two cats. When not writing or teaching, Michelle enjoys bass fishing and cheering on the Indiana University Basketball team and the Chicago Cubbies .
(I wrote this reflection several years ago. I smiled when I rediscovered it. I feel like the Apostle Paul when he wrote to the Philippian church about contentment: he saw it as a lesson he was still learning–and I’m still learning this one.)
I ran into the grocery to grab two items: Chinese noodles and upholstery cleaner. I didn’t find the cleaner I wanted so I grabbed the noodles I needed and headed to the check out. There was, of course, only one lane open, but I wasn’t worried, especially since there was only one person ahead of me already in the process of checking out. As I took my place in line the woman checking out apologized to me since she had more items and I, with only one, had to wait.
I looked up at her and smiled. Then I said something to the effect that it was okay to wait. Truth be told: I look forward to the moments which force me to slow down and breathe. Quiet-slow-me-down moments are a blessing not a problem.
Now, to be very honest, I have no idea where that came from. Not long ago I wouldn’t have been able to say anything like that. Life is different now. I contemplated this during lunch recently as I sat on the porch amid flowers, humming bees, and singing birds. I was overcome with a sense of the rhythm of the way life is supposed to be. I looked across the table and was thankful for the 87 year old woman I had the privilege of sharing lunch with. Lunches used to be practically swallowed whole while driving down the road to my next appointment. I neither enjoyed the food nor appreciated the beauty that flew by my window.
I understand now time is far too precious to waste fretting about where I’m to be next. It’s too fragile to stuff to the point of breaking. It’s too fleeting to miss the wonder of being present for the discovery of a child, whether they be a grandchild or the child in you.
My mind had moved on to dinner and a meeting I need to schedule. I had moved on from what I mindlessly said to the shopper ahead of me in line. She turn to me as she moved her cart away from the checkout, and thanked me for my wise advice. She told me she was headed to a meeting with other young moms and that she would be sharing what she heard in our brief encounter. I finished my errands and came home.
Driving home, I decided I needed to put these thoughts on paper. Before I did, I checked a friend’s online diary and found her quote du jour:
“There is no such thing in anyone’s life as an unimportant day.”
— Alexander Woollcott
Patience doesn’t come easy for me, so, when I became a Christian over 17 years ago, God began teaching me . . . I just wish He’d hurry!
Today seemed like Finals Week in His lesson plan.
First, I went to a fast food restaurant to get my wife some breakfast. They gave me a number, 141, and I watched as numbers passed me by . . . 142 . . . 143 . . . 148. As we got closer to 150, I got worried.
Next, I stopped at a popular retail store to get a key made for my son’s new car. I walked to the key counter at the back of the store, got the key made relatively easily, and walked back outside to try it. Of course, it didn’t work, so I made my way back inside and to the back of the store to the counter, where a man was purchasing a fishing license and supplies. He made Tim Conway’s “old man” character from the Carol Burnett Show look like the Flash.
When it was finally my turn, the lady examined the key, realized the wrong mold had been used and they were out of the one I needed.
I had to go back up front to the returns counter for a refund, and a long, slow-moving line awaited me there.
I returned home to do my son’s laundry from tennis camp. I had kept his bag closed all night because . . . well, you can imagine.
I worked up my courage, opened the bag, loaded the clothes and turned on the washer. Nothing happened. Turns out, my neighborhood was experiencing a water outage.
Due to this outage, I had to go to another local restaurant to get supper. After waiting for an interminable time, I got my food, but the order was wrong. More waiting.
Days like these make me want to drop out of “Patience 101,” but, unfortunately, it’s a required course.
Writing and publishing are a major part of this learning experience. I write, I submit, I wait. I get a rejection, I try again. And on and on.
Sometimes I have to step back and remember why I do what I do. It was God Who planted this dream of writing and publishing in my heart, and it is God Who will see it come to fruition, in His time and in His way.
But, man, I wish He’d hurry!
[bctt tweet=”Don’t you love lessons in patience? #writer @amwriting” via=”no”]
[bctt tweet=” I write, I submit, I wait. I get a rejection, I try again. #writerslife #author” via=”no”]
