Tag: words matter

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Devotions for Writers

The Parable

devotions

A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.

Luke 8:5-8 (NIV)

People were coming in droves to hear Jesus preach. Some stories were puzzling, like this one. The disciples quizzed their Master and Luke 8:11-15 says the seed represented how the word of God is received in our hearts. Will we be unhearing, unrooted, immature, or quit?

Exercise:

A writer went out to sow his words. As he was submitting his work, some got lost in email; they were irretrievably lost in the world wide web. Some fell on the slush pile, and when it came up, the stories withered because they had no hook. Other WIPs fell among hard times when pub houses closed and took down unsuspecting authors. Still other articles fell to editors. They came to be published, shared, and reached a wide audience.

How will an author get noticed when so much can affect our work? C. Hope Clark says the secret is to “keep 13 in play.” When you keep thirteen submissions out at any time, you will be more prolific in producing and publishing your words.

Thirteen? Where will I come up with that many ideas? Have you bought a Market Guide yet, or asked your reference librarian to help you find one? Writer’s Digest produces an annual Writer’s Market. Steve Laube has The Christian Writers’ Market Guide. There’s soil for fiction, non-fiction, children, and every imaginable genre. Use it to spark ideas and pursue new venues.

How to sow the seed:

  • Compilations. A call out for submissions will alert you to themed books. This genre will get your name in print and give you discounts on copies to sell to your friends.
  • Online opportunities. Most are not paid but provide writing credits for your resume.
  • Blogging. Exchange blog posts with another and expand the audience reach for both.
  • Paid gigs. Search the Market Guide for publications that pay for your words.
  • Books. Do you have a passion for a subject? Maybe it’s time to prime it!

Where will you sow your words?

Sally Ferguson

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.

Visit Sally’s blog at sallyferguson.net

Categories
Kids Lit

Every Single Word

Kids Lit

Have you met adults who somehow believe that writing a picture book is EASY because there are so FEW WORDS?

Arrrrgh!

As children’s writers, we know that the fewer words, the more perfect each word has to be. No room for dangling participles or near rhymes or even a well-placed semicolon. Just every single word is chosen to be the very best possible one for that thought, that sentence, that page.

Wander through the library or bookstore “Picture Books” and you realize that “books with pictures” are not all alike in format, reading level, or subject matter. How many of those perfect words make a book?

Board books for birth to age 3 – Under 200 words

These fat little books are 8-12 spreads (16-24 pages) and a new manuscript should be under 200 words. The best ones tell a story with a beginning, middle, and end, even if they are introducing a concept. NOTE: Board books with more than 200 words were often originally published as picture books, shrunk in format, and better for an older audience.

Early Picture books for ages 2-5 – 200-500 words

Early picture books are those most likely to be read at library story time. They have a simple-to-follow storyline, often with rhyming words, interactive text, and large clear pictures.

Picture books for ages 3-7 – 500-800 words

These are for kids who are not quite reading on their own yet but want more of a story perhaps with wordplay, multiple characters, and subjects that are more complex. There may be smaller detailed pictures and more pages full of text.

Older Picture books for ages 4-8 – 6000 to 1000 words

Many nonfiction picture books and children’s biographies fit in this group with the pictures supporting the text. Fiction books can include longer folk and fairy tales, several different characters, and social and moral issues.

Beginning readers for ages 6-8 – 1500-2000 words

These are complete stories on fiction and nonfiction subjects of interest to early-grade school students. Vocabulary may be limited to a limited list of sight words and ones that are easy to phonetically decode. Pictures give clues to unknown words or supplement the story.

Hi/Lo books for dyslexic and reluctant middle school readers – 400-1200 words

Age-appropriate fiction and nonfiction subject matter is the important factor in these books as students are apt to be older and no longer a fan of beginning readers. Pictures need to be as exciting as the writing to encourage the student to decode the words to find out more.

Graphic Novels -Next Month!

The other huge and growing picture/word book section is comic books/graphic novels. This genre has boggled the Library of Congress and the Dewey Decimal classifiers since they are both a unique format, fiction, and nonfiction topics, for multiple ages. That dilemma we’ll leave for next month!

Multi-award-winning author Robin Currie learned story sharing by sitting on the floor, in library story times. She has sold 1.7 M copies of her 40 storybooks and writes stories to read and read again. Robin is pleased to report that How to Dress a Dinosaur has only 181 words and is a perfect fit for the board book area. 

Categories
Devotions for Writers

When Words Mean Life or Death

devotions

“The king’s scribes were called… and it was written… to every province according to its script, and to every people according to their language…”

Esther 8:9 (NAS)

By the word of King Ahasuerus, Mordecai and Esther commissioned a letter giving Jews the right to defend themselves against attack.

By the word of the king, Haman was carried out from a banquet to hang on the gallows.

Your word probably doesn’t carry the same menace as those in the book of Esther, or, does it? Every day we have opportunity to speak into lives around us. The way we speak will carry life or murder for the hearers. Murder? Isn’t that a little harsh? I may not utter murderous threats like Haman declared against Mordecai, but my words can cut down someone’s esteem or reputation.

Queen Esther was so aware of the power of words, she asked Mordecai to fast and pray for three days. (Esther 4:16)

I believe every writer is called to use their words to inspire, motivate, and encourage people near and far, for such a time as this. (Esther 4:14)

when words mean life or death

Exercise:

1. Look at your text messages for the last 36 hours. How can you inspire, motivate, or encourage in your texts?

2. Look at your social media posts from the last week. What can you do to inspire, motivate, or encourage through your posts?

3. Look at your email archives for the past month. How can you send out letters that inspire, motivate, or encourage your recipients?

In uncertain times, people need inspiration, motivation, and encouragement. (Isaiah 40)

Articulate God’s Word responsibly; it’s a matter of life and death!

“Thanks be to God who leads us, wherever we are, on his own triumphant way and makes our knowledge of him spread throughout the world like a lovely perfume! We Christians have the unmistakeable ‘scent’ of Christ, discernible alike to those who are being saved and to those who are heading for death. To the latter it seems like the very smell of doom, to the former it has the fresh fragrance of life itself.

“Who could think himself adequate for a responsibility like this? Only the man who refuses to join that large class which trafficks in the Word of God—the man who speaks, as we do, in the name of God, under the eyes of God, as Christ’s chosen minister.”

2 Corinthians 2:14-17 (PHILLIPS)

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.

Visit Sally’s blog at www.sallyferguson.net

Categories
Devotions for Writers

What Shall I Write?

devotions

“Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.”

Isaiah 40:1 (NIV)

Do you feel compelled to write, but don’t know where to start? The prophet Isaiah could relate. He was so overwhelmed by the frailty of life he didn’t know what to say (Isaiah 40:6-9). The Lord told him to proclaim from the mountaintops, “God is here!”

Could you affirm ways you’ve seen the Lord’s hand at work in your life? There’s someone who needs to know they’ve not been forgotten.

Isaiah 40 provides great subject matter to prod your creativity. God is portrayed as a comforter who speaks tenderly (Isaiah 40:1-2). Could you tell a story of a nurturing moment with your Mom or Dad, your child, or grandchildren? Could you show how that reminded you God is a caring Father?

John the Baptist was foretold in Isaiah 40:3-5. Could you tell of your pregnancy announcement and the parenting instinct that arose in the ensuing months? What emotions of anticipation built as you waited? How has the expectation of a heavenly home created hope for you?

Isaiah 40:11 reminds us of the Good Shepherd. Do you have stories of farm life, your pet, or when you observed someone caring for another? How can that translate to action toward someone who needs care?

God’s authority, power and caring are displayed in this chapter. You can share examples of good leaders and how they’ve influenced you. What steps can someone take to become an effective pacesetter?

I love the reminder in Isaiah 40 that God is bigger than any crisis we face. In times of tranquility or turmoil, the writer has the responsibility to bring comfort and hope. Your pen wields the fires for a pandemic or peace. How will you respond?

Exercise:

  1. Read the whole chapter of Isaiah 40. Note verses that stand out to you. Journal your thoughts.
  2. Create a meme or post of hope. Include your blog or social media link.
  3. Come back and post it here to share with us.
  4. Spread abroad the memes others post here, and scatter kindness.

Does life feel overwhelming? God determined where and when you would be born (Acts 17:26-27). He has a plan for you and will walk with you through each step. Whether your address is rural or urban, you have an audience to inspire. Let the courage you find in God’s Word seep into your writing. Seize the opportunity to pen His words for such a time as this (Esther 4:14)!

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.

Visit Sally’s blog at www.sallyferguson.net

Categories
A Lighter Look at the Writer's Life

You Are . . .

lighter look at a writer's life

Your not going to like what I say. You might feel like pulling you’re hair out.

I am assuming you know what is wrong with those first two sentences. As a teacher, a writer, AND a regular person on social media, I see these words abused all the time.

I have a new phone (Yes, I am finally out of the dark ages. What’s next? An iPad? Flavored Cheerios?), and, any time I am typing a message like Your package came, it tries to autocorrect to You’re. The opposite is true as well. If I type You’re a nut, it autocorrects to Your.

What is this world coming to when Mr. Autocorrect is not so correct anymore? I may have to send him to his room and make him type You’re not alone with your problems one-hundred times.

I have mentioned before, I had a great English teacher in high school and college who was something of a Grammar Tyrant. He pounded proper usage into us until we wanted to cry for help. Those lessons stick with me to this day.

“Remember, you’re is a contraction for you are, while your is a possessive. When in doubt, say you are to yourself and see if it fits the sentence.”

So, if you see me mumbling to myself while I am typing, it is not senility. It is me saying you are to myself. I do the same thing with they’re, but that is a lesson for another day.

The moral of the story? Be careful with your word usage. If you already know these rules, you’re on the right track.

A final note to my readers: I appreciate you. You are great!

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. 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.