Writers Chat, hosted by Johnnie Alexander, Brandy Brow, and Melissa Stroh, is the show where we talk about all things writing, by writers and for writers!
“Because talking about writing is more fun than actually doing it.”
Come Write with Us: Living Legacies with Brandy Brow
Would you like to write a creative “memoir” for your loved ones? Or perhaps be inspired to write a character bio without filling out a questionnaire? In this episode, author Brandy Brow leads us in writing our “where I am from” stories, a creative and inspirational exercise based on author Ben Cooper’s sharing of his living journey poem in a previous episode of Writers Chat. Grab paper and pen, get comfy, and follow along as Brandy provides writing prompts. You’ll also enjoy hearing what participants wrote for their own living legacies Find Ben’s episode, Writer’s Journey: Abundantly More with Ben Cooper.
Watch the June 18th replay
Brandy Brow is a writer, editor, vocalist, and artist who took ten years away from writing to care for her special needs child and sick parent. During that time, she trained in fiction editing, ran Christian Writers’ Group International, and became a worship leader for her church and national anthem singer for a NASCAR short track. Back at writing, she is focused on flash fiction with a side of children’s stories. Magical realism and science fantasy are some of her favorite genres. Brandy lives in Vermont with her husband and most of her seven children where she eats way too much maple syrup and makes too many planners.
Writing Personal Tragedies with Grace with DiAnn Mills
Surviving life’s challenges that threaten our physical, mental, and spiritual wellbeing with determination to help others takes courage. To write about the experience forces the writer to explore painful emotions and relive the tragedy repeatedly. The tragedy could be a death, divorce, betrayal, PTSD, abandonment, or a cauldron of more than one event. We write about what happened to help others survive the same or similar ordeal. DiAnn shares how to create a manuscript in any genre that honors the tragedy and focuses on the needs of the reader—with grace.
Watch the June 25th replay.
DiAnn Mills is a bestselling author who believes her readers should expect an adventure. Her titles have appeared on the CBA and ECPA bestseller lists, won two Christy Awards, Golden Scroll, Inspirational Reader’s Choice, and Selah awards. DiAnn teaches writing all over the country. Connect here: diannmills.com
Writers Chat is hosted live each Tuesday for an hour starting at 10 AM CT / 11 AM ET on Zoom. The permanent Zoom room link is: http://zoom.us/j/4074198133
As 80% of the country is suffering from extreme heatwaves, many people are looking for relief from the summer temperatures that have overtaken most of the country. Many people are heading to the nearest beach or lake to try and cool off in the water.
I recently took a rest week and headed to one of my favorite trails to bike for a refreshing ride near some water. During my time in rehab, I learned about the benefits of aquatic therapy, below are just a few benefits.
Decreases pain
Lowers swelling
Improves range of motion
Reduces stress
Relaxes muscles and tendons
To be honest, I am not much of a beach or swimming fan and I tend to avoid bodies of water like a cat. However, after my accident, I quickly learned to appreciate biking on this particular trail between the mighty Savannah River and the tranquil Augusta Canal.
The soothing sounds of the water always calm my spirit and I enjoy watching creation relax in or near the water. Even if you are in perfect health, it is important to make time to be rehydrated, restored, and refreshed.
Refreshed
Most of us understand the importance of staying hydrated and the need to get enough rest. That is why most people enjoy summer vacations.
However, for people with brain injuries like me, rest and hydration are crucial to functioning the best we can with our brain injuries.
The human body is 60% water and the human brain is 80% water. Dehydration can be lethal to anyone, especially for somebody with a brain injury. When I become overly dehydrated, I have severe seizures that take a few days for me to recover from.
Spending time in the water may benefit our skin, staying properly hydrated benefits our brains and every organ in our body. A healthy lifestyle requires understanding the balance between work and play, as well as hydration and activity.
Writers may not be as physically active as other professionals, but it’s still important for writers to take time to be refreshed and to restore their creative juices.
Writing Flow
Most writers experience and dread the grind of the writing life. We understand writing is a lot more than just sitting down behind a computer and just typing words to express ourselves.
We know, writing is just a small part of the writer’s life puzzle. We cannot micromanage the hustle of a daily writing grind. Often, the writing life can become overwhelming, especially if you’re focused on always meeting your deadlines.
Mental exhaustion can easily overtake us as physical exhaustion does. This is why writers need to take time to be restored and refreshed. Water can help heal and restore our minds as easily as it sees our bodies.
Our creative juices can be recharged if we properly balance our work with times of being refreshed. Below are some helpful tips from one of my writer friends on how writers can refill and refresh our creative spirit.
Take a spiritual inventory.
Evaluate what’s on your schedule.
Admit you are dealing with mental fatigue.
Take a look at your disrupted routine.
Feed your creative spirit.
The point isn’t to add more things to our stress. Find what refreshes you and make a conscious effort to disconnect from your work. Just like an unhealthy and unrested body cannot function properly, an unhealthy and unrested writer cannot produce quality writing.
One of my writing friends enjoys taking long walks on the beach looking for seaglass or rare hidden treasures. Another writing friend enjoys taking walks in the rain like I do myself. There’s nothing like a soothing rain to refresh the body and soul. However, I absently hate riding my bike in the rain, because it frustrates me and hinders my focus.
Don’t Focus
I have already shared how it can be difficult for me to focus due to my brain injury. On the flip side, when I overfocus, it has a negative impact on both my brain and my body.
For instance, if I try to type using my left hand, my left hand will spaz up or began to cramp. I will also get a headache if I overfocus or become slightly dehydrated.
As writers, we tend to add pressure to our lives by striving for perfection in our prose or procrastinating before a looming deadline. The added pressure can cause our writing to become forced.
When we force our writing we produce poor quality work. Readers can tell when our stories and words are forced. Respect the reader and don’t force your writing. Below are some telltale signs of forced writing.
Vague writing
Awkward transitions
Filler words
Clichés
The best writers know when it is time to step away from the computer. Some of my best writing is done when I am outside and soaking up the sun. My creative juices are always refreshed when I give my body fresh air to clear my head.
Hours spent slaving away at a computer don’t always produce great writing. We don’t need a summer break to learn how to refresh our creative spirit. What activity helps you to feel more refreshed and recharged?
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 MartinThomasJohnson.com and on Twitter at mtjohnson51.
Writers Chat, hosted by Johnnie Alexander, Brandy Brow, and Melissa Stroh, is the show where we talk about all things writing, by writers and for writers!
“Because talking about writing is more fun than actually doing it.”
Prosody: The Music of Language
Children’s author Jean Matthew Hall shares practical tips for elevating our prose whether we’re writing for children or adults. She begins by defining “prosody” as “the blending of linguistic and literacy elements to create the mood, voice, and tone of a literary work.” She defines several of these elements and how our word choices are similar to puzzle pieces that can be rearranged until the perfect picture is revealed.
Watch the May 28th replay.
Since 2001, Jean Matthew Hall has been a schoolteacher and administrator, a Sunday school teacher for children and women, the Director of Write2Ignite, a writing coach for homeschooled students, and the owner and Editor of StarLight Magazine. She has one published picture book God’s Blessings of Fall.
Writers Journey: Abundandtly More
Author Ben Cooper shares his experiences as a writer who expected to be “One and Done”…but wasn’t! During his second cancer diagnosis, Ben traded “worry with writing.” In addition to sharing his story, Ben presents “Where I Am From,” a poetic slideshow that he considers a living document. This inspirational presentation is thought-provoking and motivating.
Watch the June 4th replay
Ben Cooper is a Christian, husband, father of five adult children, beekeeper, speaker, and author. He retired early to market his first book, so he thought. He is expecting to hit eleven books in six years by the end of the year, including a bi-monthly column for an author’s magazine.
Why Authors Need the Key Elements of a Synopsis
Writing a synopsis may be a writer’s toughest writing job! Author, podcaster, and educator Dr. Katherine Hutchinson-Hays shares key elements needed both for a fiction synopsis and a nonfiction summary. Keep in mind that the synopsis/summary is a promise and that the completed book is the promise kept!
Watch the June 11th replay
Dr. Katherine Hutchinson-Hayes is an editor, author, speaker, and educational consultant who hosts the podcast Murder, Mystery & Mayhem Laced with Morality. She’s authored a Christian Bible study and is working on the sequel to her first general market thriller, A Fifth of the Story, which debuted in February 2024.
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Writers Chat is hosted live each Tuesday for an hour starting at 10 AM CT / 11 AM ET on Zoom. The permanent Zoom room link is: http://zoom.us/j/4074198133
I always have the first Saturday in May marked on my calendar. Even though I have never been in person, this Tennessee girl loves to watch the Kentucky Derby. They make a day of what has become known as the fastest two minutes of sports.
I enjoy the back stories of the owners, trainers and horses. I love seeing all the high fashion of rich and famous and those who pretend to be for a day. Of course, the most fashionable of all are hats and fascinators. For us country folk, a fascinator is a small hat or a piece of hat that is worn to one side of the head.
The Derby is steeped in tradition such as singing, “My Old Kentucky Home” and the Bugler playing the “Call to Post.” It has many others too numerous to mention. While all of these fashions and traditions are wonderful fun, they really don’t affect the outcome of the race. However, there is one tradition that does and that is the command of “Riders Up.” The call tells the jockey to mount his horse for the race. The jockey is the driving and guiding force of the race.
Writing is a lot like a horse race. Grab the reins and hold on, I’m going somewhere with this. While we don’t want to think about racing against other writers the truth is if your article is not in that magazine somebody else’s will be. If your book is not on the shelf, the customer will buy someone else’s book.
The writer’s race is much more. We race against deadlines and sometimes we win by a fraction of the nose like this year’s Derby winner did. We race against other things such as housework, jobs, family and social schedules. Many times, we leave our writing to wander around the paddock with no guiding force.
Jockeys are trained and they have honed their craft so to speak. They spend time learning how to use the tools of their trade, strategizing the logistics of the race and being in the right mindset to race. However, none of the hard work of the jockeys would matter if they never got on the horse.
Do you know how you can tell if you have honed your writing craft? Go back and look at some of your early writings, if you cringe at how bad they are that probably means you have been honing. Go to conferences, network, follow other writers on social media. All of this is important, but it matters little if you never get on the horse.
The experienced jockeys win races, but every jockey had to have their first win. The old saying still rings true, “Writers write.” So, it’s time to get on the horse and get your writing to the gate. To that I say, “Writers up!”
Sue Davis Potts is a freelance writer from Huntingdon, Tennessee. She is mother to her beautiful adult daughter, Jessa.Sue enjoys writing for both children and adults. She worked for years as a preschool teacher but feels most at home these days with other writers who speak her language. She has been published in local magazines, anthologies, Ideals, Southern Writer’s Magazine and Focus on the Family’s children’s magazines Clubhouse and Clubhouse, Jr.
She authored a children’s library book. She is the author of a book of short motivations 101 Life Lessons From Uno (The One-Legged Duck) and coauthored. The Priceless Life (The Diane Price Story). Both books are available on Amazon. Sue can be found on her website, www.suedavispotts.com.
Carlton Hughes, represented by Cyle Young of Hartline Literary, wears many hats. By day, he is a professor of communication. On Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings, he serves as a children’s pastor. In his “spare time,” he is a freelance writer. Carlton is an empty-nesting dad and devoted husband who likes long walks on the beach, old sitcoms, and chocolate—all the chocolate. His work has been featured in Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Dating Game, The Wonders of Nature, Let the Earth Rejoice, Just Breathe, So God Made a Dog, and Everyday Grace for Men. His latest book is Adventures in Fatherhood, co-authored with Holland Webb.
Like most people, I was saddened to hear the news about the passing of Christian recording artist Mandisa. She didn’t hide the fact that she was struggling and that her success and fame couldn’t fulfill her. I respect her vulnerability about the battles she fought because I have struggled with them as well.
Depression
Low self-esteem
Health issues
Her song “Overcomer” encouraged people to keep fighting. About the time it was released, I was struggling with my faith, broken relationships, and the loss of close friends. Her encouraging words helped me get through some of the darkest days of my life.
Today, many people are struggling to deal with daily life, whether it’s finances, mental health, or physical health concerns. We all need a little help and encouragement if we’re going to stay in the fight of life.
The Fight
While I am a firm believer that it’s the fight that makes us stronger in life, I am also keenly aware that sometimes the fight can overwhelm us, even if we have a strong faith. If you think life is hard, try living with a severe brain injury.
The side effects of living with a brain injury range from physical to mental and emotional challenges. Alone, any of them may cause a person to want to give up and quit life.
Statistics show that fifty-seven percent of TBI (traumatic brain injury) survivors are moderately to severely disabled. Fifty percent of survivors are hospitalized again at some point. Thirty-three percent must rely on others for help with daily activities
It doesn’t take much for disabled persons to become depressed or discouraged. The Brain Injury Association of America advises survivors to practice self-care and self-affirmations to stay encouraged and healthy. Many of these practices are beneficial if you are struggling with the grind of a writer’s life.
The Grind
Most of us writers have experienced the grind of the writer’s life and know how it can wear us down. Social media and marketing can suck the life out of the craft of writing. The writing process itself can sometimes be difficult.
There are times when brainstorming, writing, and editing just seem to drain us of our creative passion. Add to that the rejection letters and no guarantee of being published. It’s clear why so many choose to throw in the towel.
If you have found yourself overwhelmed by the grind of a writing career, you are not alone. The odds of making a living as a writer are stacked against us. But don’t give up the fight just yet, below are some tips for staying motivated and staying in the fight for your writing dreams.
Find your why.
Find your motivational triggers.
Make sure you’re not chasing someone else’s goal.
Picture yourself as a successful writer.
Create a roadmap and stick to it.
Reward yourself
Establish a routine
Create a vision board
Let go of perfectionism
Cultivate community
Read
Reevaluate constantly
Over the years I have almost given up numerous times and each time I have stepped away to reevaluate my goals and options. I can attest it is wise to take a break and regroup. My initial writing goals had nothing to do with writing books.
As an English major in college, I wanted to write screenplays that made a difference. Life had different plans. My desire to write books was encouraged by mentors who believed in me and nudged me in the direction of writing books.
However, I never completely gave up on my dreams of screenwriting. Earlier this year, I decided to take the time to do another revision of my latest screenplay.
While rearranging the order of the plot points, I had an epiphany. Sometimes life also takes us down unexpected paths on our journeys.
Different Paths
I’ve said it before and I will reiterate it here, every brain injury is different and each person’s recovery will be unique to their brain injuries. I have seen people with less damage to their brains who are worse off than I am.
Our brains are amazing organs that can be reprogrammed and rewired to do common tasks in not-so-ordinary ways, that’s why no two people are the same; even conjoined twins can follow different paths.
I have learned over the last 27 years just how unique my recovery has been because the brain surgeries performed on me are rarely performed. I am one of the last persons to receive a partial frontal-lobe lobotomy due to the risk to the patient.
Likewise, a path to publication or literary representation looks different for every writer. We cannot follow the same course to success as other writers, because we are different writers and unfortunately the publication industry is constantly changing.
That’s why, this year I made the hard choice not to attend an annual writing conference I usually go to in the spring. I felt like it was time to take a break, regroup, and see what doors would open. Fortunately, the doors and opportunities are already opening.
I am about to celebrate one year of writing a successful spiritual column that reaches around the globe.
A popular screenwriting website has offered me free hosting and evaluations for my revised screenplay.
I am in my seventh year writing this column.
My path to success is different because my goals, gifts, and story are different. I must use my voice and skill set to achieve my goals. I get to encourage other writers through my writing. I can educate others about persons with disabilities and I get to help others struggling in their writing journeys. Together these are enough reasons for me to stay in the fight!
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 MartinThomasJohnson.com and on Twitter at mtjohnson51.
I attended the Blue Ridge Writer’s Conference for the fourth time last May. I did not know if I would be released by my doctor because I had had a heart attack in January. When he gave me the green light to travel, I immediately wanted to be part of the Third Path Bible study led by Eva Marie Everson. Miracles happened and I was the last one to be accepted. God directed my writing path and everything changed.
The class was gut-wrenching. Eva Marie posed hard questions every day. We journaled in silence, sometimes sharing, other times, listening intently. God spoke to each of us. I prayed, “What would you have me write?” I stayed in a state of anticipation. Throughout the week, I grew close to my study mates, one even praying with me on the last day,
Find out what God is doing and get on board with that.
I have kept that close to my heart over the last nine months. I celebrated one year of heart attack recovery. Now when I write, everything has changed. Often the writing goes on hold because I am busy presenting in schools, civic groups, and senior groups. God is using that too. I write for a magazine for senior citizens. The editor asked me to double up on my articles.
On an ordinary day last week, the sky grew dark. The weatherman warned us to be prepared for power outages. We collected candles, flashlights, and a headlamp. The rain lashed against the windows making it impossible to see outside. We watched the news quietly when my mother’s words came back to me, “Be still, this is the Lord’s work.”
The power went out.
The light from outside was enough that we could read so I gathered my stack of books. I have a habit of reading three or four at a time. There was no background noise, no football game, only wind. I picked up my copy of The Third Path and read, “How do you define silence?” It blew my mind.
It was like two worlds colliding.
The directive for the devotion to be silent was paired with true silence, something I am unfamiliar with. The house phone did not ring. Other than the wind and rain, I heard the ticking of a wind-up clock that hadn’t been used in years. There was no hum of my computer or social media.
I fretted about my wet clothes that sat still in the dryer. My refrigerator did not hum. My husband said, “Don’t open it, the food could spoil.” No cars were going by and we could see that others were out of power. My hand was forced, I had to be silent. We prayed for friends and family. We prayed for power workers and tree cutters.
For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.
Philippians 2:13
When the power came back on, we left the television off. After reading into the night, we turned in early. Silence; with plans to attend Blue Ridge again, my mission is clear. Listen, learn, and let God lead.
Theresa Parker Pierce is a presenter, docent, and writer living in historic Salisbury, N.C. where she enjoys spending time with family and friends. Theresa likes storytelling about her childhood in eastern North Carolina and the history of Rowan County. She writes monthly for Senior Savvy magazine. She shares her volunteer time between the North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer and the Rowan Museum in Salisbury. Theresa speaks in schools and to civic groups making use of the skills learned from Toastmasters.
Otto Frederick Rohwedder (1980-1960) and Charles Perkins Strite (1978-1956)—not exactly celebrities. Though, perhaps they should be. Their combined ingenuity brought quick and easy toast to the breakfast table.
Quick because Mr. Rohwedder—frustrated with the time it took to hand-carve a loaf of bread only to have the slices uneven with ragged edges—invented the bread slicer.
Easy because Mr. Strite—disappointed with the frequent delivery of burnt toast on his breakfast plate—developed a toaster that simultaneously crisped both sides of the bread then automatically popped it up.
When these two innovations crossed paths in 1928, busy cooks, whether restaurant or household, could open a wrapper, pull out pre-sliced bread, and drop it in a toaster knowing it would pop up automatically when done.
These men and their inventions changed the way we do breakfast toast for a lifetime.
Writers might ask, “Why should I care about toast?”
A scene where a character makes toast can speak to the period of the story based on the contraption used to accomplish the task. Making toast can provide action to weave between dialogue: dropping the bread between the slots, waiting for it to pop up, slathering butter and watching it melt. Crunching and savoring each bite.
Toast can reveal personality quirks or add tension. The cook might dance a jig because the toast came out perfect. A businessman might hurry out the door with harsh words on his tongue because the toast burned. Cooking lessons for an older child might set up a happy morning. Sweeping toast crumbs on the floor beneath the highchair could add to stress. Might the perfectionist cook wonder if he’ll ever get it right, or the mother lament her lack of culinary skills?
WRITERS OF CONTEMPORARY PIECES would have multiple well-known options for using toast or a toaster in a scene. A simple 2-slice or fancy 4-slice toaster could sit on the kitchen counter. It would be a seamless jump from toast to Pop Tarts, waffles, or French toast sticks being slid between the wired slots.
As is often the case, WRITERS OF HISTORICAL WORKS might need to research the nature of toast before using it in a scene. A skeletal timeline set out below would likely need fleshing out but might serve as a jumping off spot for research.
Prior to the early 1900s, bread may have been browned in an oven broiler, or in a frying pan, to achieve a toasty texture. For stories set before ovens were prevalent, tearing off chunks of untoasted bread and coating them in home-churned butter would be a believable choice for the scene.
But a big shift in breakfast toast began in 1909, first in browning apparatuses and then in bread slicing machines:
1909–The first commercially available toaster allowed one-sided toasting. This required a person to watch over it, turn the bread when ready, and then manually cause it to pop up.
1915–A toaster with an automatic turning mechanism was introduced.
1919-The 2-sided automatic pop-up toaster became available commercially.
1926-The pop-up toaster arrived in households.
1928-Pre-sliced bread was introduced.
1930-Pre-sliced bread arrived on most grocery shelves.
1933-Sale of sliced bread exceeded unsliced.
WRITERS OF SUSPENSE might consider a plot to sabotage toaster prototypes. Or instead of a sinister plot, a friendly competition might be more palatable — who can bring the invention to market first?
Perhaps a tense scene needs some comedic relief. Picture the boy and his dog staring at mommy’s new pop-up toaster, waiting for the bread to fly toward the ceiling.
Who would have thought breakfast toast could add such details to a story?
Who would have thought two inspired men, and two simple appliances would make such a difference in how we make toast?
So maybe these men really do deserve a measure of celebrity recognition: Strite engraved on pop-up toasters. Rohwedderetched into the bread box.
Jeannine Brummett lives in South Carolina with her husband of nineteen years, Don, who shares his three adult sons and three grandchildren with her. Reading is big on her list of things to do, but she also thrives on TV crime dramas, NBA basketball, and marvels at the critters and fowl life that live at the pond behind their house. She loves to sing praise songs, attend Bible Study, and help at a local food pantry.
Currently, here in my “neck of the woods” as we call it in Eastern Kentucky, we are in the middle of the transition of seasons. Summer is quickly fading, and fall is upon us. I couldn’t be happier.
The last few mornings, I have gotten up to get ready for work, and, as I go outside to walk the dog, the temperature has been in the mid-fifties. Ahhhh, sweet fall, where have you been? It’s good to have you back.
As I am getting older, summer has become a problematic season for me. It is like someone has turned my inner combustion engine to “Super-High,” and, if I spend more than five minutes outside, I look like I have taken a shower in my clothes. To coin a cliché, I can’t take the heat anymore, so I need to stay out of the miserably hot “kitchen” of the outdoors. Air conditioning, how I love you, my dear friend.
Now, I can stay outside for longer periods of time without the profusion of sweat. The other day, I wore a REGULAR COTTON T-SHIRT ALL DAY LONG WITHOUT SWEATING THROUGH IT. Progress, people.
I can hear your thoughts now: “What does this have to do with writing? Get to your point, Carlton!”
A friend recently asked me how my writing is going, and I responded with “heavy sigh.” I’m in that “in-between projects” mode, where I am waiting on something to happen, waiting on editors/publishers to throw me an offer (If you are one of those people and you are reading this now, please respond promptly), waiting on doors to open.
A few weeks ago, I was praying about this situation, and I felt God speak to my heart a short but powerful message: It’s only a season, and seasons change.
Wow. While I was agonizing over my lack of current projects, I forgot that God ordains seasons in our lives just as He ordains the seasons of weather. My current personal season is full of personal responsibilities that would make it hard for me to give loads of attention to a big project. In His mercy, God is keeping the “extra things” small at the moment to give me time to breathe. Isn’t He good in that way? I need to remember this and not sweat the small stuff (while I am also getting a break from extreme sweat from the heat outside).
What season are you in today? Maybe it’s a season of busyness, a season of excitement, or even a season of quiet. Whatever it is, embrace it and trust God with the timing. Just as He is guiding us in the transition from summer to fall, He will transition you in His timing.
Now, I am going to go walk the dog in the glorious 57-degree weather. I may even wear a light jacket. Oh, sweet fall, how I have missed you! It is so good you are here! Bring on a new season!
Carlton Hughes, represented by Cyle Young of Hartline Literary, wears many hats. By day, he is a professor of communication. On Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings, he serves as a children’s pastor. In his “spare time,” he is a freelance writer. Carlton is an empty-nesting dad and devoted husband who likes long walks on the beach, old sitcoms, and chocolate—all the chocolate. His work has been featured in Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Dating Game, The Wonders of Nature, Let the Earth Rejoice, Just Breathe, So God Made a Dog, and Everyday Grace for Men. His latest book is Adventures in Fatherhood, co-authored with Holland Webb.
Okay, which one are you singing right now? We like sunshine and apparently songs about sunshine. There are a bunch of them. We like activities in the sun. We like feeling the warmth and seeing the light. To quote John Denver, “Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy.”
How much sunshine is in your writing? I mostly write nonfiction, but I know that Snoopy wasn’t the only fiction writer that had to write about a dark and stormy night. Nonfiction writers also write about true situations that are not always pleasant. However, there are ways to add sunshine to every genre of writing.
Add Humor.
A funny character or tongue in cheek example can go a long way in making a serious topic a little less dark. A favorite laugh inducer is when the joke is on the writer. We all have those days when we need to laugh at ourselves so we might as well make our readers laugh too.
Add Literal Sunshine.
Let your characters feel the sunshine on their shoulders or see the ray of light shining through the window. Let every terrible situation have a bright spot such as a pleasant memory or a hand holding friend. If you are writing nonfiction don’t make things up just to lighten the mood this is not the time to call things that are not as though they were. Just dig a little deeper to find the light.
Add Hope.
There are a lot of dark evil things being written and published as good right now. As Christian writers we have the responsibility to be the light. The piece we are writing may not have anything to do with Christianity at all. It might be a “how to” piece on how to put together a bookshelf but we can be positive and enthusiastic as the reader stares at the thingamajigs and whatchacallits. Of course, any time we can we need to share the ultimate hope that we have in Jesus. He is the Light!
Are you ready to take a lighter look at your writing? Are you ready to let your little light shine? I believe you can do it. Go ahead and as you are writing and singing, “Let the sunshine in.”
Sue Davis Potts is a freelance writer from Huntingdon, Tennessee. She is mother to her beautiful adult daughter, Jessa.
Sue enjoys writing for both children and adults. She worked for years as a preschool teacher but feels most at home these days with other writers who speak her language. She has been published in local magazines, anthologies, Ideals, Southern Writer’s Magazine and Focus on the Family’s children’s magazines Clubhouse and Clubhouse, Jr.
She authored a children’s library book. She is the author of a book of short motivations 101 Life Lessons From Uno (The One-Legged Duck) and coauthored. The Priceless Life (The Diane Price Story). Both books are available on Amazon. Sue can be found on her website, suedavispotts.com
Recently, I had a bad fall off my bike, it was the first time in years I had fallen while biking on the road. I forgot how terrible the sting of asphalt on the flesh is. Although I was able to quickly get up, fix my bike, and get back on the road to finish my ride; I have felt embarrassed since the fall.
Maybe it was embarrassment or pride, but I didn’t want to go see my doctor and decided to let a few friends know about my painful experience. No one likes having to ask for help for whatever reason. Take your pick from.
We don’t want to be a burden
We don’t want to be seen as vulnerable
We make assumptions
After my car accident in college, there were a lot of things I couldn’t do and some I didn’t know that I couldn’t do. Of course, I didn’t want to ask for help, especially for basic things like feeding myself or using the bathroom in an actual bathroom.
It wasn’t until I fell off the toilet that I realized just how helpless I was. Even one nurse couldn’t help me. Nope. It took two nurses cramming into the bathroom to get me up and back to my bed.
I don’t know about you, but I consider using the restroom a private matter and I hadn’t needed help using it since I was a toddler. Back then, I also didn’t know I needed help.
“As to diseases, make a habit of two things – to help, or at least, to do no harm.”
Hippocrates (Greek physician)
Helpless
Living with a disability for the past 26+ years has taught me that it is okay to need and ask for help. Regardless of who you are, though, in time you will need some form of help. When I began the process of returning to work after my accident, I learned about the Americans with disability Act’s provisions for disabled persons.
Under the ADA persons with disabilities can ask for reasonable accommodations to help them do their job, ask for equipment or devices to help them do the job, and request modified work schedules to help disabled persons perform at their best.
Still, for me and many others, it can be hard to ask for help. But, if we swallow our pride there are many benefits to asking for help according to Restless.co/UK.
Asking for help can boost happiness and improve connection with others.
Seeking help is important for health.
Asking for help encourages healthy relationships.
Asking for help can boost confidence and self-esteem
Asking for help can increase productivity
Since falling off of my bicycle, I have been struggling to prepare for an annual writer’s conference I attend, so I decided to reach out to a few writer friends for help and advice. Being hurt both slowed me down and reminded me of the importance of asking for help.
Thanks to the help from my writer friends, I have been able to get everything I needed done to prepare for the conference. I have learned in the past decade that writers enjoy helping other writers because they know we are better together!
Better Together?
It is important to understand we are better together because that is when and how we can help each other. Even if you don’t have a disability, at some point in life will humble you and you will have to ask for help.
By the time you read this, I’ll be attending the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference to get help learning more about the craft, networking, and helping other writers who are attending for the first time.
No writer starts at the top of the writing chain; we each must endure the pitfalls of the writing journey. It is important to network with other writers. Below are five ways writers helping other writers helps you from Writers in the Storm.
Read and review
Beta reading
Critique groups
Blogging
Social Media
If you are attending a writer’s conference this year, please keep in mind it is more than just an opportunity to see friends and socialize, it is an opportunity to get the help you need and to help others get the help they need.
We are all on the writing journey together, just at different stages of the journey. Serious writers attend writing conferences because they understand it is okay to ask for help!
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 MartinThomasJohnson.com and on Twitter at mtjohnson51.
The feeling of missing out on the first of a dinner can be frustrating. All the good seats are taken, and you have to play catch up with the conversation. This is how I felt when I began writing at sixty. I worried about everything because there was so much to learn. Doubt flooded in when I saw all the other writers out there. Would anyone even care about what I had to say?
Do you feel this way as an older writer?
The seats may seem taken, but you have room at the table. No matter your age, some people need your voice in the mix. You bring a perspective that younger writers may still need to acquire. Fiction and nonfiction alike will benefit from your wisdom and viewpoint.
Life has been a training ground to prepare you for this stage in your journey.
Bitter disappointments can lead to life lessons for your characters in works of fiction. In nonfiction, these pieces of overcoming can lead the way for those coming along behind you. You’ve seen some stuff, and this stuff will broaden your work. It will give it depth and bring a rich voice to the writing world.
Meanwhile, the joys you’ve experienced also bring with them a path for others to follow. Whether you write fiction or nonfiction, your life’s journey has brought you to this point to share your knowledge, wisdom, wit, and adventure.
There are challenges to overcome in beginning the journey to write at this time in your life.
Learning new things can seem overwhelming. Agents, editors, marketing skills, and the list goes on! Remember, God has brought you to this point and won’t let you down now. Since he called you to write, he’ll make way for you. There will be an answer to every challenge, so with prayer and patience, you can do it.
Jill Chapman resides in Southern Indiana with her husband of forty-four years. They enjoy their country lifestyle and visiting with their children and grandchildren. Her life centers around her family and her yellow lab, Indy. She is an avid movie watcher, loves Mexican food, and enjoys watercolor painting. Jill says her life is like a good plate of nachos, a tiny kick of spice, and a whole lotta cheese.
Writers Chat, hosted by Jean Wise, Johnnie Alexander, and Brandy Brow, is the show where we talk about all things writing, by writers and for writers!
“Because talking about writing is more fun than actually doing it.”
Ask an Agent Q&A with Bethany Jett
Literary agent Bethany Jett answers our questions about proposals, pitches, and the decision-making process. This behind-the-scenes peek into the submission process provides insight into how one agent evaluates proposals and makes decisions about representation.
Other aspects of the writing industry are also discussed such as writing under a pseudonym, marketing and platform, and proposing a series. Bethany also talks about Twitter Pitch Parties and Query Tracker/QueryManager.
Watch the January 31st replay.
Bethany Jett is an associate literary agent with the C.Y.L.E. agency, as well as a multi-award-winning author, and a marketing strategist who earned top honors in her master’s program, where she earned her MFA in Communications focusing on Marketing and PR. Her motto is “Teach as you go,” which she lives out as the co-owner of Serious Writer, a company that teaches and empowers writers and authors. Bethany is married to her college sweetheart, and together they’re raising 3 teen/tween sons and their Pomeranian Sadie.
Launch Party Lessons
In this episode of Writers Chat, author, M.N. Stroh, and the members of her launch party team: Brandy Brow, Josephine (Jo) Massaro, and Norma Poore, share their experiences planning and participating in the Tale of the Clans Launch Party. From the roles each played to the lessons learned, they offer practical takeaways and best practices for those planning their first book launch party.
Watch the February 7th replay.
The Heart of Writing with Larry J. Leech II
Instead of Samuel L. Jackson asking you “What’s in your wallet?”, what if he asked, “What’s in your heart?” What would you tell him? Your simple answer should explain why you write and why you write what you write. In this Valentine’s Day episode of Writers Chat, veteran editor and writing coach, Larry J. Leech II, plays cardiologist and discusses the importance of a regular heart checkup while on your writing journey.
Watch the February 14th replay.
Writing coach of award-winning authors, Larry J. Leech II has spent more than 40 years working with words. After a journalism career that included 2,300 published articles, Larry started freelance writing and editing in 2004. He has ghostwritten 30 books, edited over 400 manuscripts, and taught at numerous conferences nationwide.
Writers Chat is hosted live each Tuesday for an hour starting at 10 AM CT / 11 AM ET on Zoom. The permanent Zoom room link is: http://zoom.us/j/4074198133
I stared at the one-inch thick pine board and sighed. I had attempted the side-kick break for what seemed like the hundredth time, but it refused to break. Aggravation mounted along with the belief that I would never accomplish the task. I was a girl. I wasn’t strong. I was new to martial arts. My list of excuses grew by the moment but the board remained the same, completely intact.
Memories of that day popped up as I read the email. My article query had been rejected…again. Suddenly the hundred rejection challenge didn’t seem like much of a challenge after all. Why bother?
No one wants to read my writing.
Frustration mounted along with a belief that I would never be a full-time writer. The field was already saturated. There was too much competition. I didn’t know the right people. My list of excuses grew like the rejection emails in my in-box, yet something about that memory from martial arts class stuck out.
When I started Taekwondo, I was only one of two females in the class, not counting our female instructor, who looked like a blonde Xena Warrior Princess. I was the only teenage girl in a room full of football players. They made board breaking look easy, but then again they had big muscles. The senior student, one step away from black belt, was walking me through the technique…again.
“Your side-kick technique is good.”
“So, what am I doing wrong?”
“You’re kicking the board.”
“Funny. What else am I supposed to be doing?”
“The board isn’t your target,” he said. He tapped the front jacket of the student holding the board. This is your target. You need to follow through on your kick. You stop when you hit the board.”
Something began to click in my brain. I was intimidated by the board, so I stopped when I got to it.
I was focusing on the wrong thing.
“The board isn’t your target. It’s the obstacle between you and your target. Try again.”
The board holder assumed position again wrapping his fingers around the top of the board with one hand and the bottom of the board with the other. He locked his elbows, holding the board forward, level with my kick height. I backed up and took my fighting stance, hands up. I took a deep breath and stepped forward into a side-kick, aiming for the holder this time. When my foot landed on the mat, the sound of applause startled me. I looked down and the board was in two pieces.
As a writer, rejection slips are just one of the obstacles between me and success as a writer. My goal is to be published, but like learning how to break a board, it requires learning the right techniques and practicing them. All the excuses about why I can’t become a published author are just obstacles that I have to break through. I can’t let them stop me.
What goals are you aiming for?
The key is keeping your eye on the goal, not on the obstacles in the way. We have to figure out how to get over, around, or through the obstacles. We have to do the work. In Taekwondo, I came to class twice a week for two hours. Every class we exercised, practiced kicks and punches, and practiced sparring. I showed up every week, and I got better with each practice. Eventually, I took a test and passed my yellow belt, which included a board break. The path to black belt included several more levels, each increasing in skills learned.
Whatever you are aiming for in life, it requires keeping your eyes on the target.
It also requires showing up and doing the work. You have to work through the obstacles; you have to work through the excuses. When you aim at the right target and follow through, you will have a break-through too.
Linda Lyle is a writer, knitter, and single mama to two crazy cats. When she is not running the office at a machine shop, she is working part-time at The Taming of the Ewe: A Yarn and Tea Boutique or scribbling ideas on her blog, The End of My Yarn.
For almost half a year, I have gone through another rough season in my life. I have left a church home of almost a decade and lost friends. Additionally, I have developed more health issues that affect my daily activities. All the while, still trying to work on numerous writing projects and still awaiting a response to book proposals I sent out earlier this year. Needless to say, I have been feeling pretty overwhelmed. But I know I am not alone because the writing life comes with its anxieties.
Feeling overworked
People issues
Work-life balance
Job security
Each of these can easily disorient a writer as we try to communicate through our art, the written word. When we can’t get the words out and express ourselves, it affects every aspect of our lives both professionally and personally. And since this month is national suicide prevention, I want to address it.
Looming deadlines and careless typos further frustrate us, writers. It’s no wonder, a recent study found that writers have a greater risk of experiencing depression. Author and psychologist Rollo May notes, “All people are struggling to be creative in some way, and the artist is the one who has succeeded in this task of life.” Personally, as summer comes to an end and the days get shorter, I am more prone to feeling depressed due to S.A.D.
S.A.D.
For those who aren’t familiar with the term, S.A.D. stands for seasonal affective disorder and is a type of seasonal depression disorder that causes a lack of energy, difficulty concentrating, feeling hopeless, and even suicidal thoughts.
Although fall is one of my favorite times of the year, I sometimes dread it. SAD exacerbates the depression, inability to focus, and lack of energy as well as other difficulties of living with a traumatic brain injury. When there is less sunlight and time in the day to be active, there can be less to look forward to.
Tips from Active Beat for those who struggle with SAD
Exercise regularly
Make social plans
Plan a trip
Soak up the sun as often as possible
Let the light in
Light box therapy
Consider seeing a therapist
Make room for ‘me’ time
Avoid overloading on carbohydrates
Take medication if needed
“Depression is one of the most common problems associated with TBIs. Studies show that about half of the people who experience a TBI will suffer from depression during the first year after injury. About two-thirds of people with a TBI will suffer from depression within seven years of the accident. Some studies have also shown an increased risk for suicide and suicidal ideations in the first few years after a TBI.”
Couple that with an increased risk of mood disorders among creatives and you have a recipe for disaster. It’s hard to survive when you cannot focus enough to be productive. When you deal with depression, regardless of the cause, it is helpful to stay active. There are many benefits to keeping our bodies moving, for writers, disabled persons, and even the average person.
A recent study on walking regularly at a pace that gets your heart rate up can decrease your risk of developing dementia later in life. There is an obvious connection between physical activity and brain activity. Writers need to keep writing to harness the power of the brain and their creative muscles.
In the early days after my accident my biggest fear was losing my ability to walk again. Every time I suffer a seizure, that fear returns because seizures exhaust my body and brain to the point where I cannot walk. The old adage is true,” Use it or lose it!”
Use It!
We all know how fear, anxiety, and depression can stifle our inspiration as writers. However, just like with a disability we cannot let them keep us from writing. When disabled persons fail to use their muscles, atrophy sets in which causes the muscles to deteriorate. Constantly working creative muscles help strengthen them so we can keep going when we do lack inspiration. Don’t worry if you’re feeling sad and uninspired now, you’re in good company. Successful creatives have pressed on through tough seasons and become stronger.
Vincent van Gogh
Charles Dickens
Virginia Woolf
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
We can find encouragement in knowing we are not alone in our fight to remain creative and optimistic. Every successful creative has faced obstacles at some point on the journey, I know it is scary, but there’s no reason to be sad!
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 MartinThomasJonhson.com and on Twitter at mtjohnson51.
Why do you write? Do you have a theme, message, or goal for your books?
While I never set out to be an author, I’ve always been a storyteller. I see the world in stories, I learn in stories, and I think we grow from the stories we hear and the ones we tell ourselves. There is no deliberate theme to all my fiction and nonfiction books, but I would say that all center on the idea that we are capable of more than we know. I want to show people “you can get there from here,” or perhaps “God can get you there from here”—no matter where “here” is and what you are facing.
How long have you been writing?
I began seriously pursing publication in 1997, published my first book in 2001, and now have over 50 published titles to my credit. In fact, I’ll publish my 60th book the week of my 60th birthday later this year!
Tell us about one of your greatest joy(s) in your writing career.
There’s no greater joy than having a reader tell you how you touched their heart or gave them a much-needed boost at a challenging time. I love teaching my productivity method, The Chunky Method and watching the light-bulbs of possibility go off over writer’s heads!
Tell us about one of your darkest moment(s) in your writing career.
I had a friend once say “publishing will hand you a reason to leave every single day.” Most days, the daunting odds, whopping workload, and the sheer flying into the midst required to write a book can drag you down. This is a business where your best weapon is resilience, which is why I published My Daily Momentum to show others the daily journaling practice I use to keep going in the face of writing’s uphill climb.
Rejection is a common experience for writers. How do you overcome rejection? How has rejection shaped you or your career?
Having started life as an actor, I learned very quickly that rejection is an unavoidable part of the process. Until you learn to hear “no” as “not now” or “not here,” it can be tough going. After a twenty-year career, I have enough personal stories of rejections being gifts wrapped in disappointment. But do I still reach for pie or chocolate? You betcha.
In what ways has God led you to coach other writers? Were you surprised when a certain skill or connection led to coaching opportunities?
The Chunky Method came to me from my professional days as a grant-writer, where deadlines and breaking things down into manageable pieces were essential skills. The “ah-ha!” moment for me happened when I realized we can absolutely apply these tactics to art. In fact, applying a personalized structure to art only empowers greater creativity. I take tremendous gratification from unlocking a writing practice for a writer and watching the great work that flows from it. Was I surprised? My writing career has been so packed full of God-surprises that while I was astonished and grateful, I wasn’t startled.
Tell us about a facet of coaching that particularly excites you.
So often people here “you must do this” when talking about writing. “Serious writers write this amount of words or write every day.” Nonsense. What every writer needs is a structure built on how their creative mind works—and that looks different for everyone. I love to watch writers light up when they realize “that’s why _____ is so hard for me” or “now I understand what works for me.” It’s like watching a rocket take off—which is why I call my initial coaching program “The Chunky Launch Package.”
What venues/methods have you found most effective for meeting and coaching writers?
I am a highly extroverted person—rare in the writing world, I know. My favorite is always teaching in person at events (all those lightbulbs going off over all those heads….), but I’ve adapted to our virtual reality and coach more often now over video and phone as well as webinars. Many writers meet me through The Chunky Method Handbook, too.
Have you organized or led groups to support writers? (Retreats, ACFW chapters, etc.) How has that experience helped you to coach writers?
I work extensively with business book coach Cathy Fyock on a weekly on-line writers forum and retreats. I often speak at conferences, ACFW chapters, RWA chapters, and other writers groups. It’s always a great way to introduce writers to the Chunky Method.
Have you organized or directed a writers’ conference? Tell us about that experience, and/or share an anecdote that illustrates how you saw writers being coached and encouraged through the event.
I’ve never organized one myself, but I’m often booked to speak at them.
If you speak at writers’ groups or conferences, what are some of your favorite topics to speak about?
I speak almost as much as I coach and write! Aside from The Chunky Method, I teach craft classes on characterization and dialogue, on fiction skills for non-fiction writers, and several other topics.
What advice do you have for writers as we interact with our peers? What can we do to be better supporters, mentors, and coaches of our fellow writers?
Ditch the comparisons! We’re so quick to line ourselves up—usually wrongly—against others, forgetting that our paths are unique to us. I’ve been speaking a lot this year on professional jealousy, and how that can be such a trap for any artist.
Do you have a favorite resource or two that you recommend to beginning writers?
Well now, I wouldn’t be doing much of a job if I didn’t say The Chunky Method Handbook is my favorite, would I? There are loads of great craft books out there, but I do think writers need to get a solid writing practice established in order to have a successful career.
Do you have a favorite resource or two that you recommend to writers who are struggling with discouragement?
Other than chocolate and pie? My usual advice is this: take 24 hours and allow yourself to yell OUCH. Hurt. Journal out what you’re feeling, pray, whine to friends. Then call it done and get back to the next right step.
What are common mistakes you see aspiring writers make?
Trying to be someone else. Be you. Be authentic, be well-crafted, strive for excellence, but be you. A distinct voice is one of the greatest assets you can have in this business.
What advice can you give aspiring writers that you wished you had gotten, or that you wished you would have heeded?
I got great advice from the beginning: “Allie, hush up and just WRITE.” Nothing begets writing like writing. Reading books on craft or tactics is great, conferences and classes are useful, but if you’re doing that and not writing, it won’t work. There are no substitutes and no shortcuts.
An avid knitter, coffee junkie and firm believer that “pie makes everything better,” Allie Pleiter writes both fiction and non-fiction working on as many as four novels at a time. The bestselling author of over fifty books, Allie has enjoyed a twenty-year career with over 1.5 million books sold. In addition to writing, Allie maintains an active writing productivity coaching practice and speaks regularly on the creative process, publishing, and her very favorite topic—The Chunky Method of time management for writers. Visit her website at www.alliepleiter.com to learn more.
These days, there are numerous opportunities to get a decent project for freelance writers. Such platforms like Upwork, Fiverr, and Freelancer publish thousands of new job positions on a daily basis. But not all freelance writers can get the project of their dreams because of a lack of information in their profiles, particularly writing samples.
Writing samples are actually proof of your writing experience. They basically include all writing styles you have experience in, links to your content written in the docs, or posted writings.
However, the style of your writing samples is commonly defined by the job you would like to get and by the platform you create your account on. In this article, we would like to name the main components of writing samples for freelance writers to make this job successful.
Define your writing direction
It is not necessary to add the entire library of your writings to the writing samples that will be accessible to your potential clients. For example, if you confirm your candidate for a medical blog writer, you need to create writing samples related to the healthcare industry. It can be articles, it can be blog posts, it can be social media posts, or it can be business cards, and so on. You can add anything related to the topic to show your experience to the customer. Writing samples also entail writing a separate article related to a certain topic to show an example of how you can write, meaning this article can be not only from the real case.
Provide samples of different pieces of content
Writing a short example of an article is not enough to fill in your writing samples block in the portfolio. Make sure you have all samples that you are proficient in. For instance from the custom writing service best essay, if you claim yourself as a good writer for social media, then provide several writing samples for various social networks according to their requirements like the number of words, tags, images, and so on. If you claim you are good at long-read writing, then you need to show the long-read articles, 200-300 words are not enough for this type of writing sample. Your success in freelance writing partially depends on the quality of your writing samples, so make sure you dedicate enough time to their creation.
Ensure the quality of content in your writing samples
Writing samples is not a task that you will get paid for, but it doesn’t have to influence the quality of content you write. For the writing service, Trust my Paper, each writing sample needs to have a suitable structure with the heading, subheadings, bullets, images, links to credible resources, statistics, links to scientific articles, etc. Writing samples are not always about the simplicity and the short length of the text, but about the high quality of content to engage more potential clients with your writing services.
Make sure your writing samples are accessible to potential clients
When adding your writing samples to the portfolio, ensure that all documents and links are workable and available for other users. Double-check the access to files and make sure nobody is allowed to reshare, copy, or change your text. In case the links to your writing samples don’t work, the probability of getting a decent writing project decreases a lot.
To conclude
Whether you are a new freelance writer and have gained some experience already, having writing samples is pivotal for your work. Nothing will describe your skills and knowledge better than real examples of your content writing. In addition, you should constantly work on improving your writing samples and expand your library in the portfolio as well.
Nancy P. Howard has been working as an editor at Trust My Paper custom writing company. She is also a professional writer in such topics as blogging, IT and HR. She loves traveling, photography, and is always welcome to meet new people.
As a writer it is important to get your details right, even in fiction. I am working on final edits of my first historical romance novel and recently, my critique partner pointed something out in my manuscript. I had written that my main character noticed that the house he was visiting had a piano twice the size as the boarding house he lives in. My story takes place in 1860, so my critique partner wanted to know how big the bigger piano was because “twice the size” seemed to be too big.
Her questions prompted me to do some research on when the piano was invented and what size they were in the 1860s, and my research led me to write and share this article with you. It just might be something you need as you write your historical novel, novella, or short story.
In the Book of Genesis in the Bible, we are told that Cain had a son Enoch. Enoch had a son Irad, and Irad had a son Mehujael. Mehujael had a son Methushael, who was the father of Lamech. Lamech had two wives, and his wife, Adah gave birth to Jabal, the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock. Adah also gave birth to Jubal, who was the father of all who play the harp and flute. (Genesis 4:17-21 NIV)
Through the generations and many years, the harp eventually inspired men to create more instruments with strings that could be hammered or plucked.
Hammered Dulcimer
Hammered Dulcimer by Min Che from Pexels
During the Renaissance, many new things were being discovered and invented in Europe. Some of these things were musical instruments such as the hammered dulcimer, pictured above. The hammered dulcimer had strings stretched tight across a wooden box. The strings were tuned to different pitches depending on how tight each was stretched. To play the hammered dulcimer, a person holds two soft-covered hammers and strikes the strings.
In the fourteenth century came the clavichord, a European stringed keyboard instrument that became known as the mother of all keyboard instruments. The clavichord had an extremely low volume which made it unsatisfactory for large gatherings or playing with other instruments. Therefore, it was mostly used in private residences.
The Harpsichord
Created in Germany in the late 1300s – early 1400s. The harpsichord looks quite similar to a small piano.
Handle’s Harpsichord (Photo by 134213 from Pixaby)
The harpsichord was played by hitting keys on a keyboard. A bird quill or piece of hard leather, both known as a plectrum, would pluck a string. When the harpsichord player hits a key, the key lifts a jack, which pushes the plectrum against the strings, causing the string to be plucked. As soon as the key is released, a damper cuts off the vibration, thus cutting off the sound of that string.
The Piano
Invented by Bartolomeo Cristofori, an expert harpsichord maker. Ferdinando de’ Medici, Grand Prince of Tuscany hired Cristofori to build a harpsichord for him. Cristofori built the first piano around 1700, but Cristofori called it a gravicembalo col piano e forte, (the harpsichord that plays soft and loud). Cristofori called his later instruments pianofortes in 1732, and eventually, this instrument became what we know as the piano today.
Cristofori’s keyboard did not look like the piano keyboard we know today, as he made the natural keys black and the accidentals white. Sebastion LeBlanc later suggested switching the black and white keys. Three of Cristofori’s pianos that date from the 1720s still exist today.
Many men have since built pianos, but all have followed Cristofori’s actual workings and simply made improvements such as adding pedals as well as their choices of materials for the piano case. Size became another variant with the grand piano, baby grand, and upright piano.
Let’s begin with good news for writers. Despite what you may be hearing from literary agents and editors, every publishing professional is actively looking for great books to publish. I’ve been inside some of the top literary agencies and publishers in the US and they are asking me, “Where is the next bestseller?” Each of these individuals receives hundreds of pitches every month but they are always looking. What are the keys to getting an agent or editor excited about your book proposal?
1. Excellent writing.
It sounds cliché but true. People ask me what I’m looking for and I say, “Good books.” I’ve read thousands of submissions and from checking out a few paragraphs, I can tell if something grabs me. Yes it is subjective but good writing always stands out.
2. A Solid Connection to the Market.
Whether your publisher is well-known or tiny, the publisher is going to expect you to reach your readers. If you don’t have these connections, begin today. Every author needs their own email newsletter and other basic resources. Online Marketing for Busy Authorsby Fauzia Burke is a simple straightforward place to start. The key is taking action and begin to build every day. For example, if you aren’t a part of LinkedIn, join today and fill out your profile and let’s connect. For years, I ignored LinkedIn. It is a wonderful way to keep up with editors and agents because when they change, they take their LinkedIN account with them. It’s why I have over 19,000 connections on this social network.
3. Continue to learn and try new things.
Every author has the same amount of time in a day. How are you using that time to learn to craft the best proposal and touch new areas of the market? Discard things that are not working and try new avenues. One of our Morgan James authors has a novel launching next month. I noticed that already she has over 60 Amazon reviews. I’m asking my colleagues how this happened because I want to learn what is working.
Persistence and perseverance are keys to find the right place for your book idea. You must be taking consistent action to find this connection. Be assured it is out there.
The proverbial journey of a thousand miles begins with the one step. But it doesn’t end there.
Writing an epic story is like climbing a mountain. The approach is intimidating, and reaching the summit seems impossible. But anyone who’s climbed a mountain will tell you that though the ascent isn’t completed in one step, it starts with one.
The prospect of beginning may terrify us, but what we need—and must—do is begin.
“Do not despise these small beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin…”
Zechariah 4:10
When you’re starting out as a spec-fic writer, don’t despise the small beginnings. I don’t mean shelve your four-book faerie trilogy or your open-ended space opera, but do give yourself some space for encouragement and success along the way. When I taught children with special needs, I’d divide the large goals into smaller tasks, so we could acknowledge and celebrate each incremental gain.
In What About Bob? Psychiatrist Dr. Leo Marvin hands Bob, a highly dependent, obsessive-compulsive patient his brand-new book called Baby Steps. He explains:
Marvin: It means setting small, reasonable goals for yourself. One day at a time, one tiny step at a time–doable, accomplishable goals.
Bob: Baby steps.
Marvin: When you leave this office, don’t think about everything you have to do to get out of the building, just deal with getting out of the room. When you reach the hall, just deal with the hall. And so forth. Baby steps.
Here are some baby steps that can take you farther than you’d imagine:
Reading this column counts as a baby step. You’re studying the craft.
Write Ugly – My previous post is an encouragement to get your words out, before focusing on the polish.
Read and write flash-fiction—stories no more than 1000 words. Havok Publishing is an excellent place to read and submit.
The 540 FB Community encourages, educates, and equips its members to communicate their stories.
Cassandra Hamm hosts Prompted, delightful microfiction (50 to 300-word stories) contests, on Instagram, and there are challenges on a variety of social media platforms. Follow #writingchallenge and you’ll discover a plethora of opportunities to write.
Step into the boots, tentacles, or wings of your characters and have them write to someone important in their life, describing their spaceship, forest grove, or tower/dungeon confinement.
Create a travel brochure for your favorite out-of-this-world getaway.
Writing short stories hones your skills and gets something out there for people to read and respond to. It’s a true accomplishment. Once your words are out there, you’ve been published! You don’t need to know how to do everything to get started… or keep going.
You just need to do the next thing.
The next easy thing.
The next scary thing.
The next hard thing.
The. Next. Thing.
Sophia L Hansen is an author and editor with Havok Publishing and loves to write In Other Worlds. She’s lived on a tiny island in Alaska, the bustling cities of New York and Boston, raised kids in Tennessee, and now resides just outside Birmingham, AL. After 30+ years of marriage, seven children, and numerous pets, Sophia still fits into her high school earrings.
If your planning your first romance novel, you’re probably thinking about all the great romantic scenes you can write about the love in the relationship. Maybe you’ve already written most of the book, but now as you read back over it, something seems to be missing.
Oh, it’s got a lot of great romance, but is it going to capture and hold your reader’s attention?
Then it dawns on you – there’s not enough conflict. Every story, even a romance that will end with “happily ever after” needs a lot of conflict—things that keep your hero and heroine apart throughout most of the story. That’s what’s going to keep reader’s turning pages and sitting on the edge of their seat waiting for that sweet ending when the hero and heroine finally pledge to love one another until death do they part.
So, what kinds of conflict can you use to add some suspense to your romance?
First of all, your conflict or series of conflicts needs to be believable. And yes, your story will need more than one conflict. Some of the conflict has to be between the leading man and his love interest because readers don’t want to read a romance where the handsome hero and the sassy heroine realize they are right for each other and everything is awesome once they get rid of the leading lady’s meddling best friend. That’s not really a romance story.
Something needs to keep the hero and heroine apart. A mix of internal and external conflict usually works best. In other words, what’s going on around the hero and heroine is external. The external situations and other characters can be used to cause conflict. The thoughts and feelings of the main male character and main female character is internal and can also be used to cause conflict.
Internal conflicts can come from the character’s fears, a lie he or she believes, something they struggle with such as self-confidence or being able to trust the other.
Internal examples: maybe he was engaged before and the woman left him standing at the altar. Now he’s afraid he’ll be abandoned or rejected again. Maybe she’s overweight and has been told all her life that she’d be pretty if she just lost weight, so she can’t believe he could possibly find her attractive.
External examples: maybe the hero and heroine don’t like each other when they first meet and this comes out in the way they talk to each other or behave toward each other. Maybe she is a waitress in a restaurant and accidentally spills a plate of spaghetti in his lap, getting them off on the wrong foot.
Some things can be used as either external or internal conflicts, such as character flaws.
Just remember, there have to be lots of bumps on the road to “happily ever after” if you want your readers to read your romance novel from cover to cover.
Kelly F. Barr lives in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. She is married and has three sons. She writes historical romance. She has also been a blogger for ten years, and every Friday, you can find her Flash Fiction stories posted for your reading pleasure. She loves her family, including the family dog, books, walks, and chai lattes.
Surviving a writing slump can be challenging. Getting paid by the word or the project hardly equates to a steady flow of income.
This means it’s important for writers to properly manage their finances in order to ensure that they’re ready to stay financially afloat in between writing projects. Here are a few tips and tools that you can use to set yourself up to survive during your next dry spell.
Start with a Budget
A budget is ground zero for healthy finances. It allows you to grasp the state of your finances at any given moment.
At its most basic, a budget is simply a statement that adds up your various forms of income and contrasts it against your expenses. This can help you assess things such as:
Your fixed expenses: These are costs like your rent or car payment that you know will happen on a regular basis.
Your variable expenses: These are expenses such as eating out or going to the movies that can change from one month to the next.
Your ability to save: Subtracting your expenses from your income can show you if you have any extra income to squirrel away for a rainy day (more on that in a minute).
Your debt: A budget reveals how much money you owe and how well you’re working toward paying it off.
A budget serves as a window into your current financial status. By maintaining a budget, you equip yourself with the knowledge to prepare for any financial slumps that may occur in the future.
Find Professional Help to Get Things Set Up
If you’re concerned that your budgeting skills won’t be on the same level as your writing abilities, you’re not alone. There are millions of contractors who are left to figure out their finances on their own.
Fortunately, there are ways that you can get help. One of these is by hiring an accountant. This may seem like something that only large corporations have access to, but the rising demand for accounting professionals doesn’t just apply to those crunching numbers for big companies.
There are many accountants and financial advisors who are, themselves, working on a contract basis. They can be hired, usually for a very modest fee, to help with things like taxes and other financial services.
If you’re worried that your budget is sub-par, consider finding an accountant or adviser to help you out. If you hire them to do your taxes, you may even be able to ask for their input on your budget without any extra charge.
Build Up an Emergency Fund
Once you have a solid budget in place, you can begin actively preparing for your next financial slow season. This should revolve around building up an emergency fund.
An emergency fund, also known as a “rainy day fund,” is simply a lump of money that you have set aside and ready to help if your finances fall short at any given moment. This can happen for a variety of reasons.
For instance, the most obvious issue a contractor can face is running low on work. As you look for more jobs, it can take weeks and even months to get those paychecks rolling in again.
But even if you have solid clients providing a steady flow of work, your income may struggle for external reasons.
A good example of this is the coronavirus pandemic. When that began, many businesses cut their marketing and content budgets short as they scrambled to make ends meet. This led to less work for many of their freelancers.
While the pandemic isn’t likely to repeat any time soon, an economic crisis in one form or another is certainly likely. In fact, there have been 32 different economic recessions since 1850. That means every five years, on average, the economy has gone through a severe crisis.
Having an emergency fund in place can help you weather any financial shortcomings, whether they come from your own work or an outside issue.
Staying Financially Afloat During the Slow Seasons
Writing is an incredibly fulfilling lifestyle. However, as is the case with all professions, it comes with its ups and downs. As a writer, it’s important to be ready for any significant vacillations in your income.
Keeping an updated budget is an important starting point for this preparation. So is finding professional advice that you can trust. Once those pieces are in place, you can work to create an emergency fund that can help you stay afloat whenever your income doesn’t quite meet your living expenses.
Amanda Winstead is a writer from the Portland area with a background in communications and a passion for telling stories. After years of writing and research in college, she’s turned her focus on blogging and enjoys giving other writers and readers perspectives from her experience. Along with writing she enjoys traveling, reading, working out, and going to concerts. If you want to follow her writing journey, or even just say hi you can find her on Twitter.
“At your times of rejoicing—your appointed festivals and New Moon feasts—you are to sound the trumpets over your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, and they will be a memorial for you before your God. I am the Lord your God.” Numbers 10:10 (NIV)
Holiday festivals and feasts are not a new tradition. No, the Lord established special times in the lives of the Israelites so they would commemorate His faithfulness. Gifts were even given when Purim was established in Esther 9:18-22. But holiday customs have escalated in our time, leaving us little margin to escape the tyranny of the urgent.
Does writing take a backseat during your holidays? If Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day becomes an excuse to put off the written word, do the remaining months of the year make up for word output? What about Fourth of July, Easter and Valentine’s? Don’t forget Veteran’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and Mother’s/Father’s Days. Of course, Memorial Day and Labor Day actually involve entire weekends, and Daylight Savings Time affects our ability to focus for the following week. What’s a writer to do?
Exercise:
Let the season you’re in provide fodder for the next. Journal about the Christmas tree lights. Reflect about the gathering around your Thanksgiving table. Write down what you see at the first snowfall. Your words will evoke emotions to add to later articles.
Look ahead three to six months on your calendar. What holidays can you pitch to a publication? Research magazines in your Christian Writers Market Guide. Make an outline according to their guidelines. Fill in the words, edit, polish and send.
Create an ebook to send to your mailing list or upload to your website. Topics to brainstorm: favorite holiday recipes or a humorous piece about your burnt offerings, wrapping tips and gift-buying clues, hacks for less time in the kitchen, ideas for family fun in the kitchen, and 5,10 or 30 days of devotionals.
Give yourself grace in a time of holiday bustle. Take a sleigh ride. Put on the tea kettle and savor the season. It will put you in a reflective mood and balance out your heart rate. Let your holiday writing be a gift to the One who was our gift in Bethlehem. No more pushing your muse to the back seat!
Where is your favorite writing nook during Christmastime?
You’ll find me under the tree!
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
Writing teachers often talk about the story arc and character arc, meaning how the story is constructed or how the character grows and changes. As I write this, the Arc de Triomphe in Paris was recently wrapped in fabric, an artistic event envisioned and designed by the late artists, Christo and Jeanne-Claude. Much like wrapping the iconic landmark in layers of fabric and rope, adding layers of character arc and growth will make your stories deeper and more nuanced.
Growth
One facet of growth an author can layer in is the character’s ability to do something at the end of the story they couldn’t do at the beginning. Or they see the truth of something they first believed to be a lie.
In the movie You’ve Got Mail, Kathleen Kelly believes her life only has meaning as long as she keeps her dead mother’s bookshop alive. By the end of the movie, the shop has died, but Kathleen has been able to not just envision a different life for herself but takes steps to build that life. She can do something she couldn’t before, because she’s moved from a lie to the truth.
Character Arcs
Another facet of character arcs that can be particularly effective is an ending that mirrors the beginning.
While You Were Sleeping begins with Lucy talking about her dreams of travel, the stamps she planned to collect in her passport, but how that didn’t happen because of her father’s illness and death. Later, she shares that dream with the hero, Jack, who gives her a snow globe with a scene of Florence, Italy, a foreshadowing of the end. The movie ends with the two of them traveling and Lucy gets that passport stamp for real.
Rachel Hauck’s book To Save a King begins with a prologue in ten-year-old Prince John’s point of view about his love for the fairy tale, The Swan’s Feather. The book ends with grown-up Prince John’s wedding to his real-life love, Gemma, and the convergence of three white swan feathers.
How does an author find the arc to the ending? Or the moment to mirror?
Figure out what is the lie your character believes at the beginning and how they will move to truth (like Kathleen Kelly in You’ve Got Mail).
Decide if there’s a poignant moment you can mirror at the beginning and end (like Lucy’s empty passport in While You Were Sleeping).
Find a prop you can highlight in both the beginning and ending scenes (like the swan feathers in Rachel Hauck’s To Save a King).
Well-layered character arcs leave the reader satisfied and happy and leaving five-star reviews. They may not know why or how, but they know they’ve been taken on a ride of beauty and vision by an artist.
Carrie Padgett lives in Central California, close to Yosemite, but far from Hollywood, the beach, and the Golden Gate Bridge. She believes in faith, families, fun, and happily ever afters. She writes contemporary fiction with romance. She recently signed a contract with Sunrise Publishing to co-write a romance novel with New York Times bestselling author Rachel Hauck that will be published in 2022. Carrie and her husband live in the country with their high-maintenance cat and laid-back dog, within driving distance of their six grandchildren.
“A writer will do anything to avoid the act of writing.”
William Zinsser
Every writer or published author has dabbled or delayed in their quest to finish a writing project. This truth may comfort you. It happens to all creatives at one time or another: the flow is interrupted and the words disappear.
The malady has a name: procrastination. Synonyms include deferring action, stalling, hesitating, and my personal favorite—dithering. It’s not a character assessment – you’re not a weak person if you’ve dabbled with delay. But you may have developed a bad habit, one that may prevent (or at least postpone) achievement of your writing goals.
You’re not alone. Statistics reveal that 95% of the population procrastinates at times, with 26% of the population identified as chronic procrastinators.[1] The trend today continues to rise.
The cost of procrastination as a writer is significant:
Missed deadlines
Missed opportunities (often related to previous missed deadlines)
Stress and pressure to get something on the page when you are not “in the flow”
Damage to your reputation and reliability when work is late or poorly completed because you put if off until the last minute
Is it possible to change the behavior?
It is.
Dr. Tim Pychyl, author of Solving the Procrastination Puzzle, has done a tremendous job of research on the topic. He identified a set of triggers that make a task seem more averse – also defined as daunting, overwhelming, or unpleasant.[2] And when tasks create that sense of dread or overwhelm it’s easy to see why we put them off. Perfection and procrastination are partners in crime.
So let’s experiment with a quick exercise. Bring to mind something you’re currently struggling with in your writing. You’ll probably find the task that comes to mind includes some, if not all, of the characteristics that Pychyl discovered that make a task procrastination worthy.
Here are his top five examples and how they sound:[3]
Fear of the Unknown – “I don’t know how to get started.”
The Task is Difficult – “I can’t do this. It’s too hard.”
The Task is Boring – “I thought writing was a creative process. It’s not fun!!”
The Task is Ambiguous – “I’m totally confused – every expert says something different.”
Task is Unstructured / Feels Overwhelming – “Who am I kidding? I’m not a writer.”
Why is how it sounds important? It’s vital – these assessments are what we’re telling ourselves about ourselves. And it’s damaging self-talk that can convince us to quit. If you believe you are called to write, this can be devastating.
These five procrastination traps are common, but not necessarily the most common, especially among creatives – including writers. The most common trap among this group is often believed to be perfectionism!
How do we address it? What can we do when it strikes?
Maybe you had a mom like mine who taught me “anything worth doing is worth doing well.” And while that has served me often, it’s also caused me to be hyper-hard on myself if it’s not perfect in the moment. Perfectionism lobbies for it all to be perfect now – and limits the definition of success to an unrealistic standard.
“Clear thinking becomes clear writing; one can’t exist without the other.”
William Zinsser
How does your awareness of “clear thinking” equip you to write when perfection isn’t present on the page? Acknowledge you’re stuck, distracted, or discouraged. Recognize when procrastination badgers you to do it tomorrow, go shopping, or clean out your closet. Think clearly and redirect your efforts to more manageable or appealing activities that still support your writing!
Stop staring at the blank screen. Don’t rewrite that opening paragraph ten times and trash it. Turn your attention to other tasks:
Research material for your book or article.
Work on the proposal: research comps, select a format.
Read a chapter in Writing Well by William Zinsser that will fill a knowledge gap.
Edit work completed previously.
Listen to a podcast on writing that will advance your knowledge.
Brainstorm with a writing buddy. Don’t have one? Find one!
OR . . . WRITE—and disconnect from the procrastinator’s prayer: “Please God, make it perfect right now!”
Is that last one possible? Successful writers know perfection is not always or easily attainable. Have you ever finished a late-night writing session, hit SAVE with great satisfaction, assured the writing is brilliant? Then wake to discover it’s not brilliant. It’s not even passable. That’s why there are second draft, critique groups, and amazing bolts of lightning when you are engaged with some other activity.
Redeem the day—invest in dumping perfectionistic thinking in your writing. Pump your productivity with other writing related tasks. Then return when you can think and write clearly. And never forget: one can’t exist without the other!
Deborah DeArmond is a recognized leader in the fields of performance development, facilitation. She is a certified writing coach as well as an executive business coach. She is also an award-winning author.
Deb’s the author of Related by Chance, Family by Choice, I Choose You Today, and Don’t Go to Bed Angry. Stay Up and Fight! All three books focus on relationship dynamics, communication, and conflict resolution. Her humorous devotional entitled Bumper Sticker Be-Attitudes was published in late 2019. Her newest release, We May Be Done But We’re Not Finished: Making the Rest of Your Life the Best of Your Life was released in July. She has published more than 200 articles in print and online, including a monthly column, now in her 7th year for Lifeway Magazine with an international circulation of 300,000.
Deb helps clients achieve success in becoming the coach others desire to work through through her engaging inquiry, humor, and straightforward approach. Her clients have described Deb as “candid but kind” and skilled at asking the questions that help “guide others to discover their answers and solutions to success.”
Have you ever decided to buy a certain product because the packaging assures you that it’s better? I didn’t have to look very hard around my house to find an example. My dish soap promises fifty-percent less scrubbing. We don’t have a dishwasher, so less scrubbing is definitely appealing. However, it’s probably a good idea before I spend my money on this product to ask myself, “Fifty-percent less scrubbing than what?”
Incomplete Comparisons
An incomplete comparison only tells you part of the story. In the dish soap example, I’m encouraged to believe that this product is better than another one, but I don’t know which product that is. Maybe it depends on what I use to scrub with, or if it’s just compared to not using soap at all. The bottom line is, there’s not enough information. The comparison is incomplete.
Ex. Brand name dish soap is more effective than bargain brand dish soap.
This example gives a complete comparison. The function word “than” links two things that are being compared: brand name versus bargain brand dish soap. Now I have enough information to make an informed decision.
When It Could Work
Sometimes you can get away with an incomplete comparison.
Ex. Ida’s gardens are tidier than Allie’s.
Imagine that this sentence appears in a story that you’re writing. You’ve explained who Ida and Allie are. Part of the plot is that these neighbor ladies compete over everything, especially their prize-winning backyard gardens. With all of that context, the reader could reasonably assume that you mean Ida’s gardens are tidier than Allie’s gardens, even though “garden” was left out of the sentence. It’s still an incomplete comparison, but you can get away with it.
However, if this were the opening sentence of a book or a chapter or just a stand-alone example sentence in a proofreading article somewhere, then its incompleteness is a problem. The reader would definitely infer that you mean “garden” but it could be quite a lot of other things as well. Ida’s gardens could be tidier than Allie’s living room, which you could be using to contrast how Ida is so very neat and tidy that even her gardens look good while Allie is the complete opposite.
How To Fix It
Incomplete comparisons are easily resolved.
Ex. Andres loves cars and shoes more than Alexandra.
This incomplete comparison could cause hurt feelings. You could infer that Andres loves cars and shoes more than Alexandra loves cars and shoes, in which case we’re talking about preferences. But you could also infer that Andres loves cars and shoes more than he loves Alexandra, which sounds sad for Alexandra!
To fix it, you need to give more information. Here are two ways to complete the comparisons.
Ex. Andres loves cars and shoes more than Alexandra loves those things. They just don’t see eye to eye.
Ex. Andres loves cars and shoes more than he loves Alexandra. Alexandra knows that Andres cares more about cars and shoes than he does about her, so she thinks she needs a new boyfriend.
When you’re writing, always double check that your comparisons are obviously comparing two or more things. If you can’t answer the questions, “Compared to what?” then you probably need a revision.
How About You?
Have you ever found any funny incomplete comparisons that have multiple possible meanings? What products can you find around your house that have used incomplete comparisons to make a sale?
Dayna Betz is a full-time freelancer providing proofreading and editing services to help writers put their best foot forward. She also enjoys reading and writing book reviews. Head over to her site, Betz Literary to learn more.
