Tag: Writing tips

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A Lighter Look at the Writer's Life

What Day is It?

lighter look at a writer's life

What day is it? Although I sometimes find myself wondering what day of the week it is, that is not what I am asking today when I ask that question. Today, I’m wondering if it is national pickle day or national take your cat to work day or one of the million other things that someone deemed should have its own special day. These focus days are good fodder for writers.

There are serious subject matters for some days, and they are important. Days such as National Organ Donor Day and National Grief Awareness Day could generate helpful and weighty articles for magazines. Just remember that magazines accept articles months in advance of the date they will be published so if you are going to write for a special day or occasion, plan accordingly.

Since this is a lighter look at writing, let’s think about some of the fun, lighthearted designated days. January 2nd is National Cream Puff Day. What a yummy idea starter to write about. The second Monday in January is clean off your desk day. I really need to observe that one before I can write about it. April 4th is Hug a Newsperson Day. Now that might get us on the news. National Wear Your Pajamas Day is April 16th. That’s strange, I thought every day was pajama day for writers.

Time to focus and come up with some writing ideas. Peanuts are a good subject. There is National Peanut Day, Peanut Butter Day, PB&J Day and so on and so on. Okay, we have a subject now, what can we write?  How about an article on peanut allergies for a parenting magazine. Maybe another article on the benefits of peanuts for a health pamphlet. Let’s not forget peanut people like George Washington Carver and our peanut farming president Jimmy Carter. One last note about peanuts. Did you know they aren’t really nuts. Interesting enough for an article, right?

If you don’t like peanuts then pick a nut, any nut. I’m sure there is a day for it. Don’t like nuts at all? No problem. Maybe you prefer chocolate, hard candy or fish. They all have a day. No matter what your taste you still have plenty of subjects to choose from and plenty of serious and ridiculous idea generating themes. So, find one and go nuts or not.

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.

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The Picky Pen

Considering Word Choice

Previously, we talked about the need to vary sentence structure to keep your writing from sounding repetitive. In that article, I compared it to word choice. This month, we are going to discuss how to avoid sounding like you are a writer with a limited vocabulary. Go on, break out those words you learned in English class! I remember filling out the numerous pages of activities in those vocabulary books we had in high school, but to be honest, the thesaurus was really my best friend in college. These days, finding replacement words is as easy as highlighting, right-clicking, and going to the built-in thesaurus in Microsoft Word.

There is more to word choice than just not sounding repetitive, though. Choosing the right word depends on several factors.

Questions to ask yourself when considering word choice:

1.    Who is your audience?

The words you choose should be appropriate for the intended audience. If your writing is informational, you are probably aiming at a specific audience; therefore, you will most likely be using technical jargon that those readers will already be familiar with. On the other hand, if you are aiming at the masses, you will use more commonly known words. Your choice of words is obviously going to be quite different if you are writing a piece such as a textbook than it would if you were writing a children’s picture book.

2.    Are your words specific enough for the reader to develop a clear picture?

Be descriptive. This can range from using a specific word to communicate meaning to using figurative language to make your writing more relatable to the reader.

Here are some examples to get you started.

·       Verbs

If you consistently use the word “said” when writing your dialogue, it begins to sound bland. Changing “said” to “squawked,” “bellowed,” or “sighed” lets the reader “hear” the tone being used, as well as envision the speaker’s body language. With a well-chosen verb, you may not even need an adverb, as it provides a visual description without it.

·       Subjects

The same subject in every sentence, such as a character, referring to an author, or using the same pronoun can quickly bore a reader. To keep the reader’s attention, you may want to use a transition phrase or place the dependent clause at the beginning of the sentence.

·       Similes and Metaphors

Use similes and metaphors to engage the senses when describing a scene. This allows the reader to activate prior experiences in order to understand what you are trying to convey. Experiences help the reader to create a vivid image, smell, feeling, or other sense in their mind.

·       Details

I am sure you are probably familiar with the phrase “It’s all in the details.” Well, that is exactly what we are talking about here. Those details are extremely important if you expect to have engaged readers that will return to your writing again and again. The reader does not want to know that the main character ate a hamburger. Instead, the reader wants to be able to visualize tasting that hamburger himself. It is not enough to say that you are standing in front of a mountain. Many people have never seen a mountain, so you need to paint a picture for that reader with sights and smells that they may already be familiar with.

3.    Is your passage too wordy?

I know, you are probably thinking that I just told you in the last section to be descriptive. Obviously, being descriptive often involves using lots of words, but not always. Sometimes, it is just best to be direct. This partially depends on your audience. If you are trying to inform readers who do not have prior knowledge of a subject, you may want to provide more specificity. On the other hand, you might not want to provide so much as to confuse the reader or make them lose interest. If you are writing to a group that is already well-informed on the subject, it may be best to be direct but use more technical jargon. There is a delicate balance to writing that can sometimes be difficult to navigate.

4.    Do your words fit the style and tone of your piece?

The tone of your writing serves to illustrate your emotional position, or feeling, regarding the subject you are writing about. Your word choice, the punctuation you use, and even sentence structure within your piece all convey what we call tone.

The two main types of tone are formal and informal.

·       Formal

Formal writing is typically used for academic purposes or other professional works. This tone is considered informational, or nonfiction. In this type of work, the writing is straightforward and full of facts. Sentences are grammatically correct, including no use of contractions.

·       Informal

Informal writing often sounds conversational and sometimes contains dialogue. Contractions can be used and the writer conveys more emotion.

Beyond being formal or informal, the tone of your writing can be just about any feeling there is.

Examples: angry, excited, friendly, worried, curious, humorous, cold

What tone do you think this piece has?

Word choice can be very difficult. Even if you are not sure which word to use during your initial version, you can (and should) edit and change words when you are done to make the piece flow well. Cut needless words so that your piece does not appear too wordy. Every word kept should express precisely what you want to communicate and should be needed in order to tell a part of the story.

Heather Malone

Heather Malone writes children’s books that focus mainly on Montessori education, special education, and nonfiction. She also dabbles in fiction. Her nonfiction book, Montessori from A to Z, was published in 2023, and her blog on homeschooling students with disabilities using the Montessori method can be viewed at spedmontessorisolutions.com. Her passion is education, which is evidenced by spending over twenty-five years in the field before leaving the classroom to now provide technical assistance to school districts. She lives with her husband and son in Ohio and enjoys traveling to new places in her free time.

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History in the Making

Behind the Doors of the Grocery Store: The Early American Era

History in the making

For writers, opportunities wait behind the doors of the grocery store!

A plethora of plots. Character reveals. Centuries of setting choices.

Plots or sub-plots—romance, thievery, espionage, even murder—hope to be chosen for a writer’s next work. Love blooms on Aisle 4.  A desperate mother shoplifts. Dollar bills go missing from the money box. Who poisoned the produce?

Character reveals or characters revealed? There’s a place for both in the grocery store. The helpful or bitter proprietor. The responsible cashier. The jerk of a clerk. Or the unexpected, welcome or dreaded, encounter at the meat counter.  

Along with plots and characters, a variety of grocery store settings are available for the picking. From as far back as the infant years of the United States, shops afforded goods to consumers: Trading Posts. General Stores. Mom-and-Pop shops. Full-service grocery stores.

Spanning four centuries, 17th through the early 20th, customers could make purchases at the TRADING POST, GENERAL STORE or a MOM-AND-POP shop. Demographics, architecture and technology might change, but the overall model of these establishments remained during this era.

TRADING POSTS arose and scattered across the United States as adventurous folks moved westward to explore the land. Initially, the trappers who operated the posts traded guns, ammunition, cloth and trims, and cookware to the local Indian tribes in exchange for furs and food. Bartering was common as opposed to a fixed-price system. Extending credit was common, luring customers to return.

Over the decades the face of the Trading Post morphed according to the increase in population and the changing landscape as more people moved west to settle in communities. Farmers, ranchers, travelers by stagecoach or rail, Pony Express riders, along with the Indian tribes might do business at the Trading Post. The proprietor would keep busy stocking shelves, bartering and selling, and cultivating working relationships and friendships with customers.

GENERAL STORES

The locale of the store would determine much of the product offered to the customer. For example, if the General Store is the only shop in a tiny town, though they provide mostly dry goods, at times they might have eggs, fresh fruit or vegetables brought in by a local farmer in exchange for credit or product. They may also stock items that are unique to the needs of those area residents. Specialty items were likely ordered and took a long time to receive. The post office might deliver mail to their facility and the customer would pick it up when they came by.

If the General Store is located in a large town or city where numerous specialty businesses operate, dry goods would be their main stock,  

 A day in the life of the proprietor might include unloading a shipment of goods or stocking shelves. Customers, both men and women, would hand him a list, or simply tell him what they needed. The requested items would be placed on the counter. After calculating the cost, the owner would load them in the customer’s sack or wagon to take home.

By 1883, proprietors might have set aside their pencil and paper and used a cash register which was invented by James and John Ritter circa 1878.

MOM AND POP shops are distinguished from General Stores in that they are usually family-owned and often a specialty store such as butchers, bakers, pharmacists, or shoemakers, etc.  

Mom and Pop stores were likely flanked on either side by other stores in a string of buildings on the main street of town. Owners often lived on the second floor.

Progressing into the 20TH CENTURY

In 1916, Piggly Wiggly opened the first self-service establishment. Customers could walk along the aisles and pick out what they wanted to purchase, then take them to check-out for tabulation and bagging. Regional chain stores, as late as the 1920s, continued counter-service for procurement of dry goods.

Shoppers still needed to visit the specialty shops for meat and produce.

Circa 1937, King Kullen opened the first grocery store featuring an onsite baker, butcher and a large produce department.

Shortly after King Kullen’s opening, the shopping cart was introduced. This made shopping easier for the customers, but also, the sale of more merchandise increased profits for the owner.

These early 20th century advancements in grocery services paved the way for the shopping experiences enjoyed by 20th and 21st century consumers. But that’s a story for another day.

As for creative writers, fodder for meaningful and exciting stories waits behind the doors of any Trading Post, General Store, Mom and Pop shop, or Full-service Grocery Store.

One just needs to look to find them.

Jeannine

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.

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Writers Chat

Writers Chat Recap for June Part 2

Writers Chat Recap

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

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Writing with a Disability (Different Ability)

Refreshed and Restored

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.

  1. Take a spiritual inventory.
  2. Evaluate what’s on your schedule.
  3. Admit you are dealing with mental fatigue.
  4. Take a look at your disrupted routine.
  5. 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

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.

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Writers Chat

Writers Chat Recap For June Part 1

Writers Chat Recap

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

Categories
Writing with a Disability (Different Ability)

Stay in the FIght

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.

  1. Find your why.
  2. Find your motivational triggers.
  3. Make sure you’re not chasing someone else’s goal.
  4. Picture yourself as a successful writer.
  5. Create a roadmap and stick to it.
  6. Reward yourself
  7. Establish a routine
  8. Create a vision board
  9. Let go of perfectionism
  10. Cultivate community
  11. Read
  12. 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

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.

Categories
Writing with a Disability (Different Ability)

Divergence And A Writer’s Life

As 2024 rolls away, it is still not playing out as I hoped it would. It is a different kind of year for me. Because of my brain injury, I plan and prepare for daily activities more than the average person.

Unexpected events can be hard for me to adjust to, sometimes even to the point of paralyzing me with fear. Still, I am learning God had different plans for me this year. Taking me out of my comfort zone and challenging me to grow as a person and as a writer. Most of us have a healthy fear of the unknown.

  • Unpredictable
  • Scary
  • Out of our control

After my accident, my life drastically changed and I had no idea what to expect of my new normal. Nor did my doctors and therapists know how I would live, because as our motto goes, “Every brain injury is different. “

Divergence

Growing up as an Army brat, I was used to being different, every few years I had to change schools, homes, and friends. It’s no wonder I enjoyed college so much and being around people from different cultures. However, my accident took being different to another level for me; I live as a divergent of a normal person.

Divergence is a deviation from a course or standard. It means a process of a person doesn’t work in typical ways. The reason why there was so much uncertainty about me after my accident is the doctors performed a risky operation to remove the right side of the frontal lobe of my brain; this caused my brain to rewire itself and diverge from the typical neural pathways.

 My brain injury changes the way every process of my body works. Every function both voluntary and involuntary is altered from the normal process. As an example, I have to consciously think about swinging my left arm when I walk and I have to consciously think about moving my left leg also.

That is how my TBI affects me; however, each brain injury comes with its own challenges and uniqueness, because each brain injury truly is different.

Different

The name of this column reflects persons of different abilities, the mindset is we are not less than healthy individuals, we just have different abilities. Persons with brain injuries like me may function differently only than other people, but we are no less human; even if some may think so.

 We may think and function differently, but we still live, breathe, and bleed like everyone else. Having a brain injury makes me part of the neurodivergent community. This community’s brains receive, process, and filter information in a nontypical fashion. Below are some common diagnoses of the neurodivergent community.

  1. ADHD
  2. Autism
  3. Dyslexia
  4. Dyspraxia
  5. Dyscalculia
  6. Dysgraphia
  7. Tourette Syndrome
  8. Intellectual disabilities
  9. Bipolar disorder
  10. Social anxieties
  11. Traumatic brain injuries

Living with a brain injury for 26 years has taught me to understand and accept different people and lifestyles. As writers, we don’t have the same goals, skills, or paths to success.

I often find myself looking at the success of other writers and feeling inadequate or overcome with disappointment because my writing journey isn’t the same as my writing friends’.

It is easy to get discouraged when we view our differences as roadblocks to success. Instead, we need to learn to celebrate our unique writing journey, skills, and success.

Celebrate

Next month brain injury survivors around the world will celebrate Brain Injury Awareness Month to shed light on brain injury awareness and to celebrate our uniqueness and successes.

We have learned to celebrate the small victories in life. The road to recovery is traveled one small step at a time. My first big success after my accident was learning how to feed myself without the aid of a nurse.

Don’t get me wrong it didn’t feel simple at the time; it was all I could do to keep the food from falling out of my mouth while I ate. Every brain injury comes with its difficulties and successes.

As writers, we each have different strengths and different weaknesses, I don’t know a writer who doesn’t have an area in their skills that they are trying to improve. Writing success and progress looks different for each of us, below are some common steps writers must take on their writing journey.

  • Blogging
  • Starting a newsletter
  • Getting bylines
  • Growing their platform
  • Growing the social media
  • Acquiring an agent
  • Signing a book contract

Each step takes a writer closer to their writing dream; learn to celebrate each success, no matter what the size. Take the time to grow as a writer and process what you learn.

Neurodivergent persons may see and process things differently, but that doesn’t mean they can’t celebrate the progress. Sometimes all I can hope for is a good day when I don’t wake up feeling confused or depressed.

Writers don’t have to wait to celebrate when they get published, we can also celebrate simply meeting our writing goal for the day. Even our daily writing goals can be divergent!

Martin Johnson

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.

Categories
Writing with a Disability (Different Ability)

Great Expectations

Like most people, I entered the new year with high hopes and great expectations. Last year was a mixed bag of highs and lows. However, I ended 2023 feeling low and discouraged about my writing career.

Even after winning a writing award, I failed to secure a literary agent and questioned continuing my writing journey. I had high hopes for this year, a writing breakthrough or possibly an opportunity to relocate from the southeast. A new year is full of possibilities.

  • Better health
  • New opportunities
  • Achieving writing goals

However, the new year hasn’t been easy for me. I have struggled to get motivated to do daily routines, much less keep in the discipline of writing. My creative juices aren’t flowing and I am struggling to be inspired to use my skills and be productive. So much for my great expectations for the new year.

Expectations

An expectation is a strong belief that something will happen in the future or a belief that someone should achieve something. After my accident, I had high expectations about how my recovery would go.

To be honest, I was ignorant of how serious brain injuries are and how hard the recovery process would be. My expectations weren’t realistic. I learned that the hard way the night I fell off the commode in my hospital room before I ever made it to a rehabilitation hospital.

I didn’t get the recovery I expected and I never returned to college as I planned. I had to learn to lower my expectations and develop new realistic goals. I had to learn to make do with the skills and abilities I had, instead of hoping for more.

Brain injury survivors struggle with unrealistic expectations, just like many writers have about their writing careers

“You don’t begin your writing career by writing a book. Start with shorter stuff. Blogs, articles, e-zine pieces. Learn the trade, the business, how to be edited, and work with editors.”

Jerry B Jenkins

Like brain injury survivors, writers need to build their writing muscles before they can take on big projects. Just because you know the basics of writing, doesn’t mean you’re ready for the big leagues of professional publication.

Unfortunately, many writers begin their writing careers with great expectations because they believe the myths about a writing career.

  1. Overnight success is easy.
  2. Virality.
  3. It doesn’t take much time.
  4. I can strike it rich
  5. Writing is easy

Anyone who thinks writing is easy has never tried to write professionally. Writers wear many hats and often spend more time doing other things than writing. Very few writers make a good living off of just writing.

Most writers have side hustels or other sources of income. The reality is the writing life is not always glamorous or rewarding.

Reality

Reality often hits us hard and we have too high expectations. Reality hit me hard after my accident when I wasn’t able to feed myself. It took me time to realize that my limitations were.

After being depressed for a few weeks, I decided to set new goals that were doable with the realities of living with a disability. I had to learn the beauty of letting go and that made my reality a little easier.

I am disabled, but I am not dead. I am legally blind, not physically blind. I am still alive, just living with a different reality. In the brain injury community, the understanding is, “No two brain injuries are alike, each one is different and comes with its own reality.“

As writers, we need to understand success looks different for each of us also and we will find it in different ways.

  • Pleasure of the craft
  • Fame
  • Meeting the needs of others
  • Financial freedom

Publication is constantly changing. Regardless, there may come a time when we each need to lower our expectations!

Martin Johnson

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.

Categories
Writers Chat

Writers Chat Recap for December

Writers Chat Recap

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.”

Learning With Mentor Texts

Co-hosts Melissa Stroh, Brandy Brow, and Johnnie Alexander present examples of fictional works that can be used as “mentor texts,” published fiction that demonstrates specific techniques and skill. Melissa read the opening paragraphs from Hood by Stephen R. Lawhead, to show how to establish sense of place, introduce the protagonist, and set a tone for the story. Brandy read excerpts from Lowcountry Bribe by C. Hope Clark, which effectively uses description to establish characters and the setting. Johnnie read the prologue to All Things Matter by Susie Finkbeiner, and the opening paragraphs from her own short story, A Souvenir In My Pocket, to show the difference in tone of two works written in the first person. As writers, we know how important it is to read in our genres. By purposefully studying the stories our readers love, we can improve our own skills.

Watch the December 5th Replay

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

Best wishes for 2024 from Writers Chat.

Regularly scheduled episodes return on January 9th.

Categories
Writers Chat

Writers Chat Recap for July

Writers Chat Recap

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.”

Writing Books, Releasing a Sound with Louisa Treyborac

Author Louisa Treyborac joins us from France to share her unique writing journey. She reminds us, “you have a quill” and an opportunity to smuggle God’s redemptive message into our stories. Louisa’s spiritual and writing journeys are intricately intertwined. She explains how she learned to be a better writer by translating stories from English to French and the value of entering short story contests. Louisa likes to update public domain classics like Agnes Grey (Anne Bronte) and Persuasion (Jane Austen) to create a modern series. You will be inspired and encouraged by Louisa’s creativity which is rooted in her prayer, “Lord, give me Your strategy for that.”

Watch the July 11th Replay.

Louisa Treyborac, born in Paris, speaks five languages, and follows the family tradition transmitting stories. She writes in French and should soon publish in English. An angelic fantasy novel, an edgy fantasy soft crime fiction, a steampunk dystopian novel for teens, and short stories for kids are part of her inspired creations. And there’s more to come!

From Inspiration to Editing: How AutoCrit Can Help You Unlock Your Book’s Brillance

In this episode of Writers Chat, Jocelyn demonstrates how AutoCrit can make your book shine bright. She also shares how their approach to stronger writing incorporates research from millions of books and the principles of great storytelling into their software. With more than ten years’ experience helping authors produce better books, AutoCrit has kept its finger on the pulse of the industry. Get a look at advanced tools to plan, write, and edit your books. Plus, a vibrant private community for networking. They also have a successful catalog of genre courses and writing workshops.

Watch the July 18th replay.

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

Categories
Guest Posts

You’re A Writer, But Success Requires More than Just Great Grammar

Guest posts

Whether you write professionally or simply want to publish your first novelette, your success depends on more than just your ability to pen a good story. Today, Almost An Author shares a few tips on how to grow your audience so that you can craft a career in creativity.

Keep your resume up-to-date.

No matter what writing path you’ve chosen, you need a resume. Make sure that you keep this updated and on the cloud, and go with a PDF editor to ensure it stays up to date. An editor lets you update a PDF more easily than a word processing file, and they are smaller files that can be downloaded, shared, and opened by virtually all systems.

Make sure you have a dedicated writing space.

Although there’s nothing wrong with grabbing your laptop and plunking paragraphs at your local coffee shop, you should have a quiet and comfortable place to write. The kitchen table doesn’t count. If your home doesn’t currently have a dedicated writing space, make one. But also make sure that you document and track updates so that you can get a higher appraised value on your home when your book becomes a success and you sell so that you can finally buy that secluded cabin in the woods.

Get to know your audience.

Who is your audience? If you answered “everyone,” you’re wrong. Each style of writing is geared toward a different demographic. Young adults, for example, tend to consume different books, magazines, and short stories than their younger siblings. A great tip here is to create what’s known in the marketing world as a buyer persona. HubSpot explains that creating this concocted customer can help you better tailor your product (in this case, your writing) to appeal to your real-world buyers’ wants and needs.

Take to social media.

Social media is an excellent tool for promoting your writing business. It’s also a wonderful platform for connecting with other writers. In addition to networking, you can use free and paid social media posts to get feedback on ideas that you’re not quite sure about.

Write a business plan.

Many of us hope for an angel investor to come along and pay our way until we get the novel from our heads to the presses. But that rarely happens in real life. If you want to make money with your writing, you have to look at it like a business. This requires writing a business plan, which is a document that helps you best outline your marketing, business, and sales strategies.

Run your work past an editor.

When you’re just getting started with writing, the idea of having someone blatantly critique your work is intimidating. You get over that eventually, and you shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that editing is a crucial step in the writing process. Take heart knowing that your editor won’t try to change your piece fundamentally, but their role in your success can’t be underscored enough. Master Class explains that there are many different types of editors, including developmental, structural, line, and copy. Sometimes these are the same people, but it never hurts to have your pieces edited in different styles. If you work in digital marketing, you may also have an SEO editor or others that ensure that your content matches the technical specs needed to rank online.

Is this everything you need to know to be a successful writer? Not even close. However, the tips above, from keeping your resume and writing spaces up to date to using social media for feedback and having a business plan and editorial reviews, can all help you improve both your business and writing skills so that you can pursue your passion as a profession.

As a former banker, Jim McKinley uses his background and skills to provide advice and valuable resources to anyone who needs help with their financial literacy. In his spare time, Jim spends time with his family and his dogs and he maintains his website Money with Jim.  

Categories
Writers Chat

Writers Chat Recap: February Part 1

Writers Chat Recap

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

Categories
Writing for YA

When Writing Goals and Reality Collide

Beginning a new year tends to motivate people to get organized, start new projects, or finish ones they’ve ignored for far too long. It’s a great time to make plans. The trouble comes when it becomes clear that goals are harder to reach than expected. 

If you find yourself so discouraged and you’re inches away from throwing in the towel, it might be time to consider a new perspective.

As writers, we tend to focus on the problems in our writing, which is a necessary thing, but what if we focused on the positive instead? 

Constantly focusing on weaknesses and ignore abilities is a disservice to our readers and ourselves. Don’t neglect your strong points, the parts you do well.

Where Do You Excel? 

Take an assessment. 

What is it about your writing that shines? 

Are you great at story concepts and plot?

Can you produce snappy dialogue?

Are you a lyrical writer? 

Do you create characters that your critique partners and beta readers love? Perhaps you’re good at comedy or evoking an emotional connection with readers.

What are the elements of writing that you enjoy the most?

These are the things that make your voice unique, those natural talents, and it’s easier to improve in those areas than others and make your writing stand out. If you don’t know what your areas of excellence are, consider what your critique partners and beta readers consistently praise. 

Instead of trying to be exceptional at all the different skills, aim for mastery of basic storytelling. Then work at continuing improvement in the areas you already love and are proficient in.

What About the Other Stuff?

Am I saying to ignore the weak spots in your writing? Not at all. But you can’t do everything. Bring the basic storytelling skills up to an acceptable level. Learn basic story structure, understand GMC, how to create interesting characters, and how to write dialogue that is clear, along with the other bare bones every story needs. Once an author has achieved a measure of competency in all the necessary areas, it’s fine to lean into strengths.

When You’re Stuck

Are you stuck at a certain aspect of your story? For whatever reason it’s worked before, but this time, the story or chapter refuses to come into focus. Instead of fixating on what’s wrong, look at what worked before. What made that piece of writing stand out? 

Too much focus on the things we feel we are doing wrong gums up the works.

Lean Into Your Gift

Not everyone can write poetic descriptions. Comedy may never come easy to you. Not everyone will produce a high-octane tale. Some folks always end up with a quiet story, even after brainstorming ideas for weeks. Maybe those writers were never meant to write the stories that remain elusive no matter what they try. Maybe they were meant to show the world their own unique stories.

Focus on the positives and what you love about writing, the parts of the creative process that draw you. Instead of attempting to write like someone else just because they are popular or successful, let your voice onto the page. Continue to hone skills, improving the most real and beautiful parts of your gift, and see what happens.

Donna Jo Stone writes YA contemporary novels about tough issues but always ends the stories with a note of hope. She blogs at donnajostone.com.

Categories
Writing Mentors

An Interview with Writing Mentor Pat Butler

Why do you write? Do you have a theme, message, or goal for your books?

  • I feel called, compelled, and born to write. I can’t not write. It helps me understand what I’m thinking, feeling, experiencing. Whether poems, essays, devotions, or nonfiction, I write with insights and messages to strengthen, encourage, and comfort.
  • I also write to influence readers to perceive God. To spark a thirst in others to seek God for the first or the umpteenth time. To encourage readers to catch God at work in ordinary life, in playful and revelatory ways.
  • A core message is to reveal God as he is, not as we imagine him to be. In two poetry chapbooks, I focused on home, family, and the father’s role in a child’s life. A third explored the dynamics of home, place, and transition. With my current book, Collision, my message is God still heals, but not always as we expect. In spotlighting Jehovah-Rapha, the God who heals, I encourage readers to consult the Great Physician as they work with the medical community. With his uncanny skill in diagnosing spiritual roots of affliction, I hope readers find healing.

How long have you been writing?

Since childhood, with a diary, school essays, and poems.

Tell us about one of your greatest joy(s) in your writing career.

The greatest joy(s) of receiving an acceptance letter from Finishing Line Press for my first poetry manuscript submission; receiving the first hard copy was a childhood dream fulfilled. The ongoing joy of writing and publishing is the power of discovering God and oneself in the process. Then releasing the writing—a vulnerable time—and watching readers, peers, publishers, and gatekeepers react.

Tell us about one of your darkest moment(s) in your writing career.

When I decided to publish a nonfiction narrative and discovered the implications—financial, time, platform, and the unlikely prospect of finding an agent at my age. I felt like all was lost—I’d arrived too late to the game. Because it was an important book to God, me, my audience, and my colleagues, I felt I’d failed.

Rejection is a common experience for writers. How do you overcome rejection? How has rejection shaped you or your career?

I’ve always understood rejection as part of the landscape on the road to publishing. I viewed rejection as a good barometer of my writing, motivating me to improve. Some lessons learned:

  1. Match submissions to a market’s needs. Be a sniper, searching for the right markets for your material before shooting off a submission. 
  2. There are many reasons for a rejection. Don’t take it personally.
  3. Rejection can be God’s way of redirecting your path He has for you.

In what ways has God led you to mentor other writers? Were you surprised when a certain skill or connection led to mentoring opportunities?

The birthing of three new areas of ministry, in the context of missions, converged over the past 20+ years. The timeline:  

  • In the late 90’s: in France, I felt God’s increasing pressure to write for publication. I started with the culture shock poems.
  • Simultaneously, I felt called by God to focus on reaching the artists in my city, including writers. I also began training in spiritual direction. I was as eager to create, write and hang with artists as to persuade Christian artists and writers to consecrate their gifts to God’s kingdom purposes.
  • 2006: repatriated to the US and joined a writer’s group.
  • 2008-14: when I began publishing my first poetry chapbooks, friends, strangers, and colleagues asked me for advice on writing. I enjoyed helping them take baby steps.
  • 2006-2014: The mentoring role developed to the point of training creatives to minister overseas through their art; working with creatives in spiritual direction.
  • In 2015: I took a sabbatical with the goal of writing a nonfiction book. When I returned, I switched roles to “Artist at Large,” with the intention of revising and publishing the nonfiction manuscript. I also had a heavy mentoring role, having trained artists in spiritual direction, based on principles I was now writing about.
  • In 2019: completed a coach-mentoring course, receiving my certificate in 2020.
  • In 2020, with the pandemic, moved mentoring online. Also participated in emerging online writing conferences, where I found a publisher for my second manuscript.
  • June 2022: Collision, How I Found My Life by Accident, my first nonfiction book, released!
  • December 2022, I retired from missions to devote myself full-time to pursue next steps in my writing career.
  • January 2023: I “met” Norma Poore during the Cultivate Christian Creative Symposium, who invited me to interview for this post and here I am!

And all this surprised me and made perfect sense. I’ve observed at conferences and online how popular coach-mentoring was for writers and speakers and saw a potential lane open for me. God wastes nothing and calls us to consider others better than ourselves. One way I can implement that is to consider other writers’ projects and well-being more than my own through writing, mentoring, and spiritual direction.

Tell us about a facet of mentoring that particularly excites you.

When I see that light in the eyes of someone experiencing an insight or breakthrough. I sense God’s presence and witness transformation—pure gold to me. I’m motivated to listen well and ask the right questions to see the eyes light up with understanding!

What venues/methods have you found most effective for meeting and mentoring writers?

  1. Meeting someone over a cup of coffee or tea in a quiet café that affords privacy. It’s neutral, hospitable, and lends itself to conversation, not a clinical encounter. Second best is over the kitchen table.
  2. I usually come with prayer, prepared materials, and a set of questions, depending on whether it’s an intake interview or a follow up meeting.
  3. Prepare spiritually by asking God to lead and release the spiritual gifts necessary for a breakthrough. To give me wisdom, discernment, and patience in listening and speaking.
  4. I’ve worked out of a church office as well, which lends a seriousness and professionalism that helps in some situations.
  5. Mentoring in action, especially for personalities that learn better by doing than talking. Especially in missions, a ride to the airport could be life changing.
  6. Pray with someone so they can experience answers from the Spirit, not look to me as an “expert” or someone with whom they could form an unhealthy attachment.
  7. Online. I converted 😊  I once thought it impossible to practice spiritual direction or mentoring online, until the pandemic forced the issue. I know its limits but it’s effective especially with mentoring on practical levels. Now I thank God for the technology that allows me to mentor artists all over the world, far more than I could do locally.
  8. Using creative expression, which can so quickly unlock the inner movements of our souls. A form of art therapy.

Have you organized or led groups to support writers? (Retreats, ACFW chapters, etc.) How has that experience helped you to mentor writers?

Except for creating a writer’s group in France and occasionally filling in for the facilitator of my writer’s group, no. But for creatives in general, yes. Retreats, devotional times, trainings, workshops, prayer meetings, church meetings with staff and/or members, consulting work. The experiences increased my confidence, joy, and versatility in caring for and mentoring writers and artists.

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 mentored and encouraged through the event.

No, but I’ve attended so many, I saw this from the beginning: my first online writers’ conference with Redemption Press (She Writes for Him). I was quite surprised by the very ‘girlie’ approach, with lots of silliness that wasn’t exactly my style, but it was all very upbeat, positive, and encouraging. When the publisher shared her story deeply and vulnerably, I heard the holy “why” of her heart. I decided she was someone I could work with, who would understand my story, and called after the conference to discuss a manuscript. I ended up signing with Redemption Press for the publication of Collision.

If you speak at writers’ groups or conferences, what are some of your favorite topics to speak about?

  • Healing: The Three-Legged Stool
  • Called to Adventure: The Hero’s Journey with Christ
  • The Art of Forgiveness
  • Longing & Babette’s Feast
  • Lament: When your cape is at the cleaners; finding a cape for the chaos; the hot mess hero.
  • The Architecture of Faith: how we need structure to flourish. The Hero’s Journey and Rule of Life.

What advice do you have for writers as we interact with our peers? What can we do to be better supporters and mentors of our fellow writers?

  1. Cultivate the relationships as well as your ideas.
  2. Become better writers, in craft and professionalism.
  3. Join a writer’s group and enter as a learner and a listener. Develop a thick skin.
  4. Attend a writer’s conference or workshop to build relationships and learn.
  5. “Let each consider others better than yourself.” Listening to others before speaking or promoting your projects.

Do you have a favorite resource or two that you recommend to beginning writers?

The Writer’s Journey, 2nd Ed., by Christopher Vogler

Write His Answer: A Bible for Christian Writers, Marlene Bagnull

Do you have a favorite resource or two that you recommend to writers who are struggling with discouragement?

When God Calls a Writer, by Deanne Welsh

What are common mistakes you see aspiring writers make?

  • Focusing on themselves in their fears, anxieties, and comparisons.
  • Ignoring the industry or letting it intimidate them instead of letting God lead them.
  • Divorcing their writing from the larger writing community and industry, forgetting to see people, forgetting God in the process.

What advice can you give aspiring writers that you wished you had gotten, or that you wished you would have heeded?

  1. Invite God to be your writing partner, to reveal what project and goals to set, where to find the finances, and to enable your success as he defines it.
  2. Set up a realistic writing practice and stick to it. Write, read, revise.
  3. Learn the craft of writing by reading, studying other authors, attending/listening to author talks and podcasts, asking questions.
  4. Join a writer’s group, learn the business of publishing as you learn the craft of writing.
  5. Attend a writer’s conference as soon as you can.

Pat Butler, author, poet, and pioneer in missional arts, envisions a world in which every Christ follower finds and flourishes in the abundant life Jesus promised. Pat cultivates a global network of artists through writing, mentoring, and spiritual direction. She has traveled to twenty-five countries, lived in two, and holds dual citizenship. Currently residing in Florida, Pat walks with cranes, dodges hurricanes, and enjoys her own pillow. Follow Pat’s musings at www.mythicmonastery.org. Collision, How I Found My Life by Accident, is available at Redemption Press and Amazon.

Categories
Guest Posts

Watch Your Step

Hiking can quickly change from breathtaking scenery to a breathtaking fall. We have to watch our steps in order to get where we want to go.

Writers must also take the right steps to achieve our goals.

Failure to Focus

Careful walkers focus on our destination and the best path there. Wrong steps can turn ankles, break bones, or end in death.

Likewise, careful writers maintain focus. We decide what we want to say, how to say it, and stick to it. If we stray off topic, we stumble. That misstep may turn away editors, break our spirits, and end in our manuscript’s death.

Choose a plan. Work the plan.

Faulty Fit

A successful walk requires shoes that fit well. If we ignore the fit, we live with pain.

If writers expect success, we meet publication length requirements. Failure to follow guidelines ends in rejection.

Read the guidelines. Write to fit them.

Flawed Form

Serious walkers never choose dress shoes for hikes. We match our footwear to the demands of our destination.

Serious writers study publications. We verify what audiences expect and what editors accept.

Determine a publisher’s slant. Conform to it.

Flights of Fancy

A little experience can result in overly-confident walkers. We try fancy footwork and tackle challenges beyond our abilities. As a result, we fall flat on our face.

We writers tend to grow fancy with words as well. We use 10 words when four will do. We wax poetic when simplicity suffices. We overemphasize. We repeat. We tell rather than show. We seek cleverness rather than clarity.

Write what needs to be said. Then stop.

Fast and Frenzied

If we rush or multi-task as we put on our shoes, expect problems. Loose laces, slick soles, and other mistakes slip in unnoticed. Readiness takes time.

Before we submit a manuscript, edit several times. Read it aloud and edit again. Wait a couple of days, print, read aloud, and edit once more. Recently, when I cut those steps short, I overlooked a grammatical error that sets my teeth on edge. I have no doubt it does the same for editors.

Take the time to do it right. Otherwise, you’ll do it over.

Final Fix

Before dashing out the door, a cautious walker completes one last check. Clean, comfortable socks? Check. Appropriate shoes? Check. Shoes securely tied? Check.

Writers who want to get published give manuscripts one last perusal before hitting the submit button or sealing the envelope. That simple precaution caught my previously-mentioned grammatical snafu. I was the only one who saw my misstep — that time.

Make one last check. Collect more checks.

Fear of Failure

How many people plan a walking program but never get out the door?

How many writers never write? We read about writing, discuss writing, attend writers conferences, and seek guidance from published writers. Eventually, however, we must take that first step.

Ignore the fear and trembling. Go forth boldly and write!

Diana Derringer is an award-winning writer and author of Beyond Bethlehem and Calvary: 12 Dramas for Christmas, Easter, and More! Hundreds of her articles, devotions, dramas, planning guides, Bible studies, and poems appear in 40-plus publications, including The Upper Room, The Christian Communicator, Clubhouse, Kentucky Monthly, Seek, and Missions Mosaic, plus several anthologies. She also writes radio drama for Christ to the World Ministries. Visit her at dianaderringer.com or on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.

Categories
Grammar and Grace

Empathy versus Sympathy

The words empathy and sympathy often cause confusion. I know first hand. I used empathy in another blog post this morning. I checked the definitions to be sure.

Both words sound similar and end the same. Both have definitions that deal with emotions.

In its most simple terms, sympathy means to feel pity for someone who is experiencing sadness or difficulties.

Empathy is used most often when a person imagines himself in the sad or difficult situations to the point of experiencing the emotions derived from the difficulty. We often hear, “Put yourself in her shoes,” to explain empathy.

Today I used empathy in my other post because I wanted to convey what one of my daughters experienced as she watched her sister navigate the grief of a mutual friend. Her own grief was compounded by the sadness of her sister.

We send sympathy cards when we want to express sadness over someone else’s grief. We feel empathy when we take that grief as our own.

I hope this post clears up the confusion over empathy and sympathy.

Happy writing!

Hope Toler Dougherty holds a Master’s degree in English and taught at East Carolina University and York Technical College. Her publications include three novels Irish Encounter and Mars…With Venus Rising, and Rescued Hearts as well as nonfiction articles. A member of ACFW, RWA, and SinC, she writes for SeriousWriter.com. She and her husband live in North Carolina and enjoy visits with their two daughters and twin sons.

Author of Rescued Hearts
               Irish Encounter
              Mars…With Venus Rising
Visit Hope at www.hopetolerdougherty.com
Categories
Talking Character

Five Questions for Portraying Anger

Anger comes in many shades, from miffed to murderous. Each shade looks and feels different. When a person is miffed, he might roll his eyes or make a snarky comment. When a person is enraged to the point of being murderous, adrenaline is pumping through his body, making him tense, flushed, and ready to punch someone.

Anger expresses itself differently in different people. No two people respond to anger the same way. Some tend towards melodrama while others keep a tight rein on their emotions. For example: Some teachers constantly yell at their students in order control the classroom. Others rarely raise their voice. I remember being more terrified the one day my normally serene homeroom teacher raised his voice than I ever was at the threats of the constant shouters.

[bctt tweet=”With all this variability, writers must take care to describe anger in convincing and imaginative ways.” username=””]

Here are five questions to ask when a scene calls for anger.

  1. Where am I in the story? A story builds tension as it moves towards the climax. You want to slowly increase emotional intensity, and peak during the climax. That doesn’t mean your characters can’t be angry in earlier scenes, but do keep the overall arc in mind. You should allow your characters room to let their emotions grow and deepen, especially those that will be significant in the climax.
  2. What nuance am I looking for? Look up anger in a thesaurus and scan the synonyms. Select one that best captures the nuance of the emotion your character is feeling. Next, determine what sorts of physical and mental responses suit that specific emotion. A good resource for this is The Emotion Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi.
  3. How does my character’s personality affect how she responds? Some temperaments are naturally more expressive than others. Some characters have volatile tempers while others have learned to stuff their emotions (until the clever writer forces them into a corner and suddenly they can’t hold them in any longer). Like in the school example above, one character’s shout may indicate frustration while another character would only shout when furious. Try to keep your characters’ responses consistent and appropriate for their personalities. And always keep in mind that your characters’ responses to anger are probably different from your own.
  4. Is the response appropriate for the situation? I remember a girl in high school who acted by using stock emotions that she put on and off like a mask. All angry scenes had the same intensity, regardless of the situation. If I had the emotional sophistication to detect this two-dimensional acting in high school, your readers can detect similar lack of authenticity in your characters. A character should not become irate when someone cuts in front of them in line—unless you have built the story to explain why the character reacts so out of proportion to the offense.
  5. What emotion(s) underlie the anger? Sometimes anger is just anger, but often the root of anger is some other emotion, such as fear, guilt, or shame. Humans often use anger to conceal other emotions, intentionally or unintentionally. Consider a character’s backstory and their inner issues. When is their anger response actually hiding something deeper? Do they realize it or not? How can you bring that deeper emotion to play on the page?

Anger. It’s a powerful emotion. Use it wisely.

[bctt tweet=”What other emotions does anger hide in your characters? #writer #amwriting” username=””]

Categories
Dear Young Scribes

Balancing the Elements of Fiction – Part 1

Have you ever noticed how some authors tend to focus too much on writing certain fiction elements, yet ignore the others? Maybe their writing sounds a little like this…

Dialogue
Action beat
Dialogue
Action beat
Dialogue
Action beat

And on and on. Or perhaps the author writes far too much description and internal monologue and not enough dialogue or action. This becomes easily distracting, don’t you think? This is why we need to be careful that we aren’t making the same mistake in our own writing.

The elements of fiction include the following: description, dialogue, exposition, action beats, & interior monologue. Fiction writers should study and master each of these elements separately if they wish to deliver a story in novel format. However, the placement of these elements is vital. The elements need to be braided together throughout each scene and flow naturally so the scene becomes 4D to the reader. It’s a writer’s job to understand how to balance these elements in a way that keeps the pace of the story moving along.

Let’s think about this in movie format. Pretend as though you’re watching a film. If the camera focused on the scenery of the setting rather than the dialogue, I doubt you’d be intrigued enough to continue watching the movie. On the other hand, if the scenes focused on back-and-forth dialogue, don’t you think that’d feel restricting? Each element of the story must work together in order to portray the full spectrum.

If we can establish this in our fiction novels, then we will master the art of crafting a story that immerses our readers and brings them into a “fictive dream”. They’ll feel almost as though the story is happening to themselves rather than to the characters.

This is a balancing act, one that every fiction writer must strive to achieve in their stories. If we give too much emphasis on exposition and description, then dialogue, interior monologue, and beats will be neglected. So how can we balance the elements of fiction?

First, we must understand the definition and role of each element. We’ll discuss this in the next post of this series.

Which of these elements do you tend to give too much attention to in your own writing?

[bctt tweet=”Balancing the Elements of Fiction – Part 1 #writingtips @TessaEmilyHall” username=””]

Image Credit: My Gre Exam Preparation

Categories
5 For Writing

My 5 Rules for Writing

Snoopy

My favorite canine writer, Snoopy of Peanuts fame, received a boatload of rejection slips in his pursuit of a publisher over the years, and some of them are gems.

“Dear contributor, thank you for submitting your story to our magazine,” one publisher wrote to Snoopy. “To save time, we are enclosing two rejection slips…one for this story and one for the next story you send us.”

In publishing, it’s a dog-eat-dog world.

That’s why there is no shortage of advice on writing and getting published. For instance, five commonly quoted rules on writing and finding a publisher came from Robert Heinlein, the famed science fiction writer. Heinlein’s five rules are:

  1. You must write.
  2. You must finish what you write.
  3. You must refrain from rewriting, except to editorial order.
  4. You must put the work on the market.
  5. You must keep the work on the market until it is sold.

Four of these rules are excellent for both beginning and experienced writers, but I find Rule 3 on the strange side, as do many people; in fact, one online post about these rules comes with an Aspiring Author Warning—“Don’t try #3 at home.” From what I understand, Heinlein admitted that he did revise and rewrite, so I’m not sure where that rule even came from.

Regardless of the oddness of Rule 3, this time-tested list got me thinking about what rules I have subconsciously followed during my 38 years of writing since graduating from journalism school in 1977. So I came up with my “5 for Writing.

  1. Get writing. Find the time to write. Then do it.
  1. Learn by listening—and doing. Solicit feedback, discern what helps you.
  1. Finish your story. Edit and rewrite, but don’t tinker forever. Reach the finish line.
  1. Thrive on rejection. Get your story out there. Be fearless. Accept rejection.
  1. Become a juggler. After one story is finished, be ready to start another. Consider writing two at once.

Note that my Rules 1 and 3 correspond to Heinlein’s 1 and 2. Every list of writing rules probably needs those two because starting and finishing are the two greatest obstacles. As the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once said, “Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending.”

As for Rule 2, it takes time to find a reliable circle of friends and colleagues who give you honest and helpful feedback. But it’s critical. Rule 5 may not be for everyone, but I work best when I’m juggling several projects. And if the idea of writing more than one story at a time makes your brain hurt, at least try to get multiple manuscripts on the market; it only increases your odds of finding a publisher.

Finally, my “thrive on rejection” rule was inspired by an old episode of the TV show M*A*S*H when Hawkeye Pierce said something to the effect of “I thrive on rejection.” Hawkeye was talking about not giving up when it came to finding a woman, but I have found that this philosophy also applies to finding publishers. (Both can be heart-breaking pursuits.)

In my forthcoming blogs, I intend that each installment will fall under one of these five rules—and if it doesn’t I’ll find a way to shoehorn it in. In the meantime, try to maintain the same indefatigable spirit of Snoopy—the only writer to ever have a mailbox run away from him when he tried to send off a new manuscript.

So what was Snoopy’s response to his many rejections? He once wrote back to a publisher by saying, “Gentleman, regarding the recent rejection slip you sent me. I think there might have been a misunderstanding. What I really wanted was for you to publish my story, and send me fifty thousand dollars.”

After a pause, Snoopy added…

“Didn’t you realize that?”

Now that’s a dog who thrives on rejection.

 

 

Categories
Specs: Speculative Fiction

Committed Writer or Dabbler?

Hey guys, I wanted to kick this whole thing off by welcoming you to the ranks. (Though I’m sure some of you have been at this even longer than I, so some could probably welcome me to the ranks.)

Any-hoo, whether your writing is just an outlet, or you’re looking to be published, you are a writer. But there’s a difference—did you catch it?

Sarah Horrigan notebook

Writers fall into two major categories: those who Commit and those who Dabble. Both would argue they’re writers, but the differences are key.

Dabblers weave tales for themselves. To them, writing is an expression, an outpouring the world may never see. Perhaps they want to keep it that way. Or maybe they want to share their words, find a voice through writing, but they’re nervous. What if people don’t like it? Basically, they fill journals and blog for a few friends and family, but their writing is a hobby.

Then there are the Committed—they write for others. Their voice matters, and they want people to hear their stories. They want to impact their audience, and they’ll go the distance. Every day, rain or shine, doesn’t matter how they feel. They don’t quit writing.

BK Brad Paisley quote

What kind of writer are YOU? I, personally, am a Committed Spec-Fic writer. Of course, I’m a teenager, and that makes it challenging as I learn the system. But I’m up to it.

[bctt tweet=”Are you a committed writer? Or a dabbler? #teenwriters #amwriting #YAspecfic”]

If you’re Committed, you’ll find a lot of great resources on this blog, and not just resources but community. If you’re looking to share with others, your stories, then most likely you’re already a committed writer.

Perhaps you wish you were.

Dabblers, to effectively commit, these tips are your best friends:

Set a time. Write every day. Many writers don’t understand how important this is. It may sound like overkill, and there will be days it’s a chore, but this tip can often keep you from drifting back into Dabbledom. The more you write, the better your writing will be. In King Julian’s words, “See how that works?” Even if you’re not working on a manuscript, devoting ten to thirty minutes a day to writing will be quite the asset. What you put in it is what you get out of it.

King Julien kiss

Know your audience. So many writers transitioning from Dabbler to Committed get caught by this guy. For their whole writing career, their audience has been themselves. But without knowing your audience, how can you choose what to write about and how best to communicate it? For this blog in particular, knowing my audience was vital.

Learn the industry. Look, I love shortcuts as much as the next guy, but there are none in the writing industry. It’s imperative that you know what you’re doing. Follow great blogs. Friend your favorite authors on social media. Get information by going to a writer’s conference. For fellow Spec-Fic writers, a highly recommended conference is Realm Makers. A conference is where you’ll make connections, gain opportunities, and most importantly, better your craft.

So who’s with me? Comment and let me know you’re in this for the long haul.

And then find me on Facebook or Google +. Thanks to Sarah Horrigan and BK for the (unaltered) images. And beautiful thanks to King Julien, because he’s my BFF.

Categories
Grammar and Grace

Adjectives are Cool!

This month at Grammar and Grace we’re studying adjectives. Adjectives are words that tell something about a noun or a pronoun.

An easy point to remember about adjectives is that they normally come right before or right after the noun or pronoun.

*The red wheelbarrow rests beside the path.

*The donkey–tired and stubborn–refused to finish plowing the field.

Adjectives that come after a verb (usually linking verbs) modify or describe the subject. These adjectives are called predicate adjectives.

*The pesto is yummy.

Adjectives can tell something about appearance–spectacular, nubby; color–black, gold; condition–bashful, intelligent; personality–victorious, ditzy; quantity–empty, packed; shape–snake-like, plump; time–early, retro; taste–sour, bland; touch–sizzling, velvety. (Yes, I agree. Some of these adjectives fit in more than one category.)

Do you notice anything about the adjectives? They don’t end with similar letters that shout, “Hey, I’m an adjective.” Just remember, if a word gives more information about a noun–how many fingers? Five–or if it makes a noun distinct from another noun–the red car, not the blue one–it’s an adjective.

Happy writing!

 

Categories
The Binge Writer

Are you a Binge Writer?

I am a binge writer.

I always have been, and I probably always will be. What is a binge writer you ask?

A binge writer is an author who indulges in writing for a brief period of time. Often followed by extended periods of an absence of writing.

For me, I can write 10,000-15,000 words a day typing at 25 words per minute. I know what you are thinking, and yes, I am a terrible typist. I am actively working to get my words per minute count higher. Mainly because I want to have more output during my writing binges.

This year I wrote a 70,000 word novel in about 70 hours. It was a fun experience for me, but once I finished I had to get back to reality. I didn’t write again for an entire month.  I also entered 13 writing contests after taking a weeks vacation to write. I wrote a ton that week. After I entered the final contest, I didn’t write again for a month.

I would like to say that I do this on purpose, but I don’t. It’s my personality.

God wired me this way.

I have tried to write a 1,000 words a day and I last about three days. I am not wired to be that consistent. But I can sit down and write a ton of words in a short amount of time.

[bctt tweet=”A binge writer is an author who indulges in writing for a brief period of time. “]

Maybe you are like me, maybe not.

In my periods of non-writing, I study, I read, and I enjoy life. All of these things help make me a better writer. I use what I learn to improve my writing and to help increase my productivity when I do finally sit down and write.

So… This blog is dedicated to Binge Writers or to those of you who want to use some of my Binge Writing techniques to increase your own writing output.

I will discuss writing software, apps, websites, writing techniques, procrastination, writer’s block, and many more. Hopefully these posts will help you meet deadlines, increase word count, and become the best writer you can be.

Any ideas on post topics? Post them in the comments below.

[bctt tweet=”What is a binge writer you ask? #writer #binge #writing”]

Categories
Write Justified

The Times They Are A-Changin’

As languages go, English is fairly young. It’s been about 1400 years since the Anglo-Saxons imported English into Great Britain. And the struggle to adapt continues because language is dynamic. The English language continues to adjust to changes in word usage and new words that make their way into the vernacular. Just this year, Merriam-Webster added 1000 new words to its dictionary.

It’s our job as writers and editors to keep abreast of such changes and accepted usages. While we may not adapt every new coinage, we need to know what is acceptable usage in the publishing world—thanks to authorities like Merriam-Webster and the Chicago Manual of Style (CMoS). With the 17th edition of CMoS due out in September, here’s a heads up on three changes that are likely to have the greatest impact on your writing/editing.

  • E-mail will become email—no hyphen. This is a progression that many additions to the language make—moving from a hyphenated to closed compound. While some style guides have been rendering email as closed for some time already, when CMoS does so, it’s official.
  • Internet becomes internet—lower cased.
  • Singular they is acceptable in some cases. Although the pronoun they usually refers to a plural antecedent, CMoS acknowledges it can also refer to a singular antecedent. In cases where the gender of the antecedent is not known, the singular they is acceptable, rather than the generic he or the cumbersome he/she. Truth is, this is the way most of us speak. So, in informal writing the following is permitted:

Whoever ratted out the thieves should get an award for their honesty.

Who wants cheese on their burger?

              Keep in mind that singular they, like singular you is treated as a grammatical plural and takes a plural verb:

They have seven PhDs among them.

Their degrees are in the sciences.

Never let anyone tell you English is a staid language. Sometimes, it’s all an editor can do to keep up with the changes.

Categories
Grammar and Grace

What are Pronouns?

 

A pronoun is a word that can take the place of a noun in a sentence which means pronouns can work as subjects, objects, and complements. Pronouns come in different forms and are used for different purposes.

Pronouns can be personal, indefinite, reflexive and intensive, demonstrative, relative, possessive, and interrogative. For this post, we’ll focus on personal pronouns.

Compared to nouns that can be descriptive on their own and especially with an added adjective, pronouns might seem bland. Without them, however, sentences would be boring, awkward, and maybe a tad silly. Take a look at the following sentences.

With pronouns: Anna designed the pattern, cut it out, fitted it to her mom, and sewed it.

Without pronouns: Anna designed the pattern, cut out the pattern, fitted the pattern to Anna’s mom, and sewed the pattern.

Personal pronouns refer to one or more people and are classified according to case: subjective, objective, or possessive.

Subjective Case                     Objective Case                       Possessive Case
I                       We                       Me                   Us                          My, Mine                    Ours
You                 You                      You                 You                         Your, Yours                Your, Yours
He, She, It     They                   Him, Her, It   Them                    His, Her, Hers, Its    Their, Theirs

*Remember that subjective case pronouns are used as subjects or subject complements. Objective case pronouns are used as indirect objects, direct objects, and objects of prepositions. (They can also be subjects or objects of infinitives, but that’s a subject for a future post.)

*Remember to make certain that pronouns refer clearly to their antecedents, the word they’re replacing. Keep them as close as possible to the antecedent.

*Remember to make pronouns agree in number with the antecedents.

Check out this earlier post for more information about pronoun usage and agreement http://www.almostanauthor.com/choose-correct-pronoun/.

Do you have questions about pronouns?

Happy writing!