My Take on Pursuing Writing: Part 2

Last Thursday I talked a little about one of the first steps I believe a person should take towards writing. Click here to read my article about, well, reading.

Today we're talking about my second recommended step, which is probably the one a lot of you think about when you dream of writing a book.

Part Two: Write

Yes. Simple as that. Write. Here are a few quick suggestions for writing your book in a way that won't drive you crazy later.

Write: Good Grammar

As much as you may or may not love the study of English, a basic knowledge of spelling and grammar will make your life a lot easier. I don't recommend trying to write perfectly on your first draft, but do yourself a favor and don't ignore your grammar entirely.

Write: A Good Plotline

Your book won't be perfect on the first draft, but it will be better if you've done some reading and have a good plot developed. If you let your plotting go unattended, your book might end up a mess that you can't fix later. I think of it like a bridge. You want your plot to soar over the waters of ... um ... boring-ness. But if you let it sag on the first draft, you may never be able to restructure it well enough so that it will support your readers. Yeah. I think I can at least pretend that was a good analogy....

So that's that!

Write your book! Do it well the first time, but be prepared: no first draft is a finished product. Next week we'll talk about the third step of writing: Revising! 

My Take on Pursuing Writing: Part 1

I remember when I thought that getting a book published would be a matter of A) writing a book, and B) submitting it to a publisher, who would gladly accept.

Sadly (or not so sadly), that’s not how it goes.

I’ve learned quite a bit about the traditional publishing world since then. Today I’m going to give you the first of four “stepping stones” that I’ve taken in my pursuit of writing.

A few things to mention before we get too deep into this conversation. First off, the steps I give you are in an order I think will be helpful, but they may or may not actually be in the order I did them. :-)

Now that that confession is out of the way, one more thing. Don’t take anything I say as law. I’m still trying to figure all this out myself, but I’m hoping here to give you the benefit of what I’ve learned. 

Part One: Read

Before you sit down and devote hours of your life to writing, know what you’re getting into.

Read: Books about Writing

There are plenty of books that will teach you about writing, but some I’ve found particularly helpful are Plot Versus Character; The First 50 Pages; and Write Your Novel in a Month, all of which are by Jeff Gerke. He gives easy-to-understand, practical advice about how to actually write a book.

Read: Blogs about Writing and the Publishing Industry

This is an area in which discernment is necessary. Please don’t waste your time reading just anyone’s opinions on writing (though, in fact, that may be what you are doing right now :-) ). The best resource I’ve found for learning about the publishing world is blogs by Christian literary agents. Wondering what an agent is? Read these blogs!

             

When I found out that agents would freely give out information and guidance, I was thrilled. Here are a few links to get you started:

http://www.rachellegardner.com/

http://www.stevelaube.com/blog/

http://www.booksandsuch.com/blog/

Some Final Thoughts

For someone truly interested in writing, tapping into resources like this could feel like drowning in gold. It’s amazing, but there’s … so much. It’s a lot to take in.

        
Don’t overwhelm yourself, especially before you’ve seriously begun writing! Pick one or two things to start reading. Interested in Jeff Gerke’s books? Buy one and read it a bit at a time. Pick one agent’s blog and check in on it once or twice a week. See what the writing world is like.

          
Once you know a little about what you’re getting into and feeling like you have at least a foggy idea about how to begin writing then you’ll be ready to move on.

           
Check in next week for Step Two: Writing!

Only Now

I used to believe there were a lot of things I couldn't live without.

But I would've told you otherwise.

Recently the knowledge broke on me that I was thinking this way. Before I'd always tried to be a practical thinker. The only things I couldn't live without were God, food, water, and the like. But the last few days the pictures have crept in. All the things I wanted to hold on to. And perhaps the most troubling problem was that it wasn't really things I wanted. It was moments. Days.

I want to sit in the coffee shop near college with my friends. I want to plug in my headphones, listen to my music, and inefficiently write papers while I'm really talking to those around me.

I want to be in a friend's car and watch the leaves just starting to glow spring-green on trees as several of my friends ride down to a hiking spot.

I want to walk down the little wooden steps on a favorite trail and come to the bottom at an abandoned mine site. I want to stand staring into a crumbled building whose only floor is grass and wonder what it used to be.

I want all of it back.

And I can't have any of it. This obvious truth hit me hard, but it was freeing. I can't have a single moment back. I can go to the coffee shop again. Same friends, same music. Not the same moment.

I can hike to the mine again. Walk past the old buildings. But I can't go back in time.

It's the truth for all of us. Just a second ago when you read that last paragraph, you blinked away that moment and it's gone. The only thing left to us is now.

I feel so freed.

I don't have to try to hold on to or recapture something that's past, because it's impossible. I can be thankful, so thankful for the good times. I can look forward to more. I can praise God for how He's used me for His service, and I can try every day to get closer to Him.

But I can be content in what I have--today--without pointlessly chasing after what's gone. 

After these Months ....

It's actually been months since I've written here. Sorry about that, but I've had other things to attend to.

This has been a crazy semester. Academically it has been the most challenging I've known (though my grades were still good!). Friends and ministry have kept my spare time busy as well.

One day very near the end of the semester, I sat down in my dorm room and prayed through the semester.

Sadly, I had some regrets. I've been unthankful this year at school. I've had wrong attitudes and cared more about grades than godliness at times.

After the list of wrongs was finished and repented for, I started the list of my blessings. And was filled with gladness.

God has been so good to me this year. He has given me wonderful friends. My drama team worked together amazingly, and the team members were great friends I really needed this year. I've gotten to take some amazing hikes out into God's creation. And the list went on and on ...

Hopefully soon I'll be able to share more about what's going on in my life, but this is what I have to say today: God is good. He has blessed me immeasurably.

I Have To

I have to keep up with all my friends. Practice piano. Harp. Write on my blog. Write a book. Get straight A's. Know my life plans.

Do you have a similar list? The things you have to do to be good enough?

Honestly, I struggle with these goals over breaks from school. While I'm at college I have plenty to keep my busy, but when I come home I fight a strange war with the time on my hands. I want to rest from the semester, but I don't feel valuable when I'm not accomplishing things.

The truth of the matter? God loves me as His child, not for my accomplishments.

Why do I think everything else matters?

Perhaps the greater problem is not with what I'm doing or not doing, but where I'm focusing. So far, this break has been about me. Getting my rest so I can do second semester. Organizing my schedule. And even worrying about my goals.

It's time to focus on God. Especially now at Christmas. Whenever Christ was really born, He came!! It's time for me to remember how He came. And why.

I have to move past the lists of requirements I "have to" reach to matter.

And I need to come to a place of overflowing praise.

I Don't Deserve This

What was a time in your life when you've thought this? Maybe you got a poor grade on a school assignment and you knew you deserved better. Or perhaps a friend got angry with you for no reason. Or some authority in your life assigned you an extra task or maybe some extra blame.

So many times, it feels like we don't deserve what happens to us.

But hold on, before we start to pity ourselves too much, let's look at this another way.

"Giving thanks unto the Father which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins" (Colossians 1:12-14).

I read these verses today and came to grips with the fact that I don't deserve this. I don't deserve this redemption God has given me.

"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life" (Romans 5:8-10). 

Thanksgiving is coming up. This year, let's allow the awe of not deserving redemption but receiving it anyway bring us to our knees.




 

Why I Write

What makes you do what you do? Was there some trigger in your childhood? Or do you perhaps have a learned passion--something you didn't expect to like? Do you even know why you love what you do?

I've been writing since I was a child, but I couldn't tell you why I started. It happened. I wrote, and I never stopped.

Perhaps sometimes the real question is, regardless of why we begin something, why do we continue it?

Recently I was reminded of one of the reasons I write. In attempts to get more familiar with the contemporary YA market in Christian books, I started doing some reading on my Kindle. In the process, I ran across the book Tournaments, Cocoa, and One Wrong Move by Nancy Rue.

I didn't entirely agree with the way God's Word was treated in this book. In one place I thought the Bible translation/paraphrase being used was completely wrong as it almost inferred incorrectly that Christ wasn't God (though I have to believe it was an unintentional error).

But other than that ... this book was a take-your-breath-away-it's-so-real picture of a teen girl looking for what really matters in life. It struck a chord in me so strongly that it stayed on my mind even when I wasn't reading it. I felt at the end I had been on the main character's difficult journey, and I was moved to tears by a realization of the things that really matter in life, loving God and people.

That, my friends, is the goal for my writing. I don't want to write a book that just excites readers or gains me popularity. I want to write books that encourage today's teens to go to their knees before God and want more of Him.

So think about it. Why do you do what you do?