Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed . ~ 2 Timothy 2:15

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Novel Rocket

Have you checked out the Novel Rocket website?

I've added it to the list of blogs of interest to writers at the right of this page.

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Operation First Novel

Have you written a novel and don't know what to do with it?

Even if it's not the first novel you've written, if you haven't had a novel published, you can enter it in Christian Writers Guild's Operation First Novel. The winner, who will receive a $20,000 advance and a publishing contract with Worthy Publishing, will be announced at the 2014 Writing for the Soul Conference.

For more information, click here.

And while you're visiting the Guild's website, why not check out the courses offered? They will stretch you, challenge you, give you an understanding of the publishing industry, and help you to hone your writing skills.

Following is a list of the courses. Click on the course name for more information.

CORE COURSES:

Writing Essentials

Apprentice

Journeyman

Craftsman

ELECTIVE COURSES:

Building Your Social Media Platform

Articles That Sell

Fiction That Sells

YOUTH COURSES (a great resource for homeschoolers!):

Page

Squire

Friday, August 16, 2013

A time to write . . .

It was full steam ahead the first part of July. The muse danced in joyous freedom. The editor settled down behind closed doors with a good book. I finished chapter 8 of Getaway Mountain, my novel-in-progress. The first draft of Act 1 done. On to Act 2 . . .

Except all came to a screeching halt when my  14-year-old grandson suffered a compound fracture of his upper left arm during baseball practice. Getaway Mountain was put on hold during the crisis.

Trouble is a month later it's still on hold.

I'm sure you identify.

Life happens. There's nothing we can do about it. Sometimes our priorities get shifted out of necessity. As Solomon once wrote, "there is a time for every purpose under heaven."

But sometimes reasons morph into excuses.

Like, "I can't get back in the mood." "I'm too tired." "Too busy." "I haven't a clue what to write next." Yada, yada, yada . . .

The real reason is, "I'm afraid to write." I've bought into the lies whispered into my psych by an enemy who doesn't want me to succeed in what God has called me to do. Lies such as,  "I'm really not a good writer." "My writing stinks." "Why bother? It'll never get published anyway."

I must remember how Jesus dealt with the enemy's lies: “Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s" (Matthew 16:23 NLT).

No more excuses. 

It's a time to write . . . 



POST SCRIPT: SOME QUOTES ABOUT WRITING:

"It took me fifteen years to discover I had no talent for writing, but I couldn’t give it up because by that time I was too famous." - Robert Benchley

"It is perfectly okay to write garbage—as long as you edit brilliantly." C. J. Cherryh

"May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you really can make a difference in this world, so that you are able, with God's grace, to do what others claim cannot be done." - from "A Four-fold Franciscan Blessing"

"The gifts and the call of God are irrevocable." - St. Paul (Romans 11:29)