The Art & Craft of Writing Toward Publication Archives

Your Job as a Writer: Tell Your Stories
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Your Job as a Writer: Tell Your Stories

The Art & Craft of Writing Toward Publication

Your Job as a Writer: Tell Your Stories

“Every secret of a writer’s soul, every experience of his life, every quality of his mind, is written large in his works.” Virginia Woolf Oh, the Stories We Have to Tell! The human experience is made up of stories—good, hard, sad, ugly, beautiful…memorable. Do we tell enough of them? Do we write enough of them? Probably not—but because we live and have a soul, our stories are valuable. When I was in junior high, my language arts teacher taught us to write about what we know. It must have made an impression, because I can still see her telling this to our class! Here are some important points to think about: Write about what you know—experiences you’ve had, real people (actual names or made up) you’ve known, familiar/remembered places. If you’ve kept a journal, read and refer back to it. Just one word may remind you of an event you could use to jump-start a story. Read. The more we read, the more we learn. When we read a lot, we learn to distinguish between good writing and bad, what words work well, how to structure scenes and sentences, what types of stories are worth spending time reading. And we often learn all of this without even realizing it. Write write write. Set a goal to write something every day. Even if it’s fifteen minutes, write something. Remember that your first draft is just that: a draft. It is not the final product, so it may be terrible. But it’s a [...]

By Lee Desmond|2018-10-09T16:19:17+00:00October 9th, 2018|The Art & Craft of Writing Toward Publication|Comments Off

Why do you want to write a book and tell your story?
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Why do you want to write a book and tell your story?

The Art & Craft of Writing Toward Publication

Why do you want to write a book and tell your story?

What holds you back from telling your story? Ideas are like a flooding rain in my mind. I have more thoughts about stories and concepts than I can work with until I sit down and focus on the one idea that I’ve decided to turn into a book. At that point, a drought settles in which is usually followed by doubt. What was I thinking? Why do I think I can write a book? Ali, if you were a real writer, you could pick an idea, outline it into a sequence and write a story or nonfiction book. The pressure from my inner voice tempts me to procrastinate until I give up. However, if I had listened to the naysayer in my subconscious, I would not have 12 books for sale on Amazon. So, how does a writer move from procrastination to publication? Today, I want us to look at what I believe is the most important step for a writer to go forward and that is to answer a very personalized question. Understanding your deepest motivation for writing your books is not the only tool a writer needs to move from procrastination to publication, but it is a big one. The #1 question to answer before writing a book Why do you want to tell your story? The answer to that question is your BIG STORY goal. Knowing this fact will carry you through doubts and negative self-talk about becoming a writer. Goals [...]

By Ali Dent|2018-04-09T00:13:06+00:00July 14th, 2017|The Art & Craft of Writing Toward Publication|Comments Off

Tyranny Of The Good
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Tyranny Of The Good

Making Time, The Art & Craft of Writing Toward Publication

Tyranny Of The Good

“Sometimes saying ‘No’ is the only way back to a life of ‘Yes.’" —Shauna Niequist All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things build up. —I Corinthians 10:23 Good Things Have there been times in your life, maybe even now, when you are doing good things—really good things, LOTS of good things—but you realize that something isn’t quite right? If you’re like me, the answer is a resounding “YES!” If we’re honest, most of us walk...or run really fast...that pathway more often than not. We get busy doing activities or jobs that are productive and helpful and serving others and life-giving. Why would we NOT want to do those things?? When our family moved from our beloved east Texas to Colorado several years ago, I felt that if I didn’t get involved and be of service and make friends pretty quickly, I might sink. We had left the place where we raised our children and ourselves; where we helped start a church, served in the community, and were involved in myriad home school activities; we left friends we did life with and with whom we developed roots. Because I had been doing all of these good things, before we got unpacked, I started putting my name on lists, volunteering for needs at church, and looking for people who were in the same life-vein as I was. All of those things were good! STOP! Slow Down! But about [...]

By Lee Desmond|2018-10-09T01:06:10+00:00June 16th, 2017|Making Time, The Art & Craft of Writing Toward Publication|Comments Off

Basics of Becoming a Writer

“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There's no way around these two elements that I'm aware of, no shortcut.” ― S. King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft You have started your business and have the all-too-real awareness that you are now required to write. At a minimum, you probably need to write your business bio. If you are creating a website, you will have a lot more to write, or you will have to hire someone to do it for you. But, before you do that, consider these basics of becoming a writer. All of us have the ability to write. My first piece of advice is to stop freaking out about writing. If you can talk - you can write. At first, it may need some editing, but if you can string your ideas together and tell someone about yourself or your business, you can write. Here are practical approaches to getting started, composing, and improving your writing. Getting started. Many professional writers will tell you the hardest part is getting started. For some, it is the blank page; for others, it is the act of putting yourself in front of the screen and actually typing. Procrastination is one of the most common reasons for not finishing your writing. So to get started, follow these tips. Brainstorm to get going. I love to brainstorm everything. I will do it for [...]

By Karen Bourg|2018-08-08T21:12:50+00:00June 9th, 2017|The Art & Craft of Writing Toward Publication|Comments Off

YOU ARE A WRITER!

A few decades ago, writers were only considered writers if they were published in print. This misconception is no longer true in our digital age. There are all kinds of writers with all sorts of styles writing many different things. Guess what—YOU are a writer! A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver. Proverbs 25:11 ESV You are a writer: Your words are powerful. Words are powerful. The power of life and death is in the tongue! While writing is not speaking, it is a form of communication within which you have power. You are a writer because you write. It doesn’t matter if you write in your journal, letters to friends, long emails, poetry or short stories. Writers write! You need no other accomplishments or distinctions to let you know you are a writer. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits. Proverbs 18:21 As a writer, you have a responsibility to use words carefully and intentionally. Words are impossible to get back once published. Chances are, if you have been writing for any length of time or even thinking about what you want to say - that is your voice. You are a writer: You have a voice. So, we know you are a writer or that you want to be. You might be sitting scratching your head saying, “But Karen, I have nothing to write about.” Yes, you do. You [...]

By Karen Bourg|2017-06-01T13:41:26+00:00June 2nd, 2017|The Art & Craft of Writing Toward Publication|Comments Off

Do Less, With More Focus: Five Tools for Managing Your Distractions

I used to end my writing sessions feeling unproductive and defeated—like I had wasted so much time with nothing to show for it—until one day, I learned something about managing distractions that changed my writing career. It’s much easier to write about solving the problem of distractibility than it is to live out the process. With practice, we can take control of our writing time and complete each writing session with a sense of accomplishment. Rest assured—all successful writers face distractions and need a plan to fight them. The Parable of the Distracted Baker Once upon a time, a girl decided to make a fresh blueberry and apple pie. Her neighbor across the street had a blueberry farm and an apple orchard divided by a wide river with a bridge connecting them. The girl crossed the street with two baskets in hand. She started at the blueberry farm because it was on her side of the river. She’d only picked a handful of blueberries when the wind blew in from the direction of the apple orchard. She inhaled deeply, relishing the sweet aroma. Her mouth watered as she thought, I want an apple. She set her blueberry basket beside the bush where she was picking and crossed the long bridge to the apple orchard. The orchard spread out as far as she could see. The girl picked a few apples for her basket and one to eat right away. Oh, it tastes delightful, she thought, the perfect blend [...]

By Ali Dent|2018-04-09T00:07:49+00:00May 26th, 2017|The Art & Craft of Writing Toward Publication|Comments Off

Pomodoro Time!

Pomodoro: denoting a sauce made from tomatoes, typically served with pasta; Italian - ‘tomato’ OR A time management technique developed in the late 1980s by then-student Francesco Cirillo. If we’re honest, most of us—at one time or another—have trouble managing our time; life happens, and too often, daily distractions keep us from getting the OTHER important tasks accomplished that we want or need to do. Like writing. The Pomodoro Technique is here to help! Prepare to be amazed! While the Pomodoro Technique can help with many daily tasks—cleaning, study, music practice, etc.—using it for writing is a great way to see progress. Cirillo decided to call this technique Pomodoro—tomato—after the kitchen timer that looks like a tomato. The idea is that you work using the timer, breaking your work into manageable chunks of time. Cirillo recommends 25 minutes for each Pomodoro session, working without interruption for that allotted time. Once the timer goes off, you must stop what you’re doing for five minutes (set the timer for this time, also). When the timer buzzes, signaling that it’s time to work again, set it for 25 minutes and work diligently for that time, then take a five-minute break, and so forth. The key to success is that you schedule and work as many Pomodoros as possible during your day, with three or four sessions being the minimum. Your break time can be anywhere from five to fifteen or so minutes, depending on your day—but I have found that scheduling [...]

By Lee Desmond|2018-08-08T21:16:14+00:00May 13th, 2017|The Art & Craft of Writing Toward Publication|Comments Off