Praying over Your Dream

   

In the summer of 2012 God answered a deep dream of my heart: as a family we spent two months in Germany.

My husband had spent seven years as a youngster growing up in the Far East, and I wanted to give our kids a taste of that.

Then God did the amazing, and we got to do exactly that.

I left part of my heart in Germany.

And I began to pray almost immediately about whether we could do something like that again. It was a dream, but a back-burner dream. After all, God had already done the impossible once.

 So I started praying. Eric and I had traveled to England and Scotland a couple times, but we hadn't been able to travel as a family. I did something that might make you laugh. I put a Euro in the coin compartment of my purse.  And then every time I got change, I asked God if He would do it again.

The coin became a visual reminder to pray. After we spent our summer in Siena, I added my Italian SIM card to my billfold, and each time I spotted it, it was another reminder to ask if God would do it again.

Last summer, after spending two weeks in Florence, I put this Euro in my nightstand drawer...another reminder to pray.

Last month I spent a week in Jordan, and left another piece of my heart behind. Now a Jordanian quarter has joined the 50 cent Euro piece in my change compartment. Now I'm asking God if and when I'll go back there. Who knows? He's done crazier things in my life.

What are you asking God for? What crazy dream has He planted in your heart?

Is is writing?

What do you have to remind you to pray about it?

Cara Putman

An award-winning author of twenty books, Cara is a lecturer on business and employment law to graduate students at Purdue University’s Krannert School of Management. Putman also practices law and is a second-generation homeschooling mom. She lives with her husband and four children in Indiana.

Organization? Spring Cleaning for Your Writing

Six inches on April 1st? Really??????

The calendar says it's April 3, but Indiana is a bit confused. This is the scene I woke up to yesterday morning. By four p.m. the six plus inches of snow had melted, but it was a bit shocking to have that much snow on Easter.

Despite the snow, I've been feeling the itch to spring clean. That means I've been tackling a drawer here and a hutch there. I pulled all the out-grown kids clothes from various stashes and separated them for four families. Crazy!

There's something wonderful about the feeling of order coming from chaos. The fact that everything has a place that it belongs. There's also something therapeutic about throwing old things away that truly don't serve a purpose anymore. It's hard to do, but it's good.

What does this have to do with writing?

This is how I want all of my spaces to look. A place for everything.

Great question.

Sometimes our writing needs a spring cleaning. We've hit a point where we just need to go through and cut some words. We've gotten a little flabby with our sentences and need to exercise the delete key.

Maybe there's a character that needs to be punched up. A scene that's unnecessary. A chapter that needs to be enhanced.

We need to take a fresh look at what we've written and critically evaluate it.

How?

Maybe it's time to read an award-winning or much talked about book in your genre. How does that writer craft their story? What can you learn from them?

This is how many of my drawers look: Chaos!

Or it's time to crack open that craft book you purchased years ago and remind yourself how to put tension on every page or create three dimensional characters.

Could it be time to pray over your writing and ask God how you're doing?

Or maybe you need to step way back and take a break from writing. Try another creative endeavor. Give your subconscious a chance to noodle the plot points that are giving you fits.

Whatever you do, take a few minutes or hours to spring clean your writing.

Cara Putman

An award-winning author of twenty books, Cara is a lecturer on business and employment law to graduate students at Purdue University’s Krannert School of Management. Putman also practices law and is a second-generation homeschooling mom. She lives with her husband and four children in Indiana.

The Edit Letter: A Writer's Perspective

 This may sound crazy, but I got the best email last month. It was my edit letter on my next book. Delayed Justice will release later in 2018, and I've been on pins and needles since I sent the book in to my publisher and new editor in November. The holidays and life has the edit coming back to me now.

An edit letter.

Opening them can be nerve-wrecking.

Has my editor decided she should never have wanted to work with me? Has she discovered I can't write after all? Does the plot stink? Are the characters weak? Is there anything we can salvage in this story?

It's so easy to let my internal worrier take off and leave me with knots in my stomach. I've learned though to take a deep breath and try to adopt my friend Colleen Coble's approach.

Edits are great. They are a chance to make my story stronger. To put the characters and plot in the strongest position possible before I turn them over to you, my readers. It's a time to pull out deeper themes and threads. To dig deep for the gold that's lying hidden in the pages and words.

And isn't Delayed Justice's cover amazing? I think it's the best I've had yet with the Hidden Justice series. They've all been good, but this one pops!

Do you have questions about the writing life? If so, let me know! I'd love to answer your questions in future posts!

5 Tips to Develop Your Public Speaking Skills

This last mod of the Weekend MBA program at Purdue, I’m taking communications. It’s a class that comes fairly easy for me because I’ve spent the last 20 years intentionally working to become a better public speaker. When I graduated from undergrad many moons ago, I knew I wanted to develop as a speaker. I’d had a speech class in college, but the standard was so low, I could literally get up on days when no one else was prepared, extemporaneously give a speech, and get an A. Nice for the GPA. Not so nice for developing real skills.

Because I wanted to develop skills in this area, I intentionally sought a job in D.C. that would allow me to try, fail, and try again. I’m blessed that my bosses at the Leadership Institute gave me abundant opportunities.

I kept looking for them.

Today, public speaking is relatively easy for me. People often assume it’s always been this way. It hasn’t. Here are 5 tips that I hope will help you become more comfortable speaking.

1) Seek opportunities to practice. When the fear of public speaking ranks right up there with death, it’s often the last thing we want to do. Why on earth would we seek opportunities to do something that makes our knees quake, our stomachs tremble, and our vision blur? Because being comfortable speaking is an important skill that opens doors. So push yourself. Join an organization like Toastmasters.  The key is to practice.

2) Develop an area of expertise that you are passionate about. It is much easier to talk about areas where our passions lie. I can talk about the Monuments Men all day. I could elaborate on why I think it is so important to mentor young people consistently. You have areas of passion, too. Tap into those and your voice and gestures will be more enthusiastic and lively.

3) Watch other speakers. What do they do well? What could they improve upon? What can you learn from watching them? How do they engage with their audience? How do they use words and their voice to catch your attention. Imitate what you learn until it becomes natural to you. There are some masterful speakers to study.

4) Read Public Speaking Books. Wait. That sounds an awful lot like non-fiction, and we love fiction around here! There is a place for non-fiction and this is one of them. A lot of really smart people have written books sharing their secrets…we don’t have to learn the hard way. We can jump ahead to a new level of skill. There are a host of public speaking books out there.  A few I have in my library are Well Said by Darlene Price, The Exceptional Presenter by Tim Koegel, and How to be a Presentation god by Scott Schwertly. Others would add different books to this list. The key is to find a couple books, read them, and slowly incorporate suggestions into your speaking. The Exceptional Presenter has great tips on how to move, gestures, etc. Well Said has great basics on every aspect of speaking. Each has a strength. Taken together they form a strong picture.

5) Listen/Watch your speeches. Eric teases me when I listen to the podcasts or radio shows I’ve been a guest on. It’s not a matter of hubris, but a matter of listening to what I said and how and using that information to look for areas to improve. In the MBA class, each presentation is videotaped and we have to review and critique our performances. You should do the same. It’s only when you listen to yourself that you notice fillers (umms, uhhs, etc.) and note the speed you talk. It’s when you watch that you pick up nervous tics you’re completely unaware of. It’s not always comfortable, but it is a great way to learn.

What would you add to this list?

CLICK TO TWEET:

Are you a #writer who wants to grow your #publicspeaking platform? Then check out these tips from @cara_putman: http://bit.ly/2yVl5mb

Cara Putman

An award-winning author of twenty books, Cara is a lecturer on business and employment law to graduate students at Purdue University’s Krannert School of Management. Putman also practices law and is a second-generation homeschooling mom. She lives with her husband and four children in Indiana.

Reading Quotes for You

Today I thought I'd do something a little different.

I love writing. If you've been around the Alley long you know that. I love talking about writing, but right now I'm doing a lot of writing. So much that I'm dreaming of reading again.

I adore reading...it's not as much work as writing. Today I thought I'd share some fun reading quotes and images. Feel free to post these wherever you like. :-) Consider these my gift to you!

What's your favorite reading or bookish quote?

Cara Putman

An award-winning author of twenty books, Cara is a lecturer on business and employment law to graduate students at Purdue University’s Krannert School of Management. Putman also practices law and is a second-generation homeschooling mom. She lives with her husband and four children in Indiana.

Freedom for Writers

This week we celebrated the Fourth of July, and over on the Facebook group we talked about how it's a great time to be a writer because independence is achievable. I wanted to expand on those tips and see what you would add.

1) Know your goals. Why do you want to write indie? What is motivating that decision? The same questions should be asked if you're pursuing traditional publishing. For me, I'm pursing indie for my books where I have received the rights back from the publisher. It's been a huge learning curve, but I know these are good books and there are readers who haven't discovered them. Indie publishing is a way to get them back out there, update them and more. I love traditional publishing, because I love the partnership aspects. I know they have a platform I don't have on my own. They have the team to help me with all the elements that are overwhelming to consider on my own. That's why I love being with the big houses.

2) The most important relationship is between reader and author. Regardless of how you publish, you have to think about how you will build that relationship. Part of it will be writing more, great books. Then there will be websites, social media, booksignings, etc. you will have to think deliberately about how you will build this relationship. It also requires you to know and listen to your reader. Involve them in the process. Help them acquire ownership of your books. How can you help them become your biggest advocates?

3) Hire an editor. This step is so often overlooked. If you are traditionally published, then you should have three rounds of editing: macro/story edit, line edit, and proofing. If you are indie, you need the same. Even though the book I have put up were edited at least three times, I still hired someone to proof each one. It's amazing what is caught each time. The quickest way to lose a reader is to have a poorly edited book. Don't skip this step. It is worth the expense to make the book is done well. As James Scott Bell says you're best marketing is the book the reader is currently reading.

4) Don't rush. Let's face it. We all get important. But let's not rush into print before we're ready. I have friends churning out 4-6 books a year. I can't do that with everything else going on in my world. Three is about my max; four if I'm writing two with Tricia Goyer. I know that's my pace, and I know this after writing 27 books. What's your pace? How fast can you write and still do a good job? Seriously stop and think about. How much time do you need to make sure you're going through the rounds of edits and putting out a great book? Is your first book really ready for the world to read?

What would you add?

Cara Putman

An award-winning author of more than twenty books, Cara is a lecturer on business and employment law to graduate students at Purdue University’s Krannert School of Management. Putman also practices law and is a second-generation homeschooling mom. She lives with her husband and four children in Indiana.