***GIVEAWAY*** Freebie Friday! (Special Edition)

It's a special week on The Writer's Alley as one of our founding cats celebrates the release of her first contemporary romance novel! One of our goals here at the alley is to not only share craft tips, provide inspiration or encouragement, and cultivate sense of community for your writing journey, but it's also an endeavor support each other in our own writing endeavors. There are a LOT of ups and downs in the world of publishing. Whether you're pre-published, self-published, or traditionally published, each phase comes with it's own trials, triumphs, and disappointments.

But it's relatively simple to make a writer's day, isn't it? Any combination of these suggestions are things you CAN do to make a difference for someone with their heart on paper. Encouraging things like... 1. Read their book. 2. Review it. 3. Talk about it. In person. On social media. TO the author. (Gasp! Isn't that like, taboo, or something? No, in fact, it's awesome to hear from someone who read your book. Guaranteed to make an author's day!) 4. Host a giveaway or buy a book for a friend.

So today, I want to celebrate and champion a person I believe in and appreciate more than words can impress upon you...

Congrats on another remarkably beautiful book, Pepper Basham! So proud of you!

GIVEAWAY RULES: Share this meme or post on Facebook, and drop your name below so I know you want to enter to win. I'm giving away up to 3 e-copies of one of my favorite books A Twist of Faith! But I need some participation. :) Help spread the word on this great new release and you're entered to win a free read for the weekend on me!

*~GIVEAWAY!!!!!!~*

Love does not have an accent ... 

Dr. Adelina Roseland has worked ten years in research as an accent reduction specialist to attain her dream job. But a secret wager to transform Appalachian cattle farmer Reese Mitchell into corporate material challenges Adelina in ways she never expected, threatening her new position. 

For one, Adelina didn't plan for the faith and friction of Reese, or the unexpected influence of his chaotic family. Now, drawn into a culture she'd tried to forget, Adelina finds the warmth of family, the hope of faith, and the joy of love melting away the deep wounds of her past. 

But when Reese discovers that he's a pawn in her climb up the academic ladder, will he forgive Adelina's deceit or will their miscommunication end in two broken lives? 

"Basham weaves a unique tale sure to please the romantic at heart." Denise Hunter bestselling author of Married til Monday

Happy READING <3 Amy

It's too hard. Just Keep Writing.

My son slammed the car door after swim practice. "It's too hard."

With tears in his eyes, he went on to tell me how many meters he had swam the past 90 minutes. It was a few thousand.
Yeah, that DOES sound hard.

But he did it. And he didn't lose his dinner, or sink to the bottom of the pool, or quit in the middle of practice. After three years of gaining skill and talent, I couldn't be a prouder parent.

"You did it! That's amazing!" I tried to encourage him, knowing that he's growing, and knowing that his practice needs to be tough to get better.

"But it's too hard." All he could do was pout and choke back tears and focus on the difficulty.

Poor guy was exhausted. Not to mention he was a little spoiled with his Christmas video game extravaganza the day before.

Yes, he was probably sore. Probably worn out both physically and emotionally. Having a coach bark, "Another 500!" when he could hardly breathe from the last 500 took a toll on his emotions, I would think.

But all I could do as his mother is encourage him to keep going. "You know, after you swim like that for a week or so, it can only get better. You'll get used to it."

Not the words he wanted to hear. Believe me. He whined and cried all the way home. I even asked if he wanted to quit just to test him...and to be sure I wasn't blowing off his angst (too much). He didn't want to quit.
He really does love it.
He just doesn't like the work it takes. The pain to gain, the constant laps to shave seconds.

Can you relate as a writer?

Have you ever cried, "It's too hard." After your tangled mess of a plot, your muddied critique, your contest loss...again?? Have your emotions been spent, your mental capacity drained, your heart muscle sore from caring too much?
I know that we as writers don't have the physical exhaustion like a swimmer--or maybe, we do--when we pull an all-nighter, when we get tennis elbow from our poor posture over the computer, when our joints ache at the 100,000 word pour out on the keyboard...hmmmm...

But, we really do love it. We need to remember that the practice, the stories, the writing, the re-writing, the editing, the scratching and starting over, is all worth it. Because we are getting better. We are learning more--about ourselves, about our craft, about our endurance.

If we are still writing after just one rejection, we are learning.

We are putting those thousands of meters...I mean pages...behind us, to crank out the next best thing. And it's going to get better...maybe easier in a way (I know that I can whip up a one page synopsis in a blink compared to a few years ago).

My son shaves seconds off his time on a regular basis at each meet he races in. He doesn't realize that those thousands of meters swam at practice help knock off the seconds that get him closer to a qualifying time for State.

I have written at least 300, 000 words in four years. And while I haven't qualified as a published author...yet...I know that I am closer. I see my endurance is paying off in the level to which my writing has grown. Not in a conceited way, just in a difference that must be had to inch (or mili-inch) to my goal of publication.

As a writer, if all this practice does not grow my skill...then what's the point?

And my son knows deep down that he's getting better. He wants to keep going. Because he's seen it pay off in the seconds. One day, he'll see it pay off in bigger ways. One day he'll swim what he pleases at State.

But only if he keeps going. Even when it's hard. Even when it's TOO hard. If he fights through it, he'll be a winner.

Will you keep writing? Even when it seems too hard...on your mind, on your time, on your heart?

If you are a writer, you'll keep going. It will get better. Just don't give up.

Just keep swimming...um...writing!

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Angie Dicken is a full-time mom and lives in the Midwest with her Texas Aggie sweetheart. An ACFW member since 2010, she has written six historical novels and is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of The Steve Laube Agency. Angie also spends her time designing one-sheets and drinking good coffee with great friends. Check her personal blog at angiedicken.blogspot.com and connect at:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/dicken.angie, 

Twitter: @angiedicken

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/agdicken/

5 Reasons to Attend a Writer's Conference

This week many of us here at the Alley are on a post-ACFW writer's conference high. Some of us returned depleted -- I haven't had a voice since the first day of conference. Gulp. But we're all jazzed and ready to reengage with our writing.

Writer's conferences are expensive. So why should you start saving today to attend one next year? I'm so glad you asked!

1) At a writer's conference like ACFW, you will find camaraderie.  For maybe the first time in your life, you won't be the only person you know who has multiple voices in your head. You won't be the only one who sees a headline and immediately spins it into a dozen what-ifs that could launch a book. You will be with people who understand what it's like to live like that. The realization you aren't crazy is frankly priceless.

2) You will learn how to be a writer. True, you can learn that from books, but there is something special about sitting in classes taught by FANTASTIC, successful authors and marketers and business professionals. You can ask people questions that the pages of a book just can't respond to. You can learn tools that will help you better tell the stories of the people in your head. You will also learn how to let go of bad ideas. Believe it or not, we can fall in love with a character or idea that simply isn't ready. You can fix that at a conference.

3) You make key connections. Every single one of my books is contracted because of a relationship that was forged in the appointments and hallways of ACFW. Every. Single. One. There is nothing that pulls you out of the slush pile like meeting face to face with an agent or editor. You become a real person with a personality and passion. One editor who voted in the acquisitions meeting for my next series teared up as she told me how she knew they were helping make my dream come true. That kind of connection does not happen via email. You have to get out there and become a known person.

4) You have an opportunity to serve. Writing is so, so solitary. It is too easy to become focused on ourselves. As a result we stop serving. Many conferences like ACFW will have simple ways for you to give back. Turn your focus off yourself. Sit down and learn about someone else's journey and story. Pray for them. Listen to their pitch. Ease their nerves. It is so priceless. And you may just form some lasting friendships like those here at the Alley.

5) You gain God's perspective for your writing and career. At ACFW, there are daily worship sets, a prayer room that is open 24 hours a day, and keynotes and tracks on the spiritual aspects of writing. Conversations are focused on God and His partnership with us. It is a very real part of the atmosphere. It is quite literally a retreat for me. A place I go to regain His perspective on what I'm doing and the why.

There are many other reasons you could join a writer's conference like ACFW. What would you add to my list?

___________________

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.

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Wait! Don't Throw Your Contest Entry Away

I was so busy with writing and life I honestly didn't think about the Genesis contest until last week when the announcements for the semi finalists overflowed my FB newsfeed.

The Daphe, Olympia, and other writing contests are announcing winners and distributing judges sheets about now, too. Hopefully, you have received yours.

Messages of congratulations to those who placed flooded all forms of social media. I saw friends on the list and sent my congratulations and best wishes to them for the next level.

One particular message on FB stood out to me. More than any other I've seen. I'll tell you about it in a minute. 

Messages to those who did not place in one of the contests basically said things like: 
*You'll get a turn next time.
*Use the judges comments to improve your craft.
*Contests should be used to improve our writing craft.
*Keep trying...

Yeah. Yeah. We know that, but our heart doesn't. We honestly had hoped that this time....this time we would be a semi finalists. Sigh.


Now, back to the one message that caught my attention. Jessica Keller Koschnitzky wrote: (used by permission) 

A word from a writing contest loser:

The other day, good news and congratulations zinged all over my Facebook feed as the Genesis results were released. As they should. Moving forward in a contest should always be celebrated. 

But I wanted to offer a word for those who weren't celebrating. Who got bad news - hard feedback. While contests are great for many things, the one thing they are not is an indicator of how successful your writing career will be.

In the three years I entered the Genesis I never got far. Know what? Every manuscript I entered went on to sell and are now published. Within the past three years, six of my books have released while some of those authors who finaled in the years my stuff went no where and are not published at all.

Contest wins are not guaranteed careers. In the big scheme of things, contests mean nothing if all you're after is a piece of paper that says a handful of judges liked your stuff best. However, contests can be powerful if you press forward and use the feedback to strengthen your work

Not knowing how many books Jessica had published, I check online. Good grief-she has six books published-five since February, 2014!

Take just a minute and reread what she wrote. 

Now breathe.

...because other published authors, including those who have had more than 100 books published, agreed and/or added their similar experience in the comment section of Jessica's post. Several even said a well-known publisher contacted them and offered a contract the same week they'd not made a contest list...for the same manuscript!

Photo Courtesy

Now, a good post will swing the pendulum to adequately represent both sides of the story. Right? Ready for the swing? 






Judges comments-
The words we hate to read.
The words where we picture ourselves as the punching bag and the judge with the gloves.

Yeah. Yeah. I can't tell you how many times I have and still think that.

About four years ago, following a criticism, a judge gave me a piece of advice. I chose to be offended (bad move). BUT God never let me forget the advice. For four solid years I tried to ignore those words but would God let me--nooooo (can you see my head rolling?). Around January of this year, I stuffed my attitude on a shelf and did what that judge said. (I can be a slow learner when my attitude gets in the way.) 

I hang my head before you--admitting to God and the writing community--that the judge was right.

I learned the concept in January...owned it...then went back to page one of my current manuscript and applied that one concept to every page and became so very disappointed. Heartbroken that I had not followed the advice years earlier. Why hadn't I listened?

The writing I mentioned in the beginning of this post, the one that kept me busy when the Genesis semi finalists were announced, was the rewrite of the very manuscript I submitted. In February, as I edited that manuscript, I told my family the contest entry didn't deserve to place. Not the way it was. The new version, though deserved to be submitted to an agent--because I listened.

Contests have many wonderful benefits. Don't enter to win, enter to receive feedback you might not be able to receive anywhere else. This feed back will help you win interest, agents, and hopefully publication. If you happen to place...well, that would be a win-win, right?

Let's give everyone a pat on the back today. Please choose one:

1. Tell one thing you did writing related today (wrote, planned, edited, brainstormed, researched, read a writing blog--um this one counts :) )
2. Tell one contest you placed in and what benefit you feel you received from it.
3. Share one helpful comment, link, etc. you've received from a judge....someone else just might want to improve this as well.
4. If you have a published book/s share one tip for those who hope to also have a book published.

I can't wait to read your comment!

Photo Courtesy for top photo: MorgueFile.com photo modified for this use.
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If you found any typos in today's post...sorry about that. 

Mary has moved to Michigan with her husband, closer to her three college kids. She misses the mountains of Montana, but loves seeing family more often. She writes young adult mystery/adventure Christian fiction, is honing marketing and writing skills, and loves to pen missionary and Bible adventure stories on her ministry blog, God Loves Kids.

Visit Mary at her website and her ministry blog to families: God Loves Kids. Or chat on Facebook or Twitter

When Your Friends have Book Deals . . . And You Don't

 

Reality check! Our emotions aren’t always pretty. We’ve all undoubtedly been on both sides when the green monster rears it’s ugly head! Jealousy. No one is immune but luckily we are not solely run by our inner-caveman. We have highly evolved reasoning skills and coping mechanisms. Whoo hoo! Go us! And yet, we still hear authors lament broken friendships as a casualty of their success. Almost as if we are bound together by our mutual flightless struggle, yet when one of the birdies catches some air they are leaving the rest behind. No room for superstars in our nest of brooding, misunderstood artists. Bullocks!

The thing I LOVE about the writing community is the antithesis of this jealousy issue. From the newbie to the best-seller, we ALL actually rely on each other in so many ways. In publishing the big fish helps carry the risk the publisher takes in signing the debut author. The award-winning author endorses your book or gives you a shout out because someone once did it for them. And conversely, the dedicated blogger reviews that best-selling book. Posts and tweets about their favorite author’s newest release. The middle of the roader hones their skills under the tutelage of the masters. Getting a leg up when they start floundering and succumbing to the heavy-hitting rejections. It may feel like a hierarchy at times but in reality, it’s a family. Each one of us starting as kidlets looking up to the big brother, or the mom and dad, or wise grandparent to mentor us along the journey until we can walk on our own and carry the torch they passed along.

No matter what you are feeling, we are better and more successful as a team.

And while it may suck that someone else has a book releasing and you don’t, it only sucks because you don’t have a book releasing right now and they do. If you don’t give up, your time will come. Perseverance is key. So while we wait…let your friends have their day in the sun.

So here’s what you do:

1.  Muster up some enthusiasm! Start with a “Congratulations!” and work your way toward more genuine happiness. Baby steps.

2. Street team like a superfan! Post, share, retweet! Help spread the word!

3. Be the bigger blogger! Have your friend guest post on your blog. This is great networking and gives your friend their due in the spotlight.

4. REVIEW and SHARE! Because books live and die by their reviews. Help give a friend a fighting chance to climb the ranks in an utterly saturated marketplace like Amazon where great books might easily fall through the cracks.

5. BUY BOOKS! Don’t expect a handout. BUY THE BOOK. Buy extra! Throw a giveaway! Give some as gifts. Do what you secretly wish someone would do if it were YOUR debut.

6. GUSH! Be a gusher. No matter how good it is, someone is going to hate your book. You will get dinged by a reviewer. You will be rejected over and over. And quite frankly, the writing life can be really discouraging at times. So when you have a kind word, say it. Say it with enthusiasm and give that tortured writer the validation they need to keep on going when the weariness and doubts are winning.

7. BE happy for them. Make up your mind to be happy and then do it. Mind over matter. Your time will comes and your community will have your back!

 

Alright… How about I practice what I preach a bit here? GIVEAWAY TIME!!!! And since this post is inspired by my immense pride for my crit partner and bestie Pepper Basham whose DEBUT novel The Thorn Bearer was just released yesterday, if you help spread the word I’ll buy someone a copy of her book!

 

 

 

Here’s how we’ll play this!

1. Leave your email address in the comments section (Or your facebook addy so I can message you there).

AND

2. Share this post on Facebook with a SHOUT OUT for Pepper Basham and the giveaway for her outstanding book The Thorn Bearer!

I’ll draw a winner out of a hat and gift some lucky winner a beautiful read for Mother’s Day!

The Importance of A Writing Confidant

Sometimes, we can't see past our failures, but those who've been walking alongside us during this journey witness something so much brighter. And sometimes, we need to open our hearts and receive a perspective adjustment by those who love us. 

 Here is my most recent correspondence with a very dear writing-journey companion: 

*** 

 Dear Crit Partner aka Sister aka Bestie aka Trusted Friend... 

 I am so bummed out. I got honorable mention in that contest. Basically, I hardly placed at all. Why do I put so much hope in these writing endeavors? And on top of that my book's not even finished! Maybe I shouldn't even go to ACFW this year. :( 

 Bummed Out, 

 Writer

 *** 

Dear Writer, 

 I feel like you are looking for validation in the wrong places. I know it's so stinkin' discouraging when you think you're getting good news and then it doesn't turn out... Believe me! And that's totally understandable. BUT, you can't let that overshadow everything else or affect your big picture perspective. 
 You've got to fight back. 
 Your stories and your heart are worth fighting back for! Don't let yourself believe it's okay to adopt a victim mentality, because it will only send you in a downward spiral. You've been so excited about this book and this story!! Hold on to that! 

 Some of these things are attacks by the enemy. But some of them are attacks you are making against yourself! Don't let yourself believe for a second God is not moving through your writing, your writing community, and your life. 

If someone else said these kinds of questions about your writing, I would be like, "Shut up! This writer and her writing are amazing!" So since YOU are the one saying it about your own writing, I'm still going to stand up for you ;) 
 Love, 

 Your Crit Partner (aka wisdom-speaker)

***

Do you have a truth-speaker in your life? Do you have someone who knows you and your writing and believes in it (and you) no matter what?

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Angie Dicken first began writing fiction as a creative outlet during the monotonous, mothering days of diapers and temper tantrums. She is passionate to impress God's love on women regardless of their background or belief. This desire serves as a catalyst for Angie's fiction, which weaves salvation and grace themes across historical cultures and social boundaries. Angie is an ACFW member, One Sheet designer, and is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of the Steve Laube Agency. Check out her personal blog here: www.angiedicken.blogspot.com

Writing Is My Song

It's funny, a year after I wrote the post below, I can say it's my heart's state now-- BUT NOW, I am in a much bigger trial than no publishing contract (although I am still there!!!) This season, I find myself in a personal trial that has pretty much turned my heart upside down.

Yet, it is in that state of brokenness that I find God calling me to that very thing He told me a year ago: ABIDE. That is the only way my heart begins to tip the right way up again.

Enjoy this re-post of a pretty real-time revelation.
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On my last morning of vacation, I forced myself to wake up and do something I wanted to do that entire week. Watch the sunrise over the ocean. It had been an amazing time to relax, rejuvenate, and just release all the stress from life and parenthood. Funny though, I began the week there against a vow I had made to myself.

To leave my passion of writing behind.

I wanted complete solitude from everything I focused on up North. :) But, something happened, and I allowed the writing to remain a focus, even as the waves lapped to the shore, and the sand swallowed my feet.

And suddenly, out of nowhere, a giant tidal wave of doubt and frustration threatened to knock me down. Funny thing is, I had just accomplished two big feats in my writing pursuit. It all makes sense now. But at the time, it threw me into a swirling downward mess.

My view from the balony

The pinks and golds of a rising sun took me from the balcony of my hotel room, and sat me right down at the water's edge. I tried to listen, tried to hear God's call for me. What should I DO, Lord? Am I DOING what you want? I am so frustrated with this process. So defeated in the DOING.

Some people might claim to hear the voice of God, clear as the sun's glitter on the waves. I am not one of those people. God doesn't speak to me in an audible way. That day, I begged to hear His voice. I wanted answers.

The Spirit knows better though. I wasn't moved to listen. I was moved to worship. And everything came into focus. Well, not everything, just One thing. It's like I was searching the horizon with a strained zoom lens, and once I zoomed out, clarity sharpened the Image my heart needed most. The answer my heart craved, even against what I thought to be the answer I wanted.

Through a prostrate heart, as prostrate as the sea foam submits to the shore after a crashing wave, I realized the answer to all my questions...all my concerns: God wants me to abide in Him.

That's it.

Nothing more.

He's the One that's in the business of DOING. NOT me. I am worthless if I think that if I just DO something, life will be better, God will be happy, Love will flow freely.

Eh, eh.

No. In a world where DOING is often the answer...where success is built upon a foundation of effort and stress, where power is built upon pushing and trampling those in the way....I have discovered that nothing is worth anything if the DOING is my focus. Because it is when I ABIDE, when I allow the LORD to be in control, just as He's in control of the ocean waves--they never stop, they continue to approach and retreat, to swell and to dissipate--God is the ONLY one in control of the DOING.

Only when I ABIDE in Him, and give Him the power to DO through me, will I be moved.

Only in HIM.

What happens when we ABIDE? We worship and fall prostrate. And it's there where we have focus, because it's through the heartbeats of the Almighty that gives us Life. Through the tug of the Almighty's hands that we are led to do. Not because a person, or pursuit, or preacher tells us to DO. It's because when we ABIDE in Him, our heart beats in rhythm with His own. And from the overflow of HIS Love, we DO.

I felt like I cried an ocean after my time on the shore. And I hadn't. But my body felt like it. Such release. Such PEACE. Such abiding.

So, after this long schpeel...you might wonder what this looks like for my writing. Honestly, I was about to throw in the towel on this pursuit to publication before that morning. There are a few things I have discovered after worshiping at the water's edge:

1. I can remember the exact moment God bestowed this craving to worship through stories. It was at a time of my life I had prayed for something more...for something to satisfy amidst the colicky babes, the clinging toddlers, the monotonous days of motherhood (and I LOVE my kids...don't judge...my heart needed something else). As much as the Christian writing community talks about writing as a Gift from God...that morning I grasped that it REALLY WAS a gift from God...an answered prayer of giving me something more...something all my own. He gave me the outlet at just the moment I needed it most... a mother of three small children, in a season of chaos!

2. With the help of some amazing women (you know them as the Alleycats), I can finally understand that, because this writing thing is truly a gift, truly an avenue to joy in my life, truly Spirit led to bring me to abiding in Him, publishing really is just a worldly perk. Yes, it's still my desire to see my name in print some day, but it's not the culmination of this gift. Far from it. I think there will be a much grander finale to my story writing, and I will dream that it involves a more Heavenly audience.

3. The DOING is not up to me. Abiding is. And like I said, the writing thing is one way God allows for me to ABIDE with Him. AMEN! Wow, He gifted me in a wonderfully joyous personal way to ABIDE in Him. I feel BLESSED!

My husband and I talked a lot about creation that trip. It's hard not to when you have the vast ocean before

The sunset on our last night

you, the rising sun, and the sea of stars at night. And when I sit and allow myself to absorb the creation around me, I burst with an urge to cry and write all at once. If writing wasn't God-given, then could I be so moved to write by merely observing His Handiwork?

Writing is my song. It is my worship. Writing is the pursuit God has given me to ABIDE.

I can't DO. Just WRITE.

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Angie Dicken first began writing fiction as a creative outlet during the monotonous, mothering days of diapers and temper tantrums. She is passionate to impress God's love on women regardless of their background or belief. This desire serves as a catalyst for Angie's fiction, which weaves salvation and grace themes across historical cultures and social boundaries. Angie is an ACFW member and is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of the Steve Laube Agency.

A Writer's Strike Out or Walk?

Ready for the game

The grass is green, the sun is shining, and the bats are swinging. Don't know how many of you spend your first days of summer in a bleacher cheering on the home team, but I hope that we are all familiar enough with America's sport of baseball to talk it's lingo in the writer's world. And if not...you'll catch on pretty quick!

Amidst the lifestyle of attending tournaments and Little League as a baseball mom, I have picked up writing my latest story. Recently, I had the chance to get-away for a writer's mini-retreat with a friend between "games".

Leaving behind the bleachers scattered with popcorn, the crack of a bat, the cheer of a crowd, and the cloud of dust from a slide into home, I settled into a patio chair, breathed in the Midwest fresh air, and set my hands on the keyboard.

My view as I tried to write

At last.
My son's passion (and my husband's) may be baseball, but on that mini-retreat (half a day), I would pay some attention to my passion of writing. And I planned to make a word count Grand Slam (that's a lot of word count for all you non-baseball folk). Yeah, I planned on getting my book THAT much closer to Scout-ready (um...editor appointment ready...).
That was the game plan. That's what I had bet on for this retreat.
And five hours later. I had a whole page and a half to show for it.
In baseball terms, I felt like I struck out looking. And I was looking...at the landscape, at the chocolate, at the sky, at the house.
When I considered the pitches thrown at me--the context in which I was writing, the story thus far, the scene I was working on--I clammed up, dabbled with some ideas, some paragraphs, then scrunched my nose and said to myself, "This is not going to get me a run....this isn't even going to give me contact with the ball!". I was rustier than I thought after a season of proposal writing and short story focus. This story wasn't going anywhere near first base.

Or was it?

What I may have thought was a strike out, might've actually been a walk... progress to first base due to off pitches:

Something that might not give the batter much glory, but it gets the batter in the game.

Looking back on that retreat and feeling like I struck out, really was a walk. Even if I didn't make the word count or the preparation needed for the scout, I got in the game anyway. I cranked out words and a scene painfully, but at least I got in the character's head, got into the thick of the plot, made forward motion no matter the pace.

Hanging out in the bleachers

Die Hard Fan

I can see this now because the next time I sat down to write after that inning, I began swinging and making contact with my story in the next inning (ahem...a moment to write at home). You see, what I thought was an unsuccessful writer's retreat, was actually a stepping stone to get into the story. It might not have been the up-to-bat I wanted, or the pitches I expected, but it put me in a forward motion to give me a chance to score later on in the game.

It's easy to focus on the numbers, the strikes, the outs, and the losses, but even those things get us to the next inning, the next scene, and eventually, the best call of all, "The End". Don't get discouraged when your writing time doesn't match up with your high hopes, remember that every word and minute counts towards something GREAT in the end!

When was the last time your writing time didn't meet your expectations? Do you see the benefit that came from it?**********************************************************************************************************************

Angie Dicken first began writing fiction as a creative outlet during the monotonous days of diapers and temper tantrums. She is passionate to impress God's love on women regardless of their background or belief. This desire serves as a catalyst for Angie's fiction, which weaves salvation and grace themes across cultures. She is an ACFW member and is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of the Steve Laube Agency.

A Writer's Ride Across the Pages

This past week, I went on a two day bike ride of 100 miles...Yeah, not usually my thing, but I had some friends that wanted to join in the tradition of RAGBRAI (an annual ride across Iowa). So I took the plunge.
As I forced myself to continue strong up hills, down hills, around curves and potholes, I couldn't help but relate my 100 mile bike ride to writing a 100k novel.

The Beginning:

For four months, my small group women and I planned to ride our bikes and prove to ourselves (and maybe our husbands) that we could do it! We had a vision and we were determined to see it through. It's that excitment you get when you are ready to venture into a new journey of story. You know it's a winner, and you're ready to prove to yourself (and maybe your husband) that you have what it takes to get all the way to "The End". As the week crept closer, I began to envision falling flat on my face on the roadway. What was I trying to do? Who was I trying to kid? I am certainly not qualified to ride a bike, let alone a trek like this one!

This kind of doubt also creeps in at this point in the writing process. Is my story going to be a marketable idea? Does it have the hook it needs to succeed? Can I even write such a story?

And like we all find a way to push away those doubts and delve into the love of our story, I pushed doubts of the ride aside, began to pedal, and joy met me on the ride. I grew excited when I began to meet others on the ride, just as I enjoy discovering new characters and learning from them in my writing. The landscape took my breath away as I pushed up hills and coasted down them, just as exploring the setting of my story fills my spirit with worship of the Creator.

Every once in a while on my bike, I'd glance ahead and see the hills and potholes waiting to throw me off, and I would find myself pushing down the fear, ignoring the challenge ahead and focusing on the moment. As a writer, I also do this when I try to keep my momentum...my inner editor clicks on and tries to drag me to the mire of the tangled web that I am creating in my plot or character development. I must turn it off to press on, knowing that the journey has just begun.


The Middle:

Round and round I pedaled, and at one point, I thought, what am I doing??? How in the world did I get myself into this? I am tired, and annoyed, and ready to quit. I could only dwell on the negative of the ride behind me, those bikers passing me...even if it was more "their" sport than mine, (yeah, I am competitive!) and I focused on all the hills, hills, and more hills ahead.
If you've ever felt like this once your energy for starting a new novel fizzles, and your adrenaline sputters to a low, then you have reached the middle of your novel where it threatens to sag like a big ol' flat tire. This is the part where you try to switch gears, try to pedal harder, try to reach for that water bottle and find refreshment somewhere, anywhere, for your characters and your story.
I just had to push through on my ride. Lean on the God who gives the ultimate refresher, and find a new hope in the journey.
When you get to this part in the writing process, PRAY. God's given you the story, He'll help you find resilience to master that middle.

The Strong Finish:

My body was sore and tired, I had many miles behind me, many people along the path, many, many, many hills conquered. But the ride wasn't over. I had another day ahead. And after a good night's rest, I set out to finish up this goal of mine.
Sometimes we are worn out after the struggle of that "middle ground" in our novel. Sometimes we've put the brakes on, and begun to brainstorm all over again, drawing new flow charts in the roadside gravel. But when you allow yourself time and rest, the finish sometimes comes faster than you expect.
I knew that it would be a shorter day on that second day. And with the way my body felt, I hoped the finish line would come quickly. There were still hills, potholes, rude bikers, slow bikers, FAST bikers, that tried to knock me down, but the finish line was creeping closer and closer. The last town met me before I knew I was there. And before I could really understand it...I was done.
As writers, when we begin to complete the words needed to tell the story, the plotline, the character arc, all the elements that draw out one long stretched out finish line, we pick up momentum and energy to make that final push. Don't quit now! You've worked too much to leave the road and get lost in the cornfields of defeat.:)

 

Have you had a life journey that is similar to your writing journey? Would love to hear about it!

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Angie Dicken first began writing fiction as a creative outlet during the monotonous, mothering days of diapers and temper tantrums. She is passionate to impress God's love on women regardless of their background or belief. This desire serves as a catalyst for Angie's fiction, which weaves salvation and grace themes across historical cultures and social boundaries. Angie is an ACFW member and is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of the Steve Laube Agency.

Your Voice Released

A block of stone. 

A blank canvas.

A clean sheet of paper.

What life is filled in such empty spaces! 

As writers—or artists—life brims from such untouched media. And once we dare to place our chisel on the stone, the brush to the canvas, the typed word to the paper, we begin to create the vision first developed in our hearts.

If you've ever walked the hall to the famous statue of David by Michelangelo, you first pass by his "Prisoners"--blocks of stone unleashing  human form in a dramatic, raw fashion.

Michelangelo once said, "Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to find it."

Photo of Michelangelo's Prisoner by Avital Pinnick on Flickr

 As if the bodies are emerging from the block, Michelangelo's imitation of man is whispered on the surface. Not completely finished, not refined nor perfected...but the art becomes a foreshadow of the greatness in what lies ahead—the near-perfect statue of David.

As writers, we often hear judges or editors mention the word, “voice”, and sometimes it seems like a tricky thing to attain in our efforts to craft a story well. If we look at voice in three stages, we might begin to discover the releasing of our own voices:

FIRST CUT: It's messy to cut into stone. Imagine the ugly divots and the shards of marble splayed upon the floor. But Michelangelo knew his direction--to set the statue free. He continued to chip away. Remember, in those beginning stages of a first draft the words might not come easy, but you must continue to write and rewrite, chip away at the blank stone, and release your voice through your unique story.

Photo at Wikimedia Commons

RE-CREATE: Most stories have something in common with other stories, life in general, or universal themes. If we are going to connect with our reader at all, we must have “familiar” in our stories. But don't let “familiar” trump “unique”. Michelangelo didn't create a new form, but used the God-given human form to create art. He sculpted the ordinary human body in a unique way.

Our voice is sculpting the human condition in a unique way.

LIFE: The voice of the writer breathes life into the blank page. It gives the story its pulse. When a writer has grasped their voice, their story becomes one to marvel at, just like Michelangelo's statues.

When your voice continues to grow, your story will fill with life.

Just as the statue of David is a vision the viewer will never forget, your finished manuscript will boldly declare its voice in the heart of your readers.

Have you discovered your “voice”?
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Angie Dicken first began writing fiction as a creative outlet during the monotonous, mothering days of diapers and temper tantrums. She is passionate to impress God's love on women regardless of their background or belief. This desire serves as a catalyst for Angie's fiction, which weaves salvation and grace themes across historical cultures and social boundaries. Angie is an ACFW member and is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of the Steve Laube Agency.

A Writer's Self-Talk

As much as we hear about character arc and internal dialogue, how are we doing as the character with the keyboard at our fingertips?

On Flickr by Striatic

I've heard negative comments from writers at all stages: unpublished, contest finalists, and published authors. They compare themselves to others, throw their talent under the bus to boost up another writer, admit that they don't know what they're doing and they wonder when everyone else is going to catch them in their ignorance.

 Do any of these thoughts sound familiar?

 “You don't have what it takes. Perhaps you should give up?”

 “Perhaps if you follow others, you'll be as good as them...some day.” 

“This is a pipe dream.”

“You make so many mistakes. They're going to catch on that you aren't good enough.”

What we tell ourselves in our thought-life eventually comes out in our actions and words. If we're telling ourselves we don't have what it takes, we're not good enough, and berate our every mistake, then we will begin to distrust ourselves and ultimately disLIKE ourselves, and step away from doing bold and beautiful things for God. If we beat ourselves up in our minds, then we'll only have a battered, self-absorbed coward to offer those around us.

On Flickr by Miranda.Granche

Harsh? 

Let me tell you, I've been there. I am coming out of it, though. I am realizing that God created me exactly this way, and if I criticize my gifts by whispering demeaning things to myself, then I am really criticizing God. And when I live in bondage to criticism, my mission gets muddied and my abilities are weighed down with disgust.

 Let our writing be an outpour of our hearts, without the ugly conversation in our head, blinding the true gift you've been given with self-doubt.

Why do writers engage in negative self-talk, anyway?

1.  Pride-- or avoidance of it. We are Christian writers trying to glorify God. If we admit our talent and success, then aren't we being proud? So if we hide it away and tell ourselves “you're still not good enough”, then we won't risk pride taking over our hearts. But isn't it ok to praise God for what He has done? Praise and Pride are two different things. Try praising God for the blessings He's given you. I bet you won't feel proud, but you will delight in the fact that He chose YOU to bestow the blessings upon! 
2. Comparison game-- UGH! UGH, UGH, UGH!!!! I just needed to get that out! I HATE this game! Then why am I the first to raise my hand to play it inside my head? When I compare myself to other writers around me, I ignore the fact that I am created in God's image, I am wonderfully made, and as Ephesians 2:10 says that I am “...His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” When I compare myself to others, I try to be a different creation, or measure myself up to a person God never intended for me to be. Is it really worth the heartache and effort? 
3. What you've always been told—This might hit a nerve with some of you, but it's a fact of human flesh. We are shaped by those who've raised us, the families we were born into, the world view we were first exposed to as young children. If you have been criticized and held to unattainable expectations as a child, as a teen, as a young adult, then perhaps, your self-talk is rooted in a generational habit of negativity. Search yourself deeply so you can cast off the old and fill your heart with Truth: 

“You are talented and unique.” 

“You have everything it takes to use your God-given gifts to their full potential.” 

“If your dream is in God's will, it is worth it.”

“It's okay to make mistakes, that's how you learn.”



On Flickr by Adriannolt

Sure, you've considered the internal dialogue of your fictional characters, but have you considered the internal dialogue of yourself? 

What's the most difficult negative thought to get rid of as a writer on this journey? Mine is, "This is a pipedream." But God has shown me time and again, that this dream is in His Will. I need to keep telling myself that!




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Angie Dicken first began writing fiction as a creative outlet during the monotonous, mothering days of diapers and temper tantrums. She is passionate to impress God's love on women regardless of their background or belief. This desire serves as a catalyst for Angie's fiction, which weaves salvation and grace themes across historical cultures and social boundaries. Angie is an ACFW member and is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of the Steve Laube Agency.