He Asked-Tips to Restore the Thrill of Writing

Your first date.

Do you remember what it was like? Take a step back in time...

Photo Courtesy

Your bed is layered with twenty outfits tried on and rejected. The one you're wearing barely meets your approval. You've borrowed your older sister's necklace, restyled your hair at least five times, and settled for the lipstick in your left hand.

The doorbell rings. Your heart flutters faster than you can handle and you smear the makeup.

Of course, siblings offer their support with teasing, sing-songy calls--"He's here. Better hurry up."

The left black shoe is missing. You've checked under the bed and behind the laundry hamper twice before remembering seeing your little sister walk off with it yesterday. The sandals will have to suffice.

One last look in the mirror warrants a sigh. He'll have to settle for this. 

His voice echoes up the staircase to your room. That tenor, sweet sound.

You run to the landing and stop. He turns and looks up at you. A smile spreads across his handsome face you adore. He doesn't speak, but his eyes sparkle.

You walk with grace down the stairs despite the urge to tromps as usual. He blushes ever so slightly and reaches a hand to you. "You’re beautiful. Are you ready to go?"


~

This is the thrill.

Anticipation stimulates an electrifying rouse. 

Think of a child’s excitement Christmas morning or on his birthday. The energy surges exponentially—no chocolate needed!

Photo Courtesy

Now think about your work in progress. Is this not the preparation for the writer’s dream date—publication?

Do you wake each morning excited to:

*  try on a new scene?

*  borrow an idea from a crit partner to improve the plot?

*  slip into your character’s POV?

*  look into the mirror (edit) and search for flaws?

*  check the clock and appropriately panic about progress

*  switch ideas when the original doesn’t pan out (like the missing left shoe)

*  are you determined to make the final product the very best it can be?

*  do your thoughts revolved around what you’ll write/edit next?

*  do you match your genre and story theme to your dream publisher?

*  are you bursting to tell all your friends? (marketing foundations)

*  have you journaled your thoughts, concerns, and expectations?

The books we write are destined to fulfill a need, if for no one else, at least for ourselves. God has asked us to do much more than fill pages with words. He wants us to touch lives and meet needs.

As you go about your day today, consider your WIP the magical date you’ve longed for. Talk to God about it. You would talk to God about your date wouldn’t you?

*Make your WIP real. Print out something from your WIP, a favorite scene, a photo of your hero, and/or a color photo of the setting. This will give you something tangible to touch, post in your workspace, and show others.

*Spend lunch or take a coffee break with your characters. Start the conversation by sharing their issues. Listen to their input.

*Go shopping for the appropriate clothing. My heroine is from Chicago. While on a vacation trip to the Rockies she stops in a western outfitter store with a friend and finds a beautiful necklace. She buys it as a souvenir of her trip. I had a great time shopping online for the perfect piece, one that suite her hair color, blouse, and complexion.

Writing a book is no more a chore than going on a date. It’s all in the point of view. And since God asked you to do this task, shouldn't there be a joy/love for the project? 

Consider the best books you've ever read. Someone who simply loved to write wrote those books. Your book could be on someone's list of best loved books one day.

Share how you’ve enjoyed preparing your WIP for the big dream date.

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This blog post is by Mary Vee

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 contemporary and romance 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

The Artisan Soul

I have to say that The Artisan Soul by Erwin Raphael McManus is one of the best books I've read in a long time....and I'm not even halfway through the book! From the very first chapter, the words I read made my soul burn with yearning, agreement, and connection. I've highlighted most of the book so far, wanting the words to be imprinted on my heart, for they encourage and motivate me to be creative, to be brave, to risk, and to truly be an artist.

McManus is not just an artist. He is a creative who uses his gifts to further the work of God. He started a church in LA, CA called Mosaic where the people of his congregation use their creative talents for the Kingdom. And what he calls us to in The Artisan Soul is a life of creativity...every day...no matter the medium or vehicle through which we create. What he teaches is that every soul is a creative soul, whether they think so or not.

"...the great divide is not between those who are artists and those who are not, but between those who understand that they are creative and those who have become convinced that they are not."

We are all creative. We are created by a creative God who made us into His image.

"Yet what humanity needs most is for us  to set creativity free from this singular category of the extraordinary and release it into the hands of the ordinary. Creativity should be an everyday experience. Creativity should be as common as breathing. We breathe, therefore we create."

A person might say that not all people are creative and that saying everyone is just sets a person up for failure. But as people who have the Spirit of God living within them, we are creative beings. We want to create whether it is through decorating a room, cooking a fabulous dish, writing a short story, blogging, painting, making a yard look good, or crocheting a blanket.

Being creative doesn't mean there won't be failure. There will be.

"...we live in the fear that if we aspire to be more we will discover ourselves to be less. We live in fear of failure, convinced that failure will prove us to be frauds. We have bought into the lie that creative people never fail and hence failure is proof that we are not creative."

"Fear is the shadow of creativity....The creative act is inherently an act of courage....To make our lives a creative act is to marry ourselves to risk and failure...creativity is born of risk and refined from failure. If we are at the core both spiritual beings and creative beings, then the artisan soul is where we live when we have the courage to be our truest selves."

It's so hard to step out and risk it all to share our creative selves. When we hit send on the manuscript we have written, we feel we are sending a part of very essence out for the world to judge. We fear we will judged as inferior, which reflects on who we are at our core. But those rejections are the building stones of creativity. They are what grounds us and molds us. We are indeed "refined by failure".

I just can say enough about this book, The Artisan Soul. I am reading it slowly to imprint the words on my heart, and I hope to share more of it with you as I glean from it's wisdom.

Do you consider yourself creative? Do you embrace your artistic soul? Or is it hard for you to say you are an artistic person...whether it is with word, paint, landscape, or food? 

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This post is brought to you by

 Sherrinda Ketchersid

Sherrinda is a minister's wife and mother to three giant sons and one gorgeous daughter. A born and bred Texan, she writes historical romance filled with fun, faith, and forever love.

Melody Plotting Along with Disney - The Song of Hope

Welcome to the second part of my series, Melody Plotting along with Disney, where I’m taking the general ‘songs’ in Disney movies and applying them to novel writing.

As I said before, Disney is brilliant at using songs to portray the emotions and forward motion of its stories. The first post discussed the Song of Longing. You can read about it here:

The three song-types I'm discussing are:

Song of Longing

Song of Hope

Song of the Antagonist/Villain

And I might end the series with a Happily-ever-after post, but for now, we’re going to talk about the second ‘song’ we can learn from as authors. 

The Song of Hope.

In almost every Disney movie (especially the ‘princess’ ones) there is a Song of Hope. This song is the moment when the ‘longing’ (from the first post) seems like a real possibility for the protagonist or it shows a ‘change’ in the protagonists previously ‘hopeless’ circumstances. Lots of times, it involves a love song of some sort. It’s the ALMOST-but-not-yet.

http://www.zastavki.com/eng/Cartoons/wallpaper-27238.htm 

A few examples?

A Whole New World from Aladdin – Aladdin’s song of longing to be seen as more than a street rat is realized in the carpet ride with Jasmine. (the fun doesn't last long as Jafar has him kidnapped right after he lands Jasmine on the balcony)

At Last I See the Light from Tangled  displays Rapunzel’s deepest dream of her heart, she finds hope in being with Flynn. (Yet again, it doesn't last long before Mother Gothel and the gruesome dudes mess things up.)

Belle and the Beast have a clear ‘change’ in their relationship when they sing Something There that Wasn't There Before, followed pretty quickly by the title song, Beauty and the Beast. The adventure and romance Belle had been searching for became a possibility. (But when she leaves to rescue her father, the tables turn and the beast’s life is in danger)

Kiss the Girl clearly displays the hope Ariel has to be ‘kissed’ by Eric and gain her voice back, as well as her future. Her dream is literally a pucker away, but due to the magnificently maniacal Ursula, a hurricane of trouble is soon to follow.

Frozen succeeds in flipping this idea on its head by giving Ana false-hope through the song, Love is an Open Door, while Elsa’s song of hope is the extremely popular, Let it Go. Ana believes her longing from For the First Time in Forever has been revealed in Hans (boy, is she wrong) and Elsa’s biggest fears represented in the same song are replaced by her new-found freedom from her ‘concealment’ of her magic.

If we want to switch gears and look at popular movies?

The Song of Hope in a movie like Titanic is the night Rose and Jack spend together dancing, painting…and other things. There is hope that Rose will no longer be confined by the expectations

placed upon her – it’s a taste of her dream-come-true. But only a taste. We’ll discover near the end of the movie, she has to make that final choice to bring her dream to reality.

The Song of Hope in The Princess’ Bride is when Wesley and Buttercup are reunited before going into the Fire Swamp. Sure they’re almost killed by lightning sand and R.O.U.Ses, but they’re together. (but the sweet happily-ever-after moment ends as soon as they get through the swamp and come face-to-face with Humperdink)

In my historical romance, it happens after a horse-riding incident that ends in a kiss. In one of my contemporary romances, it happens in a tower that ends in a kiss.

Do you know what the Song of Hope is for your story? Is there a part of your novel where the protagonist realizes his/her dream is possible, almost palpable? The Almost-but-not-yet part of your book?

Would you like to share?

What's Up the Street for Next Week?

Great books edition!

I don't know about you, but I'm desperate for a really great book to read. I just finished Katie Ganshert's latest A Broken Kind of Beautiful and the story definitely fits the title so well. 

What other great novel recommendations would you give? Share in the comment section below!

What's up on the Alley next week?

Pepper continues her Disney series with Melody Plotting with Disney on Monday.

Tuesday, Sherrinda shares about a must-read book she just finished by Erwin McManus, The Artisan Soul.

Do you feel stuck and unable to push through with your writing? Have you asked God about this struggle? Mary shares on this topic on Wednesday.

Krista is agenda driven on Thursday. Is there a better way to get your point across in your novels?

How well do you handle criticism? Casey delves into the hard hitting facts on Friday.

Have a wonderful, sunny weekend!

Pregnant Pause...

For those of you following on Facebook, no, in fact, I am no longer pregnant. Yippee! Pregnancy for some is a time of great anticipation and preparation. And while I can admit to feeling those things during those long nine months, most of my pregnancy days are more misery than anything else.

Last week of misery!

If you have children you know that life doesn’t exactly slow down when the pregnancy ends. Once that baby arrives life is more of a tailspin than ever. Well meaning individuals advise pregnant mothers to “sleep now” while you still can. And to “take time for yourself” because motherhood changes everything, including how much “you-time” you’ll have until your nest once again becomes empty.

But here’s the thing… Life doesn’t slow down or stop for anybody. There are seasons of sowing. Busy times of planning and plotting. There are seasons of growth, where the fruits of your labor need lots of nurturing—and energy you don’t always possess. And then, birth… and with it the beautiful product of your labor. Your baby. We are always moving forward, even in seasons of barrenness. But sometimes we need that time. That frustratingly unproductive pause in between, to breathe. To cultivate new ideas. New passions. New dreams. And new stories.

I have been in one of these seasons I like to think of as a sort of pregnant pause. I am anything but still. No less productive, though my productivity looks vastly different these days. My writing time is limited. My physical and emotional resources are tapped. And yet… I am gearing up, yearning to get back on the horse to embrace another season of writing and new stories to be told.

But while I wait here in this fissure between stories already woven and stories I’m desperate to unearth from my heart, I am finding something rejuvenating in the in-between. No, I wouldn’t call this time rest. And I’m certainly not “blocked” or uninspired.

I’m pregnant with anticipation, and filling up on dreams for the journey ahead. 

Alley Kitten - Eisley Violet Simpson born March 14, 2014

 

And I can’t wait to tell you about the stories God is preparing to birth in me! What about you? Tell me about YOUR baby! I’ve been out of touch for so long I’d love to hear about that little bun in your oven. And well, we’ve got to get those elevator pitches started for conference season. Hard labor, I know, but let’s hear some teasers about the next round of up-and-coming best-sellers. :)

Love and thanks for all the prayers and support!

-Amy & Eisley

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Amy Leigh Simpson writes Romantic Suspense that is heavy on the romance, unapologetically honest, laced with sass and humor, and full of the unfathomable Grace of God. She is the completely sleep deprived mama to two little tow-headed mischief makers and wife to her very own swoon-worthy hero. Represented by the oh-so-wise and dashing Chip MacGregor of MacGregor Literary Inc.

Celebrating Cara Putman's New Release, Shadowed by Grace!

I am beyond excited to host my dear friend and mentor Cara Putman on The Writer's Alley today! I was privileged to be a first reader for Cara's new book, and it hooked me right from the start. Please help me welcome Cara to the Alley today! -- Ashley

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1) Tell us a little bit about yourself (and why you're nicknamed superwoman).

         That nickname is definitely one I didn’t give myself! But I guess I’ve earned it because I’m an attorney who teaches graduate business law classes at a Big Ten business school and write books. Add in being a homeschooling mother to four great kids, finding time with my husband, and activities – well, life gets full – in the best way of course!

2) What inspired your new release, Shadowed by Grace?

         I stumbled across a non-fiction book about the Monuments Men at our local library. As I read the story of this elite group of men’s efforts to save western civilization during World War II, I was captivated. It didn’t take long to know I wanted to write novels with these men in them…and I decided to start at the beginning which meant Italy!

3) How is Shadowed by Grace  similar to the movie Monuments Men?

         Both are about the efforts of the Monuments Men during WWII. But my book focuses on what they did in Italy: Naples, Rome, and up into Florence, while the movie highlights pieces of what they did in Paris, Belgium and Germany.

Well, and Matt Damon and George Clooney were in the movie!

4) What types of research did you do to make this setting come alive?

         Gobs! I literally have a stack of books because I had a lot to learn about the war in Italy, the roles of the Monuments Men there, and what it was like for the Italians. I was thrilled to find a copy of an out of print book written by one of the Monuments Men in Italy at Purdue University. That meant I was able to build the timeline of the last 1/3 of the book around what they really did in and around Florence. I also found books about the women journalists in WWII and a great anecdote about what happened in the Rome newsroom when the D-Day announcement came through. I loved finding those details to add richness to the novel.

5) What do you hope readers will take away from the story?

         I hope readers will leave the story with a reminder that God’s grace will find them. That He cares deeply about them even when they feel overlooked or abandoned by those around them.

6) Many of our readers are unpublished. What advice would you give for writers who are still seeking publication and/or an agent?

         Hie thee to a writing conference. Seriously, I would not be published (at least not as many books as I have) without the connections I made and workshops I attended. I attend ACFW each year.

7) You're very active in ACFW. Would you say involvement in a writing group like ACFW can open doors for writers pursuing publishing?

            Absolutely! The first piece of advice I received from Colleen Coble when I started writing was to join ACFW. There I found a community of people who understand what it is to chase a dream as impossible as publishing. They also mentored me and coached me, and now I get to do the same thing for other aspiring writers.

8) What's your favorite quote from Shadowed by Grace?

         “God has shadowed her life with His grace, even when she didn’t know to look for Him.” Or “We are defined by what we love and respect.”

About Cara

Cara C. Putman graduated high school at 16, college at 20, and completed her law degree at 27. An award-winning author of seventeen books with more on the way, she is active in women's ministry at her church and 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. Putman is currently pursuing her Master’s in Business Administration at Krannert. She serves on the executive board of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), an organization she has served in various roles since 2007. She lives with her husband and four children in Indiana. You can connect with her online at:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/caraputman

Twitter: www.twitter.com/cara_putman

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/caraputman

Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/CaraPutman

Purchase links:

Christianbook.com: http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product?event=AFF&p=1141766&item_no=681783

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/shadowed-by-grace-cara-putman/1115951174?ean=9781433681783

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1433681781/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1433681781&linkCode=as2&tag=carput-20

About the book

Rachel Justice is desperate to save her dying mother. She doesn’t want to leave her, but she accepts her newspaper’s assignment to travel to Italy and photograph war images. No one knows her photography is a cover and that Rachel is really seeking to find the father she never knew, hopeful to get some help with her failing mother. Dedicated to her mission, Rachel is focused on completing it. Soon, though, she finds her priorities and plans changing when she is assigned to Lt. Scott Lindstrom, on mission as a Monument Man. Their meeting will have far-reaching consequences. Will this derail her plans? Will she ever find her father? Is her faith enough to carry her through?

You can read the first chapter here: http://caraputman.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Shadowed-by-Grace-chapter-excerpt.pdf

How blogging can help your novel-writing

In my last post, I talked about how short-story writing can improve your long fiction.

Today I'd like to discuss another form of writing that will help your career as a novelist: blogging.

Maybe you already do it. Maybe you've considered starting. Or perhaps it's not on your radar at all.

Here's why it should be.

1. Blogging will help you relax your voice
Us novelists tend to take ourselves a bit seriously at times. After all, writing a novel is a big undertaking. It's challenging and important and... and... kind of lofty. Right?

As a novelist shut away in our writing cave for months and years on end, it's easy to get wrapped up in the grandeur of the story we're spinning, and forget all about that little thing called the reader. And the problem is, if our storytelling voice becomes all lofty and self-important, we've lost most of those said readers from the get-go.

Blogging is different. There's a matter of hours between writing something and having it go live before a real-life audience: an audience who gives us immediate feedback on our work. Therefore, it's easier to write with said audience front and center in our writing brain. The result? A tone that is conversational, friendly, down-to-earth, and relatable.

Once you've been blogging long enough, you'll find that more natural, conversational voice finding its way into your longer fiction as well. And that's a good thing.

Blogging will help you strip affectation from your voice, simplify, relax, and keep things real.

Image by Ambro, freedigitalphotos.net

2. Blogging builds self-discipline
Blogging is like the stomach-crunches of the writing world.

Maybe it's not as exciting or glamorous as signing that big book deal, watching your novel climb the bestseller ranks, or any of the other delightful things we like to daydream about.

But it gives you a solid foundation as a writer. It requires you to be consistent and meet small, regular deadlines. That is great practice for one day down the track when you have deadlines set by a publisher.

3. Blogging will improve your productivity
Sometimes the best thing for a story block is to switch writing gears and hammer out a blog post. It's an easy and immediate style of writing, and it'll give you the satisfaction of completing something - which is a great antidote to frustration.

Besides, the more you write, across all genres and platforms, the quicker you get. Wanna be a prolific writer? Start blogging. Your output will increase overall, because it has to.

Before you know it, ideas start flowing faster from brain to fingertips, and you're all limbered up and ready to dive back into your story-world.

4. Blogging will help you find and connect with your audience
This flows on from the first point. Blogging puts you in touch with readers - right now, without having to wait for some "maybe day" in the distant future.

Publishers want to see that you have a platform. We all know how essential that is in today's marketing climate. There is no better time to start building a platform than before the book deal.

Wait till afterward, and you've probably left it too late.

When you blog consistently and strategically, you are building a tribe of people who are interested in what you have to say.

And after all, that's what every writer wants, isn't it?

To have a voice, and someone to listen.

Do you blog? If so, why do you do it, and how do you find it helps you as a writer? 

If not, what are your reasons for not blogging? Is it something you'd consider?

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I'm a novelist, not a blogger! Why novelists should have a blog, & how it'll help your writing: Tweet this

Karen Schravemade lives in Australia, where she mothers by day and transforms into a fearless blogger by night. She's a Genesis finalist for women's fiction and is represented by Rachel Kent of Books & Such. Find her on Twitter, Google+, and getting creative on her home-making blog, A house full of sunshine.