10 Great Links About Writing You Might Have Missed

Sometimes I stumble across blogs or articles that really resonate with me. They get me thinking about my own writing and how I can apply the principles to my story. So I've collected some links that have stood out to me over the past couple of weeks. Maybe some with touch you too.

1. Writing with vulnerability is something we all know we should do, but when someone does it and has has success, then we sit up and take notice. Michael Hauge points to a story of such a man who, in his vulnerability, gained a following. You can read about it here: Vulnerability & Courage

2. What if God asks you to write about something you don't want to? What do you say? Yay or nay? This article by Andy Lee speaks to writing the hard things instead of being a people pleaser. You can read about it here: Write The Hard Stuff

3. We make goals and meet them, but do you feel successful when you do? It's important to define our success in order to know when we have succeeded. You can read about it here: How to Define  Success

4. Publishing isn't for wimps and there are many hoops to jump through and hurdles to jump over. They are obstacles, but we must learn to consider them friends. They help us grow and mature along the writing journey. You can read about it here: Hoops Jumping for Writers

5. We all have issues with time management, as we all need more hours in our day. Edie Melson at The Write Conversation gives some excellent suggestions for finding more time to write. You can read about it here: 10 Tips to Simplify Your Writing Life

6. All writers are told to build their platform and be on social media. Bah! We have trouble finding time to write, much less spend time on social media. Andrea Guevara on The Write Life shares 5 fixes to build your brand. You can read about it here: Social Media for Writers: 5 Quick Fixes to Build Your Brand.

7. Have you heard about The Story Equation by Susan May Warren? She talks about the components to a great story plot and how to get put it all together on the Seekerville blog. You can read about it here: One Question That Will Unlock Your Entire Story

8. You have heard about the gatekeepers in the publishing industry. We all face them on our writing journey. Ann Kroeker, The Writing Coach explains the different kinds of gatekeeps and the good they do. You can read about it here: The Role of a Gatekeeper in the Publishing World

9. Do you use Twitter? Carolyn Howard-Johnson talks about the importance of hashtags on BookBaby Blog. You can read about it here: Making Magic With Twitter Hashtags

10. Everyone knows how hard it is to write a good query. Rachelle Gardner at Books & Such had a great post on what not to say in a query letter. You can read about it here: Avoid These Lines in Your Query Letter

What have you learned this week in regards to writing? 


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Sherrinda Ketchersid is a born and bred Texan, preacher’s wife, mother to 4 children, and secretary at public elementary school. With the children grown and out of the house, she weaves tales of fierce knights and their ladies in a time where men were warriors and women had to be strong enough to keep them in check.

After taking time off from writing, she has returned with a new motto in place to spur her on. “Writers write. Everyone else makes excuses.” ~Jack Bickham.  No excuses this time. She is weaving her love of romance with history to bring joy and the hope of love to those who may one day read her stories.

You can connect with her through:

Personal blog: sherrinda.com

Twitter: @sherrinda

Instagram: @sherrinda

Beyond the Novel

I dare say most people reading this are working on that great American novel (or the second or third or twentieth one....)

God has called us to write, and write we shall!

But writing a novel is not the only way to fulfill the calling that is "writing," although it certainly is one of them!

Let's take the Alleycats for example.

EVERY single one of us blogs... here and many of us on our own personal blogs. Have you checked them out lately?

Mary blogs at  LET'S TALK and a fabulous blog for kids at God Loves Kids.

Amy blogs at The Writer's Break Room.

Pepper has this fab blog here.

Ashley gives us a big of her Southern Grace on her blog.

Angie is Taking It All In over at her place.

Casey is being her usual self and Writing for Christ.

Sherrinda is, well, Simply Sherrinda. (but really, there is nothing simple about this awesome lady!)

Julia is a contributor at Wonderfully Woven

Karen shows us all up on her AWESOME blog, A House Full of Sunshine, that is just taking off like CRAZY!

Laurie is full of awesomeness herself on her blog here.

And then of course there's little ol' me. I blog about finding Joy in the Journey (although I think about 70% of my readers just want to hear Annabelle updates, LOL!)

There are many of us who also contribute to other blogs such as www.inspyromance.com and www.wordservewatercooler.com and I know I'm missing some others! (Alleycats, feel free to add in the comments!)

Then we have the fabulous Julia who writes articles and reviews for The Library Journal.

The amazing Ashley who had her first short story published in one of A Cup of Christmas Cheer this year!

And yours truly is trying her hand at novellas this year starting with A Side of Faith, so that is super fun!

But you know?

It can even be simpler than these various ideas.

My daughter came to me the other day and wanted to do a monologue in a talent competition where one of the categories was dramatic monologue. But she didn't want to just do a monologue, she wanted ME to write her one.

*gulp*

So I tried my hand at it. I've never done anything like that before. It's a fairly short one, but I'm decently pleased with the outcome. And it was a little reminder to God that there is more to this writing thing than just novels. He wants us to use our gifts in LOTS of ways, and to limit the reach to just that next novel probably isn't the best use of our talents.

I'm not telling you to go start a blog. Many people have NO interest in doing so, and that is perfectly fine. I'm just saying to think outside the box a little, or at least erase those lines and let God show you other places he might be wanting to use your writing.

Discussion: What ways do you write that don't include writing that big novel?