BE RESOLUTE: ONE WORDS and GIVEAWAY

Our resolutions seldom work because they are based on the type of person we’re tired of being rather than who God wants us to become. - See more at: http://myoneword.org/pick-your-word/#sthash.5LkWhYop.dpuf

Mike Ashcroft and Rachel Olsen have written the release My One Word and have a corresponding website which will help you choose an area of your life to focus on. I think one of my goals for the new year will be to read this book.

I highly enjoyed the "Pick Your Word" section of the site found here.

Do you have a focus for 2014? I thought it might be fun to share some of the words we've been thinking about.

Julia: QUIET is the word that keeps coming to mind. I'm an introvert by nature so there are times when this word fits me well. But more than that, God is wanting to teach me to seek more quiet, to be more intentional in sitting at His feet. Surrendering to Him, learning from Him, listening to Him in the quiet, still moments I can find even in the chaos of life with small children.

"He says, "Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth." (Psalm 46:10)


Karen: The word I feel God is giving me for 2014 is FAITHFUL. His FAITHFULNESS to me is so incredible and enduring. I'm challenged to be "FAITHFUL in the little things," particularly the blogging that I feel He is calling me to in an increasing way this year. My verse for the year is:

"If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones." (Luke 16:10)


Krista: Mine is FOCUS. This last year I have been so scattered to the point of being unproductive...like everything is this blurry mess and I need to stop and refocus things and get clarity from God.


Sherrinda: I think my word is ANTICIPATION. After a difficult year, I am anticipating an AWESOME year. I await with ANTICIPATION putting pen to paper. I anticipate growth in many areas (except for physically!) and I anticipate great joy in life, love, and my Lord.


Angie: My word is ABUNDANCE...to live each moment with the ABUNDANCE of God's love and joy.



Amy: I'm not certain if this is my "word" for 2014 but I do feel God telling me to REST. Not that I expect much of that in the traditional sense with the pending addition of a newborn to my rowdy brood, but whether it is with my writing goals, or with the stress of health problems and a growing family, I feel like God is telling me that no matter how hectic my world may seem, I can find REST  in Him. In fact, it's right where He wants me, abandoning myself and my plans, seeking solace in Him alone and trusting Him without borders. "Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders, let me walk upon the waters wherever you would call me. Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander and my faith will be made stronger in the presence of my Savior." -Hillsong


Casey: My one word for 2014 is DREAM. What dreams is God calling out of me in this year? Is He asking me to think bigger than I have previously? To put my hopes and plans and dreams more squarely into the palm of His hand? I'm committed to not shying away from what goodness God has dreamed for me this year. I'm committing those dreams...and their fulfillment more fully to God.


Pepper: Yep, I have my 'word' for this year and it makes me nervous.
CHANGE
I've been praying about it all morning and asking God for a different one, but that one keeps coming to my mind with certainty. I figured after this last year I'd had my fair share of CHANGE, but I guess God has other plans in store. :-) And what kind of CHANGE. How will that CHANGE be applied to my writing, my family, or my heart?
We'll see.
But I'm certain of the word - and God's love. :-)

Mary: My word is DEVOTION.

DEVOTION to my walk with Christ, 

DEVOTION to improving my writing

DEVOTION to my taking a giant step forward in my life's journey despite any trials that come my way.

Ashley: GRACE... I really think that's going to be my word because it's what my WIP is all about (and my heroine's name), and it's also the word that came to mind when I prayed during the Live Free Write Free workshop... Allen and Jim told us to ask God for His name for us, and I immediately sensed the phrase "Grace Giver." Isn't that cool? I am such an overachiever that I'm always finding myself running round in circles, trying to achieve my way to success, while God gently nudges my direction in a different place-- a place of completion rather than achievement.

I can relate to many of these words. I certainly have dreams for the coming year. What are yours? I hope to see change in both spiritual and writing life. I want to minister grace to others and receive grace sitting at his feet.

What about you? Do you have a Scripture verse that is leading you as you head into this New Year? Is there a specific word that comes to your mind? Something specific you feel God whispering into your heart?

I have always been inspired by the words of Jonathan Edwards on resolutions: Being sensible that I am unable to do anything without God’s help, I do humbly entreat him by his grace to enable me to keep these Resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to his will, for Christ’s sake. (from Desiring God website).

Will we be vessels able to be used for his sake in 2014? Will we accept his freely given gift of the grace to keep us from falling? Are we willing to put aside our dreams for His dreams for our lives?




***GIVEAWAY: Share your one word or a goal for the New Year in the comments and include your email address to be entered to win a $10 Amazon gift card. **

Julia Reffner is a lover of Christ, cats, and all things chocolate. She lives with her husband and two young children in upstate New York and is a writer and reviewer for Library Journal and several other publications.

 

Top Ten New Year Resolutions for Writers

Photo by Stuart Miles
freedigitalphotos.net

Happy New Year!

I'm sure if you are like me, you have been thinking about the new year and how you will better yourself in 2013. What can you do to be a better wife? Mom? Writer? So for all you writers out there, here is a list of resolutions that you might want to grab hold of for the new year.

10 Exercise more! What???? I know, but hear me out. Writers tend to sit on their backsides...a lot...and that backside begins to grow. Plus, exercises gets blood flowing to your brain, which could produce some AWESOME ideas for your novel. Give it a try!

9 Watch movies/TV! I know you think this might be a waste of your precious time, but watching movies in the genre you are writing is an excellent way to learn how to craft your novel. Analyze the movie as you watch. Does the dialogue move the story? What about the setting? How could you incorporate the sights you are seeing on the screen into words? Movies can teach us about pacing and blocking. Pick a movie this week and watch with a critical eye.

8 Read more! Writers are readers, but oftentimes we put aside reading for pleasure because we value our time so much. But reading can open our eyes to the beauty of prose. Find an author you love to read and read their book, noting what it is you love about their writing. Is the dialogue fabulous? Is the writing lyrical? Is the plot riveting? Take notes while you enjoy the love of reading.

7 Time management. Ugh, you say? I agree, but for most of us, this can be a problem. It is hard to balance work, housework, kids, cooking, cleaning, carpools, extra curricular activities, church, play, and writing. You have to be organized and make sure you schedule time to write. If you don't make it a priority, it won't happen.

6 Quite playing on the internet. Okay, so this one is for me. I love to play games online. I don't know why! Give me an Angry Bird and I will shoot that bird until I've hit all the green pigs! Give me some Bejeweled gems and I will match them until the cows come home. And don't get me started with Pinterest! Aak...the time stealer of creative persons everywhere!!!! Seriously, I could sit for hours, browsing for things to make. Hours, I tell you! So set a time limit on your internet "play". Don't call it research!! Call it for what it is...a time stealer!

5 Organize! I don't know about you, but sometimes I need to organize my writing. Sometimes I just get to writing and there is no rhyme or reason to the words on the page. And people, novels need some structure! Sure, you can write by the seat of your pants, but you definitely need to make sure you have a spine of a story to flesh out. Try some tools like The Book Buddy by My Book Therapy. It is great, even for seat of the pants writers.

4 Be more confident. Now this is a bit scary, but every writer needs to be confident in their writing. You need to believe in your story. You need to believe you have what it takes. God has given you a gift for a reason, and you must rest in that knowledge and have the courage to take new steps. Polish that novel and send it to agents! Press that send button as often as you can. Be brave! You can do it!

3 Read books on writing. Yes, I said read...some more. But this time read books on the craft of writing. Learn from the masters on how to shape a story. Soak in the knowledge that the experts share.

2 Write! Just write. Every day. Make this your habit, even if it is only one page a day. Your writing only gets better when you exercise your writing mind, so keep writing. All the time. Whenever. Wherever. Just do it.

1 Pray. Yes, this should be your number one resolution. Not just for your writing, but for your life. Developing your relationship with God and giving your writing up to Him is such a beautiful thing. When you bathe your writing in praying, you are releasing your abilities to Him. This takes the pressure off of you! Your writing will take on a life of its own as you release yourself to write for Him. So pray. Everyday. And see what God will do.

What are your New Year's Resolutions? Either for your writing or for your life in general?

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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.

New Year, New Goals!!

http://www.gardenlist.com/

"Resolution" conjures up thoughts of the workout plan that lasts two weeks, until you miss a day...then three...then a month! At least for me.

In our writing life or in any other aspect of our life, it's not resolutions that get us there...it's baby steps and perseverance. Continuing to run the race.

Just as Jesus sanctifies us in our walk with Him, finishing a novel is a day-by-day labor.

Talk about baby-steps. I started my novel about a year and a half ago. I made agonizingly slow progress...editing as I went.

But baby steps add up. Finding the time to write every day just wasn't realistic for me, nor was writing in large chunks. But if writing didn't become a part of my routine, it didn't happen in my busy life.

This winter I will finally finish that novel! I know, I know. Some of you have been known to write 50K words during NANOWRIMO or finish your novels in 3 months. Maybe you can't relate. But I'm betting at least a few of you can.

These are some of the writing lessons I hope to take with me in the New Year:

Keep accountable.  Find email accountability partners. Find a real-life group to hold you accountable. Preferably both. The embarassment of havnig nothing to bring to a critique session keeps you going if nothing else does. So does the fact there's someone on the other end of the computer waiting to hear my word count totals.

Don't belittle the little accomplishments. Every word is important. Every time I hit a 10K milestone I will often excitedly mention it to my husband or family. Just repeating the small victories to myself helps me to persevere to the next 10K.

Dream about what's next. No, I don't mean that you're going to land the agent of your dreams and get published this year. (Not that it wouldn't be great if that happened...). The closer I get to writing "the end", the more time I spend thinking and reading about my next character so I can keep the momentum going.

If you get discouraged, remember the growth you have made and will continue to make. At a recent writer's group session I brought an excerpt from my manuscript written about a year ago. I was immediately asked if it was written a while ago. The commenter said they were used to a different level of quality in my writing. It encourages me to know that in little baby steps my writing WILL grow.

What do you need to do to tend your writing garden this year? What do you need to prune back in your writing in order to grow? What are your tricks to finishing well?

Wishing you and your manuscript a happy New Year!

Julia enjoys writing women's fiction whenever she can find a chair free of smushed peanut butter sandwiches and lego blocks. She is a wife and homeschooling mama of two littles. She also enjoys reading and reviewing books for The Title Trakk, a Christian review site.

Fairytale Endings - Are They for You? (and a giveaway!)

I'm a big fan of happily-ever-afters, which is a great thing with romances big in the market. Happy, satisfying endings are very popular, particularly in the CBA, but are they for everyone?

So what makes up an ending? Because, as I re-read the previous sentence with the words "happy" and "satisfying", it's becoming more and more clear that those two don't necessarily go hand-in-hand.

Characteristics of a Satisfying Ending

A Resolution

In order for readers to be satisfied with an ending, the main conflict needs to be resolved. Sure, there are people out there who still do cliffhangers, but those are few and far between (or part of a series). And not only that, each story needs to have its own resolution.

So if the main character is searching for something, they need to find it somehow. If they're lacking something, they need to gain it somehow. If there's a problem, it needs to be fixed.

Growth

Having a character experience growth is a strong and important way to satisfy readers. We all read about and learn about character arcs because they're important. Readers want to see characters in a different place at the end of the novel as they were in the beginning - and hopefully that's a better place.

A Purpose

This category sort of wraps in the first two elements of a satisfying ending and tosses in a few others. A purposeful ending is one that's well thought out. If there's a theme to your story, it can be revealed or summed up here. A purposeful ending isn't a one-page wrap up that solves all the problems of the novel without any real effort. In fact, a purposeful ending isn't always expected. In other words, it's not the easy way out. Sure, in romances certain endings are often expected (i.e. the hero and heroine make up or reunite or admit their love) but they can still stray from being cliche.

As a fan of happily-ever-afters, I like to see a story ending well--meaning, the characters are happy, they find what they're looking for spiritually, emotionally, etc., and their future looks amazing. However, those elements aren't the only ones that make up a satisfying ending for everyone.

What do you think? Are there certain elements necessary to creating a satisfying ending? And are you a fan of happily-ever-afters?

Also, if you want a chance to win, Driftwood Lane, a romance by one of my favorite authors, Denise Hunter, who always makes me smile with her happy endings, leave a comment and your e-mail.