Just Do It!

One of the best tips about writing I’ve ever had is not really profound. But, it does guarantee a measure of success as a writer. The advice?
If you want to be a writer you have to WRITE! You have to write regularly.

Many people say they want to be writers but do everything else but write. They attend conferences about writing. They buy magazines about writing. They read books about writing but they never get around to writing!

It’s great to learn all you can about how to be write but one of the best ways to become an accomplished writer is to write! At some point you have to take all the things you’ve studied and apply them. No amount of learning can make up for simply sittting down and writing those words!

How much do you write? How often do you write? Like the Nike commercial says, Just do it!

Trying to JUST DO IT, Gloria

Never Too Late to Grow

Did you ever wish you’d heard certain advice years ago? That’s just the thought I often have of Nancy I. Sander’s book, Anyone Can Get Published—You Can, Too! A Practical Strategy for the Christian Who Writes. I often think of the book and the advice. The theme: don’t just write because the story is the dream on your heart, and don’t just write to get published—do both!

This has helped me more than any certain piece of advice I ever received. Don’t mistake me, writing takes a lot of study and experience to hone the craft. And we should always be working on improving, even if it means major changes in our technique. But while I continue to receive rejections on some of my heart-favorites, I now have a small collection of published material, from no-pay to good pay, to remind me to keep working and keep submitting.

Another favorite piece of advice: a note left on my desk by my husband several years before he went to be with the Lord. “Stir up the gift of God which is in Thee,” 2 Tim. 1:6 (KJV). I keep the note next to a small picture of him above my computer, thankful for his constant encouragement of my writing, and a reminder that any talent and desire is a gift of God, to be used for His glory.

Shirley Shibley

Do Not Be Afraid

The best advice I ever received as a writer was when the Holy Spirit led me to the Scripture, Isaiah 8:11-14a, NLT:

The Lord has said to me in the strongest terms: “Do not think like everyone else does. Do not be afraid that some plans conceived behind closed doors will be the end of you. Do not fear anything except the Lord Almighty. He alone is the Holy One. If you fear Him, you need fear nothing else. He will keep you safe.”

Here is how the Holy Spirit spoke this Scripture into my writer’s heart:

The Lord has said to me in the strongest terms: “Do not think like every other writer does. Do not be afraid that some plan conceived by editors behind closed doors at a meeting in a publishing house will be the end of your manuscript or your career as a writer. Do not fear anything except the Lord Almighty. He alone is the Holy One. If you fear Him, you need fear nothing else. He will keep you and your manuscripts and your career as a writer safe.”

Amen!

-contributed by Nancy I. Sanders

Live by the Writers’ Creed

I have the following writers’ creed on the first page of my blog:

When you’re learning—seek help.
When you’re published—pass it on.

I try to live by this advice as a writer. It’s sort of the pay-it-forward idea. Over the years, a number of authors and editors have guided and taught me (out of the goodness of their hearts) how to become a better writer. I’m so grateful they were willing to “pass it on,”  when I was seeking help!

As I continue to learn and grow from other experienced writers (that process should never end!),  I come across writers who are just beginning their journey or somewhere in the middle.  I consider the “pass it on” part of the writers’ creed to be a beautiful benefit and reward of being published. To me, it’s a joy to pass on what God has allowed me to learn and experience.

So, writers—let’s continue to “seek help” from each other and don’t forget to look for opportunities to “pass it on.” You’ll be blessed!

Sheryl

Advice From A Master

Our topic for July is advice to writers. Over the years, I’ve received a lot of good advice on writing from books, published authors, editors and agents.  But my very favorite advice was, and still is, the words I heard YA novelist Richard Peck say at the SCBWI annual summer conference in 1996.  He said:

“You can always cut ten more words from the tightest page you ever wrote.”

For me, this proved to be excellent advice, especially when I began writing short, short children’s fiction for the Los Angeles Times.  Depending on the editor and situation at the Times, these stories have ranged from 300-600 words, and they needed to be the exact word count. 

At first, I had dismissed what he said as impossible.  After all, once a writer has cut everything she can, how can she cut even more and still keep the story intact?  Well, faced with my word count for the Times being over the limit, I found that it can be done.  By reading and re-reading, I found that often one word could do the work of two, sometimes tags such as “he said” could be eliminated without destroying the continuity, and those pesky adverbs were still lurking in places I hadn’t noticed before!  It all worked towards creating a stronger story.

I have repeated this advice, with permission from Richard Peck and attributing it to him, in some of my own articles on writing and in presentations.  And Richard even invited me to do a mini-presentation on how his words had affected my work when he was doing an all-day SCBWI workshop in Pacific Palisades a few years ago.  A heady experience, for sure!

I continue to keep this excellent advice as my motto in all the writing that I do.

Contributed by Marjorie Flathers

Getting Dialogue to Develop

I have been told by several people that I am good at writing dialogue. My characters sound realistic and the speech flows well from one to another. I’ve thought about how I developed this technique, and it was only the other day that I came to some sound conclusions.

My daughters had been playing dolls, and as I was working in the other room, I couldn’t help but overhear their conversation. They were creating their own adventures through their adlibbed dialogue. It suddenly dawned on me that this was how I learned. No, I wasn’t big on dolls, although I did play a little with my older sister; but we did play dress up and we made up stories and had our own made up conversations.

Then I would play with my Matchbox cars and create adventures there. And when I drew my superheroes, I had to create their dialogue, too. My childhood seemed to be a series of opportunities to make up conversation.

Now, as I write, I envision the characters speaking. I can have whole conversations going on in my head between the characters that I just type up, allowing for smooth dialogue.

Although my “training” started at a young age, it’s never too late to learn to dialogue. Do you have kids or grandkids you can play with? Try some make-believe with them. Don’t have any children? Go to the playground and observe kids in conversation. Volunteer for Sunday School and again listen in. Fill yourself with opportunities to either make believe or to listen to how kids create their own stories. Then sit down at your computer and type away. After a bit the process will become very natural.

Contributed by Catherine L. Osornio

Filter

Another thought on dialogue.

1. Use a filter.
Just like you put a filter in your coffee maker before you make coffee, you need to filter dialogue.

Example of No Filter
Joe: “Hi. How have you been?”
Mary: “Actually, I’ve been sick. Had a flu bug and wound up in the hospital.”
Joe: “I’m sorry to hear that. I work at a local hospital. Which one were you in?”
Mary: “St. Anthony’s. Nice people there. They really took good care of me.”

Example of Filtered
Joe: “Hi. How have you been?”
Mary: “Actually, I’ve had the flu.”
Joe: “Sorry to hear that.”

You may not want to eliminate as much as I did but you see my point. We got the “basics,” she had the flu and he’s sorry to hear that she did. Unless the hospital has something to do with the story, it is only “fluff,” filler that can be filtered out.

Like a filter makes for better coffee, filtered dialogue can make a better manuscript. So filter!

Hoping to filter my coffee AND my manuscripts, Gloria

Say What?

How much is too much dialogue?

The saying, “Talk much, say little,” goes for the written word, too, and while it can be boring not to have any dialogue, a little does go a long way, especially for children. I had a boy say to another boy about the girl character that she talked too much. I know this is “Tell, not show,” but I thought in this case it was preferred. I’m still unsure about it. What do you writers think about this? It’s in a middle-grade book.

-contributed by Shirley Shibley

God Speaks

Some of the most powerful examples of dialogue are found in the Bible when God, Himself, speaks.

In Genesis 3:8-9, we read:
And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”

In Luke 23:34:
Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”

In Revelation 22:17, the Holy Spirit speaks:
The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.”

As we make it our goal to hone our writer’s craft to perfection and create realistic dialogue that sings, let’s make it a priority to sit each day in God’s presence and write down examples where He speaks to our heart.

Each day, take pen and paper in hand and journal your conversations with God. Learn to linger in His sweet presence. Write down your questions, your sorrows, your joys, and your discoveries. Wait for God to speak, and then write down the words He shares with you.

This time of daily refreshment lingering in the delightful presence of the Lord while journaling your dialogue with your Beloved will teach you to add depth and realism and honesty and beauty to the dialogue in your manuscripts in ways you could only have imagined. It will also bless you in a million indescribable ways!

-contributed by Nancy I. Sanders

Something to Consider

Recently, on a website for writers, I read an interesting opinion, written by a teacher of college-level writing workshops.  It applies to dialogue as well as to other aspects of our writing.  

I can’t recall his name, but he said, in part, that he believes that the main purpose of writing workshops and critique groups is not so much the comments we receive from other writers about our work but the comments we, ourselves, make about the work of others.  When we look for weakness in plot and structure, character and voice, and of course, how the dialogue reads and sounds, and write down our notes on someone else’s manuscript, it strengthens our own writing.  While what others perceive is helpful, our best insights to our own work come as we read and note what others have done.

I thought this was an interesting observation, and while I don’t necessarily agree with it completely, I thought it was certainly something to consider.

Contributed by Marjorie Flathers