Presenting Your Best Writing No Matter the Audience Size

Edie here. I'm excited to once again welcome Jennifer Slattery. The insight she shares for writers is always a welcome addition! Plus she has a new book. Be sure and take a look at the end of the post. 

Presenting Your Best Writing No Matter the Audience Size
by Jennifer Slattery @JenSlattery

Everyone’s short on time and tempted to compromise in numerous tasks and ways. Some, like opting to buy premade salad or MailChimp automate your giveaway downloads make perfect sense.

If you’re like me, you’ve become accustomed to evaluating your time based on outcome—always striving to get the highest return on your investment. 

Along these lines, you may wonder, why spend much time or effort on that blog post or newsletter article that maybe a handful of people will read? Besides, you’re writing the piece for someone else’s blog and have ten other guest posts scheduled—all needing to be completed within the next two weeks, laundry to fold, and Netflix segments to catch up on.

Surely no one will notice, or care, if you slop through a post every now and again … 

Except, integrity matters and acts as the undercurrent for everything we do and forms the building blocks for who we’re becoming—the writers God is molding us into. 

Scripture puts it this way: 

“One who is slack in his work is brother to one who destroys” (Prov. 18:9, NIV).

When we handle whatever God assigns us well, regardless of how big or small, how awesome or seemingly insignificant the task, I believe He expands our territory, maybe not today, maybe not even this year, but eventually. 

And our skill set. 

When I first started blogging, I knew nothing of crafting strong, attention grabbing titles or lead-ins. I didn’t know to use strong verbs or tight writing.

I was an inexperienced, ignorant writer, and it showed! But post by post, week by week, so did my progress. Because that’s what happens when we practice, and when we practice well—we get better.

In life and writing, the principle of sowing and reaping applies. We get back what we put in.

We also present our best selves to a watching—and reading—world. 

This may seem like common sense, but I’m often surprised by how often guest bloggers send me material that looks like random, poorly developed ideas tossed together. Although, I get it. I know what it’s like to have ten projects pressing down on me in the middle of a book launch and subsequent blog tour. 

But presenting shoddy work won’t help anyone. To the contrary, it’ll drive readers away. If we’re going to write, regardless the venue, we may as well take the time to do it with excellence, which means with our very best. 

That’s not to say there won’t be times when life happens and we must choose between meeting a deadline or perfecting our work, but those times should be the exception, not the norm. If we find ourselves constantly chasing one assignment after another, we’re probably overbooking ourselves—and as a result, giving Jesus and our readers less than our best.

Let’s talk about this. When are you tempted to sort of skirt by—to hurriedly send something off with little forethought, preparation, and revisions? Has this ever come back to bite you? Why might it be better to blog less frequently than to send out subpar work? What are some ways writers can write with excellence while being crunched for time?

Share your thoughts with us in the comments below, because we can all learn from and encourage one another!

TWEETABLES

Presenting Your Best #Writing No Matter the Audience Size - @jenslattery on @EdieMelson (click to Tweet)

Write with excellence even when crunched for time - @JenSlattery on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

Dancing in the Rain

by Jennifer Slattery

On the verge of college graduation, Loni Parker seeks employment as a music teacher, but no one will hire her since she’s blind. Or so she thinks. To take her mind off her troubles, her roommate invites her to spring retreat at Camp Hope in the gorgeous North Carolina mountains. 

Unbeknownst to Loni, Michael Ackerman, the director, is an ex-con responsible for the accident that caused her blindness. When Loni warms up to camp and wants to return as a summer counselor, Michael opposes the idea, which only makes Loni want to prove herself all the more. Though she doesn’t expect to fall for the guy. Still, her need for independence and dream of teaching win out, taking her far away from her beloved Camp Hope . . . and a certain director.

Camp director Michael Ackerman recognizes Lonie instantly and wants to avoid her at all costs. Yet, despite the guilt pushing him from her, a growing attraction draws him to the determined woman. She sees more with her heart than the average person does with his eyes. But her presence also dredges up a long-buried anger toward his alcoholic father that he’d just as soon keep hidden. When circumstances spin out of control, Michael is forced to face a past that may destroy his present.

Buy it here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CSH8F97

Jennifer Slattery is a writer and international speaker who’saddressed women’s groups, church groups, Bible studies, and other writers across the nation. She’s the author of six contemporary novels maintains a devotional blog found at http://jenniferslatterylivesoutloud.com. She has a passion for helping women discover, embrace, and live out who they are in Christ. As the founder of Wholly Loved Ministries, (http://whollyloved.com) she and her team partner with churches to facilitate events designed to help women rest in their true worth and live with maximum impact. When not writing, reading, or editing, Jennifer loves going on mall dates with her adult daughter and coffee dates with her hilariously fun husband. Connect with her on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/JenSlatte) or Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/slatteryjennifer/).