Organize Marketing with Spread Sheets

by Karen Whiting @KarenHWhiting

I’ve mentioned my spreadsheets to keep organized and have received questions on how I create and use them, so let me share my method. For marketing, spread sheets are so valuable for keeping information in one place and tracking progress. It provides, at a glance, information on plans for media, print, social media, articles and more. It can also keep track of links to work and interviews done and contact information for upcoming interviews. These can be created to track marketing for each book or brand or to build databases of media contacts.

Grace for the Writer

by Tammy Karasek @TickledPinkTam

As we know, 2020 gave us more unscheduled time than we thought possible. I don’t need to tell you how many things were cancelled and stay-at-home orders placed on us countrywide as well as some countries around the world—you lived it. 

Often last year we found ourselves sitting around the TV waiting to hear when we could return to normal. We started this routine in March. I don’t know about you, but I’m still waiting to hear we’re ready to return to normal. Though I no longer sit by the TV news for that. We’ve slowly created new routines to get us by.

However, back in the spring I stopped writing. My critique groups and writing buddies couldn’t meet to work together. I became lazy. With no deadlines, or time schedule to meet with writing partners, my urgency—and desire—to write slowly flickered away. The candle flame went out and took all my mojo with it. I couldn’t string a sentence together, let alone an entire paragraph. 

Resurrecting The Buried Life in our Writing

by Emme Gannon @GannonEmme

When we sit to write, we’re challenged to let our minds go to that place of wonder that lies in the deep crevices of our hearts. The “Buried Life,” (a term coined in a poem by Matthew Arnold,) is waiting to be rescued from the prison of political and social correctness. The freedom to write truth in books, articles, and speak in the public forum can lose its luster through the busyness of keeping up with social media and the constant flow of disturbing news. 

My American Idol Ah-ha Moment as a Writer

by Crystal Bowman

In the early seasons of American Idol, I was a faithful fan. From the first auditions to the grand finale, I watched every episode to see who would make the top ten and eventually win the singing competition. 

Collateral Blessings for Writers: Unexpected Surprises from God

by Julie Lavender @JLavenderWrites

Don’t you love when God totally surprises you with a blessing you didn’t see coming? 

I’ve played around on Facebook for a number of years, starting my personal page long ago when my teenagers first asked to join the social media world. “Only if you help your technologically-challenged mother set up an account, too,” I’d replied. “So that I can monitor your activity … somewhat.” I knew my tech intel skills couldn’t rival that of my kids, but, luckily, my teens were more interested in getting to church on time for youth group than they were getting into anything devious online. 

As my writing career continued to move forward, social media became more of a work tool for me than a teenage surveillance device. I paid attention at conferences like Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference and learned to sincerely engage with those that might be part of my potential audience for my writing. 

What’s Behind Your Writer's Mask?

by Linda Gilden @LindaGilden

Living in unprecedented times brings a lot of new “rules” we must learn to live with. One of the new norms for us today is wearing a mask when we go out. Though not popular with some people, wearing masks is one thing we can do to be proactive in helping restore our freedom of moving about without fear of contamination.

Writers have worn masks for years and in some ways, it is a parallel to our current mask wearing.

A Writer's Dollar Wisely Spent

by Cindy Sproles @CindyDevoted

Writers live on pennies. If we’re lucky – dimes. So when conferences roll around it’s our eyes that roll at the pennies we spend. No one will argue that attending a conference is expensive. It is but it is also the one place you will latch on, not only to your dream but to the necessary learning needed to excel as a writer. 

Speaking Tips for Writers in 2021

by Yvonne Ortega @YvonneOrtega1

We may have decided to accept 2021 as it unfolds. We trust that what God has for us will come about in his way and timing. I sat each evening during the last week of December with a pen, a journal, and a Bible. On New Year’s Eve, I sat alone with God and asked again for direction. Here are open doors for me that may appeal to you.

The first speaking tip for writers in 2021 is to attend a speakers conference.

God in the Seasons

by Martin Wiles @LinesFromGod

As long as the earth remains, there will be planting and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night. Genesis 8:22 NLT

Only two remained. 

As I sat on my old antique porch glider, I watched as two hummingbirds fought over the one feeder that hung just outside my den window. Just a few days before, I had cleaned all my feeders but only returned one to the backyard. And just a few weeks prior, a dozen hummingbirds had created a war zone in the back and side yards as they fought for nectar from the three feeders placed strategically around the yard. Now, everything was changing.

Choosing to be a Flexible Writer

by Beth K. Vogt @BethVogt

As 2020 wound down, I discovered a quote by motivational coach Tony Robbins: “Stay committed to your decisions, but stay flexible in your approach.”

Rather than making a list of New Year’s resolutions, I prefer to choose One Word to focus on each year. But there are still specific personal, professional, and spiritual goals I pray about and plan for in the coming months that help me achieve my writing dreams.

A Biblical Prayer for Writers

by Joshua J. Masters @JoshuaJMasters

After the struggles of the last year, many of us are rededicating ourselves to more productive writing schedules, a greater respect for deadlines, and an organized plan for our business. But if our last turbulent trip around the sun taught us anything, it’s that we should focus on the things that are most important and be grateful for the things we take for granted.

The Writing Edition of What Worked and What Didn't

by Lynn H. Blackburn @LynnHBlackburn

For the past few years, I’ve created a What Worked/What Didn’t Work list as a way to review the previous year. **

I love this process because it allows me to acknowledge places where I struggled and shine a light on the things I want to change in the upcoming year, but it also gives me room to celebrate what went right.

I make this list for my personal life which includes how things went for my family, in my home, with my health, relationships, etc. But I also make a separate list for my writing life, and that’s what I want to share with you today. 

The Magic of Motivation in Your Novel

by Sarah Sally Hamer @SarahSallyHamer

Why do characters do what they do? Just like real humans, characters have extremely good reasons. Knowing WHY a character does something is essential – they MUST have a reason, even if the reader doesn't get it at first. But that's only half of the equation. Writers must also understand and express the reaction that follows.

Know the (Writing) Rules to Break the Rules Well

by PeggySue Wells @PeggySueWells

One day, my daughter practiced music while I mixed together a favorite recipe in the kitchen for scones.

“Mama, was Bach a nice man?” My six-year-old called to me from the piano in the living room. 

Get Busy on Your Waiting (Writing) List

Edie here. I'm super excited to introduce you to our newest TWC monthly contributor, Kristen Hogrefe Parnell. I'm a super-fan of her books and so excited to have her sharing her insight and wisdom here in our community! Be sure to give her a warm TWC welcome!

Get Busy on Your Waiting (Writing) List

by Kristen Hogrefe Parnell @KHogrefeParnell

For something we writers have to do so often, we aren’t very good at it. Waiting, that is.

Do What is Possible

by Audrey Frank @AudreyCFrank

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth to Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her. Firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping with her their flocks at night (Luke 2:4-8).

It is most often when we are doing what is possible that the impossible happens.

Are You Including God In Your Publishing Plans?

by Tim Suddeth @TimSuddeth

“Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they have been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It’s a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.” Muhammad Ali

But [Jesus] said, “The things that are impossible with people are possible with God.” Luke 18:27

Leave Space for Grace In Your Writing Goals

by A.C. Williams @Free2BFearless

I raised and trained 4-H market lambs for two years when I was in junior high. The profit I made helped me buy my first laptop, yes, but it was hard, exhausting, dirty work. (If you’ve never scrubbed the lanolin out of all a sheep’s nooks and crannies before a show, consider yourself fortunate to not have experienced that particular smell.) 

The second year, I ended up with a lamb who pushed every button I had. She was stubborn and scared of everything. I named her Meg, after a book character who (to this day) frustrates me with her hard-headedness. I couldn’t even train her using the traditional belly-rubbing method we’d been taught. No, Meg the sheep required my knee in her chest to get her to set up properly. It was a constant fight, a constant struggle to get this sheep to behave and perform. But we did it. We made it to the county fair.