The Unexpected Extras God Gives Writers

From Edie: Martin Wiles helps writers discover the unexpected extras God gives beyond book sales and awards, and learn how gratitude transforms your writing journey and calling.

The Unexpected Extras God Gives Writers

by Martin Wiles @LinesFromGod

Surveys show that the younger generation is enthralled with things the older generation (yes, I’m a “Boomer”) experienced, as well as things they wore, possessed, etc. And as a Language Arts teacher of middle schoolers, I’ve found the research to be spot on. 

I love telling stories of how things were when I was their age, and they love listening—especially if it takes up class time and might mean I forget to give them homework or don’t have time to finish the planned lesson (we’ll ignore any improper motives here and think the best of them). 

How Writers Can Keep the Right Perspective During a Difficult Writing Journey

From Edie: Martin Wiles knows writers face setbacks, disappointments, and unexpected challenges. He shares how the right perspective can help you stay encouraged and trust God.

How Writers Can Keep the Right Perspective During a Difficult Writing Journey

by Martin Wiles @LinesFromGod

The storm rolled through during the night, but my wife and I had slept like babies. When I got up the next morning, I found water on the living room floor. I followed the puddle around the corner and discovered the front two bedrooms were soaked as well. 

Should Writers Eliminate Adverbs? What to Cut—and What to Keep

From Edie: Martin Wiles answers the question, "Should writers eliminate adverbs?" Learn when adverbs strengthen your writing, when they weaken it, and how stronger verbs can make your fiction and nonfiction more powerful.

Should Writers Eliminate Adverbs? What to Cut—and What to Keep

by Martin Wiles @LinesFromGod

To ax or not to ax. That was the question. But what was the answer? 

I sat in front of an agent, pitching my manuscript and hoping the agency she represented would show interest and take me on as a client. Well, that didn’t happen, but she did give me one piece of advice I haven’t forgotten—not that I agree completely with the advice, although it was pertinent. “The first thing I tell a client is to wipe every ly word from their manuscript.” 

Too Busy to Write? How to Make Time and Stay Faithful to Your Calling

From Edie: Struggling to find time to write? Discover practical ways to overcome busyness, stay consistent, and remain faithful to your calling—even in life’s busiest seasons.

Too Busy to Write? How to Make Time and Stay Faithful to Your Calling

by Martin Wiles @LinesFromGod

Christy Brown could use his brain and the little toe on his left foot, but little else. As a helpless babe, he lay on the kitchen floor of a cottage in Ireland. That’s when his mom noticed something very interesting. He reached out with that one good toe and grabbed a crayon that one of his siblings had dropped. At that moment, a writer was born—although neither knew it then. 

Some years later, someone at IBM made a special typewriter for him, enabling him to punch in one letter at a time with that one toe. All one must do is Google books by Christy Brown, and the excuse that “life is too difficult right now for me to write” should fly out the window and soar to its death. Sol Stein, in his book, Stein on Writing, said, “The film (My Left Foot) may cure you of fishing for an excuse for not writing.” [1]

If God Called You to Write, Stop Waiting and Start Writing

From Edie: If God has called you to write, don’t wait for the perfect moment. Discover why taking action—rather than sitting still—is the first step to faithfully sharing the words God has given you.

If God Called You to Write, Stop Waiting and Start Writing

by Martin Wiles @LinesFromGod

I once held the position of head grader (supervisor, for all practical purposes) on third shift at a local textile mill. I had fallen into the position simply because I knew the superintendent of the entire department. To say I felt inadequate to hold the position is an understatement, but my friend assured me I could handle it. 

The person I replaced was being promoted to supervisor on second shift. So, I hung around with him at night as he taught me the ins and outs of the job. All the employees in that one department had been there longer than I had, even though I had worked in other departments of the mill. Still, they knew more than I did, which intimidated me even more. 

How a Writer’s Attitude Shapes Perspective and the Writing Journey

FromEdie: A writer’s attitude shapes how they face rejection, edits, and success. Discover how the right perspective can transform your writing journey.

How a Writer’s Attitude Shapes Perspective and the Writing Journey

by Martin Wiles @LinesFromGod

Attitude changes perspective. It’s a fact of life. It’s also a fact of writing.

In one of the M*A*S*H episodes, morale was down. Not difficult to understand. They lived close to the front. The weather was unpredictable, casualties kept arriving, and they never had enough, let alone the right, supplies.

Colonel Potter brought the officers into his office one evening and shared a good bottle of spirits with them. When that didn’t seem to help, he told them about one of his earlier experiences during World War 1. Then he shared that all-important quote about attitude changing perspective: “If you ain’t where you are, you’re no place.” They went to the party and had a good time. 

A New Year for Writers: Learning from the Past Without Living There

From Edie: A New Year message for writers on learning from past successes and failures without letting them hold you back as you move forward.

A New Year for Writers: Learning from the Past Without Living There

by Martin Wiles @LinesFromGod 

“I wish I could come back.”

Every year, it happens. A student says it—most of the time, quite a few. High school freshmen who hated middle school. We middle school teachers tried to warn them about the transition to high school. We told them how much more difficult it would be. But they couldn’t wait to be delivered from the prison of middle school—or so they thought. 

Then, the summer passed, and they entered the halls of the ivory tower they had longed for. But it wasn’t what they thought. The pace was quicker. The homework load was heavier. Several returned to the middle school hall each morning to tell us they wanted to return. Perhaps I passed them in the high school hall or the lunchroom. “Dr. Wiles, can we come back, please?” Sadly, I had to tell them no.

Writing Through Life’s Hard Seasons: Finding God’s Strength When Creativity Feels Impossible

From Edie: Discover how writers can navigate life’s hardest seasons with faith, resilience, and creativity. Learn how caregiving, grief, and unexpected challenges can shape your writing, deepen your spiritual growth, and reveal God’s strength when words feel impossible.

Writing Through Life’s Hard Seasons: Finding God’s Strength When Creativity Feels Impossible

by Martin Wiles @LinesFromGod

Seasons pass, but one of ours has hung around longer than we anticipated. But no one ever said writing through the seasons would be easy. 

The spring of our season arrived, and Mom fell, breaking her wrist. Since my stepfather had Alzheimer’s and could barely care for himself, we made plans to place Mom in a skilled nursing facility. She wasn’t excited, and neither were we, but we had no choice. Neither she nor my stepfather could afford round-the-clock care.

Still Called to Write: Finding Purpose in Your Writing Life as You Age

From Edie: Discover how your calling to write continues with purpose and strength at every age. Be encouraged that God never retires your gifts—your experience, wisdom, and voice matter now more than ever. Keep writing with confidence and joy as you grow.

Still Called to Write: Finding Purpose in Your Writing Life as You Age

by Martin Wiles @LinesFromGod

And now, in my old age, don’t set me aside. Don’t abandon me when my strength is failing. Psalm 71:9 NLT

As a young boy, the thought of being sixty seemed far away. That was the age of grandparents or even great-grandparents. If I imagined myself at that age, I, like Scarlet in Gone with the Wind, would typically say, “I’ll think about that tomorrow.”

Then, it happened. Suddenly, I was there. I began planning for retirement at sixty-two, but the economy went sour, and retirement became a distant possibility. Before I knew it, I approached sixty-four, and my wife planned a birthday party for me. 

Wrestling with God’s Writing Plan: How to Trust His Timing and Purpose for Your Words

From Edie: Discover how to let go of control and trust God’s plan for your writing. Learn to walk in patience, faith, and purpose—without wrestling against His timing.

Wrestling with God’s Writing Plan: How to Trust His Timing and Purpose for Your Words

by Martin Wiles @LinesFromGod

For years, my youngest brother loved wrestling. But wrestling with God’s writing plan? Well, that’s another story. 

Where my brother’s love for wrestling came from, I’m not sure. And I’m not talking about the type of wrestling that happens on wrestling teams at schools. I’m speaking of the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment), WWF (World Wrestling Federation), and AWA (American Wrestling Association). The ones where the wrestlers, although multi-talented and quite robust, are actors playing out a script and agreeing ahead of time about who will win. 

The Importance of Following Guidelines in Writing and Faith

From Edie: Writers often fail when they ignore submission rules. Explore how following guidelines in writing and faith leads to purpose, clarity, and impact.

The Importance of Following Guidelines in Writing and Faith

by Martin Wiles @LinesFromGod

One by one, I filtered through the email submissions and then, sadly, returned three-fourths of them. Of late, this hasn’t been a not-so-unusual occurrence. Why? The writers did not follow the guidelines. 

For more than a decade, I have served as Managing Editor for a non-profit organization’s website. My duties include receiving submissions, ensuring they follow our guidelines, editing them as needed, corresponding with writers, and scheduling the devotions on the website. However, the issue of guidelines increasingly keeps many of them from seeing the light of day on the website. 

The Pyramid for Powerful Writing

by Martin Wiles @LinesFromGod

By volume, the largest pyramid in the world is the Great Pyramid of Cholula, located in Mexico. This monumental pyramid boasts a volume of 4.45 million cubic meters. This is almost twice the volume of the highest pyramid, the Great Pyramid of Giza. The Pyramid of Cholula is so large that it eventually became covered with vegetation and was built over. Now, it appears to be a natural hill topped by a church. The primary purpose of the Egyptian pyramids was to house the bodies of pharaohs and their possessions, providing protection for both in the afterlife. 

Writing pyramids are also critical. As writers, we aim for powerful writing. If we do a little editing, too, we want to help other writers realize dynamic writing as well. A better sentence or sentence structure. A more powerful word. A more impressive character arc or exciting plot. But how? A simple pyramid will help. 

Discover How to Infuse Power and Purpose into Your Writing When You Write for the One

by Martin Wiles @LinesFromGod

Let’s be honest. Who wants to write a book, short story, article, devotion, or blog post for just one person to read? And, yes, I’ve heard the reminder repeated in various forms on more than one occasion: “What you write may only be for the person sitting beside you.” 

Pride makes that a challenging pill to swallow. I love it when thousands visit my website, but chafe when it dwindles to only a few. 

4 Things to Do When the Words Don’t Come

by Martin Wiles @LinesFromGod

“These are the last that I have. I have not had any inspiration for a couple of months, so I don’t know if there will ever be any more. I hope so, but who knows?” I, too, had experienced those times when the words don’t come. 

My heart broke as I read my friend’s words. She and I had written for the same website for a decade. But now, the managing editor had decided to retire. He would no longer take contributions. I managed two other websites and had a personal one, so I asked my friend to contribute to all three. Excitedly, she agreed. 

Months later, however, I received the above response when I emailed her, asking for more devotions. 

Optimizing Writing for the Web

by Martin Wiles @LinesFromGod

I noticed the acronym SEO when I started using a program to manage a friend's website. But what did it mean? I soon discovered that optimizing writing for the web is critical if we want people to see what we write, which stands to reason if we put it on the web. 

I decided to research the acronym and discovered it stands for search engine optimization. I knew what a search engine was and that optimizing meant making something the best it could be for its intended purpose. But what did that have to do with writing a post?

Cut Out the Writing Cancers

by Martin Wiles @LinesFromGod

“We need to go into another room for this.”

I didn’t like the sound of those words. The dermatologist had already frozen a couple of places on my arms, but suddenly, the present room wouldn’t work. I followed him to another room, where he instructed me to lie on the table. Something else a little strange. 

The next thing I knew, he gave me a shot that numbed the area he planned to work on. Soon, I couldn’t feel a thing—which, by the way, was a good thing. By this time, I was getting quite nervous. Then came the sound. I almost thought I was in a dentist’s office, where the sound is the worst thing. 

Shining the Write Light

by Martin Wiles @LinesFromGod

He looked for a sinner in every crevice and corner of his town but found not one. 

Summer vacation had finally arrived—what Tom Sawyer had long anticipated. But as luck would have it—or not have it—he contracted the measles. What more could ruin summer fun? For two weeks, he languished in bed, between consciousness and unconsciousness. He longed to get outside and do what he always did: let his imagination run wild. And he missed his girlfriend—or the one he hoped would be his girlfriend. She had left for a nearby town to spend her summer vacation there. 

When, at last, he finally recovered from this wretched disease for which there was no cure but time and Aunt Polly’s homemade remedies, he escaped the house and made his way out to look for some of his fun-loving, sinful friends. Some that he could smoke, chew, steal, drink, and curse with. But what he discovered wasn’t what he expected. 

Love the Togetherness of Being with Other Writers

by Martin Wiles @LinesFromGod

Christmas break gave some of our daughter and son-in-law’s boys extended time to stay with us for a few days here and there. But then, the final Saturday of Christmas break arrived. 

We picked up a few pizzas, headed for their house, and planned to eat and play a board game before leaving. The older of the two loves board games and played with us. The younger took off to the playroom and confiscated his iPad. The other two meandered about, doing first one thing and then another. 

Writers, Pay Tribute

by Martin Wiles @LinesFromGod

I remember the day and the place. July 20, 1969. I was nine years old. Well, almost. In the middle of a hot Southern summer, I sat in our den, cooled, I’m sure, by a window air-conditioning unit, awaiting a historic moment in American history. 

The black-and-white 19-inch television sat on a shaky stand, not attached to a secure stud on a wall. I kneeled on our couch, awaiting the grand moment many Americans thought was NOT happening. Believe it or not, many thought no one had been flying around in space and certainly would not be walking on the moon’s surface. The government was pulling our leg. But I believed it—and wanted to see it. 

Sure enough, moment by moment, announcement by announcement, slowly, the monumental event unfolded. Apollo 11 landed on the moon, the hatch opened, an almost alien-like creature emerged, and humanity made their first step on the moon. Neil Armstrong said of the event, “One small step for man; one giant leap for mankind.” 

Learn to Love Accuracy in Writing

by Martin Wiles @LinesFromGod

Ah, those dreaded edits. We who edit love it when we receive those pieces that require little editing—although we do love to play with words and sentence structure. After all, why else would we edit, other than to help writers improve their crafts—and make a few dollars along the way? 

Many of us who edit also write, and I dare say we don’t enjoy the editing part of our writing process. Deep inside, we know our babies have imperfections, but the editing process delivers pain—as does the admission that our work needs help.