Maybe you were one of those lucky few to pitch your book at the conference. Maybe, against all odds and a lot of preparation, an agent or editor requested your full. It’s time to send in your proposal. There’s a lot of information on blogs across the internet about how to prepare a proposal, but… Continue reading So You Attended a Conference…Now What? (Part 3)
There’s a dangerous balance between claiming a story is “God-given” and writing a story with the desire to bring God glory. Biblical writers had inspired words driven to the page by God’s own word (2 Timothy 3:16-17, 2 Peter 1:21). We, on the other hand, may feel compelled or even called to write a story… Continue reading Finding Confidence When Fear is Real: A Writing Journey (Part 3)
Last week, we spent the morning finding a healthy balance between accepting criticism and withstanding it. Before we continue into this week, if you haven’t checked out part 1 of this series, visit the page here. It is so important that we as writers accept criticism from the right sources and know when to listen.… Continue reading Finding Confidence When Fear is Real: A Writing Journey (Part 2)
Confidence, it’s not something you’ll see talked about much in the writing world. It’s mostly the opposite. You’ll find posts about self-doubt, rejection, and writer’s block—issues we’ve talked about here, here, and here. But confidence is a very real remedy to many of these problems, and it’s not addressed often enough. Why? Well, sometimes writers… Continue reading Finding Confidence When Fear is Real: A Writing Journey (Part 1)
Rejection is not personal. This was a theme Steve Laube emphasized at his ACFW workshop. It’s not about you. It’s about the writing, maybe even the genre, but not you… So why do we as writers take rejection so personal? This is easy to answer. We’ve invested part of ourselves into the pieces we write.… Continue reading Rejection with Dignity (Part 3)
The hardest part of rejection is the fear. We must consider whether the opinions of others hold some validity. Only a fool would say their work is perfected. So what happens when our work receives rejection for a legitimate reason? Well, that’s when we should discover gratitude. This is hard with rejection, but the editor… Continue reading Rejection with Dignity (Part 2)
Over the next few weeks, we’re going to focus on the rejection we face as writers. Face it, hearing criticism about your work is difficult. You’ve spent months, maybe years, pouring your heart into your writing. But rejection is a part of the writing industry. Every writer hears the word “no” at some point. This… Continue reading Rejection with Dignity (Part 1)
