Hello and welcome to the video of a facebook live I did this morning, on the topic of editing your manuscript. The screen freezes part of the way through, but you can still listen! Sorry for the tech issues, but hope you find the content useful. 🙂
Use Your Fears for Good
Good morning, and welcome to this week’s Write for a Reason creative writing tip. I hope you are well, and coping with the lockdown, wherever you are in the world. Strange times, aren’t they? We ‘met’ with our Bible study group yesterday on a facebook live – we’re getting used to it, but it’s not the same as a church service, for sure!
I have a quick creative writing tip for you today, followed by a writing exercise:
Writing tip: Remember that every story needs plenty of emotion. You can have a lovely idea for a story where a character goes through a series of adventures, but if there’s little emotion, you won’t engage your readers. Readers need to feel deeply for your character, as well as go with them on their journey from the beginning of the story to the end.
Writing exercise: We are living in a time of uncertainty; a time of fear. Grab a piece of paper and a pen, and for the next ten minutes, write your darkest fears at this present time. Perhaps your concerns are for elderly parents, for employment, or for vulnerable people you love. Perhaps you have a son or daughter on the front line in health care. Perhaps you fear the world as we know it will never be the same again…
What are you really concerned about deep down?
What is that gnawing anxiety you are trying not to dwell on?
Now’s the time to express these fears in words.
Why? Gulp! It may not sound like an encouraging exercise, but being able to plum the depths of your own emotions will help you include them in your stories… which will help your readers with their own emotions.
To finish: Now you have acknowledged the truth about how you really feel (which is what the psalmists did!), it’s time to pray, and put your fears and concerns into the Lord’s hands. May He keep your minds in perfect peace as you trust in Him!
Let me know if you find this helpful.
And now a gentle reminder: This is your last chance to join the April Write for a Reason Academy for half price (registration ends tomorrow). If you’d like a sneak preview, you can do so here.
Please pray all the right people will join this course – the more stories that share good news, and the better written they are, the more children (and even whole families) can be reached with the love of Jesus. Please do share the link with any friends who might be interested, especially anyone who is ‘on furlough’ from their current employment. Thank you!
May the Lord bless you and keep you, may the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and may he give you his peace.
Janet
P.S. This is the link to access your sneak preview of the course. (I think – sometimes I struggle to get all the technology to link together! Let me know if you have any issues with it. 🙂
Pace!
Nine Tips for Writing in a Time of Uncertainty
Good morning from a beautiful, sunny morning in London, where everything looks the same, but so much has changed. At least we know our Lord does not change. His mercies are new every morning, and his faithfulness will never end.
He is our Rock in times of trouble.
Many writer friends are saying how difficult it is to concentrate on writing right now. I would therefore like to offer a few quick tips:
1. Be kind to yourself. There is a time for everything, and these are extraordinary times. Don’t get cross with yourself if your mind wanders and you don’t get as much done as you’d like… but equally, don’t allow yourself to play sudoku when you have sat down to write!
2. Try to keep a regular writing time. This may have to fit in with your new circumstances – be creative and make a realistic plan. Better decide to write for half an hour three times a week and achieve it/exceed it, than promise yourself you will write for three hours a day, then beat yourself up because other things need your attention.
3. Keep close to the Lord. Read your Bible and pray before writing. Rest when you can/need to. Everything in its proper place.
4. Keep your purpose in mind. If you have done the Write for a Reason course, you will be writing for your one reader. Keep praying for them, and writing for them. Who knows how much they will need your story in the days ahead?
5. Exercise outside if possible – taking a walk in creation brings fresh perspective and fresh creativity.
6. Eat well and drink plenty of water. A healthy snack and a glass of water before you sit down to write will help you concentrate.
7. If you find writing your novel too overwhelming right now, write something parallel. For example, write a letter from your protagonist to another character, write a snatch of dialogue that comes to mind (even if it’s not in the chapter you’re writing), write a prayer for your one reader… anything you can accomplish quickly, but still relevant.
8. Encourage fellow writers. If you’re not part of our Write for a Reason Community closed facebook group, and would like to support and be supported as your write your novel, request to join.
9. Keep learning. Registration for the online Write for a Reason Academy is now open for our April start – could there be a better time to do an online course? 🙂 If you join us, by the end of June you will have a complete story plan and all the skills you need to finish your novel! Due to the current crisis I’ve cut the price of the course in half, because I want as many people as possible to benefit, but if that’s not for you, why not swot up with some writing tips?
I hope you will find at least one of these tips useful. If you do, would you be kind enough to share this post with a friend? We all need each other right now… don’t let’s give up, but let’s keep the fire burning and the light shining!
Wherever in the world, I hope you are well in body, soul and spirit. May you know the peace of God which passes all understanding, whatever the circumstances you are currently facing.
In Jesus, our hope,
Janet
P.S. If you have a friend who writes novels for children, but could do with a bit of help/support/training/encouragement, would you consider buying the Write for a Reason Academy for them? It could result in lots more children reading Christian books and hearing the good news of Jesus! Any queries, please don’t hesitate to contact me. 🙂
3 Writing Exercises for You
Good morning and welcome to the Write for a Reason blog.
With so much of the world talking about Covid-19, I can’t ignore it and sit here and talk about writing stories as if nothing was happening.
If you’re anything like me, you are grateful for the life we have in Christ, and are even more determined to share the sure and certain hope we have in Jesus through story. “How can they hear, if no one tells them?“
So today, in these strange times, I have been thinking about how I can most help you, and have decided to set three writing exercises:
1. Write deeply from your heart, of your darkest fears. This could be a cathartic exercise for you, but as well as that, being able to write honestly from your own experience will help you bring emotion into your stories. There is nothing quite like reading a book and feeling understood, perhaps for the first time.
2. Write a prayer for our time, to share with friends on social media, your family, or perhaps your children’s church group. Some don’t have the gift of words, so this week, why not use your gift to help others to pray?
3. Write a psalm of thanks and praise for today. Every day is a new day, and God’s mercies are new every morning. Circumstances change, but He doesn’t.
Before I go, I’d like to invite you to join me in a live Zoom meeting where I will be talking about Creating Engaging Characters, next Monday (23rd March) at 7pm UK time. Contact me for the link to register. It’s material I prepared for a writing workshop in Eastbourne, and decided I might as well make use of again (there’s no charge) and I hope it will help you!
Any questions, as always, please don’t hesitate to contact me. See you next week if not before,
Janet
P.S. You do need to register for the Zoom meeting, so please contact me if you’d like to join in.
Want to Have a Successful Story Plan by Summer? You Can!
Hello and welcome to the Write for a Reason blog! Thanks for joining us.
My family is now out of self-isolation. Two weeks after returning from China my son and daughter-in-law are well and we can now all sit and eat at the same table! Thank you so much if you prayed for us. It was a strange experience, and all the time there was uncertainty in the air: would either of them go down with the coronavirus? Or would we? I’m so grateful none of us had even a hint of fever. 🙂
There’s no doubt we are living in unusual times; the spread of the coronavirus is suddenly affecting us all. A friend from Belgium told me this morning that they no longer greet friends with a kiss! Shops have sanitising gel on the counters and supermarkets have empty shelves as people stock up.
For some of us the virus is unsettling… for others, it is a tragedy of immense proportions. The truth is that suddenly none of us are immune and fear is in the air.
Children have vivid imaginations, and pick up on the worries and fears around them as they hear the news, listen to conversations, see frightening images. A book that brings hope can be a beacon in a dark place. If you have been thinking one day I’ll write that book, perhaps this is your one day?
Fortunately for us, as Christians, our hope is beyond any hope this world can offer. This really is good news to share for young and old – and stories are a great way to share it. 🙂
Talking of which, I have once again opened up registration for the Write for a Reason Academy. The next course will start on Monday 6th April. Do take a look! The idea behind the course is to give you everything you need to write a successful novel for children/teens (story structure, characters, theme, setting, narrative voice, etc). Throughout the course you will build on an outline for a story (maybe that one that has been mulling around in your head? :-)), so by the end of the course you will have a complete story framework, and your novel all ready to write – overwhelm beaten!
There are assignments to do and teaching to digest. The course is online, so you can access it 24/7 and go at your own pace. There are ten modules, so if you do one module per week, by the end of June you will have your story plan completed and ready to write in the summer…
Do pray about it.
Each time I open the course people ask if I will be running the course again, because they’d like to do it, but not necessarily right now. Here’s the honest answer: I hope to run the course again many times, but I’d hate to guarantee it, so if you know you want to do it, it would be better not to put it off. I have included an option for you to pay monthly instead of a one-off fee, which I hope will help.
Click here for more detailed information, and to join up if you should wish to do so. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I am passionate about getting good stories into children’s hands, and if I can help guide you with your novel, I would consider it a privilege.
Right, better get on – I didn’t mean to write that much!
See you next week,
Janet
P.S. Please share news about the Academy with writer friends. More successful writers = more successful stories = more children enjoying good books. 🙂
Bad news…
Good morning! I’m currently writing with my son and his wife in self-isolation after returning home from China. These are strange times, aren’t they?
I picked them up from the airport, so I, too have been avoiding meeting up with people, just in case.
There is so much terrible news at the moment – it almost feels overwhelming. The heart-rending plight of the people in Wuhan and the spread of the coronavirus, the devastating bush fires in Australia, the destructive plague of locusts in eastern Africa, the continuing war in Syria and the plight of the refugees, the floods in Britain… each one of these disasters impacting millions of people. People dying, jobs lost, homes lost, livelihood lost, family lost. And I’ve just picked a few of the current top stories – in your head you may have been adding other terrible news reports of your own.
All these disasters affect children, too.
“How lovely are the feet of him who brings good news.”
One of our Write for a Reason Academy students, Martin, has written the following poem which I asked his permission to share with you, because I think it sums up so much of what Write for a Reason is all about, and he kindly agreed.
‘
MY WRITING VISION
By Martin F. Smith
‘
As a writer may my words make a difference to the world
Of my target audience made up of boys and girls.
If I choose them carefully then they’ll surely want to read,
Keen to discover where the story’s going to lead.
‘
Perhaps it will be funny, even crazy can be good,
When characters do what you thought they never would.
Excitement is important, like a roller-coaster ride,
Making the readers tense, feeling nervous inside.
‘
Oh, and don’t forget the end needs to have a surprise,
So they exclaim, ‘I don’t believe my eyes!’
Yet all this won’t matter if the message isn’t heard,
Or if the story’s theme is just a little too absurd.
‘
For I started writing my thoughts to convey,
Hoping some seeds will be spread along the way.
A difference might be made, either big or small,
Then I’ll have been faithful in obeying God’s call.
‘
If you are nodding your head, or jumping up and yelling YES!, would you need/like to:
- Join a group for encouragement? (We have a community group on facebook – if you’re serious about writing your story, we’d love you to join us.)
- Start writing? If you haven’t picked up a pen/keyboard for a while, this might help.
- Get some tuition? There are hundreds of free writing tips on the Write for a Reason blog.
Whatever it is you need to do, don’t put it off. If it’s tuition you need, I plan to run a webinar on characters in the next few weeks (when I’ve worked out how to do it!), then I will open the Write for a Reason Academy again in April (this is a ten week online course for Christians who write for children) – more details about both of these in due course. Make sure you sign up for email updates, if you don’t already subscribe, so you won’t miss out. There’s a form below.
For now, keep writing, my friends. Take the next step. Persevere. If you have been called to write, a child who needs to hear good news is waiting for your story.
See you next week if not before,
Janet
P.S. If you found Martin’s poem inspiring, please send me your comments, and I will pass them on to him. Thank you!
Writing Workshop
Earlier this month I ran a writing workshop at the Eastbourne Christian Resources Centre, on the south coast of England. It was lovely to meet up with four enthusiastic writers, all in different stages in their writing journey. The weather was terrible a few days before and after, with high winds and heavy rainfall, but we were blessed with a bit of sunshine!
We discussed CHARACTERS, because one thing we all need to remember, whatever we write, and whoever for, is that our characters must be compelling. I know I talk about this a lot, but think back to the last novel you read. My guess is that the more you engaged with the main character, the more you engaged with the story.
So if we want to grip our readers, we must make sure they:
- Believe in our characters
- Care what happens to them.
Just a thought: If I ran a free half-hour webinar on the subject of characters; would you be interested? If enough people would find it useful, I’ll dig out my notes. You can contact me through the contact form, message me or email me. Or leave a comment below. Don’t forget to let your friends know. 🙂
Oh, and if you would like to join our closed facebook community group, let me know about that too and I’ll let you in. (It’s for you if you’re writing a Christian book for kids, serious about getting it done, and feel you’d like some support and encouragement.)
See you next week, or in the facebook group,
Janet
P.S. Are there any other subjects you’d like me to cover? I’m here to help!
Ingenuity, Perseverance, Desperation
Apologies for the lateness of this week’s writing tip… I took a week off work last week to paint the bathroom, and now have lots to catch up on. 🙂
Plus this website was hacked… life is full of challenges!
I hope you survived the recent storms – we had a leak in our spare room and a fence down by our front door, which has made it difficult getting in and out of our house!
We’re not complaining, after seeing the awful flooding some people have had to endure. I am also watching the news closely as I have a son in China (not Wuhan, but the virus affects life for everyone), and felt the grief as we heard the news that Caroline Flack had taken her own life. Our humanity binds us together as we see the suffering of others – rich or poor, famous or forgotten, known or unknown, on the other side of the world or close to home.
May our writing bring good news – hope to the despairing, light in the darkness, grace to those who long to be loved and forgiven. If you’ve been putting off writing, determine to get going (or get going again if you’ve started and stalled!). If you have been called to write, at least one young person is waiting for your story. They will miss out if you don’t, but who knows what the Lord might do through your obedience?
Right, on to this week’s writing tip, which actually comes from writer-for-a-reason Donald Smith (thank you Donald!), who commented after a recent writing tip: “One of my favourite authors is Odo Hirsch. The protagonist, usually a child, has a mission. He or she has to use personal qualities to overcome obstacles, and then attains the goal. In his Bartlett stories, Hirsch even mentions the three virtues that his protagonist lives by: Ingenuity, Perseverance and Desperation.”
Brilliant! How does your protagonist match up? Do you think every protagonist needs these three keys? Let me know what you think!
See you next week,
Janet
P.S. Over the last week I’ve had time to do some thinking – I’d like to set up a closed facebook group for any writers-for-a-reason who are serious about getting their stories done. It will be a place where members can chat with and encourage each other, ask for advice, and generally encourage each other. If you would like to join in, let me know. I will be involved in the group, but am hoping for a community feel. Writing can be lonely – I’d like this to be a safe space where we can pray for each other, share struggles and joys, ask questions, offer advice, and maybe even find writing buddies! Be lovely to get to know you a bit better. Just let me know if you’d like to join. 🙂
Your Story’s One Main Aim
Good morning and welcome to this week’s writing tip. I hope you are well and enjoying the slightly longer mornings and evenings – spring is surely nearly here!
Today’s writing tip is vital for the pace of your story.
Why doesn’t Cinderella, as well as wanting to go to the ball, also need to save a rare flower, search for a long-lost auntie and lose weight?
Because protagonists should have one main aim.
This aim can be anything: to save the rainforest, destroy the weapons, find the treasure, get to safety, discover the identity of the thief, bring the prodigal home, reach the moon, win the football game… but there should only be ONE main aim.
Along the way your characters may battle beasts, bullies, thieves, hurricanes, dragons, aliens and face all manner of difficulties… but all the struggles should be because they are fighting to reach their one goal.
Here’s the problem: if your characters go through situations that have nothing to do with the main aim, you risk diluting your story, reducing tension, and making your story long-winded (and boring… noooooo!).
You need to decide: What is my protagonist’s main aim?
When you have decided what the goal is, think of this aim as a thread running through the story. Anything that does not hang on this thread needs to be cut (you can always save ideas for the sequel! :-)).
Does this make sense?
The Cinderella story works because there is one aim – for her to win the prince’s heart. Everything in the story is there so she can achieve that aim.
One MAIN story loop is enough for each story. You can have side plots, but they still need to feed in to the main aim. And if you’re writing for younger children, keep it simple – stick to the one main aim.
In the beginning you open it, at the end you close it. And the middle is the struggle to reach it.
Does this makes sense? Why not pause for a moment and think back to the last story you read, or film you watched. What was the protagonist’s main aim? Was everything in the story working towards the character/s reaching this aim?
Any comments or queries, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I always love to hear from you!
See you next week,
Janet
P.S. I am running a FREE writing workshop at the Eastbourne Christian Bookshop next Saturday morning (8th Feb), as part of their 50th anniversary celebrations. If you’d like to go, you need to book with them. If you’re anywhere near, do come – it would be wonderful to meet you!
On the same day, in the afternoon I will be speaking at the Hand in Hand Children’s Ministry Conference, also in Eastbourne. The title of my session is Exploring and discussing faith at home though children’s books. Sharing our faith with our children is a priority, but it’s not always easy. In this session we’ll be looking at three easy ways to use books to start discussions. I will be giving out a free goodie bag of books for every attendee, so come along if you can!