I’ve been blessed to attend and teach at scads of Christian writers conferences. My habit is to always purchase the cds or mp3s of every conference so I’m able to continue to learn from the masters. Gleaning through their wisdom is like a refreshing spring rain.
Here are the top tidbits of wisdom I’ve gleaned from top Christian Writers.
VOI CE - Gayle Roper – “Your voice isn’t something you learn. It’s who you are. It’s how you think, how you speak, how you phrase. It’s when you take a breath in your conversation. Instead of worrying about finding your voice, write with the voice of who you are. Learn to polish that in the finished product, but be true to yourself. It will draw readers in and never turn them loose.”
REALITY & HUMILITY – Alton Gansky – “If you want to write for God, you must understand your words may never be bound in a cover and placed on a bookstore shelf. They may only be meant for the person sitting next to you.” This is the reality of humility.
SUCCESS - DiAnn Mills – “Each book is a success for me, whether it’s award winning or not. I place my heart and
soul into every word that goes onto the page. When I finish a book, I lean back and feel the great success in the completion of a quality project. My trophy is in knowing I’ve done my best.”
PLOT – James Scott Bell – “Here’s the obvious! You gotta have a beginning. You gotta have a middle. And you gotta have an end.” He concluded, “You laugh, but it’s true. Every beginning has to thrust the reader through a door that closes behind them, leaving them in the middle where they are propelled through its door. That door slams behind them into the ending segment that leaves the reader wanting to step through the final door, but they won’t, because they enjoyed the ride so much, they never want it to end.”
JOY - Deborah Raney – When asked what her favorite challenge in writing was, she replied. “It’s in finding the joy in every
situation. Life is hard, but there is joy even in the hardships. If a writer can guide a reader through the rough patch and into the joy the future holds, then they’ve accomplished a solid story. I love to find the joy.”
THE MAGIC PARAGRAPH – the late Ron Benrey – Ron’s magic paragraph – a skill of writing that draws the reader deep into the story. Ron’s elements for the magic paragraph: 1) signal the reader whose head you’re in. 2) Twang a sense or start a thought process. 3) Show what the character experienced. 4) Start the character thinking.
CHRISTIAN WORLD VIEW – Ann Tatlock - “When the world says write it this way, your job is to focus your eyes on Him. Write the words that glorify God, not the ones that stoop to the lower standards of the world. When I write, I am in control of who and what I want to represent, and am I representing it in a way that would please my Father in heaven – despite what the world demands?”
WRITE COLORFUL – Vonda Skelton – On exploring life with “eyes wide open” – looking at every situation in life as a scene in a book. “When you apply the eyes-wide-open concept to your novels, you find a wealth of detail, emotion, and movement that holds a reader’s attention. Write colorful. A measure of detail adds depth and color to a scene that the reader connects with.”
BELIEVE IN THE STORY – Jeanette Windle – “You have to write what you believe and believe what you write. Stay the course. When you do that, you write from the depths of who you are.”
WRITE YOUR BEST – Yvonne Lehman – “Anybody can write a story. They can throw words on a page and wave them in the air. There is a difference in writing a story and writing your best. If you don’t do your best every time, learn more, and write your best again, then you are doing yourself and your readers a grave injustice.”
JUST WRITE – Bob Hostetler – “Just write, because you are called to write. Just write because it is what is threaded through your soul. Just write because you have to write and because of what is lost if you do not.”
DETERMINATION – Robert Benson – This quote says it all. “Determined is the proper posture for a writer. Hurried is NOT the proper posture for a writer.”
WRITE BECAUSE – Bob Hostetler – Bob reminded me in a keynote he gave, of the what if’s should we not write. “What if the one person who needed your words never got to read them because they were never written.” Powerful. A call to keep up the work.
Take time to sort through your conference notes. Find those gems that have made a significant change in how you write, then read them and re-read them. . .over and over, and over again.
Humility in Writing
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Let it Percolate
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Divorce My Words?
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Icy Self-Talk Will Freeze Your Writing
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Waiting
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In the Midst of Chaos
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The Heart of God
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Writing in a Pickle
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Homonyms – Did You Sea/See Them Their/There?
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A Christmas Saga - Joy in the Season
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The Reality of Who We Are?
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Publishing Trends
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Be Thankful ANYWAY
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Writing Your Mission Statement
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Perseverance to Write
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The Good, The Bad, and the Memoir
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Common Sense Tips for When You Write
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The Battle is Fought
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Scratch It Till It Bleeds
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Twelve Tidbits of Wisdom from Top Christian Writers
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Pray with Fire
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Present Yourself Approved and Professional
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The Easy In
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The Art of Self-Editing
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Questions, Questions
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15-Minute Appointments - Important Networking
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Permission to Quit - No Way
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Don't Close Your Eyes - Bob Hostetler
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Love Your Faculty
10/17/2018 3:00:00 PM by: Cindy Sproles
The Immeasurable Power in You
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Forging Ahead after Rejection
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cindysproles.com Privacy Policy
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Closing Up Shop - Guiding Seniors to Letting Go
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Publishing Naysayers
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In Prayer - I Write
3/3/2018 9:00:00 AM by: Cindy Sproles
Keep Them Reading
1/12/2018 11:23:00 AM by: Cindy Sproles
Encouraged - Even When . . .
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Christmas Tears
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Holiday Elder Care - Be an Elder Elf
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Grateful for a Dream I Didn't Know I Had
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Keep Them Reading
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Chicken Soup for the Soul - Writer Call Out
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Five Ways to Assure Your Work will Find the Slush Pile
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23rd Psalm Revisited
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Contentment in Writing
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5 Common Sense Tips to Better Writing
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Overshadowed
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Chicken Soup for the Soul Callout - Stories about Love
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Five Keys to Overcoming Rejection
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Writing Call Out - Chicken Soup for the Soul
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When Words of Encouragement Wane
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Writing Truth with Love
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Oh To Be A Writer
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Why Write?
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Scammed
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The Pain of Unsolicited
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Not Alone: A Literary and Spiritual Companion for Those Confronted with Infertility and Miscarriage
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Thankful Despite . . .
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Stepping Up to Na-No-Wri-Mo
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The Gift of No Gifts
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Writers Be Encouraged
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Keep ‘Em Reading – It’s the Writer’s Responsibility
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Saying Goodbye
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Overcoming the Fear of Writing Failure
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Making the Move – Home to Assisted Living
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I Kid You Not
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Hearing the Call to Foster – Renee McCausey
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Throw Out the Crutches
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So You Were Asked to Be A Beta Reader?
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REJECTIONS – Aaughhh!
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The Bachelor – Stephanie Reed
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The Making of a Servant
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Miracle in a Dry Season Review – Yvonne Lehman
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Write Anyway
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World Blog Tour – Catching Up with Cindy Sproles
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The Progression of Life
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Instrumental Writing Helps – Aaron Gansky
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The Question Saga
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Defy the Night – REVIEW
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When the Work is Hard to Do
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My Heart Belongs to Him
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Review of The Vicar’s Wife
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The In on Self Publishing – Part 2
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The In on Self Publishing – Part 1
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In a Pickle
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Bigger and Better
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Putting SOCIAL back in Media
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After the Conference Ends…
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Here a Tweak, There a Tweak, Everywhere a Tweak, Tweak
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Can You Hear Me Now?
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Golden Years, Cherished Moments
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Broken Heart Syndrome
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What About Our Elders
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A Minute – A Lifetime
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Water, Water – Who’s Got the Water
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