DANGER! Don't Put All Your EGGcellent Ideas in One Basket

            

            I’m sure you’ve heard the saying “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.”  And you’ve probably read the Bible verse “Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let your hands not be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well –Ecclesiastes 11:6.”  Sometimes, however, that advice can be hard to follow when you’re a writer focused on getting published in a sole genre.   

            We all know writers have creative imaginations.  I don’t think there’s a writer out there whose creativity produces stories for an absolute single genre.  Of course, there are lots of writers who accomplish publication for only one genre, but I guarantee their brain creates other WIPs—even if it’s just in their mind.

            So what happens when your only avenue for publication isn’t working out?  Like Chick Lit.  I remember being at the 2009 ACFW National Conference, when I heard that the subgenre category “Chick Lit” was considered a dying one.  This disappointing (nail-biting for some) news spread like wildfire.  And if you were an unfortunate chick (or lad) who labored for months in order to pitch that subgenre at the conference…you could forget about it, or go back to the hotel and change your one-sheet info to represent “Contemporary Fiction.”

            Why wait for this to happen?  Utilize that creative brain of yours and invest in “a collection of egg baskets.”  I know there’s only so much writing time in a day, therefore there’s a basket limit based on your own capability and preference.  But even two baskets are better than one. 

            Here’s my EGGsample:  I love to write in the romance genre—whether its historical, suspense or women’s fiction with a touch of romance.  How peachy, right?  Umm.  Yeah.  Not really.  I don’t have one published novel. 

Should I sit back and wait for romance writers to retire, in hopes that Jim Bob Publishers will pull my proposal out of the slush pile?  Absolutely not! 

            Three years ago, I submitted a column proposal to a local newspaper.  Six weeks later I received a call from the editor, who offered me 400 words per week.  I was ecstatic.  Was it a romance column?   Not exactly.  Actually, it’s a historical column about WWII letters, titled “Treasured Letters from the Past.”  Many of the letters I write about are from a love bird overseas, pouring out his heart to that special cute birdie back home in hopes that she’s waiting for him, too. 

            My column is not a romance novel, but it’s still a piece of my work which is consistently published every week.  In fact, this past week I was so excited when I glanced at the newspaper and saw my column printed on the front page!  That’s eggs in my basket. But it’s not my only basket.

            Make sure you invest your EGGstraordinary talent into more than one basket.

~Marjorie DeVries

           

Writing Through Emotional Pain

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Life happens. And sometimes it happens painfully. Professional writers must write even when their hearts are broken, and life is delivering its most powerful punches. 

I’ve lost two dear friends within a few months of one another and have another devastating situation in my family right now. Crying myself to sleep, navigating my days in a vice-like fog and swallowing a constant lump in my throat—these physical reactions to emotional pain challenge my ability, nay, my desire to write. But write I must, because, you see, I’m a writer. And that’s what we do. And the publishing world doesn’t care that I have issues. The publishing world will go right along publishing without me. 

The only way we can write through hard days is to keep our focus. And frankly, the only way we can survive through hard days is to keep our focus. The focus isn’t on the writing. The focus for the Christian writer is on Him.

Psalm 22:5 says, They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed (NIV). 

In Kay Arthur’s book, As Silver Refined: Answers to Life's Disappointments, she writes about how life’s disappointments are really His Appointments. By changing just one letter in the word, we have a whole new perspective because the focus is on Him. 

We can trust Him, even when things don’t make sense.

We can trust Him to give us the words to write even when we’re so broken we can barely move our pen over the page, or our fingers across the keyboard.

We can cry unto God, and not be disappointed.

We will be appointed.

We will write.

"Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later"

(Revelation 1:19, NIV).

 Karla Akins is a pastor's wife, mother of five, grandma to five beautiful little girls and author of O Canada! Her Story. She lives in North Manchester with her husband, twin teenage boys with autism, and three silly dogs. Her favorite color is purple, favorite hobby is book-hoarding, and favorite food group is cupcakes.

Becoming a Yes Man (or Woman): Gifts from the Writer

Photo Credit: Davide Guglielmo

Just spend a few minutes on Facebook, wait in a check-out line, or watch television and you can't miss it. Finding the perfect gift is on nearly everyones mind. I enjoy searching for, and snagging, that ideal present for everyone on my list and can hardly contain my excitement when I find just the thing that I know will light up someones face.

In my September post to Hoosier Ink,  I supplied you with hints on ways to say no to the countless bids for your time, treasure, and talent.  (Click here to read it.) But today, in this season of giving, I want to give you some ideas of gifts writers can bestow on their family, friends, church, community, and the world. Writers are wordsmiths, so use your word power to bless in some of these ways by saying yes--whether they've asked or not.

Gifts to Give Your Friends and Family:
*Write special poems, stories, or thoughts for special occasions such as birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, or graduations. Your family and friends will treasure your words much more than ready-made cards.
* Record all those family stories for the generations to come.
*Keep the family connected by hosting the family blog.
*Create personal devotions or short stories for the special people in your life.
*Offer to write reference letters for couples in the process of adopting.

Gifts to Give Your Church:
*Write content for the weekly bulletin, newsletters, or the church website.
*Create newsletters for individual ministries within your church.
*Donate devotions, articles, poems, skits, or plays you've written to leadership for in-church use.
*Edit/proofread the writing of others for churchwide use.
*Write reference letters/letters of recommendation from the notes given to you by adopting families or your pastor.
*Aid your pastor by using your research skills to help your pastor prepared for his sermons.
*Teach a class based on your research or topic of your manuscript.
*Write curriculum to accompany current sermon topics.

Gifts to Give Your Community:
*Write grants or proposals for nonprofit ministries and organizations.
*Donate a portion of your royalties to nonprofit groups that have a connection with a topic in your book such as adoption, domestic violence, troubled teens, refugees, orphans.
*Write newsletter or website content for nonprofits.
*Write grants and proposals for funds for community or para-church organizations.

Gifts to Give Your World:
*You may be able to employ many of the ideas above for worldwide ministries and organizations.
*Link you social media sites and your website to worthy ministries around the world.
*Play FreeRice. What writer can't improve his or her vocabulary and grammar (amoung other things)? FreeRice is a non-profit website run by the United Nations World Food Programme and for every question you answer correctly, they donate 10 grains of rice to hungry people around the world. Click here to play.

In this last week before Christmas, you can easily find the perfect writing gift to give to your family and friends, your church, your community, and/or your world. Writing is always the right size, people are happy to receive it, it is practical and fun, and doesn't have to cost you a thing except maybe a little time. So break open the laptop, fire up the desktop, or sharpen that pencil and start giving. What other ways to do use writing to give back?

Nikki Studebaker Barcus

"To Be Read?" Or "To Have Said?"

Here's a question for thought. On Oscar night, 1982, who would you rather be? David Putnam, the producer who walked up to the stage to receive the Best Picture trophy for “Chariots of Fire?” Or fellow producer George Lucas whose “Raiders of the Lost Ark” was the big money maker for the same year?

1981 movies too long ago for you to remember? All right, let's set the chronometer forward a quarter of the century and look at two other movies: “The Illusionist” and “The Prestige”. I find it fun looking at the Amazon reviewers argue about which was better. My opinion? “The Prestige” was the better movie but “The Illusionist” was the one I enjoyed watching better.

While both movies dealt with turn-of-the-century illusionists and released the same year, comparing them is like the cliché of apples and oranges. “The Illusionist” was an old fashioned movie, with a clear cut hero, a clear cut heroine, a clear cut villain, and a likeable antagonist. “The Prestige” had two leads that did not fit the nice neat molds. On the other hand, it made you think more. It strove to be a higher form of art.

Yes, you can say I'm dealing with the philosophical debate of making great art or good money. Should we aim to please the people even if we're being imitative rather than innovative? Or should we seek to make the critics notice, doing something that is more creative but may not have mass appeal?

Let's get real for a moment. Any true artist has enough pride in their work to do their best and not produce garbage, but also knows they need to reach enough people for their project to be profitable. However, there will be times when we debate on whether to take a risk that may lessen our audience or not. There's no right across-the-board answer.

But is it really money vs. art? No question about the money side, but let me propose that there is either a conscious or an unconscious message to the art. I recently read Saving Leonardo by Nancy Pearcey which looks at how worldview affects art. She mentions that Gian Carlo Menotti was criticized for his one act opera “Amahl and the Night Visitors” because the music was too beautiful.

As Christian novelists, is our goal “To be read” (i.e. getting books off the shelves and into hands) or “To have said” (i.e. having a clear message)? As I said, most of us would answer this question “Yes.” We want both. But, as I also said, we will lean one way or another as we write.

I have written two complete novels, over 20 years apart. The first one was basically written to become a popular adventure movie. I had no real message in the story. What's funny is that while I wrote it as popular fiction, it was probably too Christian for the secular market and too secular for the Christian market.

The reason I wrote the more recent novel was because I had a purpose for it. I thought I could get more people interested in apologetics by writing a novel about a murder mystery at an apologetics conference than I could writing a non-fiction tome. As I wrote it, I had no plans to write a second novel unless I felt led to. And you guessed it: my hunch is that the message novel is more marketable.

This question will affect certain aspects of your story, though. Some of you may have seen a question on the ACFW loop about whether it's appropriate to use a phrase that was considered vulgar when I was younger but has become more common place. Using it would be more realistic, but it might also be offensive to some readers (as well as making agents or editors nervous). On the other hand, I read a novel where the author made some very strong points that represent a theology that not all Christians share.

Let me get practical. In a couple of my works in progress, I've debated dealing with homosexuality and the tension between that lifestyle and conservative Christianity. I came to the conclusion it is not necessary in the story I'm working on now. I'm not as sure about the third installment. I know that this is a risk, but what is more important? To deal with the story and offend some people? Or keep everybody comfortable?

I'd love to get your feedback. This is a great philosophical question, and I don't believe there's a wrong answer.

At the Crossroads of Labor and Obsession

I’d been working on a particular manuscript for weeks, making it the primary focus of my writing day. Intended completion was prior to Independence Day and as June drew to a close I became obsessed with it.

Tomato plants that hadn’t quite made it into the ground languished in the garage, dishes towered near the sink, it looked like Hansel and Gretel had been wandering in circles under my kitchen table, and the grandkids visited with the understanding that I couldn’t give undivided attention to them.

Re-write finished, I sent it off, and was immediately caught up in Fourth of July celebrations and an unexpected free day with my husband. Now that the dust has figuratively and literally settled, I’m taking some time to think and sweat in the brilliant 90-degree heat. I wonder, what is the difference between steadfast labor and obsession?

I asked this question over the holiday and God caught my attention with today’s devotional through the words of A.B. Simpson. “If we wholly trust an interest to God, we must keep our hands off it; and He will guard it for us better than we can help Him…. There is nothing so masterly as inactivity in some things, and there is nothing so hurtful as restless working, for God has undertaken to work His sovereign will.”

I had been rather pleased with myself for the “masterly inactivity” of not worrying about the end results of how the manuscript would be received, but I felt a definite ouch to think of harm caused by my “restless working”.

There had been a few days when my spirit was unsettled, I couldn’t be still, yet I couldn’t pinpoint the distraction. What daily purpose did I miss by working restlessly? Whose life did I fail to touch because of my obsession? Maybe it was only a reassurance for myself, or a personal blessing that I lost. Even so, can I afford to snub God’s gifts or brush aside his encouragement? I think not.

As I contemplate my next project it’s easy to think I need to start sooner or be more disciplined. In truth, something else entirely is required. I need to sit at the Master’s feet and listen more. I need to cling on my Beloved’s arm and look into His eyes. I need to “rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him.” (Psalm 37:7)

The One True Publishing Priority

I’m very excited to blog for Hoosier Ink. I love Indiana and I love writing. I love those odd and wonderful creatures called fellow writers and I love to encourage. Most of all, I love our mutual Father God. What a privilege to stir together all these delightful ingredients to form what I hope is a delectable and nourishing devotional tidbit.

In Daniel 3:18, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abendego gave up their lives rather than worship something other than the One True God. Heat from the furnace radiated in waves and killed the guards who threw them in the fire. How did they find courage to endure for God?

Scripture hints that a myriad of tests preceded that fiery furnace. Our Intrepid Three had been ripped from their homeland after their families were murdered. They were neutered and forced to serve those very conquerors. They had daily choices to make about how they felt, forgave, trusted, and obeyed. We do, too.

The writing life consists of myriad decisions. As Christian authors we may be in the fires of contention over writing priorities, in competition for publication, or in confrontation with jealousy, pride, or laziness. Yet, God provides ways of escape before, during, or after each trial.

For instance, God saved Shadrach, Meshach, and Abendego after they were in the fire. They counted him faithful while walking in the flames. Do we? Or perhaps we start with an I-can-do-it attitude but by evening, sometimes by breakfast, like Charlie Brown, we moan, “I’m a loser, I failed again.” Is it that we want to be successful without effort or discomfort? Do we hope to be a giant of faith without the proving ground of battle?

No one succeeds by proxy. No one succeeds alone. God was the fourth man in that furnace and he is faithfully with us, too. He is able to save us out of the fire of our publication problems and the confusion of career choices.

Of all the decisions this day, week, month, year, make this one top priority: Be it known we will not serve gods of popularity or position, nor worship the golden image of publication and best seller lists. We will worship God alone.

I’d sure like to know what writing decisions concern you in 2010. What godly choices can help you overcome these hurdles? Have you had a writing related trial-by-fire? How did God sustain or provide for you?