for writers

So, you want to be published.

Fabulous!

Below you’ll find some helpful resources to get you started on your road toward publication. And here are the three most important things (in my opinion) you need to remember:

1) Heed the advice of seasoned writers and industry professionals. They’re not trying to make you suffer needlessly. They’re not cackling from behind their computer screens watching you squirm with discouragement and disdain. Most of them really are telling you the truth (for free!) when they offer you submission guidelines, what they’re looking for, what not to write, and so on. If you really want to be published, then you must realize industry professionals are your friends.

2) There are no short cuts. This is the hardest truth for wanna-be-published writers to understand. Behind every successful author are years of unfathomable failure; tears of rejection; budget-walloping, ulcer-inducing trips to writers conferences; and, a host of family and friends who will rarely–if ever–understand your madness. This is true even if–especially if–you choose to self-publish.

3) Never, never, never give up. Okay, so I stole that line from Winston Churchill. But truly, it applies to writing, too. If God has put it upon your heart to write words to strengthen, encourage and comfort His people, then you must write. Write like the wind. Bleed upon the paper. Sit your hiney in your chair and get ‘er done, and all that good stuff. Because after all, the world needs hope. Therefore, the world needs your story.

Helpful books:

Even if you’re writing nonfiction, honing storytelling skills is necessary and constant and hands-down THE most important thing you can do to advance your writing career. Here are a few of my favorite books on writing. Maybe you’ll like some of them, too:

• Writing Down the Bones, by Natalie Goldberg
• Zen in the Art of Writing, by Ray Bradbury
• On Writing Well, by William Zinsser
• The Elements of Style, by Stunk & White
• To be Told, by Dan Allendar
• Writing Dialogue, by Tom Chiarella
• Getting Into Character, by Brandilyn Collins
• Bird by Bird, by Anne LaMostt
• Plot and Structure, by James Scott Bell
• The Art of War for Writers, by James Scott Bell
• Writing the Breakout Novel, by Donald Maass
• The Fire in Fiction, by Donald Maass
• The Bible. It is, after all, the greatest story ever told.

Helpful websites:

• Advice to first-time authors, from Michael Hyatt
• Writer Unboxed
• Wordplay: Helping Writers Become Authors
• Writer’s Digest
• Write Uncaged
• American Christian Fiction Writers