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My New Word Focus — Six Weeks Later

Like many others, a few years ago I switched from making resolutions to fixating on a single word focus at the beginning of a new year. All of my words tied to specific passages of Bible scripture, equipping me with a support system for my resolve. And they enhanced my writing, as well as general life choices.

In the past, various encouragements came to mind:

Joy by Anita Brooks
One of my past Word Focuses — JOY

All very positive affirmations. And each one transformed me more into the person I wanted to become.

But this year, I’m compelled to focus on a very different word. Mostly opposite of concentrated efforts in my past. This year, I guess God’s using a little reverse psychology on me. My New Year focus word?

Lazy.

As in, don’t be the wicked and lazy servant who buries her talents. Matthew 25:14-30.

Besides the spiritual application, there are practical applications as well. Especially when it comes to succeeding as a published writer.

  • If I fritter my time away on television, or other useless endeavors, I can’t be about my Father’s business of writing.
  • It takes practice, learning as a good apprentice, to become a professional. 
  • Allowing myself to wallow in tiredness stifles my ability to be a doer, and makes me a dreamer only. (I’ve learned I can talk myself out of being tired, can move around for a few minutes, or even allow myself a short nap to revive. Sometimes, fatigue is a mindset.)
  • A person has to start where they are in order to get where they want to go.
  • I only get so many seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, and months in a year, and wasting them will only leave me discouraged, guilty, and depressed. This can spin me into a hamster wheel of failure.
  • Publishers don’t like working with lazy writers.
  • Being lazy with my marketing means missed opportunities to get my message into the world.
  • Building a writing career takes time, energy, and persistence. Laziness steals momentum from what we’ve invested thus far.
Anita Brooks Ready to Write
Crawling Into My Writing Cave

The reason I’m writing about this now, versus week one or January 1, is I know myself. Often, about six weeks into a focus of this nature, I start getting lax, allowing apathy to override my renewed concentration on a specific act. I need something to propel me into my Writing Cave.

So this post isn’t just about you, although I certainly hope it encourages you to revisit your resolution or New Year’s focus, but it’s also about me. I’m creating a tickler for myself, to help me avoid the pitfall of so easily forgetting the promise I made to me, before God.

Ecclesiastes 5:5 says, “It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it.” A resolution or word focus is a vow you make to yourself.

I’m not saying this to make anyone, including myself, feel guilty. But I can’t ignore the truth of the statement, and the reminder that I need to do a better job of acting on my God-given ability and opportunity. After all, a lazy attitude toward learning new things, or accepting new challenges, will make me stagnate.

Anita Brooks, Dare to LiveAs the tagline on my website says, “It’s Never Too Late for a Fresh Start with Fresh Faith.” I believe it, and I live by it.

So this year, my focus is on the word lazy — something I hope to learn to live without. Each day dawns bright with new hope, and each moment burns deep with opportunity.

What have you resolved? How are you doing in your renewed efforts?

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There’s Only One King of the Hill

Kids Playing in the DirtIt couldn’t have been more than a few yards of black gumbo dirt, but it was prime real estate in our grade school perspective. The Hill sat on the playground of a now defunct country school once known as Briarfield South. Perched on the side of a drainage ditch that ran alongside a cotton field, The Hill doled out dirty jeans and scraped knees to all comers and transitory crowns to a select few who managed to make it to the summit.

Reaching the top meant one had successfully outmaneuvered the opposition. This was quite a feat and one to be fully celebrated, for the moment of glory was destined to be short-lived. No resting on your laurels. If the recess bell didn’t require you to surrender your throne, there was always another valiant warrior headed your way who was bent on taking you down.

Memories of The Hill have me thinking about Writing World. Sometimes, when I’m surrounded by other authors at a book festival or similar public event, I’m tempted to check out the knees of my fellow wordsmiths who have made it up the rugged publishing hill. We all know that here in Publisher Land, you’re only as successful as your last book. The next contract rests on your latest sales numbers. If getting published is an uphill climb, staying published can be like writing on a tight rope without a net. Let me be clear. If I’m not diligent to keep this thing surrendered to the Lord I can succumb to the anxiety just as often and just as quickly as my peers who make no claims of following Jesus.

The uncertainty of Publisher Land is just one more reason to be grateful for the solid rock beneath my spiritual feet. It’s such a welcome relief to rest on the One who has fully saved and fully accepted me. Hebrews 7:25 reads, “Therefore, because he always lives to intercede for them, he is able to save completely those who come to God through him.”

The blessed news is that I’m not on a continual evaluation with my God. Oh, He’s still working on me and with me, (the high dollar word for that process is sanctification), and He’ll keep working on me until He presents me before His Father and mine, redeemed and glorified. But I don’t have to fight and scratch to hold onto my place in His heart and neither do you! Our work is to keep Him in His rightful place in ours.

Hugs,
Shellie

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Pet Peeves And Grace

????????????????????????????????????????If you’ve been in a writer’s support group for any length of time, you’ve certainly seen it before. It’s an evergreen discussion that makes a pass every year or so. When a professional association has covered all the topics they can think of—Saying No to a Mentor Request, Keeping Social Media from Eating Your Time, How to Have a Book Signing that Doesn’t Look as Though it Occurred Post-Rapture, there eventually comes a lull in which no one can think of a fresh and original topic to pose to the group. So we pull out that good ol’ standby—Grammar and Spelling Pet Peeves. These are words which–if misspelled or misused–will send a usually stout-hearted editor into a quivering literary swoon. Announcing such a topic is a siren call. It’s like the ice cream truck tune of the writing world; it brings everyone running. We gleefully fly to our keyboards, our mental pockets stuffed with dangling participles, contractions that shouldn’t be contracted, and the horror that is the “vulgar singular they” (best delivered with the affectation of English Royalty).

Our pockets soon begin to empty as we showcase our favorites of the misused, abused, and confused of writing errors. Lead instead of led. Its instead of it’s. Less versus fewer. And let us not forget the useless and hapless apostrophe seen with so many CDs, DVDs, Dos and Don’ts. Everyone has a favorite peeve and we share with gusto. (Feel the confetti flutter by your head)

Then we get to the fun of misspelled word crimes.

The police poured over the evidence looking for the culprit, which unfortunately would give them no new insight, but would make for a very messy crime scene.

I turned my paper into my professor. Imagine his surprise. But he’ll thank me later when he notes the ample margin I’ve provided, which as we all know is essential to a balanced and enjoyable life.

She excepted Christ as her savior when she was 9. Her poor parents were horrified to learn that while little Petunia was open to all other gods, she had strangely ruled out Christ at such a young and impressionable age.

I have yet another set of words that can annoy me. These are not words that are misused, but rather which, even when properly used, seem poorly designed. Some words just don’t sound at all like the things they’ve come to mean. I have tried my whole life to grow comfortable with the word “pithy” as meaning “brief, substantive, powerfully expressed.” But all efforts to the contrary, I continue to feel I’m listening to someone with a speech impediment who’s in a really foul mood.

“Bucolic” is another word that instantly goes in the wrong direction. Instead of thinking of lovely farm scenery, I think bucolic, alcoholic, diastolic, metabolic, even vitriolic. You can’t take a word like colic, made up of nasty sharp consonants, and believe you’ve rendered it lovely, peaceful, and rural just by throwing a byoo at the front. If that works, then saying you byoosgust me should be a sign of extreme endearment.

The truth is I love words. But I also love the people who are doing their best to express a new thought or idea by using them, even if they don’t always do so perfectly. So I feel the sting, right along with them, of the language sometimes used in pointing out their errors.

Things like. . .

“I’m so annoyed by. . .”

“I find it unforgivable that. . .”

“It makes my ears bleed to hear. . .”

It strikes me a tad on the haughty side. Certainly there was once a day, many years ago, when each of these purveyors of perfectly used English also had to learn to use led instead of lead. But rather than feeling some sympathy for the person still making these mistakes, they now find themselves in the enviable position of being able to cast literary impropriety stones. They’ll tell us that these folks should be ashamed for not learning their craft before venturing forth. The problem of course is that one often doesn’t know what one doesn’t know until one has ventured forth. I also know that every one of these critics has looked at their own work—work that passed before a minimum of fourteen pairs of eyes before finally making it to print, and always they find something that slipped by them.

I think it’s okay, even important, to point out errors and encourage improvement. But as we each grow in our craft, I hope we also can recall that one word that never annoys, that flows perfectly off the tongue, that has a beautiful lyrical sound when spoken, which perfectly matches the beauty in its meaning. Grace. Ah, may we see and hear (and dispense) more of it. And if that doesn’t suit, I think byoosgust is still up for grabs.

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Are You Pinterest Savvy? 1 Million Followers in a Year

Pinterest is one of the fastest and biggest growing social media sites. Unlike Facebook, Twitter, and Google+, it uses pictures to connect with other people. It’s a virtual pin board that allows you to share things with your followers and “repin” photos from others onto your own boards. If people like what you’re pinning, they can choose to follow your boards.

What does this mean for authors?

Pinterest has over 4 million daily users and is now the 3rd biggest social media site. You might be wondering how to harness the power of Pinterest. I just finished reading  Pinterest Savvy: How I Got 1 Million+ Followers (Strategies, Plans, and Tips to Grow Your Business with Pinterest) * by Melissa Taylor.

As an author, I know the power of Pinterest. I’ve been using Pinterest for about six months and other than Google, it drives more traffic to my website than any other social media site, including Facebook. But I wanted to up my game and Melissa’s book gave me some great tips and new ideas.

1. Be as specific as possible with your board names and descriptions. One of my boards was titled Best Recipes. I feature my own traditional from scratch recipes on my blog and these are some of my biggest traffic pins. However, after reading Melissa’s book I changed it to Best from Scratch Recipes and altered the description to include key words of traditional, from scratch, home-baked, etc. You can check out my boards at http://www.pinterest.com/melissaknorris

2. All pins are not created equal. When creating “pins” to be pinned from your website, there are some things you need to know. One, longer photos, rather than wide, show better on Pinterest. You need clear and easy to read type. Melissa gives great examples of what makes a good pin vs. an okay one. This makes a difference! I re-did some of my photos, repinned them, and they were reppined far more than the original version. Here’s an example of a good pin.

3. Protect yourself. Know copyright laws. Read the terms of use on Pinterest. Don’t repin any pin without following it back to its original source. Does the website give permission to “pin”? Is there a pin-it button next to the photo? If not, don’t repin. I recommend emailing the blogger to ask permission. Most will say yes, it only takes a few minutes, and protects you from a lawsuit. It also promotes good will. I emailed a blogger to ask if I could use her photo in a post on my blog and “pin” it. She happily agreed, visited my blog, and shared it with her own readers.

4. Create pin worthy content of your own. Take your own pictures and create your own pins. (I use the free version of picmonkey.com) You don’t have to worry about copyright issues and you’ll become known for bringing new fresh content. You want to be known for creating content on your blog and on Pinterest, not just rehashing what everyone else is already doing.

For a free chapter download visit Melissa Taylor’s website. She also has free worksheets to help you maximize each chapter. Pinterest Savvy takes you through the first step of signing up for Pinterest to helping those who want to increase their following and are already familiar with the site. Having just finished Melissa’s book and implementing a few of her tips, I’ve increased my following by 50 followers in a little over a week. I plan using more of her tips shortly.

Another cool tidbit: Melissa’s book doesn’t officially launch until tomorrow, but she gave me permission to give Watercooler peeps a sneak peek. How cool is that?

*I used my affiliate link for Melissa’s book on Amazon. It doesn’t cost you anything more and I only recommend things I truly stand behind. To read my full affiliate disclosure go to the footer of my website.

Are you on Pinterest? What do you find the most daunting? How do you use your boards to promote your books and website?

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What Do I Write About? Tendering Your Witness

IMG_3241

Like many of you creative writerly types, I have a new book or essay idea about once a week. Any casual observer will know when this happens. My eyes gain x-ray vision, I will wear mismatched clothes for a day or two. I’ll start pulling books from my library, organizing them into Useful Research Piles, and I create a new folder on my computer, into which I start shuttling and dumping uncountable necessary articles and links.

But it is not long before the writing deadlines I am already under reassert their authority. I follow meekly to my office to tending my previous fires that once sent me into fevers, but with a new light gleaming from my forehead.

Some of those gleams turn into books, essays, and blog posts. But some of them sputter into oblivion, snuffed out by the realities of life, the most pressing of which is—There Is Never Enough Time.

running with clock

The question we all face is: Out of a plenitude of possibilities, yet with limited time and energy, what do we choose to write about? How do we decide?

The stakes are high. If it’s books we’re talking about, for me it’s at least 2 years of immersion in the writing, and then once the book is released, several more years follow of spreading the word. So I had better love it, believe it, and be willing to soap any box with its message.

woman on soapbox

How do we decide, then? I have followed a simple rule most of my writing life: TENDER YOUR “BURDEN OF WITNESSING.”

The phrase here is not mine. I’ve lifted it from Patricia Hampl’s wisest of words, “ . . .  For we do not, after all, simply have experience; we are entrusted with it. We must do something—make something—with it. A story, we sense is the only possible habitation for the burden of our witnessing.”

What has God entrusted to you? What “burdens of witnessing” have been given to you?  Start here.  My first book of prose was about commercial fishing women, because there I was, in the midst of a life I was trying to live and understand, mostly unsuccessfully. I moved to memoir next, writing about my life on a wilderness island in Alaska, then onto other topics I had “witnessed”: motherhood, unplanned pregnancy, the spirituality of food, forgiveness of my schizoid father. I have never regretted a single project.

When you write as a witness from these hard places, you immediately avoid one of the greatest weaknesses of beginning writing, and even “successful” writing: writing without “mattering.”  Over the years, I’ve met students and writers who can fashion beautiful sentences in their sleep—–but talent and beauty alone does not make them “matter.” Without heart, without an urgency that comes from deeply lived experience, your words on the page will only be words on a page. (And, take note: Because they matter to you doesn’t automatically make them matter to your readers. You must make them matter to the reader as well.)man reading book

There is yet another reason for doing this. And forgive me now for going sermonic on you, but I pull it out now because I know you are reluctant to excavate the stash under your bed and in your closets. One of the graces of believing in a God who inhabits the hearts of his people is the certainty that all events—celebrations, dirges, dangers, and feasts—come to us through His hands, and they are hands with purpose. They are hands that intend our trials to be tended and eventually tendered for the good of others. The New Testament spells out the program: God, who is the “God of all comfort,” comforts us in our troubles for this purpose, “so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” Pass it on, brothers and sisters.

Don’t worry if there’s blood. As Red Smith has written, “For my money anyway, the only books worth reading are books written in blood . . . “ [Red Smith].     bloody book

Write about what you MUST write about. Write about what has been entrusted to you alone. Write about what matters most to you. Write about the things you cannot turn away from. Write about the hurt, the cheating, the doubts, the hopes, the comfort, the sickness. Our time is short—make it count.

Tender the witness you’ve been given.

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Hello? Who’s Calling?

Businessman talking on cell phoneOne of my favorite stories in the Bible involves hearing a call, but not knowing where it came from.

Young Samuel is learning the ropes of serving God when he hears a call in the night and assumes it is Eli, his mentor. Obediently, he runs to the old man and says, “Here I am; you called me.” (1 Samuel 3: 5) Eli denies calling Samuel, and only after it happens a third time, does Eli realize that God is the one doing the calling, at which point he tells Samuel how to answer. Following Eli’s instruction, Samuel responds to God and enters into conversation with the Lord.

There are three reasons I love this scripture so much: 1) like Samuel, I don’t always recognize who is calling me;  2) it reassures me that I get more than one chance to get it right; and 3) when I finally do get it right, God doesn’t hold my slowness against me, but launches into conversation.

I’ve also learned that this is a great way to understand my writing career – it takes discernment, effort and openness to write what God gives me, and thankfully, He’s very, very patient with my slowness!

Discernment can be a journey in itself.

I’ve always been a writer. But it wasn’t till I was pursuing my master’s degree in theology that I felt the urge to write books, and specifically, fiction. I remember telling one of my instructors about this new desire, and how odd it was for me, a trained journalist and researcher, to suddenly feel like I should write a novel. Her response was that I should not dismiss the urge, that God speaks through fiction as well as nonfiction. I tucked the idea away, thinking it was momentary insanity…until three years later, when another instructor told me I should write a book.

“But I don’t know what to write – I have so many ideas I’d like to explore,” I confessed to him.

“Then pick one and get to work,” he told me.

I chose the concept of vocation, and wrote my first book, a short theological reflection on Christian vocation. I enjoyed the work and the book was published. It felt right, and it felt safe. Nonfiction, I could do.

But I still felt the draw to write fiction. One day, I decided to give it a try when a friend told me I told great stories about my kids. Since I loved mysteries, I chose that genre, and surprised myself with how immersed I became in the writing. I felt like it was what I was called to do.

In my experience, God does speak to us through others, even when we’re not listening very well. Samuel was lucky – he had Eli to help him discern God’s voice.  In our lives, I believe we have help, too, but we have to be open to those messengers of discernment, because they can come in many forms and voices, and they can be very persistent (thank goodness!). After all, it took Eli three times to recognize God’s call for Samuel.

Who helps you discern the call of God in your writing life?

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Being Equipped

God has a will, or a plan for each of us. Psalm 139:16 (NLT) tells us You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.

Each of us is on this earth for a specific reason. We may not know it completely right now. We may be in a season of preparation to enter that calling. But God has a plan for each of us.

Some are called to be pastors and teachers, some doctors, lawyers. Some to be auto mechanics, electricians, and plumbers.

Some, like myself, are called to be writers.

In Jeremiah 29:11 (NLT), God tells us “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. Writing“They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

Whatever our calling, God will not just throw us into it, like throwing a toddler into the pool so it has to learn to swim. He prepares us.

What makes the preparation fun, and at times frustrating, is that it’s uniquely different for each of us. One person may go through an entirely different set of life experiences than me, yet end up as a writer. I think this is another example of how God cares for us as individuals. He has a unique and personal relationship with each of us. We are all His favorite child.

And he equips us.

Hebrews 13:21 (NLT) may he equip you with all you need for doing his will. May he produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to him. All glory to him forever and ever! Amen.

From childhood, I’ve had a love for words and books, for reading, for stories. In my career, each job has called for me to read more, to read better, and to write: case records, personnel reports, court documents, training curriculum, and policy and procedure.

?????????????Then the glimmer of writing fiction stirred in my heart. And the equipping continued. Books on writing, writing conferences and classes, critique groups, critique partners, mentors, coaches, developing a learning heart and a thick skin. All designed to teach me the craft and the business of writing, to humble myself before Him, to submit to His plan and will for my life.

And it’s been worth every step. It goes beyond being published. I’ve become a better person and a better Christian. My relationship with Him is closer than ever. He’s rewarded me with insights into myself and with precious friendships I would never have experienced if I had not made the choice to follow what He called me to do.

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WordServe News: January 2013

Exciting things have been happening at WordServe Literary!

On the final post of each month you’ll find a list of WordServe Literary clients’ books releasing in the upcoming month along with a recap of WordServe client news from the current month.

New Releases

FaithFearDeb Coty released Fear, Faith and a Fistful of Chocolate (Barbour)

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MysteriesJillian Kent released Mysteries of the Heart (Charisma)

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RosasLandGilbert Morris released Rosa’s Land (Western Justice #1) (Barbour)

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crescentPaul Williams released Crescent Moon Rising (Prometheus)

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New WordServe Clients

Ema McKinley signed with WordServe to write her story with Cheryl Ricker on her miraculous healing after more than 15 years in a wheel chair. http://www.cbn.com/700club/features/amazing/RH66_Ema_McKinley.aspx

Dr. Kara Powell, Executive Director of the Fuller Seminary Youth Institute and the author of the Sticky Faith books (www.stickyfaith.org) (Zondervan)

Nationally syndicated cartoonist John McPherson (http://www.gocomics.com/closetohome/), author of Close to Home, the cartoon strip that appears in more than 800 newspapers.

New Contracts

KarissSigning
WordServe Author Kariss Lynch and her BIG moment.

Kariss Lynch signed a 3-book contract with Charisma Publishers…her first contract! Way to go, Kariss!

Jonathan McKee signed with Bethany House Publsihers for a book titled Get Your Teenagers Talking.

Lynn Morris signed a 3-book contract with Hachette’s Faithwords imprint for a Regency novel series.

Betsy Duffey and her sister Laurie Myers signed with Howard Publishing for a novel called A Shepherd’s Song, a contemporary story on the impact of Psalm 23 as it travels around the world from person to person.

James Pence will be writing the story of Herb and Roberta Samme, the story of Herb going to Iraq to fulfill the mission of his son, a soldier who was killed while driving supplies to the troops. He walked in his son’s footsteps on the same roads. He and his wife Roberta then started a mission to supply soldiers with clothing for the winter. To be published by Guideposts Books.

What We’re Celebrating!!

WordServe authors had a good month on the general market lists:

AHigherCallA Higher Call  by Adam Makos had a very big month. This WWII story made lists in The New York Times, USA Today, and Publisher’s Weekly.
Just to name a few:

#11 Print Hardcover (Jan 27) NY Times
#23 HC nonfiction (Dec 30) Publishers Weekly
#105 (Jan 24) USA Today

whiletheworldCarolyn McKinstry’s book (written with Denise George) While the World Watched was Amazon’s featured ebook on Monday, January 19th, and rocketed to #1 on the free ebook list. But the next day, it was #1 on the paid ebook list. It also hit #1 on several other lists on Amazon:

o #1 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Leaders & Notable People > Religious
o #1 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Ethnic & National > African-American & Black
o #1 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Christian Living

A YearRachel Held Evans’s book A Year of Biblical Womanhood (Thomas Nelson) hit the New York Times list January 13th at #19 on the nonfiction ebook list and #32 on the combined print and ebook list.

What can we help you celebrate?

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Half Baked: A Publishing Recipe

Is most of your writing only half-baked? It’s easy to get distracted with all the wonderful topics to write about, and many of us have manuscripts that are still rising on shelves in the garage. That being said, it’s sometimes nice to go through the steps of what happens when a book does in fact make it all the way to publication. Here is a basic recipe detailing the steps that are required in creating a fully baked book:

For a first time author, a book usually starts with a completed, edited manuscript for fiction, or a proposal and sample content for non-fiction. Published authors can sometimes sell novels on proposal, but not usually. Best practices suggest that unpublished authors should try and find a literary agent, once their manuscript is ready for submission. Few publishers accept work directly from authors sans representation, and a good agent can greatly aid a manuscript’s success rate.

After a literary agent has taken on a manuscript, they then send it to editors at different publishing houses. The literary agent targets the submissions to the publishing houses that they feel are most appropriate for the book. The editors take a look at the project, and if it’s something they are interested in they will share it with their colleagues to determine the level of interest. If the editor receives word that they can move forward with the manuscript, they will send an offer to the literary agent.

The submission process can take anywhere from weeks to months (or even years), depending on how long it takes to find an interested editor. An offer may include advances and / or royalties. Sometimes the offer may even be a contract for several books. If more than one editor is interested, there may even be a bidding war situation to determine which publisher can create the best offer. When the terms have been agreed upon and the author accepts an offer, the publisher will send a contract to the literary agent. The literary agency may have a contracts expert review the fine print and negotiation points. Once the contract has been signed, it’s time for the author to get writing (if the book was only sold on a proposal).
Little Chefs

Once the manuscript is completed (non-fiction), or after the contract is signed (fiction), the editor will usually send a letter recommending changes to the manuscript. These changes are more or less negotiable, but authors usually follow the recommendations of editors. After all of the recommended changes have been made and the manuscript is deemed ready to go, it is copy edited. Spelling and grammatical errors are corrected. The pages are laid out to show what the book will look like. The author reviews the different versions of the completed manuscripts. The publisher works on the design of the book (including cover, trim size, font, paper type, and other details).

The editor manages the process of having marketing experts write copy for the publisher’s catalog, come up with the cover details, create buzz, and launch marketing plans. Several months before the book’s publication, sales specialists will coordinate with their bookstore partners and take book orders. This part of the process helps determine how many copies of the book will be printed. The agent might oversee this process to verify everything is on track. It usually takes a year or more for the publication process to go from finished manuscript to book for purchase. It can be fast tracked if it is an especially hot project, but the process usually requires quite a bit of lead time. When the publication date arrives, the book goes on sale. The book is now available to customers, and the customers often take it from there. Positive feedback, great reviews, and word of mouth are still some of the best forms of marketing. After that, the author is launched into instant literary stardom (or not). The author then writes a second book and the process repeats.

Hopefully this recipe for completing a half-baked book has been helpful – and now, I’d better get back in the kitchen.

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Why I Don’t Believe in Writer’s Block

It’s one of the most oft-asked questions I get as a writer and teacher: “What can I do about writer’s block?”

“Write,” I say. (I was going say, “Simple. Write.” Alas, I realize it isn’t simple. It isn’t easy.)

I tell people I don’t believe in writer’s block.

The PCT heading toward Oregon's Collier Cone.
The PCT heading toward Oregon’s Collier Cone.

Do the words sometimes come harder than at other times — or hardly at all? Sure.

Do you sometimes need to change things up to feel the mojo again? Sure.

Do you sometimes crave the idea of skipping that 5 a.m. appointment with your keyboard? Sure.

But this idea that we can’t move forward until the muse returns with open arms — no, that’s a crock. Basing your writing on feelings is no better than basing your life on feelings.

Sometimes you just have to power your way through.

It’s that way with anything we do. But writers seem to have created something of a self-fulfilling failure prophecy, a challenge apparently so insurmountable that we’ve given it an official name. And once something is named, it becomes an official malady.

Read: An excuse.

I don’t believe in writer’s block anymore than I believe in “plumber’s block” should the guy fixing my pipes suddenly find the going difficult. “Sorry, pal,” he might say as he gathers up his tools — and, of course, hitches up his, ahem, jeans. “Just not feeling it today.”

I don’t believe in writer’s block anymore than I believe in “surgeon’s block” should the doctor doing my knee operation find herself stymied. “Hey, Bob, hang in there. I’m going to flex out the rest of the day. Maybe catch a matinee to see if I can get back in the groove, you know?”

That’s not to say there aren’t things you can do to get yourself “unstuck.” Sometimes I’ll go back and read my piece from the beginning. Explain my plight to someone who knows my story with hopes they can jar something lose. Maybe even take a walk.

But this idea that you somehow need to wait until the “feeling” returns is bunk.

Ernest Hemingway said it well: “Easy writing makes hard reading. Hard writing makes easy reading.” Jack London claimed to have written 20 hours a day.

Part of writing is discipline. Is doggedly moving on. Is writing on even if the results aren’t perfect. Even when it hurts. Even when you’d rather be doing something else.

So, today’s efforts might not have rung your literary chimes. But they count for something. You persevered. To quit whenever it hurts it to make it that much easier to quit the next time. A lesson I learned while hiking the 452-mile Oregon portion of the Pacific Crest Trail: “You must go when your body says no.” With writing, you must go when your mind says no.

Just last week, after a speech, someone in the audience asked me which of my books I’d written was my favorite. “They’re like children,” I said. “Each one is my favorite for a different reason. But the one I’m proudest of is American Nightingale because nothing in my nearly four decades of journalism has come with more difficulty. Nearly four years from idea on a Wendy’s napkin to seeing it on a Barnes & Noble shelf.” (I captured that research, writing, and promotional experience in a subsequent book, Pebble in the Water.)

Sometimes I draw inspiration from fellow writers. I do a lot of 5-a.m.-to-9 a.m. book writing before I go off to be a newspaper columnist. If my alarm goes off and I don’t want to get up I remember my novelist friend Jane Kirkpatrick and think this: Jane has already been on her keyboard for an hour.

Or because I write a lot about inspirational people, I’ll think about something they soldiered through — war, disease, the death of a loved one — and think to myself: Buck up, pal. This is just stringing together words. You’ve got it easy.