Y o u r W r i t e r s G r o u p

Success as a Writer

Wouldn’t it be nice if someone could hand you the steps to success? Haven't you fantasized about finding the formula like some long-forgotten treasure hidden away in the attic for several years, collecting dust and just waiting to be employed by an enterprising writer--like you?

Maybe you've even believed the blueprint existed.

Like anyone, I've secretly longed to find that plan. I've imagined it as a golden list of time-saving short-cuts or a nice clear map to follow to the promise of perfect publishing bliss. Maybe it's our weaker selves who harbor this shameful hope to avoid the time and practice the art and skill of writing requires. But it's not uncommon. I'd wager that for writers it's near universal.

Of course, part of us, the wiser part, realizes if we got all we wished for and ended up easily writing bestselling books, we might quickly find out we weren’t prepared to handle the responsibilities and pressures that come with it. Why are we so easily convinced we should find that mystical land assumed to be “Success” anyway, or that we’d even like it when we got there?

Looking back, we can see it’s a good thing we don’t always get what we believe we're after. In all likelihood, the treasure, had we found it, would have ruined us.

I think there are a few stories about this very thing.

Wisdom has taught us that there’s a journey, a struggle involved in the process. And this isn’t really a bad thing, however impatient we may feel. I think this is something every new writer has to face, maybe it's the first lesson of great writing—that it involves hard work. And that's the very thing that makes it so valuable when you do finally achieve it.

While there are several prerequisites to great writing, the hard work is a given, and it's really grueling, certainly not the kind most people prefer. Refining excellent, mature work requires intense internal focus and mental discipline that ends up draining and depleting the very heart and soul of you. And though I don't know, I wonder if it's the most taxing non-physical exertion there is. I do know that even those with uncommonly strong will power and stamina will find their commitment challenged and their daily lives reduced to a shadow of the former. At least for the time of editing and refining.

And then there's the proselytizing to worry about too.

But what we're really doing as these stubborn wordsmiths of wonder is not dreaming of an easy way out, but always searching, searching, searching for new ways to grow our awareness. Of the world, ourselves, the lives around us, and the all-important interrelationships of these most essential nouns. The verbs and mechanics are of course important too, and it's because all of this matters to the end product that we know the sacrifices will be great.

SO my encouragement to you is to believe in the treasure right before you! Be persistent in your application of all the learning you've acquired. Hope for the easy days, and there will be some, but you know better than to give the dream of easy leisure too much credence. Instead, believe in the hope that the time and trouble it costs you will be worthwhile, time spent in the most valuable way imaginable, in growing your awareness of the nouns and the art of translating their beauty to the page.

Is it worth your all to become a more astute observer of everything, and to fashion those thoughts into the most beautiful and revealing form? Do you trust that if you were called, you were also made capable of meeting that call?

Remember: it's always, in the end, a question of what you believe the real treasure is....

Your Writers Group 2.0 Update...

As I get ready to launch Your Writers Group 2.0, the broader community/training site that's taken many months to produce, I've been researching a lot of great sites and programs for writing and generally thoughtful reading. There's a ton of great stuff out there for free.

What I think is missing is balanced help on NOT publishing too soon--on writing, editing, and working out the story as best you can before charging ahead with the publishing packages.

And I think one of the best things you can find is a supportive community to help you gauge where you are relative to others in the business, and how your writing is stacking up so far. Several folks I respect have said it takes a few years and much writing before you're really ready to say anything unique and say it well. This is the very idea behind Your Writers Group 2.0. (Coming soon! Wink! Wink!)

So I was excited to stumble upon L.L. Barkat's discussion of "anchor communities" at The High Calling as a way to filter the online experience into more productive, rewarding time. It couldn't have come at a better time.

This is the sort of site I'm creating for bookish folks, mainly writers, but also readers, and generally those who love excellent "true" stories. Yes I'm using quotes on "true" because, as I've discussed here before, "it’s possible to tell an accurate story that isn’t actually true" (this is a quote from another great article at The High Calling on the power of story). And we need to talk about other ideas as well, like the practical realities of writing and selling stories as vocation, not to mention thinking honestly about the larger goal of culture making. Anyway, thanks to The High Calling for already having put many of these guiding principles I'm using into action.

My new site is essentially a place where I'll spout off and pontificate about the new book world emerging and yet to come. I'm taking a leap of faith to see if I can survive (my wife is fully behind me on this, trust me) by offering my best training for a fraction of what it'd cost to hire out a big book editor as a consultant on your work. I've found some people can and do need the one-on-one, but I figure if you can get my best motivation and advice at about 80% off the cost of a writers conference--and it lasts all month!--that's got to work. The bonus is that you can grow and learn from the community in the pursuit of excellent books and true stories. All of this has got to lead to better books with better chances of catching on and selling well, right?

If there's one thing I've found over and over in my 10+ years in book land, it's that you can't really make a book work without a whole lot of help from friends. So I'm heading back to work on that release now, but I just wanted you to know I haven't forgotten about the big dream here. It's coming. And it's going to be truly something cool.

Keep writing. Keep reading every day. Get back into your story world and spend the time. I'll be back soon.

Why Absolutely Everything Is about the Story

I had this thought yesterday:

Everyone who lives with barriers to belief who has made a conscious negative response about faith has fully misjudged God.

The realization of that stopped me. Somehow I knew it was a glimpse of God’s perspective and his true love for those he misses. And so I stopped and considered it. And no more than a moment later, a fuller picture emerged. And it shocked me:

With unbelievers, there is no other category.

No other category! To know him for who he truly is always = loving him. And that love changes anyone who encounters it. But anyone who has trouble believing or loving, it is  misunderstanding that's to blame. And it's this misunderstanding that's constantly used as our excuse, evidence that he doesn’t exist or isn’t what we want or need. The lack of evidence about God becomes our weapon to use against him.

Can you see the problem?

So what's the solution? Reconnecting. God wants to reconnect. And any writer working to write a true spiritual story has the greatest advantage: story! The method God himself has used to share this vitally relevant truth.

I'd like to humbly propose that reconnecting the disconnected is the grand story of all humanity. It's what it's all about. This is why everything is about story because we're all a part of it, his story of coming and reconnecting. Story is all about the one who overcomes unbeatable odds to achieve what seemed impossible. And it's happening every day, all around us if only we could see it.

Do you ever think about that? Maybe if there was time you would. But I'm wondering if there's time to think of anything but this.

This story thing is so powerful when you think of it as the way God's created us to reconnect. And because it's his, absolutely everything is a part of it, what he created, his world, the lives he spoke into being, the narrative he placed us in. We all want to read his words and know how he reveals himself and reconnects with us. Every true spiritual story is one more piece of the larger unfolding story of reconnection, as infinite as the universe, more evidence that one day it will all be reconnected. Can your story reconnect others with him, show him for who he is? How many need to read it to be reconnected and add their line in the bigger story. And how many of these stories can we find?

Authors of faith, you are royal daughters and sons of the great Reconnector. See your tool clearly. You must tell the story. Provide the escape. End the misunderstanding. Deliver the inspiration.

Crush the lack of evidence.

Open the eyes.

Write for one.

A Selling Networking Marketing Post! (I know!)

I know. I feel the same way about marketing as you do. Even saying the word makes the sunshine in my soul go out just a little bit.

But if it's actually time for you to "increase your network," I think I may have found something that I can actually recommend. And it doesn't involve you being forced to start using such phrases as "increasing your network."

I've been asked several times if I'd write on marketing, networking, advertising, promoting, publicity and selling. I've resisted the subject for so long, hoping it would go away, but like a bad boil (yes, exactly, there isn't any other kind) it keeps popping up.

So being the helpful, considerate person I am, I've decided to lance this subject once and for all by deferring to a great case study which is the best way I know to help people out, pay it forward and still get out of having to actually do something myself.

So, check out Tony Hsieh, author of the New York Times bestseller Delivering Happiness and CEO of Zappos.com, Inc. and his guest review of Peter Guber's new book, Tell to Win.

And you're welcome.

It Starts Today

Today. The word carries such power. 

Today! It's what you make it. What will you do with it? How will you use it?

Does it compel you to suit up, face your fears, believe the evidence that it will pass so soon, and seize it while you can?

Do you hear the voices calling out from the picture on the wall?

 

It starts today. Do you believe it? Do you trust the vision you've been given enough to show up? Will you act on it? 

You've been chosen for this, here and now, to do this and make it live. To influence your readers and make them live. To influence their lives that others can live. You can't possibly know how much depends on today.

Do you know how unbelievably rare you are? Do you want to? Do you want to stop simply knowing it and do something about it? Do you want to feel it and live it? That's an inspiration to others, to see you living as one of God's true rarities. Will it be a stretch to say you never knew the person you saw in the mirror every morning before today? 

How would you like to respond?

  

What would it take to draw out the real you, the one who loves like no one else, who sees the opportunities and runs toward them? To take your vision and combine it with your compassion and release it, make it influence your sphere, make those around you deal with it? To do that, to live that, it is the greatest power in this messed up world. And you have it.

Maybe you've been waiting, waiting like everyone else, being too-easily convinced that it's not the right time, not appropriate, not really needed.

Which today are you waiting for?

Every great story is about a person just like you and then one day, for no better reason than you have today, everything comes together. The decision to act is made. The experience and growth and maturing and preparing, and all the conditions come together and it's time to produce. 

That, my friend, is today.

If you will think ahead to a day down the road when it's all been done and you've become polished like a well-worn walking stick by this experience, you can imagine what you'll feel. Having committed to showing up to the writing every day, to the preparations, the sacrifice, and being progressively changed by the work of a thousand todays, with this insight having shaped the journey of your character, one day soon it will be time to share. And on that today eyes are opened, lives changed, sparks brought back to life, and no one will be able to deny what you decided back there, so many days ago.

   

That's today.

That flavor in your work, unlike anything they've ever tasted, some of them didn't know what tasting was until you showed them. You awoke their mouths, gave them a taste for something and created a desire they will never forget as long as they live. That's their life they're remembering, being brought back to, maybe forgotten so long it was almost dead. But from the flavor, they'll remember and their heads will raise.

"Today. It's right here. I can use it, taste it, live it."

That's what you'll have done.

And then, a today a little further off, you'll see a smile waiting for you just ahead. And you'll go toward it, knowing you are the reason for it.

Can you imagine it? I hope you can. Use what's around you, whatever you have, and don't put it off with excuses. You have to realize what an incredible opportunity you have before you. Don't give in to pressure to make you forget! Can you even imagine what this knowledge is really worth? And what will it be worth if you forget, give into doubts and let another today slip by?

Today, the next day, and the next, they're all connected. It's true. Believe it. Choose it. Trust it. And begin your training as you run for the next today and the next....

So many people are hoping and praying for someone exactly like you, to show them what you know. But you can only be the one if you decide today.

 

Continue the thoughts at Dick Staub's blog today. Something in the air...

A Better Way to Sell Out

Writing makes me happy.

But I have something of a strained relationship with publishing. Being an introvert, I don’t want the spotlight, though being human, I do like being well-regarded. Publishing is legitimizing, but it’s also exposing, which depending on your personality can be invigorating or shall we say unpleasant, as in fly-unzipped-on-laundry-day awkward.

So if I’m going to do this—publish I mean—I want to know that what I’m showing off is something larger, or more substantial, than just me showing off.

Discounting the inevitable derision could present a challenge otherwise.

I want what I wrote while blissfully ignorant of any exposing to be unmistakably and unavoidably not simply mine.

The trouble is, overexposure has become the norm, if not the expectation for modern authors in our manic, addiction-inducing culture. And having conceived the work in such a sacred exchange, slapping on the sandwich board to hock it as so much product feels a little like spitting on your grandma. I’m not so much worried about the gut-wrenching agony of being imprisoned in the hype machine. It’s more the fear that I’d be forced to become my own stalker-murderer and suffocate myself with my promotional monogrammed book bag.

So I’ve been thinking this through because I could publish anonymously or with a pen name, which seems attractive until it comes to interviews and such. There are ways to avoid detection and “live off the grid” as it were with things like voice scramblers that writer of the Fourth Realm trilogy “John Twelve Hawks” used. But somehow rejecting publicity to such an extreme feels more like a publicity stunt...

No, I think if I’m going to do it, publish, I need a better reason to sell out than hoping to sell out.

“Unscrupulous people fake it a lot; honest people are sure of their steps. Nothing clever, nothing conceived, nothing contrived, can get the better of God.” (Prov. 21:29-30)

A little later, the sage says, “The payoff for meekness and Fear-of-God is plenty and honor and a satisfying life.” (22:4)

I don’t know if not putting a price on the product of our inspiration is necessary, but it’s certainly advantageous. Making writing your livelihood is a perilous prospect, though not unmanageable. In the end, “Do your best, prepare for the worst—then trust God to bring victory” (21, final verse). The nut to be cracked here seems to be in what you “prepare” for, whether to provide for your own needs or for others’.

So I’m still wrestling. But I’m also praying, believing there’s a right path for everyone moving forward with the call to get the WORD out.

The Formula

You know how I know books are children? Because they can be such snots to their parents.

Michaelangelo, when asked why he didn’t have a wife or children, said his wife was his art and his works were his children. And when those children are little, they can be completely irrational.

If you want to be a parent of this type, you only need 3 characteristics: persistence, intelligence, and quirkiness.

That’s it. Soon as you’ve got those, you’re ready to be an author. But if you want to survive, you’ll need something else.

You don’t need a great plot. And you don’t need beautiful, special, larger-than-life characters, though if you are one, good for you. Enjoy that. I'm not one, don't want to be and I don’t want to read about them. I don't deny people liking such books, but to say all of them should be this way is ignorant. Such a prejudice deepens our culture of dissatisfaction and encourages people to forfeit the more meaningful things of life. And books can do this because as children they’re powerful, persuasive little boogers.

So it doesn’t take action, adventure, romance, riches, power, fame, or beauty. All it takes is a character who is extraordinary (or remarkable) in some way and uses it to escape moral and/or romantic peril. That is enough. The peril had better be worthy of bookhood or I'll think the author didn't look hard enough before choosing his story. Stand-out stories stand out. 

But the greatest, deeper fact about this truth is that everyone is extraordinary. Think about it. Ordinary doesn't really exist, and this is the theme of the most incredible stories. Show me the simplest stuff transformed into the grandest and I’ll show you a successful author. Want to realize a holy calling? Open people’s eyes to see majesty in a dirt clod. Transformation is not magic—it’s a simple matter of perspective. God constantly makes all things new, all things alive again, and if you want to inspire readers to buy a lot of books, inspire them to agree.

Authors who breathe life into seemingly flat people and situations will become well-known authors.

"Look closer," the story can say. "Don't be fooled." That's a holy awakening when it happens. Those are the stories we live for. 

Of course, that's hard to do well. There are no shortcuts. And there are bell-curves of taste, preference and experience dictating how stories hit different readers. But when an author can open my eyes to the extraordinary, I feel enlightened. I feel comforted.

How is your work opening readers’ eyes to the extraordinary in the ordinary? Asking the question of your work may help you discover some real key characteristics.

Some YourWritersGroup.com Nibbles and Bits...

So, obviously, the new website is not here yet. And I'm really fine with it. Honest...

Blast you, cursed warden of my inspired hopes and dreams!

When I first dreamed up this website I've been alluding to since last October (or was it September?), I knew there'd be a catch. But it turns out these masterpieces of technology and beauty take time. As it is, I'm only mildly miffed--or inactively irked.

If I cared more about marketing and sales, I'd probably be really upset. But alas, it isn't done yet. 

In the meantime, I thought I'd introduce you to one idea I've had: the soon-to-follow daily inspirational thoughts I'm cooking up for the big release. I haven't decided what to call them yet--maybe Daily Meditations, Mantras for Writers, or Quotable Nibbles and Bits--but I've been using them on my run every morning and they're good for focusing my mind on what's really important before I come back and sit down at the helm to write (Yes, of course I shower first).

I especially like the two parters--they seem to bring a rebalancing effect. One of the first I used was, "All for others, nothing for self." You can reverse them and create new nuances of meaning: "Nothing for self, all for others."

I'll be sharing some more soon--once I have a name for them, and a venue. But start with this one and see how many things you can apply it to in your writing. I like its rhythm. Though it's not perfect, it seems to work well with labored breathing.

What to think

Why am I blocked, Lord? What’s going on? I came here so full of hope and excited for what I thought you were leading me to, but now I’m feeling blocked from moving forward. Am I too busy? Is there too much in the way? Am I not listening, allowing distractions to close my ears? What can I do? Or should I simply wait?

I don’t know what to think...

 

I need to admit something. It’s been a while since I had a true blogging confession, but I’ve been convicted and I need to get something off my chest: 

The reason I write is because I don’t know what to think about something until I write about it.

Yes, it’s true. I’m that sort of writer. I accept your pity. Or maybe I should say, I have been this kind of writer up until very recently when I realized it was my problem. It’s not a fun admission for me, not a mature problem to have. But I wonder if you’re a writer who shares this particular defect. Maybe you wonder what to do about it.

Honestly, I’m not sure I can tell you. We’ll see by the end here. And just so you know, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being a “scriboprocessor.” But eventually I had to face it: this motivation isn’t enough to make the struggle to write worthwhile. Multi-published authors may share this quirk, but they’ve built upon it, and thus acquired the requisite antibodies to fight off NGS—Navel-Gazing Syndrome. Don Miller talks about this very thing in A Million Miles. Good read if you haven’t yet.

But I thought about all this again when I came across Neil Genzlinger’s guidelines for memoir writers in NYT, “The Problem with Memoirs.”

Bitter medicine maybe. But prescriptive nonetheless. The comments here were helpful too.

It’s easy to dismiss the writers who write to figure themselves out and let them either grow through it or give up. Experienced folks know it’s simply par for the course. Eventually those who keep writing will move on to a more interesting motive like taking on inner city poverty or totalitarianism. There’s a maturing process required in choosing one’s grand cause. But the personal reasons for writing remain.

“Cogito ergo sum” is little more than a solipsistic platitude until it’s matched with a broken heart. Grand, you want to write, but do you also want to right the injustice, spread the gospel, and make life better for your fellow man? And how will you do that with the little story, the little life you have? After all is said and done, there’s a bigger reason to write that cures the self-focused writer of his need for proof and permission—and I think this is the next step I’m in right now.

I’ve mentioned it before, but in The Catcher in the Rye, Holden is told “the mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one.” Just beyond the urge to write for yourself, you’ll begin to hear a small voice. I already know that if you listen to it, it will grow and soon you’ll be able to make out what it’s saying. And the less you think while this is happening, the better. But keep writing. The better writing is just on the other side.

I still have to remind myself that thinking about myself while writing only doubles the effort of editing. The more I get outside myself, the more useful I become. And happier. I’ve found great power in speaking the mantra, “Not for self, but for others...” I breathe it in, I breathe it out. “...all for others, not for me.”

This doesn’t mean my own story isn’t important. Just the opposite, my story is given its importance by the selfless life I’m demonstrating. People are heard, seen, and they respond—they want to know my story. How did a painfully shy, sheltered, selfish kid from Podunktown get there? Stories only matter when the life that birthed them is real, humble and honest.

How easily we forget this.

I think the problem with memoirs is that we think we’re supposed to be what they’re about. They’re not really about ME at all. Really, they’re about everything besides. In the writing is denying yourself. In the editing, you’re serving the reader. And the living it out, you demonstrate by example that when you live, write, work, and fight for others, you do it for a higher purpose.

Maybe you’ve realized this too. I hope you have. I think this is the way. I think this is how the best memoirs, the best stories, reveal to writer and reader alike what to think.

Interview with author/editor Brandy Bruce

I've been excited for a while to have the chance to interview a friend of mine, Brandy Bruce. Her experience as an up-and-coming YA author is unique (of course) but her decision to self-publish after shopping her novel to publishers makes me extra eager to tell you about her journey. First, the bio.

Brandy Bruce holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Liberty University. She currently works as a developmental book editor for Focus on the Family. When she's not chasing after her two-year-old daughter, she spends much of her time reading, editing, working with authors, and trying to keep up with deadlines. She's the author of the newly released contemporary novel Looks Like Love. Brandy makes her home with her husband and daughter in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Me: Brandy, thanks for being brave and pioneering. I figure, despite my initial reservations with self-publishing (as a long-time publishing establishment guy), your decision is a great example for others who are debating this choice. Tell me about (1) your journey from writer to published.

BRB: I've been writing stories since the sixth grade. Reading and writing have always been my outlets for creative thought. I knew from about the time I was in high school that I really wanted to somehow work with books as my profession. I became a developmental book editor and I still love it. But writing has always remained part of that creative outlet for me.

My journey to publishing isn't exactly traditional. A few years ago I started working on a story about a girl starting over after a bad break-up. I showed my book proposal to an agent (Chip MacGregor--Google him.) who liked it and decided to sign me as one of his authors. Then came the hard part--selling it. We received some positive feedback and came close with a couple of houses, but in the end, we just didn't get a contract. That was disappointing, of course. I'd put so much work into my novel that I didn't want to give up. I started thinking about self-publishing. I talked this over with Chip, and he was really supportive. A turning point for me came when my husband reminded me that in today's world publishing is an attainable dream for anyone. I know that publishing is evolving. I know that anyone can have his or her book in an e-format in minutes. I decided to explore my options for doing it myself, and finally, I decided to self-publish with WestBow Press.

Me: So what kind of marketing are you doing?

BRB: When it comes to marketing self-published books, authors have to be even more pro-active. I talked to other authors who had self-published for creative marketing tips. I created bookmarks to send to friends and family when the book released. WestBow sent out a press release, but I also created a press release to send to bookstores and influencers. I had a friend create a book trailer for me and put it on YouTube. I promoted my book on my blog, twitter account, and facebook and recruited friends and family to also post the link to my book on Amazon.com. And I set up a blog book tour the month after my book released. I arranged some blog interviews and encouraged people to write reviews for my book on amazon.com. People don't realize how beneficial good reviews on Amazon.com are!

Me: So true. One idea I've seen an author use recently is offering signed "book plates" for those who write a review for you. Contests are another good idea--offer a chance at a gift bag for people who post a review. What are you hoping for from this publishing venture? What’s something surprising you’ve learned?

BRB: Before I ever self-published I really examined the why behind moving forward with it. For me, having a book of my own was something I'd wanted for a long time. I never felt the deep desire to be a famous author or the need to sell scores of books. I will say that now that my book is out, every time I receive good feedback, I'm just so thrilled to hear that someone read my story and loved it. That's enough for me. Publishing my book was a goal in my life that I wanted to fulfill. I'm proud of every book I edit and I find a lot of fulfillment in helping others create books that made a difference. I know people self-publish for lots of different reasons. But for myself, I just had a story that I loved and wanted to see in print. I've been lucky with how supportive people have been. I had authors I greatly respect come alongside me and offer endorsements. I had fellow editors help polish my novel before I sent it to press. And I've had my wonderful family and friends help get the word out about Looks Like Love. 

Me: So one last question: What played into your decision most? Did feedback from publishers play a role? Did your insider publishing knowledge convince you you could do it better than your average writer just starting out? If you could, help people differentiate the real pros and cons about this really complex decision.  

BRB: Publishers' feedback did play a role in my decision to self-publish this one. I was in touch with other editor friends so I knew when places like Bethany and Kregel and Cook took the book to pub board. I had editors give me positive feedback (Tyndale for example, I met with the editor who reviewed my proposal while we were at a conference). Chip sent me a response from another editor who said the book wouldn't work for them but she loved my voice and would like to see something else. If I'd been hearing mostly negative responses from editors I respect, I doubt I would have felt it was worth it to publish it. I assume Chip probably shielded me from negative feedback anyway, but I told him I wanted to hear what editors had to say about it. And like I said, most was pretty encouraging. And I took what I heard seriously. When an editor made recommendations, I definitely listened and made changes.

And of course, my being an editor helped me feel a little more confident as I moved forward. Also the fact that I'm a consistent reader. I read so much Christian fiction that I felt I knew my genre well. I'm comfortable checking proofs; I know what to look for. Writing back cover copy is something I do all the time. I knew that getting endorsements could really help me. Anyone can self-publish, of course. There are people there to guide you every step of the way. But my personal experience made me more comfortable throughout the process.  

Also, I'm not planning for this to be a series. I am hoping to shop the YA fantasy series once it's ready. I'd love for that to get picked up since it's meant to be a 4-book series.

Me: Is that what you're working on next? What's keeping you busy (besides marketing and publicity on this)?

BRB: Well, I've got a toddler running around, and I'm editing two books so that keeps me pretty busy. I haven't stopped writing though. My sister and I are working together on a fantasy YA series that I'm super excited about.

 

The Book: Looks Like Love by Brandy Bruce

The awesome book trailer.

The author.