Honesty in Writing

Lately I've been doing a lot of thinking about what separates good writing from great writing. There are probably many things, really. Things like picking just the right details and knowing how to paint a larger picture with them, skill with sentence structure and an almost lyrical ability, and creating a strong enough conflict to sustain the plot arc.

But the longer I write, I'm convinced that one of the absolute most important qualities of "great" writing is honesty. This is also one of the hardest things for writers to do, isn't it?

To create a great book, you have to put heart on the page. You have to put vulnerability in the words. You may even have to hurt or to feel things you don't care to feel. The events in your book don't have to be biographical or true-to-life, but the feelings your book evokes do.

For my newest book, for instance, I'm brainstorming a story that involves a girl who has lost her house. Have I ever lost my house? No. But I can imagine it. I've evacuated for hurricanes before. I've watched the news, wondering if my house was still going to be standing when I got back to my neighborhood. I also have a tendency to resist change in my life. So it's very easy for me to imagine how terrifying it would be lose something of that kind of significance.

I've realized, as a reader and as a writer, that the stories that really stick with me are the ones where the characters' emotions and thoughts seem real. Where even if the plot is completely different from my own life, I can identify on a deeper level with what's going on. The first book of Robin Jones Gunn's Katie Weldon series even had me in all-out tears the first time I read it. It's no secret any of you blog readers that I love Robin's books, and in particular, the Christy Miller Series. Reading Katie's story felt like having a reunion with old friends. That is the kind of connection I want to build with my future readers. I want them to forget for a few moments that these characters aren't real because the characters feel more real to them than their own friends.

Books that really make an impact are the ones with characters we can imagine ourselves as being. They don't only seem real. They seem like us.

It's only through honest writing, however intimidating that vulnerability may be, that we can connect with readers and make a lasting impact on their lives.

Can you think of any stories that have touched you by their honest prose? How can we write this way and create characters who touch the hearts of readers?

Unpacking Your Heart

Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. -- Proverbs 4:23

Do you ever find your heart just feels heavy?

This happened to me recently with the whole Chick-Fil-A fiasco and the tumultuous debates that followed. I resisted throwing my opinion into the mix because I really felt like one more perspective was not going to help anything. I even stopped looking at Facebook for a little while because every time I did, I just felt weary.

Same thing with Shades of Grey and even the political debates. I'm not saying we shouldn't take a stand on these issues or even debate and converse about them, but I as I've said before, I do think we have a problem when we're more concerned with proving our rightness than we are about loving the hurting. You didn't see Jesus walking around correcting everyone all the time. But alas, I diverge from my point.

My purse is very, very heavy with random stuff. Hand sanitizer, my wallet, at least three lip products, gum, various gift cards, coupons, pens, mints, Advil, random notes, receipts, and on and on. At the end of the day, I get home, and sometimes my shoulder aches from the weight of it all. It's even aching now. Can you relate?

I think if we aren't careful, this same thing happens to our hearts. No matter how cute we decorate them on the outside, they get overburdened when throughout the day, we pick up troubles and become overwhelmed. Pretty soon, the weight is more than we can carry alone. And we can't get the rest of the way home with all that stuff.

Today I saw a dragonfly while I was stopped at a red light, and I stiffened and held my breath as it made its trek across the road. Cars were whizzing past, totally unaware, and even if they had seen it, they wouldn't have slowed down, because who stops for something so simple as a dragonfly? I found myself even praying it would get to safety. Such a small moment, but such a beautiful creation. And do you know what happened? The dragonfly flew up. The cars kept whizzing by, but didn't affect the dragonfly's flight, because she went above the threat.

Source: etsy.com via Ashley on Pinterest

When I think of the verse about guarding our hearts, I've always considered that within the context of protecting ourselves from danger by making wise decisions. But what if there's more to it than that? What if there's a way to actually rise above the danger to begin with?

I'm convinced we are trying to do too much emotionally. We have taken on too much, and we've to stop picking up all these extra "things" and putting them inside our hearts. In a way, doing this really prevents us from ever hearing the voice of God. When we rely solely on our own discernment in any particular situation, we neglect the yearning in our hearts for God, as well as the direction of His Spirit in our lives. We never learn to trust Him when we're so busy trusting ourselves. But God never called us to that. He's said He's given us all we need to fulfill our calling. He never promised anything about the calling we place on ourselves.

Look at Jesus. I am sure His compassionate heart was constantly being tugged by all the broken people and situations He witnessed. But instead of "fixing" everyone, what did He do? He spent his time here connecting with the Father, learning the Father's will for Jesus' ministry and life. I am convinced Jesus did this not only because He knew He ought to, but also to leave a pattern for us.

If you are feeling overwhelmed today or weighed down, I encourage you to ask yourself if you have been guarding your heart? Proverbs says the heart is the "wellspring of life." Lately I've been realizing that when we take too much on ourselves, we feel heavy from the weight of it all, and we allow too much into our hearts. All that extra stuff takes the place of time, energy, and emotions that we should be investing in our specific callings. Not to mention, it distracts us from hearing the voice of God. So today, let's all unpack our hearts to make room for our calling. Let's listen for the voice of God. Imagine the peace that will follow.

What kinds of things do you find fighting for the real estate in your heart? How do you guard your heart and your energy and motivation in life?

I sang this song at our church on Sunday, and it just came on Pandora. What a great reminder of God's love for us and His investment not only in our lives, not only in the product of our work, but in our hearts.

Writing's Like Dating: The Courtship

I found this old post and thought it was appropriate with the upcoming ACFW conference. As you're prepping for those nerve wrecking appointments, keep in mind that it's not so much about that individual sale as it is about building relationships. I hope this helps calm some of your nerves and encourages you not to settle for anything less than God's best for your writing career.
 
If there's one thing everyone likes about the writing process, it's the courtship phase. You know the stage. It's all chocolate candy and flowers until someone throws around the word "rejection." :)

In all seriousness, though, something that stirred me at the ACFW conference was the complete lack of reverence on a few authors' parts when communicating with very respectable folks. Now, this wasn't a prevalent issue throughout, don't misunderstand, but one or two in a crowd is more than enough. Think about this with a little perspective. Editors and agents are the equivalent to managers, vice presidents, and presidents in businesses (and some of them literally function in both realms). Would you walk up to the president of your company and say, "Hi, I know you don't really know me, but you should go out of your way to listen to my idea, and if you don't like it, that's your loss"?

So what's the appropriate way to woo an editor or agent, and what if--lucky duck--you find yourself to be the object of the wooing?

Well, you've got to think of it a lot like a relationship.

At the 2011 conference, Allen Arnold, VP of Thomas Nelson, said entering into a contract with an author is a lot like entering into a marriage. Because if they have doubts about you in the beginning, those doubts are not going to get better over time. :) It's so true, isn't it?

So what can we learn from this?

Don't be a bridezilla.

No, but really, you need to be pleasant to be around. Don't be pushy, but on the other hand, don't be afraid to talk about your work.

Take time to find the right fit.

Just as you wouldn't marry the first guy you dated (mercy, can you imagine?), you probably won't sign with the first editor or agent who expresses interest. That's okay. What's important is that you're following God's plan in all of this. And I assure you, He knows what He's doing.

In the meantime, do your research. "Date" your options. See who's a good fit. And stay true to yourself. Find strength in your writing voice so that when you do finally make that perfect match, you'll have something of substance to offer.

Have you found yourself courting an agent or editor, or, even better, being courted? What have you learned? Anyone have any funny dating stories to share?

Tortilla Recipe

So, I've been making these homemade tortillas lately, and they are seriously delicious. I found the recipe on Pinterest and thought I'd share. You can find They do take a little while to make because you have to give the dough time to rise, but they're super easy. And you may want to make extras, because you'll definitely be eating more of them than you'd planned! Enjoy!

Here's the link.

Source: petitelefant.com via Ashley on Pinterest

What to Bring to the ACFW Conference: Healthy Expectations

The ACFW Conference is just weeks away, and everyone is buzzing about it. I'm planning to do a series of blogs each Monday until then to help you feel more prepared for the conference experience if you're planning to attend. This will be my third year at the conference, and every year, I learn so much both about writing and the ways to make the most out of your conference experience.

For the first blog in this series, I want to talk about something I think is so important for a positive conference experience, and that is having healthy expectations. Any time we invest a lot of our resources into something, whether it be our heart, our finances, or our time (or a combination of these things), we often feel we need to get some kind of return from that investment. It's only natural to feel this way. But today I want to challenge you to think through what kind of return you are expecting from your conference experience.

Many new conference attendees feel they won't have a successful conference unless they sign a book deal with their dream publishing house, or sign a contract with an agent. Let's face it: meeting face-to-face with editors and agents is one of the most exciting opportunities available for conference attendees, and one of the strongest motivators for spending the kind of money it takes to get to a conference like ACFW. It's perfectly fine to make these things a goal and to hope for them. But if that's your measure of success, you have a problem. Because you may be operating outside of God's timetable and instead, inside of your own.

Conferences are about establishing relationships, not signing contracts. If you get a contract out of it, great. But don't make that your goal going in, because you're bound to be disappointed. Even if you do end up with an agent or a publisher because of a meeting you had at a conference, that process is likely to take months. An editor interested in your project may not even look at your proposal for a year. I hate to be a buzz kill, but that's the truth. Now, there are always exceptions, so don't let that get you down. I signed with Karen one month after last year's conference. So it does happen. But just realize that in the writing world, things often take time. Even if an editor or agent adores you, they probably won't offer you a contract on the spot. But a girl can dream, right? :)

So how can we go into the conference with healthy expectations for our experience?

• Open hearts. God has a way of changing our plans, replacing them with dreams that are way bigger than our own. If your heart is closed to His whispers, you may miss out. If you find the lunch table you wanted to eat at is already full, cast off your disappointment, hold your head high, and look for other opportunities. You never know... a chance to eat with your dream agent or editor (maybe someone you'd never even planned to talk with) may be just around the corner. Each conference, I am always amazed and humbled how God has His own plan for my being there and leads me to people I never would've expected I would be able to network with.

• Flexibility. The thing about being open to God's plan is that it often means being flexible, something I struggle with. During my first conference, I reached the point of sheer exhaustion and knew I needed only one thing: sleep. I set my alarm for a couple hours later than I'd planned, canceled my agent appointment in hopes I could pick up a different one last minute (totally outside of this plan-everything girl's usual paradigm) and waltzed into Starbucks for a late breakfast. In the next fifteen minutes, I met an editor who remembered me the next year as she was waiting in line for coffee, and I picked up a last-minute appointment with a different editor that ended up in a full manuscript request. Sometimes in order to open our hands to reach out for what God is giving us, we first must let go of what we have been clinging to so desperately. That may mean being flexible in your plans. If things don't go as you'd planned, instead of getting in a funk, take a few deep breaths and open your eyes to the bigger opportunities that may be ahead of you. You never know. The very thing that seems like a disappointment to you may be paving the way toward a larger landscape of possibility.

• Holding on to dreams. Remember that you are here for a reason. Between the exhaustion, the pressure, and all the famous authors you'll be rubbing shoulders with (even if they are a humble bunch), you are bound to feel discouraged at least one point during your time at the conference. I know I always do. My first conference in particular, I remember hitting a wall at one point, going back to my room, and praying, "What in the world am I doing here? Do I even have what it takes to be a writer? These people around me all know what they are doing." I ended up at Johnny Rockets with a chocolate milkshake that worked a miracle. By the way, I realized I hadn't been outside in three days. Even at the conference, and I realize you want to "get the most bang for your buck" so to speak by taking advantage of opportunities, it is still very important that you take time for yourself to relax. You need to hold on to your dreams and remind yourself why you are there in the first place. Listen to the affirming whispers of God in your heart. Surround yourself with people who believe in your calling, and believe in theirs as well. God has brought you into this season of your life for a reason. Enjoy it, and hold on to that calling with all your might, no matter if your doubts say otherwise.

I think it's so important--yet so difficult!--to remember that at the end of the day, God has a plan for it all. He really does see us, just where we are. What it comes down to is whether or not we really trust and believe that. 

Lord, give us the faith to see what You see, the plans and dreams You have for our lives.

What tips do you have for having healthy expectations for the conference? How can healthy expectations help us to have a better conference experience?

Declutter

I'm happy to say we made it home safe and sound from Hawaii after a minor scare we might get stuck in the Houston airport thanks to Hurricane Isaac. I just kept thinking, "Really, people? We couldn't have gotten stuck in Honolulu?" But it was an absolutely phenomenal trip, and I can't wait to sort through the pictures and share some with you guys soon. There's something about getting away for a little while that really helps reframe your priorities, hone in on your focus, and catch your motivation again.

So that's what I decided to write about today. Several weeks ago, I felt God telling me to declutter my mind. I thought that was an interesting concept and one I wouldn't have come up with on my own, yet exactly what I need to be working on. I don't know about you, but I'm always worried about something. Usually it's nothing big... just an accumulation of lots of little things. Some times it's even dumb things, like remembering to take shoes back or do the laundry. But after a while of holding on to all these little things in my mind, they take up all my mental real estate so that I struggle to  hear the ways God's nudging me. It's like I'm in pool, and instead of being led by a gentle wind, I'm flopping around between a hundred floats and pool toys--which is especially appropriate here because I don't know how to swim.

It's time to throw the floats out of the pool.

Last week, we took a day trip to the Big Island of Hawaii, and the attitude of the Hawaiians there really resonated with me. They have such an "aloha" spirit and are very mellow, not wasting time worrying over things they can't control. And after a while of being around that, it started to rub off on me.

I started thinking a different kind of "what if"-- what would happen if I let go of my worries? I mean, really let go of them and laid them at God's feet? If, instead of going over and over things in my mind, I prayed about them and let go? Is this not what the Bible says to do anyway? The concept began to settle in me. Do not worry about tomorrow, for today has enough trouble of its own. If your heavenly Father knows when a sparrow falls, do not fear, for you are worth more than many sparrows. This same God who created the heavens and the earth and the most beautiful sunsets and stars and mountains and oceans and waterfalls sees me, right where I am, and cares for me. What help can my worry add to that kind of power?

As we were flying home, we ran into trouble in Houston, as I mentioned earlier. When we did board the plane after something like sixteen or seventeen hours of traveling already, I was a little freaked about flying through a tropical storm. But something really cool happened. I checked my phone, and a prayer I had prayed earlier that day was Bible Gateway's verse of the day.

Isaiah 26:3: "You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you."

Our vision gets blurred when we allow anxiety and worries to cloud the picture. We lose sight of who we are meant to be, and what we are meant to be doing. We lose sight of purpose.

Then we saw this. Check out the picture Matt took from the airplane. It's not super clear because he had to take it through a plane window, but in the middle there is a rainbow. Above the clouds. Above the storm. I thought this was just the coolest thing. 

God's promises are still there, whether or not we see them. And especially in the storm, He is always reminding us of His love. I hope that encourages you today, whether you are going through a little storm or a big one. Declutter your mind. Look for the rainbows. They may be just above the clouds.

Book Winner!

I'm excited to announce that Lindsay Harrel has won this stop of Cara and Melanie's blog tour contest!

A big thank you to everyone who entered! Keep an eye out for an announcement from Cara and Melanie about the grand-prize winner!

I'm traveling back home today and can't wait to share some pictures with you all when I get back to my regular blog posts on Wednesday. Hope you all have a great day today!