Anne Dutton lived from 1692-1765, a time when women were discouraged from being authors, something I find curious, as a female author. Amidst this tension, Anne wrote, “not for fame but for only the glory of God, and the good of souls.”[1] She published 50 plus books over her lifetime, all the while wrestling with whether it was biblical for a woman to be an author. She argued that since her books were intended for private reading of believers, she was not in violation 1 Timothy 2:12.[2]
Anne’s life and ministry are chronicled in chapter three of the book, 8 Women of Faith, by Michael A.G. Haykin. Her story is a warm hug from a kindred spirit because I know this struggle. I’ve wondered if I grappled alone or if other women in ministry, other authors, have wrestled with when and where to speak and when and where to remain quiet. I’ve spent much time these past few months studying the Word, praying, and examining my heart. What motivates me to write? Am I teachable when corrected? Do I truly desire to lift the name of Christ higher than the name on the cover of my books?
I’ve learned from Anne that speaking up might be necessary no matter how uncomfortable it may make me feel. She boldly critiqued theological positions of her day that threatened the integrity of the gospel. She corresponded with many leaders, gently challenging them while remaining respectful. Her final days on earth have been said to illustrate Ps 92:12-14 and Gal 5:22. Anne flourished like the palm tree, bringing forth fruit in her old age of seventy-four, exhibiting love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.[3]
O Lord, I pray it may it be said of me that when my days are done and all that remains is the legacy of my words that every written word and every spoken word has been for the glory and fame of Jesus Christ. May I be remembered for a teachable spirit, for speaking in gentleness, correcting in love, and always respectful of the authority placed over me. When I quiver on the precipice of eternity, may there still be much fruit, much evidence that anything good that came from my life was and is the work of the Spirit in me.
[1] Michael A. G. Haykin, 8 Women of Faith, (Wheaton, Il: Crossway 2016), 58.
What does success in 2019 look like for you? I’ve been thinking about the word, and how I wouldn’t define it as an author.
Is it making the best-seller list?
Is it becoming an in-demand speaker?
Is it increasing the traffic on my website, the number of likes on my author page, or my amount of Twitter/Instagram/Pinterest followers?
Before I wrestled with this word, I would have defaulted to defining it in those measurable ways. But success as a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ has to be more than popularity and numbers.
The better question to ask is how does God define success?
Pastor Crawford Loritts referenced this verse in a conference session I was privileged to attend. He broke it into three applicable parts, which I have applied to my career to create a New Year’s Resolution of sorts.
I will consider 2019 successful if:
God’s Word marks my writing ministry. My ministry is not a platform to share my words or ideas; it is first and foremost about sharing the truth of God. I cannot yank verses from their context to support my point of view. If I am going to quote Scripture, I better do the work of understanding the meaning of the passage, what it meant for the original audience, and how the cross of Jesus affects the application of it today. That involves work, but it is the work that matters.
I know Truth. If I am going to share the Word of God, I must know it. To understand the Word, I must be in it. I must love it and live it faithfully. It is not enough to listen to gifted preachers exposit the Word, although that is a good thing. I must also learn to handle it responsibly and with integrity for myself.
I obey the Word. It’s not enough to know the Word. Faith without works is dead. I must obey what I learn and put it into practice.
If I do these things, I am – by God’s definition – successful. The freeing reality of this definition is that my success does not hinge on an Amazon rank, bestseller list, or social media followers. I am to represent God and His Word accurately and let the sales fall where they may. I will seek the Lord and leave the path of my career to Him.
Today, author Katie Clark visits to give some writing advice and tell us about her new novel, The Rejected Princess.
Katie: Writing—or writing well—usually takes time, just like growing a garden. As an early writer, I participated in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). I pounded out a complete novel in 30 days! I thought it was perfect, but a few honest critique partners quickly let me know that is wasn’t. Frustration set in and I just didn’t understand why my story wasn’t any good.
After three years of learning, rewriting, and learning some more, I finally realized my issue was editing. There had been no plot revisions, no cutting or adding, no polishing my sentences or rearranging scenes to make everything flow more smoothly. I had cut out the editing stage completely.
Okay, so how does all of this relate to growing a garden? Let me tell you!
One of the first things you do when planting a garden is taking a seed and putting it into the ground. You find the right spot, prepare the dirt, lovingly place your seed inside, then cover it with soil. Writing your first draft is like planting a seed. You pick the right setting, do a little pre-plotting to figure out what your story is about, then put words to paper.
Now, this is where I made my mistake. I felt that once the seed went into the ground, I was finished! But we all know putting a seed into the ground isn’t the end of growing a garden. There is watering, weeding, and pruning to be done. This is when the real work begins! In the writing world, we call it editing.
It took several manuscripts before I got into my editing groove, but now I’ve streamlined my process to a place of comfort. Editing is my favorite part—the part where I can prune my plants into masterpieces (ahem, masterpieces might be a stretch, but we’ll go with that)!
Drafting
I don’t edit as I draft, but I do often realize I’m on the wrong track with something, and so I make myself notes in the manuscript as I go.
Big Plot Problems
Once I’ve finished the entire draft, my next step is to go through these notes and make all the necessary changes. This might include plot holes I’ve noticed or places where I can tie certain subplots together. When this is complete, I read through the entire manuscript again to check for other big changes that need to be made, and I make them.
Pruning and Shaping
After I get the plot worked out, I do another complete read-through. This is usually the stage where I do a lot of pruning—cutting, shaping, and filling out. I check to make sure scenes or paragraphs are in the best possible order. Sometimes I realize that what makes sense to me won’t necessarily make sense to others, so I need to rearrange my descriptions and actions.
Voice
My last step is to read through the manuscript for voice. I want to make sure I’ve used the words my characters would use. In one manuscript, my main character was a baker. I went through the manuscript and changed a few expressions to reflect this. For instance, instead of saying Kayla was going to have a nervous breakdown, I wrote that Kayla was about to invade the baker’s chocolate. I love raking through my manuscript, looking for little changes like this that can bring the story to life!
Unlike a garden, unfortunately, there is no Miracle-Gro for your manuscript. Editing takes time and hard work, but in the end, you will have yummy fruits and veggies to share. And the best part? People will be glad you shared—unlike if you tried to saddle them with a first draft, because really, who wants to eat a seed?
KATIE CLARK started reading fantastical stories in grade school and her love for books never died. Today she reads in all genres; her only requirement is an awesome story! She writes inspirational romance for adults as well as young adult speculative fiction, including her YA supernatural novel, Shadowed Eden, and The Enslaved Series. You can connect with her at her website, on Facebook, or on Twitter.
Katie’s Book:
When Princess Roanna Hamilton’s parents arrange a marriage with a prince of Dawson’s Edge—the mysterious and backward kingdom to the south—Roanna reluctantly agrees, accepting that peace must be put ahead of her lifelong relationship with Prince Benjamin of Lox.
But when Roanna is introduced to Dawson’s royal family, strange mind-bending anomalies are awakened within her, and she discovers the Dawsonian royal family holds secrets of their own.
Roanna becomes locked in a battle between kingdoms. Rebels wish to eliminate people who possess powerful anomalies. With threats growing daily, Roanna comes to realize the danger she is in—not to mention how her own family, and Benjamin’s, would react if her anomaly was revealed.
Tensions rise when Lox is attacked. If Roanna is to save herself and her future, she must stall her marriage and squelch the growing rebellion—all while discovering how deeply her power runs. But will Prince Benjamin and her family accept her when the truth of her heritage is finally revealed?
Every writer needs a short bio for introductions and a longer bio for that dreaded “about me” tab on the website. At the bottom of this post is a link that will help you create a personal and easy-to-read bio. I had LOADS of fun creating mine.
About Stacey
I am from the play-until-the-streetlights-turn-on and come-when-your-father-whistles generation. I’m a cool-off-in-the-sprinkler, drink-straight-from-the-hose, and fish-off-the-pier kind of girl. I’m loyal even when others are not.
I’ve wrestled with brothers, played Barbie with neighbors, and stayed up too late reading just one more chapter. I’m from BIG Sunday dinners, steaming hot tea, and Saturday morning coin-sized pancakes. I grew up with Tupperware, paper bag lunches, Yorkshire pudding, and mashed potatoes.
Lots of mashed potatoes.
My family is a finish-what-you-start, bargain shopping, home cooking, and respect-your-elders kind of family. I am one of four children framed in memories on a wall. I jumped off docks, endured eight-hour trips that took twelve, and sat in the middle bench seat of the family sedan.
I am a wait until you enter the house before driving away kind of mom. I boil the kettle in a crisis, and I know that a job worth doing is worth doing right.
I am a fixer of old things, painter of everything, cleansed and forgiven child of God. I believe that nothing matters more than the Lord Jesus Christ and who I believe He is.
Who are you?
Visit this link and use the template to write your own bio. Every writer needs an ‘about me’ page on their website. http://www.swva.net/fred1st/wif.htm
Writers need to do more than write to succeed. Today, writing involves maintaining an online presence which can include updating blog posts, websites, and social media accounts. The problem is that most writers want to write, not spend hours online marketing their work.
Good News
Fortunately, there are several available resources online that can aid the writer in crafting professional, quick, and EASY graphics and videos. Below are three of my go-to tools in my writing toolkit.
Three Must-haves for Marketing
Grammarly: Before you publish any graphic or video, you must ensure the grammar is correct. When I first tried Grammarly, I began with the free program. I was so impressed that I immediately downloaded it to my daughter’s computer for school use.
I upgraded to their paid services, and I LOVE it. Grammarly not only highlights my mistakes, but it also explains why the error is wrong. Like any program that checks for spelling and grammar, you are still required to engage your brain. Occasionally, like many other proof-reading programs, Grammarly has suggested an incorrect change. Visit: www.grammarly.com
Canva: I am relatively new to Canva, and I already love it. In fact, I made the graphic at the top of this page in less than five minutes. It offers several templates for marketing, social media, book, and magazine covers. Visit: www.canva.com
Lumen5: I’ve used Lumen5 to create a few videos, and I love how easy it is. After you create an account, you have the option to upload your own images or search their database for free photos and graphics. I used this blog post to create the short promotional video below. I copied and pasted the text, arranged the wording, uploaded images and/or chose images from Lumen5’s selection, and added music from their free options. DONE.
It doesn’t get much easier than this, which gives this writer more time to write.
Writing coach Brian Henry once said that it takes three things to publish a book traditionally.
A well-written manuscript.
Perseverance.
Dumb luck.
And you only need two out of three to succeed.
The only two items on that list that an author can control are numbers one and two. So how do you craft that stellar manuscript?
Many people look for the solution in worksheets, how-to books, and writers’ manuals. These are great things. I use many and have benefitted from the instruction of more experienced and successful authors. But, as I procrastinate starting my fourth novel, I can’t help but wonder if it is possible to over plan and if all those charts and worksheets can morph into a hindrance instead of help?
A Writer has Options
I am a firm believer in the fact that there is more than one way to write a book. There are probably as many ways to write a novel as there are writers, and the way that is right is the way that works for you.
I happen to blend a few methods, and I am a planner. The more books I write, the more detailed I plan. For me, plotting results in a cleaner first draft that requires fewer edits later.
But I had to question my motive when I downloaded a guide over 100 pages long on developing characters when I already had copious notes on said characters. It turns out that I had begun using charts and planning to avoid the hard work of writing that first draft.
You may think it gets easier with every published book, but for me, the reality is that the first draft is agony NO MATTER WHAT. It requires hours and hours of butt-in-chair writing that cannot be avoided by filling in the blanks on a chart.
NaNoWriMo
The right method to write is the method that works for you. But whatever you do, don’t use planning as a way to avoid writing. You eventually have to get the words on the page, and there is no better time than NaNoWriMo!
National Novel Writing Month begins November 1st. It might be the motivation you need to jump over the hurdle of planning and get that story on paper. Hop on over the website and check it out. If you sign up, let me know! Maybe we can cheer on one another.
KATIE CLARK started reading fantastical stories in grade school and her love for books never died. Today she reads in all genres; her only requirement is an awesome story! She writes inspirational romance for adults as well as young adult speculative fiction, including her YA supernatural novel, Shadowed Eden, and The Enslaved Series. You can connect with her at her 
When Princess Roanna Hamilton’s parents arrange a marriage with a prince of Dawson’s Edge—the mysterious and backward kingdom to the south—Roanna reluctantly agrees, accepting that peace must be put ahead of her lifelong relationship with Prince Benjamin of Lox.
