Write His Answer

It’s a beautiful spring day here on the east coast. Okay, I know it’s not yet officially spring, but it sure looks and feels like spring!  My daffodils are in bloom, and the buds on my fruit trees are almost ready to burst.

They’re calling this the winter that wasn’t. I confess I missed the snowstorms we had the past two years. The out-of-doors has looked brown and barren with no snow glistening on the ground and coating my bushes and trees. But even in the dead of winter, faith assured me that spring was coming.

Faith is certainly essential for writers as we wonder if anyone will want to read what we write or if we can even finish what we started. Maybe we have a completed manuscript but so far no agent or editor has shown any interest. Or maybe we already have a book in print but sales have been dismal. We wonder if our work will ever bear fruit.

About fifteen years ago I met Tim Shoemaker at the Write to Publish Conference in Illinois. He had a passion to write fiction for boys but still had a lot to learn. Still, I saw something in him and in his writing. As I talked and prayed with this young man, I knew his dream was going to come true. Since then we’ve kept in touch and I’ve watched his gift with words grow. I rejoiced when he found publishers for his nonfiction devotional books for boys. And then, just this week, I held in my hands Code of Silence, a hardback novel for boys published by Zonderkidz and the first of a trilogy.

Tim’s writing is bearing fruit because he didn’t give up. He’s worked at his craft and then began teaching it to others at the Colorado and Greater Philly Christian Writers conference where he’s served on faculty since 2005. This year Tim is teaching a continuing session at both conferences on “Take Your Fiction to the Gym.” “Consider yourself a beginner or an advanced beginner when it comes to fiction?” Tim asks. “Here’s your chance to take your writing to the gym. You’ll get the tools, tips, and techniques to strengthen your writing to compete in the real world of publishing. We’ll look at Plot, Characterization, Point-of-View, Show-Don’t-Tell, Scenes, Beginnings, Middles, Ends, Conflict, Dialogue, and other areas to help take your fiction writing to the next level. Lace up your gym shoes . . . this is one workout you’ll enjoy!”

I’ve also asked Tim to give the closing keynote, “Finding His Answer,” at both conferences. “Finding His answer in the ups and downs of life is all about realizing He has a plan, that it is good, that we can trust Him, and that there are things we must do,” Tim says. “We must learn our craft and be the real deal as Christians.”

If you’re discouraged, I hope you’ll take heart from Tim’s story and that you’ll make it a priority to attend one or more writers’ conferences this year. The fellowship with other writers, opportunity to show your work to agents and editors, and classes taught by those who know the craft of writing and marketing can make a huge difference in helping you to get your work in print.

Because of the glitches with online registration that, PTL, are now fixed, I’ve extended early registration for the May 16-19 Colorado Christian Writer Conference through March 19.  Online registration for the August  1-4 Greater Philly Christian Writers Conference will hopefully open April 15 with the brochure off press by May 1. For info on other conferences I encourage you to check the 2012 Christian Writers Market Guide. It is available through my Write His Answer bookstore at 20% off the $24.99 retail price plus $3.50 shipping. The bookstore has numerous other writing how-to books. Shipping is free for orders $35 and over.

Thank You, Father, for the promise of springtime. Help us to bear fruit for You through the lives we live and the words we write.

P.S. Click here for a free Bible study on “Bearing Fruit.”