Write His Answer

I’m not very good at putting puzzle pieces together. While others find them challenging and fun, I find them frustrating and a waste of time.

A picture of the completed puzzle helps, but not enough for me to persevere. Perhaps it’s because puzzles don’t just take time, they take patience. And all too often my work can be for nothing when someone bumps into the table and sends the pieces flying.

Then too, puzzles are a reminder of things in life that I can’t figure out – of pieces that don’t seem to fit together even though I know God has a plan and I can trust Him.

And so I pray,

Lord, lead me as you promised me you would . . .
Tell me clearly what to do, which way to turn.  
Psalm 5:8 TLB

As I began putting together the puzzle pieces of 42 workshops for the May 16-19 Colorado Christian Writers Conference, He answered. (Sometimes the hardest part of solving a puzzle is simply to getting started.)

There were so many great workshops to choose from. Father, show me what is most needed by the writers You are calling to come.

I thought of how overwhelmed I felt when I attended my first conference around 45 years ago. Yes, the Feeling Green? workshop the four Kandel sisters proposed would speak to the questions I had back then and that others have today.  What do you do when you are so green to the publishing process that you feel like you know nothing? How do you handle it, when you discover that some of what you thought you knew was so wrong that it makes you feel queasy?

Do you long to Share Your Faith Story? Carol Round’s workshop will help you learn how to do it without beating someone over the head with the Bible.

Do you need help determining the big picture for a book project. Terry Whalin’s workshop, Nonfiction Book Creation from the Ground Up, will teach you storyboarding techniques that will help solve the puzzle.

You’ve poured your heart and soul into your latest writing project, but have you done everything you can to convince an editor? In Before Submitting Your Proposal, editor Tamara Clymer will walk you through the proposal process and show you what you need to do to get your manuscript past the proposal stage and into production.

Do you want to write a novel your readers can’t put down? In Creating Page-Turning Fiction Jennifer Slattery will share the components you need: high stakes, a sense of urgency, sensitivity to the emotions of the reader (balancing emotive sections with comic relief), a strong and consistent moral premise (not to be confused with spiritual theme), and a consistent and believable plot and subplots that work together.

You’ve heard you need to be on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and all kinds of other social media, and you need 10,000 “friends” if you want to be taken seriously as an author. Who has time for all of this and still find time to write? And what if you don’t know a Tweet from a Hoot and your Friends are on your Christmas Card list? Cheri Cowell’s workshop, Social Media for the Reluctant: Connecting to Your Readers, will give you the answers you need.

Do you have a life story the world needs to hear? Do you want to leave a legacy in print for family, friends, and beyond? In Master the Memoir Marti Pieper will discuss the dos and don’ts of this popular genre, including the importance of a narrative thread, how thinking small makes a big difference, and the mystery of marketability.

But what can you do When You Don’t Have a Platform? Literary Agent Nick Harrison will share ideas for how to compensate for not having a platform, both in your proposal and when the book is published.

And if you’re just beginning and can’t imagine ever writing much less publishing a book, in Matchmaker, Matchmaker editor Sherri Langton will teach you how to study a magazine and shape your writing for different markets. Bring an article you haven’t yet sold or an idea and Sherri will help you find the right match.  

I could go on and on (yes, I’m excited) but why don’t you click here and see for yourself the 42 workshops you can choose from at this year’s CCWC? Or perhaps instead you’d prefer to be part of a hands-on clinic with 6-8 other writers. Watch for info on our clinics and our 8 continuing sessions coming soon.

Our 16-page brochure is at the printer and will be uploaded to the website in the next several days. Meanwhile, I’m praying you’ll begin making plans now to come to the May 16-19 Colorado Christian Writers Conference. Registration opens February 1.

And when we obey him,
every path he guides us on is fragrant
with his loving-kindness and his truth.
Psalm 25:10 TLB