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Writing Short

 

 

Then God said: "Let there be light," and there was light.

Genesis 1:1

Hello! Maureen Pratt here with my first CAN Blog post. I've been asked to write once a month about writing - one of my favorite topics! Today, I'm going to start off with a topic that sometimes confounds many writers - "writing short." As I'm the author of a 600-word syndicated, international column, I'm steeped in this style with each piece I file. And, more than ever before, we use this kind of writing, especially on the Internet. But it can be so difficult to adapt "big" thoughts into "few" words (for us...the Author of the Bible did it so beautifully!) Here are some suggestions for better, pithier posts and paragraphs:

How to Get Endorsements for Your Novel by Jill Williamson

An endorsement is a short, positive review from a published author. Once you have a book contract, you want one of these if you can get one, but only from authors in your genre. If you’re writing science fiction, an endorsement from Francine Rivers isn’t going to mean as much as an endorsement from John Olson. So take the time to brainstorm a list of potential candidates based on authors who write books in genres similar to yours.

Start asking for endorsements as soon as you sign the contract. If at all possible, don’t rush a potential endorser. The more time you give them to read your book, the more likely they will be to fit it in. If you don’t hear back from them by the date you asked to receive an answer, you may send a polite reminder email. If you don’t hear back, let it go. It wasn’t meant to be. The last thing you want to do is burn bridges.

The Author as Terrorist (#3): Crossing a Line

How do terrorists terrify? By being willing to commit disturbing acts that decent human beings would never consider. Aspiring suspense writer: Go thou and do likewise (at least in print).

It’s hard to create tension if your readers can sense that there are lines you won’t cross. Once they know that you won’t let anything really bad happen to “good” characters, most of the suspense drains out of what should be tense scenes. They know the sweet schoolteacher in the car crash will be okay, the deranged husband of the vulnerable young woman won’t actually kill her, and so on. How can you keep that from happening?

The Author as Terrorist (#2): Starting with a Bang!

Last month, we started this series by talking about how old-school terrorists and suspense authors are the same in one important way: Like terrorists, we want to create uncertainty and tension that makes it impossible for our victims (er, readers) to focus on anything except what's going to happen next in the world we've created. Now we're going to start digging a little deeper to see what we writers can learn from the PLO and Baader-Meinhof gang.

A good terrorist introduces himself with something flashy and devastating, right? So does a good suspense writer. 

Platform Girl - How to Get Your Endorsements

 

  Kathi Lipp here -sharing all the not-so-secret tips to building your platform through speaking. 

 

This article is taken from my booklet 5 Simple Steps to Kick Start Your Speaking Career.

 The very first thing you need to do as a speaker is get a list of references together. You need to prove you’ve got some street cred. No one wants to hire a speaker that no one else will endorse. Event planners need to know that you have spoken before and that you didn’t pass out while doing it.

 

These endorsements will be used over and over again—on your website, promotional postcards, speaker packets and on other speaker websites that you will eventually become a part of.

 

If you are just getting started in speaking, you may be wondering who will endorse you.

 

Step #1

 

This is the time to start getting creative.

 

1. Brainstorm the times you have been in front of a group.

 

If you are pursuing a career in public speaking, chances are you have done some presentations, somewhere.

 

Maybe it was teaching a Bible study at church, or a talk you did for coworkers. Have you ever worked with a youth group, or been in a Toastmasters group? Those are all people who have heard you speak and can write an endorsement for you.

 

2. Offer to speak to a group, free of charge.

 

Many of my clients have started out by speaking for a group for free, just to get their foot in the door and to get their first endorsements rolling

 

 

 

in. Look for civic groups, mothers or MOPS (Mothers Of Pre-Schoolers) groups. Most of these would welcome the chance for you to speak on a topic that is tailored to their audience.

 

Let them know that you will be happy to do the presentation for no charge as long as the leader of that group would write you a recommendation (if they felt that you were recommendation-worthy!) It is a win-win—they get a fabulous speaker that they may not otherwise be able to afford, and you get that oh-so-valuable endorsement.

 

 

3. Make it easy for the event planner

 

Experience has shown me that it is very hard for people to write recommendations. It is not that the event planner didn’t love you—quite the opposite. She knows that she is not able to express her feelings well enough to do you justice. Everything she writes sounds dull and flat to her ear.

 

 

I strongly encourage you to give her an example of a great endorsement—that way she will know what you are looking for, but can write the endorsement in her own words to best reflect you.

 

If there are key words that reflect who you are, let her know that those are areas that you would love for her to highlight if she felt comfortable. Again, you are not writing the endorsement for her (everyone can see

through those kind of endorsements…) but giving her a framework to work within that will make the task easier for her and more useable for you.

 

 

 

The Author as Terrorist: How to Think Like a Suspense Writer (#1)

 

 

I love a good suspense novel--the kind that grabs you with the first line, slowly tightens its grip for 400 pages, and doesn't let go until the very end. I've also written suspense since I was in high school, and now I even get paid for it.So when CAN invited me to join this blog, it was only natural to do a series of posts on suspense writing. The series is titled The Author as Terrorist because ... well, keep reading and I'll explain.

 

 

Walk Worthy; Write Worthy

 

 

 Jeanne Gowen Dennis here. Lately I've been pondering what it means to "walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which we have been called" (Eph. 4:1 NASB). What is that calling for us as writers?

It's the same calling farmers, business people, homemakers, pastors, construction workers, grocery clerks, janitors, retired people, and soldiers have: to be disciples of Christ. To walk as He would walk, to love as He would love. It means yielding to God's Spirit in obedience, moment by moment, so that the Father can conform us to the image of His Son (Rom. 8:29). It means not allowing the things of this world to pollute us or distract us from Him (Luke 10:40–41; Jas. 1:27). It means being "completely humble and gentle . . . bearing with one another in love" (Eph. 4:2 NIV). 

Sounds impossible, doesn't it? It would be without God's power working in us. But all things are possible with Him (Mark 10:27). 

So how do we apply this to the writing life?  

Worth Writing About

 

 

 Jeanne Dennis here. I just arrived home from a trip to Maryland and Virginia, leaving just before the Inauguration crowds descended on the area. 

While I was there, I had the privilege of hearing some amazing speakers, including the 2009 winner of the Wilberforce Award, Bishop John Rucyahana of Rwanda. Millions of his people were brutally murdered during the 1994 genocide in his country, including his niece. When he knew he was called to preach to those imprisoned for the murders, he wondered how he could preach to her killers.