You can write devotionals!

Writing devotionals to uplift your readers can uplift your faith too!

Devote yourself! Begin with a commitment to devote quiet time each day to praying, Bible reading, and meditating on what God says to you and wants you to say to others.

Take note! Keep a notebook nearby to write down each inspired thought God puts on your mind. Also, a sturdy wide-margin Bible in your favorite translation will encourage you to interact with Holy Scripture and respond to the Holy Spirit as you pencil notes in the margins. Later, those notes can be developed into a devotional poem or article shaped to fit this typical pattern:

Title – For individual articles you plan to send to a devotional magazine, the title will usually be a short phrase or single key word. For a full-length, one-year book of devotionals, your title needs to reflect your 365-day theme and purpose such as Devoted to Marriage: Devoted to God. Each devotional would then use that day's date as the title.

Bible verse – After the title comes a Bible verse from which the entire devotional flows. If you’re writing for Catholic readers, the New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE) makes your best choice for quotes, but the New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) and The Message, Catholic Edition can work too. For evangelical Christian readers, the main choices will likely be the New American Standard Bible (NASB), New International Version (NIV), English Standard Version (ESV), or New King James Version (NKJV.)

For interdenominational or ecumenical choices, consider the New Revised Standard Version, (NRSV) Common English Bible, or King James Version (KJV.) Since the KJV lives on and on in the public domain, you don't have to get a publisher's permission to quote large portions of that Bible. However, most translations let you use 250 verses without having to get permission from the publisher, and some permit up to 500 verses or more. To find out, look in the front matter of the edition you choose.

Text – With God and a biblical passage or verse to guide your writing, the main body of your devotional might be a poetic insight, a prayer, or a reflection on God's word. To help your readers fully enter that experience, avoid abstracts. Use active verbs and concrete nouns as you recall a true-to-life event in around 300 words that illustrate your chosen scripture. A “take-away” will also occur if your words, thoughts, and comparisons show your readers how to apply the Bible to their lives.

Prayer – In one or two sentences, a prayer ties together all of the above and helps your readers to seek God’s guidance as you've surely done!

Editorial guidance helps, too, as you follow a publisher's guidelines. If you know which publishing company you hope will accept your work, find their website and follow their writers’ guidelines. If you don’t know where to start, ask friends to save publications that use devotionals. Also, study the periodicals, books, and writers’ guidelines produced or sponsored by your church’s denominational headquarters.


©2015, Mary Harwell Sayler

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Spiritual Ministry Gifts and writing

Christian writers with creative ideas sometimes find it difficult to decide which writing project to focus on first. Quite likely all of your ideas have the potential to strengthen the Body of Christ, draw readers to God, and/ or help other people in general, so you won’t go wrong with any Bible-based theme or treatment. Nevertheless, one manuscript might be well-timed and another not. Or, one idea might fill you with enthusiasm (a word rooted in “en theos” – in God), whereas another project might leave you feeling ho-hum or put you into a panic. Regardless:

When you ask God to direct your work, expect that to happen.

Since the Holy Spirit promises to give every Christian one or more Spiritual Ministry Gifts, recognizing those gifts will guide you and give you insights into yourself, your work, and the writing to which you have been called.

We talked about this a little in a previous article on your “Writing talent and spiritual gifts,” so you might want to re-read that short discussion. Since then, I've had the opportunity to take a Spiritual Ministry Gifts test that differs from one I took years ago, and the current results confirmed the very projects to which I am now drawn.

Most likely, you also have some ideas that interest you more than others, but just in case you have not yet taken a test to discern your God-given gifts and confirm your next project, I did an Internet search to see which Spiritual Ministry Gifts test to recommend. As it turned out, I found several! So I took them all, and here’s what I found:

This excellent site provided by Ken Ellis not only has a Spiritual Gifts Test with online analysis but also a separate test for new Christians and another for youth. Since you’re encouraged to respond quickly and not over-think it, the main test takes only 15 to 20 minutes with immediate results and hotlinks to explain each gift with ideas and relevant scriptures. The results felt right-on, even though I initially had trouble responding to “Always” for areas that interested me.

Spiritual Gifts tested on this website did not include obvious gifts of healing or prophecy but, instead, clarified tasks that typically need gifted workers within the church.

Another site I recommend does not provide a test but offers insights and information relating to your Spiritual Gifts and Leadership, including definitions, scriptural references, and practical instructions.

The Spiritual Gifts Inventory by Paulist Fathers includes a test, which, like the others, encourages you to respond spontaneously and honestly to get the most accurate results. The site also includes helpful information and instruction for using your ministry gifts.

As you take a Spiritual Ministry Gift test, keep in mind, there are no right or wrong answers!

Also, this may not be true of other sites, but the hotlinks above give you and only you an analysis, so no one else needs to know the results. What you do with that information is up to God and you and the writing ministry to which you feel most drawn.


©2015, Mary Harwell Sayler

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Modern Poetry and the Christian Tradition

Who would expect a book written over 50 years ago to give serious poets and poetry students such a timely word about Christianity and culture today? Nevertheless, Modern Poetry and the Christian Tradition manages to do just that.

Written by the late Amos Wilder – a New Testament scholar, poet, literary critic, clergyman, and brother of Thornton Wilder – the book, kindly given to me for review by Wipf and Stock Publishers, provides a highly intelligent look at ways we can relate Christianity to the culture in which we live.

Interestingly, the poets Wilder highlighted for significant contributions in this area are the ones I also recommend: Fr. Gerard Manley Hopkins, T.S. Eliot, Dylan Thomas, Wallace Stevens, W.H. Auden, and others.

Why does this matter? As Wilder said, “We recognize that the creative, imaginative expressions of culture are often our best clues to the diagnosis of men’s hearts and the deeper movements of the age.” Furthermore, “of all the arts, poetry, since it is an art of language, of the word, will often retain and sustain a varied relation to religion.”

Attesting to the insight that “poetry is praise,” the author acknowledged different views “held as to what is important and unimportant, what is healthful and harmful, what is Christian and un-Christian, in the tangled skein of cultural traditions” as we find “differing judgments as to the true spiritual heritage of the West and especially as to the Christian tradition in our English-speaking lands. Thus different values can be assigned to such main factors as Catholic order, the Protestant revolution, scientific empiricism, all of which have had their changing roles through the centuries and which have entered into special combinations with more recent phases of culture….”

With a fair-minded presentation of the many factors involved in the “story of what happened to the modern world’s faiths and assumptions” in literature, the author stated how, “We note first the loss of absolutes in our world.”

This loss led to devaluing traditions and communal roots until we reached a general “depersonalization” of mankind. If we take a sec now to think about the ads, television programs, popular books and movies today, we can see how timely or, perhaps, prophetic, Wilder’s words were in saying, “The depersonalized psyche, the numbered and enervated worker, requires high-tension stimuli to recover a transient awareness of his own identity.”

Insightful!

In other words, the more insensitive society becomes, the more it takes to awaken individual readers, help them to feel again, know themselves again, and/or draw them to Christ, the church, and the Christian faith.

So, how are we, as Christian poets and writers, to respond to this dilemma? As Wilder reminded us, “It is the spirit, as the Christian understands it, which searcheth all things and which underlies all the dynamic impulses of our crisis. Therefore the Christian is in the best position to understand them, to diagnose the age, to ‘interpret the times’.”

While acknowledging that a “diagnosis of our time in terms of its imaginative literature allows us to speak rather of directions than of solutions or conclusions,” the author gave us insight into Catholic and Protestant poets and writers who found ways to connect with readers during their lifetimes and also with readers now.

As I mentioned earlier, Wilder selected works to discuss of the very Christian poets and writers I’d also recommend for careful study and enjoyment. What I did not mention, though, is that it took me years of reading and searching on my own to “discover” and recommend those same literary artists as mentors I turn to again and again.

Be forewarned, however: You might need a dictionary, as I did, to clarify some words in Wilder’s heightened vocabulary, but his insights will give you a wide view of the impact and Christian influence your poems and writings can have on our needy society now.


© 2014 Mary Harwell Sayler - poet-author of Living in the Nature Poem and the Bible-based poetry book, Outside Eden - also wrote the Christian Poet’s Guide to Writing Poetry e-book, based on the home study course she used, one-on-one, with poetry students and other poets for years.


Modern Poetry and the Christian Tradition, paperback



…

How do Christian poets and writers get prepared to write?

Recently I asked members of our Christian Poets & Writers group on Facebook how they go about preparing for the writing God has given them to do, and within a week or so, we had the following responses collected here for you to read and recollect as needed:

QUESTION: How do you prepare for the writing God has called you to do?

Henry: (I) pray and listen for the direction to go, then do the research necessary.

Jaime: Sometimes I start by arguing with Him honestly. A lot of times God asks me to write things that are very uncomfortable for me, but I think my arguing or questioning opens the dialogue for God to show me why I need to write what He tells me to. I also spend a lot of quiet time really thinking through whatever the topic is then making sure it's covered from all angles.

Nellie: Two words: Pray and Listen.

Sharon: I pray and take time to listen before I write anything. I often consult with others and listen to their words, knowing He is guiding that too. Over the years I am learning the importance of writing over (revising) a piece.

Joy: (I) pray and write my heart out!

Danielle: (I) pray and read the Word.

Karin: I study the Bible and pray. I also listen to what others have to say, conversations that give me a clue as to what people are dealing with and going through.

Cathy: Same as above, pray, listen, write, rewrite. And read!

Art and Teresa: I start reading and writing down every thought that comes to mind. Pretty soon a bunch of fragmented thoughts come together to form a theme. With prayer and searching out scriptures related to the theme, a message forms.

Mary Ann: I read Psalms, think on them, and write.

Dawn: I pray and ask God for wisdom and inspiration. When I have a direction on what I'm going to write, I research the subject. Then I do an outline and start writing.

Bill: I pray, and then if nothing pulls at my heart strings within thirty seconds, I'm tempted to start smacking myself in the noggin with a frying pan! (But) I sit still for awhile. Then I start writing.

Patti: (After praying, thinking, researching, talking) the biggest prep I could make would be to get my rear in that chair and begin again!

Terry: Listening to Him...

Stacey: Prayer, the Word, and sitting still to hear and receive. I then put my fingers to the keyboard and let the Holy Spirit take over.

Lindabelle: (I) seek God in earnest prayer, then write whatever He puts in my mind and heart. (I’m) praying my stories will inspire and encourage those who read them.

Rebecca: Be diligent to keep writing time as a holy commitment.

Neil: I have gotten adamant about writing down every idea, title, or phrase that comes to mind, saving it for future development. No more mental notes! I've found those are written in disappearing ink. As quickly as an idea slips into my mind, it slips out again. I've said, "Oh, I'll remember later," then I promptly forgot!

Mary Ann: I know what you mean, Neil; my mental notes disappear too. I'm learning now to jot down in a journal.

Neil: Also, I've begun praying for the ones who will need to hear what I'm writing to meet a need or provide direction in their lives. I don't know the needs or the individuals, but God does. So, instead of assuming that people will come across it randomly and benefit, or “if you write it, they will come," I'm praying for the ones it is for, even before putting pen to paper, and asking God to guide my thoughts to meet the needs of specific people He knows who will read it a year or two from now. It's an “only God" thing: only God could do it!

Linda: I keep it a priority to open my head to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit and work them ASAP. That might mean hopping out of bed to work all the way through a new hymn text, or just jotting down a few phrases for future development. Everything He gives me goes into a PC file, so it doesn't get forgotten. Then I rely on the Holy Spirit to direct which piece to work on and where/when to submit or publish. Meanwhile, I prepare technically by studying craft and attending conferences. If you think God is calling you to share your writing through publication, you'll want to learn more and get a knowledgeable support/critique group.

Rodney: I gather inspiration from reading other books - the Bible included, praying for clarity, and… listening to people talk in all realms of life…. God uses people, places, and things to speak to me.

TK: I settle my spirit and await further instructions. Before writing I commune with the Lord for the direction and purpose of that particular project. All of my books can be the essence of the divine scriptures with one or two in particular. As a Christian fictional author, I utilize my experiences to help create a fictitious reality with a subliminal gospel message.

Barbara: I've only written one book, and that took me 17 years…. Much prayer precedes everything. Then I wait. I pray again. I start typing whatever comes out. I walk around. Pray some more. Cry, if needed. Moan. Perhaps start over. I go through this because I am afraid to write something that He would disapprove. Sigh.

Ashley: Lately, God has been asking me to write on some topics/issues I'm not 100% wanting to write about and I often find myself going back and forth before writing it. However, when we obey, it's very rewarding. (Also) I think reading the Word is very important for Christian writers. How can we teach and share the Word if we don't know it?

Linda: Please don't let fear of God's or anyone's disapproval deter you. Think of God as your writing partner, your co-creator, your collaborator, not as the divine writing judge. Go ahead and write whatever comes into your head that you know to be true to your experience of Him. Then the Holy Spirit can guide you to edit it. Maybe in that process you'll end up with something very different from what you started with. That's okay! That's the Holy Spirit at work. I think never trying would disappoint the Lord more than the poorest quality work, because he has someone waiting to be touched by what He wants to say through you.

Even for us Christian writers, inspiration is just the start. You have to be willing to do the work. Accept knowledgeable critique humbly; remember, your words aren't sacred scripture that can never be revised. Be patient when it takes more time and effort than you thought. And leave the outcome …to God's intention and timing without comparing your success to anyone else's… If you accomplish the Lord's plan for your work, you are a SUCCESS, even if you never sell a single book!

Connie: I don't think I have what it takes to write, for I am my worse critic. I pray for encouragement and boldness. I am not one who feels the need to write all the time, (and so) with that, I feel I must not be a true writer.

Linda: I just took up writing again after years of doing God's will in other ways. Does that stop me from being a "true" writer. No! No! and No! Be a writer who is true to the Lord's calling…. You can do it!

Connie: Thank you Linda, for your words of encouragement. I want to please the Lord in all that I do. Thank you.

Eileen: Pray first. (I) ask God for the story concept He wants me to present. Then I quiet my mind so the ideas can begin to form. When ideas come, I mull them over for a few weeks, arranging and rearranging the plot in my mind before my fingers hit the keys or the notebook. Then off I go, developing an outline/scenes, one-liner, two-paragraph summary, etc. After that, the actual writing begins.

Joyce: I spend a lot of time in God's Word and prayer. I have found if I do not allow God to fill me, I have nothing of spiritual significance to write.

Christine: Pray.

Mary: You all are mentioning what I believe is most important too: Praying, listening to God, and studying the Bible. But what about studying your craft, experimenting with forms, playing with words, and reading poems, stories, articles, essays, books, etc. in the same genre you want to write? How important are those to you?

Joyce: I believe that whatever we do for the LORD should be done skillfully. Studying our craft and reading books written by successful authors, studying marketing skills, and belonging to a writer's group are a few of the ways I try to improve – after I have prayed and studied the Word of God, of course. I am also a songwriter and have bitten my tongue on more than one occasion as I heard a songwriter say "God, gave it to me this way and I'm not changing it!"…I'm afraid Christians too often confuse inspiration and perspiration. Excellence takes both.

Michael: Thank you all! This is inspiring me to keep going.

Robin: I have been writing poetry for over 30 years and no one has ever given me encouragement or invited me to join a writers group/attend conferences until this past year. A personal friend and accomplished author read some of my poetry and invited me to do both. I entered my very first writing competition and attended a writers conference... The poem I entered did not place this year… Yet the most exciting thing is that the judge who critiqued my work compared it to Robert Frost! She …said to study his work because I have meter much like his. I love that she said to study and rewrite, rewrite and rewrite and enter the same poem in next year's contest! So to those of you…who are concerned that your writing is not good enough or that you don't know where to begin, may I offer this bit of advice and encouragement: DO NOT GIVE UP! Stay teachable, flexible….

Brian: Some poems bubble out with little immediate preparations. Others are based on study and thinking. Some are motivated by my experience or reaction to events, and some were written to influence or persuade….Some poems are the result of hard work on the theme of the poem or the poetics -- structure, meter, and rhythm.

Anita: Pray, read, go to writing conferences, meditate on the Word of God!

Barbara: As I pray and study, I listen to Christian music or fellowship with friends on the things of God, (then) thoughts, phrases, visions, and inspiration sometimes floods my being…. Descriptive Words formulate and begin to flow like water.

Rodney: For me and some of us…, it's a difficult assignment to be able to hear from God …or speak words of life, listen clearly to the Spirit, and work diligently and effectively where the environment is dysfunctional…. Clear this space for Jesus!

Mary: Yes. Writing what God has given us to write needs to be a top priority even when it's hard and we have to let some things go until later…. For freelance writers in general, the biggest obstacle is not writing! When I began freelancing about 30 years ago, I had to establish a routine and find ways to handle – or preferably, avoid – interruptions, and that's still true even now. As with any job, my family comes first, but otherwise, I go to work every day at my desk at home.

Judy: Pray daily seeking His will! (Also) I have been to…writer conferences through the years, learning from some of the best Christian editors and publishers. And, I enjoy this group!

Songaye: (My preparation for writing involves) praying, reading, writing, praying for wisdom and guidance, rereading, rewriting, praying….

Nellie: I get very calm and quiet. I open my iPad and start typing. If I start feeling an agitation, I take a deep breath and ask God to give me a clear mind and calm spirit.

Robin: I agree 100%. I am listening and learning – implementing things I learn from people in this group. And I agree with Judy. This… is a wonderful and very enjoyable group of people to learn from and grow as a writer!

Annie: Oh, my wonderful sisters and brothers, I enjoyed everything each one of you had to say. It was simply enriching. Why? God deals differently with each one of us and we get the assignment done according to His plan and will and He gets the Glory!

Linda: How wonderful that the Lord works within each of us in a unique fashion! Each is valid for that individual.

Mamie: You may not know you're called until you actually began to write naturally. I noticed I started that way--writing technically first, and then many other kinds of writings afterwards. Finally, I began to write poems and fiction about 20 years ago. So, you may not start out writing the things God has called you to write, but one thing is sure. You will start out writing little by little with the anointing of the Lord, writing something that pertains to the divine things of God.

Linda: I cut my teeth on technical writing, too. I figure that was all part of the call, because I was storing up skills and observations for the day when the Lord invited me to write for Him instead of an employer. Drama scripts and hymns are a far cry from training materials and case analysis documents, but it was all grist for the mental mill.

Miisrael: I believe true preparation for writing what God has for me is with trust and obedience to God. He gives me what to write. With trust He guides, with trust He delivers, with trust He directs (my) writings with the Word. All the trust I have (comes) with dedication and the commitment of loving Him. With obedience I become united with Him.

Mary: Thank you all for your responses! Not only have your words blessed one another, your thoughts will help other communicators for Christ who stop by here to read. May God continue to guide and empower each of us to write as we’ve been called in Jesus’ Name.



© 2014 Mary Harwell Sayler placed 26 books in all genres with Christian and educational publishers then wrote the Christian Writer's Guide e-book, the Poetry Dictionary For Children and For Fun e-book, and the Christian Poet's Guide to Writing Poetry e-book on Kindle. She also founded the Christian Poets & Writers group on Facebook where this discussion began.

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Knowing what and when to write

Most writers wonder where or how to start when they first begin to write, but seasoned writers also have difficulty discerning which subject or story idea to focus on next. Assuming you have prayed for God’s guidance, just begin with whatever God brings to your mind. For example:

• Make a list of the Bible verses that speak to you often.

• Consider your Life Themes such as encouraging people or ministering healing to the church.

• Keep a diary, notebook, scrapbook, or journal.

• Practice journaling in a written conversation with God.

• List stories in your life that might make illustrative works of fiction.

• Start an "Idea Folder" on your favorite topics, interests, and places you would like to go.

• Jot down dreams, thoughts, and insights that come to you on awakening.

• Write down every idea God brings to mind for a story, article, or book.

If an idea or subject comes up again and again, prayerfully consider this as the start of a writing project, then let your imagination play. Have fun with the possibilities. Get comfy. Relax. Focus on a central topic or story idea, then let your thoughts flow. Write down everything that comes to mind without censoring yourself or eliminating any possibilities at this point. Later, you can cut or insert words as you revise.

Why wait? Writing and editing involve two separate tasks and actually use two different parts of the brain. By separating those aspects of your work into different time slots, you’ll avoid short-circuiting yourself!

Writing takes time. Revising takes time. So you might be wondering what you’ll do when you have no time to spare. Simple! Use snatches. A minute here or a half-hour there, waiting around for something, can offer writing moments you might not have realized were yours. For example, consider how “Tweeting” in 140 characters sounds inconsequential, but spending only a few minutes a day on Twitter for four years gave me 147 single-spaced, typewritten pages!

Although a well-written manuscript consists of more than tweets, notes, and fleeting thoughts, a little time at the beginning of a writing project can save you all sorts of time (and grief!) as you proceed. For example, almost every type of writing needs an underlying theme and purpose with an appropriate audience in mind. A favorite Bible verse can provide that theme, perhaps, with the purpose of helping to increase a reader’s faith in God, Christ, the church, love, forgiveness, or biblical principle.
“Wear steadfast love, kindness, and truth around your neck. Write them on your heart, and you will have a good reputation with God and with people too. Trust the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on what you think you know. Remember God in everything you do, and the Lord will show you the way,” Proverbs 3:3-6

© 2014 Mary Harwell Sayler, all rights reserved. This above post is an excerpt from the Christian Writer's Guide e-book.

Christian Writer's Guide, Kindle e-book on Amazon


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Breaking the Good News to your readers

Television news and articles on the Internet often give the impression that no good news exists! We constantly hear about failures and falls – the fall of meteorites, the fall of the economy, the fall of politicians, pastors, past heroes, and church membership – all of which can be expected in a fallen world. But here’s the Good News! Christ rescues and forgives. Christ saves.

As Christians, we ARE the Body of Christ on earth, which means, of course, we CAN make a difference! How? Through empowerment by the Holy Spirit and the power of the pen, pencil, print, and Internet….

I’ll be eager to hear your suggestions about this in the Comments section below. Meanwhile, these starters come to mind:

Listen.

Get comfortable. Get quiet. Pray, “Come, Lord Jesus.”

Empty your thoughts. Quiet your mind. Give God a chance to speak to you. How? However, God chooses! Often this will be an impression, inspired thought, or sudden recollection of a word from the Bible that seems especially relevant and timely.

Observe. Notice. Use your good senses!

For example, notice your own reactions to people, ads, news, sermons, events. What troubles you? Do you feel grieved, as I do, when you hear someone bad-mouth God, Christ, Christianity, and the church? Do you wonder, as I do, what Jesus thinks of the bickering and “gang rivalry” that occurs among Christians and various denominations? Do you hear about problems but know of biblical solutions you can address in a poem, article, book, or Bible story retold in a fresh but accurate way?

Identify.

To whom do you intend to speak? If children, are you drawn to a particular age group? If adults, do you feel a stronger connection with young people, middle-aged readers, retirees, or elderly persons? Do you interact with those prospective readers often enough to know what’s on their minds, on their plates, or under their feet?

Focus.

When you know who your readers will be, think about a topic or theme you want to discuss that will most likely interest them. Then sharpen your focus as you identify your writing goal or purpose. i.e., What do you hope your poem, fiction, or nonfiction will accomplish? Do you want to encourage faith? Do you see yourself as an evangelizer whose writings can coax non-Christians to Christ? Do you hope to help heal rifts and misunderstandings in the Body of Christ? How would you go about each of those goals?

Consider.

• In what ways will the Kingdom of God and Will of God attract your readers?

• In what ways would you like for the church to adapt to our changing culture but not lose the power of the Gospel message?

• In what ways can you encourage readers to take the first command in Genesis 1:28 as God's word to protect the environment?

• In what ways can you encourage readers to take the “wreck” out of recreation and put godly acts into action?

• In what way can your writing show true love for God, other Christians, and “those people” we don’t relate to or even like?

• In what winsome ways can all of us accurately, intelligently, empathetically, lovingly, and prayerfully break the good Good News to our readers?

~~

© 2014, Mary Harwell Sayler - poet-author of 26 traditionally published books in all genres, and a lifelong lover of Jesus Christ, the Bible, and the church Body of Christ in all its parts - wrote the Christian Writer's Guide e-book with you and the above thoughts in mind.

~~

Seeing Beauty and Saying Beautifully

What pressed me to request a review copy of this highly recommended book from Crossway was the title, Seeing Beauty and Saying Beautifully, which expresses my yearning for poetry – both yours and mine.

If you have searched and searched, as I have, for Christian poet-mentors to study, you know how difficult it can be to find one who does not see beauty as saccharine and who does not write unrealistic poems that tap-tap their iambic feet onto paper from Miss Goody's two shoes! And so this slender hardback comes to our rescue, featuring three poets, writers, and pray-ers worth emulating: George Herbert, George Whitefield, and C.S. Lewis.

Although each of these writers makes use of different genres to address their honest doubts, worries, and concerns, they all keep searching for God until they find, see, and express the beauty that's bound to blossom with fresh words and refreshed faith and hope.

As the sixth book in The Swans Are Not Silent series by John Piper, this book was most likely written with Christian educators and pastors in mind, rather than poets and writers. Regardless, the book speaks clearly to any communicator for Christ, exhorting us to consider the poetic effort in the poetry of Herbert, preaching of Whitefield, and creative writings of Lewis.

The Introduction defines that premise by saying, “This effort was the God-dependent intention and exertion to find striking, penetrating, imaginative, and awakening ways of expressing the excellencies they saw. My thesis is that this effort to say beautifully is, perhaps surprisingly, a way of seeing and savoring beauty.”

Whether in writing or speaking, we choose our words and how we use them – hesitantly, softly, boldly, accusingly, or beautifully. We want to move people to hear and heed, which “may be one reason why the Bible is filled with every manner of literary device to add natural impact: acrostics, alliteration, analogies, anthropomorphism, assonance, cadence, chiasmus, consonance, dialogue, hyperbole, irony, metaphor, meter, onomatopoeia, paradox, parallelism, repetition, rhyme, satire, simile…and more.”

Anglican pastor, George Herbert (1593-1633) “called his poems the record of his conflict with God,” and yet “his skill in the use of language has earned him the high praises in the twentieth century from T.S. Eliot, W.H. Auden, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Elizabeth Bishop, and Seamus Heaney.” Never aiming for “art for art’s sake,” Herbert consecrated his poems to God’s glory, aiming to “feel the love of God and to engrave it in the steel of human language for others to see and feel.” In this role as the secretary of God’s praise, “Herbert discovered… that the poetic effort to speak the riches of God’s greatness gave him deeper sight into that greatness.” In other words, “this effort to see and savor the glory of Christ was the effort to say it as it had never been said before.”

Oh, how great such an aim with no thought of a brand or platform!

Similarly, in the 18th century, George Whitefield’s sermons became “a phenomenon not just of his age but in the entire two-thousand-year history of Christian preaching. There has been nothing like the combination of his preaching pace and geographic extent and auditory scope and attention-holding effect and converting power.”

“Whitfield’s poetic effort focused on the making of sermons” where “specific biblical passages and doctrines were chosen, and specific words, sequences, consonances, assonances, cadences, images, narratives, characters, tones, pathoses, gestures, movements, facial expressions – all combined for an astonishing impact on believer and unbeliever alike.” In other words, his “poetic effort to speak and act in suitable ways wakened in him the reality he wanted to communicate. For him the truths of the gospel were so real – so wonderfully, terrifyingly, magnificently real – that he could not and would not preach them as though they were unreal or merely interesting.”

Closer to our time, C.S. Lewis came to Christ through logic and reason, which “led him to see that truth and beauty and justice and science would have no validity at all if there were no transcendent God in whom they were all rooted.” However, he reasoned that “if the key to the deepest meaning of this world lies outside this world then the world will probably be illumined most deeply not simply by describing the world as what it is but by likening the world to what it is not.” By using “metaphor, analogy, illustration, simile, poetry, story, myth – all of these are ways of likening aspects of reality to what it is not, for the sake of showing more deeply what it is.”

So, how does this affect us in our writing and speaking endeavors? As series author John Piper says, “Groping for awakening words in the darkness of our own dullness can suddenly flip a switch and shed light all around what it is that we are trying to describe – and feel. Taking hold of a fresh word for old truth can become a fresh grasp of the truth itself. Telling of beauty in new words becomes a way of tasting more of the beauty itself.”

Sometimes this simply means praying before we speak or write, giving our work to God, and giving God and the work the time needed to speak beautifully to us and others. As one of my favorite Bible verses says it, “With You (God) is the fountain of life, and in Your light we see light” (Psalm 36:9.) Amen!

© 2014, Mary Harwell Sayler, reviewer and poet-author of Living in the Nature Poem and the Bible-based poetry book, Outside Eden


Seeing Beauty and Saying Beautifully, hardcover



…

Name change and changing plans

One of my favorite quotes comes from the movie Sabrina where the title character says, “Sometimes more isn’t better. Sometimes it’s just more,” to which I add, “Amen!” But I still wound up with 7 blogs and 2 websites so also add, “Oops.”

Too many good ideas, good activities, and even good ministries can be too much of a good thing.

Therefore, I recently let one website go but couldn’t get a handle on how to regroup the blogs. Since I believe in the importance of each one, I’ve been praying about this longer than Lent. But finally, clarity came the first day of Holy Week.

Having written about writing for many years, I have numerous articles to draw from that could be helpful, I hope, for members of the Christian Poets and Writers group on Facebook. Many of those articles, which will gradually appear in the Christian Poets and Writers blog, have previously appeared here, but In a Christian Writer’s Life is no longer my primary focus for newly written articles. The Bible is.

If you have visited my blogs on Bible People, Bible Prayers, Christian Healing Arts, and What the Bible Says About Love, I pray you’ll follow the newly revised blog here, where, Lord willing, new posts will most likely arise in prayer-a-phrases from Daily Bible Readings.

In addition some of my poems previously published in books or secular journals will soon be on the Poetry Editor blog, Lord willing, which means that the only blog of mine that may stay as is for now are reviews of new translations, study editions, and children’s Bibles on the Bible Reviewer blog.

With two new reviews still waiting to be winged, others may depend on whether Bible publishers add me to their list of reviewers. And, oh, I pray they do because when it comes to the Bible less just doesn’t work for me! Sometimes more is better.

© 2013, Mary Harwell Sayler

~~~

Tips for a long writing life

Writing for traditional book companies, magazines, or other print publications may take a little time to investigate, think about, and prayerfully consider, but you gain a lot for the effort. Besides acquiring publishing credits with well-known publishers, you will most likely receive editorial feedback and immediately gain a wide readership for your work.

If that greater outreach appeals to you, you’ll be glad to know that many articles relating to your writing interests have already been posted on this blog. Lord willing, the following tips will also help you to build and sustain a long career in freelance writing:

Read and study well-written classics and contemporary works in your genre.

Think about what first drew you to each book, poem, article, or story and what retains your interest.

Re-read periodicals you like and get familiar with everything from the Table of Contents to Letters to the Editor.

Also notice ads to see what readers of a particular publication are drawn to and what interests them. If those same things interest you – and if the poems, articles, or stories do too – then add that publication to your list of Most Likely Markets.

Make a list, too, of your God-given gifts, special interests, experiences, and topics that come to mind as you read, considering and noting any gaps your work might fill.

Ask God to guide you in using your gifts and selecting a topic.

Find a relevant theme, focus, or goal for that particular topic and reading audience, again, praying for God’s guidance.

Research your subject well, creating a bibliography as you go.

As you begin to write, let your writing flow without hindering or criticizing yourself. Then let your work rest. Later, read each page as if someone else had written it.

Read aloud each revision, listening especially for unclear wording or discordant sounds.

Revise accordingly then place your best manuscript with an editor – one editor at a time.

Follow the writers’ guidelines carefully for each submission. (You can usually find these on the company’s website.)

Keep track of where, when, and to whom you mailed your work.

While you wait to hear from one editor, query another about your next idea.

Begin at the beginning of these suggestions.

Begin and end with prayer for God’s ongoing guidance, inspired ideas, and a long, blessed writing life!

© 2013, Mary Harwell Sayler, all rights reserved.

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Sending your poems and manuscripts to traditional publishers

Poets and writers often self-publish their work because they do not know how to go about getting published by traditional print journals, books, or e-zines. These tips, first posted here over 3 years ago, bear tweaking and repeating:

• Notice publishers of books and periodicals you like to read.

• Most of these publishers now have a website where you can study the titles in their book lines and read the poems and articles in their archives.

• Make a list of each publisher whose work is similar to yours.

• Study the writers' guidelines on each company's website.

• Some editors want a query first to get a quick idea of what you have in mind. Consider this a “sales pitch” meant to give the editor an overview that’s brief, relevant, and to the point.

• If an editor prefers your actual manuscript or batch of poems, great! Just follow the writers’ guidelines, submitting to one editor at a time.

• Keep track of where and when you sent your work. If you do not have a response in 2 to 3 months, follow-up.

• While you wait to hear about one poem or manuscript submission, start another.

• If the editor returns your work, don’t take it personally. The acceptance pile might be too big and space too small. But just in case, your work still needs work: Read it aloud. Listen for rough spots. Revise as needed, then submit the manuscript to the next publisher on your list.

~~

© 2013, Mary Harwell Sayler, all rights reserved. To give you an idea of the traditional publishing experiences that went into these suggestions, visit my Bio on my website.

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Writing Bible studies

Christian poets and writers who read the Bible often feel drawn to writing Bible guides but think the lack of a degree in biblical studies will hold them back. This can happen but might not!

A manuscript written according to the guidelines of your denomination’s official publishing house might not require a college degree if you have been teaching a Sunday School class or leading a Bible study group for several years or if the Bishop of your diocese agrees to proof the manuscript.

Self-publishing what you have written offers an option too, but self-published manuscripts, e-Books, and Print on Demand (POD) book sales succeeds mainly if your work is well-known and biblical soundness trusted. To build a following, many Christian writers begin with a Bible-based blog until enough followers want the articles in book form.

Regardless of the publishing route you take, consider these basics for writing Bible studies:

Pray for God to inspire and direct your thoughts and interests toward the project you’re to do.

Know the Bible – really well, preferably in several translations.

Select a topic you want to research such as the biblical word on work, marriage, or family.

Type any key word(s) relevant to your topic into the Search Box on a Bible website such as Biblegateway.com.

Investigate scriptures from a variety of translations.

If you want to use one version only and have a few hundred scriptural references, you need to find out if the publisher allows this. If not, just write to ask for permission. Or use the King James Version in the public domain.

Besides knowing the Bible, knowing your topic, and knowing which translation you plan to use, you need to know your potential readers:

Does your topic lend itself to group discussion or private reading?

What age group will most likely be drawn to your topic?

Will the study focus on the concerns of new Christians or church peoples?

What format do you plan to use? For example, you might provide background info for a group leader to use with scriptures for everyone to look up followed by pertinent questions to help readers or participants apply the Bible to their own lives.

If you plan to write for interdenominational groups or Christians from any church, see “Getting to know the whole Body of Christ” on the Christian Poets & Writers blog.

Begin your research with prayer. End with prayer, and invite your readers to do the same!

May God bless your work and give you the prayers to pray!

~~

© 2012, Mary Harwell Sayler, all rights reserved, but pass it on!

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Writing on Memorial Day and beyond

Yesterday for Pentecost we celebrated the Jewish memorial to the coming of the Torah and the Christian memorial to the coming of the Holy Spirit. Today we celebrate and remember the men and women who serve this country and protect our freedoms.

What a privilege to live in the United States of America! What a wonderful gift to have freedom to worship God! What an amazing gift to live as Holy Spirit-filled citizens in the Kingdom of God!

As Christian poets, writers, and editors we also have the gift and privilege to research, write, edit, publish, and review Bible-based books, articles, devotionals, poems, stories, letters, post-a-notes, email, text messages, and other genres that help us to “memorialize” our faith as we honor God, remember the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and celebrate the Holy Spirit in our lives.

~~

© 2012, Mary Sayler, all rights reserved. For short articles and devotionals on a variety of Bible topics, follow Blogs by Mary. And may God remind us of all we have been given to write with enthusiasm and love in Jesus’ Name.

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Writing fiction for Christians of all ages

First, have a Bible-based theme and purpose clearly in mind. For example, three of my novels focused on Romans 8:28: “For we know that all things work together for good for those who love God.” Each time I used that theme, the stories differed, but my purpose remained the same: to help strengthen the faith of readers and draw them closer to God.

Together your theme and purpose make a thesis statement that you can use later in your book proposal and back jacket blurb. As you write and revise fiction, your thesis statement will also help you to point your story or novel toward a credible ending while developing characters who care enough to act for and against your story theme.

Fiction for Christian readers especially needs a factual foundation with biblical truths acted out on each page. This means being true to Judeo-Christian values and to human nature -- true to the fears, frustrations, anger, worries, and longings people experience over the course of a lifetime and over the course of your story plot.

To immerse yourself in true drama, just look around. Watch people, but also consider the ups and downs in your own life. Most importantly, read the Bible, especially the book of Genesis. In that first book of the living word of God, you will find the beginning of almost every interesting story on the earth!

Those timeless yet timely Bible stories, Bible plots, Bible people, and biblical settings continue to affect every culture and also replay in contemporary lives and homes. To find good models to help you develop your story characters, look at the character development of Abram to Abraham and Sarai to Sarah.

The Bible also offers countless possibilities for developing a story plot. For example, read about the actions-reactions-consequences and outcome (i.e., the plot) that occurred when Abraham took Sarah’s advice and took her maid! See what happened before and after Ishmael was born and, later, Isaac. See if similar sagas might work well in faith-building stories for today’s readers, including non-Christian or secular readers with no awareness of Judeo-Christian values or what might happens when people try to follow God.

Although fiction may not be a “true story” that you’ve experienced or heard about, it must be a truth story -- one in which each character speaks or acts as a similar person would in real life. Sometimes, though, Christian writers believe they have to show a character’s relationship with God in such a positive, upbeat light that non-Christian readers think the resulting fiction is overly sentimental or downright sappy! Inspirational novels and stories do well to end on a word of hope, of course, but each chapter needs some kind of struggle, conflict, or obstacle to overcome, not only to strengthen Christian faith but also to build an interesting and highly credible story readers will enjoy and believe.

~~

© 2012, Mary Sayler, all rights reserved. May God guide you in writing biblical truths in Jesus’ Name.

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Writing devotionals

Devotional writing begins with devoting daily quiet times to praying, Bible reading, and meditating on what God says to us and wants us to say to others. This way of getting closer to God may receive more emphasis during Lent, but for devotional writers, these quiet times become a way of life especially appropriate in a Christian writer’s life.

Not every Christian poet, writer, or Bible lover will be drawn to devotional writing, but if you are, you probably like to read the Bible! You probably remember to pray, and you probably have insights that come to you as you spend time with God.

To get ready to write, keep a notebook handy for those inspired thoughts God puts on your mind. Better yet, get a wide-margin Bible in each of your favorite translations, so you can interact with Holy Scripture and respond by taking note.

In addition to shaping those fresh thoughts into devotionals, you might have poems or articles that, with a little tweaking or revising, would fit this pattern for short devotionals:

Title – For short devotionals that you plan to send to a magazine or other periodical, the title will usually be a short phrase or single key word. For a full-length, one-year devotional book, your title needs to reflect your 365-day theme and purpose such as Devoted to Marriage: Devoted to God. Each day’s devotional would then use the date as the title.

Bible verse – After the title comes a Bible verse from which the entire devotional flows. If you’re writing for Catholic readers, the New American Bible (NAB) makes your safest choice for quotes, but the Revised Standard Version (RSV), New Jerusalem Bible (NJB), and Good News or Today’s English Version (TEV) usually work too. For evangelical Christian readers, the main choices will be the New American Standard Bible (NASB), New International Version (NIV), English Standard Bible (ESB), or King James Version (KJV.) For interdenominational choices, consider the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV), New Living Translation (NLT), or new Common English Bible.

If you’re writing a book of devotionals, be aware, too, that each translation comes with its own set of rules for permission. Most of the above translations allow you to use 250 verses without having to get permission from the publisher, but some let you go up to 500 verses or more. To find out, look in the front matter of the edition you choose.

Text – With your chosen Bible verse to guide you, the main body of your devotional might be a poetic flow of insight or a true-to-life episode to illustrate that particular verse. A “take-away” will then show your readers how to apply the verse in their lives, but most importantly: This will show, not tell them!

Prayer – In one or two sentences, a prayer ties together all of the above and helps readers to seek God’s guidance in that area. Also, a full-length book of devotionals needs to have a consistent format, and the closing prayer is no exception. So, decide at the start if you will use first person plural (we/ us/ our) or second person (you/ your.)

First personal singular (I/ my/ me/ mine/) can make a devotional seem all about me-me-me, while second person can sound, well, preachy! First person plural can help to unite you and your readers since we are all in this together. Before you decide on a perspective to use in your devotionals, try them out to see which seems most natural to you. If, however, you know which publisher you hope will accept your manuscript, follow their guidelines.

If you do not know who publishes what, you will find annually updated editorial contacts and guidelines for your devotional articles, books, poems, novels, children’s books, and more in The Christian Writer's Market Guide, a highly recommended book that lists traditional publishers who just might be highly open to your work:



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© 2012, Mary Harwell Sayler, all rights reserved. If this article helps you to encourage a Christian writer-friend or someone in your church to write devotionals, just acknowledge this source. For fresh views of Bible topics, see Blogs by Mary.

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Writing in Bible love

As Valentine’s Day approaches, Christian poets and writers have a blessed opportunity to write about love from God’s perspective, which has far greater substance than romantic notions and fuzzy feelings. This biblical view of love remains constant, year-round, so, Lord willing, I’ll be addressing What the Bible Says about Love with appropriate scriptures, prayers, and short devotionals for private use or discussions in your Bible study group.

For example, the posting “The Bible Defines Love” discussed “the love chapter,” I Corinthians 13, reminding me of a poem Sandy Brooks accepted several years ago for Cross & Quill, the newsletter of the former Christian Writers Fellowship International (CWFI) for which she and I both served as directors.


Taking A Bible Stanza
(from I Corinthians 13)

Though I speak with the most angelic voice
heard in human hearts….

Though I resound as a clear bell calling
all readers to ring with praise….

Though I prophesy with power,
decipher mysteries, acquire
insight, and utter wisdom well….

Though I have faith to move
mountains of people with perceptive words
and cast rejection into deep depths of the sea….

Though I write all I have been given
and hand over my body of work
without reimbursement or acknowledgment….

Though I may boast of publication and best-sells….

Without love for God and readers, my work is nothing.

The loving writer-poet must be patient,
kind – not proud.

The loving writer-poet must not insist
“My work, my way!” nor be
manuscripted with resentment,
but rejoice, rejoice in giving voice to truth.

The loving writer-poet bears all
disappointments, believes all
timing comes from God, and has all
hope to end: endure.

The loving writer-poet knows
we know in part, but every part
of every reader needs
The Loving Word of God.

This love story, theme, or purpose
never ends.

poem by Mary Harwell Sayler originally published in Cross & Quill. Used by permission of the author.


~~

© 2012, Mary Sayler, all rights reserved.

~~

One day in the life of a full-time Christian writer-poet-editor

Years ago an acquaintance from church asked what I do, and I said, “I’m a writer” to which she responded, “I know. But what else do you do?” If you hope to be a “full-time writer” you might wonder the same. Since I’ve been doing this for my most of my adult life – well, part-time when I was a full-time “stay at home mom” – my workday might give you a glimpse of the “real” writing life, which differs each day for each person and each project.

Working in an office at home necessitates a general structure to get anything done. So each morning, as FL weather permits, my husband and I take our coffee onto the deck to watch the arrival of birds and wake up a bit.

Inside, at my desk with half a cup of cooling coffee, I pick up my favorite devotional book, God Calling, and savor the day’s reading, which also speaks a word to Christian writers who have dozens of great ideas and not enough time, “My will shall be revealed as you go.” Yes, thank You, God! I count on that a lot, especially on days when the To-Do list has grown beyond To Do-able.

If I were working on a book contract, I would most likely get right to it. Ditto if I had a book of poetry or devotionals to critique today. Instead I search for something to wear then lug an overflowing laundry basket toward the washing machine and walk away from that mountain as others await.

Without warning, a poem comes to me, and I hurry to write it down before I forget. To be precise, I pull up the Word file for my poems, add and date a new page, then type:

Move

My faith
God’s power
No more mountain

©2012, Mary Harwell Sayler, All rights reserved.

I thought I might be working on new blog postings this morning, but email beckons me to various LinkedIn Groups. Someone I’ve never heard of wants to connect, so I check out his profile and accept his invitation then notice that a bunch of people checked me out too. No clue who, but I recently sent invitations to several editors, who just might approach me with book contracts and magnanimous advances. Most likely though, I'll need to study their current list of titles and topics, see where my ideas fit, then contact one editor at a time for each project.

Sometimes other people make the first move. Years ago, for instance, an editor at a writer's conference, where we'd both been invited to teach, phoned to ask if I'd like to write a series of devotional books for her company. Like, yeah! More recently, though, I discovered I had been made the moderator for a poetry group on LinkedIn without being asked! My first thought was to close down the group, but after prayer, it came to me that those few hundred poet-members might be interested in The Poetry Editor blog and website. So I changed the name to The Poetry Editor Group, added my logo, and encouraged discussions about writing, which doesn't always happen.

This morning, for instance, someone wants to hawk his website under Discussions, but I move the URL to Promotions where it belongs. In the manager’s section, I recognize some names as members of the group (which I’m happy to say has doubled in size!), but I have to look up the Profile for another person who wants to post a comment. Nope, not a member! Oh, why not! As with all the main social networks, LinkedIn is free with no obligation. Oh, well. The poet has a helpful comment to add, so I post what she has to say in the Discussion as she'd intended.

I often start or join group discussions too, but if I do so now, I won’t get anything else done, so I sign out, then check Facebook to see if family or friends posted anything significant. Yeah, someone had a birthday I acknowledge then notice that one of the literary journals I “Like” has posted a call for poems that relate to a particular picture. Checking my Word file, I find 2 two-lined poems that fit, so I post both under Comments as the editor instructed. I then check my Facebook “Author” page and The Poetry Editor page I maintain and am happy to see new “Like’s” on both!

That’s encouraging since I really do want to offer helpful tips to poets and writers in each post. But, oh, I see someone has been posting on my page! I don’t mind if other writers and poets respond to something on my page with a link to theirs. But this guy put a hotlink to his website which is rabidly against anything ecumenical. After deleting that post, I see a note from another writer in another country, who wants me to take a "quick look" at his work.

How can a full-time writer-poet-editor take a “quick look” at anything? Why can't the writer take a long, serious look at his own work, reading it aloud and listening for areas that need improvement without asking me to do it for free? This comes up so often by so many people in so many places that I sigh, pray, and tell the man he will find many helpful articles and resources freely provided on my blogs and websites. I also let him know that I’d be glad to provide a professional, one-on-one response to his writings for a reasonable fee, but I probably won’t hear from him again.

Feeling discouraged by the frequency of requests for freebies, I remind myself how Jesus said that “workers are worthy of their hire,” but I hit the “like” button on several FB postings to encourage other Christian poets and writers as much as I can. In the process, I notice an announcement from Sally Stuart – The Expert in Christian publishing whom I interviewed in this blog last year – about the release of her 2012 marketing guide. Hitting the “Share” button, I let FB Friends know about this valuable resource.

Before untangling myself entirely from the Internet, I check email for The Poetry Editor and see new followers of the blog and also, an editor’s acknowledgment of a manuscript I submitted. In my personal email, another editor-writer agrees to an interview I hope to post soon, and a writer tells me how the contest I judge helped to boost her confidence. Nice to hear – and a good idea to discuss in another blog posting.

My coffee has gotten cold, but I sip it anyway, and my husband sticks his head in the door. Yeah, I’m ready for our half-mile round-trip walk to our rural post office, where, no, the manuscript someone was supposedly sending for a writing consult did not arrive.

Back home, I dump a load of darks in to wash then come back to the computer to see if one of the editors of my upcoming book of poetry has responded to the poems she asked me to send as representative of the book. Picking three was easy enough, but in case they didn’t speak clearly for the book’s theme, I added a note to explain, “Basically, what I’m saying is: We’re part of the universe. Although I’m aware that nature can seem cruel, love and spirit continue on, regardless."

It’s now almost 10 a.m., and I need to focus on blog postings that got behind while I redesigned my websites. Feeling a bit overwhelmed, I wonder, “Lord, did You want me to start so many blogs?" or was this my big idea? Either way, the biblical injunction comes to mind of doing whatever the hand finds to do. Hand – mind, whatever.

All of the blogs began as I researched Bible topics that interest me: For instance, “Christian Healing Arts” got started because I wanted to give credit to God who created everything, including methods and ideas for healing that people seem to think they invented all by themselves. “Bible Prayers” began with research for a Bible study class that took almost two years to cover with excellent feedback from everyone in the group. As a Christian concerned for families (especially the Family of God), I also wanted to see “What the Bible Says about Love.” In addition, my personal Bible readings often resulted in Bible person-poems.

Initially, I'd hoped to do a one-year devotional or nonfiction book on the Bible topics I had researched, but having no immediate takers, I woke up one morning with “Do blogs” in my head. Hoping that God had put the idea there in answer to prayers for guidance, I soon discovered that juggling several blogs gets tricky! Or sticky! i.e., I now use computerized “Sticky Notes” to type the name of each blog and the last date posted. I also keep a Word file for each completed article, along with a list of titles and dates posted, and I type in words or phrases that suggest ideas for future articles. If blog followers ask a question that might interest other writer-readers, I note that as a potential topic too.

But here it is 11 a.m. on a Saturday, and I just put in the second of four loads of laundry. Having skipped my dish of yogurt, I’m thinking about lunch – most likely left-overs of home-cooked meals I make by the batch a couple times a week and freeze.

Living in the country does not make home delivered pizza a meal-time option, but the rural environment provides a wonderful place to get quiet, enjoy nature, and write about whatever God brings to mind. You might wonder, though, when and if I do any actual writing during the day, but, the truth is, while we’ve been chatting, I’ve been writing this article, which, Lord willing, I will tighten and revise after lunch and laundry and post long before church tomorrow with its welcomed day of rest.

~~

© 2012, Mary Harwell Sayler, all rights reserved.

For additional help with your writing: See the Interview with Sally Stuart. To find a list of the above mentioned blogs and hotlinks, visit Blogs by Mary. To connect, visit hotlinks for Profiles or pages on the major social networks. Thanks. And may God guide and direct your work in Jesus’ name.

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Writing in the New Year

On this New Year’s Eve, morning fog covered our pond, whiting-out the water and making us aware of what we can see close-up. Not much! But that can be a good thing, or, for me anyway, a way of sensing the Lord’s leading in my work as a Christian writer.

For a while now, I’ve been praying for God to show me the projects I'm to take on and the work I am to do, but to do the work at hand, I need to see my hand.

The morning fog let me do just that but not much more! Yet that can be a good thing too.

Seeing what’s at hand may be a way of seeing God’s hand as we find what is right there within our reach.

As this year comes to a close, fog still hides the future but begins to drift over the past, helping us to see the writing we have been given to do, at least for the present.

Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, children’s books, devotional articles, Bible studies, blog posts…? The genre doesn’t matter except to be the one at hand – the one in your hands as you read the type of book or article or story you most prefer.

If this blog can help you with that, let me know. Since I've written in almost every genre for Christian and educational markets for many years, I am happy to look ahead with you and discuss aspects of writing and the writing life you want to know more about, so post a writing question or suggest topics for future blog posts in the Comments section on this page. Let me know, too, what you think of the new page design for In a Christian Writer’s Life . Thanks. And may God bless you and your writing throughout the New Year.

~~

© 2011, Mary Harwell Sayler, all rights reserved.

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Speaking your peace

When people give a piece of their minds, they often express a partial piece of a bigger picture. Or to consider another caller on this homophone, a pastor or priest might ask at a wedding if anyone has a reason why the couple should not be married, and, if so, “Speak now or forever hold your peace.”

In chaotic times where rants, rumors, and discordant reports resound against God, Christ, and the church, we might be inclined to hold our peace by severely clamping our teeth against our tongues. We might shy away, wishing we were invisible. Or we might rush in to provide our little piece of the truth as we see it instead of asking God how God sees it. But here’s the thing:

Christian poets and writers have God-given intelligence, which can be called on to search out the truth, re-search information, investigate both sides to a story, and present a full, fair-minded view.

Christian poets and writers have powers of speech and communication capable of ringing longer, louder, and truer than self-expression alone.

The Bible assures Christian poets and Christian writers that, as Christians, we have the mind of Christ (I Corinthians 2:16), especially if we read the Bible and pray for the Holy Spirit to guide us.

Becoming attuned to God and in tune with our times can be complex but also simpler than it might sound. For instance, we can pray for discernment, expecting God to answer, and we can examine our minds and motives as we ask ourselves some simple questions:

Does my writing stir up people or stir readers from all cultures to accept the love, healing, forgiveness, redemption, and salvation of our Lord Jesus Christ?

Does speaking peace encourage my Christian brothers and sisters and, indeed, the whole Body of Christ to come together, eager to be at peace with one another?

In what ways can my poems, stories, devotionals, articles, and books bring reconciliation and healing to denominational or other church factions?

Do I willingly, prayerfully, and lovingly speak my piece as part of the ongoing peace of God?



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© 2011, Mary Harwell Sayler, all rights reserved.

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Spiritual Ministry Gifts guide your writing

Christian writers with creative ideas sometimes find it difficult to decide which writing project to focus on first. Quite likely, all of your ideas have potential to strengthen the Body of Christ, draw readers to God, and/or help other people in general, so you won’t go wrong with any Bible-based theme or treatment. Nevertheless, one manuscript might be well-timed and another not. Or, one idea might fill you with enthusiasm (a word rooted in “en theos” – in God), whereas another project might leave you feeling ho-hum or put you into a panic or quandary. Regardless, here’s the thing:

When you ask God to direct your work, expect that to happen.

Since the Holy Spirit promises to give every Christian one or more Spiritual Ministry Gifts, recognizing those gifts will guide you and give you insights into yourself, your work, and the writing to which you have been called at this particular time and place.

We talked about this a little in a previous article on your “Writing talent and spiritual gifts,” so you might want to re-read that short discussion. Since then though, I had an opportunity to take a Spiritual Ministry Gifts test that differs from one I took years ago, and the current results confirmed the very projects to which I am now drawn.

Most likely, you have some ideas that interest you more than others too, but just in case you have not yet taken a test to discern your God-given gifts and confirm your next project, I did an Internet search to see which Spiritual Ministry Gifts test to recommend. As it turned out, I found several! So this morning I took them all, and here’s what I found:

This excellent site provided by Ken Ellis not only has a Spiritual Gifts Test with online analysis but also a separate test for new Christians and another for youth. Since you’re encouraged to respond quickly and not over-think, the main test takes 15 to 20 minutes with immediate results and hotlinks that explain each gift and give you relevant scriptures and ideas for use. The results felt right-on, even though I initially had trouble responding to “Always” for areas that interested me.

Spiritual Gifts tested on this website clarify tasks often needed within the church. The analysis did not include such obvious gifts as healing and miracles, but I wish it had discussed a gift of prophecy since Christian poets and writers may receive a prophetic word but need affirmation to speak with confidence and love.

This Spiritual Gifts Self-Evaluation Test is shorter than most but produced the same results. To respond to each of the 55 questions, you click the numbers from 0 to 5 to show your least to greatest amount of interest. Then the online program immediately gives you the test results but no additional information for gifts of Evangelism, Knowledge, Wisdom, Prophecy, Teaching, Exhortation, Helps, Giving, Administration, Mercy, and Faith.

However, another site I highly recommend does not give a test but offers insights and information relating to your Spiritual Gifts and Leadership and includes definitions, scriptural references, and practical instructions.

Similarly, a site on Rediscovering Our Spiritual Gifts has no test but lists practical ways to put your God-given gifts to good use.

The Spiritual Gifts Inventory by Paulist Fathers also provides a test, which, like the others, encourages you to respond spontaneously and honestly to get the most accurate results. The site also includes helpful information and instruction for using your ministry gifts.

As you take a Spiritual Ministry test, remember, there are no right or wrong answers!

Also, this may not be true of other sites, but the hotlinks above give you and only you an analysis, so no one else needs to know the results. What you do with that information is up to you and God and the type of writing ministry to which you have been called.

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(c) 2011, Mary Harwell Sayler

http://www.marysayler.com

Christian writers write in all genres - just like in the Bible

Some people think that Christian writing has to be nonfiction to be true, but that’s not true! In any genre, our writings cannot make a decision to follow Christ. Therefore, “Christian writing” is a misnomer, but, as Christian writers, we can make that choice and do. Then we have as many styles, literary genres, and ways of writing as anyone else.

So the big difference in our work in particular and in the Christian writing life in general comes as we gain and give a godly perspective. How?

Start with the Bible. To get a sweeping view of how God interacts with all peoples and creation, read the Bible cover to cover.

Pray for God to guide your reading. Consider what other students of the Bible say and what you think, too, but stay open to a fresh view as the Holy Spirit aids comprehension and deepens your insight into spiritual matters.

Compare translations. Many old and new versions of the Bible can be found in full on the Internet, but you might not find them all in one location. For instance, a translation approved by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops can be found in full (with excellent footnotes) on the USCCB website, while most Protestant versions are posted on Bible Gateway and other sites. Also, a commercial website (the ChristianBooksBibles online store) with which I have no tie, offers a comprehensive list of translations available for Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish readers.

Look up place names. Use a Bible dictionary and Bible atlas, and compare maps showing ancient and contemporary geographical boundaries.

Research your main topic with the key word and also peripheral wording. After using a concordance or searching various translations on the Internet to see what the Bible says about your subject, look up related words or topics in church documents and statements of faith, which can be found on most denominational websites.

Read footnotes and fine print. Allegedly, study Bible were once used to promote a particular perspective or denominational interpretation, whereas new study editions are more likely to bring together information and insights from diverse scholars who have devoted their whole lives to Bible study. In general, newer study editions clarify information, define unusual words or colloquial phrases, and put factual data into cultural context. Some editions include numbers in a tiny font to show cross-referencing as a topic threads through one book of the Bible to another.

Study the Bible as literature. This excerpt from a new study edition discusses literary aspects of the Bible that can broaden our understanding of genres and also increase our awareness of our unique work and individual calling as a Christian poet, editor, or writer.

Practice each genre. Experiment! Find out which type of writing comes to you most readily. Remove preconceived thoughts of “Christian writing,” too, and begin to see yourself as a Christian who writes in all genres, knowing the biblical writers did too.

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(c) 2011, Mary Harwell Sayler

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