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| Stacy Hawkins Adams |
Did you
set writing goals for 2014? With any new resolutions made, there is the
possibility that other responsibilities will hinder us accomplishing those
writing projects we hope to complete. Consequently, we may become discouraged.
Author Stacy Hawkins Adams is
here today with great tips to help and encourage us in this year’s writing
journey.
~ Dawn
Keep
Writing Forward
I’ve been there. Yes – right where you might now find
yourself: staring at the pages of an unfinished manuscript or gazing at a
calendar, wondering how another year arrived before you birthed your book.
This advice may sound trite now that I’ve become the author
of nine books; but it’s a speech I give myself with each new project: Just start, and keep going. When the writing
flows, let it flow. When the writing is slow to come, write anyway.
That’s the “secret,” you see – understanding that the first
draft of your book doesn’t have to be a masterpiece. It just needs to be
tangible, to exist. If you can find the discipline to create a loose outline
for your fiction or nonfiction project and use that as a guide to write from
one page to the next, you’ll find that you have one chapter, then two, then
three and so forth. Keep writing, without stopping to revise or edit, even if
you feel the urge to toss the material you’ve produced and begin again.
When you finish your manuscript, you can move on to the next
most important phase - revising and editing, and seeking feedback from a few
selected readers.
If you get stuck, keep this advice in mind:
- You are the best person to tell your book’s story. Carve out time to write and treat that time as sacred. Finish that first draft quickly, then take twice as long polishing your “book baby” to make it shine.
- Appreciate that writing and publishing a book epitomize a marathon. Make sure that you’ve undertaken this feat because you love the craft and the process of writing, not because you’re on a quest for often-elusive fame and fortune.
- Determine your mission as an author and keep that in mind when new ideas or new plots threaten to take you off course. Focus on your current project and finish that story. Even if you move on to another idea and produce that as your first project to publish, the time you’ve spent on your current manuscript will still be worthwhile; all writing practice and efforts improve one’s writing skills.
- Many view being published as “having arrived,” and there is certainly joy in holding one’s printed book or seeing one’s author name and book title flash across a website or the screen of an ebook device. However, an author’s greatest reward should be two-fold: seeing your book dreams come to life as well as serving as the muse for a body of work that can potentially transform or alter readers for the better.
Enjoy your writing journey, and remember that the love of
writing is a gift. How awesome that you’ll someday share your stories or
compelling nonfiction with the world!
Tweetables:
When the writing
is slow to come, write anyway. Click to tweet.
Carve out time
to write and treat that time as sacred.
Click to tweet.
Appreciate that
writing and publishing a book epitomize a marathon. Click to tweet.
Remember that
the love of writing is a gift. Click to tweet.
Shiloh
Griffin has no identity outside of her roles as pastor's wife and mom. Some
days that is enough, but not always. Particularly when she is partnered with
the always confident and beautiful Jade Smith on a church ministry project.
When an opportunity arises to teach music at a local high school, she thinks
maybe it's just the thing to give her more significance. Then Shiloh begins
mentoring Monica, a fifteen-year-old student who winds up on a questionable
path.
When Monica makes a potentially life-altering choice, Shiloh confronts
her own darkest secret in the desperate decision facing the teen. If she turns
away, this teen's life—and her soul—could be in jeopardy. If she decides to
stand up and help, she knows she's the one who risks losing everything. The question at hand is whether she’ll keep
her halo intact, or lose her honor to save Monica’s.
Stacy Hawkins
Adams is an award-winning inspirational author, parenting columnist and
speaker. Her eight women’s fiction novels and one nonfiction devotional book
highlight themes of personal growth, women’s friendships, grace and matters of
faith. Stacy’s most recent novels include Coming
Home, which was a 2012 Target stores “Recommended Read,” and Lead Me Home, which was nationally
released in July 2013. Stacy provides occasional book coaching to aspiring
authors.
For more information, contact her via her website or via one
of her social media pages.
