Which Way Should You Go? by Susan Tuttle

Which Way Should You Go?

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. ~Psalm 32:8

It’s a new year! The moment we glance behind us to take stock of where we’ve been and look ahead of us to see where we hope to go. It’s the time of resolutions, charts, and checklists. An occasion to declutter and organize.

I love the newness of the season. It’s like a breath of fresh air. As a writer, we need that blowing over us often. Yet in all the making of lists and hope for what’s to come, we need to remember the verse above.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, probably a million times more. God has a plan for you. Uniquely for you. It is the purpose for which you were created. And in this new year he’s got bountiful blessings that he wants to bestow on you simply because he loves you! He also has wisdom, instruction, direction…all leading you to that sweet spot he created only for you.

So I encourage you, as you lay out goals for the coming year, look to God for instruction. He knit those goals into your very being when he created you. Your future is already history to him. (Thank-you Casting Crowns for that line…it’s stuck forever!) It’s such a cool line, I have to say it again: Your future is already history to him. So if he created you, wrote your story, and already knows the ending, doesn’t it make sense that he would be the first one we seek for advice in this new year?

That means you don’t get caught up looking at the person beside you…comparison only drags us down. Not only that, but sometimes it will lead us into detours we were never supposed to take. Also, don’t look only to your circle of friends. While Godly friendships can be integral at praying with you and offering wise discernment or caution, God is ultimately who we should receive direction from. Lastly, don’t rely on only your own feelings. Faith and feelings all too often operate in opposite directions. Faith is blind. And it’s what we need to please God. I encourage you to step out in it in big ways this year.

And I cannot leave without touching on the last part of that verse—my favorite! Gets me giddy every time. “…with my eye upon you.” We are always in his sight! Even when we feel lost, he’s still there. Never, no never, are we in a place that God cannot see us. And if he can see us, it also means he’s close by. He may be silent. It may seem he’s on the other side of the earth. Maybe it even feels he’s closed the door and left—but he hasn’t!

He’s right there.

I pray you meet him in huge ways this new year. That he guides your path to places that blow your mind. And that you feel his presence over you every step of the way. Oh, how he loves you!

Susan Tuttle

Susan Tuttle is a homeschooling mom of three who is crazy about coffee, dark chocolate, and words—both reading and writing them. Combine that love of words with her passion for leading women to a life-changing encounter with Christ, and you’ll find her crafting Inspirational Contemporary Romance stories laced with humor, love, and healing transformations. When not cheering on her Ironman hubby, chasing the family dog, or tackling complex math problems to teach her kids (yes, even the third grader), you can catch Susan at her blog, Steps.

From Pantser to Plotter by Dora Hiers

Happy New Year!

I’m not one for New Year’s resolutions. If there's something in my personal life that needs to change, why wait? Why should my writing life be any different?

In September 2012, I resolved to evolve from pantser to plotter. For those of you unfamiliar with the terms: 

A pantser sits down in front of their laptop and starts typing, with only a few rough ideas for either characters or story floating around in their head. 

A plotter uses an outline and finds their rhythm by organizing their thoughts prior to any actual writing. 

Usually, a writer falls naturally into one category. Trying to do the opposite of what comes natural is like writing left-handed when you normally use your right. Early on, I tried both methods, but plotting frustrated me so much that I considered inflicting serious damage to my laptop.

But as I celebrated with writer friends over their multi-book contracts, I knew that I'd never be able to accomplish this if I couldn't learn to plot. A key component of the proposal is the synopsis. No synopsis=No proposal.

I started my transition by writing two proposals encompassing five books total, which meant writing books from a synopsis instead of the reverse. I’m thrilled to report that my first book is complete, and the second, roughly thirty percent. Woo-hoo!

Want to know how I transitioned from pantser to plotter? I'll share my secrets. :-)

Pray. 

Characters. I'm a visual person. I need pictures, so I started by finding my hero/heroine online and getting to know them. Then, I asked my character (whichever one you connect with first) these questions.

What do you want? (Goal)

Why do you want it? (Motivation)

Why can't you have it? (Conflict) 

Develop the story idea/premise. What terrible thing happened in my character's past to make them how they are today? Keep asking "what if?" until you come up with a story idea.

Write a few pages. Writing backstory helped me flesh out the characters more, so that I could go back and fill in some of the blanks. Just write a bit and let words flow. It's OK. You’ll delete them. The goal is for the story to reveal itself. You may need to tweak the premise after doing this.

Picture the story sequence in your head. Do what it takes to find your zone. Close your eyes. Throw in a CD. Let your dog walk you around the park. Record the chapter number, the date, point-of-view, and what you expect to happen in that chapter/scene. If you know how you want the book to end, you can skip down and work backward.

Implement a schedule. You must map out a timeline for the completion of your books. I’ll share more on this next week.

It’s your turn.

If you're a pantser, how do you write proposals?

Do you ever see yourself evolving into a plotter? Why or why not?