Staying Motivated by Rachel J. Good

We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand — and melting like a snowflake. Let us use it before it is too late.”    ~Marie Beynon Ray  

As snow falls here in the Northeast, blanketing us with white so deep we have no choice but to stay inside, it’s a good time to ponder our goals. Back in January, when the year was new and shiny, many of us made resolutions. Often by now, we’re off track, and all those promises we made to ourselves seem even farther from reach because we’ve also lost our motivation. The passion that birthed those resolutions has long since died. And that makes it easy to forget our dreams and plans, to let the pressing details of everyday life keep us stuck. 

We have so many commitments, we have little time to squeeze in the things that are dear to our hearts. Perhaps an emotional or physical crisis is draining our time and energy. Once this is over, we tell ourselves we’ll make time for writing. But before that difficulty passes, another takes its place, and soon we’re spending all our time dealing with emergencies. We shelve our dreams, but it’s “only for now,” we promise ourselves. We’ll get back to it someday, but soon a few days stretches into weeks, months, or even years. 

So how do we stay motivated once reality has set in, and we’re not finding time for our writing or other important projects?

One of my favorite pieces of advice is to look back for motivation and forward for inspiration. Planning and dreaming can inspire us to move ahead, but looking back can be valuable to see how far we’ve come. I’ve found it’s often the perfect solution to getting unstuck.

The key to looking back is not to beat yourself up over uncompleted projects, but to remember your past successes. Even if it seems these have been few or nonexistent, reframe your past from a positive perspective.

For many years, my only progress consisted of stacks of rejection letters, half-finished manuscripts, and a brain full of ideas. Although I put in work, I didn’t feel a real sense of accomplishment. Now I wish I could go back and appreciate those achievements, because if it weren’t for those years of drudgery and disappointment, I wouldn’t be published today.

So wherever you are on your journey (whether in writing or other pursuits), honor the hard work you’ve put in — even if it didn’t bring the rewards you hoped. Find a way to keep track of what you’ve done and celebrate the small milestones along the way. Rejection letters indicate you’ve been submitting, partially finished manuscripts prove you’ve been writing, doodles in your sketchbook show you’ve been drawing. Yes, you may not have gotten as far as you’d hoped, but rather than looking at where you expected to be, rejoice in how far you’ve come. You’ve made progress, and that’s the most important thing.

Another way to look back is to ask yourself what you wish you’d accomplished at the end of your life. So many times, we forgo the important things for the petty. How valuable are the activities taking up your time each day? Would you rather spend your time sweeping dust bunnies in the guest bedroom or touching lives with an important message? Thinking in terms of an eternal perspective can also be motivating.

And as the quote (and the Bible) reminds us, we have no guarantee of tomorrow; the only time we have allotted is now. This point was driven home to me this week when a beloved writer I know lost her battle with cancer. Although those of us who knew her mourn her loss, we’re grateful for the books she’s left behind – books that still have the power to change lives for years or even generations to come. What about you? Are you waiting for someday? If God has given you a message to share, do it now. Don’t put it off until it’s too late.

 

Inspirational author Rachel J. Good writes life-changing, heart-tugging novels of faith, hope, and forgiveness. She is the author of several Amish series in print or forthcoming – Sisters & Friends series, Hearts of Amish Country series, and Love & Promises series – as well as the Amish Quilts Coloring Books. She also writes the contemporary inspirational series, Hope Chapel, and the first novella in that series, Angels Unaware, recently released. Her March release, Buried Secrets, is on blog tour with Celebrate Lit. You can connect with Rachel on Facebook and her website.

Links

www.racheljgood.com
https://www.facebook.com/racheljgoodnovels/
https://www.facebook.com/people/Rachel-J-Good/100009699285059
https://twitter.com/RachelJGood1
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14661177.Rachel_J_Good
https://www.pinterest.com/racheljgood1/

 

 

My Journey to Publication by Dana R. Lynn

Thanks for the invitation to be here today, Terri. It’s always an honor to be asked. 

Anyway, I was thinking about what I wanted to say, and I thought about my own journey to publication. I had wanted to write since I was a kid. I can’t even tell you how many manuscripts I had started only to throw them out (cuz back then we used paper). Sometimes, I would get as far as the second chapter before life intruded. 

Could I have plodded along, writing little bits here and there? Well, yes, I supposed so. But you see, I had no idea what I was doing. And quite frankly, once I started a project, the idea of getting thousands of words down was intimidating. So, I would allow other things to get in the way. I was a wife and a mother. I could barely find the time to fit everything in. I didn’t see how I would be able to fit in writing. Eventually, I decided I was called to be a reader, not a writer. And reading was easier, anyway.

Easier, yes. But not satisfying enough to satisfy the desire to write, the itchy feeling I would get whenever a new idea popped into my head. One day, in 2013, I saw that Harlequin was starting their then annual So You Think You Can Write contest. I decided to give it one more try. Imagine my amazement when my chapter made the Top Fifty. Suddenly, I had a major publisher requesting that I send in a full manuscript. Umm…it wasn’t nearly ready yet. But I was motivated. In less than two days, I finished it and submitted it. 

I didn’t win the contest. I didn’t care. For the first time in my life I had finished a manuscript. And I had received feedback. Feedback that encouraged me to learn. And to try again.  Eight months later, I received a contract from Love Inspired Suspense. I will never forget the joy of hearing my editor’s voice on the other end of the phone. It was amazing.

I learned several things. If God gives you a dream, don’t give up. Wait upon His timing. He picked the perfect time for me to realize my dream. The second thing I learned is the need to continue to learn about the writing craft. Figure out what you want to write. And if there is a specific publisher, what are their guidelines? Another important lesson I learned was to find other authors and learn from them. I did most of this online, through Facebook groups. I also joined a small critique group. 

Finally, and this may be the most important, is pray. If God has a writing ministry in mind for you, then He also knows who He wants you to minister to. Allow yourself to be led by Him.

Thanks for letting me come today! I have a new novella out, The Heiress’s Timely Hero, loosely based on the characters from Pride and Prejudice. Plus, I added in a little time travel spin.

Blessings!

The Heiress's Timely Hero

 

Anne de Bourgh’s life is in danger. From her own family. Her only hope is a man who claims to be from the future. His story is impossible, yet her instincts, and her heart are drawn to this stranger. Will he save her? Or will trusting him cost her everything?

Morgan James has faced his own mortality. Now, he feels like a shadow of his former self. Without purpose. Until now.

Five years ago, his sister went through a time portal on the family estate in England, and returned with her husband, Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam. He knows going through the time portal is dangerous. He also knows Anne will die a horrible death if he doesn’t.

He intends to save her. What he doesn’t plan is to fall in love with her.

But danger has followed them. Is there no time or place where they can find happiness?

Buy Links

https://www.amazon.com/Heiresss-Timely-Hero-Bride-Book-ebook/dp/B01MYDR99X

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-heiress-s-timely-hero

  Dana R. Lynn grew up in Illinois. She met her husband at a wedding and told her parents she had met her future husband. Nineteen months later, they were married. Today they live in rural Pennsylvania with their three children, two dogs, one cat, one rabbit, one horse and six chickens. In addition to writing, she works as an educational interpreter for the deaf and is active in several ministries in her church.

The Dance by Susan Tuttle

Anybody remember high school dances? The dimly lit gymnasium. Soft ballads playing. Kids slowly spinning each other in a never-ending circle and calling it dancing. And that chip bowl where some of us spent many of our hours at. Ahhh…I remember it fondly.

 

Recently that memory melded with a moment in my writing world. You see, I received another rejection letter. We all know this is part of the game, and yet for a moment it sent me back to standing right next to that chip bowl. You see, I’ve helped many of my friends ready themselves for the dance of this writing world. Together we’ve primped and styled each others manuscripts, one sheets, and proposals. We’ve arrived at the dance giddy and breathless with the hope that someone will hold out their hand and asks us to twirl across the floor. We’ve stood together by that chip bowl waiting for it to happen. And I’ve watched as each of them had their moment. Their publishing partner appears and whisks them onto that floor while I’m still taping my toe to the music, waiting for mine to show up. Oh, they’ve circled. They’ve looked me in the eye even. But then the music changes, and they turn around or ask someone else.

 

I’ll admit. At first I smiled with my friends without a pang to be felt in my body. But as each one disappeared into the throng of dancers on the floor, I started to despair. Oh, my happiness for them remained, but I began to lament to God as I stuffed my mouth with more chips. Would my partner ever arrive? Why was everyone else found desirable while I held up the wall behind me?

 

Friends, isn’t God wonderful to open our eyes when we aren’t clearly seeing what is right in front of us? When we are too focused on what we are missing to see what we already possess? He has a way of speaking right to our tender hearts…because he holds them in his hands. See, I had a partner who’d been standing right in front of me the entire time. One who desperately wanted to pull me into his arms and onto that floor for a dance I’d never forget. And it wouldn’t be turning in a small circle. It would be spins and dips to a song written just for me in the arms of Someone who’d never let me trip or fall and had always found me desirable: Jesus.

 

Sometimes we become so focused on “making it” in this publishing world that we forget why it is we write. Friends, when our attention remains fixed on the fact that we’re still standing by the chip bowl, we miss out on the hand God is holding out to us. The fun to be had in dancing with him. Do I still pray to find that publishing house one day? Of course! I fully believe God created me as a writer and plan to use this gift for his glory. But even if they never come, God has a plan, and he’s filled my dance card with his name.

 

And I intend on dancing each step with him in the lead.

Susan L. Tuttle lives in Michigan where she’s happily married to her best friend and is a homeschooling mom of three. She’s firmly convinced that letters were meant for words, not math, and loves stringing them together into stories that inspire, encourage, and grow women into who God created them to be. Romance, laughter, and cookies are three of her favorite things, though not always in that order. You can connect with Susan at her blog, Steps, Facebook, or Twitter.

 

 

But What About...by Susan Tuttle

Recently I was reading the last chapter of John where Jesus reinstates Peter. It’s such a beautiful moment of redemption for Peter, though in that moment Peter doesn’t catch what Jesus is doing (giving him a chance to redo the three times he’d denied Christ). All Peter knows is that Jesus is asking a simple question, “Do you love me?”

Without hesitation, Peter answers, “Yes.”

For many of us, that would be a simple question as well. We don’t hesitate to speak about our love for Jesus. Many of us are crazy-in-love with our Savior, and it flows through our writing. We cannot contain our witness or our desire to reach others for Christ. We write because it’s the talent God has given us and the passion he’s woven into our hearts. Peter shared a similar passion, only his would be for the spoken word. But Peter announcing his love for Christ and Jesus commissioning him weren’t what stopped me as I read…it was the moment that followed.

Peter turns and sees John, and these four words pop out, “Lord, what about him?”

Oh boy. Peter never questioned his love for Christ, but he did question Christ’s love for him. Not in the sense of whether Jesus felt the affection toward him, rather if Jesus’ affection was greater for another.

Peter compared.

Friends, so often we do the same thing! We balance a very thin line in our writing careers with our purpose on one side and worldly success on the other. And in that balancing act it is so easy to look at others as if God must love them more. They received the publishing contract. They sold more books. They won that contest. They have more reviews—and better reviews. They’re asked to speak at an event. (Go ahead, add yours here.)

Yet listen to Jesus’ response. “If I want ______what is that to you? You must follow me.”

I purposefully left that blank because we all have our own issues we can fill into it. (If I want to publish them. If I want their book to be a bestseller. Go on, add yours again.) The point is, God has a different plan for each person around you, but that plan doesn’t negate the one he has for you. All you’re called to do is follow him.

Please don’t misunderstand me. Cultivating our careers and growing our reach is not wrong, but we must maintain perspective in the process. As Christians, the words we write are not our own. We don’t know who they need to reach. A convention center filled to bursting, or the acquisition editor who hands out a rejection? We may never know. But if we follow Christ throughout this process—and keep our eyes on him—we take the weight off our own shoulders and let it rest on his. He’ll make sure our words reach their intended audience. We follow a God who is as concerned with the number “1” as he is in the multitudes. May we be the same.

Susan L. Tuttle lives in Michigan where she’s happily married to her best friend and is a homeschooling mom of three. She’s firmly convinced that letters were meant for words, not math, and loves stringing them together into stories that inspire, encourage, and grow women into who God created them to be. Romance, laughter, and cookies are three of her favorite things, though not always in that order. You can connect with Susan at her blog, Steps, Facebook, or Twitter.

Bathroom Graffiti by Heidi Chiavaroli

"Randy loves Liz."

"Justin wuz here.

Sentiments of love, sentiments of hate. Desperation. Some simply expressing a desire to be heard long after they are gone. 

We've all seen the typical graffiti on those bathroom stalls. And although I've never been a graffiti offender myself, I suppose I can see the appeal in it...

The author is anonymous, and forever safe from hurtful judgments.

The words will be read.

Unlike a daily newspaper or monthly magazine, these words will last a bit longer. The writer has successfully left their one small mark on the world.

But do these words matter to the reader? Do they make a difference in even one person's life? Maybe...if you're name is Liz. ;)

As I ponder this, I can't help but realize that all my efforts, all my works—whether they be writing, being a “good” wife and mother, or helping my neighbor—are nothing but graffiti on a grimy bathroom stall if I'm not giving them over to God. Only He can make them useful in the grand scheme of things.

For this reason, I dig deep into my heart. Deeper than I usually want to. What is my motivation for what I do? For writing? For trying so hard to be a "good" mother? A "good" wife? For helping others?

Sometimes I don't like the answers I get. And if you're not ready for my complete honesty, read no further.

Often I find myself performing these works not for Jesus—and sometimes not even for others—but for me. My heart can be ugly. I want to look good. I want the best...after all, don't I deserve it?

Bathroom graffiti. All of it.

What I deserve is not what my Savior has given me. He's given me grace. He's given me mercy. I am nothing if it weren't for Him. And when I fall, it's Jesus's arms that catch me and my undeserving efforts.

As I continue to wade through my motivations and seek to be faithful, I have hope that He will use my efforts—even if they are as inconsequential as bathroom graffiti.

How do you consciously offer your writing to your Creator? At what times do you struggle most to do this?

Heidi Chiavaroli is a writer, runner, wife, mother, and grace-clinger—not necessarily in that order. Ever since taking her first trip to Plimoth Plantation with her sister, mother, and grandmother at the age of nine, she has been fascinated with history and its significance to today’s people and culture. Heidi is the winner of ACFW’s 2014 Genesis Contest, Historical Category. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband, two sons, and Howie, her standard poodle. Learn more about Heidi on her website: www.heidichiavaroli.com.