Keeping Your Joy as a Writer by Marilyn Turk

The first time something I wrote was accepted by a publisher, I was excited for months! The thrill of having your work liked well enough to publish is such affirmation that you’re on the right track, that you have a gift for writing.

My story had been accepted by a respected magazine. The acceptance gave me credibility, motivating me to continue to write. The excitement stayed with me through my next publication and the next, then I won a couple of contests. I was on my way to success as a writer!

Then I went to a writers’ conference where one of the keynote speakers said, “Very few of you will ever be successful writers.” It was as if he’d dropped a bomb on the audience. The reason for his dire prediction was because many would-be writers don’t follow through on requests for submission, and those that do face slim odds in the face of a sea of other authors. He was trying to give us a reality check.

But I didn’t need to hear the reasons why I wouldn’t get published. I needed to hear that I would. I wanted encouragement, inspiration, and motivation to forge ahead. I needed to know why I should write, not why not!

Are there people in your life that try to dampen your enthusiasm or steal your joy? They can be well-meaning, even friends, but feed you negative thoughts that stifle your enthusiasm.

Perhaps the negative voices aren’t coming from outside, but in your own head. We doubt ourselves and our ability. And if we receive rejections, our self-confidence takes a dive. When I pitched my first book idea to an editor, she wanted to see it plus synopses for a series. But by the time I was ready to send the proposal, the editor was no longer with the publisher. I was disappointed of course, but I had made progress by preparing the proposal, so now I knew how to proceed, contract or not. That series eventually sold because I didn’t give up on it.

So how do we keep our motivation, our joy of writing?

1. Celebrate little successes. If you meet your word goal for the day or the week, pat yourself on the back! Reward yourself with something besides food, like maybe being able to watch a TV show or a movie. Sometimes just knowing you met your goal is reward enough.

2. Look at how far you’ve come. We all started somewhere, and each time we take on another writing task, we’re making progress.

3. Fill your mind with motivational words like “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Phil. 4:13) Reject negative talk because it does not come from God, but from an enemy that wants to kill your joy and rob you of your motivation, so he can prevent you from doing the work God gave you to do.

4. Even rejections can be motivational because they can tell you what you need to do to fix your manuscript, and even if they don’t, realize that just because one publisher doesn’t want your manuscript, it doesn’t mean no one will.

5. Realize that only you can write your story your way. There may be similar stories, even similar titles, but no one will write the story just like you do.

6. Surround yourself with supporters, writing friends or readers who encourage you. I don’t know what I’d do without my support group, or as some say, my “peeps.”

7. Thank God for the gift and the opportunity to write. Ask Him to help you use your gift.

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Multi-published author Marilyn Turk calls herself a “literary archaeologist,” because she loves to discover stories hidden in history. Her World War II novel, The Gilded Curse, won a Silver Scroll award. When readers asked what happened to the characters after the book, Marilyn wrote the sequel, Shadowed by a Spy. Her four-book Coastal Lights Legacy series—Rebel Light, Revealing Light, Redeeming Light, and Rekindled Light—feature Florida lighthouse settings. In addition, Marilyn’s novella, The Wrong Survivor, is in the Great Lakes Lighthouse Brides collection. Marilyn has also written a book of devotions called Lighthouse Devotions. Marilyn also writes for the Daily Guideposts Devotions book.

She is a regular contributor to the Heroes, Heroines and History blog, (https://www.hhhistory.com)Marilyn is the director of the Blue Lake Christian Writers Retreat. http://bluelakecwr.com.

She lives in the panhandle of Florida where she and her husband enjoy boating, fishing, and playing tennis when time permits (and it’s below 100 degrees).

Website: @http://pathwayheart.com

Email: marilynturkwriter@yahoo.com

The Peculiarity of Time by Marilyn Turk

As writers, we're all eager to see the fruits of our labor and our writing goals can take forever to be realized. Author Marilyn Turk shares her experience and encouragement. -- Sandy

Marilyn: I spent all morning looking for a bookmark my six-year-old grandson gave me for Mother’s Day. I’m particularly upset about misplacing it because it’s special, unique – not only because it’s a gift, but it has a picture of him taken in his classroom at school holding a bouquet of flowers. The bookmark is not valuable to anyone but me, but it represents a truth I’ve come to understand because it captured a time in his life that has passed – a fleeting moment in his rapid growth from a child to an adult.

Time can be so fickle. It can move too fast or crawl too slowly. It can be in the future or it can be in the past. It can be a tool or an excuse. And it can be an enemy or a friend.

When I first began this writing journey eleven years ago, I didn’t expect to become an overnight success. I knew it would take time to brush the cobwebs off my writing and relearn technique. In addition, I realized there were new things to learn about the writing world. So I proceeded slowly and carefully, one step at a time. I wrote devotions, attended conferences, entered contests, and pitched stories, but not yet books.

But when a magazine editor accepted my pitch, I discovered the reality of how long it takes from submission to publication in the magazine industry – from a year to a year and a half. As I attended more conferences, a desire to write books developed. I heard speakers disclose how long it took them to get published – for some ten or more years. Naturally, I assumed I would be an exception, my story would be different and faster.

So I began writing my first novel, then pitched it to an agent (a year later) who recommended a few changes, then I reworked it and we began submitting it to publishers. In the meantime, I found a critique group and we edited each other’s manuscripts. Now, six years later, although the book did well in contests, it is still not published, and I’m considering rewriting it with what I’ve learned in the time since I began it.

However, after the first book was written, I wrote a sequel which took another year. It has not been published yet either and I plan to make some revisions to it too.

I finished writing the second book, then started the third in the series, but when my agent was looking for another type of book, I decided to stop working on the current WIP and write a different type of book.

Finally, one of my books was published this March. So, it’s taken me eleven years to have a book published, or you could say six from the time I started writing books.

Conclusion: The writing process takes time, and although some people learn faster, write faster or work harder than others, writing really is a journey. A journey of trying and failing, of learning and relearning, of sowing and reaping.

So how do you view time? Do you appreciate its value – using it, dedicating yourself to it daily, or do you think you’ve got all the time in the world and waste it?

The Bible warns about our use of time. “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil.” Ephesians 5:15-16 (RSV) 

So is time your enemy or your friend?

 

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Marilyn Turk’s debut novel, The Gilded Curse, published by the Heritage Beacon imprint of Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas, was released in March 2016 to great reviews.

In November 2015, her book Lighthouse Devotions, 52 Inspiring Lighthouse Stories, was published by White Glove.

Marilyn has been published in a number of other formats as well, including a short story in A Cup of Christmas Cheer, published by Guideposts books.

In addition, she is a regular contributor to Guideposts magazine and her devotions will debut in the 2017 issue of Daily Guideposts. On her website, http://marilynturk.com, Marilyn posts on two blogs – one, a weekly lighthouse blog of intriguing lighthouse stories, and also on a writer’s blog. In addition, she is a monthly contributor to the blog, “Heroes, Heroines and History.”

Marilyn lives in Florida with husband Chuck and seven-year-old grandson Logan. She hosts a monthly Christian book club so she can keep abreast of her craft and expose her friends to other Christian novelists. In addition to reading, she enjoys boating, fishing, tennis, and gardening - when she’s not climbing lighthouses. 


Email: marilynturkwriter@yahoo.com 
Website: http://marilynturk.com 
Facebook: marilyn.turk.9

Represented by Joyce Hart/Hartline Literary Agency 

Discovering the Story by Marilyn Turk

Author Marilyn Turk compares herself to an archeologist as she discusses how she uncovered the idea for her first novel. -- Sandy

Marilyn: I never intended to write fiction. I thought I’d be writing devotionals and articles. And that’s what I did, so when I attended writers’ conferences and heard others talk about writing novels, I didn’t believe the topic pertained to me. That was before I discovered a story that would be my first novel.

History has always interested me, especially the history of the area where I lived. So naturally, I researched that history.  I’m a southerner, born and raised, and I’ve only lived in three southern states, so my research has stayed in the south as well. But one day after I moved to Florida, I stumbled upon a new subject to research.

You see, like many others, I’ve always admired lighthouses. Majestic and alluring, they represented strength, dependability and tales of adventure. I’d only seen them in pictures, so imagine my surprise when I chanced upon a lighthouse while making sales calls for my day job.

I was astonished to see one so close, and I was immediately smitten. I had to go inside. In a heavy rain,  I followed a van down the road to the lighthouse, and when it parked, I parked alongside. The driver rolled down his window and asked if I needed to get inside the lighthouse which was closed during the week. For the first time in my life I said, “I’m a writer.” Then I added, “I need to see it for research.” Amazingly, he told me to come back in an hour after he did some work, and he’d let me in. When I returned, he gave me a personal tour of the keeper’s house and the lighthouse, telling me the history of them and the roles they played in the Civil War. Standing at the top of the Pensacola lighthouse, I could “see” history playing out before me,  imagining the feelings of those living there at that time.

I know now that experience was a gift from God and He led me down that road to lead me into a new career. Before I even left that day, a story was forming in my mind, and my first historical novel was born. Shortly after my visit to the lighthouse, my company was sold and I was laid off. But God had shown me the new path I would take.

It’s been such a surprise to see how God has continued to lead me down trails in my mind as stories continue to unfold. But to those who ask where I get my ideas, I say, “I don’t think I create them. I find them.”

As my passion for lighthouses and coastal history has developed, the more I learn, the more the stories expose themselves. I find out what happened in a particular area and immediately, I see the characters who lived there, and when I start writing, they reveal themselves to me. In that way, I feel like an archaeologist, uncovering history and finding the story that is told by the discovery.

If there’s one question that I ask myself in finding the story, it’s “what would life be like for someone who lived here at that time?” And knowing people haven’t changed much since the beginning of time, I can relate to the feelings they might have had.

I admire those writers who can invent worlds – they are truly creative. But for me, I’ll just take my shovel and keep on digging.

How you do come up with your ideas? Are you a "creator" or an "archeologist?"

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Marilyn Turk lives in and writes about the coastal South, especially its history. Rebel Light, the first book in her Coastal Lights Legacy series, and her Lighthouse Devotions, will be published in 2015. Her historical suspense, The Gilded Curse, will be published in March 2016. She writes a weekly lighthouse blog @ http://marilynturk.com.