God’s Still Working in Your Writing by Susan Tuttle

It’s Christmas time, which means the Christmas story is playing on televisions, homes, and churches all around the nation. I love the Christmas story, and each year I read it like I’m hearing it for the first time all over again. In the past Mary is the character to captivate me, but as I sat in church this past Sunday it was Elizabeth who caused me to stop.

See, Elizabeth had been waiting a long time for God to show up with her dream in His hand. In fact, in practically every way it looked as if her dream to become a mom had died. She was barren, empty, and by all accounts she and Zechariah were past their primes. The idea of her becoming pregnant ranked right up there with her ability to fly—it wouldn’t, couldn’t, happen.

Yet God.

Aren’t those two beautiful words?

Yet God had a different plan. Sometimes for His plan to gleam brightest everything around us must die. See, God will allow His glory to shine through us, but he will never—never—share it, and if the only way that can happen is to let our dream become a virtual impossibility, he will do just that. Not to discourage us. Not to make us lose faith. And not to harm us. Only so that everything points to Him when our dream becomes solid reality.

Isn’t this like our writing world? Maybe it’s the idea of finding time to finish your story. Perhaps you’re too dry to come up with new words. Possibly you’re waiting for a “yes” from a publishing industry that seems stuck on “no”. Whatever it is, could it be that God is allowing the parts of your dream to die that may point to you rather than Him when that dream finally materializes?

Dear friend, whatever you do, don’t lose grip on your faith. If God has made a promise to you about this writing ministry, cling to it. He is ever faithful—you only need to look at the many facets of the Christmas story to see that faithfulness repeated over and over again.

Merry Christmas friends!

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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.

If You’re Writing, You Better be Reading! by Susan Tuttle

I recently attended the writer’s conference Breathe in West Michigan where the keynote speaker was Stephen James. (Side note: if you ever get to hear him speak, don’t pass up the opportunity!) After the Friday night closing session, Stephen entered into a conversation with a group about whether or not writers should be reading the Classics.  

Now, I wasn’t there for this conversation—though a friend of mine was—so I’m not revealing his answer. I am, however, stating the overall answer everyone around that table agreed with: If you’re a writer, you better be reading. 

As writers we are all too often consumed by our writing. And rightfully so, it takes a huge bulk of time. If we have family, work another job, or basically have any other life outside of our writing desks, then finding the time to read on top of writing can seem impossible. Yet we need to make sure we are building that time into our schedules somehow. 

Why? Because reading feeds our imagination. It keeps us dreaming, and that’s a vital component to writing. Reading also allows us to widen our voice, whether through learning new tools we come across that we’d like to implement or steering us away from ones that didn’t work. It also deepens our vocabulary, both in actual words and style. If we see writers pulling off unique metaphors or stylish imagery, it pushes us to strive for the same. We dig deeper. Work harder. Edit longer.  

But best of all? When we continue the role of reader, we see words through another spectrum. We see their impact, and we know we want ours to be as powerful. Bottom line? Reading allows us to retain the wonder of the written word. When we’re filled with that, friends, we can’t help but pass it on to our own readers. 

So whatever you do, don’t stop reading. 

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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.

Are You Still Waiting? by Susan Tuttle

The wait.

It’s the hardest part of this writing game. Putting words on paper for all of us is fun (writer’s block notwithstanding), but once all those words are down, we wait.

For an agent.

For a contract.

For those books to show up on our doorstep.

For reviews—the good ones.

For everything we just poured ourselves into to be noticed by someone…anyone.

We don’t pour those words onto a page to sit in a drawer and never be seen—unless of course they are our rough drafts. We write because we feel a burning need to tell a story that God has placed on our hearts, which means he must desire for someone to hear that story. And we truly believe he’ll share that story with the perfect audience he has for it.

But then we wait. For weeks. Months. Sometimes for years. And we start to wonder when God will open that door.

See, sometimes our crisis of faith isn’t if God can do what he says he can do, it’s when will he do it? We know he’s the same God who does the impossible. We believe in a God who can raise the dead, surely he can handle putting our books into the right hands. But if he’s capable, why isn’t anything happening? With that one question, or faith begins to ebb.

Friend, we need to remember that our God sees time so differently than we do. He transcends it He doesn’t play by the rules of time—he created them. And he created us, with a purpose, plan, and eternal calendar that has our names written across it. We feel like we’ve been waiting forever, but he designed forever. With his leading we will not arrive one minute earlier—or later—to our destinations than needed. His when is perfect, even if it’s carving out our patience along the way.

I love Isaiah 60:22. “I am the LORD; in its time I will do this swiftly.” If you’re wondering about his when today, keep this verse close to your heart and running through your mind. If God has called you to this writing life, he has a time appointed for you. It will happen, and it will be perfect timing, because God’s when always is.

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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.

Don’t Skip a Word by Susan Tuttle

Image courtesy of JulesInKY on Morguefile.com

As writers we want each word we put on the page to mean something to the reader. If it doesn’t, we pull it out. We count each word—literally—and only keep those that add value to the story we’re writing. Each one is thought over and chosen with careful deliberation. And only the best word choice is used. We pour over synonyms to create the perfect picture that tells the story exactly as we created it to be seen.

We don’t want the reader to skip one single word.

This thought was with me recently as I remembered Hebrews 12:2 where God is mentioned as the author of our faith. It occurred to me that if the words I choose for my story world are selected so carefully, then the God who writes my story is doing no less. Just as we don’t want anyone to skip a word we put on the page, God doesn’t want us to miss any of the moments he’s chosen for us.

But we try, don’t we? We skip words, paragraphs, even pages out of the moments he’s penned into our lives. Sometimes they’re too painful so we avoid them. Maybe we’re incredibly busy, so we skim through certain periods. Maybe it’s a section that doesn’t hold our attention or a portion that we’re so busy rewriting in our head that we miss it all together. Whatever the reason, we skip the words.

Yet just as people won’t get the full effect of our stories if they leave pieces out, we miss out on the fullness of what God has for us when we don’t take it word-by-word. The happy, the sad, and yes, even the painful. Each word he authors in our lives is meant to build upon the next one, and when we stick around for the entire tale the end product is beyond what we could imagine. It’s our happily-ever-after.

Best of all? He meets you on every page of your story.

So don’t skip a word of it.

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.

Sandwiches & Writing by Susan Tuttle

Image compliments of MorgueFile 

I was making a sandwich for my kids the other day (an occurrence that doesn’t happen often) when it hit me…writing is like sandwich building. I’m not sure how I missed it before.

You see, first you take out the bread. That’s the framework of your story. It’s the bones you’ll be building on. This is the place where you decide what type of story you’re about to write—romantic comedy, thriller, historical; novella or novel—who your characters are and where this story is taking place. Honestly, this is where I can find ways to procrastinate the most. I love visualizing my characters and naming them. I can get lost thinking of the perfect setting or finding pictures of look-alikes online and pinning them. But while Pinterest boards are really cute, they’ll never be enough to satiate a reader. You have to add meat.

Meat. The thick part that sustains your audience. What’s the plot? In that romantic comedy, what’s going to keep the two leads apart? In the thriller, who’s your big bad and why? In the historical, are we dealing with a great moment of the past or are you creating a new one in an amazing old city? The meat is where you dig in and brainstorm your story. You discover the theme and overarching story question. You know what motivates your characters, what conflicts will arise, and how they will be resolved. Then you put it down on paper. This is where the rough draft happens. The story begins to take shape, and you get the important stuff down, but it’s not very exciting. No one wants just a meat sandwich.

It’s time for the flavor. Like swiping on mayo or spicy mustard, perhaps adding pickles or jalapeños, this is where your story really starts to shine. You add those little traits that make your character unique. Something they always say or a habit they can’t break. You flesh out the setting, adding color and depth to each location. Deepen the five senses, making sure you hit at least three per scene. You add beats and pull tags. Drop the overused sayings and replace them with fresh words. Sometimes these last layers take the longest, but they’re where the sandwich goes from ho-hum to delicious.

So where are you at today? Are you pulling out some bread, in the meat stage, or adding the flavor? Better yet, what’s your favorite part? I’m finishing up the meat of a story and ready to head into my favorite part—the flavor. Anyone else?

Hoping your sandwich building is producing something tasty today!

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.

Shine by Susan Tuttle

Diamond

Diamonds are beautiful, aren’t they? What makes them that way? Because they sure aren’t too pretty when they’re mined from the earth. Yet when someone takes them, polishes them, and cuts facets into them they suddenly burst with light. It’s the facets. They catch the light and reflect it in a rainbow of colors back out from the diamond. Gorgeous.

Our writing—our lives—need to be the same in regards to Christ. Many of us write for the CBA market, and there’s a lot of different genres within that market. Even within the same genre the stories vary. For some, the spiritual thread is obvious and unmistakable, for others it plays more quietly in the background. And just like diamonds can be cut in many different styles yet still catch the light, so can our stories.

See, not all women are drawn to the same diamond. As such, all of us will reach separate audiences—and that’s exactly how God intended it! We can’t fault people for having too much God or too little God in their stories as long as ultimately they point to him! As a writer we must write what we’re called to. We must make sure that within each facet of our story, Christ can be seen. The style in which we do it might be different, but the result is the same either way—our story reflects Christ in a brilliant burst of color coming off the page.

So when you sit to write today, make sure you’re carving him into those words. Pray over the audience he has you writing for and how he can best have you reach them. When you do, when you begin faceting that story with him guiding your hand, you’ll find it shines for him on every page.

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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.

Even Though You're Not Published... by Susan Tuttle

Susan Tuttle

About two weeks ago Sherri Shackelford wrote this amazing post here titled Writing is My Job, Really. It was one of those posts where you nod your way through it, adding a moment of laughter or a “yes” along the way. When I finished I shared it on other social media sites because as a writer I completely agreed with her points. Then I heard the question, “But what about those of us who aren’t published yet? Is it still our job?” 

I can’t say the question was a surprise. In the back of my mind (and sometimes the front—just ask my husband) I wonder the same thing. Even while I was nodding my head with Sherri’s post, a little voice inside kept saying the same thing, “This doesn’t apply until you’re published.” 

Can we all just agree to squash that voice? We’ve all heard it. For some of us it might be louder, for others it’s a continued quiet whisper, but its impact is all the same. It undermines that which we are called to do. If we want to move forward in our writing career, it is going to take work. It’s going to be our job, even when we aren’t getting paid for it. And we’ll need to approach it as such if we want others to see it that way—and**spoiler alert**even when we do see it as a job, others still might not. 

But that’s all part of this writing life. We cannot change how those around us see our writing, we can only change how we approach it. The only guarantee? If you don’t take it serious, those around you won’t either. 

So map out a schedule. Put it in ink and stick to it. I’ve found there are days I can block off a few hours and days where I only find thirty minutes—whatever it is, claim it. Find a writing space; the library, coffee shop, or your bedroom with the door locked. Invest in books that will hone your writing craft, and spend time reading them and applying what you learn. Join a writer’s group or critique group to thicken your skin. Getting your work torn apart—no matter how constructively—is never fun but always helpful (and I like to think it prepares you for the inevitable bad review some day.) 

Bottom line? It doesn’t matter how others see your writing career—it is just that, a career. This is just one stage of it. It’s a long road to publication, but if you don’t start honing your craft and taking it seriously, you’ll never get there. And with every habit you create you’re only making yourself a better writer who will be that much more prepared when the day finally comes. 

Don’t give in. Don’t give up. And don’t call it a hobby—it’s your job, really.

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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.

Character Development by Susan Tuttle

Susan Tuttle

Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. Romans 5:3

No one likes constantly happy characters or stories where nothing ever goes wrong—they call them boring. When we start a new story we know we’ll need to add layers to our characters. They’ll need good traits and a few annoying ones. They’ll need a goal to pursue and obstacles in their way. And they’ll need the all-important black moment where all seems lost. Forget any of these things and your story and characters feel one-dimensional.

Why?

Because it’s just not true to life.

Oh, I’m not talking about writing a story where the ending depresses you, because that’s not real life either—at least not as Christians. Take another look at that verse above. Suffering (which can be big or small) leads to perseverance. When our characters persevere through something, the reader cheers for them. They relate to them. They invest in them.

And what does that perseverance bring? Character. It burns off their rough edges and begins to shape them into a better person. A person that not only do our readers relate to, but one they can glimpse the fruit of their own journey in, which points to…

Hope. Because that’s next on the verse above. Suffering brings perseverance which produces character which leads to hope. The reason we write. The reason we put our characters through that black moment is because it’s the perfect backdrop to see God’s light shining brightly. All is not lost in that moment…rather hope is found.

Which is so important for our readers. Listen to the very next sentence in that verse: And hope does not disappoint us…

Our readers are never disappointed when we bring our characters through their full development process. That is why we need them—and our stories—to have the layers that take our readers from high to low and back to high again.

It’s the story of life.

It’s the story of Christ, full of hope.

And it’s that story we write. Yes, to entertain, but even bigger than that… to bring Him glory.

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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.

Not Forgotten by Susan Tuttle

Susan Tuttle

Today marks a brand new year. For some of us we watched as dreams were realized in 2014, others are wondering if they were forgotten. I get it, believe me I do. The writer’s world is a tough one. But recently while I was lamenting the fact and working on a new story, God drew a parallel for me, and I want to share it.

See, when we write we move things around. Our final draft rarely ever resembles our first draft. For the story to work we need to cut things out and shift other things into position. Sometimes we need to add new elements. And why? Because we want the story to work. All of the painful process; that part that’s grueling work, that part that feels like we’re going backward rather than forward, that part that feels like we’re creating a mess rather than a story, all of that is what produces the glowing finished product.

Well, Hebrews tells us that Jesus is “the author and perfecter of our faith” which means he’s writing our life story. Just like when we write, in our lives there are seasons of shifting, adding, and editing that we need to go through. In those moments when it feels like we’re not making headway, when frustration grows, God is still working. No, we don’t have the finished product in our hands—we might not even be able to see it—but the process of our story is still occurring. Oh, we’d love the end product without the editing process, but it’s the hard work of the editing that makes the story shine.

And just like when we write, we cannot give into the frustration of the moment and give up. Our stories will never make it out there if we quit.

So as you begin this new year, I challenge you to spend time with your Author. To ask what part of the process he has you currently in, for the wisdom to travel through it, and for the strength to continue forward.

Because your dream has not been forgotten; it’s still being written.

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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.

Balanced by Susan Tuttle

Photo Credit: noppasinwfreedigitalphotos.net

It’s that time of year again! Full of lists to check twice, cookies to bake, homes to decorate, movies to watch, and hot cocoa to drink. There are family parties, wrapping parties, gift-exchange parties, ornament parties…

Oh, and there’s our writing.

And it’s oh-so-easy to lose ourselves in our creative worlds and characters. Or in making sure we’re still on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram with enough posts, likes, and comments.

So how do we find balance this time of year? Some of us have self-imposed deadlines, others have agent or publishing deadlines. And these pile on top of the demands of the season. Yet we don’t want our memories of this special time of year to be us pulling our hair out!

What’s the solution then? We pray. We ask the God who created time to help us manage ours. We write down the must-dos and even a few of the want-tos and then pray over them. Then we set realistic expectations. Is it a must for your manuscript to be done this month, or can you scale back your word count for these few weeks? Do you have to create as many blog posts, or can you take a Christmas break? Can you pick a specific day of each week to step away from social media and socialize with the people around you?

Ask God. Give him your time and your schedule. Be sensitive to what he’s asking of you, because sometimes we put huge expectations on ourselves and miss out on some pretty amazing moments. Be responsible, yes. Get your work done, for sure. But don’t forget the silly, fun moments too.

Praying you find balance this Christmas:)

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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.

The Tools of Your Trade by Susan Tuttle

Susan Tuttle

This is our last post from David and Goliath. We’ve hung out here for my past two posts, starting with “Tune Out and Turn Away”, which reminded us to listen only to the voice of God, no one else’s. Then we moved on to “Recount, Recall, and Apply”, noting how we must stand firm in our faith and what God has called us to do.

Today we’re going to talk about the tools God has equipped us with. We rejoin David as he prepares to go to battle. He hasn’t listened to the discouragement coming from his peer group or his king…rather he listened to his King. Nothing to this point detoured him from getting to where God called him. And now, even Saul is on board with David going after Goliath. In fact, Saul even helps him. Take a look:

Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.”

Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them.

“I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off. Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine. 1 Samuel 17:38-40

Sounds great, doesn’t it? Here is David’s king, a man who is a battle-expert himself, readying David for war. Saul knows his stuff! David is lucky to have him pass on any help he can.

Except, Saul wasn’t handing out pointers, he was turning David into a Mini-Me, placing his own clothes onto David, and those clothes didn’t fit. Rather than a help, they became an impediment because they were meant for Saul, not David.

I see this in the writing industry often. People scramble around to fit into the current hot genre simply to be published—but that may not be where God is calling you. I also watch as young writers allow more experienced writers to mold their voices into Mini-Me’s rather than maintaining the unique voice God gave them.

Please don’t get me wrong, God may very well call you from writing contemporary to speculative, or maybe he’s gifted you with the ability to do both. And I’m by no means downplaying the role of mentors in our lives, because we all need them to grow. What I am saying, however, is you must be sure that everything you approach is with the covering God has given you. If something new you’re trying doesn’t feel like it fits, there just might be a reason. Pause and pray, walk around in those new clothes for a moment…still feel uncomfortable? Then perhaps they aren’t for you.

For David, this meant shedding the armor of Saul and picking back up his staff, sling, and shepherd’s bag and trusting that God would use those simple measures to do the impossible. He didn’t need the armor of another warrior, God produced a warrior with the tools he’d already grown in David. Had David tried to use another’s, he wouldn’t have succeeded.

Bottom line? God created us with unique talents and voices—and he wants us to use them. Not to put on anyone else’s clothes because that’s the way it’s been done before or what’s currently working. He gave you what you need, and he’s training you in how to use those tools, (look back at 1 Samuel 17: 34-36 and see how David had been trained!) so don’t pick up anyone else’s instruments.

Don’t try to model yourself after anyone but God and who he created you to be. The tools he gives are all you’ll ever need to walk the path he’s placed you on.

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About Susan:

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.