When Words Are Scarce by Emily Conrad

Writers write.

That’s the only qualification we have to meet to call ourselves writers: we must write.

It sounds easy, but writing is much more complicated than a two- or three-word sentence.

In order to write, we make space in our schedules and we take care of ourselves so we can have both the time and the energy. But, even when these variables are under control, we sometimes lack the spark of inspiration.

Even if we want to write, even if we sit down to write, words do not always appear on the page.

I would know. It’s November, and I’m still trying to wrap up a manuscript I started in February and hoped to finish before August. Entire weeks have gone by without my adding to the word total of the work in progress.

But after months of struggle, on October 27th, I wrote more than 4000 words. That’s more than double what I usually can write—on a good day. What’s more, this standout day is part of a larger streak, where I wrote 24,000 words in just over two weeks. That's an incredible run, considering the first 58,000 words took me about eight months.

So what happened?

God answered a prayer.

As a Christian writer, I’m concerned that my words would honor Him. When I pray about my writing, that tends to be the direction my petitions go.

Lord, whatever I write, may my words bring You glory.

I still want my words to bring God glory, but I've realized now pride laced that prayer. I had this underlying belief that I'd be able to write because of factors I could control. Difficult hours at (or avoiding) the keyboard proved me wrong.

I need God to provide words in the first place, and also for Him to shape those words in the way He desires to fulfill His purposes. So, about two weeks ago, I switched the focus of my prayer.

I prayed for God to give me words.

Ask, and you’ll receive. He's answered that prayer abundantly.

As I write this post, describing what happened, part of me feels like a disclaimer is necessary. This past year has brought some tough events, and it could be that I’ve made progress in healing. I’ve also been using some calming, inspiring routines, like burning a candle and listening to music.

And yet, as the words started to flow, I knew. I knew I’d just changed my prayers, and I knew that whatever tools God used to get me to this breakthrough, the resulting words are from Him.

Routines and moods and all the self-care in the world won’t result in words unless God provides them. God, the Master Creator, the Word become flesh, is the one who gives all good gifts, including any words we might be eager to give back to Him.

Writers write, but Christian writers never write alone.

As we pray for our writing, may we never neglect to acknowledge that we have nothing to dedicate to God that He doesn't give us first. May we humbly ask Him to provide inspiration and words and then ask that He would use those words when and how He sees fit.

Lord, creativity and inspiration come from You. I pray you would give me just the right words today for each project I approach, whether it's a novel, a blog post, or an interaction with a friend. Without You, I have nothing, so I pray you would provide all that I need to serve You. May all my words be pleasing to You and bring glory to Your name.

_____________________

Writers write. It sounds easy, but writing is much more complicated than a two-word sentence. @emilyrconrad on defeating #writersblock as a #Christianwriter #seriouslywrite

God, the Master Creator, the Word become flesh, is the one who gives all good gifts, including any words we might be eager to give back to Him. @emilyrconrad on #writersblock and #writing #christianfiction for #seriouslywrite

Writers write, but Christian #writers never write alone. @emilyrconrad on #writersblock for #seriouslywrite #writetip

Photo credits
Blank postcard photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
Typewriter photo by Florian Klauer on Unsplash
Blank book photo by Martha Dominguez de Gouveia on Unsplash



Graphics created on Canva.com

Emily Conrad writes Christian romance and a blog to encourage women of faith. Her debut novel, Justice, released from Pelican Book Group in 2018. She lives in Wisconsin with her husband and two rescue dogs. She loves Jesus and enjoys road trips to the mountains, crafting stories, and drinking coffee. (It’s no coincidence Justice is set mostly in a coffee shop!) She offers free short stories on her website and loves to connect with readers on social media.

www.emilyconradauthor.com
Facebook.com/emilyconradauthor
Instagram.com/emilyrconrad
Twitter.com/emilyrconrad

JUSTICE

The love of a lifetime, a quest for justice, and redemption that can only be found by faith.

Jake thought he was meant to marry Brooklyn, but now she's pregnant, and he had nothing to do with it.

Brooklyn can’t bring herself to name the father as she wrestles with questions about what her pregnancy means and how it will affect her relationship with Jake.

If Harold Keen, the man who owns the bookstore across from Jake's coffee shop, has anything to do with it, the baby will ruin them both.

Can Jake and Brooklyn overcome the obstacles thrown in their path, and finally find the truth in God's love and in each other?


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What To Do When Your Manuscript Is Stuck by Vannetta Chapman

Vannetta Chapman

I love new ideas. You know that moment--the one where you're looking at a brand new page, on a clean new document. That place where you are just beginning. It's like an unmarked page on a brand new calendar. There are limitless possibilities!
Fast forward a month, or several months, and suddenly you're rather tired of these people you have created. You're not sure where they're headed, or why they're going there. You really wish you could just move on to another project. Or maybe that's just me!

So what do you do when your manuscript is stuck in the mud? How do you move on? I'm working on my twenty-fifth manuscript, so I have some experience with this phenomenon. Here are a few things that have helped me over the hump.

• Stop and write your ending. I do this every book now. I begin at the beginning, and then write until I'm bored. That's usually somewhere between 30 and 40 thousand words. When I find myself STUCK (playing more solitaire, cleaning out the bottom desk drawer--you know the symptoms), I move on and write the ending of my story. This might be one chapter or a dozen. You might be asking, “How can you know the ending if you don't know the middle?” I just envision where I want my characters to be when the book is done.
• Take a break! Sometimes you need a day or two, maybe even a week, away from your manuscript. Set a defined limit and give yourself time off, then start back at it with a well-rested mind.
• Go to the hammock with a pen and paper. Write down 10 things that could happen to your characters. Don't police your thoughts. Anything goes here! Be as outlandish as you'd like. The next day look at your list, pick one idea, and follow that thread.
• Consult your notes. If you had any original notes for your manuscript (or even an outline, maybe a synopsis), pull it out and look at it. No doubt, your characters have developed in different ways than you imagined and your plot has taken a few curves. What about those original notes still appeals to you?
• Pray. You initially felt that God put this story on your heart to share. Ask for guidance and a direction. Ask that God bless your words and your work and use it to touch lives.
• Keep writing. Even when it feels like you're writing complete nonsense, keep writing. Push through until you find the path your characters are supposed to take. Yes, you may delete some of these pages later, but deleting is not a problem. Just. Keep. Writing.

Being stuck is not a sign of imminent disaster. In my opinion, it's a natural part of the writing process. Hopefully one of these ideas will help you when you’re stuck in the mud. Now it's your turn. What suggestions do you have for writers who are stuck?

About the Author

Murder Freshly Baked
by Vannetta Chapman

Vannetta Chapman writes inspirational fiction full of grace. Her novel, Falling to Pieces, was a 2012 ACFW Carol Award winner for best mystery. She writes Amish mysteries for Zondervan, Amish romances for Harvest House and Amish novellas for Abingdon and Zondervan. All of her books have been Christian Book Distributor bestsellers. Her most recent release is Murder Freshly Baked, the third book in her Amish Village Mystery series. Chapman lives in the Texas hill country with her husband.

Murder Freshly Baked
When delicious baked goods become lethal, a trail of poetry leads to a sweet-toothed killer.

The Amish Artisan Village of Middlebury, Indiana, might be the last place you would ever expect to find a murderer. But Amber has been managing the Village for decades and there’s nothing she hasn’t seen. Or so she thought.

When poetic notes begin appearing around the bakery, warning that some of the pies have been poisoned, Amber is as confused as she is concerned. Who poisons pies? And more to the point, who leaves poems of warning after they’ve done it?

Can Amber and Hannah help the police before the Poison Poet strikes? Both women will need to draw on their faith to preserve the peaceful community they’ve built in Middlebury . . . and to protect the girls who work in the Amish Artisan Village.

Writer's Block by Sandra Orchard

Sandra Orchard on the scene of her book, "Perilous Waters"

Angie invited me to talk about how to persevere through writer’s block, which I unhappily have TOO much experience in.

Oh, it didn’t used to be this way. In bygone days when I was blithely oblivious to such things as character arcs, pacing, romantic conflict, and a myriad of other editor expectations, stories flowed unhindered from my fingertips to the computer screen.

Now…my creativity is cursed by my analytical mind. And trust me, I’ve tried to turn it off, to write those “fast drafts” people like to talk about, and every two or three books, it almost works!

But typically I face a bout of writer’s block halfway through every book. I usually have the story well outlined before I start, but somewhere along the way, the characters lead me astray, and I merrily follow ... only to find I’ve written myself into a corner and don’t know how to get out.

Can you relate?

Have you stomped around the house, ranted about unruly characters and devoured chocolate—God’s most story-inspiring food group—without effect?

Then try these tips:

1. Pray. Get into God’s Word and listen to what He’s telling you. He is our ultimate source of inspiration, the well that will never run dry. And honestly, sometimes we get stuck because God needs to deal with our character flaws before we can help our characters overcome theirs.
   
   
2. After step one, by far the most useful exercise I’ve found to help me break through writer’s block is cluster mapping. The key to figuring out what happens next is asking good questions then letting the answers generate more questions and answers and see where they lead.
   
   So, for example, in the center of the page, I might start with the question, What happens next? From it, I’ll radiate off all sorts of possibilities from various characters’ points of view then ask, Why does that matter? Why would the reader care? This helps me eradicate the mundane and discover the extraordinary, and best of all, to surprise myself. Hopefully, if I’m surprising myself, my reader will be surprised, too! Here’s a pic to help you see what I mean.

   

   An Example of Cluster Mapping

   
   I did this one while writing Fatal Inheritance when that voice in my head told me the villain wasn’t who I thought he was. I mean that the villain was literally a different person than I had in my synopsis (which has turned out to be the case for every book I’ve written since!) I did this map to help me figure out who was really the villain. Oh, and did I mention that this voice in my head didn’t start hounding me until a month before the manuscript was due?!
   
   As you can see this is a messy process. Ideas come a mile a minute. But the exercise is an incredibly energizing creativity boost as it encourages me to think outside of the box.
   
   
3. If clustering doesn’t boot you out of your block, get together with a couple of writing buddies (online if need be) and talk out your story, what’s working, what’s not. More often than not, one of my friends will spot what’s paralyzed me and we’re able to brainstorm fixes. Admittedly, the fixes are never as easy to write as they make it sound, because I first have to divorce myself from what I’ve already written. But it is precisely because my friends aren’t married to my writing that they gave a clearer perspective.
   
   
4. Another strategy that’s worked for me is skipping ahead to a scene I know how to write. Oftentimes the bridging scenes will reveal themselves as I write this later scene.
   
   
5. When all else fails, take a day off. Do something you enjoy, something that inspires you. The solutions to story problems often come when you give your mind time to work on them subconsciously, so be sure to keep a pen and notebook handy. But don’t stay away from your novel too long or you’ll never finish it!

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Writer's block? Pray. Get into God’s Word and listen to what He’s telling you.
The key to figuring out what happens next is asking good questions.
Skip ahead to a scene that you know how to write.
Solutions for Writer's Block? Share them with us!

About the Author

Sandra Orchard is the award-winning author of several inspirational romantic suspense/mysteries, including Deadly Devotion and Blind Trust. Her Love Inspired Suspense titles have garnered two Canadian Christian Writing Awards and a Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award. Sandra has also received a Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense. In addition to her busy writing schedule, Sandra enjoys speaking at events and teaching writing workshops. She lives in Ontario, Canada. Learn more about Sandra’s books and check out the special bonus features, such as deleted scenes and location pics, at http://sandraorchard.com.

Perilous Waters

Perilous Waters
by Sandra Orchard

UNDER SUSPICION

For FBI agent Sam Steele, there’s no room for error or emotions on his latest undercover assignment. Getting close to gallery owner Jennifer Robbins while on an Alaskan cruise is the only way to catch her dealing stolen art. Out on the icy seas, Jen suddenly goes from suspect to victim when she’s targeted by a deadly enemy. And Sam’s mission goes from investigating an art crime to protecting the woman who’s begun to melt his heart. As danger looms closer, he’ll do anything to save her life—even if it costs him his own.

What others are saying about PW:

“Levelheaded characters, beautiful description and strong action abound. Clinging to God as our “ship” is a nicely woven ideal for the inspirational arc.” 4 stars RT Book Reviews

“Perilous Waters kept me on the edge of my loveseat as I followed twin sisters Jennifer and Cassandra in and out of danger and love on an Alaskan cruise. With enough plot twists to keep me guessing and enough romance to keep me smiling, I sailed through this lovely, nail-biting story in record time.” Jeanette Levellie

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