People Are People

Thursdays – Dawn’s Devotions for Writers

“Your beginnings will seem humble,
so prosperous will your future be.” (Job 8:7 NIV)

What descriptions come to mind about car salesmen—especially used car salesmen? Sleezy? Dishonest?

I thought that way for years. Then I was placed in a situation where I needed to find a job. One opportunity after another fell through, and I found myself applying for a position at a large dealership. I couldn’t believe it. Me! Working there? But, the management wanted to hire me. Out of desperation, I took the position helping with customer service and administrative responsibilities, believing that I’d get out sooner than later.

I did eventually move on to another job—nine years later! But what I learned during my stay was invaluable in terms of people and interacting with them. For instance, most people in the car business are not dishonest. They’re just hardworking individuals wanting to provide for their families, while doing the best they can to serve their customers. They worry about bills, sick kids, and getting to school functions. They bleed just like everyone else.

I think misperceptions can also occur when viewing successful authors.

Before I got serious about writing and joined the "publishing world,” it was easy for me to think that in order to be published, you had to be exceptionally gifted and “special.” I put favorite authors on pedestals. I envisioned them spending lazy mornings in a cottage at the ocean, writing only when inspiration hit. I didn't know how hard writers work at their craft. I never dreamed of speaking to published authors, let alone calling them friends.

Once again, my perceptions were so wrong. Authors, agents, and editors are just people. They’re hardworking individuals wanting to provide for their families, while doing the best they can to serve God and their readers. They worry about bills, sick kids, and getting to school functions. They bleed just like everyone else.

And that cottage at the ocean? That may happen on rare occasions, but most of the time, we’re all pounding away on our computers in our home offices, at the kitchen table, and in coffee shops. And today, I’m happy and honored to call some of my favorite authors friends.

The point? Don’t feel less than another writer. Don’t worry that because you’re using a worn out laptop with an old version of Word that you can’t create a good story. Don’t believe that because your work has been rejected 101 times that it’s pointless to try again. Don’t ever think that God can’t use your passion for writing to bless others and make an impact in their lives.

People are people no matter how big or small—how young or old. No one is better than the next person. God can use us all.

Dawn

Grammar-O

Grammar-O Wednesdays
with Ocieanna

Happy Wednesday, grammarians! Ready to test your mad grammar skills?

Each week I (Ocieanna) post a few sentences with grammar, punctuation, spelling, or other writing misdemeanors. Your job is to find the infraction and set it right. If you possess the courage, you’re welcome to post your corrections in the comments, or you may simply keep your grammar to yourself. Then next week, I’ll post the answers.

Have fun!

This week’s new batch:

1) Goals, dreams, ideas, plans—the New Year stirs a desire in me to think about the coming months.

2) With a sense of optimism, I look up Biblical passages which encourage me that The Lord will guide my steps.

3) Then I love to write down these goals I now treasure as pointing to future happiness and accomplishments which perhaps I’ve dreamed about for many years but have real hope that this will be the year to get them done or perhaps just get the first step done and that will be enough.

4) Perhaps these New Year goals will never be accomplished. What may get in the way is un-foreseen obstacles.

5) But I still relish the time of dreaming knowing that what-ever may happen, the Lord’s sovereign hand always guides and leads me.

6) This year and every year.


(Remember, the point is to hunt out the blatantly illegal, not matters of preference or opinion.)

Good luck and have fun!


Here are the corrected ones from last time:

1) With Christmas in ten-short days, I’ve been thinking about how they celebrated Christ’s birth in year’s past.
Correct: With Christmas in ten short days, I’ve been thinking about how they celebrated Christ’s birth in years past.

2) During World War 2, on the homefront, they had very little with which to create a fancy festivity.
Correct: During World War II, ladies on the homefront had very little with which to create a fancy festivity.

3) While their men—on ships, in the battle fields, or far-away barracks—feasted on the best the military had to offer, which wasn’t much.
Correct: Their men—on ships, in the battlefields, or in far-away barracks—feasted on the best the military had to offer, which wasn’t much.

4) The folks at home used their ration tickets to buy a bit of sugar and meat, some even created makeshift turkey’s out of sausage!
Correct: The folks at home used their ration tickets to buy a bit of sugar and meat; some even created makeshift turkeys out of sausage!

5) Like the men who served in World War 2, we still have many brave soldiers who will be away from their families’ this Christmas.
Correct: Like the men who served in World War II, many brave soldiers will be away from their families this Christmas.


Well, how’d you do? Do you think you fixed all the sentences?

*Disclaimer: I’m by no means perfect at this. I use The Chicago Manual of Style and Webster’s Dictionary as my sources. The sentences to correct are fictitious.

New Year New Groove Series: New Goals

Hey everyone, Annette here. Happy New Year! Welcome to the New Year New Groove series.

Have you set your 2011 goals yet?

Each New Year offers us a mental restart, doesn’t it? We give ourselves permission to make changes, to start fresh. We get motivated to make lists, set goals, commit to resolutions. But none of that will help us if we don’t follow through.

What helps you follow through? I get a charge out of crossing things off my list. How about you?

We writers have to be (or become) self-starters. Set goals and strive to meet them. Then set new ones. ACFW’s Novel Track: Writing is great for this. (A new writing challenge began this month. Learn more at ACFW.com)

A new year is a great time to change things up. Maybe rework your schedule, try something new. If you used to write only after work when you’re tired and brain fried, perhaps try writing first thing in the morning before work.

If you’re used to not finding any time to write, try giving yourself fifteen minutes here and there. You’ll be amazed at how much you can do when you give yourself permission to do it.

There’s a great reward in setting new goals and meeting them. A delicious and satisfying sense of accomplishment!

So, find what works for you in productivity and do it. No excuses. It’s a New Year, a new beginning. Roll up your sleeves and get to it.

Happy writing in the New Year!

Goal Setting by Kim Vogel Sawyer

Happy New Year! This first Manuscript Monday of 2011, let's dive into goal setting with a very prolific writer, Kim Vogel Sawyer. We hope you're inspired to approach your own writing this year with renewed enthusiasm. Enjoy!

Goal Setting
by Kim Vogel Sawyer

God gave me the privilege of publication. Along with contracts comes little details, like deadlines. Because my deadlines tumble one on top of another at a rather rapid pace (I have a book due every four months), I don’t have a lot of wiggle time between those “turn it in NOW” dates. Consequently, I discipline myself to stick to a writing schedule.

Since my novels are supposed to be between 90 and 100K words (and I seem to always lean toward the longer edge of that range), and since I usually take a couple of weeks for research/character-building and a couple of weeks for editing, that leaves approximately twelve weeks for the actual writing. Bring on the daily goal chart!

Twelve weeks equates to 84 days. But I immediately subtract 12, because I don’t write on Sundays. It’s a personal thing. :o) That leaves 72 days. Then I cross off the 12 Saturdays. If I get in a pinch I might write on Saturday, but I really try to keep those open either for family, speaking events, or book signings. That brings me down to 60 days. 60 days to write 100K words! Are you panicking yet? Honestly, it’s doable. When you divide 100K by 60, you get roughly 1700 words needed each of those days to meet the deadline. I bump that number up to 2000, which is approximately eight pages. That doesn’t sound so overwhelming, does it?
So here’s my goal: an average of 10,000 words per week. I record my daily word count as well as a running total to keep track of where I am in the completion of the novel. If I fall behind one week due to outside commitments or appointments, I make it up the following week. Seeing that number climb toward the magic 100,000 words is very motivating.

Something else that keeps me motivated is finding an accountability partner—someone who asks on a daily basis, “How’d the writing go today?” Or even just posting my count on Facebook gives me an accountability. If I reach my goal—i.e., turn in the book on time!—I reward myself and my husband (because he has to leave me alone and let me write!) with a dinner out.

Basically, setting goals gives me a tangible something to work toward. It insures I’ll be pleasing my publisher by sticking to their schedule for the book, and it lets me have a life outside of my office, too. Because when I meet my daily word count, I know I’ve completed my task for the day and can go see the grandkiddos or visit a friend or take my mom to lunch or just play with my cats. So meeting the goal has its rewards.

Writing takes discipline, and establishing and meeting goals is a big part of that. Blessings to you as you write for Him!

~~~~~

Kim's latest book, Courting Miss Amsel, released January 1, 2011.

Edythe Amsel is delighted with her first teaching assignment: a one-room schoolhouse in Walnut Hill, Nebraska. Independent, headstrong, and a firm believer in a well-rounded education, Edythe is ready to open the world to the students in this tiny community. But is Walnut Hill ready for her?

~~~~~

A former elementary school teacher who loves "C" words like children, cats, and chocolate, Kim Vogel Sawyer has become one of the most beloved authors writing for the inspirational market today. Drawn to her gentle stories and connecting with the spiritual truths in them, readers continue to fall in love with Kim’s novels. Kim and her husband are empty-nesters who make their home on the beautiful plains of central Kansas, the setting for many of her books.