Choosing Joy!

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow ~ James 1:2-3 NLT

I don’t know about you, but when things aren't going my way I don’t consider it an opportunity for great joy.  In fact, I consider it quite the opposite.   

I've had a great deal of trouble in my life.  I grew up in a pretty tumultuous household.  My mother unknowingly married a man after my father that was sexually abusive.  My father spent the most impressionable years of my life in prison.  I made some pretty outrageous choices in my young adult life that lead to disastrous consequences for both me and my children.  I’ll spare the details.  That could turn into a whole book…

Ten years ago, I found myself crying out to God:  Why?  Why has my life been so awful?  Why can’t things seem to go right for me?  Why do I keep making the same stupid choices? God, I need your help!!   I quickly discovered  that He had been waiting for me all along. Waiting for me to turn to Him. Waiting for me to let Him take control. Once I did, He turned every test into a testimony, every mess into a message. Every ounce of trouble that has come my way, he has used to shape me into the woman I am today.  He is using my past to help others who are struggling with the same things. 

What about you?  Are you facing trials?  Are you in the middle of something you are certain you cannot endure? Would you consider making it an opportunity for great joy, trusting that God can use all of it for His glory and for your testimony?   Now, suffering with joy does not mean that you don’t feel pain; it simply means that you choose to trust him in spite of your pain.  You choose to proclaim your love for Him in spite of your circumstances.  His word says that He works ALL things out for good for those who love him!  Will you choose JOY today?

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 

Heavenly Father, thank you that you are with us when we face trials and trouble.  Give us the strength we need to choose JOY.  Allow our pain to be used for your glory and while we are in the midst of it, comfort us and bring us peace that passes all understanding.  In Jesus Name, Amen!  

By Allison Herrin, Founder and Executive Director of Maia, an organization dedicated to the advocacy of single moms and their children. Alison blogs at www.heartabandoned.org. Follow her on twitter at @allisonherrin.

Creating an Online Portfolio

From Contently.com

When I was applying for internships and my first newspaper job, I spent hours trying to get my published articles photocopied. It’s not easy to shrink a full-size newspaper down to a readable 8 x 11 sheet of paper. Then I made copies of my resume, created a customized cover letter and put together a packet of information to mail to prospective employers. It was time consuming – and expensive.

Fast forward, er, just a few years later and a majority of my clips are online. Now I have a website and online portfolio where I add links to my articles. If someone wants a sample of my work, I can simply forward a link to my website.

In fact, most editors don’t want that big envelope of newspaper and magazine clips. If you’ve even seen an editor’s desk you know she has more than enough stacks of paper. Today everyone wants to see your work online – it’s much easier.

That means it’s critical for writers to have an online presence. That could be a blog or a professional website where people can learn more about you and your work. Even a blog needs an “About” tab and another page to showcase work you might have had published elsewhere.

Keeping an updated LinkedIn profile is another good way to highlight your professional experience.

In a recent issue of Inc. magazine, I read about three products that allow you to quickly and cheaply create a personal webpage. These don’t give you a space for adding a portfolio, but it’s a good start if you don’t have an online presence and at least want a bio and photo on the Internet. 

Here are Inc.’s recommendations:

• RebelMouse for a collage type site for your social media posts. Free for a basic account.
• About.Me for a one-page site with your photo, bio and social media links. No place for creating a portfolio but a good start if you don’t have any online presence. Free.
• Vizify for an aggregate of your social media accounts presented in infographic form. Free.

Now to go a step further and create a true online portfolio, check out:

• Writer’s Residence for creating a space for your resume, published work and bio. $8.99/month.
• Writerfolio for a nice clean web space. $4/month.
• Contently for a professional portfolio and branding tools.  You can also join their Pro.Network to get work from publishers.

These are just a few of the many options out there. Let us know if you’ve tried a particular site you really love.

How To: Start Writing Again

Christmas is over and if your like me you've realized you haven't written anything, in well, a month. Since being stuffed with turkey your blog hasn't been stuff with anything. Here are some great ways to get your writing grove back.

Participate in a link up:
Link up are a great way to not only write something, but meet other bloggers. Most bloggers out there host a link up or participate. Link ups are easy to use. There is normally some sort of writing prompt,  a place to add your link, then a list of people who have "linked up" where you can ready what they have posted.

Read:
Reading goes a long way. Reading gets those wheels turning, rattles off the dust and can inspire you.

Journal/ Free writing:
I love these two! I not only have a blog, but keep an actual journal. The act of handwriting helps my brain focus. Many times I use my journal as a free writing tool. Free writing is a simple exercise where you just start to write with out any thought of structure. Sometimes when you read back over your writing you find some great quotes you can use, but most of the time is just random writing. It doesn't matter because it gets you writing again.

Let's have a Voices link up!

What are you looking forward to in 2013?

Turn Your Memoir into Fiction

This weekend I had the pleasure of teaching a writer's workshop at Create:Saturday on the Seacoast Summerville Campus.  The writers who attended the workshop were so excited about their writing, they inspired me in my own writing. What an unexpected gift.

One man at the workshop told me he is a Sci-fi writer, but really wants to write his autobiography. He told me about the unconventional childhood he'd had and how, despite it all, God had brought him through. In listening to his stories, I was truly mesmerized. The characters he described and the settings he told me about were captivating. I wanted to hear more about them, but our time was limited.

That conversation got me thinking. He will probably have a very hard time selling his memoir even though it will probably be better than most memoirs our there. Let's face it, when you query a memoir to an agent or editor, you get the "speech":  Memoirs don't sell, unless, of course, they are the life story of a celebrity or some notorious character. Memoir writers often have to decide if they will push through the discouragement or give up altogether.

I would like to suggest a third option. (It's the same one I gave to this man at the workshop.)

Take the one of a kind characters and settings from your life and put them into a work of fiction. 

Since this man is already a novelist, he understands story arc and pacing. If he drops in the rich characters and detailed settings only he has experienced, he could have the makings of a bestseller. Now he will have a whole different kind of query and a book that is a much easier sell to an agent or editor.

So how about it? Would you consider turning your memoir into a novel if it meant actually selling it to a publisher and seeing it in print?

5 Actions You Should Take Before You Write Your Manuscript As Per Michael Hyatt

I just spent an hour on a teleseminar with Michael Hyatt... (and 10,000 of my closest friends). He spoke about the world of publishing as it is now, how to build a platform (based on his bestseller PLATFORM), the pros and cons of self-publishing, etc.  One of the most valuable nuggets of wisdom he shared was:

5 Actions You Should Take Before You Write Your Manuscript

1. Set a specific written goal. What is it you want to do? (Your answer here would be: write your book.) When will it be done? (Yes, this is an ACTUAL DATE.) What is my end goal? (This is where you decide what you want to do with your manuscript when it's done. Such as traditional publishing or self-publishing.)

2. Accept responsibility for the outcome. The old adage of : "You get out of it what you put into it" applies here. No one can do it for you, so YOU do it for you. I appreciated that reminder.

3. Connect with your "Why". Why do you want...no... why MUST, you write this book? Write this out in bullet points. Michael told a story about how he grew discouraged at one point while writing Platform and actually considered giving the advance back to the publisher and ending the project. But instead, he went back to his written "Why" and it inspired him all over again to write his book.  That spoke volumes to me and encouraged me to persevere in my goal.

4. Develop a writing schedule. Map it out. Put it on the calendar. Be committed to it.

5. Write a killer proposal. "A proposal is what gets everyone on board." - Michael Hyatt  He said author should write the original proposal themselves first, so they have a clear direction for where their book is going. If you want to hire someone to re-write it for you before submitting it to agents/editors, that's fine.  But write it first yourself.

I really enjoyed this free teleseminar. I highly recommend taking advantage of Michael's extensive publishing knowledge by participating if he offers one again. The best ways to find out about these teleseminar opportunities would be to follow his blog at www.michaelhyatt.com , follow him on twitter @michaelhyatt, or listen to his podcast.

5 Perfect Gifts for the Writer in Your Life

In the spirit of Black Friday, I'm going to save you the long lines and cranky shoppers at your local Barnes&Noble and list the top 5 must-have books for all the writers on your list.  Just click on the books, order from Amazon, and your shopping is done!




1.  On Writing by Stephen King. Yes, the Stephen King. On Writing gives the reader a class in writing while telling the story of Stephen's writing journey. It's a must read! (Scribner, 2010)








2. Platform by Michael Hyatt. In today's WW (Writing World) an author needs to learn how to get her book noticed and Platform shows you how, step by step. Reading this book is like hiring your own Social Media/PR firm for the bargain price of  $13.63 on Amazon. (Thomas Nelson, 2012.)








3. 2013 Writer's Market by Robert Lee Brewer. It's the Cadillac of market guides for writers. All the cool kids have it. Enough said.









4. Story Engineering by Larry Brooks. Larry Brooks looks at fiction as something that is built - layer upon layer. Here he offers 6 parts of telling a good story that when mastered, build the perfectly compelling story. It's a formula for success in fiction.








5. A good grammar book. I have shown the Webster's New World English Grammar Handbook here, but there are many, many good ones on the market. Absolutely essential for any writer serious about being taken seriously as a writer is a good grammar book. (Ok, I'm not sure about my  grammar there...I think I'll check my book.)





What did I tell you? Christmas shopping made easy. No long lines and no cranky sales people.  Just click and order. You're welcome. Happy Thanksgiving to all!
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October Writing Contest Winner: Amie Heath

gold

I used to think gold was a simple word. One that described the color of some kind of piece of jewelry that I would have wanted in high school. In looking at the definition it confirms those thoughts, but provides so much more insight:

gold /g?ld/

Noun

A yellow precious metal, the chemical element of atomic number 79, valued esp. for use in jewelry and decoration, and to guarantee the value of currencies

An alloy of this (ex. 9-carat gold)

A deep lustrous yellow or yellow-brown color

Coins or articles made of gold

Money in large sums; wealth

A thing that is precious, beautiful, or brilliant

I like this last definition of gold - a thing that is precious, beautiful or brilliant. It changes my perspective of the word. It challenges the value of the word in my head - makes me wonder what exactly is gold in my life?

It isn't just the necklace my parents gave me so many years ago for my 16th birthday, the color of the leaves in the fall as they shift from deep greens to reds and yellows, burning bright in the soft sunlight. There is something deeper to this.

Gold is a thing that is precious, beautiful or brilliant. The title of the poem Nothing Gold Can Stay by Robert Frost seems to untrue. God calls me precious. His beauty surrounds me and the verse describing the very streets in heaven jumps to the front of my mind.

The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass. - Revelation 21:21

Have we reached a wrong conclusion?

Put things to a narrow definition.

There's a need to broaden our perspective,

change the angle in which we view.

Ask ourselves the question,

Is it possible that gold can stay?

Amie (aka 'bigredhead) has been married for almost 15 years to the Jolly German, who has patience to put up with starter problems on a day-to-day basis. They don't have any of their own children, but have impacted the lives of 100's as she ministers at the North Charleston Dream Center.