The last few weeks, I’ve spent at a cabin in the north Georgia mountains, working outside in the woods to clean and landscape with natural plants, relaxing inside, and writing and editing Book 3 in the Soul’s Warfare series: The Horned Edge.
This place is where, as a troubled atheist, I sat on the front porch with my Grandma while she gently told me about Jesus. I didn’t have a sudden conversion, but God later took me by the hand and carried me across the Abyss to His side.
My passion, my desire is for my writing to lead people to the One who can help them cross the Abysses in their lives. He is a good Lord, and He loves you.
As an author trying to produce more and make more sales, I read a lot about my craft. The weight of resources out there is staggering! What to choose? How many writing gurus can I sustain?
How many gurus do you want?
For a while, I accumulated more newsletters, podcasts, free internet sites than I could manage. My eyes hurt from all the reading, and my emails stacked up until I felt desperate to keep up.
In The Next Right Thing, Emily P. Freeman has a whole chapter on “Stop Collecting Gurus.” (Pp. 143-151.”) So, I created a guru boundary. I’m down to about 5 newsletters and 2 podcasts—and I get into ‘em enough to feel encouraged, not overwhelmed.
However, there may be something fantastic out there. I am still open to considering new stellar writing resources. Tell me, what do you recommend?
A writer friend named Linda P. has this to say to anyone struggling with a project:
The root of procrastination is perfectionism.
And the root of perfectionism is low self-esteem.
I’ve been reading notes from writers conferences that I attended this year, and I’m amazed at the technical aspects of writing and selling a book. Bids and CTRs and Reviews and sponsored ads, line editing, developmental editing, beta reader, subtext … yikes! I felt very small and hopeless in the face of all that ocean of writing and promotion necessities.
But when I battle low self-esteem, I do have Someone to turn to who loves me very much: Jesus. Galatians 2:20 says, “He loved me and gave himself for me.” So, before I turn to the task of editing my 3rd book, I’m going to get quiet and read a devotion called “Jesus Calling” by Sarah Young.
I teach creative and research writing at the college level.
WHAT ALTHOFF LOOKS FOR IN A GOOD ESSAY
1 KNOW YOUR THESIS STATEMENT/CENTRAL IDEA
After you play around with your topic, create one sentence that sum ups what you want to say, like a movie blurb.
2 FIRST PARAGRAPH
A Get Attention.
B. State your thesis/central idea AND your main points. All of them. PER ALTHOFF: I do not want any more than 5 main points in any essay.
C. Tell why this essay is very, VERY important to somebody besides you and the instructor.
3 SECOND PARAGRAPH SET (Main point A. of your outline)
A. What’s the point? State it.
B. Now use examples, statistics, and testimonies to analyze, summarize, categorize, and otherwise-ize your position on that main point.
– Where did that example come from?
– Where did that statistic come from?
– Where did that testimony or quotation come from?
4 THIRD PARAGRAPH SET (Main point B. of your outline):
Same as 2nd Set
5 FOURTH PARAGRAPH SET (Main point C. of your outline):
Same as 2nd Set
7 CONCLUSION (usually only 1 or 2 paragraphs)
A. Remind people why this is important to them.
B. Help people visualize what in the world will be better if they believe what you wrote.
C. Ask them to DO the next step, for instance:
– Agree with you on at least one fact.
– Find that they have some basic value in common with you
– Assent (say ‘yes’) to what they ought to do
– Take a real action step asap.
8 CONNECT IT ALL TOGETHER
– Connect sentences to each other with transitions, pronouns, synonyms, repetitions, etc.
– Connect paragraphs to each other with preview & summary statements, bridging sentences, and signposts.
9 SPELL AND GRAMMAR CHECK
Do or die.
Note: a simple Spell check won’t catch all the spelling problems. For instance, the infamous “to,” “too,” and “two” all sound the same but have different meanings. Likewise: “there,” “their,” and “they’re”; “its” and “it’s”; and “your” and “you’re.”
Rosemary Althoff, Author 