On Teen Writing

Friday at 10am EST on Parent Talk:

Valerie Comer, Making Sense of Scents; Margaret Daley, Scorned Justice; Kristen Ethridge

Friday at 11am EST on Teen Talk:

 Victoria Griffith, Wellspring in the Wilderness; Jill Williamson and Stephanie Morrill, Go Teen Writers, 

Miss the live show? No worries! You can grab the podcast here or subscribe on iTunes for FREE!

Brain Tumor, Baby, New Album?

This week, the independently-produced Wellspring in the Wilderness has released from Victoria Griffith, a new artist from Alabama who, while recording the 10-song CD, learned she was pregnant with her first child, followed soon after with news of a brain tumor requiring immediate removal. Navigating this circuitous life path, Griffith has emerged successfully on the other side with a riveting testimony and a CD filled with songs that exude hope and grace, and perfectly showcase the singer’s stunning, country-inflected vocals.

While working on the project, the singer began to get requests for her testimony. “My story seemed kind of boring,” says Griffith, who had grown up in a godly family and asked Jesus to be her savior as a young child. “I teased my husband that I wished I had a testimony as good as his!” Griffith’s husband, Ryan, had been diagnosed with and cured of a brain tumor before the couple married.… continue reading

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By Shellie Neumeier

What does an 18th century cemetery have in common with Dr. Suess and your writing?

Join me as we take a look at the wicked world of writer’s block and search for a way out of our story’s middle.

Have a question about writers block? Comment below or find me on the web at my website, Facebook, or Twitter

… continue reading

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By Jill Williamson

You love making up stories, and the idea of having your own book someday thrills you.
So you want to be a writer. What next?

6. Write

It’s that simple—or difficult.

Just write, write, write. Then go back and rewrite. But keep writing, every day if you can. You’ll get really good at it because you’ll be practicing all the time. Make yourself finish each book you start. Because if you can’t finish a book, you can’t write one. This is a very important rite of passage for authors. Complete one book, then write another, then another, and so on.

5. Learn

Read some books on writing. Click here for some of my recommendations.

Start following some blogs on writing. Click here for some of my recommendations.

Join some groups of writers. Click here for some of my recommendations. And be willing to take the advice of others.

4. Flexibility

You’ve written your book, submitted it to dozens of editors and agents, and no one wants it. Rats! But don’t lose heart. And don’t give up. Put aside that book and start polishing the next one. Too many writers hold on to that favorite idea for so long that they end up wasting time that could be spent writing something new.… continue reading

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by Stephanie Morrill

One of the most important tools you’ll have as a writer – even just as a writer hoping to appear on blogs or in magazines – is a killer bio. A good bio communicates to others, “I’m a person who you should take seriously and/or someone you want to spend time with.”

• Bios should be written in third person, especially if this is something you’re putting in your book proposal.
• They should reflect who you are and why you are qualified for whatever it is your bio is being applied to. Why should the reader listen to what you have to say? Why should they read your book? Why should they trust your blog?

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by Jill Williamson

Years ago, sometime back in 2005, my husband and I took the teen leaders in our youth group down to Saddleback Church. We thought it was fun to show our teens that all churches aren’t the same. And we also liked to “spy” on other churches and see what cool ideas we might steal for our own youth ministry.

That night, Doug Fields gave the talk, which was “Tell your story.” This message hit me hard because up until that point, I’d been afraid to tell my story. I thought that if the teens knew the person I’d been, they’d be disappointed in me. But Doug said the opposite that night. He said that my personal story, my journey to faith, needed to be heard. He said, “Next to God’s story, your story may be the second greatest one ever told.”

I left that place convicted. And I started telling my story. And it brought people closer to me, rather than pushing them away. Because you know what? We’ve all messed up! And the fact that I had messed up made me a real human being to the teens in our youth group. It made them realize that they weren’t the only ones who’ve messed up.… continue reading

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By Shellie Neumeier

Ever have a teacher tell you, “Slow down.” “Take your time.” “A test is not a race.” Or maybe they’ve told you to stop fidgeting, sit still or to quit daydreaming.

What if you God designed you to work fast? To daydream? To fidget?

In Jeremiah 29:11 God tells us He designed us with a good plan in mind. Fast or slow, book smart or street smart, “A” student or “D” student, God knew how you would learn—He made you that way on purpose. In the education world it’s known as your learning style, knowing which style you prefer will not only help you learn, but help you write. Seriously.

Let’s take a look. Read the list below and see if you can identify which of the seven styles you tend to favor.

• Auditory Learner—you like to learn by listening to your teacher talk, and you remember everything someone says to you.
• Kinesthetic Learner—you like to use your whole body to learn; bring on the lab experiments, drama groups, and gym class.
• Visual Learner—you have to see it to believe it; you prefer DVDs and textbook pictures over listening to the teacher talk.
• Verbal Learner—you love words, whether it’s writing or speech, stringing that perfect sentence together makes you smile and when a teacher misspells a word or uses incorrect grammar it’s beyond distracting.
… continue reading

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Learning to write a novel is a lot of work. And I confess, when I started, I thought it was SO EASY! Until I went to my first writer’s conference and found out I knew nothing! I was so sad that I cried. (Cut me some slack, I’m a girl, and sometimes we’ve just got to cry, know what I’m saying?)

But later I knew I had a choice to make. Give up or keep at it.

Jill doesn’t give up. I’m kind of obnoxious that way…

Now, this was back in 2004 when self-publishing wasn’t what it is today. If it had been, I would have gone off and self-published my staggering work of genius right then, I know I would have.

That would have been a HUGE MISTAKE!

Here’s the deal… I know self-publishing is tempting. You just want to hold your book. Have it to look at. Build some readers. To show to your friends and family. I get that. I was there.

But if you want to have a career as a novelist. Do not self-publish. I’m not kidding. At least not until you’ve tried it the regular way and built up an audience. Why? Because you need to put in the hard work of learning.… continue reading

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8 Mistakes I Made as a Teen Writer
by Stephanie Morrill, www.GoTeenWriters.com

I was convinced that I would be published in high school.

After all, I had the drive – I completed my first novel-length work as a junior in high school.

I had the determination – I was knocking on publishers’ doors and battling my way through edits.

And I had the talent … didn’t I? My parents thought my book was great. My English teacher said she believed in me. My friends were buzzing about the romance between my characters. That meant I was good to go, right?

It was just a matter of getting a publishing house to read my manuscript – I was convinced – and then I’d be picking out Sharpie’s for my book signings.

Enter reality.

Eventually, as the rejection letters rolled in, I realized I wasn’t All That and buckled down to do the hard work of writing a book worthy the notice of a publisher’s eye.

When publisher’s weren’t jumping to sign me back in high school, I found it puzzling. But now when I look back on my high school manuscripts, I instantly spot reasons for the rejection notices:

My ideas were not “big enough.”

While I had completed a manuscript, I also had a drawer full of discarded first chapters and outlines.… continue reading

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By Shellie Neumeier, www.nextgenwriters.com

On Teen Writing

In no way do I claim to be an expert on creativity. In the words of my Pastor, “I’m just one beggar telling another beggar where to find food” (of course he was talking about salvation, but I think the analogy works here too). One place I’ve learned  to find literary bacon is in  discovering that new angle, creative twist, unique storyline that’s never been done before. How do you find that angle, that twist or plot line in a world where every story feels like something you’ve already read…different characters perhaps even a different setting, but nonetheless the same story? Doesn’t it drive you nuts when upon no large amount of thought, you can predict the outcome of a book precisely–much to every other reader within earshot’s dismay (I mean really…no one keeps those predictions silent which pretty much ruins the experience for everyone you tell:). I do this a lot. My kids have come to expect it and ooh do they love it when I’m wrong.

Honestly, so do I. Being wrong means the author beat me. They thought outside the box I’d placed them in. Their story surprised me, involved me, confused me, and simply entertained me.… continue reading

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