It's time for...THE WEAKEST LINK!!

Do you remember that show? Did you ever watch it? It got to be addicting, sort of like Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and all the rest.

I think the concept was genius though, and so true - a group really is only as strong as their weakest link. Sports teams, game-show contestants, politics, school competitions, whatever.

And the same is true in our writing.

Your book is only as strong as its weakest link.

You might be a rock-star when it comes to plotting high stakes, but you might falter with internal conflict. You might be a natural at writing beautiful descriptive scenes, but can't write dialogue to save your life. Maybe you're great at showing instead of telling, but you struggle with pacing.

See what I mean?

What do you need to brush up on in your craft? What topic of development or craft have you been avoiding because you just don't want to even deal with it? What can you do to enhance that element of your writing and make your writing stronger - make that link unbreakable?

Here's some suggestions:

1. Read books in your genre (see how the pubbed authors you really enjoy handle that craft element!)

2. Attend conferences, courses, mini-conferences, online conferences, or workshops offered on the subject

3. Read nonfiction craft books on writing (Susan May Warren and Rachel Hauck of My Book Therapy have two, Deep and Wide and From the Inside Out. There's also Stein on Writing and James Scott Bell's Plot & Structure, and  Donald Maas Writing 21st Century Fiction, to name a FEW!)

4. Get critique partners to help you identify your weaknesses and brainstorm ideas of how to strengthen them.

5. Do exercises like writing prompts that focus on those weaknesses.

6. Read awesome helpful blogs like SCRIBBLE CHICKS to glean even more insight ;)

Living with Estrogen (writing prompt)

Tonight at my fabulous writing group, one of the prompts was Living with Estrogen.

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Available May 7!

Because my husband clearly doesn't get enough exposure to estrogen (despite the fact he's the only male in the house), I've been popping pills containing ungodly amounts of the stuff. 

For the second time in my life, I'm trying to convince my body it's capable of carrying a child. 

(Without flooding myself with artificial hormones, my face grows a 5 o'clock shadow as thick as the dog's. Not pretty or great for snuggling babies, should my body ever decide to produce one.)

I thought it was no big deal, this popping pills thing, but... apparently I'd blocked the memories. About six days into this whole rerun of a fiasco, I became--and I don't know how else to put this--

A woman.

There were... emotions.

When the toddler watched Elmo, I cried.

When the dog peed on the floor, I cried. While simultaneously beating him.

When the microwave sounded, I cried, because there was dark chocolate mug cake with  caramel marshmallow filling waiting to soothe my breaking heart.

I'm still not used to it, this whole crying thing. Deep down I refuse to be a slave to the hormones.

I can't completely stop the sudden onslaught of emotion, but I've learned to cover for myself so it doesn't display itself in public. So if you see me fleeing toward the bathroom, it's no longer to check on my five o'clock shadow. 

Oh my gosh, I no longer have a five o'clock shadow!!! 

Excuse me while I step into the other room...

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Bekah Hamrick Martin is a proud member of the Scribble Chicks blog & the author of The Bare Naked Truth: Dating, Waiting & God's Purity Plan. 

So what's your story about Living with Estrogen? Comment!

The infamous "P" word.

And no, it's not the same "P" word that I was awakened to last week in my toddler's hand.

(Yes. Yes. And that's all I'm going to say about it on this blog. I try to keep all the happy and crappy details - pun intended - about my life to my personal blog). ;)

No, the word we are looking at today is "PUBLICIZING".

I do hate that word.

I am the worst person in the world at publicizing myself. But along the way, I've picked up a few tricks of the trade that I would love to share:

Create a Blog.
Do it. Write about nothing. Write about your life every day (I do this and it's wonderful because now I have basically a diary that chronicles every major and un-major event in my son's life!). Write about writing. Write about something that pertains to what you write about (are you a doctor? Write a medical blog. Are you a history buff writing historical fiction? Write about random tidbits you uncover.)

Create a Facebook page.
It's life these days, friends. EVERYONE is on Facebook. And the best way to get your writing out there is to be where everyone is (the Cheers theme song is now running through my head). If you are concerned with personal privacy, there is a way to create just a fan page where you can have just your public persona who interacts with your potential readers without needing to include a lot of personal stuff.

Create a Twitter account.
I'll be the first to admit that I can't stand Twitter. It's like 2,856 thoughts at once and I already have some problems focusing. BUT - I just recently discovered that I could link my Facebook fan page with my Twitter account and I love it so much more now (yes, I am severely behind the times when it comes to Twitter and it's inner workings). Plus, there are a few dashboard widgets you can add to your computer and it also makes it easier to stay connected.

Create a website.
You can even do this through Blogger with your blog. It doesn't have to be extravagant, but it is helpful to have one. Even if you've never published a word, the goal is to be published, right? At the very least, go ahead and purchase the ownership of .com. 

Create a business card.
There are a million places to do this. Try to connect with other writers. Meet potential readers. Go to conferences and be generous with your charming personality and your business cards. Be open and friendly. Email people you've met or heard of or people who are in your same situation on the road to being published. Some of my dearest "friends" in the writing world are people I've never actually met in person or people I've only spent a very few hours talking to at a conference.


The bottom line is that publishers LOVE seeing writers who have already taken some initiative with their publicity because, let's face it, a LOT of publicity after you are published is something that is done by you the author. If nothing else, it's fantastic practice for the future!! :)

The Stare

So I've learned that I get a funny stare when I head into my imagination and start to dream up a story. I'll just be sitting there, having coffee and talking to my husband and all the sudden the conversation will lull and I'll catch myself staring into the distance (usually at my bookshelf--inspiration?) and realize that in my mind I'm on the Alaskan tundra, plotting all kinds of mayhem.

Sometimes it's inconvenient to have an overactive imagination. When I was a kid and 'what-ifs' and bad dreams kept me up? It was definitely inconvenient. When I'm trying to talk to someone and get distracted by a new plot angle that pops into my head? That's moderately inconvenient too. But I do like how easy it is to get into my story-world MOST of the time (some days it just doesn't work) so I can multi-task.

Having time to write and having time to live life are both super important. If you chain yourself to your computer for 12 hours a day, you'll eventually run out of inspiration because you won't really be living. Besides that, I know we're all busy. We don't have 12 hours to sit and wait for the ideas to come. So how can you build time to write, or plan your story into your day?

Can you work on character development and ask your characters questions about themselves while you fold laundry and remember to write down what you've learned later?

If you're in school, could you work on your plot while you're walking to your next class? While you're putting on your makeup?

We've all got little bits of time throughout the day when we can find a minute to dream, to get lost in our imagination. Find those times if you can and see if it helps you be more productive when you do get a minute to sit down to write!

Just maybe don't brainstorm while you're driving unless you have really good concentration. That could get dangerous in a hurry. ;)

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

That's right! IT'S ACFW CONFERENCE REGISTRATION TIME!!

WOOT WOOT!

www.acfw.com

(click on link called conference)

Guys, if there is ANY way you can get your computer-chair-booties to this conference in Indianapolis in September, PLEASE do it.

I'm talking invaluable stuff here. Editor and agent appointments with the best of the best in the Christian book industry, fabulous workshops by authors like Susan May Warren, Rachel Hauck, Ronie Kendig, Jim Rubart, Jenny B. Jones, etc., networking opportunities, STARBUCKS, a beautiful hotel, a dress up gala night, free time with friends, spirit-healing worship, and hilarious fellowship.

AND

The keynote speaker is Robin Jones Gunn. (swoon)

Hope to see you there :)

And...DONE.

Well, I owe all of y'all a HUGE apology for missing my posts for the last many weeks. I've been cramming in a deadline and just general busyness, I've been so forgetful of everything else.

So sorry, friends.

But on Friday morning I typed my two favorite words in the world at that moment (THE END) and other than a few cosmetic edits, I'm officially done!

Yay!

Today is the day, though, that I would like to hear from you. What are some topics you guys would like us to talk about as we come out of spring and into summer?

So excited to be back here with you guys!!!

The End

Last Wednesday, I finished what had been my wip for several months. If you haven't finished yet, keep going! You will! =) If you have, you probably know the weird mix of feelings I experienced. I was relieved and excited, because I'd been working towards that goal and met it. I was also scared, because what if it wasn't as good as I hoped? What if it was, in fact, the worst thing ever written in the history of language?

I'm still stuck somewhere between the two extremes, waiting for my husband to read it and let me know what he thinks (it's SO HANDY to have someone to read all the way through when you're done and let you know if they liked it, and let you know if you accidentally changed your main character's eye color three or four times...). I love that he does this for me, but it makes me soooo nervous. What if he reads it and then tells me he wants that two hours of his life back? (Haha, hopefully not going to happen, but you just never know......)

I think my point is that we're all in different stages of our writing lives. But from my experience so far, every stage comes with insecurities. I don't think any writer, any artist for that matter, ever just wakes up one day and isn't afraid of criticism. It's something we need to learn to deal with, but it makes us better. Honest.

So y'all are all doing fabulous jobs of putting yourselves out there to one degree or another (like with those writing prompts in response to Betsy's post--awesome job!) but is there anything else you can do that you've been letting fear hold you back from? Is there a critique group you've thought of joining, but you're worried about how you'll handle the feedback? Is it that you've been wanting to read someone a paragraph you've written, just to get their thoughts, but you feel self-conscious? Step outside of your comfort zone sometime this week and do something you've been meaning to do to advance with your writing. The insecurity doesn't ever go away, I don't think, you just learn to get past it and not let it keep you stuck. =)