A Master Class by Joyce Moyer Hostetter

Kids are returning to school. How about getting that shot in the arm for your own writing? Joyce is offering a one-day Master class on Sat. Sept. 19th. You will not regret it. I once had the great pleasure of sharing a room with Joyce. We're both quiet, enjoy reading and writing historical fiction, and love our Lord Jesus. At lunch, she critiqued the first chapter of my historical, encouraging me to finish. She is a wonderful writer and teacher. Here are my notes from that conference and the one before. And below are the details for the Master Class. I highly recommend it, especially if you are working on a novel.  

If you write fiction for children, young adults, or even adults you are invited to join Write2Ignite for our first ever Virtual Master Class. On September 19, 2020, multi-published author Joyce Moyer Hostetter will help us master four big elements in writing fiction.

·       Creating Memorable Characters — Tried and true strategies for creating characters.

·       On Writing Plot: What’s the Problem — Structure and the power of conflict in creating a great plot.

·       View Point and Dialogue— Dialogue that works overtime and strategies for creating an authentic narrator. 

At W2I we provide Christian writers of children’s and young adult literature with:

·       Instruction

·       Inspiration

·       Encouragement

·       Challenges

·       Community 

Our focus is on those who write for youth.

Our foundation is Christ and His Word.

Our Master Class format provides one-day workshops designed to help writers build specific skills. If taking your writing to higher levels is your goal, you will benefit from these Master Class features:

·       Instruction by master authors like Joyce Moyer Hostetter

·       Guided hands-on practice of new writing skills

·       Immediate feedback

This Master Class will be an online event using Zoom. If you’re not familiar with using that platform, no worry! We’ll have a practice session on Friday, September 18, 2020 just for you. 

If you’re not familiar with Joyce check out her Youtube video here. Her books are available through any bookstore.

We’re excited about this innovative opportunity. Hope you’ll join us on September 19, 2020.

Registration is just $79 for a full day of instruction, practice, and encouragement.

Click here to Register.

Write 2 Ignite: A True Witness Conference Recap

"Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it." My Gospel Reflection for today is up on CatholicMom. 

I've missed going to Write2Ignite, but with school and sports, it was a busy time in our lives. But this weekend Michael accompanied me and it was so lovely to be amongst faithful Christian writers. The conference team put together a great conference with a useful booklet containing all the conference information along with room to write, a notebook, pen, and chocolate! All in this pretty bag. I enjoyed all the keynotes so very much and delighted that the topics on my mind: writing memoir, the conversion story, and writing a controversial book all tied into the theme of being a true witness. I know I'll be back next year. Save the dates: Sept. 18-19th, 2020.

Even though I was busy most of Saturday, I had the chance to listen to a couple of workshops. The first was by Todd Williams, Editor-in-Chief of Union Gospel Press. He spoke about how God's Word gives us helpful insights about writing that's engaging. We have doctrine, commands, poems, letters, appeals, stories, mysteries, and so much more. He explained the five parts of effective communication--collecting ideas, organizing them, expressing them, must be understood by others, and finally the reader is changed. I will not forget that writing *is* Logos. He is looking to assign good children's writers for Sunday school materials. He emphasized how difficult it is to find people who can write for children. So, if this interests you, contact him. I like how precise he is--the qualities necessary in a good editor.

I also enjoyed Daniel Blackaby's lecture on Tolkein, Lewis, and the Christian Imagination. I've read much about the Inklings but it's always a delight to listen to people who've studied their works in far greater depth than I have. I'd forgotten how much Tolkein disliked Lewis' Narnia, saying they were "almost worthless--carelessly written jumble of unrelated mythologies." Talk about a scathing critique. Now that I understand my faith better, I might actually agree. Michael O'Brien gives a good account in his book: A Landscape with Dragons. I no longer read much fantasy, but if that's what you like check out Blackaby's books. 

Nancy Lohr, Acquisitions Editor at JourneyForth Books, gave such an inspiring keynote on Truth-FULL Writing. She spoke about the culture of relativism, how truth is a moving target. She quoted George Orwell: "In a time of deceit, telling the truth is revolutionary." We live in such times now and should look at this as an opportunity to share the truth. She reminded us that we cannot give what we do not possess already; we can only write what's within our gifts; write the felt needs; write to be light and salt. It was an excellent primer for my workshop later in the afternoon on writing controversial books. I would love to work with her on a book, except I've not written anything that meets their guidelines. 

The closing keynote was from Edie Melson on the New Paradigm of Social Media. I was sitting near a group of youngsters and they were chuckling over us old folks getting instructions on using Facebook, Twitter and Instagram as they scrolled over their feeds. Edie mentioned that the majority of social media is conducted over a mobile device. She's not just an expert on this and other internetty things (she has a top notch blog called The Write Conversation) but a writer of inspirational books for creatives as well as novels. Her latest, Unruffled, is out today! Edie is wonderful, reminding us that perhaps the world of social media might be the darkest, that we need to be light and salt. I couldn't agree more... if that is your gift.

Here are some fun pictures of old friends and new, and the beautiful campus of Northern Greenville University. Glory, Glory to God!!! 

Conference Tidbits and Inspiration

One of the drawbacks of teaching at a conference is that you miss all the other lectures. However, I did have the pleasure of listening to these inspiring keynotes.


Torry Martin is a funny guy. Until this weekend I didn't know who he was since I'm that out of the loop with TV and popular culture. His faith journey is tied to his career, and now he is writing sketches based upon a character much like him: distracted, awkward, crazy, gullible. He said, "Wow! I was given four compliments in just one sentence!" The best humor cuts close to being vulnerable.

His talk is giving me the courage to write a book an editor has asked me to write. I can't say anything more ...

Something he said that really resonated: Our God is BIG! Let Him use you in the way He wants. Also, don't let your past stop you from doing what God is calling you to do. Step out in faith. Trust in God.

Every detail in your life has a purpose. God made you the way you are for a purpose. Dedicate your gift to the Lord.


Bill Reeves spoke about dreams, how God puts dreams upon our hearts. He was just 15 years old when he knew that God was calling him to get engaged in the culture through entertainment and bring Christ to people through the media. It's never too early and never too late to say yes.

I heard a lot of AMENS!!!

He warned about being careful of dreams, to not be deceived into thinking something is God's plan when you are only satisfying your own selfish desires.

Amen!!! Here is a wonderful article on the six principles of discernment.

The best part was spending some time with old friends and getting to make new ones. Here's my room-mate Kim Peterson with Nancy Lohr, editor at Journey Forth Books.

Write 2 Ignite Conference

How quickly the time flies ... a quarter of the year is finished and this weekend we have Write 2 Ignite conference. How this snuck up on me, even though it's been on my calendar since last fall. But it couldn't come at a better time for me, personally. After a very busy start to the New Year with my childrens' extracurricular activities, followed by illness and disappointments, I am finally better (thanks and praise to God!) and ready to tackle the bigger projects on my plate.

But before I do that, what a gift to be able to spend a weekend with my tribe of writing buddies. I'm looking forward to teaching and soaking up wisdom from others. This conference takes place on the beautiful campus of Northern Greenville University in Tigerville, SC and if you are interested in writing fiction and nonfiction that reflects the Christian worldview for children, this conference is a must. It's a very affordable conference, with scholarships available. I hope to see some of you there, if not this year, then next.

The enforced downtime was not entirely wasted. In fact, it was a blessing. I scribbled a lot in my journal and wrote up drafts of a couple of new picture books. Never mind they have nothing to do either with my revision or the work-for-hire projects that I'm supposed to be working on ... but writers need this time to just play around. So many things that are published began just as fun little things I was playing with. I cannot stress this enough ... the time and space to daydream and play and write without worrying about other things is essential for a writing life.

And here's a great video by John Cleese on Creativity. It is well worth the 36 minutes just for the laughs.



For a shorter, sensible talk listen to this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kH8uYDJlwog

Catching up at Write 2 Ignite

In preparation for next year's conference, Sally has been catching up with some of us. Please check out her interview with me at Write 2 Ignite. I'm in awe of being on the same blog as folks like Bill Reeves, Tony Snipes, and many other artists. Lots of great tips and inspiration.

Write 2 Ignite is a conference for Christian writers of children's literature and I'm so thankful to live close enough to participate. Like the Highlights Foundation Workshop I attended this summer, we are all striving to share our Christian hope with children through our stories.

I've swiped some pictures from their fun page (all taken by Sean Earnhardt -- he's Donna's husband in the second photo ... don't they look happy together?)

 

Mark your calendars: March 28-29, 2014.
Where: Northern Greeneville University, Tigerville, SC.
List of authors, editors, agents here.

Some Thoughts on Write 2 Ignite

What an incredible weekend in Tigerville, on the campus of Northern Greeneville University. It was lovely to reconnect with writing friends and I especially enjoyed rooming with Joyce Moyer Hostetter, a writer of beautiful historical nonfiction, whose workshops I had the privilege of attending last year. This year, because I was teaching, no such luck. But there was time to visit in the evening and during lunch. I don't have much to say about the other presenters because I was either busy teaching, critiquing, or just having some downtime, but let me say that everybody -- editors, agents, authors -- was unstinting of their time and encouraging. Faculty and students had plenty of time to mix and mingle.

Note: As promised, I have my updated handouts on Magazine and Nonfiction writing here. I hope you will find them useful. I had such an enthusiastic group of attendees and grateful that so many of them considered writing nonfiction. Thanks to my first grade friends who shared their handmade nonfiction books at the conference.

Write 2 Ignite is the only children's writing conference that is focused on bringing the Gospel of Christ to children. Many people might assume it's about writing devotionals or religious materials only, but it is so much more than that. It's about learning to write good stories that have the Christian worldview integrated into the stories. Children want good stories! They can go to church for the preaching. I had the opportunity to critique several manuscripts and was so impressed with the quality and content of the writing. It made my happy because I believe that as Christians, we ought to be held to a higher standard.

I was bowled over by the praise and worship led by Donna Earnhardt. If you look at her bio, she says she longs to bring people to the throne of God so that they may worship Him with abandon. And it is evident. Beautiful, heartfelt music to stir the soul. I went to sleep and woke up with the words of offering: All I am, is all I have ...

I’m hoping to return next year with a couple of teenagers for their fabulous teen track. My prayer is for this conference to grow, so that we may learn to spread the Gospel with our stories, overtly or covertly.

I decided to spend an extra night to rest and recover from the long day, and made plans to attend Mass at Prince of Peace Catholic Church in Greeneville. I was richly rewarded with a High Mass. It will always be a sacrifice, the priest leading us all to Calvary. When I saw the rich vestments, smelled the incense, listened to the beautiful Gregorian chant, I remembered the alabaster box song ... and it makes perfect sense to have all this richness and beauty poured out in worship. For the priest is in persona Christi ...

We used St. Campion missals and I had the good fortune to meet the owners of St. Benedict's Catholic Bookstore who were willing to sell me a copy. After Mass, we had a lovely visit and now I have my own beautiful copy. I love this missal -- it's got bigger print than the 1962 missal, and has several Masses along with hymns in the back.

It was a long drive, but I had my music, rosary and Gospel of John to keep me company. I love it because it's different *hearing* the Word of God than when I read It. And it makes me wonder whether I, too, would be unbelieving if Jesus said those words to me today in the flesh ... about being the Son of God, elevating Himself to the Father, about being the Living Bread from heaven. How blasphemous! C.S. Lewis writes eloquently in Mere Christianity, that either Jesus was a liar, a madman, or God.

I've rambled enough ... it's hard to believe how quickly this Lenten season is passing. It's been filled with joy and sorrow, peace and anxiety, but always my heart is full of thanks to God.

Laetare Sunday



Halfway, kitty!
 

That's why we are celebrating Laetare Sunday with High Mass today. We're singing the short Mass composed in honor of the Feast of John the Baptist by Rene Quignard. It's a lovely little piece for two voices ... my favorite movement being the Agnus Dei. I thought I could find a recording on Youtube, but no such luck.

I'm one of those crazy people who really do love Lent ... it's a great time of spiritual growth and although it's a long and slow haul toward virtue, with many setbacks and failures, I am aware of the graces and blessings bestowed. 

I am enjoying my time away from keeping track of what everybody else is up to. Of course, I'm reading with great interest the happenings in Rome, and feeling ever so thankful that the process of choosing a new pope is nothing like politics. I've been in the Sistine Chapel -- what a perfect place for the cardinals to prayerfully cast their ballots. I learned that they take their oaths near the painting of the last judgment by Michelangelo. Sobering. Please join me in praying for Holy Mother Church.

We've been busy with birthday celebrations, school, sports, choir practice, extra devotions, computer malfunctions, and I nearly lost all the work I'd done on my Write2Ignite workshops, coming up next weekend. My husband came to the rescue... before I had a meltdown. So this is a gentle reminder to back up your work, folks.

I hope you are all having a good Lent. Do not be discouraged if you fail at keeping resolutions. Remember that you can choose to make a change at any hour. And ask God for help! We do nothing by our own power. Grace is everything. 

Writing with a Christian Worldview

My interview with Sally Matheny on Writing with a Christian Worldview is up at the Write 2 Ignite blog. I'll be on the faculty in March 2013. And as you know, I'm on fire for our faith!