As an author and Christian Life Coach, I’m often asked about how to get started with a writing career. Here’s a mini-course on just that – how to get started on the writing path. There are lots of coaching tips and I’ve included worksheets to help you through those all-important first stages of decision making and planning, plus a guide to help equip you with attainable goals for moving forward in your new career. This course is for anyone thinking about changing their profession or seeking a solid basis to grow their writing.
Is God calling you to write for Him?
Do you feel compelled by God to write?
Does anyone say your words have impacted or inspired them?
Has anyone in professional writing circles said your work is good?
Have you ever dreamed of writing Devotionals or Christian Romance novels?
If your answer to any of those questions is “yes,” —
Congratulations – You just might be a writer!
As an author and Christian Life Coach, I’m often asked how to start a writing career. Here’s a workbook to help you with that. It has a questionnaire about how to get started on the writing path.
There are lots of coaching tips, and I’ve included worksheets to help you through those all-important first stages of decision-making and planning, plus a guide to help equip you with attainable goals for moving forward in your new career. The workbook is for anyone thinking about changing their profession or seeking a solid base to grow their writing.
Your Write Voice for His Kingdom is available from Amazon as a print book and Etsy as an instant download.
Writing for God – a beginner’s guide.
If God is calling you to write for Him, there’s no better partnership.
You are His masterpiece, Blessed one.
Til next time, know you are loved by the One who made you in His image.
Answer each question and tally the results for each section. Try to answer as truthfully as you can. If you’re unsure, ask someone who knows you well. At the bottom of each section choose the definition that you scored the highest with. At the end of the assessment, you will have 4 letters which will serve as your abbreviated personality type definition.
Extroverts
Have natural high energy
Are outwardly expressive
Social
Talk more than listen
Think out loud
Are spontaneous
Prefer a public role
May be easily distracted
Can multi-task
Are outgoing
Enthusiastic
Introverts
Have quiet energy
Are reserved
Comfortable being alone
Listen more than talk
Keep most thoughts to themselves
Think before acting
Prefer to work behind the scenes
Have good concentration
Focus on one task at a time
Are quiet in crowds
Calm
If you chose mostly ‘Extrovert’ answers, put E as the first letter of your personality type.
If you chose mostly ‘Introvert’ answers, put I as the first letter of your personality type.
Sensory
Focus on specifics and details
Like practical solutions
Remember facts
See what is
Live In the moment
Trust actual experiences
Use established skills
Like step-by-step instructions
Work at a steady pace
Intuitive
Focus on the big picture
Appreciate creative ideas
Notice anything new or different
See possibilities
Think of future implications
Trust their own instincts
Like to learn new skills
Figure things out on their own
Work in bursts of energy
If you chose mostly ‘Sensory’ answers, put S as the second letter of your personality type.
If you chose mostly ‘Intuitive’ answers, put N as the second letter of your personality type.
You now have 2 letters as your personality type. 2 more to go…
Thinkers
Make objective decisions
Appear cool and reserved
Are convinced by rational arguments
Are truthful and direct
Value honesty and fairness
Don’t usually take things personally
Are quick to see flaws
Motivated by achievement
Enjoy arguing or debating
Feelers
Make decisions based on their values and feelings
Are warm and friendly
Convinced by how they feel
Are diplomatic and tactful
Value harmony and compassion
Usually take things personally
Are quick to compliment others
Motivated by appreciation
Try to avoid arguments and conflict
If you chose mostly ‘Thinker’ answers, put T as the third letter of your personality type.
If you chose mostly ‘Feeler’ answers, put F as the third letter of your personality type.
You now have 3 letters as your personality type. One more time…
Judgers
Like a sense of being settled
Take responsibility seriously
Are usually prompt
Like to finish what they start
Work before they play
Need closure
Prefer to work with rules and boundaries
Stick with a plan
Like schedules
Perceivers
Like to keep their options open
Are playful and casual
Usually run late
Often have multiple unfinished projects
Play before work
Are often indecisive
Don’t like rules and order
Like to work with flexible plans
Are spontaneous
If you chose mostly ‘Judger’ answers, put J as the fourth letter of your personality type.
If you chose mostly ‘Perceiver’ answers, put P as the fourth letter of your personality type.
You now have your 4 basic personality type letters!
Introvert v Extrovert Sensory v Intuitive Thinker v Feeler Judger v Perceiver
Place them in order: I or E, S or N, T or F, J or P For example: an Introvert, Sensory, Thinker, Judger = ISTJ
The 4 letters describe your personality as one of 16 basic personality types.
Want to find out more about personalities and character development? Visit my Pinterest board for Writing Personality Types.
Til next time, remember you were made in the image of the One who created you.
Do you have a collection of something you treasure; art, books, old coins, stuffed animals? Most of us do. Our collections say a lot about who we are – our personalities and what we hold dear. I have a collection of books which belonged to my husband‘s parents.
In it are yellowing pages bound in fraying covers and tattered spines. Some are old children’s stories, some are poetry, and one is even a much dated ‘Household Management’ book with instructions on how to set a formal dining table for 12 guests. (I don’t pull that one out very often!).
These treasures are very dear to me because they remind me of the dear people who owned them, and also they link me to authors from long ago who had a vision of telling others what was close to their hearts. These family heirlooms I will not give away or sell, but will someday pass on to my family so they will tell stories of their grandparents to their children too.
Prompted by my daughters, I’ve recently ‘de-hoarded’ much of my home and given away what I thought would be useful to others. In the process, I realized I had collected notes and half-written short stories and poems. I felt compelled to share the literary treasures I had found, and have since turned some of the short stories into blogs or compilation pieces, and collected enough notes to write another e-book!
Do you find yourself hoarding your literary treasures? Is your notebook or laptop full of fascinating gems you haven’t done anything with yet? Share some of those gems with your audience every day. Let them see who you are and what inspires you.
I ‘follow’ several authors whose work I admire, but before I ‘liked’ them on Facebook or subscribed to their newsletter, I researched them online and got to know them as individuals. Once I liked what I saw, I followed them and even bought a book or two. Their online presence sometimes mentioned other authors they were inspired by, and I often bought their books too – all because they shared something that they treasured.
Now I do my best to pin or post one of my treasures every day. It’s not always about my work, but rather a gem I’ve discovered from someone else. I’ve collected a piece of their collection, cherished it, and then given it away for others to do the same. Check your notebooks and archived files. Are you hoarding treasure? If you are, start giving it away and see what happens…
I thought I would spend the entire winter improving my social media and using it to market my books. Then I’d sell a lot of books and become successful, right? It turns out that all this social media takes a lot of time and drags me away from what I really want to do – write! How can I become a successful author if I don’t have time to write any books? It’s like a giant cake sitting on my laptop, and – though I like cake once in a while – I couldn’t eat a whole one without being, well – you know!
What do I get from all this social media stuff anyway? As time-consuming as it may be, I’ve realized through it all that I have in fact gained something. I’ve gained an online writing community. I’ve gained friends and colleagues along the way and followed mentors. So that’s what this blog is all about. Success doesn’t come overnight – for most of us anyway. We need to take it one bite at a time, savour the morsels of small successes along the way, and share a piece of the cake with someone every day. The task isn’t as daunting that way. Let me explain…
Each day, if I follow my writing schedule, I will have worked on one of the following:
My blog is where you’re at now. You can see what I’ve written in my past posts and you can follow me if you like. You can also follow my Facebook page and Pinterest boards. All of these social media sites are an interest/hobby and I can share a piece of my cake there without it taking a lot of time. I’m doing a small piece of marketing while having fun. It doesn’t seem like much effort or need to take up too much time (although do set your timer for an allotted amount of time if you tend to get carried away!). Occasionally someone will like what I’ve posted/pinned and buy one of my books because of their interest in what I’ve shared.
If you’re a writer – share a sentence from the novel you’re writing (no spoilers!) or an excerpt from an ebook you just published. How about pinning a picture that inspired part of your book? Or make a 30 second YouTube video of you reading part of your published book, as a teaser.
If you’re an artist, share a part of your sketch, or the colour scheme of your latest design.
Remember to keep it about your work – not what you had for lunch. (Unless you’re a blogger or author of recipes). Whatever your work is, that’s your focus. Each thing you share with others becomes part of your collection. Your collection becomes who you are as an author.
Even one minute each day to pin or post something will be 30+ things you’ve shared at the end of the month.
Turn each one into a couple of paragraphs and that equals a 30 page ebook!
10 ebooks becomes a 300 page novel!
See how that works? –
Piece of cake!
Lynne
Artist’s drawing of a gran (me) eating cake with her cat, by Crafyjoe on Free Digital Images
How do you respond when you meet someone for the first time?
Generally we shake their hand like a soggy fish, force a tired smile and say something like, “Nice to meet you” or “Good to meet you”.
Sometimes we really aren’t sure how we feel or we’re disinterested and simply say “Hi”.
How does it make you feel when you meet someone for the first time and they seem genuinely happy to meet you?
Great – right?
They smile, shake your hand firmly and say “It’s a pleasure to meet you!”
What if you could make everyone who follows you feel this way?
You can – at least you can do your best.
Not everyone who reads your work will be pleased to meet you, but those who are deserve to meet the real you.
Some will decide you’re not the kind of person they’re interested in following, some will follow you for a time until they lose interest, but others will stick it out for the duration because they’ve found you to be interesting and likable.
These are the ones you want to give something of yourself to so that they will say, “It’s a pleasure to meet you!”
It’s a pleasure to meet you!
So how do you get them to know you well enough to put a smile on their face from a distance?
Lets go back to the old school of communication – you tell them something about what you both have in common. If you’re new to writing you need a way to connect with your followers in that common thread.
Start out by showing them what you’ve already written.
Do you have a blog of your own?
Do you use Pinterest to showcase your work?
Do you send out a newsletter?
If you haven’t published any books yet, a blog is a good place to start. This will get you noticed online and you’ll start to get followers. The more followers, the more sharing online and the further up you go on the searches. This takes time, so do a few things and do them often.
It took me about six months before I got the hang of it. I’m constantly learning from other writers I follow.
Share something about you first.
-What’s your passion in life?
-Do you feel comfortable sharing a few notes about your personal life? No details here – just where you grew up and a few places you’ve lived, not necessarily your current town if it’s small.
-Are you married, do you have children or pets? You get the idea. Remember what goes on the internet can be read by EVERYONE!
Let your followers get to know who you are before you expect them to follow your work. Treat them as pen-pals. (Under 40? – ask your grandparents). I had several pen-pals growing up. We exchanged names and addresses through school. Honest!
Then start to show them what you do.
Write an introductory blog about your writing goals. Again, don’t share specifics of a work in progress, rather an idea of work.
What inspired you to work on this particular project?
Share some excerpts that don’t give away any spoilers. You want them to buy your finished work.
Open a Pinterest account to showcase your work and any pins related to it. I have a personal Pinterest account where followers can get to know me, and also a business Pinterest account where I showcase my own work and the work of fellow writers.
If you plan on going to events to sell your books/art, or you intend to be a speaker, a newsletter may be of benefit. I use Constant Contact because they make the guide quite easy and they keep track of your open rate.
Tweet. I don’t because I think I may become too ‘addicted’, but if you have good self-control, go for it.
Use your blog and Pinterest analytics to find out what your followers like, then write, post and pin like crazy. Set yourself a social media schedule so you don’t get carried away and forget to write! I generally collect ideas and file them into categories for each social media venue. Then it takes me less time to actually share it.
Here’s a great example: In 2013, Commander Chris Hadfield, commander of the International Space Station, wanted to connect with people on Earth and show them what real life was like on a space station, so –
“During his next five-month mission, while performing all his regular astronautical duties, he tweeted, answered questions from his followers, posted pictures he’d taken of Earth, recorded music, and filmed YouTube videos of himself…” – Austin Kleon in Show Your Work
The best part of all this social media sharing is, you get to meet some really interesting people and they get to meet you. Remember to always give credit to those whose work you share on any social media; a link to their own blog, accredit to their Pinterest boards, link to their website to buy their books.
If all this seems daunting, take heart. I learned it veeeeery slowly and I’m still learning, as you’ll come to realize 😉 You can take classes at your local college, at a local business advisory centre, or hire someone to do it for you Webrite Design and Social Media.
Next time we’ll look at different topics to share.
Lynne Collier 
