ACFW/CWOW - Christian Writers of the West's Rattler Contest

Do you love writing contests? Or maybe you hate contests. Well, I hope you enter this one and support one of the writing groups I belong to. CWOW -- Christina Writers of the West -- is a local division of ACFW -- American Christian Fiction Writers. I am secretary of CWOW, so I'll be sharing this repeatedly over the next several weeks.

Christian Writers of the West Blog: The 2014 Phoenix Rattler Writing Contest

http://www.christianwritersofthewest.com/rattler-contest.html

Writing About Personal Experience in Ministry

Writing contests, writing groups and clubs, writing friends and buddies! It is the sauce that flavors my world. So what contest am I currently working on? Well, I’m glad you asked.

One of the groups I belong to is FaithWriters. Every year they have a novel contest. One year it’s fiction, and one year it’s non-fiction. This is non-fiction year. I’m not much on writing non-fiction. I picture non-fiction as memoirs – and you better have an unusual, interesting life to write your memoirs or autobiography – or devotional books or self-help books.

I do, however, have an idea for a non-fiction entry for this year’s contest. I worked at Teen Challenge for nineteen years – Greater Phoenix Teen Challenge to clarify since there are several hundred in the world. I thought it was the most exciting, most fulfilling job in the world.

Imagine having a ministry in the heart of a major metropolis, and the type people that are drawn to the haven of such a ministry. It certainly made for interesting stories. And I’ve got plenty of those stories. Not only was it interesting, but I met some of the most awesome people in the world.

 I’ve worked alongside the salt of the earth, some men and women whom God delivered from the clutches of drug and alcohol use. Unfortunately, I've also witnessed the tragedy of those who walked away from God  after being delivered and set them free.

Now, my dilemma is who to mention and who not to mention. I’m sure I’ll step on toes because I don’t mention them. It’s not intentional. And as for those in the ministry who failed big time, I will not go into that. Theirs is not my story to tell, and besides, who truly knows the heart and mind of a person except that person and God.

Onward, with the writing of this book. So far, I’m having so much fun doing it.  

Writers - Join A Group!

I love being a part of writers’ groups. It’s so encouraging to be with other people who have the same goals, and are striving and struggling for and with the same things I am. You know, “birds of a feather,” and all that stuff.

My friend, Jan, is a great motivator and encouragement. In fact, she’s the one who nudged me to start writing. Along the way, I’ve formed numerous friendship that I would never had had otherwise.

I love my involvement in ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers), and our local ACFW group, CWOW (Christian Writers of the West), Seekerville, and FaithWriters. If you are a writer or aspiring to be a writer, join a group. Get involved. When you’re discouraged, they’ll encourage you. When someone in your group is discouraged, you be that encouragement. Rejoice with others for their victories. Be genuinely happy for them, the same as you want others to be happy for you.

On Saturday, our CWOW group met, and our speaker -- a sweet, young lady who is multi-published -- shared how she once received feedback from an editor that was so negative that she didn't write for a whole year, that's how discouraged she felt. Eventually, God used that to show her that she had areas in her life that she needed to deal with. As we serve God, He has a purpose in everything that touches us. 

Enter contests. Tell yourself not to be upset if you don’t win. View everything as a tool for learning and honing the craft of writing. Judges’ feedback and score sheets can be invaluable to help you grow as a writer. Sure, occasionally there will be a judge who’s harsh. Your ego and confidence will deflate faster than a popped balloon. Give yourself permission to wallow in self-pity for a bit, but then, pick yourself up, dust off the blues and KEEP writing.

Above all, pray and seek God’s direction and blessings on your writing. 

Green-Eyed-Monster Envy

Envy means: to bear a grudge toward someone due to coveting what that person has or enjoys." In a milder sense, it means the longing for something someone else has without any ill will intended toward that person.

 

Jealous means: apprehensive or vengeful out of fear of being replaced by someone else." It can also mean watchful, anxiously suspicious, zealous, or expecting complete devotion. The last is normally applied to God.

 

As writers, do we compare ourselves to other writers? Of course we do. Do we envy others’ success? Are we jealous at others’ accomplishments in the writing field? The answer is probably yes, we all suffer from the green-eyed-monster to one degree or another.

 

First of all, I knew there’s a difference between envy and jealous, so I copied and pasted the above definition from a site titled Envy vs Jealousy. I like the envy definition better as it applies to this blog.

 

I belong to several writers’ groups and websites. I enter contests on a regular basis. I crave honest, constructive critique. I want to learn and improve. But I must admit there are times when I read winning entries and I think What?I write better than that! Or, my entry was better.

 

If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, winning entries are selected because of taste, or likes and dislikes of judges. And, I’ve learned that it isn’t always the content of a story, which could be more intriguing, entertaining, shocking, heart-wrenching, funnier, etc, but judges score on the crafting of a story.  

 

How skilled and knowledgeable is your writing craft? Constantly seek to improve. And cheer on your fellow-writers. There’s a principle of “sowing and reaping” that’s addressed in the Bible. To reap anything, we must first sow. I encourage you to sow seeds of delight in others’ success, and I assure you, you’ll reap a harvest eventually. But don’t pigeon-hole God on how and what you’ll reap. Leave that to Him!

 

Write on, my friends and fellow writers. Write on!

Those Pesky Judges' Score Sheets

Contests and judges score sheets! I entered a Christian writing contest and got notified that I was a finalist in my genre, Romantic Suspense, for my entry ‘A Lily Among Thorns.’  My first set of judges score sheets included three sets. Out of the three sets, one gave me high scores and remarks were very positive. Another one’s score was medium range. Then one had relatively low scores.

I devoured them all. I want to improve, be a better writer. Did I feel defensive sometimes? You betcha! Writing is our creative baby. Don’t call my baby ugly or intellectually challenged. Besides, it’s okay to feel defensive as long as we don’t allow it to stymie our creative juices.

It is the intent of the enemy of our soul, that deceitful devil, to get us to concentrate on the negative things—so much so that we fail to hear the voice of God, and ignore the Holy Spirit’s gentle nudging.  Use negative criticism to improve your skills and talents, whatever that may be.

When I got the score sheets from the final judge, an editor from Harlequin, that said I won for my category, Romantic Suspense, I devoured them. It cost $25 to enter the contest, and in my estimation, receiving all four sets of judges’ scores is well worth the investment. These are professionals who looked over my work and provided me with feedback.

I took all the advice and suggestions these experts had to give and went back and made changes to my manuscript.  I feel good about it. In fact, I feel awesomely blessed.

Keep your heart open to critiques, and tell yourself that it’s God’s way of helping you on your writing journey.  As we commit our endeavors to the Lord, he brings these things our way. Trust Him, and believe in yourself. God does!

A Cougar Wins!

I won! I won, I won, I won! Yeppers, I am a winner. No one could have been more shocked and surprised than me. I have entered a few writing contests on Christian sites.

I always do the weekly challenge with FaithWriters—if you’re not currently a member, I encourage you to join and enter the challenge; it’ll improve your writing skills—and I place sometimes on there. I’ve entered other contests with no results, really! But now…now I am a winner! I won the FaithWriters annual Page Turner Contest. This year it asked for non-fiction entries. They alternate—one year it’s fiction, the next year, it’s non-fiction. I’m not much of a non-fiction writer, but I do have an interesting, trendy story right now in that I am a cougar.

Ew, I don’t like being called cougar. The image it evokes is not good, at least to me. But Jeff and I have been married (second for both of us) for 18 years after dating for almost 4 years. I am 16 years older than Jeff.

That was my entry: How Does A Harmless House Cat Become A Cougar? And I won. Look for the book. Hopefully it’ll be coming out next year. Can you have a successful marriage when the woman is so much older? What are the challenges in a blended family where the woman is the older one?

Read the book.