Writing Advice from the Proverbs

Here are some of the books my stories have been published in.

Prov 13: 10 Pride only breeds quarrels,
but wisdom is found in those who take advice.

11 Dishonest money dwindles away,
but he who gathers money little by little makes it grow.

12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.

Writers are a special breed. It doesn’t take much to keep our hopes up that the mother lode is coming soon – that screenplay I’ve written will find a producer; the book idea falls into the right lap, the magazine article is just what the editor wanted for the next issue.

I’m a full-time freelance writer and love every minute of the process, even staying up until midnight to phone a soldier in Iraq who is 8 hours ahead to get an interview.

It was not always so.

When I was first starting out, I didn’t know the mechanics of submitting a story to a magazine. So when I saw an ad in a Sunday school take-home paper called The Lookout, asking for submissions of 200-word stories about Sunday school teachers that had made an impression on readers’ lives, I decided to send in a story about my daughter’s kindergarten teacher, Betty Nutter. Betty taught the kids scriptures from the Bible and the books of the New Testament in song. She also took them out to McDonalds for their birthdays and had them over to her home for the afternoon, then took them home.

Betty was a widow and one of the long-attending members of our church. It was so exciting when the editor of The Lookout notified me that the article would be published! They even paid me $20!

I’ve published 1,500+ articles in books, magazines and newspapers. Yet, I still remember the excitement and pride of that first tiny story.

These memories cause me to think all 3 of these verses apply to writers. Here’s how I see it:

Verse 12: We need advice at any stage of our career. I’m studying now how to write a book proposal. I’ve never written a book or submitted a book proposal, which is what a publisher wants to see to determine if the idea is one she will want to look at.

I know -- from hearing literary agents and publishers talk – that if a proposal is not done correctly, my book idea will be discarded – no matter how well I might write. Therefore, I’m reading books about how to write a book proposal and asking for advice.

Verse 13: As for gathering money “little by little”, I know what that means too! Yet, I’m not complaining. Even though my freelance checks may come in less frequently than I’d like, at night I can lay my head down and sleep well, knowing I have not created copy about anyone or anything that is less than truthful.

Verse 14: Hope deferred – I have to admit, for years I struggled to be able to get much published. At first it was just a few things a year. Now, it is a couple times each week that something I’ve written is published.

Still, I remember those first years and think how I almost gave up. Then another article would come out and I’d feel so proud. ‘Someone likes to read what I’ve written!’ I’d say to myself, over and over.

Today, I look back and think how far I’ve come. That gives me encouragement to keep pressing on. With God’s help I know I can only get better!

What are you writing today?

Take care,