L, M, and N are the letters I am behind on.....

The blog challenge has certainly kept me hopping, and I am behind. My word for L is life. Life seems to get in the way of my writing no matter how hard I try. Is it Satan trying to tempt me away from what I am called to do or is it family demands that just seem to get in the way. No matter, LIFE gets in the way. The important thing is to take life and those situations that postpone the writing time I have and turn them into stories.


 N  is for new. Every morning I can choose to start new writing projects, get a new look on the old ones, and begin a new attitude towards my writing. And some days I have to start over with new goals, a new approach, a new writing plan, NEW, NEW, NEW. Spring is a great time to start NEW things, but don't totally get rid of the old.. Some of those notes hanging around in your office might be the next best seller with just a tweak or two and a NEW approach.

M is for mastering the material. As authors we are the masters of our words. Those of us who are Christian writers answer to a higher Master and although that is a wonderful thing, even that can take us down a road we don't think we should travel. Do we master the subjects that we want to write or do we master material we may not be as familiar with but feel compelled to write and explore because of our Master's plan? Tough questions. M can also stand for money and material things which are also a big distraction for a writer. We are taught and coached to monetize, write what is marketable, and think about sales. Does all that thinking about money change who we are and how we write?

For me it does sometimes influence me. What I think will be a heartwarming children's story comes back critiqued as " there is no market for this type of story" or " put a spin on it to make it more marketable." All good advice but it changes the flow of the words for me when I am thinking about the market rather than the story.

Tips for today:

• Life gets in the way. Make a way for that to get into your story
• New ideas should be sought after and put a NEW spin on some of your old stagnant ideas
• Mastering the material you want to write is important by honing your skills and writing what makes you happy, but marketing is part of the life of a writer.

Master marketing with writing new ideas about life and making every word count. Write for fun, write for money, and write what you are called to write. The three together will make a fascinating  writing career.