Keep on Learning

The process of writing is a life-long journey of learning.

There are many ways to learn about the craft of writing. Online writing courses, books, critique groups, participation in a local group, talking with other writers, and yes, even conferences, retreats, and seminars -- if you are open to learn, you will be able to take away a nugget from any of these situations. If you aren't open to learning, you can spend a lot of time and money and not get any benefit from any or all of these activities.

See, I think continuing education is a lot like meal preparation. We start with the meat and potatoes of a story. We have some characters, a setting, maybe even a time period. We start cooking our ingredients together, hoping to come up with something delicious at the end.

Okay, so here is where continuing education comes in: learning new things about our craft of writing is like opening a cook book and getting a new recipe for cooking chicken. Sure, you could take your pieces of chicken and do what you always do with it. Or, you can take a recipe from a book and add a few extra ingredients, and come up with a wonderful dish your family asks for again and again.

In the same way, you can take your characters, your setting, your time period, string them together in the same old way, and come up with a book nobody wants to read. Or, you can open a book on writing, go to a critique group, attend a writer's meeting, buy a tape from a conference -- and add a dash of expertise, a teaspoon of craft, a pinch of grammar and style, and come up with a book that has your readers asking "When is the next one coming out?"

Continuing education, in all its forms, will spice up your writing, will make the process go faster and easier for you, and will open doors to editors. Learning more about the craft of writing will improve your plots, make your characters more believable, and will garner you faithful readers.

So whatever form of continuing education you choose, start out with a desire to be better at what you do, to wisely use the gifts God has given you, and to have a teachable heart, intent on being the best you can be.

Good Friday

What have you been thinking about today? Have you been writing? Plotting? Creating?

I've had many things in my schedule today - a few simple questions from editor and copy-editor, an email or two about the cover design, an email or two about interior design, and a little writing in the WIP.

But what keeps coming back to mind is what today represents. The day Jesus took my sins upon Himself and He died. For me. He was brutally beaten, He was mocked, He was crucified. All because He loves me.

The same holds true for you, my friend. He died so that each one of us could have LIFE. Isn't that amazing? Doesn't that give you chills? Don't you want to tell everyone you know?

Earlier today, I was outside enjoying the cool air. My kids were riding their bikes while I watered my precious flower beds. Around the corner came a school bus. I dropped the hose. What on earth have we come to? Why are kids going to school on Good Friday? Does this day mean nothing?

My thoughts became critical and then I had another one of my 2x4 moments. (God has to 'gently' prod me at times to help me see His point.) It's times like these, this very day and age where we need to be a light more than ever. Each day the need increases as we draw closer to that blessed finish line!

I recently read a book by debut author, Lisa McKay, entitled My Hands Came Away Red. I LOVED this book. Not only is it a great work of fiction, but it makes you think. And I mean, gut-wrenching, mind-boggling, think. My brain has returned to it many times in the days since reading it. It has truly challenged me.

That's what we, as believers, should be doing. Challenging one another. Iron sharpening iron. Praying for one another, encouraging one another, fellowshipping with one another, growing with one another.

In just a couple of weeks, we have another great opportunity for all of that. Our Colorado retreat will take place the last weekend in April and I pray that you have the chance to come. Let's dig in the Word together, seek God's will in our lives and in our writing, and encourage one another in these incredibly difficult times.

Praise the Lord for what He has done. Thank You, for Good Friday and the reminder it is to us all.

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Kimberley Woodhouse is a wife, mother, author, and musician with a quick wit and positive outlook despite difficult circumstances. A popular speaker, she’s shared at more than 600 venues across the country. Kimberley and her family's story have garnered national media attention for many years, but most recently her family was chosen for ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, The Montel Williams Show, and Discovery Health channel’s Mystery ER which premiered in 2008. Her story, Welcome Home: Our Family’s Journey to Extreme Joy, releases in September 2009 from Focus on the Family. Kimberley lives, writes, and homeschools in Colorado with her husband and two children in their truly “extreme” home. www.kimberleywoodhouse.com