Beth Troy's Blog, page 2

T-4 to Launch

3 years since the Lu launch, 4 days until the Louisa launch, and I’d like to share a little something I’ve learned about choices.

I can’t be two places at once.

I can’t do two big things at once. So, Summer 2018 when I told myself I’d draft a book and start a women in entrepreneurship initiative? Nope.

How do I wake up early? I go to bed early. I see this needing to change because I have two boys who are night owls. They are their father’s children. So maybe I’ll just let Matt stay up with them.

I can’t be home and away from home. Quarantine canceled all the away-from-home, and I regretted only one of those cancellations, for my part. I do wish the boys could have kept doing some of the things they like to do. I like being the person they come and go from, though, and I’d like to keep it this way.

I need to read and write. Writing is for the week and reading is for the weekends.

The more I read, the more I want to write.

Louisa releases August 10 and we’re pre-gaming with a flash Lu sale of FREE. On Kindle. Through August 7. Score your copy + copies for everyone else you’ve been thinking should read the story. Also, check my Insta this week – I’m doing daily, fun video Q&As on all things Lu, life, writing, and faith.

T-5 to Launch

3 years since the Lu launch, 5 days until the Louisa launch, and I’d like to share a little something I’ve learned about inversion.

What if what you see is a fraction? You know, the onion principle, or if that imagery makes you cry, think of a rose.

What if what you see is a fraction because what I share is a fraction? Not because I’m a miser but because I’m growing in God’s likeness and who He is has no end? His holiness, his love, his grace and mercy – they run clear all the way through. He wills the same for us.

If I am to have words, they need to be his, which means I need to have his words in my mind, so much so that there’s a part of me that’s constantly turning them over. Where is a good word going to come from if not from this? As such, any writing is a draw – a break from the pursuit to share a fraction of what God shares with me.

I’m still early days, but I think this is what it means to present yourself as an offering. And like everything else God calls us to, it’s the opposite of what we’re told to do here. The world is a dying place. There’s a lot of fear. Of course people throw up a façade in the face of it.

God tells us to invert it.

Come on in. Close the door. Give me your best. I’ll tell you when it’s time to go back out again.

Louisa releases August 10 and we’re pre-gaming with a flash Lu sale of FREE. On Kindle. Through August 7. Score your copy + copies for everyone else you’ve been thinking should read the story. Also, check my Insta this week – I’m doing daily, fun video Q&As on all things Lu, life, writing, and faith.

T-6 to Launch

3 years since the Lu launch, 6 days until the Louisa launch, and I’d like to share a little something I’ve learned about the stage.

I don’t like it. People say I’m good on it, but I’m thinking this is like wheatgrass. Good but not really because it takes so much doing to get it down the pipe.

I’m reminded of the time I wanted to volunteer at a horse therapy barn. I had a whole drug cocktail of Claritin, Benadryl, and an inhaler to get me through. I’d take a shower when I got home, but I still went to bed wheezing.

“No one can say you didn’t try,” Matt consoled me after I quit.

And I have tried. I’ve tried different shirts, but they all show pit sweat. I’ve tried preparation and improv. I’ve tried stages large and stages small.

I’m reminded of the time I complained to Grandma Barovian about serving me liver and onions.

She confiscated my glass of milk. “Just try it.”

I did. I didn’t like it. She took the plate away and gave me my milk back.

Stage, I have tried you. I don’t like you. I’m taking my milk back, going to my writing room, and shutting the door.

Louisa releases August 10 and we’re pre-gaming with a flash Lu sale of FREE. On Kindle. Through August 7. Score your copy + copies for everyone else you’ve been thinking should read the story. Also, check my Insta this week – I’m doing daily, fun video Q&As on all things Lu, life, writing, and faith.

T-7 to Launch

3 years since the Lu launch, 7 days until the Louisa launch, and I’d like to share a little something I’ve learned about encouragement.

It takes many forms. A couple days ago, it was a card in my mailbox. The morning before that, it was an email. Sometimes, it isn’t words at all, but a gift or some help, like my mom offering to watch the boys for an evening.

Sometimes it’s loud, but more often it’s quiet, and I like the quiet ones because I can experience them by myself (and cry). A friend sent me a text this week to tell me she was proud of me (and I cried). She reminded me that long before Lu was a book, it was a conversation about a book.

This brought to mind a conversation I had when I was visiting another friend many years ago. I was starting to think about maybe writing again. I was carrying a lot of doubt. I looked at her across her kitchen table.

“Do you think I can do it?” I asked her.

She said yes – no hesitancy, no qualifications, no disclaimers.

Our conversation went on, but a part of me stayed there. A part of me is still there because I saw something in her “yes” I hadn’t seen before – that encouragement is both given and received. I didn’t want to toss her “yes” aside. I wanted to put it to use. I still want to put it to use.

Thank you, Mom, Ruthie, Olivia, Kelli, and Michelle, – the women behind the encouragement I mentioned here. Thank you to everyone reading this who has written the card, sent the text, typed the email, etc. I have received your encouragement. I have put it to use. Yes, in my own writing, but really, as a reason to also be on the lookout. Who needs a good word today?

Thank you.

Louisa releases August 10 and we’re pre-gaming with a flash Lu sale of FREE. On Kindle. Through August 7. Score your copy + copies for everyone else you’ve been thinking should read the story. Also, check my Insta this week – I’m doing daily, fun video Q&As on all things Lu, life, writing, and faith.

Go Past Stop

STOP telling yourself you have no time. You have 168 hours every week.

START making choices of what to do with the 168 hours.

STOP filling in the blank: “I am not _____ enough.”

START meditating on 2 Corinthians 12:9 – “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.”

STOP comparing. One of any person is sufficient.

START meditating on Ephesians 2:10 – “For you are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for you to do.”

STOP going it alone.

START asking for help. People are good at helping (and bad at mind reading, which is why you need to ask them).

STOP the vague. Someday somehow for someone somewhere helped no one ever.

START asking/answering who, what, where, when, why, and how … now.

STOP waiting for another rescue. Jesus done did that already.

START working every day, without excuse, until it is finished.

That’s some tough love from BT&Co today! Which did you need to (if not want to) hear?

This soapbox is getting lonely. What STOP/START do you have to add? I bet I need to (though I may not want to) hear it!

We all have our space. Imagine you, unleashed, working for the glory of God and the good of those around you. This is what we’re talking about on the blog right now as I share the steps I took to envision, write, and publish my next novel, Louisa. Do you have ideas you don’t know what to do with or are you stuck somewhere in the middle? Start at the beginning of this series to get you going!

Go for the Long Game

Truth: It takes 10 years to become an overnight success.

So, if you want to extend your idea’s short game, you are going to need a long game that works … for the next 10 years.

This was why I quit writing Lu the first time. I did have a long game, and it looked something like this:

Write book.Get agent.Get publisher.Become a New York Times Bestseller.Rinse and repeat with Books 2, 3, 4 … to infinity and beyond!

It wasn’t a bad long game – not inherently – it just didn’t work for me, and because I didn’t know of another long game to play, I quit. I quit for 5 years. I grew up in those 5 years. I came into some confidence. I started making my own definitions and setting my own goals.

I developed a new long game, and it looked something like this:

Try anything. This is about following my curiosity and writing stories that haunt me, to a certain extent. I have a decent imagination for a 39-year-old woman and a lot of characters come and go. The ones who stick are the ones I write about because they interest me.Become a better storyteller with each book. This is about writing and becoming the best writer I can be – all of which comes from my genuine passion for developing this skill and before that, my love of reading well-written books.Be found by the people who are looking. This is about the business of selling books. On one hand, I need to know this business and not play the “God will sell my books” ignorance card. On the other hand, it reminds me that the girls and women I write for might find my books 3, 6, or 20 years from now – long past launch and that’s okay. Just in this past month, I received an email from a woman who recently read Lu and how the story helped her in the aftermath of her father’s death. Stories like this remind me of how Jesus will leave the group to pursue the one, and he sometimes uses the work he’s called us to in reaching that one. That’s Gospel success, which reverses our standard qualitative/quantitative metrics that what’s worthwhile always looks like a splash.

This is my long game. It’s worked well for the last 3 years, and I think it will work for the next 7, at which time I’ll re-evaluate this whole Beth Writes thing. Maybe then, I’ll be Beth Gardens. Maybe I’ll go back to Beth Makes Chicken Broth. Until then, I’m going to keep plugging away toward these goals and hopefully publish a few more books.

Do you have a defined long game that is helpful for you? That you can control? That you can start right now with where you are? That is clear enough to guide your work for the next 10 years but flexible enough to let you grow into that work?

I’d love to hear how you define this and work toward it! Comment below. I bet what you’ve figured out well help someone else in her pursuits this week.

We all have our space. Imagine you, unleashed, working for the glory of God and the good of those around you. This is what we’re talking about on the blog right now as I share the steps I took to envision, write, and publish my next novel, Louisa. Do you have ideas you don’t know what to do with or are you stuck somewhere in the middle? Start at the beginning of this series to get you going!

Go for a Short Game

Bias, inequality, racism, sexism, and prejudice are all real, but they’re not the reason I’ve seen women stall after inspiration hits, relegating their good ideas to Once Upon a Time.

Perfectionism takes the blame for this one, combined with imposter syndrome and the second guessing that comes with it. Basically, going pro with our ideas before we try them.

To see if the ideas work like we thought they would.

To see if we like doing the idea as much as we thought we would.

Every idea needs a short game to test whether it takes and whether we take to it.

I’ve reworked the next sentence way too many times because it sounds a bit too Used Car Salesman for the BethTroy&Co brand but I’m just gonna let it fly …

Five Steps to Unleashing Your Idea in the Next 30 Days (or your money back):

Set a mantra. Repeat after me: This is a test. It is nothing but a test. I am learning. The goal is to learn by testing because this is a test. Nothing but a test.Set a deadline. I recommend no more than 30 days to get a sample of your idea into the hands of your people. It doesn’t have to be the whole shebang – maybe a chapter of the book, a rough cut of the song, or a lesson plan of the online course.Set expectations. Those accounts with 100K followers that inspired you to do your thing are no longer your friend. Guaranteed these people have been at it for years, and so you cannot expect their results, polish, and prolificacy because you have not put in the time. Yet. Everyone starts at the start. This is your start, and a start is a beautiful, exciting place. Own it, set expectations accordingly, and stop wasting time by searching for the exact pantone of the blue you want in your brand palette already!Set evaluation criteria. The whole purpose of a test is to test assumptions. So, if good ideas solve real problems for real people in different ways, your testing needs to proof toward that “good” direction? Did it solve the problem? For people? In a different way? With Lu, I wanted to write a story that (among other things) was readable. To test that, I put it in women’s hands to see if they actually read it. To follow up, I didn’t ask, “Hey, was it readable?” There were better questions to test the assumption, like, “Hey, were there parts you found your mind wandering? Was there a chapter where it was easy to put the book down?” I got specific answers that led to specific revisions that made the book more readable!Set self-evaluation criteria. An important part of the test is to test how doing the idea went for you. Were you interested? Were you playing to your strengths? What would you change? Are you glad to have done it? Would you do it again?

Committing your idea to a short game doesn’t go beyond the short game. You are allowed to quit. You are allowed to continue. You are allowed to change.

For those of you who want to do something but are not sure what, how does setting a short-game give you permission to try something or maybe even a couple of things?

For those of you who started something but now feel stuck, how could you use the steps of a short game to re-energize your idea over the next month?

For those of you who question whether your work is making an impact, check out Step 4! Bringing in people to evaluate our work silences and affirms our doubts. Either gives you the information you need to move forward instead of ruminating.

For those of you who seek to get better at what you do, how can you put one aspect of your work through a short game to ensure it’s landing as you intend?

I’d love to hear your answers, and I’d love to help! Comment below on where you are, and I’ll bring my mind to it, too!

We all have our space. Imagine you, unleashed, working for the glory of God and the good of those around you. This is what we’re talking about on the blog right now as I share the steps I took to envision, write, and publish my next novel, Louisa. Do you have ideas you don’t know what to do with or are you stuck somewhere in the middle? Start at the beginning of this series to get you going!

Go for Different Ideas

Let’s talk about getting our ideas out there, shall we?

Ummm … isn’t that what you were supposed to be talking about for the last two weeks?

First, I don’t like your tone. Second, I get it. I do see how the last two weeks read like a never-ending preamble that may have left you wondering whether I lost my way instead of making my case …

(or maybe you thought I was beating my case)

… that it’s about problems and people before your idea.

But I didn’t! I didn’t lose my way. I just think this first bit is very, very important!

Now that I’ve made/beat my case, let’s talk about the work you’re going to unleash in the world, which goes something like this.

Good ideas solve real problems for real people in different ways.

That’s it?

Again, the tone!

Yes, that’s it – easy to write and hard to execute because every market everywhere is saturated. There are 8 million books for sale on Amazon right now. Why should someone read yours? There are 800,000 podcasts with 54 million episodes among them. Why should someone listen to yours? The animal shelter down the road rescues dogs and cats. Do we need your animal nonprofit, too? I don’t wear half of what I have, and my closets are full. Why should I shop at your store?

Well now you’re the one with the tone.

It’s an earnest tone. Why your idea?

Only you know the answer, and if you don’t know it, how will your idea catch someone’s attention? How will your idea keep it?

Good ideas solve real problems for real people in different ways.

Here’s two steps to help you identify the different:

Know Your Market – Don’t assume you know what’s out there. Know what’s out there. How are other people solving this problem?Know Yourself – This is not the time for false humility. What’s your A-Game? On a scale of 1-10, which of your skills stand naturally around 8 (to be honed to 10)? The goal here is to build an idea that aligns with your skills and interests.

Obviously, there’s a lot more to doing both these steps, and you can find it readily enough, but don’t lose sight that different is always a mix of these two factors as applied to the problem and people you want to help.

Does this seem achievable? I hope, yes! Your work has the potential to be as different as you are different. You just have to play to your unique mix of background, perspective, skills, and purpose. I’m going to talk about how you can test all of this tomorrow with a short-game, but today let’s stick with answering two questions.

How are other people currently solving this problem?

How would you like to solve this problem in a different way?

If you want me to help you think through this, just put your answers in the comments below, and I’ll take a crack at it!

We all have our space. Imagine you, unleashed, working for the glory of God and the good of those around you. This is what we’re talking about on the blog right now as I share the steps I took to envision, write, and publish my next novel, Louisa. Do you have ideas you don’t know what to do with or are you stuck somewhere in the middle? Start at the beginning of this series to get you going!

The People You Pray For

It’s easy for me to make everything about the book right now. It’s like the finish of any major thing, with the last 1% feeling harder than the 99% that preceded it, and I’m over it. This morning, I don’t want to mess around with Mailchimp to ensure that my “lead magnets” populate to the correct “segments” so the “email automations” go to the right “target.”

I wanted to get a box of donuts from the Oxford donut shop and go to the creek with my kids.

I wanted to finish the book I’m reading.

I wanted to let other people write books from now on.

It’s like labor – the last bit that leaves you looking around the room wildly for the person who did this to you. Him. He did it. That guy! Never again!

Which is all to say I entered my writing room mildly pissed off this morning, turning on lights on a tizzy and zipping up my hoodie in a huff because it’s stinking cold in the basement. I got my lap quilt, wrapped it around me and plopped in my desk chair with a sigh. I glared at my laptop. It glared back.

I looked left to my chalkboard, and there they were – the names of all the women who said “Yes!” to helping me with the launch. I don’t know all of them, and one I just got to know because she emailed me after finishing Lu. the other night. Some things require imagination, but being there with women as they share their story of moving from lost to found doesn’t. I’m just there.

Yes, it’s easy for me to make everything about the book right now, but I’m not called to the book so much I am the women who will read it.

For those of you a little tired, a little cranky, about your work today, take a break and have a listen to this message by Jon Tyson.

We all have our space. Imagine you, unleashed, working for the glory of God and the good of those around you. This is what we’re talking about on the blog right now as I share the steps I took to envision, write, and publish my next novel, Louisa. Do you have ideas you don’t know what to do with or are you stuck somewhere in the middle? Start at the beginning of this series to get you going!

The People You Work For

Some of the details that draw people into Lu’s story slam doors for others.

Take the scene on Page 247 (no spoilers here). This is why a bookstore wouldn’t carry Lu. It’s also why a woman thanked me at a book club. Because that was me.

Recently, a book blogger opted out of reviewing Lu on her site, as a kindness to me she explained. The divorced pastor, the consumption of alcohol, and occasional curse word made her uncomfortable. We had a lovely exchange, and I told her I didn’t mind if she published a negative review because it’s helpful to hear what people do and do not like.

Good ideas solve real problems for real people – but not all of them, and not even all of them who are facing the same problem. A good idea just needs enough of them to take.

A market share. An audience. A tribe.

Or, as I affectionately call it, a Thursday night Bible study.

For several years, I hosted one at my house. The women would start arriving around 7:45 and help me re-arrange chairs. A couple of Troy boys, sometimes naked (they were young at the time), would pop in to see whether anyone had brought cookies, and then we’d send them to bed so we could get started. The conversation went everywhere but typical places, and I quickly learned that my job as facilitator was to let that happen. The women were smart, earnest, and gracious – and I learned a ton from them about how women interpret and apply the Bible in their lives.

Thursday night Bible study is who I work for. They are the women I keep in mind when I write anything, whether it’s a blog post or a book, and my desire to reach a group of women like Thursday night Bible study guides the writing itself, from the tones to the humor and the subject matter. I want to respect their time. I want to respect them. I want to honor their experiences, thoughts, expressions, and hopes.

Knowing who I work for helps me make decisions about the type of work I should be doing.

Knowing who I work for helps me refine the work.

Knowing who I work for reminds me I am not working for everyone.

Knowing who I work for helps me let go of the people I am not working for.

Or as a recent reviewer of Lu wrote: This book isn’t for someone who wants squeaky-clean fiction, but it is for someone who appreciates a realistic, thoughtful story and doesn’t mind a little grit.

So …

For those of you who want to do something but are not sure what, I have a question. Do you know who you work for? It can be anyone other than “everyone.” Maybe you want to write a healthy cookbook for moms. Great! What kind of mom? Moms aren’t moms aren’t moms. Get specific – from age range to salary, how many kids they have and how much time they have to cook in the day. The more specific you get, the easier it will be for you to make decisions about the work itself.

For those of you who started something but now feel stuck, I have a question. Have you thought about bringing in the people you work for as partners in your work? When I wrote Lu, I had a writing buddy to review my work as I wrote it and a beta reading group of 4 women review the first draft. Along the way, I also asked my Bible study to pray for me, which became another form of low-key accountability because they would ask me how the writing was going, and I wanted to tell them something. Even the most solo work can be collaborative, and collaborating with the people you work for saves you a lot of time on the back-end.

For those of you who question whether your work is making an impact, I have a question. When was the last time you talked to the people you work for? Yes, this can look like some sort of formal interview or review – both of which I do – but really, it works best as open-ended conversations where you’re actually not talking about your work at all, but about who they are and what they want. You know best where your work fits into this, so you don’t really have to bring your work into it every time. You just have to listen to people and ask good questions.

For those of you who seek to get better at what you do, I have a question. How tough of a crowd do you put your work in front of? My beta reading group has 2 people who would not choose to read Christian fiction if I didn’t ask them to read mine. They bring a sharp, critical perspective that streamlines my storytelling and calls out my assumptions. I also send my books to review circuits where I’m not sure the story will take, given the types of books they normally read. The try is more important to me than the risk of a bad review, and the bad reviews always sharpen my writing game.

Good ideas solve real problems for real people – but not all of them!

Which of the above descriptions describes where you are right now? What problems are you experiencing and how can I help? I want to help! Comment below to tell me how.

We all have our space. Imagine you, unleashed, working for the glory of God and the good of those around you. This is what we’re talking about on the blog right now as I share the steps I took to envision, write, and publish my next novel, Louisa. Do you have ideas you don’t know what to do with or are you stuck somewhere in the middle? Start at the beginning of this series to get you going!