Nancy I. Sanders's Blog, page 22

Faith Building Fridays: Encouragement

Let everything you [write] be good and helpful,

so that your words will be an encouragement

to those who hear them.

-Ephesians 4:29, NLT

We are called to set the standard in our world for godliness, holiness, and righteousness. Is there a way we can share God’s message through our manuscripts in a way that is encouraging and uplifting instead of condemning? As God’s scribes, let’s think how we can share His message through inspiration and encouragement rather than criticism or condemnation. From the critiques we give to fellow writers to the fiction or nonfiction manuscripts we get published, let’s strive for our words to be good and helpful.

Dear God, forgive me for the times I’ve beaten others down because of my harsh criticism or condemnation. Please give me Your tender heart. Help me write words that encourage people to chase after Your goodness! In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Filed under: Faith-building Fridays, Uncategorized

Happy Mew Year!

[image error]

Happy Mew Year!

Hi. My name is Sandman. I’m a cat. You probably already know that. But what you may not know is that I’m also a writer. Yup. I like to write nonfiction for kittens…I mean kids.

Just like you, I like to follow along with this blog. It’s the cat’s meow. But lately I’ve noticed my writing buddy, Nancy I. Sanders, has gone AWOL. I mean, where are all her blog posts?

I did some investigating and discovered she’s been all tied up working hard on a very intensive writing project. She’s got a book deadline May 1, 2017 and it’s taking up all her time.

So I figured I’d try to help her out. I mean, what’s a feline friend for if we can’t help out our buddies now and then? Especially our writing buddies.

First of all, I want to wish you all a Happy Mew Year!

My advice for a successful writing year in 2017? Here are 3 Terrific Tips:

Tip #1: Take lots of cat naps so your writing is always fresh. Me? I like to put myself to sleep plotting out the next scene or fact I’ll be writing about when I wake up.

Tip #2: Eat lots of tasty treats while you write. Just keep them healthy. Hold off on too many tuna treats or beachside crunchies.

Tip #3: Just focus on one goal per day. One bitesize writing goal. Write the next sentence in your picture book. Write the next paragraph in your middle grade novel. You get the picture. If you’re crunched for time like my writing buddy is, you’ll accomplish more on your project if you just focus on getting one writing task done each day.

 

Filed under: Cat Tips for Writers

Faith Building Fridays: Lord of Eternity

As I was praying and worshipping this morning for all of America and for all of you, God’s scribes, this was the worship song filling up my prayer closet with hope. As you listen to this, may each of you be reminded, as I was this morning, that God is Lord of eternity. He is on His throne. He has called us by name to be his scribes for such as time as this.

Filed under: Uncategorized

Oldie But Goodie: New Purpose

Here’s an Oldie But Goodie that I hope helps you find a new purpose for some of those dusty manuscripts in your files. Enjoy!

Let’s admit it. Getting published in today’s market is tough. I know. For every one of the books I’ve had published, I probably have three complete manuscripts still in my file cabinet that have earned me enough rejection letters to wallpaper my entire house. That’s a lot of unpublished manuscripts!

Some of them are 20 years old. But none of those manuscripts are forgotten. Oh no! I have fun finding new purposes for my old manuscripts.

I post some of my old manuscripts for children’s books in their entirety on my website.

Other manuscripts I post section by section on various blogs I have.

Some manuscripts I’ve even self-published with Print On Demand publishers.

Sure, I’m constantly writing new material for deadlines and book contracts that will be published. But I also have fun with my other favorite manuscripts that never yet found a home. One by one, I’m finding a home for each of them and it’s been a very rewarding experience.

How about you? Do you have favorite manuscripts you’ve written that have never yet been published? Go ahead…have some fun! Post them on a blog and you’ll get people reading them all around the world. Self-publish them with a print-on-demand publisher and you can give them as gifts to family and friends.

Pull out those old manuscripts and find a brand new purpose for them. You’ll be glad you did!

Filed under: Oldie But Goodie, Tips and Strategies

Faith Building Fridays: Prosper

Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked,

or stand around with sinners,

or join in with scoffers.

But they delight in doing everything the Lord wants;

day and night they think about his law.

They are like trees planted along the riverbank,

bearing fruit each season without fail.

Their leaves never wither,

and in all they do, they prosper.

-Psalm 1:1-3, NLT

The secret to prospering as a writer is not about measuring our success by the world’s standards. It’s all about measuring our success by God’s standards. Have you ever looked closely at a tree? It’s not a world traveler and nobody sees it except those who pass by. A tree stays right in one spot day after day and is considered prosperous if it bears the fruit it’s supposed to bear. A successful writer is one who sits down day after day at the computer, typing the words we’re called to write, delighting to do what God wants us to do, meditating on His Word as we write for His glory.

Dear God, my heart’s desire is to write the words You put on my heart. It truly doesn’t matter if I’m successful in the world’s eyes, as long as I know I’m prospering by bearing the fruit and completing the manuscripts you have called me to write. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

_______________________________________________________________

Scribes: Devotions for Christian Writers is available at Amazon.

Filed under: Faith-building Fridays, Inspiration, Uncategorized

Oldie But Goodie: Beginners’ Tips

Here’s an Oldie But Goodie for beginning writers:

 

If you never had an 8th grade English teacher who drilled grammar and punctuation rules into your brain until they became part of your DNA, don’t despair! It’s possible for you to return to the basics to learn these skills. Best of all, you’ll improve as a writer. Guaranteed!

Some writers who never learned grammar or punctuation rules and others who have had learning difficulties bring their manuscripts to critique groups with hopes of their friends finding and fixing all the errors. What these writers don’t realize however, is that it takes so much time to correct all these errors that their manuscript really doesn’t get the feedback it deserves. If you take the time to learn the basic grammar rules and punctuation rules, then spend the time self-editing your own manuscript to fix your errors BEFORE you take it to your critique group, it’s more beneficial to you in the long run. By the time you arrive at your critique group with the basic errors already fixed, everyone can focus on helping you revise and polish your manuscript so that it rises to the next level–one step closer to publication!

There are three great books for teachers that I recommend for beginners to use to learn the basic grammar and punctuation rules. They are part of a series called Writing Skills Made Fun by Karen Kellaher:

* Capitalization, Punctuation, and Spelling

* Parts of Speech

* Sentences and Paragraphs

Purchase these books online or at a store that sells teacher resource materials. Have fun doing the exercises for each lesson about grammar and punctuation. Then take the time on your very next manuscript to put your new-found skills to use–BEFORE you share your manuscript with your critique group. You’ll be one step closer to success!

Filed under: Oldie But Goodie, Tips and Strategies

Oldie But Goodie: Editing

Here’s a humorous Oldie But Goodie about self-editing…enjoy!

Hi My name is Humphrey. I’m a cat. You may already know that. But what you may not know is that I’m also a writer. And today, now that you’re writing your alphabet book (or whatever manuscript you’re working on), I want to tell you about putting on your editor’s hat.

Do you like to edit your own manuscripts? You know—self edit? Come on…really?

I don’t.

I mean, it’s just not the cat’s meow.

But I know I should. I know I’m supposed to. I know it’s what a cat’s gotta do to learn how to be a successful writer. So I decided to break my habit of neglecting this part of my writing life.

The first thing I did was get myself an editor’s hat. You know—first you wear the writer’s hat and then you take that off and put on your editor’s hat? Right? Well, I didn’t have an editor’s hat. So I went out and got one. Like it? It even has a little mouse at the top and this twirly thing to twirl around. It’s purrfect for a cat like me. You should get one, too!

After I finish my first draft of my manuscript, I set aside some time to edit. And now I make sure it isn’t the drudgery it used to be. I make sure it’s fun!

I put on my silly editor’s beanie. It gets me in the mood to have fun, dude. Then I get out my special highlighter pens. I splurged and bought some wa-ay cool ones that I can use to make neon colors and decorate all over my manuscript. (They don’t even have a cap to lose, but click like a ballpoint pen.) Since I have neon yellow and neon pink and neon orange, now I’m HOPING to find mistakes in my manuscript just so I can mark ‘em on my page and turn the boring black and white little marks on the paper into bright, fun, colorful pictures.

I know my weaknesses, too. So I made a list of ‘em. Here are the first three, for starters:

1. Don’t always use punctuation correctly.

2. Weak verbs.

3. Poorly constructed paragraphs without a clear beginning, middle, and end.

I also printed out some self-editing checklists from how-to-write books, and articles I found on the Internet. These lists remind me to check for realistic dialog, show don’t tell, and lots of other important stuff.

I take my highlighters and have some fun! First I look at every single sentence I wrote in my first paragraph. I highlight the capital letter at the beginning of the sentence in pink. I highlight the punctuation in that sentence in yellow. Then I make sure to check that I used that punctuation correctly.

If I’m not sure about the punctuation rule, I look it up in my reference books. But hey—my reference books aren’t bo-o-oring like yours might be. Oh no! First I made specially decorated book covers for each one of ‘em so they’re bright and colorful, not scary-looking or over-the-top academic. Then I got my highlighters out and really decorated the pages I use the most to remind me what the rules are that I most often forget. Plus, I got sticky notes in all shapes and sizes to stick on the pages I look up over and over again. I want to save my energy for chasing mice, not for flipping through the pages looking up the same rule I’ve used a zillion times before. Like I said—I want this self-editing thing to be as fun as a cat can have it.

So hey—how about you? Are you having fun when you self-edit your manuscript? If not, do something about it. Make it fun, like I did. Now editing’s my favorite part of writing. Not! But really, it’s way more fun than it used to be. Especially when I put on my editor’s hat. And nibble on tunafish…but that’s another story.

Filed under: Oldie But Goodie, Uncategorized

Faith Building Fridays: God’s Book

You saw me before I was born

and scheduled each day of my life

before I began to breathe.

Every day was recorded in your book!

-Psalm 139:16, TLB

What an amazing concept this is! In His great love for us, God has kept a memory book about us from even before we were born. How precious each day of our lives is to Him–may we as His scribes grasp this wonder and dedicate ourselves to His purposes. May we not waste another day away from His great call upon us to write.

Dear God, on this particular day of my life, may I spend time writing the words You planned for me to write from even before when I was born. In Jesus’s name. Amen.

_______________________________________________________________

Scribes: Devotions for Christian Writers is available at Amazon.

Filed under: Faith-building Fridays, Inspiration, Uncategorized

Oldie But Goodie: The American Library Association

Here’s an Oldie But Goodie that gives you an idea about what it’s like to attend a national bookseller’s convention such as ALA.

ALA (American Library Association) is in town this year! The big event is being held at the Anaheim Convention Center just across the street from Disneyland. And while it may not have the rides that Disneyland offers, for a writer, ALA is a fairy-tale kind of place where yes, dreams do come true, and meeting publishers and editors face-to-face really can make it the happiest place on earth!

This year, members of my critique group of professional Christian writers (and illustrators!) planned a field trip to ALA. First, those who could make it met at Veronica’s house, the illustrator and budding writer in our group, then we carpooled over to the event.

Can you even imagine how much fun we had? At every publisher’s booth we stopped, we introduced ourselves as a local critique group on a field trip, and the excitement was contagious! Publishers showed us what their favorite new titles are, they described the dream manuscripts they are looking for, and they told us how to send our manuscripts their way. One marketing rep even shared that she is a wannabe writer, so we gave her tips on how to follow her dreams.

We got free books and free totebags and more free books and free gimmicks (I’m treasuring my “I’m a Fancy Nancy fan!” fan) and even more free books! Not to mention the autographed books of local author friends we unexpectedly ran into who were doing booksignings at various booths scattered throughout the floor. Lots of squeals of delight and hugs here…

By the end of our stay, we were lugging around heavy totebags filled with goodies, only to run into my hubby and youngest son who had just dropped in to take a peek around, too. Jeff graciously helped carry bags to the car for the other gals, then returned to join me as we headed to the Libraries Unlimited booth.

On display was one of our newest books we’ve written together: Readers’ Theatre for African American History. It was hot off the press–the first time we held it in our hands–and we are thrilled with how it turned out! We got to meet some of the folks at Libraries Unlimited, including our wonderful editor, Sharon Coatney. It was the perfect ending to a fairy-tale-kind-of day!

Filed under: Oldie But Goodie, Uncategorized

Oldie But Goodie: Pep Talk 101

Here’s a pep talk that I hope encourages you today as a writer. I found it from several years ago on my blog, so I’m posting it today as an Oldie But Goodie:

As writers, it’s very easy to get discouraged. As writers of alphabet books or picture books in general, we have to come to terms with the fact that we’re trying to break into the toughest market in the industry. Why is it so tough? Two main reasons. The first is that the competition is fierce because everyone–from the postal worker to the grocery clerk to your very own grandmother wants to write a picture book. Why? Because of the second reason–these books are full color and beautifully illustrated which happens to make them the most expensive book of all for publishers to produce and the most pricey book of all for consumers to purchase.

So if you’re dedicated to writing picture books and alphabet books and fully illustrated books, here’s a survival tip to keep you going and keep you from quitting or dropping out of the race altogether:

Write for 2-3 no-pay or low-pay markets so that you’re getting published on a steady basis throughout the year. I mean, even when I landed my contract to write my alphabet book, D is for Drinking Gourd: An African American Alphabet, it took nearly 3 years to finally see the book in print. First I had to write it. Then they had to find an illustrator for it. Then E.B. Lewis had to paint the pictures. Then they had to print it. All this took a lot of time. If it was the only manuscript I was getting published in all that time, I would have gotten very discouraged as a writer.

But I didn’t! In between book contracts and all throughout my days, weeks, months, and years of writing, I also write for no-pay and low-pay markets on a steady basis. The perks far outweigh the cash. I develop friendships with the editors I work with. These editors supply tons of kudos and positive feedback! I get validated over and over and over again with a steady stream of publications. And these add up nicely on my list of published credits. I feel like a writer because I’m constantly working within the world of a writer.

Here are just a few of the no-pay and low-pay markets I have written for over the years:

church newsletters

puzzles for kids’ magazines

book reviews for magazines

online devotions

local school writing projects

parenting newsletters

writer’s newsletters

The list could go on and on. I’ve accumulated hundreds of credits with no-pay or low-pay markets over the years.

So for my pep talk today on my blog, I want to encourage you to do the same. While you’re working so hard to write a book manuscript, sit down every couple of days or so and just write a short article and send it in to a no-pay or low-pay market that you’re practically guaranteed to get accepted. Local community magazines, online freebie magazines, Sunday School take home papers, small unknown publishers… Start building relationships with these editors to guarantee a steady accumulation of published credits. Forget about the pay–the experience and the validation as a writer are worth much more than anyone can pay you right now. Start today and make it your goal to get published in these markets on a regular basis. It will help you keep on writing and working toward your goal of landing a book contract.

 

Filed under: Inspiration, Uncategorized