The Importance of Following Guidelines in Writing and Faith
From Edie: Writers often fail when they ignore submission rules. Explore how following guidelines in writing and faith leads to purpose, clarity, and impact.
The Importance of Following Guidelines in Writing and Faithby Martin Wiles @LinesFromGod
One by one, I filtered through the email submissions and then, sadly, returned three-fourths of them. Of late, this hasn’t been a not-so-unusual occurrence. Why? The writers did not follow the guidelines.
For more than a decade, I have served as Managing Editor for a non-profit organization’s website. My duties include receiving submissions, ensuring they follow our guidelines, editing them as needed, corresponding with writers, and scheduling the devotions on the website. However, the issue of guidelines increasingly keeps many of them from seeing the light of day on the website.
Our website makes the guidelines clear: give an opening verse (one verse), write an opening paragraph that hooks the reader, write a second paragraph that explains the Bible verse, compose a final section that shows the reader how to apply the verse, and keep the entire piece under four hundred words. Easy enough ... seemingly. We even give a sample for writers to peruse. We strive to communicate effectively because we want to serve as a platform that helps budding writers do what God has called them to do and to help them build their writing resume.
More often than not, many writers fail to follow two of the guidelines. Either the word count exceeds our limit, or the Hook is absent. Some will make the necessary edits and return their submission. Others don’t want to make the effort and give up.
One writer submitted a devotion with several verses. When I returned it and explained that she needed to choose only one verse, she responded, “God gave me two verses, and I refuse to compromise.” There are times when we writers need to “die on a hill,” but this probably wasn’t it.
But we writers aren’t the only ones who can ignore guidelines. I have seen students do it numerous times. As a middle school Language Arts teacher, I have given more low grades than I care to remember on research papers because students failed to follow the guidelines. They completely disregarded the MLA format and created their own. They forgot the in-text citations. Some even forget to include the Works Cited page. Having good information in the body of the paper doesn’t compensate for failing to follow directions.
Yet, the most critical place for us to follow the guidelines resides in our spiritual lives. This is where King Solomon missed the boat. “Solomon loved the Lord and followed all the decrees of his father, David, except that Solomon, too, offered sacrifices and burned incense at the local places of worship. (1 Kings 3:3 NLT).
For one, he married multiple women, not to mention that he had a few hundred on the side whom he wasn’t married to. Additionally, he married women from foreign lands who worshipped pagan gods. Many of these marriages entailed political alliances. Ultimately, they turned his heart to their gods, leading him to disobey the one true God and face the consequences.
God loves us and wants us to enter a relationship with him, but he does have guidelines. When we don’t follow them, he must return us to our way of disobedience. But when we follow them through faith in Jesus Christ and what he has done on the cross, God welcomes us into his family, forgives our sins, gives us a rich life presently, and promises us an eternity with him.
Following the guidelines is essential for success in the writing profession, but more importantly, in our spiritual journey—and in many other areas of life. As writers, we have the privilege of influencing thousands through our writing if we follow the guidelines of the places for which we write. If the publication’s guidelines cause us to compromise our beliefs, we shouldn’t submit our work. And if we are not willing to adjust our writing to fit the publication’s guidelines, submitting will also waste our time and the editor’s time. They are unlikely to change their guidelines to suit our opinions or convictions. Make sure you have followed the guidelines so God can use your writing for his Kingdom work.
TWEETABLEThe Importance of Following Guidelines in Writing and Faith from Martin Wiles (@LinesFromGod) on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)
Martin Wiles lives in Greenwood, SC, and is the founder of Love Lines from God. He is a freelance editor, English teacher, pastor, and author. He serves as Managing Editor for both Christian Devotions and Vinewords.net and is an instructor for the Christian PEN (professional editor’s network). Wiles is a multi-published author. His most recent book, Hurt, Hope and Healing: 52 Devotions That Will Lead to Spiritual Health, is available on Amazon. He and his wife are parents of two and grandparents of seven. He can be contacted at mandmwiles@gmail.com.
The Importance of Following Guidelines in Writing and Faithby Martin Wiles @LinesFromGod
One by one, I filtered through the email submissions and then, sadly, returned three-fourths of them. Of late, this hasn’t been a not-so-unusual occurrence. Why? The writers did not follow the guidelines.
For more than a decade, I have served as Managing Editor for a non-profit organization’s website. My duties include receiving submissions, ensuring they follow our guidelines, editing them as needed, corresponding with writers, and scheduling the devotions on the website. However, the issue of guidelines increasingly keeps many of them from seeing the light of day on the website.
Our website makes the guidelines clear: give an opening verse (one verse), write an opening paragraph that hooks the reader, write a second paragraph that explains the Bible verse, compose a final section that shows the reader how to apply the verse, and keep the entire piece under four hundred words. Easy enough ... seemingly. We even give a sample for writers to peruse. We strive to communicate effectively because we want to serve as a platform that helps budding writers do what God has called them to do and to help them build their writing resume.
More often than not, many writers fail to follow two of the guidelines. Either the word count exceeds our limit, or the Hook is absent. Some will make the necessary edits and return their submission. Others don’t want to make the effort and give up.
One writer submitted a devotion with several verses. When I returned it and explained that she needed to choose only one verse, she responded, “God gave me two verses, and I refuse to compromise.” There are times when we writers need to “die on a hill,” but this probably wasn’t it.
But we writers aren’t the only ones who can ignore guidelines. I have seen students do it numerous times. As a middle school Language Arts teacher, I have given more low grades than I care to remember on research papers because students failed to follow the guidelines. They completely disregarded the MLA format and created their own. They forgot the in-text citations. Some even forget to include the Works Cited page. Having good information in the body of the paper doesn’t compensate for failing to follow directions.
Yet, the most critical place for us to follow the guidelines resides in our spiritual lives. This is where King Solomon missed the boat. “Solomon loved the Lord and followed all the decrees of his father, David, except that Solomon, too, offered sacrifices and burned incense at the local places of worship. (1 Kings 3:3 NLT).
For one, he married multiple women, not to mention that he had a few hundred on the side whom he wasn’t married to. Additionally, he married women from foreign lands who worshipped pagan gods. Many of these marriages entailed political alliances. Ultimately, they turned his heart to their gods, leading him to disobey the one true God and face the consequences.
God loves us and wants us to enter a relationship with him, but he does have guidelines. When we don’t follow them, he must return us to our way of disobedience. But when we follow them through faith in Jesus Christ and what he has done on the cross, God welcomes us into his family, forgives our sins, gives us a rich life presently, and promises us an eternity with him.
Following the guidelines is essential for success in the writing profession, but more importantly, in our spiritual journey—and in many other areas of life. As writers, we have the privilege of influencing thousands through our writing if we follow the guidelines of the places for which we write. If the publication’s guidelines cause us to compromise our beliefs, we shouldn’t submit our work. And if we are not willing to adjust our writing to fit the publication’s guidelines, submitting will also waste our time and the editor’s time. They are unlikely to change their guidelines to suit our opinions or convictions. Make sure you have followed the guidelines so God can use your writing for his Kingdom work.
TWEETABLEThe Importance of Following Guidelines in Writing and Faith from Martin Wiles (@LinesFromGod) on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)
Martin Wiles lives in Greenwood, SC, and is the founder of Love Lines from God. He is a freelance editor, English teacher, pastor, and author. He serves as Managing Editor for both Christian Devotions and Vinewords.net and is an instructor for the Christian PEN (professional editor’s network). Wiles is a multi-published author. His most recent book, Hurt, Hope and Healing: 52 Devotions That Will Lead to Spiritual Health, is available on Amazon. He and his wife are parents of two and grandparents of seven. He can be contacted at mandmwiles@gmail.com.
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