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November 11 - November 21, 2020
notes during Sunday messages and then file the cards according to key
scriptures referenced. But when it comes to my personal Bible study, I organize my notes in a 3-ring binder according to topic or book of the Bible.
The truth: good writers capture ideas.
If you already have a way of capturing devotional ideas, then you need to know if your system is working for you. Ask yourself these questions: Do I purposefully use my system? When I go back and look at the thoughts I’ve captured, am I regularly surprised at what I see (because I would not have remembered the idea otherwise)? Do I use ideas from my system to write devotionals?
You can read one in five minutes or less. A devotional wraps scripture, content, and a takeaway in a package that the time-deprived can use during their busy days. It offers truth in snapshot form, putting a spotlight on one phrase, verse, or short passage of the Word and gives the reader a smidgen of understanding about that passage.
The devotional taps into moment-by-moment living.
If your devotional has sticky content, your reader will use it. The key to effective brevity is quality.
Your job as a devotional writer is to communicate a biblical principle with brevity so that it sticks.
negativity bias.
people. A devotional, to be sticky, needs to target its readers. The language and presentation must be relevant to that audience.
You need to package the devotional principle so that your reader can receive it. The best way to do that is to create a composite profile of your audience — the devotional’s projected reader — and write to that individual personally.
Bottom line: your reader needs content that is relevant to her — or at least content presented in a way that is relevant to her station in life.
Devotionals follow a standard 3-part structure: they include a scripture, an illustration, and a takeaway.
“Simple” means “easily understood” and “containing few parts.”
The One Point Rule is simply this: Focus the content of the devo on just one nugget of truth.
Chief among reasons is that readers read devotionals because they are simple.
Sticky devotionals address real-life situations authentically — head on, with the truth.
When you write a devotional that references a familiar topic for your reader, you build on existing connections. Your content becomes more memorable. It’s one reason Jesus used parables. Sensory details describe what you see, hear, smell, taste, or touch. Details that appeal to the senses activate the neurons in your brain. When writing devotionals, try to use sensory details in order to activate more neurons. In fact, if you can use more than one set of sensory details — such as both the sense of sight and
Emotions “turn up the volume” of your content. When you invoke emotions in an honest and judicious way, you help intensify the connections between your brain’s neurons. Your content becomes more memorable.
Simple: what is my one point? Write it out. Authentic: is the content real? You know it is if you feel a bit vulnerable or exposed. Memorable: does the content stick in your mind — and why? Note existing connections, sensory details, and emotions.
Rather, your job as a devotional writer is to identify one point and drive it home.
Sticky Tip: Too many points? Write them down. Choose one. Then spell it out to your reader.
The best way is to test your ideas against scripture. Make sure you can identify each idea’s roots in the Bible. This is a terrific exercise to do to make sure you’re on solid theological footing.
To make one point and write a devotional that sticks, know the difference between a broader topic — a biblical theme — and one facet of that theme. Make your point from that one angle.
Keep the main point the main point.
Sticky Tip: Too broad of a point? Test for the best. Test (against scripture) for the best (point.)
So what? In other words, what difference does the illustration or the scripture make? Is there a conflict and resolution? Is there an object lesson?
Sticky Tip: No point? Finish the story.
Too many points? List them (as in write them down.) Choose one. Too broad of a point? Test (against scripture) for the best (point.) No point? Finish the story.
