Roanoke Valley Christian Writers
  • About
  • Events
  • Resources
  • Our Writers

Sharing our Words

Conferences: Continued Flights to Success

1/18/2018

1 Comment

 

Barbara Baranowski

I excitedly grabbed a front row seat at the writers’ conference first general session.  Since I was early I had time to open the program and choose workshops to attend.  I’ve attended many conferences, but still mentally hungry, I look for offerings to satisfy my writer’s appetite.  As attendees filled the seats around me, I caught sound bytes of conversation. My attention was drawn, however, to a questioning attendee beside me.  “When I mailed my registration, I wondered if I was wasting my time and money. What can the speakers teach those of us who have attended before or are already published?”
           
Do you sometimes ask yourself the same question? If fact, you may be asking, “Shouldn’t there be “frequent flyer” rewards for repeat attendees?  At this point there aren’t, but there are numerous benefits. Here are suggestions for finding them.
 
Prepare Spiritually
Ask God what He wants you to learn this time and focus on reaching new levels with your writing.  As writers our desire should be to honor Him by developing the finer points of the craft.  He may have given us the desire and the talent, but we must strive to develop our skills.  Every time I attend a conference I am at a new place with my writing.  Sometimes the emphasis changes, as my life does. With spiritual preparation, an attendee can come away from a conference with new ideas and connections.
 
Be Ready for New Discoveries
While on the writer’s journey, seek the fresh approaches that a new speaker or workshop offers.  Familiar subjects are rarely taught in the same manner. For example, at a recent conference I learned about a lead I had never tried. Upon applying it to an in-progress article, I was able to break out of a writing stall, and the article sold. Now, I listen for different ideas and have a new set of questions to ask. I still go home with my head swimming since I cannot assimilate everything that the faculty teaches, but that gives me more reason to return.  Even when I attend similar sessions, God always has something new for me.  Where else can I get quality training from such a gracious faculty?
 
Attend a New Genre
Pray for wisdom when choosing workshops.   You may be surprised to find that you are creative in many areas of writing. Perhaps God has other ways in which to use your talent. He will direct you as you ask for guidance. For example, as a nonfiction writer, I have been attending fiction workshops to help me relate a more compelling story or testimony.  However, I never close the door to other ways in which He may want to direct my writing.
 
 Network and Expect Surprises
God brings us to a conference for a reason.  You may ask yourself these questions: Is He expanding my vision? Is He changing my focus?  Am I here to meet a particular author, editor, publisher, or writing friend?  Networking is vital since it is becoming more difficult to enjoy success with unsolicited manuscripts. Just as we are networking with editors and publishers, so they are also scouting out new ideas and authors.
 
Keep In Touch With the Business of Writing
Listen while editors and publishers share current information. As the publishing world changes, we must remain savvy to its needs and requirements.  A doctor, though skilled in his profession, attends conferences for the same reasons—to stay abreast of new developments and ideas.  We minister healing to a hurting world.  Our calling demands that we stay as informed as a physician. 
 
Look for Opportunities
There really is nothing that can substitute for attending a conference. We could stay at home, shut the door, and sing, “Let the world go away.”  But it is the world that we are called to minister unto.  That includes the world of writers—our comrades. Go to a conference expecting to learn something new and you will.  Leave your heart open to be surprised and you will be.  Allow the Holy Spirit to speak and He’ll direct. 
 
Look now for a conference to attend and get ready.  The points you earn may not be useful for your next flight, but you will be pointing others to Christ as you perfect your skill and travel with others.


 


1 Comment

​The True Vine

3/9/2017

0 Comments

 
Written by Barbara Baranowski

 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.  He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”
 John 15:1-2 (NIV)

            The beautiful ivy had crawled up through the ground after winter’s cold and was overtaking our sturdy wooden fence.  I needed to remove it.  So, on a beautiful spring day, with gloves and clippers, I headed out to trim.  The vine was solidly and deeply rooted in the dirt, but I was able to pull the runners away from the fence.  I hated trimming those beautifully variegated leaves.  To me, ivy gives a sense of antiquity and strength.  As the day ended, I looked at the carpet of cuttings on the ground and breathe a sigh of relief that the job was nearly complete.  When I finished the next morning, I noticed how dead the trimmings were after only one night.

            Jesus cautioned believers to live in Him for the same reason.  His words resound with the same thought—apart from Him, we can do nothing for His kingdom and do not become what He has created us to be.  If we are like sturdy branches growing in Him, the Vine of Life, we will understand that the pruning, while sometimes painful, is necessary for us to grow in love, trust, and service for God, leaving us to be an ever-bearing, vibrant part of His kingdom.  However, as the leaves of the ivy vine die apart from its strong source of strength, we too will quickly die spiritually if we remove ourselves from prayer, Bible study, and fellowship with believers and in our case, too, other writers.
​
            As springtime brings new growth and the earth becomes rejuvenated with beauty, let’s take stock of our spiritual and writing life.  Are we a dying vine or a vibrant part of the Lord’s
vineyard? 
0 Comments

Sharing Memories

5/10/2016

0 Comments

 
By Barbara Baranowski
 
Sometimes we write just for ourselves.  Remembering and taking time to write out an experience allows the writer to relive it, perhaps for a therapeutic reason.  Personal writing helps the writer to get inside the experience with all its imagery and meaning, while still looking at it as a spectator, as well.  This writing may be journal writing.  If it is never shared, that may be enough, or perhaps one day God will use the experience for the benefit of others.

On the other hand, God allows our words to live in places we will never visit and touch people we will never meet to touch and to heal hurting hearts. Sometimes we write to inspire, guide, or show how God answered prayer in a situation.  When we have witnessed God’s grace as He worked in our lives, we are able to share that story.  We don’t know where the seeds of our words will land, but through seeking His will in our writing, we know He will water that seed and grow something that can feed the spirit of others.
​
Not all personal writing aimed at inspiration comes from valley experiences.  Some just come from our full lives—family life, working, church, or volunteering. Some experiences are humorous. Funny family anecdotes can bring a smile to anyone’s day.

Knowing when to share a story is important, and that again involves prayer.  A writer’s emotions may be too raw or the situation/person too close.  If that is the case for you, then journal the impressions for possible use at later time. A pen name (pseudonym) may be used for certain difficult topics, although the publisher has to be informed. Through prayer you will know the right time to share experiences.

When we have seen how God takes our greatest hurts and disappointments and turn them into something for both His and our good, then, our hope-filled words can make a huge difference to the heart needs of others.  How many times have you read a book or piece that gave you hope, a smile, or strength?  Why not do the same for others?  Publishers will guide you in topics they need.  Read publications and market guides.  The Christian Writer’s Market Guide is a good one to check out.

What are the benefits for others?  II Corinthian 1:3-4 reminds us, “the God of all comfort.. comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble” (NIV).  In addition to sending us the Great Comforter in the Holy Spirit, God uses us as His ambassadors of comfort.  Is there someone you can comfort today?
 
 
0 Comments

    Our Authors:

    All
    April Dawn White
    Barbara Baranowski
    Dikkon Eberhart
    Donna Willard
    Dr. Carolyn Adams Roth
    Michelle Gill
    Rev. John Carroll


    Picture
    the Christian Hiker
    Blog Written by
    ​John Baranowski
    www.outdoorsinspired.org

    RSS Feed

Website design by Buffalo Creek Designs

  • About
  • Events
  • Resources
  • Our Writers