A Writing Secret

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

In many ways, as writers we live visible public lives. Our work gets published with our name on it in magazines and books. We speak to groups about our books or teach our particular topic. Yet not everything we do has to be visible to others. In this article, I want to tell you a writing secret and then give you a challenge.

 

I’m comfortable writing about this author and his writing secret because he’s no longer living yet his story continues to be an example in my own life and work. Jamie Buckingham was a remarkable writer, bestselling author and contributing editor at Guideposts, which is one of the top 20 circulation magazines. If you want to read the fascinating story of how Jamie got started in the publishing world, I encourage you to get a copy of Another Chance, How God Overrides Our Big Mistakes by Dean Merrill. Jamie’s story is one of the chapters.

 

I want to tell is a different story about Jamie.  Early in my writing life, I lived in Southern California and worked at the Wycliffe Bible Translators office. Many people have forgotten but I spent 17 years with Wycliffe (10 years in linguistics and seven writing). My kids were young and often on a Sunday afternoon I would go over to the office and write--when the office was dark and no one there. One time, I noticed the lights on in the director’s office so I walked past and found Jamie Buckingham sitting at a keyboard. He told me, “Today I’m a jungle pilot, Terry.” No one knew but twice a year Jamie would come from his home in Florida to our offices in California. Then Jamie would write all of the print pieces that our director needed--his column for the magazine, his column in a member publication and finally his letter to the Wycliffe donors. My supporters would tell me they gave to many organizations and didn’t read the donor letter--but they always read the one from Wycliffe. What these readers didn’t know is in secret those words were crafted from Jamie Buckingham. He did this work without credit or payment. I knew about Jamie’s writing because of my editorial work at Wycliffe. It was a great example to me about Jamie’s remarkable writing life and his servant leadership. 

 

What can you do with your writing talent which is in secret? Possibly you edit your church newsletter or write for a publication without your name or you write for someone else and your name is not included. There are endless possibilities and opportunties. Or possibly you mentor or teach someone (maybe your own child or grandchild). No one pays you or knows about this investment into another life.

 

While the public may not know about your writing in secret, God watches and records our every action and step. I’m certain there is celebration in heaven because of Jamie Buckingham’s unheralded writing work. It’s a huge example in my own life and now hopefully will be so in yours.

 

Not all of our writing has to be done in public. Is some of your writing secret? Let me know what you can in the comments below.

 

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Writers Must Wear Many Hats

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

As a writer, I get a lot of enjoyment telling stories—whether the stories of others or my own stories. Crafting those details on my computer screen is a lot of fun. Yet as a writer, the task is much more diverse than just telling stories. As writers, we must wear many different hats and play many different roles.

 

Many years ago as a young journalist, I learned a life-long lesson about myself and what I do.  I love to write, craft stories and put these words on paper then figure out how to share them with the world. Admittedly many others want to do this skill as well and at times it is a challenge to make a living in this work—but possible. There are many ways to use your writing. Many people focus on books but your writing can be used in many different ways. I detail some of the possibilities in the first chapter of Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams. Get this free chapter here and look at the different writing possibilities.

 

I've written more than a dozen books for other people as a co-author and a ghostwriter. As a part of that writing process, I get to pretend to be in the mind and shoes of that other person. This little mind trick is one of the ways to successfully write those stories for others. As a part of my writing life, I spent 17 years with Wycliffe Bible Translators. Ten of those years were in linguistics then I returned to my writing and began writing for magzines and eventually my first book was published. During this period, my children were small and I would do some of my writing at the Wycliffe office—often on a Sunday afternoon. Almost no one was at the office during this period.

 

I noticed a light on in the director's office. On the way to my office I walked past to see who was there. To my surprise it was bestselling author Jamie Buckingham. Twice a year without any fanfare, Jamie came to our office and wrote the donor letter and various articles for our Wycliffe director. His name never appeared on these articles but Jamie was the storytelling pen behind this writing. He would tell me, “Terry, today I'm a jungle pilot in the jungles of Peru, South America.” I met people who gave to many different missions and said they normally tossed the donor letters and did not read them—but every time they read the Wycliffe donor letter. They loved trhe storytelling in that letter and behind it was the pen of Jamie Buckingham.

 

As a writer, we need to learn to pitch our work to the media, to editors and to literary agents. We have to learn to write documents called “book proposals” and others called “query letters” in this pitch process. Some people would call this pitching process, marketing. Your writing just stays on your own website or your own notebooks if you don't learn to pitch. It's another skill you need to learn and develop as a writer.

 

Also writers have to become editors—at least of their own writing. I will often write something, set it aside for several hours or days, then return to it and rewrite or edit it. Editng your own writiing is a skill each of us have to develop and then use over and over as writer.

 

Writers are also researchers to compile information and find interesting facts and statistics. We have to learn to ask good questions to get the stories and information that we need from others.

 

As our books get published, we have to become proofreaders (or hire an expert at this point in the process). Also in this process we need to gather endorsements and have to be connected to others in order to get these endorsements. Networking and your connections to others as a writer is another important skill or hat.

 

In this article, I've given you a starting point. We need a diverse set of skills in this business or wear multiple hats. Which hat are you wearing today? Have I missed some roles or hats? Let me know in the timments below.

 

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Meet A Lover of Words

While many people recognize my years in the book publishing business, I spend years as a magazine editor and a journalist writing for different print publications.

I was an editor at a missionary publication called In Other Words which was the flagship publication for Wycliffe Bible Translators. In Other Words was a member of the Evangelical Press Association and because I was the editor of the magazine, the various staff members were active members of the EPA.

Often during these years I was able to attend the annual conventions of the Evangelical Press Association. These meetings were held in different locations in the U.S. and involved listening to keynote speakers who challenged us to be better editors and also attend workshops to improve our craft as editors.

As a part of these conventions, we got to visit with our fellow editors and exchange stories and experiences. I always looked forward to these gatherings with several hundred colleagues as almost like attending an annual reunion.

One of the regular attendees to these conventions is someone who is now a bestselling author Jerry B. Jenkins. At times a number of us would get together and play games like Scrabble. Late one night I learned first-hand about one of Jerry’s skills.

He is a lover of words and grew up in a family who loved solving puzzles. In fact, he is a world-class Scrabble player. I mean the type of player who knows the three letter words and the critical game-winning strategic thinking for Scrabble. To make things “fair” Jerry played against three of us. Three editors against Jerry didn’t seem like it was fair in some ways—except even three editors working as a team were whipped that night. Talk about a lesson in humility!

Over the years, I’ve had some terrific opportunities to interview Jerry for different magazine articles. I have cherished each opportunity because I learn so much more than I’m able to build into the magazine article which I eventually complete.

Now on January 5th, I again have an opportunity to ply Jerry with questions—except this time the majority of questions will come from you. Will you take advantage of this opportunity?

If you could ask Jerry B. Jenkins, the bestselling author who has sold over 70 million books—any question about writing or marketing for the Christian writer. What would be your question?

Take 30 seconds and think about it and type in your question along with your first name and primary email address. I hope it’s one of the questions that I will use when I interview Jerry.

Anyone can ask a question at: www.askjerryjenkins.com and register for the free live 70-minute telewebcast on Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 5 p.m. PST or 8 p.m. EST. Every registrant will receive a free 24-page Ebook, Pursuing Publication, an excerpt from Jenkins Writing for the Soul.

Don’t have time to listen during the workday? The event will be recorded and every registrant will receive access to the replay links which can be downloaded to a computer or iPod.