The Power of One Word

by Beth K. Vogt

I don’t do New Year’s Resolutions.

Oh, sure, I’ve tried to resolve my way into a better me – usually failed before the month of January is over. I lose the list. Or I just lose the want-to, overwhelmed by all those numbered priorities. It’s as if I’m juggling a bunch of have-to's.

Anybody else relate?

Twelve years ago, I discovered the principle of One Word – choosing to focus on one word for an entire year. Consider this quote from the book My One Word by Mike Ashcraft and Rachel Olsen:

“ …words encapsulate ideas. They evoke our emotions. They hook into memories. They define our experiences—helping to shape us in the process.

There’s power in words. Beauty in words. Grace in words.

Words create movement. They craft nations. They seal a marriage. They cast vision. They make us laugh. They focus our attention. They expand our horizons. They stimulate our creativity. And they script our possibilities.”

As writers, we can all agree with that statement, can’t we? Words are powerful. Now consider the process of prayerfully choosing one word to focus on in 2017, allowing it to fuel personal and spiritual change in your life. Intrigued?

To further spark your imagination, here’s a recap of my previous One Words:

• 2006: gratitude - Keeping a gratitude journal revolutionized my “glass-half-empty” attitude.
• 2007: simplify - A severe illness changed this word to survival as I embraced simpler things in ways I never imagined.
• 2008: content - as in “be content with such things as you have” (Hebrews 13:5) I bought a lot less that year!
• 2009 & 2010: forgiveness - I had a lot to learn and unlearn about forgiveness.
• 2011: hope - There were times I could have asked “Why?” Instead, I asked myself, “Are you going to abandon hope?” My answer: No.
• 2012: trust - During a year of change, I faced doubting versus trusting -- and chose to trust. 
• 2013: confidence - I was so much stronger after keeping my heart and mind set on "not throwing away my confidence." (Hebrews 10:35-36) 
• 2014: think - I anchored my thoughts to truth more and more, rather than letting my thoughts go wandering.
• 2015: collaborate – This means to work jointly on an activity, especially to produce or create something. Synonyms: co-operate, join forces, team up, band together, work together, participate, combine, ally. As a writer, I focused on collaborating with God.
• 2016: prosper - to act wisely, as in "And David was acting wisely (prospering) in all his ways for the LORD was with him." (1 Samuel 18 14.) This word helped me make major decisions.

My word for 2017 surprised me: inheritance.

Psalm 16:5-6 (NIV) says: "Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance." 

At times I've talked negatively about my inheritance. Not the eternal one I've received from God, no. But there can be emotional "inheritances" carried from generation to generation within families ... some good, some harmful. One night as I battled insomnia, I read Psalm 16:5-6, and the word "inheritance" seemed to be written in bright, bold letters. I knew it was my One Word for 2017.

If you’re considering focusing on One Word in 2017, here a few things that have helped me:

1. Read the book My One Word by Mike Ashcraft & Rachel Olsen. It’s not mandatory reading – I chose One Words for several years before I found this resource – but it’s excellent. There’s also a website: http://myoneword.org
2. Take time to pray about your One Word.
3. Read through Scripture and see if a particular verse stands out to you. My One Words are always scripturally based.
4. Look for confirmation. My One Word is often confirmed by a quote, a song, or a visual. I use those as additional ways to focus on my One Word for the year.

So, do you prefer to keep New Year’s Resolutions? Does anyone else choose One Word for the year like me? I’d love for you to share them in the comment section!

TWEETABLES

The Power of One Word by Beth K. Vogt (Click To Tweet)

I don’t do New Year’s Resolutions~ Beth K. Vogt (Click To Tweet)

There’s power in words. Beauty in words. Grace in words. (Click To Tweet)

Beth K. Vogt is a non-fiction author and editor who said she’d never write fiction. She’s the wife of an Air Force family physician (now in solo practice) who said she’d never marry a doctor—or anyone in the military. She’s a mom of four who said she’d never have kids. Now Beth believes God’s best often waits behind the doors marked “Never.” As a contemporary romance novelist, Beth is a 2016 Christy Award winner and 2016 Carol Award winner for her novel Crazy Little Thing Called Love.  She was also a 2015 RITA® Finalist for her novel Somebody Like You, which was one of Publisher’s Weekly’s Best Books of 2014. In 2015, Beth introduced her destination wedding series with both an e-novella, Can’t Buy Me Love, and a novel, Crazy Little Thing Called Love. She continued the series in 2016 with the e-novella You Can’t Hurry Love (May) and the novel Almost Like Being in Love (June). Her novella A November Bride was part of the Year of Wedding Series by Zondervan. Beth enjoys writing contemporary romance because she believes there’s more to happily-ever-after than the fairy tales tell us. Find out more about her books at bethvogt.com. An established magazine writer and former editor of Connections, the leadership magazine for MOPS International, Beth is also part of the leadership team for My Book Therapy, the writing community founded by best-selling author Susan May Warren. She lives in Colorado with her husband Rob, who has adjusted to discussing the lives of imaginary people, and their youngest daughter, Christa, who loves to play volleyball and enjoys writing her own stories.

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What Are Your Priorities? What Are Mine?

by Michael Ehret

“Our life is the sum total of all the decisions we make every day, and those decisions are determined by our priorities.” Myles Munroe, 1959-2014, founded and led the Bahamas Faith Ministries International (BFMI)

There are so many things one can do. Many, many, many of them are good, prosperous, even inspirational. This post, my last for Novel Rocket, is about not doing any of those good, prosperous, and inspirational things.

Been thinking a lot about focus and priorities—and purpose. I’ve been given—and have developed—a certain skill set. The same is true for you.

But on top of that, God has gifted me with creativity and empathy, a combination that helps me see into the inner lives of people and develop scenarios that will, hopefully, not only entertain them but help them live better. My decisions have not always focused on using those gifts in the best ways—good ways, often, but not the best. It’s time to focus on using my gifts differently.

“I learned that we can do anything, but we can't do everything … . So think of your priorities not in terms of what activities you do, but when you do them. Timing is everything.”  Dan Millman is a former world champion athlete, university coach, martial arts instructor, and college professor

My original intent for this post—now, don’t laugh—was to outline for the writers who read it how to focus their time and attention on the things that matter. But as I started writing, it occurred to me that this is clearly not a subject I know anything about.

I’m learning a little, perhaps, bit by bit (thank you, Allen), but am in no position to suggest to any of you how to do it. With one key exception.

Do it with God. Do it with God intentionally. Because, if you don’t, this world will lead you more away from your calling than toward it.

“Do not allow this world to mold you in its own image. Instead, be transformed from the inside out by renewing your mind. As a result, you will be able to discern what God wills and whatever God finds good, pleasing, and complete.” (Romans 12:2, The Voice)

Implied in this Scripture, which I have claimed as my life verse since my salvation as an adult in 1981, is the fact that this world will attempt to mold me (and you) and that, as a child of God, it is my responsibility to resist that attempt by staying close to God and perceiving, through prayer and study, His will for me.

It only took me 35 years to begin seeing this verse in a more full manner.

Maybe that’s what I can leave with you. Maybe that’s your takeaway. Stay close to the Lover of Your Soul. And leave room in your life for Him to lead. Then follow. Follow.

TWEETABLES

What Are Your Priorities? What Are Mine? by Michael Ehret (Click to Tweet)

It’s time to focus on using my gifts differently~ Michael Ehret (Click to Tweet)

Do it with God intentionally~ Michael Ehret (Click to Tweet)

____________________________________
 

Michael Ehret has accepted God's invitation and is a freelance editor at WritingOnTheFineLine.com. In addition, he's worked as editor-in-chief of the ACFW Journal at American Christian Fiction Writers. He pays the bills as a marketing communications writer and sharpened his writing and editing skills as a reporter for The Indianapolis News and The Indianapolis Star.

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Stacking Up the New Year by DiAnn Mills

Stacking up the New Year
By DiAnn Mills

Our family celebrations often involve a game of dominoes. Me? I like stacking them up and watching them fall one-by-one.

Unfortunately if storytellers don’t make a few plans for their writing career in January 2015, our publishing dreams may fall. Every writer is motivated by something, and when we lose track of why we embarked upon this journey, our goals aren’t met. In fact, they are flattened.

Looks like I forgot to plan.

So how can we avoid the domino effect? I’ve listed ten ways writers can take charge of their career in 2015.

1.   Understand priorities and stick by them. Life is filled with interruptions, and only we can
      decide what distractions are important and what ones are merely annoyances.
2.   Establish a budget for conferences, marketing, promotion, and other expenses.
3.   We writers need to know where we’re going. Calendar due dates of writing projects. If a
      manuscript is on spec, establish a deadline to finish and stick to it.
4.   List the writing projects that need research and calendar them.
5.   Establish goals for social media. Buffer and Hootsuite offer solutions to save time and
      energy.
6.   Analyze the many blogs available for the writer and the world of publishing. Select and
      follow those that are consistency professional.
7.   Evaluate current writing groups, online and live. Which one(s) allow the writer to learn
      and give back to others?
8.   Create an “Idea” folder. Writing ideas come from the world around us—from blogs to
      articles to book projects.
9.  An author bio needs updating at least yearly.
10.Take an honest look at your professional photo. Is it time for a retake?

Facing the New Year with writing goals and a plan means professionalism. If we write when we feel the muse, edit when the mood strikes, and submit when we have nothing better to do, our careers will fail. Develop a plan and stick to it. Watch how your dominoes stack up this year.

Oh, I need to get this on paper.

DiAnn Mills is a bestselling author who believes her readers should expect an adventure. She combines unforgettable characters with unpredictable plots to create action-packed, suspense-filled novels.

Her titles have appeared on the CBA and ECPA bestseller lists; won two Christy Awards; and been finalists for the RITA, Daphne Du Maurier, Inspirational Readers’ Choice, and Carol award contests.

DiAnn is a founding board member of the American Christian Fiction Writers; the 2015 president of the Romance Writers of America’s Faith, Hope, & Love chapter; a member of Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, and International Thriller Writers. She speaks to various groups and teaches writing workshops around the country. She and her husband live in sunny Houston, Texas.

DiAnn is very active online and would love to connect with readers on any of the social media platforms listed at www.diannmills.com.

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Where Will 2014 Take You?

by DiAnn Mills

What fun! This is the season we set our writing goals for the next year. Some of you are cringing ... I can feel it. Others are moaning ... I can hear it. But if we don’t evaluate our progress in 2013 and list what we’d like to accomplish in 2014, where is our career going? Let’s discuss the pitfalls of 2013, then we can zip into our dreams and desires for the new year.

Take a look at last year’s goals. Be honest. Did you accomplish those expectations? If so, congratulations! If not, don’t beat yourself up. Instead, examine the causes.

Unrealistic goals. Sometimes in our exuberance to meet high goals, we demand too much of ourselves. Pushing ourselves invites less than quality work and radical disappointment. 
Unrealistic goals is a good indicator of omitted prayer.

Priorities. We are responsible human beings who live in a world of relationships. When we reach heaven, God is not going to ask us how many books we’ve written, but how many people we touched for His kingdom. God comes first, then family, ministry needs, and finally our careers and writing. Yes, we must carve out time to write, but not at the expense of neglecting those divinely placed in our lives.
Time. Full time jobs and family take an enormous part of our day. Look for ways to carve out time for writing. To satisfy the creative muse, a writer may need to get up earlier in the mornings, give up midmorning coffee breaks, brown bag lunches, write when the rest of the household goes to bed, or give up a weekend activity. If God is in the project, He’ll help the writer find time to create.

Learning the Craft. Before a writer makes the bestseller list, she needs to learn the craft. A dancer always practices her steps. A pianist keeps her fingers nimble. An artist continues to experiment with color and technique. And a writer reads and rereads every article, blog, and book that may enhance the craft. Writers attend conferences and look for those challenging workshops. Writers need review to snap them back into their project, making their book projects even better than before.

Fear. I’ve saved this aspect of to the end. Why? This is personal. Psychological. Many talented writers never get beyond their first chapter because they’re seized by fear.
What if I’ve done all this work and no one is interested in my book?
What if I fail and look like a fool?
What if an editor things I have other books in me and this is all I have?
Old tapes paralyze your creativity, pray through them now. If God called you to write, then He will help you overcome fear. You may need a mentor or counselor.

Now that you’ve evaluated 2013, get those nimble fingers moving on a file titled “2014 Goals.” You know why last year was a success or a disappointment. I dare you. Make those goals and celebrate life.

DiAnn Mills is a bestselling author who believes her readers should expect an adventure. She currently has more than fifty-five books published.

Her titles have appeared on the CBA and ECPA bestseller lists and have won placements through the American Christian Fiction Writer’s Carol Awards and Inspirational Reader’s Choice awards. DiAnn won the Christy Award in 2010 and 2011.

DiAnn is a founding board member for American Christian Fiction Writers and a member of Inspirational Writers Alive, Romance Writers of America, Faith, Hope & Love, Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, and International Thriller Writers. She speaks to various groups and teaches writing workshops around the country. DiAnn is also a Craftsman mentor for the Jerry B. Jenkins Christian Writers Guild.

She and her husband live in sunny Houston, Texas.

Website: www.diannmills.com

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I Never Write in December--A Writing Myth I Tried to Prove True and Failed!

I know I’m dating myself, but do you remember that old Jell-O commercial where a woman chanted over and over, “Busy day, busy day, busy, busy, busy day?” That sounds a lot like my life these days, especially during December. And I imagine it’s the same for many of you. A lot of us have full plates any month of the year, but during the Christmas season we add a bazillion other demands on our time, not to mention a social calendar that seems to explode. What does a writer do if she has deadlines? Besides nearly having a meltdown, which I came close to doing the other night.

Years ago, I began my writing career by taking a correspondence writing class. Up to the first of December, I'd regularly completed my lessons and returned them to my instructor without interruption. But when December rolled around, I put everything to the side and focused on my Christmas activities. A few weeks into the month, I received a note from the instructor asking if I was okay. I told her I was fine, but during December I don’t write. She must have rolled her eyes at that one. She was kind in her response, but very straight forward as she explained there will be times in my writing life when I simply cannot put my writing to the side in December because deadlines are a fact of a writer’s life.

I really appreciate how my instructor treated a simple correspondence course the same way a publisher or agent would treat an established deadline. How else would a newbie writer learn the ways of doing things in the publishing industry?

It all came to bear last year when I had a real-life deadline for my novel that was published on April 1, 2013.

Initially, the plan was for my edits to be turned in before Christmas, but it didn’t happen that way. My editor was very apologetic for the delay, but to get the final manuscript to the printer in time, my edits had to be returned as soon as possible. Could I have them back to her right after New Year’s Day?

I didn’t have any grand plans for New Year’s weekend, but if I had, I would have rearranged them in whatever way it took to get the job done. I planted my you-know-what in my chair and worked the entire New Year’s weekend. And while I worked on those edits, I couldn’t help but think back to that correspondence course when I told my instructor that I never write in December.

This year I have deadlines again. More than one, actually.

We’d all like to tell editors and agents that we don’t write in December, but sometimes we have to. It’s our job. And, frankly, I wouldn't want any other job in the whole world!

What do you do with December deadlines? Give up sleep? Pack the kids off to Grandma for the day or weekend? How do you manage your time? I’m sure there are people reading this who need some tips. I know I do!

 A native of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, author Pamela S. Meyers lives in suburban Chicago, an hour's drive away from her hometown which she visits often to dig into its historical legacy. Her novels include Thyme for Love, and Love Will Find a Way,  contemporary romantic mysteries and her 1933 historical romance, Love Finds You in Lake Geneva,Wisconsin, released in April, 2013. She can often be found speaking at events around Lake Geneva or nosing in microfilms and historical records about Wisconsin and other Midwestern spots for new story ideas.

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Priorities—Juggling Family, Commitments and Writing by Edie Melson

Life is busy. This is never truer than during the summer.

We all fight the battle of too much to do and too little time to do it. And it’s one of the biggest struggles writers face. I know we all have the same 24 hours in each day, but at times it’s harder for writers. Juggling family, commitments and writing can seem like an overwhelming task.

Not because we face more time commitments, but we have the added challenge of working from home—at a job many people consider nothing more than a pleasant hobby.  Even if we have an additional job that takes us away from home, the time we spend writing is a job, and deserves the same kind of respect and priority. I shared how to combat that in an earlier post, Get Taken Seriously as a Writerby Your Family and Friends. 

Today I’m going to address how to give writing the time we need to, and still fulfill our other commitments? It’s not easy, but I’m going to share some tips that may help.

Decide where you want to go with your writing. You don’t have to schedule your time to get there overnight, but to get there, you do need to know where you’re going.

Take an inventory of what’s happening in your life right now. This is also going affect how much time you can realistically spend on writing.

Now answer these two question:

• What are you doing now, that you love MORE than writing?
• What are you doing now that you DON’T love more than writing? 

Once you have these three issues decided, here’s how to move forward.

Set deadlines. Even if you don’t have a client waiting for an article, give yourself a deadline. Then, write it down. It’s easy to fudge a deadline when it’s just in your head.

Set a weekly writing goal. If you write fiction, it may be a word goal. If you write articles or devotions, it may be a finished product goal. (For example, I’ll have 2 finished devotions every week.) I recommend a weekly goal rather than a daily one because it’s easier to meet when life happens. Here are three options to setting this goal that you may not have considered:

• Weekly Word Count Goal. One of the things I've found most helpful when setting word count goals is to set my goal for the week rather than the day. I still have two teenagers in and out of the house so sometimes life interrupts life. To combat this, I set a weekly word count goal for my fiction endeavors. Then, I break it down into daily totals. If I miss a day's goal, I can make it up later in the week and I don't wind up feeling like I've failed.

• Weekly Project Goal. You may normally work on smaller projects, like articles or devotions. If that's the case, try to set a goal of one devotion or article a week.

• Revolving Weekly Goal. You might want to try something I call a revolving weekly goal. This is where you have a different goal every week for 3 weeks and then it starts over. The first week you might complete a small project. The next week, you look for markets where you can sell it. The third week you might spend learning about the craft of writing. Then you begin the cycle again.

Build in some room to breathe. Let’s face it, life happens. And more than that, unscheduled crisis come up at the worst possible time. To combat that, I’ve learned to build some additional time into my schedule. For example, if I have an article due on August 15, I put August 10 on my schedule as the due date. This gives me room to maneuver in case I have an emergency. It also gives me the opportunity to turn something in early (always a plus for you as a writer), as well as have some extra time for editing.

Find a critique group or partner. If you’re meeting regularly with someone, you’re more apt to be producing regularly. What if you don’t know any writers nearby to meet with? Look for an online group.

All of these things can help us find the write balance in life, but I'd like to know what works for you. How have you managed the juggling act that is life today? Leave your answers in the comment section below.

Edie Melson is the author of four books, as well as a freelance editor with years of experience in the publishing industry. Her popular blog, The Write Conversation, reaches thousands of writers each month, and she’s the co-director of the BlueRidge Mountains Christian Writers Conference. Her bestselling ebook on social media has just been updated and re-released as Connections: Social Media& Networking Techniques for Writers. She’s the Social Media Mentor at MyBook Therapy and the social media director for SouthernWriters Magazine. You can connect with Edie through Twitter and Facebook.

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