Can't Think Of A Thing To Write So...

By Rachel Hauck

I'm blank.

Sitting here trying to think of some blog-o-wisdom to share with you all but I got nothing. Bah-lank.

The truth is, there are a million voices—okay, not literally a million—telling you how to be the best writer you can be.

How to engage in social media. How to beef up the old newsletter. What to do at a book signing. How much swag to have on hand. What giveaways work best.

Or the crème de la crème, how to get you book turned into a movie. I mean, it's just SO easy. Not.

(I'm feeling mischievous today.)

But the best possible thing you can do is write the best possible book. Nothing trumps a great book. Not the largest newsletter or the best giveaway or a million followers on Twitter.

I'm reading Me Before You and I am now a JoJo Moyes fan because of her great book. Actually, I'm at the end and it's kind of depressing. Maybe that's why I'm feeling feisty. But she told a fantastic story that had me emotionally hooked, invested and engaged.

Author Beatriz Williams drew me in with her voice and storytelling in A Hundred Summers. I'm a fan.

I didn't need a free book, or a keychain, or a gift card to Amazon, though I wouldn't turn those down! I needed these authors to wrap up my heart and imagination in a well told, well written, well executed story.

Authors, spend less time on marketing and promotions and more time on writing. Spend more time praying over your stories and what to write. Ask the Lord to open unimaginable doors for you.

I love to pray this: "Lord, don't let me consign myself to a life of insignificance."

God is the God of the impossible. But if we never reach for the impossible how will we ever know His reach? Or the keenness His hearing, or the wildness of His dreams for us.

Here's the kicker... You must leave the outcome to Him. We write. We do our part. He does the rest.

If you look at Jesus's commandment to the disciples in John 15, he says, "Love God and love your neighbor as yourself." These became the premier commandments.

So, if we love God in and through our writing, the second focus for us is relationships. We need to build relationships within the publishing community, with our readers. The Father LOVES when we love each other! But the outcome is up to Him. Our highest attainment is to love. #lovewell.

Anything outside of those two efforts are wild guesses. Strategies to pole vault ourselves onto the bestseller list may be futile. Or, hey, they may succeed. But there's no guarantee your methods will work for another.

So, my tips for you today? Love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength. Love your neighbor as yourself.

Now go write something brilliant.

*** 

New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Rachel Hauck lives in sunny central Florida.

A graduate of Ohio State University with a degree in Journalism, she worked in the corporate software world before planting her backside in uncomfortable chair to write full time eight years ago.

Her book The Wedding Dress hit Amazon's bestsellers list the first half of 2016.

Rachel serves on the Executive Board for American Christian Fiction Writers. She is a mentor and book therapist at My Book Therapy, a conference speaker and worship leader.

Rachel writes from her two-story tower in an exceedingly more comfy chair. She is a huge Buckeyes football fan.

Here latest novel is The Wedding Shop. "Spellbinding." Starred Booklist Review

Visit her web site: www.rachelhauck.com.