Posts Tagged ‘writing’
When I Am Certain of Nothing Else
The first part of 2018 has looked very different from my past few years as a full-time writer. As a writer, I spend most of my days alone typing at my computer, with the occasional phone call thrown in. But this year, I’ve had several speaking engagements that have required preparation and travel. I’ve been…
Read MoreWhen You Study the Bible for a Living
A few weeks ago my community group at church discussed this question: What is your relationship with scripture right now? I thought about it for a while and said, “It’s complicated. Scripture can feel like my job sometimes.” I study the Bible for a living. A lot of my freelance work over the years has…
Read MoreI Am Not Good at Being Me, Except When I Write
I am not very good at being myself. But I am very good at being who people want me to be. I can walk into a room, read the situation and take on a persona. (I would probably be a great spy.) A room of academics? I’ll try and act smart. A room of Christians?…
Read MoreEnglish Lessons Launch Team: How You Could Be On It
I tell a story in the book about this time in Oxford when somebody stole a battery from me. I rode a bike everywhere in Oxford. I didn’t have a car, so I depended on that bike to get me from here to there, rain or shine. It was illegal to ride a bike in…
Read MoreEnglish Lessons: The Book Cover and How Writing Makes You Crazy
Around this exact moment on this day last year, I hit SEND on my manuscript. I had spent the previous nine days in a bit of a frenzied state. I did not speak to other people. I holed up in a garage apartment in the country for a couple of days. My physical appearance got…
Read MoreA Few Thoughts on Quitting Your Job and Going Freelance
A little over a year ago I quit my job at a publishing house and went freelance full time. Freelance writing, that is. Which has also meant some freelance PR and some speaking and some other ways that I found out I can be “freelance.” My overall thought on being a freelance writer is that…
Read MoreTurning 30 and My “Secret Soul”
This summer, I turned 30. In the weeks and days leading up to the big 3-0, I began to feel very contemplative about my life. Where have I been? What have I done? Where am I going? That kind of thing. I was also in a hard spot work-wise. I needed more hours but felt…
Read MoreA Key Question on the Path to Finding Your Niche and Your Purpose
Remember that time I promised you a three-part series on How to Become a Freelance Writer and wrote part one and then never wrote parts two and three? Yeah, well, I’m finally ready to address part two: finding your writing niche. This is ironic considering the reason I’ve been dragging my feet on this post…
Read MoreThe Truth About Writing Books and Perfection
As I mentioned last week, I recently wrote a book. A dream come true. A freaking miracle. It’s about 65,000 words in its current state. Those 65,000 words are what I submitted to my editor. Then, there is a document hidden on my computer called “CUTS.” My dad told me about the CUTS document…
Read MoreA Big Announcement…OkI’llJustTellYouRightNow! I WROTE A BOOK
{Written on February 1, 2016, the day my book was due.} I wrote a book. I have been wanting to write that sentence, or a variation of that sentence—I am writing a book! I am thinking about writing a book! I sort of just started writing a book!—for the last two and a half years,…
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