Advice for Christian Writers |
When people learn I’m an editor at Christianity Today,
they often feel compelled to fess up to their writing prowess—or lack
thereof. Over the years, I’ve connected with plenty of fellow
journalists, essayists, and authors. And I’ve chatted with aspiring
writers who want to see their words make it out of their journals, Word
docs, or ideas in their heads.
It’s
hard to know exactly what to say when writers ask about getting
published. There is no one, easy path to success as a writer, no
surefire way to appeal to editors and land a big audience for your
stories. I know how things work at CT, but writing for a Christian
magazine is a lot different from another site, a devotional, an academic
journal, or a publishing house.
One
of our CT Book Award recipients this year offers expert advice on the
“craft, art, and spirituality” of writing across genres, so I thought I
would share our review with you. In Write Better—a book by longtime InterVarsity Press editor Andy Le Peau, he offers these lines about faithfulness as writers:
Meadow
Rue Merrill discusses Le Peau’s call for balance. He asks writers to
resist the urge to overwrite and be willing to break the “rules” of
writing. Indeed, I’ve found that plenty of people think that good
writers are the ones who know where the commas go, have a vocabulary
like a thesaurus, and flourish their writing with all sorts of details.
I’ve also found that what it takes to be good writer—first and
foremost—is to be a good critical thinker.
The
best writers ask good questions. They come up with insightful ways to
approach and explore their ideas. And they are willing to learn as they
write. In Le Peau’s words, “For many writers, myself included, tapping
out letters on a keyboard or scratching them with a pen on paper is how
we discover what want to say. The best writing is a process of
discovery. Or, as the poet Robert Frost supposedly once said, ‘No
surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader.’” (For one favorite
example of exceptional thinking and writing from this year, do not miss
Rebecca McLaughlin’s Confronting Christianity. It was named CT’s Book of the Year, and you can read an excerpt here.)
It has been a joy to learn about this craft over the years as a writer and editor. As we plan out the coming issues of the magazine, I’m excited about the ambitious and creative stories coming your way in 2020. Stay tuned!
Kate
|
Kate Shellnutt
Editor, CT Women |
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