Cara Sexton and Mary DeMuth are both writers, (in)courage readers, Relevant sponsorship recipients and your hosts for today’s mini writer’s workshop! Yup, we get a ton of great questions about the art and process of writing. So, we asked two of our favorite writers – Cara as a newcomer and Mary as a veteran –  to come and share their answers with you.

Your writer’s craft questions asked and answered in this post and tonight at 9pm EST in a live Q&A in our BlogFrog community.

When did you know you were a writer?

Cara: While I’ve been writing since I could bang on the keys of my dad’s antique Corona typewriter, I guess I knew I was a writer when I found myself in a green vinyl tattoo studio chair, having the word “write” permanently inked across my wrist.  I had let self-doubt keep me from writing for a long time, and the tattoo was my way of finally, permanently, answering “yes” to a call God had put on my heart.

Mary: I love that! I’m still trying to muster up the courage to get a tattoo. The spark of first knowing came in the 2nd grade when my teacher let my mom know that I was a creative writer. That one positive comment stuck in my head. In college, I realized I wanted to write forever (which probably fueled from my previous journal-ridden years.) Once I birthed my first baby, the genesis of wanting to publish began. But it took over a decade before I held my first published piece in my hand.

Who influenced you the most in your writing journey?
Cara: There is no one single person but a collective series of small encouragements over several years.  Finding the (in)courage community has been the biggest of these, as its there that I’m blessed with daily doses of inspiration, encouragement, and fellowship.

Mary: Right around year ten, the church we visited invited us to a potluck. I sat next to a lady who asked me, “What’s your dream? What would you like to do?” It took me a long time to answer, as I battled in my heart about whether I should admit it out loud or not. Finally I said, “I want to be a writer.” She looked at me kind of funny and then said, “Do you know that one of my passions in life is to mentor new writers?” Her name? Sandra Glahn, a professor at Dallas Seminary, a nonfiction and fiction author and editor. She mentored me through the publishing process.

What’s been your biggest obstacle in your writing journey?
Cara: Self-doubt.  Oh, and, uh, having nine children (all part of my journey as a housemom at a children’s home).

Mary: Nine children! Wow! Amazing! I squeezed in writing when my kids were young, but I didn’t seriously pursue publication then. I concentrated on mommying. My biggest obstacle was a lack of knowledge. I asked a published writer what the secret to getting published was over lunch one day, pencil poised . . . and I waited. She wouldn’t tell me. She guarded the publishing journey like it was a secret. So I made a determination then that I would learn how to get published, then share it with others. The final outcome of that obstacle became a $2.99 ebook, The 11 Secrets of Getting Published.

If you could tell yourself advice for where you were five years ago, what would it be?
Cara: Write, because it is a part of who you are and if you neglect it, you will feel like you are suffocating.  Write your heart, write your faith (even the ugly parts), and write your struggles and fears and mistakes.  You will connect with readers the most in the middle of your mess, not at the point of perfection.

Mary: Relax. Rest in Jesus. Trust Him for outcomes. Don’t run after every fad and marketing ploy. Be yourself. Define your ministry. Work from your passion.

Describe a laugh out loud moment related to writing (or embarrassing moment)
Cara: The one that comes to mind was the morning I climbed out of bed while it was still dark and jumped online to see who’d been chosen to receive the Relevant writer’s craft sponsorship I’d applied for (and, shockingly, was picked for), then ran in the bedroom and woke up my husband with my manic babbling to share my excitement.  Half asleep, my husband had no idea what I was going on about and he jumped out of bed in a panic, thinking something must be terribly wrong, the way I was carrying on in the wee hours.

Mary: What a great story! I look forward to meeting you at the conference! For me I’d say meeting my first agent at Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference. I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to send a proposal directly to his office. When I slid my proposal to him, he said, “I think I’ve seen this before.” I apologized for being so new and naive. He said, “That’s okay. Can I have this anyway?” The cool ending to the story is that his assistant read the proposal in the office while he read it on the plane. When he came into the office after the conference, she said, “You need to sign this girl” and he replied, “I’m already going to.”

What book most made you want to hone your craft?
Cara: One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp.  This book (and Ann’s writing voice in particular) really re-awakened the writer in me.  As I saw the way so many people connected with Ann through her words, I realized that when I write with brutal honesty and an open heart, I am able to encourage and connect, which is really what it’s all about for me.

Mary: Probably On Writing by Stephen King. As a novelist, I appreciated his no nonsense approach. His advice is the same advice I give others when I mentor writers. Kill your weak verbs. Use strong nouns and verbs. The story is what matters.

What’s the most significant thing you’ve learned about yourself as you’ve written?
Cara: You know, I waited a long time to put anything “out there” because I wasn’t sure I had anything to say.  And, to be honest, I still worry about this every day, but I’m learning that women need to relate to other women, and even if I don’t have any life-altering answers that will change a person’s life, I am a mom in the trenches just like so many others, just trying to get through this messy, wonderful life with as much grace and gusto as I can, and my blog has been a great way to share my heart and remind anyone that stumbles by that none of us is in it alone.

Mary: That God actually wants to heal me as I write. I used to think I’d write these books to help people. I’m thankful for that being the secondary result of my writing. But by far God used each novel, parenting book and memoir to take a broken piece of myself and heal it.

What five things would you say are the most important things to know as a writer?
Cara:

1. God.  (Ok, so He’s not a thing, but… He qualifies as important to know!)
2. Write for yourself and write for the Lord, but before you put it out in a public forum, consider who else will be reading it and what they may get out of it.  Know your audience and what it is they’re expecting to get from your writing, whether it’s a blog post, magazine article, novel, or letter to Grandma.
3. Rejection comes with the territory, so don’t let it stop you from getting your writing out there.  At the same time, though, if your work isn’t being taken seriously, accept constructive critique and make the effort to improve it.
4. Know yourself and know what you know. It may sound obvious, but there are areas we aren’t equipped or experienced enough to write about.  I’m not a novelist and it took me a long time to realize that you don’t have to be a novelist to be a “real” writer.  You can always gain more experience in an area you are interested in writing about, but don’t neglect what’s really on your heart in favor of what you think you should be writing about.  God gives us all different messages, and sometimes we strive so hard to speak someone else’s message when we have a perfectly valid one waiting for our attention.
5. Know the world we live in. This is a technological age, and it’s becoming increasingly more important for writers to be connected to a variety of different social media for closer connection and widespread exposure (says the girl without a Twitter account, for shame!).  While this can feel like a lot of extra follow-up work, it can also be a wonderful way to know what’s important to your readers.

Mary:

1. If you have a passion to write and feel called to do so, be serious about it. Set goals. Write as much as you can. Remember the 10,000 hour rule. To master something, you must spend 10,000 hours at it. Count the cost.
2. Great writers are teachable.
3. Great writers always, always, always strive to improve craft.
4. Find your worth in Jesus or this writing journey (with its rejections aplenty that only get HARDER the more you publish) can threaten to crush you. Publishing doesn’t validate you. Jesus does. Rest there.
5. Writers who get published are the ones who persevere.

What is one grammar mistake you see writers make?
Cara: I break a lot of grammar rules, so I feel a tad disqualified to judge in that realm, but I will say this – the trick to breaking grammar rules and still having a legible finished product is to know the rules to begin with.  Being familiar with basic grammar will make your work more readable, which makes it easier for readers to take you seriously as a writer.

Mary: Weak verbs. Try this little test to see if you write with weak verbs. Find one page of your writing, then go through it, highlighting am, is, was, were, be, seem, feel, become. Those are state of being verbs and are considered weak verbs. If you have more than three per page, it’s time to scratch most of them out and beef up your verbs. Example: He was tired. Change to: His eyelids drooped. Or: She is old. Change to: The arthritis made it hard to grip the pencil. See how your writing becomes stronger and more visual when you change out weak verbs? Usually when you write with be-verbs like this, you are telling. Eliminating them helps you to SHOW instead.

Why, do you think, critique is important?
Cara: When we write, we know exactly what we meant to say, and we read our own writing with that in mind.  Critique helps us understand how the reader perceives it, which is a very important viewpoint to consider if you want anyone but your mom and your best friend to enjoy your writing.  Critique is a valuable tool to use in refining our skills, and it’s important to realize that, when done correctly, critique is not condemnation.

Mary: I so agree. I wouldn’t be published if it weren’t for my critique group. I’ve been attending one for over a decade now, and it’s no coincidence that I started getting published once I let others look at my work.

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Did you enjoy the interview? Want more? Have questions about the publishing journey? Join Cara and Mary at the (in)courage BlogFrog community at 9pm EST tonight for a live chat!

{If you aren’t already a member, it’s easy peasy and free to sign up right here}

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