Writers Helping Writers by Jo Wanmer

Writers helping me.

‘Do you know how to write books?’ 

Mary Hawkins' gentle question slid through the phone. I’d never met her but she’d read my manuscript and been asked to mentor me. This manuscript was my first attempt at serious writing.

‘I guess not.' I replied. 'I just sat down and wrote.’ 

‘I thought so.’ Mary paused. ‘It shows. But this story needs to be told. It will need a lot of work to lift it to publishing standard. I’m willing to teach you if you are willing to put in the effort.’

Mary had many fiction books published in the Australian market. A few weeks later I met this delightful lady at a mentorship retreat. There were two other fiction writers sharing Mary as our mentor. Other groups worked in their genre with different mentors. We gathered together in a couple of units near Noosa for a week. Within an hour of arrival, we started work, fingers hovering over our laptops, minds keen. 

Mary’s printed copy of my book, which I’d posted to her, was covered with red pen. Under her instruction I deleted the first three chapters. My gut wrenched but she convinced me those pages were irrelevant to the main story. I complied. She taught me how to sharpen the first line and then adjust the first paragraph. Moving amongst the three of us, she read, critiqued, corrected and changed, always telling us to rewrite. I typed, deleted, adjusted and rewrote. And we laughed as she corrected and encouraged us. Fingers sore and brain spent, I completed the first page and fell into bed. Only 369 pages to go!

The week resembled a boot camp. We worked from morning to late evening. In meal breaks we built great relationships. Every moment we learned from each other. When we closed our computers to go home, I’d made new friends and I’d successfully polished seventy of those pages. 

‘What happens now?’ I asked.

‘I’ve taught you.’ Mary hugged me. ‘Now you edit the rest using the skills I’ve given you.’

Reviewing the mentorship on the drive home I was both grateful for Mary’s patience and teaching and overwhelmed by the task ahead of me.

Sixteen years have passed since that pivotal weekend. The book we slaved over, Though the Bud be Bruised, won a Caleb prize for best unpublished manuscript and was published in 2012. The skills I learned from Mary have become my automatic way of writing. Since then, I’ve learned more about making my words sing, through events, workshops and meetings, mostly under Omega Writers and other gatherings of Christian authors.

Writers helping Writers.

Paul exhorted us in Romans 10:24-25 TPT…

    Discover creative ways to encourage others and motivate them toward acts of compassion, doing beautiful works as expressions of love. This is not the time to pull away and neglect meeting together… In fact, we should come together even more frequently, eager to encourage and urge each other forward…

The encouragement I receive from other Christian writers builds my determination to push onward, to fulfil the goals God has placed in my heart.

Helen Hudson talking Holy Spirit and art. Check out her Facebook page    

A couple of weeks ago our Omega Writers Sunshine Coast group held a writer’s retreat. The aim was to spend time together and learn from each other. We gathered at our leader’s beautiful home on Friday night, meet together all day Saturday and Sunday morning. Our shared meals were prepared by Sue and her amazing mother. We stayed close by, some of us sharing a cabin, and we revelled in fellowship. One of our members, Julie Modra, shared from her vast knowledge and taught us about writing structure. Printed sheets helped us apply her wisdom… wisdom she has learned from others. We practised hearing the Holy Spirit through a Zoom training session by Lynne Hudson using art! We prayed for each other and planned events.  What a rich weekend!

Our representation of Holy Spirit's nudges

I also belong to another smaller group led by Jeanette Grant-Thomson. Four of us meet once a month. We write in different genres for different reasons. Each month we email every group member two or three pages of our work. We critique each other’s writing and then gather to share. At the end, a ten-to-fifteen-minute writing exercise stretches us. We read our stories aloud and encourage each other. The relationships are sweet and our skills are growing under this discipline.

Any success I’ve enjoyed as an author is attributed to the Holy Spirit firstly and then fellowship and instruction from other writers. 

Sunshine Coast members at retreat

Writers Building Writer Community 

Omega has organised a writer’s conference in Adelaide in October. It’s a great place to learn and a good place to meet other writers, build relationships and invite others to connect with you. Large gatherings can be impersonal, but it’s the small groups and conversations where I’ve been impacted. 

When I was writing El Shaddai, I had stalled and closed the file. God and I had agreed to write a book where He was one of the characters. But I panicked when I realised I was writing His words. Feeling totally inadequate, I stopped. Months later, in a small prayer meeting at a conference, God whispered, ‘What’s wrong with the book I’m in?’ Challenged, I came home and wrote the story as quickly as I could, not allowing myself to second guess anything.  And God says some amazing things in that book… things I didn’t know until I typed the words.  

Our Sunshine Coast group grew organically. In a post on Omega Writers page on Facebook, Sue Taylor-Reeves asked for anyone interested in meeting together. A few of us started to connect and then gather. And it grew. Commitment to the group keeps it healthy.

Our groups book launch in March

Jesus taught about sowing and reaping. If you want support with your writing, start by finding someone you can help. Find a writing buddy. Share your work. Give constructive feedback and receive other’s suggestions with grace. Offer prayer and encouragement. 

Reach out to help others. Volunteer to be a beta reader. Write reviews. Help with someone else’s book launch. Be active on the Facebook pages, Christian Writers Downunder and Australasian Christian Writers. These groups connect us to writers across Austrlalia and New Zealand. 

Christian community is important for Christian authors. Even Jesus didn’t walk alone. Often he was surrounded by thousands, but he always withdrew with his twelve, or three. We know he needed their prayers. They accompanied him, served Him and learned from Him.

Likewise, in love we lift each other up and help carry each other’s burdens.

Closing brunch after a great weekend

How has the writing community helped you? How have you helped other authors?

Jo Wanmer is a story teller, that has had to learn how to write those stories into acceptable prose. She writes with the help of the Holy Spirit. Without His inspiration, there would be no books. Though the Bud be Bruised was published thirteen years ago. Late in 2024 El Shaddai was released and its prequel, El Roi, was released late last year. 

She lives, with her husband of nearly fifty-four years, just north of Brisbane. Family, God and writing are her three passions. Eleven great-grandchildren now fill their home with love and chaos.

 

Shut Doors, Open Doors – by Ruth Bonetti

The times are a-changing sang 70’s folk singers. Fifty years later, we're buffeted by tidal waves crashing mayhem into our lives. How can we ride them rather than flounder and sink? 

Writers can express words of hope for the many who struggle around Australia, the globe. 

Fellow authors encourage

Did you sign up for NaNoWriMo? Did you meet the goal to write 50,000 words? For the uninitiated, like-minded writers group in a digital ‘cabin’ to encourage each other, joke, support and share emojis of chocolate and coffee. 

 

November is the cruellest month for tired teachers drowning in end of year concerts, student exams, reports. Plus their own performances. So I knew there was slim chance I’d meet the word count but hey, I enjoy the friendship. This year, I produced a teensy 670 words. But so what? Just to articulate a project prompts subconscious planning. My WriMo version can evolve over the next two months when teaching and performing halt. 

Other writing counts

There are many forms of writing besides that novel or screenplay. Emails to politicians, letters to the editor of a newspaper. Heartening messages to uplift those who share their despair on social media. Many dread uncertain futures. How can we reassure them–ourselves–that even as doors shut, others will open? 

Active vs. passive shutting

As I clear out my teaching studio for the year (maybe forever?) I'm heartened by a gospel spiritual that never seemed appropriate for primary school students:

Shut de door, keep out de devil

Shut de door, keep de devil in de night.

Shut de door, keep out de devil

Light a candle, everything’s alright. 

The Light of the World

The Holman Hunt painting reminds us to open our heart and life doors to Christ. 

One opening door is opportunities to share Christ's light with hurting, fearful people. To encourage those facing doors slamming on their career, business, mortgage – and life. 

Edicts from our rulers threaten that those who resist will be barred from public buildings. 

Was my November performance with Noosa Orchestra my last ever? The program included The Lark Ascending for solo violin and orchestra. I poured my heart into the supporting clarinet solos. 

The lark circles higher, soars, surmounts the ugliness of the present world. 

So, also we must lift up our hearts. 

'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.' (Jeremiah 29:11)

 

Keep looking up. 

ABOUT Ruth Bonetti

Ruth's many earlier books give practical support for confident performance of words and music, drawing on a lifetime of experience as a musician and educator. Her Trilogy Midnight Sun to Southern Cross has won awards including the CALEB Nonfiction prize. In coming writing, Ruth is open to a genre transition...

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Where is God in our writing? by Jo Wanmer

 “My name is Prince Charles. My Father is the King. I have an older brother, Jesus.” 

Some years ago a guest in our church introduced himself this memorable way. We were taken aback, but then caught the profound truth he shared.

In those few words, we understood this man knew God intimately. 
Does our writing convey such truth?

Imaged taken and owned by Jo Wanmer

As Christian writers we show our characters, we don’t tell about them. We show the reader what they are doing, how they are feeling and what they are about to do.

Does this maxim include God? Is He a character in our books? If not, is He part of the background?  The setting? Is He inanimate, or animate? Or is He excluded from the story.

In many Christian fiction stories God is completely absent. There may be a Bible verse, or church attendance, or even prayer at the table but no reference to God himself.  The characters talk about Him, but rarely show Him in the plot or allow Him to feature as a character.

If God was to appear in our books, what would He be like? I’ve been musing on a character sheet for him.

Character’s name: God, Jesus, Holy Spirit

Unique characteristics: He has three parts, yet He is only One.  He can be present without being seen. He can speak without being audible. He is like the wind – no one knows where it comes from or where it goes.

Imaged taken and owned by Jo Wanmer

Appearance: He is light, too bright to look at. Or He could appear in a different form. He appeared as men to Abraham and a man to disciples walking the road to Emmaus. Gideon saw him as an angel. He spoke out of a storm to Job.

Family: God is original family. Jesus is God’s son. God is His father.

Siblings: Numberless, but for the sake of our story, we will only consider Jesus’ brothers who feature in the current work in progress. You are one of his brothers. So am I.

Address: Heaven. In the hearts of men. Omnipresent.

Occupation: When on earth, Jesus was a carpenter, the Messiah and leader of men.

Occupation now: God, enthroned on high. Yet he is my refuge, wings under which I can hide, wisdom of the ages, creator of the universe, and father to the fatherless. Jesus, seated at the right side of the Father. My intercessor, passionate lover of His bride…

Ok…I’ve run out of words to describe He who is the Word. 

God is beyond description and understanding. Yet He is close, intimate, personal. This may mean the aspect of God you know and love may be different from mine. He is so big He can be everything to me. He can be a lover or a warrior, my defender or my enabling grace, a father who either disciplines and/or pours out extravagant love upon me….

As authors - we write the characteristics of God we know best. If we know Him as a stern judge, that is who we will write. If we know Him as rescuer and redeemer, we will tell of His grace and power. Perchance He is our best friend, our constant companion, our source of all help, it becomes difficult to think of a story where He is absent.

Many protagonists cry out to God for help, and He answers them circumstantially, as He answers us in our everyday lives. But He also speaks in one of His many voices – through the Bible, an impression, a dream or vision, a friend or an acquaintance. Or often the still small voice.

Some years ago I wrote a novel where God speaks to the protagonist directly, obtusely, profoundly. Can I share a snippet?

Imaged taken and owned by Jo Wanmer

“The contractions woke Milly in the middle of the night.

It’s too early God. I know I’m big, but it’s not time.

~~~Be still~~~

Not a time to be still God. Obviously You’re never given birth.

~~~Only to creation~~~

You birthed creation?

~~~What do you think of the work of my womb~~~

A gripping contraction distracted her. As it faded, she climbed from the bed and wrapped a blanket around her shoulders. She shut the kitchen door behind her so she wouldn’t disturb the rest of the house and flicked on the light. It shone a pale yellow. The generator would need to be run today.

Fading embers glowed in the stove. Shivering, Milly added kindling to the coals, praying it would flare and warm the kitchen.

Leaning on the kitchen table, she breathed through the next contraction.

They seem close, Lord. Is my baby ready?

~~~Be still~~~

Milly stopped pacing. Be still. Why do you say that at the most ridiculous time?

~~~Be still in your soul. Calm your worries and fears, your anxiety and questions~~~

Not my body?

~~~Your body will move of its own accord. When I created you, I programmed the birthing process in you. Allow your body to do its work. Focus your mind on me~~~”

Excerpt taken from ‘El Shaddai.’

So what you do think? Should God get a larger share of the action in our books? Would you like to read more of God in this style? Or maybe you don’t like it? I’m looking forward to reading your comments.

Jo Wanmer lives with family in Brisbane, Queensland. Her first book, 'Though the Bud be Bruised', a Caleb prize winner, was published in 2012. Her work also appears in a few anthologies. The book 'El Shaddai' was written in 2014 and with the feedback of many fine writers has been edited multiple times. It still remains unpublished due to life circumstances. Two others in the same series are written. One day soon they will be released. 

CWD member interview: Catriona McKeown

Today’s interview: Catriona McKeown

Question 1: Tells us three things about who you are and where you come from.

1. After reading who this interview is with, you may be wondering how to pronounce my first name. It is pronounced the same as Katrina - so yes, that ‘o’ is silent. When I went to uni, for simplicity sake, I became Cate - and it stuck. This has been quite handy, as I now go by Catriona as an author, which helps separate my ‘author’ life from my real one.

2. Some would call me a Queenslander, since I live on the Fraser Coast. But I am a Victorian at heart, evidenced by the fact I can’t quite bring myself to call ‘bathers’ ‘togs’. I’ve been living in Queensland for five years.

3. I am a secondary school teacher who has the privilege of working with students with disabilities, many of whom have autism. My current work-in-progress is based around the unique struggles autistic teenagers can have during this stage of life.

Question 2: Tell us about your writing. What do you write and why?

I write Contemporary YA fiction. My first novel, The Boy in the Hoodie, was published late last year by Rhiza Press. Some CWD members may know the novel’s name from when it won the Omega Writers CALEB (unpublished category) award in 2016.

I write YA because I have a heart for the plight of teenagers. It is such a pivotal time in a person’s life, and so difficult to navigate on your own. I hope that through my writing, young people will be encouraged to make decisions that are true to the type of person they want to be, chose friends who will support them and care for them in the journey, and to ultimately feel free to become the person they were created to be.

I also write Short Stories and have had a number published, including one in the Glimpses of Light anthology. A favourite short story I’ve written was inspired by my grandmother’s struggle with Dementia. If anyone is interested, you can read it here.

Question 3: Who has read your work? Who would you like to read it?

The Boy in the Hoodie is a Young Adult novel (so aimed at a teenage audience), but my readers include parents of teenagers and I’ve had a number of teachers tell me they’ve read and enjoyed it, despite how frustrating some of the teenage characters can be. I had some teenagers read the novel before I sent it out to publishers and was incredibly encouraged by their enthusiasm for the story.

The people I would most like to read my novel are teenagers who are finding the road to adulthood difficult, especially if they are struggling to find ‘their tribe’. I’d like them to see the hope offered between the pages, as well as realise the importance of finding friends who will really care about them, and accept them for who they are becoming.

Question 4: Tell us something about your process. What challenges do you face? What helps you the most?

I started off my writing journey as a ‘panster’ writer, meaning I would just sit and write and see where the story would take me. I still write like that when writing a short story. But I am now a strong advocate for heavily planning out a novel before writing, as it saves a bucketload of editing afterwards.

The main challenge I face as a writer is the inner-critic, who very easily convinces me my writing is pathetic and I may as well give up. I counteract it by rereading what I have written so far. It helps remind me that I love my characters, that my dialogue is pretty good, and that the story is workable. But it takes time to reread my work over and over – so time is my other big challenge.

I’ve written about my journey to being published on my blog, if anyone would like to see what some of my experiences and processes have been for The Boy in the Hoodie.

Question 5: What is your favourite Writing Craft Book and why?

KM Weiland has been such a God-send to me. I especially love two of her writing books, Structuring Your Novel and 5 Secrets of Story Structure. In my first manuscript assessment, I was told structure was the main problem in my writing. KM Weiland’s books have given me the tools and confidence to get the structure right in my writing. It really helped me to find out what my main weakness is in my writing, and to then have a clear process to help counteract it.

Question 6: If you were to give a shout-out to a CWD author, writer, editor or illustrator – who would they be?

A number of CWD members have been influential on my writing journey. Iola Goulton taught me a lot about my own writing when she appraised my first (never published) manuscript a number of years ago. Also Jennette O’Hagan, Adam Collins and Linsey Painter, in particular, have been a great support through our online writing group.

Question 7: What are your writing goals for 2018? How will you achieve them?

My main goal is to finish (before March *insert white face with mouth open and eyes wide*) my current YA manuscript, so I can get it out to some beta readers. I’m aiming to complete my masters degree this year, which includes a 12,000 mini thesis, so I’ll include that in my writing goals. And I’m in the midst of writing a Novella; I’m keen to continue working on it during the times when Uni might be a little quieter.

I will achieve (she says with with an air of confidence believed by everyone except herself) my writing goals through sweating blood and crying tears. I have an incredibly supportive family, so as long as they can stand me sitting at my desk a whole heap, I may be in with a chance.

Question 8: How does your faith impact and shape your writing?

There is not an aspect of my writing that hasn’t been impacted by my faith. If I didn’t feel God was calling me to write for an audience (no matter how big or small that audience is), I wouldn’t. But writing from a Christian world view for the secular market has its challenges. It can be quite tricky writing YA and not having, for example, any swearing in their talk – especially the rougher characters, like Paige in The Boy in the Hoodie.

A few years go God gave me this verse from Isaiah 41:10 “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” I wouldn’t be able to write, work, study, raise 3 daughters, and stay married, without His help.

I firmly believe it is the Spirit’s guiding hand that creates those moments where things all seem to come together and just ‘work’ in my writing. A recent example of this, is with my current WIP. I named my main character Graceland (yes, there is a bit of an Elvis theme running through it). The story is about a teenager who is determined to create a new legacy for herself, and not follow in her family’s footsteps of addiction, low social standing and never having any money. At about 40,000 words, I stopped to do some research about Elvis and in particular, his mansion, Graceland. I learned how for many Americans, the mansion is a symbol of rising out of the poverty cycle and ‘changing your stars’. The connection between the two Gracelands was perfect. It was a uh-ha moment for me - a confirmation God is with me even if I’m unaware He is in the midst of it.

Catriona McKeown lives on the Fraser Coast in Queensland, Australia, with her husband and three daughters. She is passionate about issues of social justice and often writes with such ideals in mind. She is also passionate about education that allows every child to reach their full potential and has a particular heart for children with autism. Catriona hails from country Victoria, lived a short stint in Western Australia, and has now settled on Queensland as her home state. Her first novel, The Boy in the Hoodie, is available in all good bookstores and online. ​Find out more at her website or connect with her on Facebook.

Clutter Bust into the New Year – by Ruth Bonetti

Do you embrace or resist making resolutions as you pass that annual threshold? My goal is to declutter. Not just the old year, but past decades.

It's not easy. Mess with closets and mere muddles inflate into chaos.

Breathe. Do it. Breathe.

Believe that beyond the pain threshold lies freedom, lightness of being.

Biff the business cards from superficial network functions, whose goal was to spam victims with PR. Switching computer systems messed my contacts database. So it's time to delete people I met 30 years ago for three minutes and now wouldn’t recognise.

WORDS AND MUSIC

Bin early book drafts and failed Varuna Residency applications, online publisher Manuscript Monday and Friday Pitch submissions. Rejection led to resignation led to self-publishing with the cover, content and style I chose.  

Bury those dead manuscripts in the bin. That children’s book Pipi the Pirate Parrot never found wings. What about a How-To-Get-Healthy? An early vent called Mothers Can Stay Human! Life’s caravan moved on. Now, jigsaw pieces must be hidden from crawling grandsons. Good riddance to a puzzle untouched since last Christmas holidays whose fiddly trees wasted table space. Send it to Lifeline for a retired person with time to fill. 
With boxes of dusty books and colleagues’ unplayed handwritten compositions. Decades of writing and of Clarinet and Saxophone magazines. Will I keep photocopied cut-and-paste “The Squeaker Speaks” volumes that I edited back in the 80’s? No.

WHAT YOU WILL EAT

• How to use that fiddly appliance?
• Will I ever find time to bake bread?
• Crammed cupboards invite cockroaches, weevils and mould. Look on use-by dates and despair!
• What healing did the medication and vitamin supplements promise?
• Might I bake Christmas cakes to use evil white sugar packets left by a jam-making son years ago? Aldi is easier.

OR WHAT YOU WILL WEAR

Because I commute across two venues for work and for occasional recreation, I need gear for all seasons. Clothes, shoes, handbags. Last time I vowed “I’ll never wear that style again!” it came back into fashion. So my closet jumble repels.

Do I need so many multi-skilling hats? Or do they make me look harried, worn? 

I draw a tree of my life. Erase a branch that flags effort for little gain. Why push through holiday heat and lethargy to organise and deliver that pencilled seminar? Later, when the time is right.

I enjoy pulling weeds and “farmer’s friends” that clog my garden.

What of those in my head? My heart?

Let it go. Even though pruning can hurt, and empty spaces feel vulnerable.

But how else to move forward?

Every branch that does not bear fruit he prunes so it may become more fruitful. Those that do not bear fruit wither, are thrown in the fire and burned.

This cleansing process opens space for a new thing, that way out of a wilderness of fizzled plans and failure wastelands.

Wait and hope for rivers in the desert.

Trust that new shoots will spring up. In due season, the green blade will rise from the buried grain. Rest in the Lord of the harvest.

What have you found hardest to let go of? Did declutter free you for your next ventures?

Author-wise, Ruth Bonetti is (largely) resting after her decade’s effort to publish her Midnight Sun to Southern Cross saga. The first book of the series, Burn My Letters was Nonfiction winner of 2017 CALEB Prize. She is decluttering old research for her earlier published books that help people present confident Words and Music. Available via Book Depository,  Amazon and her website http://www.ruthbonetti.com

http://www.ruthbonetti.com/burn-my-letters/

Thanks to author colleagues for reviews! 
Facebook: @RuthBonetti @ruthbonettimusic 

Ruth’s blog: http://ruthbonetti.musicabonetti.com

Ruth founded Omega Writers in 1992.