It’s all a bit harder than I thought.

“It’s all a bit harder than I thought.”

I groan when I hear myself say these words.

And not because I have a feeling my editor would point out they're not grammatically correct and I'm using superfluous words.
It's because I find myself using them so often.
It’s a habit of mine to be optimistic and dive into something with great plans, dreaming how wonderful it's going to be.

Then, suddenly I realise there is more work involved than I anticipated. 

I keep trying until it becomes clear I just can't do it.

That's when I turn to my husband and admit it’s beyond me. I don’t have the ability, time or strength to complete the project. I need some help.

And Rob helps.

Every single time.

I do the bulk of the work, but he takes on my vision and shares my dream and I end up with the results I’d hoped for. 

Often better.

Like this doll’s house for my daughter.

I had big ideas when I designed it. I had a grand time working out how impressive it was going to be.

Big ideas ...

Then I got to the hard bit. I started sawing the wood. My wrists – weak and painful from carpal tunnel syndrome – gave out on me. Rob did the cutting.

Next I realised my design for the stairs wasn’t going to work. Rob suggested a simpler way. I had to let go of one aspect of my dream. Even though my spiral staircase was going to be the star of my construction (insert the laughter of hindsight here!).

Simpler but better than I imagined.

And finally it became clear I had made some wrong measurements and the parts didn’t quite fit together. Rob was able to work out where I’d gone wrong and re-size for me.

There were things I didn’t know about working with wood. I didn’t have the skills and my imagined 'raw talent' was not enough. Rob had those skills and passed his knowledge on to me.

If I’d insisted on doing it alone I wouldn’t have finished.
Or maybe I would have, but that might have been worse.

How is your writing journey?

Have you realised it’s 'all a bit harder than you thought'?

You begin your writing journey all excited because writing is the fun bit. There are grand dreams of people loving your writing as much as you enjoy writing.

My amateur attempt at a book cover

But even if you know how to write, you might not know how to find a publisher. Or how to self-publish. How to market. You can’t move forward unless someone helps you.

Perhaps you now understand every author –including you with your God-given manuscript- needs an editor. And your editor points out you need to cut out some of the bits you love. They’re too complicated, the manuscript is too long, some of the bits just don’t fit together properly.

Or maybe it hits you that don’t have the skills required to complete the job. You can’t scrape through with your 'raw talent'. You didn’t know how much you didn’t know until you were right smack, bang in the middle of it.

Working with a professional (spiral staircase version)

It would be easier to give up.

Or barge ahead on your own and decide 'it'll do'.

Please don’t!  You are not alone.

As Christian writers we have God. 

We have each other.

We have sites like this one to encourage one another, share insights, network, develop our skills. (When Rob was seriously unwell a few months back and I thought I might lose him, I came to this site to request prayer. The prayer support and encouragement moved me to tears - thank you everyone. God knew I needed you!)

There are conferences like the Omega Writers’ Conference where you can meet those who can help you; editors, publishers, like-minded authors, those with skills and experience they can pass on to you.

We need each other. Just like I needed a professional elancer and Bookwhispers to do the covers of my self-published books (I've added pictures to show you my book-cover journey and illustrate my point).

Communicating til we're all happy

It is not a sign of weakness to realise you need help, but rather a sign of humility and strength. Because none of us were meant to do it alone.

So if you’re at that point of feeling, ‘It’s all a bit harder than I thought’, take heart. Keep going. Reach out to those who can help and the end results could be different, but far better than you ever imagined.

And the reality is far better than the dream.

Jenny is involved in the Omega Writers' Conference and would love to see you there. To find out more, go to www.omegawriters.org/conference-2016/

Jenny loves writing inspirational Christian fiction for young adults. She is the wife of Rob and the mother of Micah, Merridy, Clarity and Amelia. They live in the country town of Gundagai with lots of pets. Jenny is the author of 7 published novels. She is a primary school chaplain, enjoys inspirational speaking, and is passionate about sharing her writing knowledge and experience and encouraging others in their walk with Jesus.

To find out more about her and her books you can go to www.jennyglazebrook.com

Blessing in Gleaning

by Mazzy Adams

I’m sure I am not alone in my belief that the best stories are layered with treasures. Some are obvious. Others await discovery. Every reader is, in a sense, a treasure hunter. Not all seek the same treasure, or look for it in the same way, or value the same things. Which means ... the potential to glean a reward from time spent reading is … unlimited. How exciting is that! A thousand readers can read a story, and still leave rich pickings for the next thousand. And every reader that finds a literary treasure will likely return to that particular field again, eager to … glean.

I’m pretty sure the first time I heard the word ‘glean’ was when my mother read the Bible story of Ruth and Boaz to me from Egermeier's Bible Story Book when I was young. (The illustration below comes from that book.) The Book of Ruth has all the elements of a great love story. It starts with the tragedy of Naomi losing her husband and both sons, shows how the care and obedience that Ruth, a Moabite, showed to her Hebrew mother-in-law combined with Ruth’s own initiative to help them overcome adversity and receive a blessed future through Ruth’s marriage to Boaz. A neat epilogue reveals that this ‘stranger and an alien’ received a place in the ancestry of King David. 

I recently unearthed another treasure in this story … the principle of gleaning.

What does it mean to ‘glean’? The dictionary says it means to gather slowly and laboriously, bit by bit, to gather (grain or the like) after the reapers or regular gatherers, or to learn, discover, or find out, usually little by little or slowly. In Leviticus chapter 19, the Bible reveals the principle of gleaning is an expression – a demonstration if you will – of holiness, as those who produced a harvest deliberately left gleanings behind for the poor and the alien to gather. Boaz’s obedience to this God-given principle released God’s blessing not only on Ruth, but upon himself; one could say that theirs was a union of holiness from the moment they met.

What does ‘gleaning’ (and Ruth’s experience of it) have to do with writing? Here are a few grains of inspiration I've gathered:

Ruth started from a position of desperate need, but instead of complaining, giving up, or becoming bitter, she took the initiative and went searching for something that would improve her situation. The writer’s road is not an easy one. It can be lonely and fruitless at times. Discouragement is understandable but, like Ruth, we can choose to take the initiative and search out fruitful connections (like Christian Writers Downunder) and gather nourishing solutions.

   

When Ruth found the field of Boaz, she recognised the value of his gleanings. Over and over and over again, I have benefited from the rich gleanings ‘left behind’ by writers and editors who already know how to produce a bountiful harvest. I have learned to return again and again to safe, productive fields … especially those which demonstrate Godly holiness … to glean from those blogs, links, social media posts, newsletters etc that are filled with wisdom and inspiration. These nourish my ability to also sow seed so that others may glean from my fields, thus spreading and perpetuating the harvest and the blessings.

Boaz was blessed, not only for his generosity, but also because he encouraged Ruth to return to his field to glean. Boy, did that produce interesting results! When Boaz shared freely from his wealth and substance, he reaped far more than a good barley harvest. He gained a wife and together they produced an amazing family legacy. To all those faithful bloggers and sharers of writerly advice and wisdom who just may, occasionally, wonder if all those freely offered gleanings are worth the time and effort it takes to produce them, I offer my heartfelt encouragement and appreciation. I pray that, like Boaz, you will be blessed, sustained, renewed … and made famous throughout the land. (We are writers, after all!)

Have you, like me, discovered safe, holy, productive fields from which you’ve gleaned writerly wisdom and nourishment? I would love to see them receive recognition, appreciation and blessings in the comments. 

Mazzy Adams is an Australian wife, mother, grandmother, creative and academic writing tutor and published author with a passion for words, pictures and the positive potential in people. 

Website: www.mazzyadams.com 

Email: maz@mazzyadams.com

New Name, New (and old) Faces, Same Quality Conference.

The Christian Writers’ Conference is on again this year!

However, it has now come under the banner of Omega Writers and has been renamed the ‘Omega Writers’ Conference’.

We would love every single one of you to come. There will be something for everyone, for all genres, from beginner writers to multi-published authors.

WHEN:

Arrive: Friday 28^th October at 3.00pm

Leave: Sunday 30^th October at 1.30pm.

There is also the option of coming for certain sessions/days rather than the whole weekend.

WHERE:

Sydney.

Conference Centre at Mulgoa

To be specific: At the Edmund Rice Retreat and Conference Centre, 1315 Mulgoa Road, Mulgoa.

Transport Options: To make it easy for you to get there we will have a conference shuttle bus running to and from the airport. If you are a planner and want to book your flight, the bus will leave the Sydney airport on Friday at 1.30pm and arrive at the conference centre around 3.00pm (depending on traffic). On the return journey it will leave the conference centre at 1.30pm Sunday to head back to the airport. Once again, traffic can be unpredictable, but the journey usually takes around an hour and a half.

Naomi Reed (My Seventh Monsoon)

Special Speakers: We are excited to have Naomi Reed (best-selling author of ‘My Seventh Monsoon’) as our keynote speaker. We also have special guest, Hallee Bridgeman from the USA, coming to share insights with us. Hallee is a best-selling Christian author who writes action-packed romantic suspense.

WHY COME?

Fellowship – meet other writers, encourage one another, share stories, network, pray for one another.

Workshops - We have had 75 workshop proposals to choose from and will carefully select 25 of these from quality presenters who have valuable experience and expertise to share with us. 

One of the Bootcamp lounges

Bootcamp – What is this? 

This is an opportunity to come aside into one of the comfortable lounge rooms and put all you’ve learned into practice. Bring along your work in progress and enjoy some creative time writing. A variety of mentors and editors will be available throughout the day to provide assistance if required. Available all day Saturday, you can choose to join Bootcamp rather than attend a workshop/s.

Editor/Publisher/Consultant appointments – We have a variety of professional consultants available throughout the weekend. You can book appointments to speak with them one on one, receive advice and show them your work.

Worship – Sunday morning we will share in a special worship service together; a time of singing, sharing communion and listening to a message.

Bookshop - We have a well-stocked bookshop selling books by Aussie Christian authors. There will be opportunity to sell your own work through this book shop.

Inspiration – It only takes a spark to get a fire going, and when a group of God-inspired writers come together, we can feed off each other’s flame and go home on fire and ablaze with ideas, passion and direction.

Hear from Aussie authors during promotional book segments

PRICE

Cost will be announced when registration opens on 15^th June. At this stage I can tell you the standard cost for an Omega member attending the whole conference will be $375.

(This is up $25 on last year but does include linen). Costing has been more complex this year as there are options for different types of accommodation at the venue. We also want to offer a complete breakdown of costs for any day visitors. Along with this there are other costs and price variations to consider, e.g. charter bus, editorial appointments, early bird discounts etc. This will all be made clear on the website once registrations open.

Registrations Open 15^th June and will be taken through our website (this website will continue to be updated as we finalise more details).

http://www.omegawriters.org/conference-2016/

For further updates, please also ‘Like’ our Facebook page: Omega Christian Writers’ Conference

This post was also published on Australasian Christian Writers, 2nd May 2016

Submitted by Jenny Glazebrook. Jenny is a conference committee member, author, inspirational speaker, wife, mother, school chaplain and above all else, a forgiven, adopted child of God.