Forming Great Teams

by Michael Elmore

Many people who read this blog are interested in writing. I know I am. Writing takes talent, practice, learning and encouragement. Perhaps you are not an accomplished author yet. But God has this in mind for you because he has put the desire in your heart. Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Recognize that the dream to become an author is not just your aspiration but it is a desire that God has purposely placed within you to glorify His name and fulfill your destiny.

Regardless of the genre you are interested in, God can use your gift to touch countless lives. I don’t know if you realize this or not but the Bible includes a variety of writing genres. For example, you may not be aware of this but about 60% of Scripture is written as poetry. Poetry touches the inner life like few genres can. God also used prose, history, accounting and record keeping, prophecy and storytelling to communicate to humanity. So be encouraged, regardless of the genre you are interested in God can use you!

The question remains for most of us, “How can I hone my skills, connect with literary agents, market a product and sell it successfully?” That’s where learning how to form a great team comes in. Zechariah 4:10 states, ”Do not despise the day of small beginnings.” You probably know someone who has an interest in writing like yourself. You may belong to a writers association, perhaps you’ve attended a conference or workshop or two. Great! That’s how you begin to form a team.

When forming a team pray for divine connections. If you are serious about writing God will put you in touch with just the people you need to serve on your team. One way to help you form a team is to remember that serving others is an excellent way to form a team. Volunteer to help an experienced author. Learn from them, let them mentor you, assist them with their projects and you will be surprised at how rapidly a network of possible team members will soon cross your path. This is called the Law of Association. If we want to be successful then we need to spend time with people that we want to be like. Jesus said, “I came to serve not to be served.”( Mk. 10:45) If serving was good enough for Jesus, then it should be good enough for us.

Finally, be selective who you allow to be part of your team. Look for quality not for quantity. Learn from the best people you are able to connect with. One way to do this is to build networks through conferences, workshops, and seminars. These types of places are chock-full of published authors, promoters, marketing people and literary agents. But when you network with other people I use one word of guidance: listen to the Voice of the Holy Spirit and let His Voice guide you to the right people. Be aware of the agendas that others may have. What are their motives, character, lifestyle and spiritual life? Do they honor God through their work? I have found a good rule of thumb for hearing from God is stopping long enough to hear the Shepherds Voice. Jesus said in John 10:27 “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”

Welcome to the concept of forming a writing team. I believe as you work in this direction and in the way God leads you, you will find good success! (Joshua 1:8).

CAIN AND ABEL

By Marie Tschopp

Author Michelle Medlock Adams recommends writing in rhyme to spur creative thought as an aid against writer’s block. After staring at a blank page, for 20 minutes and 56 seconds, I decided to give it a try. Here’s the results:

CAIN AND ABEL

Cain and Abel were the first brothers
The only ones as there were no others.
Eve was their mom, Adam their dad.
Abel was good, but Cain was bad.

God said he wanted an offering
And Abel brought the best he could bring.
But what Cain gave was not at all good
For Cain did not live the way he should.

Cain was jealous and thought, “Just you wait!
In my hands is my brother’s fate.
I’ll silence Abel, that little squirt.
I’ll plant his body right here in the dirt!”

God knew exactly what Cain had done,
And was saddened Cain was such a bad son.
He punished Cain and said, “You must leave.
Move away from your parents, Adam and Eve."

Cain left his family, set out on his own,
For he had to reap the seeds he had sown.
Cain moved east of Eden to the land of Nod
And spent the rest of his life tilling the sod.


Okay, so I’m no Robert Frost or Michelle Medlock Adams, but it was fun. Try it. You’ll like it.

Happy Birthday to YOU, TGBA*

By Gail P. Smith

One year ago on today, November 9, we officially launched the QCCWC** blog.  We named it

*“The Great Blog Adventure.”

We began with 16 writers (14 women and 2 men), a few seasoned professionals, some novice bloggers/writers and lots of us somewhere inbetween.  Along the way we’ve lost and gained bloggers and we miss those currently "on hiatus."  As of today we are 14 writers strong, each contributing once or twice every two months. We publish twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  At least that’s the goal, and most of the time we make it.

Among our writers we have a resident baseball expert, several photographers, a writer’s group leader, homemakers, a reporter and a Sister with a capital “S.”  To read more about each of our talented bloggers click on “The Great Blog Adventures/Contributing Writers” tab above.

Over the past twelve months we’ve blogged about our families, jobs, pets and other less welcome critters who've invaded our homes.   We’ve written about wise men, Thanksgiving, Psalms and Proverbs, tombstones, writers block, tests, beauty, swimsuits and spam.  We’ve confessed mistakes and shared blessings, talked about growth, writing and even reality TV. 

At least one of us had a book published this year and I think it may be more.  (In fact, if any of our bloggers were published anywhere else besides TGBA this year, please comment so we can celebrate with you.) 

Best of all, we shared our relationships with the Lord, how we seek Him, how we struggle and what He’s taught us.  What a blessing it's been to read how God worked in each individual life.

As as far as "stats" go,  our page has had 38 views today (11-8-11), 25 yesterday, 592 last month, and 5,185 views for the past year.  We have 18 followers (are YOU following us yet?) and our readers represent ten countries and 4 continents.  (So if you know anyone in South America, Africa or Antarctica, please invite them to take a look!)

We’ve had 228 comments on 103 posts, and we are so grateful for each person who has taken the time to read and comment on our writing.  You have encouraged us by letting us know that someone took the time to read what we had to say. 

As we celebrate this milestone for TGAB, we are most grateful for YOU, the person sitting at your computer, reading this post, right now, today.  Without you readers bloggers would be nothing and so we want to say thank to each person who has visited this blog in the past year. 

We hope this year that you have been entertained, informed, uplifted, amused, touched, encouraged or inspired by something you have read here.  Please come back soon and invite a friend. 

At the top of our blog are these words “Read~Write~Learn~Share~Trust.” That is what we've attempted to do for the past 365 days.  Thanks for joining us.

So Happy Birthday to YOU,

Great Blog Adventurers,

and many happy returns.

** Quad-Cities' Christian Writers Conference

DOWN IN THE BLOG BOG

By Sharon Wilhite

How can some bloggers write epistles with deep spiritual insights accompanied by tasteful photos and links to related websites EVERYDAY?!!! Why can't I also blog prolifically? Why can't I even blog in a timely manner at least once a month? Here are some excuses - I mean REASONS: (get the beat going first!)

 

My drain had a clog,
I had to walk my dog,
Too much fog (as in brain),
Time to butcher the hog,
Went out for a jog,
Slept like a log,
Oh, I'm down, down, down in the blog bog! 

(oh, yeah)

 

Well, enough of the "Blog Bog Blues." I am always telling my children, "Don't make an excuse, make an EFFORT."

 

Time to make time for some serious writing effort not some sorry excuses.

INTERRUPTIONS OR OPPORTUNITIES?

By Sharon Wilhite

"Honey, can you make me a lunch?" "Mom, I don't understand this math
problem." Brrring - "Hi! This is so and so. Do you have a few minutes
to listen?" "Mom, look at what I colored." "Honey, I can't find any
socks in my drawer!" Brring - "This is the church prayer chain, could
you pray right now for so and so?" "Mom, what does 'purity' mean?"
"Honey, let me tell you about my day at work." And on and on it goes.

.Matthew 6:33-46 records the miracle of the feeding of the 5000.
Verses 30-32 give the prelude. The disciples were exhilarated but
exhausted. Jesus had trained and then finally sent the disciples out
two by two to do what He was doing - preaching, casting out demons,
and healing the sick in surrounding villages. Now, they had returned
and reported back to Jesus. They were depleted physically ("they had
no leisure so much as to eat") and spiritually.

Jesus invited them on a private retreat for 12 to "rest awhile," but
when they got there they found 5000 other folks waiting for them!!
Interruption or Opportunity? A time for Compassion or Complaining?
Jesus chose compassion and took the interruption as an opportunity to
teach a great multitude many things.

The day wore on until evening. The disciples were tired and
said,"Send them away." (Let them go and feed themselves!) Jesus said,
"Sit them down and give them something to eat" before they go home
(YOU feed them). The disciples could only come up with a little food,
but Jesus blessed that little amount and used it to feed thousands.

Result? Instead of a Retreat for 12, it became a Revival and Refreshment for over 5000!!

Refreshment for the disciples? There were exactly enough leftovers
for each disciple to have a basketful - a "doggy basket," if you
please!

Reminder for all of us? "And when He had sent them away (fed), He

(Jesus) departed into a mountain to pray." Jesus needed some quiet

time with His Father. At the end of a busy day full of interruptions,

teaching opportunities, feeding my family, etc., I need to send everyone away - ha! - or put them to bed!

Then I need to find a quiet place to spend talking to my Heavenly Father Who never minds the interruption, won't tell me to go elsewhere to be fed, fills me up tooverflowing through His Word and prayer, and will send me away refreshed to face another day!

Welcome to The Great Blog Adventure.

Whenever I don’t know how to start writing something, I go to the dictionary.  It’s chockfull of words many of which I’ve never even used.  When I sat down to write my first post for The Great Blog Adventure, what did I do?  That’s right, I went to the dictionary, at least the on-line version.  You don’t need to remember how to alphabetize (or even spell) to use the online dictionaries.  Even the dictionary writers don’t know how to spell.

The first word I looked up was:

Blog – noun. “a website that allows users to reflect, share opinions, and discuss various topics in the form of an online journal while readers may comment on posts.”¹ (Oh, please let there be readers who WILL make comments)

Sounds like the perfect definition for what this group of bloggers is attempting on these digital pages.  Our topics will be many and varied.  Some of us write inspiring devotions, some great book reviews, some share their opinions on life, faith, current events and just about anything else that strikes our fancy.  And some of us just can not resist going for laughs. 

Next I decided to take a look at the definition of great.

Great - “of major significance or importance; "a great work of art"; "Einstein was one of the outstanding figures of the 20th centurey"²

I love the definition and think it’s a great goal, too.  It certainly gives us something to aspire to (and some of us will leave no participle un-dangled in the effort to sound natural).  An opportunity to create a work of art doesn’t knock every day.

*Rabbit Trail Alert (RTA)--Those of you who are good spellers will have noticed that this definition of great is where I discovered that dictionary writers can’t spell.  “…century”?  And they also use pointless examples—where’s the word “great” in the sentence about Einstein? Maybe I’m not the only one who needs a  proofreader.

Finally I looked up adventure where I found out

“An adventure is an activity that is perceived to involve risky, dangerous or exciting experiences.”

“to take a risk in the hope of a favorable outcome” ¹

“a wild and exciting undertaking (not necessarily lawful)²

While I doubt The Great Blog Adventure will be posting anything unlawful in the near future, I am thrilled to be undertaking this wild and exciting “risk in the hope of a favorable outcome” with you. (If sharing who you are and what you believe through your words in a public forum isn’t risky then I don’t know what is.)

I invite you to join me as we read, write, share and learn together on this great blog adventure.

It is my prayer that as we reveal our lives, our thoughts, our creativity and our faith through our words, that God may bless our readers, stretch our talents and continue to grow us into the writers He intends us to become.

So I’m thinking maybe we got the name right.

Let The Great Blog Adventure begin.

Gail P. Smith

¹.From .wiktionary.org/wiki/

² wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn