Writing in the Christian Children's Market

This week I thought I would change it up a bit and have Christian Author Elizabeth Kail Arnita share why she writers Christian picture books. This is a huge market many children's writers don't think about breaking into. It doesn't matter what church you go to, the fact is, if you are a Christian this is a market you might want to consider breaking into if you're frustrated with the main stream children's market.

Why do I Write Religious/Christian Based Books for Kids

By Elizabeth Kail Arnita

In Proverbs 22:6, the Bible states, “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.”  I believe when parents enlighten their children to the truths of Scripture, they are not only giving them “good rules” to live by, but enabling them to become people who make a positive difference by leading lives that go beyond themselves.   

More than ever, it is easy for people to lose their way in this big world.  For me, the Bible is the GPS system for living.  It not only offers directions on where to go, but also gives excellent counsel on how to get back on track when you take wrong turns.  As any good GPS system does, the Word of God alerts the navigator to danger ahead and gives them alternate routes.  It pilots the reader through difficult circumstances and even displays “Points of Interest” that intrigue the most experienced traveler.  We can choose to utilize the life lessons of those who did and didn’t follow God’s instruction to help us reach our own destination.  No matter how lost I am God’s Word always offers a way home and everyone can relate to the trails we find in the Bible no matter our religious background.

What is amazing about the stories in the Bible is they are no different when you look at their structure from any other fictional or historical storyline we might read today. First, each story as a beginning, middle and end. There is a main character, a problem/conflict, antagonist, failures and the stratify ending once the conflict is resolved. You can also see a mentor in each story. Jesus told many stories to his followers in this same way. 

In navigating through life, today’s children face more obstacles than any other generations.  By taking the teachings from the Bible and turning them into a modern day story, children can learn many of life lessons. On the road of life, there are so many bumps, detours, road blocks and wrongly labeled signs; if guidance is not given, getting lost is inevitable.  I have chosen to write stories based on Biblical foundations that offer parents another way to address wise council into their children’s life.   It is my prayer that the lessons open discussions, giving opportunities to delve deeper into some of life’s twists and turns.  By God’s grace, the stories can be used to help people strengthen their relationship with Him or others in their life.

Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Elizabeth Arnita is the youngest of 12 children. She learned early in life about family dynamics and the concept of sharing. After graduating in 1983, with a degree in Psychology from the University of Pittsburgh, Elizabeth married Shadi and they have been blessed with four fabulous children. Her love for the Lord has opened her eyes to a world in need and ignited her compassion for those who are less fortunate. She and her husband founded and continue to manage Welcome The Children; a non-profit organization that funds and supports children who are experiencing the reality of poverty. Elizabeth Arnita has designated all of the proceeds from her book sales to support WTC.

You can find out more about Elizabeth Arnita, her books and World of Ink Author/Book Tour at http://tinyurl.com/ayhg69o

 

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As you can see, writing children's lit based off your religious background can help inspire story ideas and give you another avenue to break into print. You don't have to quote scripture, just use a favorite story from the Bible (or whatever book your religion uses). 

If you don't want people to know your religious background...use a pen name. 

My reason for having Elizabeth Kail Arntia share her thoughts today is to show how inspiration can come from all over. In books we read, religion, family history, etc. Don't limit yourself as a writer because you're afraid what others might say.

Jack Remick (poet, short story writer and novelist) once said to me, "A serious writer has a bookself." What he means is to write more than you will even see published. Write more than one book, short story, poem, etc. You must keep writing and building your bookself even if you haven't published a manuscript yet. So open those wings and start flying.

 

You must do the thing you think you cannot do...

Procrastination~Don't do it!

"Procrastination is the fear of success. People procrastinate because they are afraid of the success that they know will result if they move ahead now. Because success is heavy, carries a responsibility with it, it is much easier to procrastinate and live on the "someday I'll" philosophy." Denis Waitley

 There is quote I love from Marianne Williamson: "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure."

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure...wow. What if we do become successful? What if we do have a responsibility to our success? Don't we have responsibilities to something in our lives right now? Do we fear we will fail? And what if we do? Does anyone care?

Writers are powerful. We know this tidbit of truth. We've read their books/essays/speeches. They've urged us to look within and outside ourselves, to stretch and learn and live. Who can honestly say they've never changed because of reading?  

This is where our fear comes in because that is a big responsibility. Every reader is touched by a writer. There is a writer for every reader. If that is true, why do we, the writers, procrastinate? If we know someone will read our words and change, why wouldn't we want those writings out in the universe?

Don't think tomorrow you'll start or next week is better or "someday I'll" because you are stopping me from reading something that will affect my life. Give me your words! I need them. We need each other to work now.

Don't give into your fear.

You are powerful.

Keep your mountain in sight

“Over every mountain there is a path, although it may not be seen from the valley.” James Rogers

The above quote reminds me of Neil Gaiman's graduation speech at the University of Arts.


"Something that worked for me was imagining that where I wanted to be – an author, primarily of fiction, making good books, making good comics and supporting myself through my words – was a mountain. A distant mountain. My goal.
And I knew that as long as I kept walking towards the mountain I would be all right. And when I truly was not sure what to do, I could stop, and think about whether it was taking me towards or away from the mountain.
I said no to editorial jobs on magazines, proper jobs that would have paid proper money because I knew that, attractive though they were, for me they would have been walking away from the mountain. And if those job offers had come along earlier I might have taken them, because they still would have been closer to the mountain than I was at the time."

I love that analogy! Keep your mountain in sight and keep walking towards it. Don't let anything distract you off the path, even if you can't see that path from the valley, keep walking toward your goal. You. Will. Make. It.

Persistence!

From Laurie Halse Anderson Tumblr:

1. The idea came from an article about this epidemic in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

2. The research and writing took seven years.

3. Thirteen publishers rejected it. Scholastic didn’t fully reject it, but asked if I’d rewrite it to be part of their Dear America series. I said thank you, no.

4. I lost track of the number of revisions. 14? 112? Whatever, it took a long time and needed a lot of work. This book was my apprentice piece.

5. It has sold more than one million copies in the United States, won all kinds of shiny awards, is a standard part of elementary and middle school curriculum, and has been translated into Catalan, Dutch, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin, and Spanish.

PERSISTENCE!!

Weekend Writing Prompt

More writing prompts from "The Writer's Book of Matches: 1,001 Prompts to Ignite Your Fiction"

• "Hold on to something. This is gonna be wicked."
• "She's in the backroom," he told the ambulance driver.
• "Can you recommend a good book?"
• After learning to play chess during his incarceration, a rehabilitated felon sets out to join the U.S. Olympic team.

Pick one that speaks to you and get writing! Find more information about this book at www.freshboiledpeanuts.com

Where Eagles Dare Soar

“When it rains, most birds head for shelter; the Eagle is the only bird that, in order to avoid the rain, starts flying above the cloud.” Unknown

Isn't that an interesting fact? The eagle flies above the storm!
How does this quote apply to writing? Bear with me.
There is a lot of confusion in the writing world right now:
E-publishing is the best way.
Traditional publishing still the best way.
Don't break any writing rules.
Break the writing rules.
Write for now, not the current trends.
Research the trends.
This agent is accepting new authors.
Wait. No, she's not. 
Put your best work out there.
Don't edit your work to death.

Anyway, do you get the point? All of the good and bad advice/help/ideas out in the world can hurt our creativity.
A storm of confusion, raining down on us! (Ah!)
As writers we must rise above the dark clouds and naysayers.
Write. Your. Book.
It's there, inside you, waiting for an outlet. Waiting for you to be brave, to soar.
Now go forth and write, my brilliant eagles!

When WIP Equals First Draft

According to the poem that Taffy gave us on Thursday, "Tuesday's child is full of grace." Good thing I only act childish or I would be proving that completely wrong. Grace seems the farthest thing from me.

With that snide comment, let me introduce myself. I'm T.J. I write "Timothy Types TMI" (You can also see the link the right-hand column of this page. For the few people that may be wondering: Yes, I wrote the seemingly famous Survivor: LDS Authors blog post back in April. And for those following that blog, I got to give Annette Lyon thank you chocolates for helping make it famous this past week. See, I repay my debts! Anyway, I'm one of two Tuesday bloggers. So, on to today's topic.

Today, I'm going with a topic that is annoying me lately: when revising turns into rewriting. My current work-in-process is in its 4th version and 5th draft. I have decided to change my story a few times since I started it. Well, at least change some things in my story.

Let's digress a bit. Back in September, I attended The Book Academy at Utah Valley University (my alma mater, go Wolverines!) and had a chance to have a short conversation with the great James Dashner. In our discussion he talked about the difficulty that came with selling a series versus a stand alone novel. This was after the 2nd presentation that morning. I had already decided to rethink some of my work-in-process during Brandon Sanderson's keynote address. At this point, I was thinking, "Crap! I've really got to work on this."

So, I worked hard to make my story stand alone. I dropped a storyline (that I loved) in order to keep one that worked and made sense. And I worked hard at redoing this story and was so excited to present this revised copy to LDS Storymakers in April.

Well, as cool as LDS Storymakers is, the worst thing that I got from there was a lack of confidence in my writing. After the first morning's boot camp session, I decided I was going to have to start over again. And that 'start over' process led to a lot of annoying things.

The thing that is annoying me the most right now is that I've redone this story to the point that where I originally ended it is now a turning point to the story, the storyline I kept is completely dropped (which was fine since I hated it anyway), and I put back the main storyline I dropped. But now I'm arriving to the point where my already written stuff will no longer be recycled into this version. I have to come up with a few more ideas. Another try/fail cycle (or two). A few more characters. Another plot twist, because they're cool of course.

But you know why I'm doing this? I want to be published. When I talked to Dashner at LDS Storymakers, he asked if I'd learned much in the first day of the conference. My answer? "That I suck." His kind response was "I don't think that's true." Now, he's never read my stuff, but at least he sounded a little more sincere than some authors could be. Does my writing truly suck? In some ways, it does. But as I keep going through and revising, reworking, rewriting (almost like a recycle/reduce/reuse mantra) I know that I suck less and less. I've learned a lot of analytical skills to help me in my writing from everything I've done.

Yeah, it's a pain to rewrite. But it's more annoying to say "I'm a wannabe author."

Alien abductions are involuntary, but probings are scheduled.

What Inspires You to Write?

I'm having a bad case of the February blahs...and I'm badly needing some inspiration from all those wonderful writers out there.

What inspires you to write? How do you get unstuck? When you get halfway through a book and feel like it might be your worst work yet, what helps you wade through the muck? Most importantly, when you're out there querying and getting more than a few rejections, how do you not throw your novel away?

So far, the most rewarding part of writing for me has been becoming a part of this quirky, supportive writing community. You can meet a total stranger, discover that they have a writing hobby and feel instantly connected. You know they've gone through the same wonderment in discovering new characters, discouragement when the book isn't perfect, nervousness at sending out queries, and euphoria at getting positive feedback as you have.

Drop us a comment. Inspire us! Help us turn around the armpit month and make it the best writing month of the year.