SWCWS

The Long and Winding Road to Becoming a Novelist

by Jack Cavanaugh

Like the proverbial journey that begins with a single step, the way to becoming a novelist begins with a single word. And then another. And another. The best piece of advice I can give to anyone who wants to become a novelist is this: Get into the habit of writing every day. 

The second best piece of advice: Write for anyone, anytime, anyplace. The road to becoming a novelist is not a straight one. My personal journey had these twists and turns — writing denominational news stories; a pastor's column; promotional material for my denomination; slide presentations for missionaries; church musicals and humorous skits; ghostwriting speeches and letters; a monthly column for a Christian newspaper; promotional materials for a city-wide prayer breakfast; 90 Hints, Tips, and Great Ideas for Sunday School Teachers; humor and jokes for emcee opportunities and roasts; how-to craft projects; Sunday School curriculum; Sunday School take home papers; short stories; fiction contests; and a self-published genealogy booklet of the Cavanaughs for Christmas presents.

“But I want to write novels!” So did I. What I learned is that each of these writing tasks strengthened my fiction skills. Writing how-to crafts strengthened my ability to write sequentially, which comes in handy when writing scenes. Writing jokes — a difficult and exacting process — prepared me to write dialogue with impact.

Not only is the road to becoming a novelist a winding one, it's long. From the time I began writing seriously as a novelist to the time I signed my first contract thirteen years passed. Thirteen long, agonizing years. A conferee at one writers conference told me she prayed, "Please Lord, don't make my road to getting published as long as Mr. Cavanaugh's." God answered her prayer. It only took her twelve years. She said, "Next time I'll be more specific."

One Christmas my brother stood in line to get me a novel autographed by Dean Koontz. When Mr. Koontz learned that I too was a novelist, he added: "Perseverance counts." A lesson we both learned. And if you want to become a novelist, you'll learn it too.

The journey starts with a single word. Now it's your turn. Which word will you write?

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SWCWS faculty member Jack Cavanaugh is an award-winning, full-time freelance author with twenty-five published novels to his credit. His nine-volume American Family Portrait series spans the history of a nation from 1630 to the present and is still in print nearly fifteen years following its release.

A student of the novel for more than a quarter of a century, Jack takes his craft seriously, continuing to study and teach at Christian writers conferences. He is the former pastor of three churches in San Diego County and draws upon his theological background for the spiritual elements of his plots and characters.

His novels have been translated into a dozen foreign languages, largely because of the universal scope of his topics. Jack has not only written about American history, but about South Africa, banned English Bibles, German Christians in the days of Hitler and Communism, revivals in America, and angelic warfare.

Jack’s current writing schedule includes motion picture screenplays and e-book serial fiction with Internet distribution. His novel Death Watch has been optioned to be made into a motion picture by Out Cold Entertainment, Inc.

Jack has three grown children and lives with his wife in Southern California. Jack will be teaching:

Writing the Novel

It’s a page-turner! These three words spell success for writers of fiction. But what are the characteristics of a page-turner? In these comprehensive sessions, Jack will teach you everything you need to know to help you get started writing Christian fiction from preparing yourself to write, to polishing the final draft.

A Novelist Talks Screenplays

Characters. Plot. Dialogue. Theme. These are a few of the similarities between novels and screenplays. It’s where the similarities end that things get interesting. In this workshop you will be introduced to the basics of screenplay writing, a fun and creative format that will challenge and sharpen your storytelling skills.

Ways to Connect

 Southwest Christian Writers Studio

Resources to Explore Before You Leave Home

The Southwest Christian Writers Studio is determined to give writers the most benefit from their studio experience. And we’re happy to announce that experience begins now. Even if you’re still trying to decide if the Southwest Christian Writers Studio is right for you. We want to give you a taste of what’s in store. To accomplish this we’ve developed several resources.

• The First is a moderated Yahoo Group just for those interested in attending the Southwest Christian Writers Studio. This group can be accessed by clicking here http://groups.yahoo.com/group/southwestcws/ and applying for membership. Don’t worry, this isn’t an exclusive group—the membership requirement protects you from spammers. 

This group was started to give you the chance to network with others in the writing industry. It’s there as a place to post questions, share prayer requests, and get information. You can feel free to ask about everything from the weather to how to format a WORD document. It’s also there to give you the opportunity to develop some new pre-conference friendships. Don’t worry, it’s moderated by a member of the faculty—Edie Melson—and she hasn’t steered anyone wrong lately!

• The Second is a Facebook Fan Page for the Southwest Christian Writers Studio. This page is also for posting questions and celebrations. It gives you a more in depth view of others attending this event. You’ll find many of the faculty here and have a chance to ask questions about what to expect. And for those of you who haven’t gotten your feet wet with Facebook it’s accessible whether or not you have a Facebook account. To visit this page click here http://www.facebook.com/pages/edit/?id=115398508504259#!/pages/Southwest-Christian-Writers-Studio/115398508504259  Once there, click on the LIKE button to become a member of this page.

So, whether you’re a first time attendee to a conference or a seasoned veteran we hope these resources will help you develop new friendships and relationships on every level. So drop in, share a little about yourself and make some new friends!

An Inkling

WHEN YOU IMAGINE a professional writer what do you picture? Someone slaving away at an old Underwood typewriter surrounded by mounds of paper and a dog, his only companion, snoozing at his feet? Or maybe a woman sitting in a bustling, crowded coffee shop yet still alone, kept occupied by the words rattling in her skull?

If so you are not far wrong. Writers do spend much of their time alone wandering the corridors of their minds juggling facts, creating characters, struggling to find the best lead for an article, or maybe working to please a freelance client. While writing requires time spent with no one but the muses for company, it should not mean forgoing human contact.

Some of the world's best writers made an effort to hang with other wordsmiths. There are reasons for this. First, creativity breeds creativity. Being with other writers feeds the imagination,  sharpens our edge, and restocks the shelves of our minds. Hearing what they're working on often inspires us to move forward with our own work.

Sixty years ago, a group of writers in England made a point of getting together to read their works-in-progress. Many of the writers were professors at Oxford. They would fellowship, laugh, then listened to the works of their members offering encouragement and suggestions. (Since they often met in a pub, they may have done other, less literary things.) They named the group the Inklings and their number included C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien.

Meeting with other writers also remind us how human we all are. Years ago, I was invited to a fiction writers conference for Zondervan novelist. It was the first time I had been with other professional writers, especially best selling writers like Angie Hunt, Terry Blackstock, and Bill Meyers (and other notables). I learned more by sitting in the hotel lobby listening and watching. I felt like I was in a graduate course and left feeling blessed to have been invited (and a whole lot wiser). I also learned that these “name” writers were just like me. We even helped one of the novelist settle on an ending to her book.

This sense of camaraderie among new and experienced writers is one of the chief goals of the Southwest Christian Writers Studio. It is one reason we have limited enrollment; one of the reason we follow a "studio" format. SWCWS is conference with a different format: more personal; more directed; more hands-on.

This is the kind of writers conference many have been waiting for. There is still time to join us. Just click on the LIFEWAY link above. Come join other writers, people like you, people who understand you and the work you do.

Alton Gansky,

Faculty member

Writing is All About the Relationship

By Edie Melson

When I first started writing, my reasons for attending writers conferences were twofold—meet the gatekeepers (editors/agents) and learn more about writing. I never considered interacting with other writers to be anything other than a side benefit. After all, writing is primarily a solitary pursuit, right? Wrong.

That is a popular, but entirely false, assumption. Writing for publication is an endeavor built on forging relationships. And those relationships can ultimately determine your success or failure in the writing industry. Here’s a list of those relationships.

• Between you and other writers
• Between you and the reader 
• Between the reader and the subject or characters
• Between you and the editor
• Between you and your agent

I listed the relationship between writers first, because surprisingly, it’s often the most vital in your writing life. The actual act of putting words on paper is a solitary act and because of that it’s easy to lose perspective. Writing in a vacuum can give us a false sense of whether or not we’re effective in our endeavor. We either wind up thinking we’re a genius or sink into the depths of despair because we can’t string two coherent sentences together. Rarely is either perspective accurate.

We need others in our profession to give us feedback, keep us grounded and provide encouragement. A writers conference is the perfect place to find these people. Let me add a word of caution here. You may be tempted, like I was at first, to insert friends and family into this role. Unless they’re also writers this dynamic just doesn’t work. They’ll unwittingly encourage you when you need a swift kick in the pants and administer the kick in the pants when you need encouragement.

The most valuable relationships I’ve developed through the years have come from those I’ve met at conferences. My critique partner and I met at a writers conference in another state—and we live only two miles apart. My mentors, my colleagues and yes, even many of my editors have come from those relationships. 

That’s an important fact to remember. People move around in this business, the beginning writer you befriend now may end up as your editor in ten years time. I was at the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference in 2007 and met a fellow writer. She only wrote young adult novels, but we really hit it off and kept in touch. In late 2009 she sent me an email because she wanted to break into freelance writing (my specialty). She didn’t know I’d taken a position as the managing editor of a magazine. I ended up buying the first freelance article she’d ever written.

So what steps can you take to build these relationships while you’re at a conference? Here are my suggestions.

• Join groups of people gathered together and introduce yourself. A lot of writers are naturally shy, so I know this is a stretch. Think of it as a game. Set a goal for the number of strangers you’re going to talk with on the first day. As the week progresses it will get easier—I promise!
• Ask those you meet about their writing. Find out how long they’ve been writing, what they like to write and how they came to be at the conference. We all like to talk about our passion and writers are no different.
• Exchange business cards. This seems basic but many writers hesitate to do this with other writers—although they’re quick to pull out a card when an editor or agent walks up. But trust me, if you offer a card, everyone in the group will be quick to follow.

I also make notes on the back of business cards—just to help me remember the person better.

• Try to rotate where you eat your meals and those you sit with. This will allow you to get to know more people.
• Don’t be shy about chatting with the faculty. We all welcome new writing friends—no matter where we are on the writing journey.

These tips will help you begin relationships that will last throughout your writing journey. So come on up and introduce yourself—I can hardly wait to meet you!

Do You Really Have to Write What You Know?

Aaron Gansky is a teacher and writer with an MFA in Creative Writing and one of the faculty members at the October 2010 Southwest Christian Writers Conference. He is the editor of the Citron Review. And yes, he's my son. The following appeared on Aaron's blog site.

ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS an amateur writer hears is the age-old adage, “Write what you know.” It’s a simple statement, suggested plainly, as if we have to take it at face value, but it’s an assertion that goes far beyond what we first take it to mean.

For me, I took it to mean, “write about your life,” which, in some fashion, suggests fictionalizing non-fiction. I’m not opposed to this idea, but if you’d lived my life, you’d probably realize what a terrible book it would make.

Then, of course, there’s the idea of occupations. If you’re a middle-aged butcher, you should write about a middle-aged butcher. But there again is the veiled suggestion to personalize the fiction in a way that might be a little too close for comfort.

I’ve heard several different takes on this idea, and the one that sticks with me the most is, “Write what you WANT to know.” The idea here is that you can write about an airline pilot without ever having been one. And, realistically, if you’re writing any sort of expansive fiction, you’re going to have to do that at some point. Our world is a world of characters, all ages, shapes and sizes. They all co-exist and swim into each other’s lives at varying levels of proximity.

Our world is also a world of influence. Each character plays on the other, pushing or pulling, hugging or hitting. How the interaction occurs is not so important as the fact that there IS interaction.

We have met a variety of people. A writer who is in the habit of art will take these characters to heart. They will know, in a ten minute period, who these people are. They will know what makes them tick, what drives them. And while they may not figure out every secret each person holds, they will know at least, perhaps, what KINDS of secrets. And, if they truly can’t deduce that, they will be able to make up something unique.

The writer who includes these characters in their fiction will enjoy the process of discovery, of finding out more about the characters as they develop. They will take what they’ve observed, what they’ve fictionalized to fill in the blanks, and roll it together into a thick dough, and watch the bread rise as the story bakes.

I say all this to offer a different way to view the adage, and it comes on the heels of an earlier post on the language of fiction, of the inclusion of imagery in fiction. When it comes to locations you’ve not experienced, jobs you’ve not had, etc., take the time to figure out what they’re truly like. Do some research. Book a flight. Make a phone call. Surf the web. Do whatever you need to do to write about that subject knowledgably. A good example of this is my father, who wrote a book called A Ship Possessed about a World War II submarine that surfaces fifty years late in the wrong ocean. My father never served in the military, but he did take a tour of a similar submarine. He took good notes. He researched online, in the library, and wherever else he could. At one point, he received a call from a WWII vet who asked him which ship he’d served on. Did he write what he knew? In this case, he knew what he wrote.

But here is the heart of what I want to say—the thing I’ve been beating around the bush to get to (if you’ll pardon my cliché). Regardless of what we’re writing about—Westerns or Sci-fis, literary or commercial, romance or tragedy, high-concept thrillers or experimental fiction—it all comes back to one thing: the human condition. There are only a few great themes in life: birth, death, love, and loss to name a few. In some way, each of us has experienced these. We’ve loved. We’ve hated. We’ve sought revenge. We’ve sought peace. We’ve felt guilt and remorse. We’ve felt joy and elation. These are the things we know, regardless of the setting or plot. This is what we know. And this is what we should write.