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Christian Writer Training Course 2, Lesson 5

Many good writers are unable to get published because they do not know how to go about in this business of getting published. Their articles are interesting, the subjects are relevant, and any publication would be proud to print this kind of material, but still they remain unpublished. The problem is that they did not market their product properly.

A few centuries ago when the number of periodicals was small it was easy to find one that fulfilled one’s requirements, but with the thousands of publications around, it is difficult today for the beginner to get to the appropriate publication. Further, many are so ignorant about market realities that they want their articles and other writings to be published in the commonly available commercial publications immediately. They do not realize that these are professionally produced publications, and a writer can get published in them only after gaining considerable experience and expertise in specific fields. A beginner should not overestimate his size, but should rather find a publication that is more suitable for his standard and send for publication there.

There are at least five things that you should know about getting your writings published:

1-Choose the right publication
2-Send the carefully prepared manuscript with a covering letter
3-Do send query letters
4-Expect rejection
5-Advance as you gain experience

Of these, I will  explain two of the above  in greater detail:

1. Choose The Right Publication:  Most countries today have a wide range of publications. Our country has several thousand English periodicals plus a higher number of periodicals in other languages. The total number exceeds 40,000 ! These contain an unbelievable range of publications right from the most primitive to the most advanced.

In this crowd you will find from general to highly subject-oriented publications. One publishes on a wide variety of subjects while the other publishes only on the different aspects of one subject. You will find that they have a diversity of levels. Some publish almost any articles written by the beginner while the other publishes even the articles of the expert with great caution. Some will accept articles submitted by outside writers, but others publish only articles written by their editorial staff, while still others publish only invited articles.

What is important to understand is that in this crowd somewhere there is a publication that suits your level. In fact there is a possibility that there are dozens of publications that publish submissions from the beginner. It is your responsibility to search the market thoroughly to discover several magazines that accept submissions from the beginner. Make a list of these publications. You will be deleting as well adding to this list throughout your writing career.

The easiest place to get published is the Letters To The Editor column. Unfortunately many writers do not recognize the power and the impact of this column. They feel that after all a letter is only a letter. While a letter is surely a letter, this need not always be so. Letters published in these columns can become a powerful medium for speaking to the people of your society. Researches and surveys have found that Letters To The Editor column is one of the most read columns in periodicals. Somehow people have a strong attraction to what others like them have to say on different issues. Therefore what gets published in this column is sure to be read by a lot of people. Think of the impact that you can create by publishing letters regularly in this column. What’s more, most editors will publish letters on any subject without editing or altering them even if the letter is critical of the publication and its stand.

Many publications publish submissions only if they agree with the policy of the periodical, but this does not usually apply to the Letters column. This gives a lot of liberty to the writer of the letter. This means that even if the subjects of your interest are such that they do not find a regular place in any publication, you can still place them in front of thousands of readers through the Letters column.

For example, suppose you read horrifying reports of ragging in professional colleges and feel disgusted at how tens of thousands of innocent young people are subjected to humiliation and torture every year, you can start a national campaign through the Letters column of newspapers. You can stir thousands of people, bringing this primitive, brutal, and beastly practice to and end.

As a beginner you should try to use the Letters column of the local newspaper and other available publications both for gaining writing experience as well as to get your name established among the readership.

2. Send The Carefully Prepared Manuscript Along With A Covering Letter: Except for the Letters to the Editor column, you should send all your manuscripts to the editor with a good covering letter. It is not sufficient to send the article alone because it does not bring you in proper contact and rapport with the editor. You must realize all editors are human beings and only a personal touch will gain proper attention from them. This is becoming more and more true in this generation where the number of writings that call for the attention of the editors is increasing at an explosive rate.

The covering letter must be a brief and polite one that calls the attention of the editor to your writing. If this is your first ever submission to him, then introduce yourself briefly in this letter. Give some information about your background and also any publications that you already have. Also, if you have been reading his publication for some time, include some helpful and honest comments and observations about that publication. A typical letter might look something like the following:

Date:
The Editor
Daily Trumpet
Street Of The Infamous,
BookCity-120099

Dear Sir,

It is my privilege to send an article titled “Thirty Ways To Get Published” for consideration for publication in your periodical. This is my first ever submission to your publication.

I have been fond of guiding my friends to write, and I have published a lot of guidelines on this subject in my college and school magazines.

I have been reading the Daily Trumpet now for almost six months. Your editorials are very timely, to the point, and enlightening for the new as well as the old readers. Please continue to give us this good material.

I am enclosing a Stamped Self Addressed Envelope, for returning the article in case you find it is not useful for you.

Yours sincerely,

I. M. Helper

I have not shown the date and retur
n address on the sample letter above, but you must include them too. Including the Stamped Self Addressed Envelope or SASE is necessary because most publications do not return the rejected manuscript unless you enclose SASE with each submission.

NEVER send the same manuscript at the same time to more than one publisher. If more than one editor decides to accept it, you will be faced with several unpleasant possibilities. The first is to inform one publisher that you are withdrawing this writing from his publication even though he wants to publish it. He might accept your request for withdrawal, but never expect him to show interest in your writings in future. After all, who would want to waste time on something about which he is not sure whether he will get it or not.

Modern-day Editors Have A Very Demanding Live, And Writers Who Make It Tough For Them Will Automatically Get Rejected  !!

The second possibility is even more damaging. If two or more publications accept the writing and publish it without first informing you (and this happens many a times), you will run into a messy copyright problem. What’s worse, you loose your credibility with all those publications. Never play with these things. You have to remain in the field of writing for a long period.

If you were commissioned to write on a topic, then always include a copy of that letter with your manuscript and covering letter. Busy editors can always forget that they had commissioned someone to write, and it is not always easy for them to locate the copy of the letter that they wrote to you. Further, in a large publication your submission need not always go to the person who originally commissioned you to write it. A copy of the original letter will, however, place your writing in its proper perspective.

Christian Writer Training Course 2, Lesson 4

We live in a generation of “packaging”. Unless it is put into a proper package, even the best product in the world does not attract customers. In the same way, every writing has to be presented in the right way if editors are even to look at it.

A few hundred years ago, when writers were not so much in abundance, and when editors had more free time than today, they would surely give attention to anything that came to their table, but today the situation is just the opposite. Your manuscript has now got to capture his attention while it competes with a large number of other submissions which he possibility cannot read in the time available to him.
Inculcate Good Manuscript-preparation Habits Right From The Beginning !!

Even if an editor makes as exception to this and gives time to all the manuscripts that cross his table, he is still not going to give the same attention to each manuscript thus placed. On the contrary, he will unconsciously spend more time with that piece of writing that has been presented in the more attractive way. This makes it imperative for you to present your writings in the most attractive and readable way.

Further, you must also remember that the editors are human. They have frustrations and irritations that are peculiar to their profession and, therefore, instead of adding to their problem you should try to help the editor out of these. For example, an editor has to deal not only with substandard writings, but also with carelessly written and even illegibly scribbled manuscripts. Therefore please give plenty of attention to how you prepare your manuscripts.

In this lesson I will explain the following points about manuscript preparation:

1–Type all manuscripts
2–The stationary to be used
3–Dispatching
4–Your record keeping practices

Let us look in detail at each point:

1-Type All Manuscripts: There is nothing wrong with handwritten manuscripts even at the dawn of the twentyfirst century, but typewritten material has a definite advantage in that it is more readable as well as compact. Therefore get all your manuscripts typed if at all possible.

Typing charges are not too high these days, and even if the initial investment looks too much you will reap much reward in the long run for this investment. Further, if you are a young person looking forward to twenty years or more of writing I strongly recommend that you learn typewriting yourself. It is not difficult or expensive. Just six months spent in a good typewriting institution will make you an expert. What’s more, during this period you don’t have to spare more than an hour a day for it. If you have a typewriter of your own, then just three months of training and then three months of practice at home is an equally good alternative.

If it is impossible to get the manuscript typed, then neatly handcopy it on ruled paper. What is important here is not a beautiful handwriting, but a handwriting that is highly readable without any strain.

If you are able to get it typed, or if you are able to type it yourself, then get three copies typed. Two copies should be sent to the editor, and one should go into your files for the record. In case the originals are lost in mail or in case the article is rejected but not returned by the editor, the copy in your records can be used to rewrite or retype it.

These days computers are becoming cheap, and very soon smaller machines might become cheap enough to become household gadgets. If the article is typed on a computer, then always keep a backup copy. Send two copies of the writing to the editor. Further, you must remember that these days many magazine editors are happy to receive articles on computer disks. These disks can be sent through mail, and once they make a copy of the article, the disk will be returned to you.

There are some standard practices for the layout of typed material. Some editors prefer a layout of their own specification, and that information can be obtained by writing to them. Meanwhile, you should continue with the standard layout. The standard layout is to type the manuscript double spaced (or 1.5 space, when available), on a single side of the paper. Around one to two inches or margin should be left on the left as well as on the right sides. The top and bottom margins should also be more than one and a half inches each. A good quality carbon paper should be used so that the copy is clear.

The first page of the manuscript you submit should preferably contain the following information:

Article Title:
Approximate Length Of The Article:
Approximate Level Of The Article (Simple, Semi Technical, Technical, etc.):
Your Address:

After giving this information, you should leave several inches of the paper blank, and then you can continue with the following: Title (centered on the page), your name on the right side after leaving a few lines from the title line, and then the text of the writing after leaving a few lines from the name.

Some typists do not number the pages. While this might not give any difficulty to the writer, it is greatly inconvenient for the editor as well as the person who is going to compose your writing. Should a page drop out of the manuscript (as it sometimes happens), they would have to waste a lot of precious time to decide where it goes back. Always label the pages with consecutive page numbers. If the typist has forgotten to do it, the do so with pen.

2-The Stationery To Be Used: The material that you use for presenting and dispatching the manuscript is as important as the writing itself is. You should therefore use the best quality paper that is available to you. If you are going to get the manuscript typed by somebody else, then supply them with good quality paper if they do not use paper of good quality.

Never use thin paper called rice-paper or onion-skin paper. It is to difficult for editors to handle that kind of paper, and you should not add to their difficulties — which are not little anyway.

Also, do not staple the papers. The experienced editors and composers find loose sheets of paper more convenient to handle, and therefore you should preferably use paper clips instead of staples.

3-Dispatching: Always use large sized envelopes for dispatching. The large size will ensure that you do not fold your manuscript too much or too many times. It is too difficult to read a sheet of paper that has been folded mercilessly. You should always know the current postal rates so that you mail the manuscript with sufficient postal stamps attached to the envelope. Postal fines are very high these days and, what is worse, no editor likes to be punished for the mistakes and carelessness of others. You should not expect any sympathy from an editor after you penalize him
with a postal fine.

If you want unaccepted manuscripts returned to you, then you should enclose a stamped and self addressed envelope (SASE) of suitable size with your manuscripts. Anything less than that (for returning your manuscript) is unacceptable to most editors. Some government published magazines do return rejected manuscripts at their own expense, but the number of government-controlled magazines is very small.

4-Your Record Keeping Practices: All writers should carefully keep a record of their writings. This is because by the time you write two dozen articles, you will loose track of the things written, sent to publications, rejected by publications, accepted for publication, and what has already been published. This statement might look a bit surprising to you, but it is true.

An article is a single entity, but the information connected with where you have sent them to where they have been published might add as many as four to six items with each article. This means that by the time you cross two dozen articles, the potential information that you will be chasing will exceed one hundred items. No one can keep this kind of information in his head. Many who were too foolish to do so have tasted the bitter fruits of neglect.
Long-term Record-keeping Habits Pay Well In The Long Run !!

For example, many careless writers have ended up sending the same article to more than one publication because of sheer neglect and forgetfulness. This is a crime in the world of writing, specially if you send them to publications that pay you for using your material.

Keep detailed information about your writings in a diary or notebook with the following minimum information for each piece of writing: name or title, the date you started writing, the date you finalized it, the date dispatched, the name of publication, the date of publication, and a line or two about what this piece of writing contains.

If the manuscript is typewritten or handwritten then a copy should be kept in your files. If it is done on a computer, then you should always keep a copy on two different disks so that if one is erased accidentally then you might be able to restore it from the back up copy.

One final word of advice: If you are careless now, you will regret all your life. If you take a little pain now, then you have a whole life to enjoy the fruits of hard labour.

Christian Writer Training Course 2, Lesson 3

Let me now illustrate what I said in the previous section. I said that the first thing to do is to choose a subject. Suppose I choose, “Water, The Greatest Tonic For Health”. Now let us make a tentative outline:

1-Introduction: (Remind people that they are ignoring the greatest fluid for their health).
2-Water is important for kidneys, man’s poison-filter.
3-Water is important for maintaining fluid balance of body.
4-All bodily functions need water.
5-Conclusion: Drink at least 4 to 8 litters of water every day.

The next activity is investigation and collection of information. Almost any medical doctor or nurse will be able to give you information and also guide you to appropriate books (technical as well as popular) for further information. Most books on physical fitness (which abound in our generation) or health-related magazines will also provide a lot of information. What’s more, even family-magazines will give an occasional article on this topic.

The next step is to revise and expand (if necessary) the previously prepared outline. In our case, any investigation will reveal that water plays a great part in disease prevention. It plays this role by being the most important medium of washing, cleaning and hygiene. Quite a lot of germs can be washed away by ordinary running water to levels safe for the body.
You Will End Up Doing A Lot Of Things, Which Will Come To Naught If You Have No Plan  !!

The information mentioned above is quite startling, yet too important to be overlooked, and therefore it can be added as a new point, or else it can replace point 4 in our outline. The option is yours. I consider this point so important that I decide to write an entire article on the topic of “Water, your great friend against germs”. I feel that offering this as a separate article will be a great help to readers in our country where disease-causing organisms are widespread. The poor country can save a lot of money spent on expensive medicines simply by encouraging proper washing habits.

I therefore leave the outline untouched. The helpful information and statistics collected is secure in my diary. If such information is jotted down on bits and pieces of paper they develop a tendency to vanish when most needed, wasting a lot of valuable time. Therefore I advise that you too buy a couple of diaries or note books.

Just as I decided not to revise the outline. I also decided not to expand the notes. In many cases I do both — revision as well as expansion. With some experience you will also know what to do.

Now that the groundwork is over, I start working on the article itself. The first draft will have many imperfections, and my mind urges me to pause at every stage to iron out these problems. Experience has told me that it is more important at this stage to complete the article so that I might see it as a whole unit before I work upon the parts. The first draft is ready in about two hours. It is about five pages long (around 900 words). The final draft will have about six handwritten (or three typed) pages. This will be about 1000 to 1200 words. Most popular magazines require articles to be between 1000 to 1500 words.

Instead of revising and polishing this draft immediately. I take a short break of fifteen minutes to about an hour. This refreshes my mind and makes me more alert to continue the work. Then I pick up the work, reread it and make corrections, additions and deletions liberally on the same sheets of paper. Once this is over, I immediately make a neat and clean copy. This will be my semi-final draft.

If I am in a hurry, I give this draft for typing. This happens only in about twenty per cent of the cases. In case of the majority of my articles, I place them in a file for few days and “sleep over” the article. This gives me time to reflect over what I have written. Further, when I revise my article after a few days, or even weeks, my mind has been “detached” sufficiently to look at it objectively. This enables me to spot many omissions and obscure statements that were difficult to spot when the subject was still fresh in my mind. I make corrections, and give the final copy for typing.

If typing is not possible, I make a neat and readable handwritten copy. This copy will go to the editor, while I keep the corrected copy. If typed, I send the original plus the first carbon-copy to the editor and keep the second carbon-copy in my files. The project has reached a conclusion.

The total time for doing all this would be around 8 to 10 hours, but with maturing habits and insights it might come down even to four hours, but that will be a long way from today.

The above illustration is only for your illumination. The purpose is to give you general guidelines, not to show rigidly fixed patterns. Feel free to experiment and be flexible, but do not compromise with the quality and content of what you produce.

Let me remind you once again: do not avoid outline-making. Compromising in this matter will only defeat your purpose. JUST AS A HOUSE CANNOT BE CONSTRUCTED WITHOUT A PLAN, AN ARTICLE CANNOT BE PRODUCED WITHOUT AN OUTLINE!

Some Precautions: Every factual writer should remember to make his investigation thorough. Since you are writing about preexisting subjects, you should make sure that your statements and data are correct. It is a very bad testimony to your reliability if you make mistakes.

While no writer can be entirely accurate all his life, repeated mistakes and too obvious errors point to careless work and sloppy thinking. Such writers soon loose credibility, and also the demand for their articles. Editors soon start avoiding them.
Better To Take Precautions Rather Than Discover Things Through Nasty Surprises !!

Another thing to remember is to write everything in your own words. Do not copy other’s writings verbatim. This is not only a sign if your incompetence, but is also a crime. Known as plagiarism, editors avoid writers given to it. What is worse, some magazines will openly publish letters of criticism against such articles, completely damaging your name.

Further, if your feel that a particular statement of another writer is so special that it should be given as it is to your readers you should put it as a quotation, and give full credit to the author from whom you have taken this quote.

Before closing I must remind you once again to choose a few areas of your interest for writing so that you do not become a jack of all trades but be reduced to master of none. Just as specialization is necessary in other professional areas, writing also calls for specialization for the majority of your articles.

Christian Writer Training Course 2, Lesson 2

The next thing to do is to make an outline. This should always be brief yet sufficiently clear. There should always be a suitable introduction, an informative and absorbing body, and a challenging end. The structure (in theory) would look something like the following.

1-Introduction.
2-Body
3-Conclusion.

The body of the article should contain the points that you want to stress. These points should be limited to as few as possible. Most writers show the tendency to pile point upon point till they reach infinity, with several sub-points attached to each point. While this might give them some mental satisfaction, or even pride, the practice is foolish.

The average reader cannot keep that many points, or their intricate relationship with each other, in his head. You should therefore use only three to five points in the body of your writing, unless you are going to write it for a bunch of your classroom students. Three points is optimum and five is about the maximum. If you think that you have more than five points for inclusion, many things could be wrong with you. Either you are overenthusiastic (because of your inexperience) or you have unnecessarily split the subject into too many points.

Yet another reason could be that you have chosen too broad a subject. If that is so, and if you have a great desire to use all those points, then split up your write-up into two or more articles.

Thus, the theoretical outline of a properly designed article would look something like:

1-Introduction
2-Body
    A-Point no.1
    B-Point no.2
    C-Point no.3
3-Conclusion

This is only a guideline, and not a rigid rule. Other approaches are also possible. What is important is to keep the outline COMPACT. Look at another compact outline below.

1-Introduction
2-Point no.1
    A-Subpoint no.1
    B-Subpoint no.2
3-Point-2
    A-Subpoint no.1
    B-Subpoint no.2
4-Conclusion

So far the above outline is only theoretical. In practice you should write down what these points are and what the emphasis of the introduction and conclusion are going to be.

Once this much is done, you must collect all the information on this subject that you can. You might at first be baffled about how to collect such information, but I assure you that if you go in the right direction you will get so much information that you will never be able to use all of it.

One of the best sources of information is books. You can look into your own collection (if you have one), ask other book lovers, go to a public library, or even go to any other kind of library. Most people tend to under estimate and even downgrade these sources of information, but a writer should not be too foolish to do that. Even if the library in your city is too small or too outdated, you should still visit it to see what it has to offer you. Do not worry about what it does not have to offer; what’s important is what it HAS got. Never underestimate the value or importance of a source.

Once this much information is available, you might sometimes want to modify the outline. Feel free to make any change that you deem necessary at this stage. Further, if you feel that you should expand the outline by adding a few more sentences to each line, then do so freely.

Once all this is over, you are ready to write. Start as soon as you can, and write your first draft as FAST as you can. Even if your mind prompts you to make changes here and there, do not pause. This is time to put the article on to paper, not for correction, polishing or amplification.

Once the first draft is ready, you should read the entire article carefully and make whatever changes, additions, and deletions you want. You will notice several omissions, unnecessary repetitions, and abrupt statements, and you should iron them all out. This is now your semi-final draft and this should be sent for publication only if there is a pressing need. If there is no such emergency then keep it away for few days and work on some other article. After a reasonable break, read the article once again and make whatever corrections come to your mind.

At no stage should you compromise with this process of writing because all compromise affects quality. On the other hand, this is not a rigid guideline, and therefore you should feel free to modify this process occasionally to suit your special needs.

The above discussion is complete in itself, but to give you a greater understanding of the process I have included a detailed example in the next section. Once you see a writer in action, you should feel greater confidence to do the job yourself.

If A Battle Can Be Won Without A Plan, An Article Can Be Produced Without An Outline  !!

Christian Writer Training Course 2, Lesson 1

Even the best instruction in the world is worthless till it is put into action. Therefore, beginning with this lesson, we will ask you to write a lot. Do not be discouraged by the initial difficulties. Persist, and you will be a different person by the time you reach the last lesson.

In this lesson we will first tell you about the types of writing, and then guide you into “how to begin writing”.

All writings (essays, poems, stories, novels, etc.) can be classified into two broad categories: factual writing and creative writing. All factual writing will have a lot of creativity going into it and all creative writing will be aided by factual information, yet they are clearly distinguishable one from another. One does not read a novel and a dictionary alike because they belong to two entirely different categories of writing.

Factual Writing

Essays, news, textbooks, research reports, any other kind of writing that deals with facts is called factual writing.

Almost everything in print that can be classified as “non-fiction” is factual writing. The aim of factual writing is to present facts in a captivating way. The purpose is to educate, entertain and even motivate the readers towards a specific action. All Factual Writing Begins With Collection And Statement Of Factual Information. Creativity Is Limited To The Way Information Is Presented — Which In Itself Is A Great Art !!

The field of factual writing is very broad. The number of subjects available are uncountable and the opportunities to write upon them are unlimited. These statements might puzzle or surprise many who have not launched yet into the field of writing, but I assure you that the above statements are not exaggerations.

Consider a very simple and commonplace topic like “Water”. A beginner might consider it nonsense when I suggest that dozens of articles can be built around this subject. But before you become too sure that I am wrong, consider the following titles:

Water: The source of all life
Water: The greatest tonic for health
Water Pollution: Causes and effects
Water-loss (dehydration)– the greatest killer in summer
Drinking Water: How to purify it
The chemistry of water
The physics of water, the wonder liquid.

I have suggested only seven topics, and that also by spending only three to five minutes for thinking. Further, I have not mentioned many obvious and interesting subjects like, Conserving Water For Summers, Water As Source Of Hydro and Tidal Electricity, Water And Industries, Water And Transportation, etc.

Thinking up for an hour or two per day will bring up at least a hundred interesting subjects, and just a month of such effort will swell up the list to at least 3000 subjects ! Believe me, even the most successful writers find that too many titles for their whole life.

I’m not suggesting that you spend the next month filling your diary with possible subjects. On the contrary, the above illustration has been given to show you that the field of factual writing is so vast that all the writers of the world together will never be able to exhaust the available subjects.

All what you need is a bit of self-confidence, a little creativity, and a desire to find subjects. I guarantee that in three to five years you will wish that you could write with all four of your limbs. Believe me, you could still not exhaust your own list even if that wish were granted!

Creative Writing

All writings classified as fiction come into this category. Songs and poems can also be placed into this category because their creative part is more dominant than their factual one.

Stories, novels, most poems, songs, many satires, dramas, etc. are included in creative writing. They have been given this title because they are “created” almost out of non-existent material. While the main attempt in factual writing is to explain pre-existing facts, the main attempt in creative writing is to produce an entity that did not exist previously.

Even though the creative writer creates a story that did not exist before, he needs an idea or a “plot” to create it. Since plots for stories do not drop from the skies, the creative writer has to develop skills necessary to capture, conceive, and develop new ideas.

Both factual as well as creative writing are challenging jobs, and each has its own unique difficulties. Most writers confine themselves to one of these fields, and only very few try to produce both kinds of materials.

You must evaluate your natural talents, inclinations, and abilities before you choose whether you will write fiction or non-fiction. Whatever the field you choose, you should never ignore the techniques of the other side. Non-fiction writers can always benefit from the techniques used by the fiction writers and people who produce fiction can always benefit from people who produce factual writings.

In the present course our stress will be upon factual writing. These are two reasons for it. First, the majority of writers produce only factual material. Second, creative writers have to follow most of the basic principles of factual writing, and therefore this is the right starting point for writers of all kinds. We will offer you specialized information about producing fiction in another module of this course.

How To Begin Writing

Beginners in the field of writing feel that the most difficult part of writing is taking the first step. There’s nothing very surprising about this. In any game the first move is the most tense one and the opening batsman bears the most intense pressure. Even in human life the first step of a baby is always more difficult than the next one.

However, as the baby grows, walking becomes so natural to him that he does it without any special effort or without even being conscious of it. It is the same way with writing. The first step will be difficult, but the more you hesitate, the more the time that you loose. I therefore urge you to start writing immediately ! Do not worry at this stage about the quality or usefulness of the first few writings. Nor should you worry about who is going to publish them.

Have you ever seen a trainee potter, tailor, typist, or cook at work ? Their initial output is usually so crude, childish, abnormal, or deformed that nobody buys it from them. Yet they keep working because they know that the initial output is not meant for others. Their first product is meant for practice.

In the same way, you should assume that the first few (six to twelve) articles that y
ou produce are meant for your training and not for publication. If will be a joy if someone publishes them, but you should not be discouraged if something meant for practice does not get into print.

With these points in mind, the first few steps that you have to take can be listed as follows:

1-Choose a subject
2-Make an outline
3-Collect information
4-Refine outline, if needed
5-Write
6-Rewrite

It is obvious that one cannot write upon a subject that has not yet been chosen. The first thing to do, therefore, is to choose a subject. I have already explained some methods for discovering useful and exciting subjects. You should choose a subject using the same technique.

Dr. Johnson C. Philip is a highly successful author with more than 60 published books 5000 articles in more than 6 languages. This article is copyrighted by him, but you can get permission for reprinting by contacting him at webmaster@AllAboutWriting.org Copyright 2008 Dr. Anand Philip

Christian Writer Training Course 1, Lesson 6

One is successful in the task of communication when one is able to convey information in such a way that if captivates the audience and produces the desired effects. I have told you so far that for successful communication you must develop sincerity, conviction and a genuine burden to help your readers. Also, you should know who your audience is. In addition to all the above, you should use appropriate language.

Using the correct language includes using simple, natural, and accurate expressions. I have already given you several suggestions about how to make your writings simple, natural, and accurate. The next thing — to enhance communication — is to use an attractive presentation.

Make Your Presentation So Attractive That People May Not Feel Like Keeping It Down !!

You should use an attractive presentation to capture their attention. It is true that the increasing literacy levels is producing many new readers every day, but this does not mean that they will automatically read anything and everything presented to them. Even though there is now a large number of literate people in our country, we should realize that more and more printed matter is competing with each other every day to get a share of their time and money. By the time you become a successful writer, a still larger number of publications will be chasing the same market which is not growing at the same rate. Consequently, only those publications will get read that are attractive enough to capture their attention.

The first thing which captures their attention is the title of your writing. Whether it is a brief article or a multi volume book, the title is the starting point. If it is attractive, your writing gets a second glance. If it is uninteresting, then you lose the potential reader even if you have created a masterpiece. Consider the following pairs of title. Each pair shows two ways in which the same article or book has been titled.

a-A Collection Of Proverbs
b-Wisdom Of The Ages

a-A Guidebook To Encourage Everyone
b-Yes, You Can Do It !

a-Developing An Awareness About The Aborted Fetuses
b-Children — Things Thrown Away !

a-An Account Of The Sins Of Omissions And Commission In Government Offices
b-Wickedness In High Places !

Each pair talks about the same subject, but in each one the second title is more catchy. Making your titles attractive is not very difficult. Spend a little time to think up a good, attractive, or catchy way of expressing it and the job is half done. The remaining half of the task is to make the body of article equally attractive.

The text of your article should be written in such a way that it keeps your reader awake and glued to it till the end of your writing. This is not impossible, but it does require regular effort from you. You will learn a lot about it in forthcoming lessons, but the best thing to do till then is to read and reflect upon the writings of those who have already mastered the art.

Write On Subjects Of Common Interest: If your writing is to communicate with people, not only has it got to be attractive, but should also be of some interest to the intended audience. (Many Crusaders write upon subjects in which no public interest is seen. But such activity belongs to the experienced writer, and you will study this kind of writing only at a more advanced stage).

So much printed material is competing for the reader’s attention today that only what touches upon their concerns will be picked up and read. Every generation and every community of people have their own needs, interests, problems and pains. Any writing that touches upon these subjects will, obviously, get immediate attention. The rest will, in all probability, get ignored.

Have you ever noticed how the common man reacts to a philosophical monograph ! He does not touch it. Even the name “philosophy” is enough to scare him away. Yet when a philosopher spots the same book, his eyes sparkle and his face betrays excitement. The difference can be explained by one’s relation to the subject. What’s related to one’s needs gets attention, but what’s of no immediate concern gets rejected even if it is written in the most brilliant manner.

Subjects related to spiritual, social, academic, nationalistic, or personal concerns always capture people’s attention. Subjects of immediate interest like entertainment, politics, political crisis and hobby development also get immediate attention from people.

Subjects that require long-term involvement from the readers also capture attention, if chosen with insight. For example, subjects like managing one’s finances, overcoming depression, becoming socially attractive, and capturing the attention of people, always manage to catch reader attention.

Even in this materialistic world plenty of people will take interest in spiritual and moral themes if the subjects are presented properly. Many articles on spiritual themes are finding place in present-day secular publications because they have some substance, and are written in a professional manner. Since man’s quest for spirituals is never-ending, this theme will never go out of demand.
Many Successful Writers Have Discovered That Food, Health, Relaxation, Etc. Are Subjects Of Great Interest. Christians Can Discover Similar Ever-abiding Biblical Subjects  !!

Different audiences have different immediate concerns. The housewife is worried about nutrition, the teenage boy about acceptance by peers, the teenage girl about her excess weight, and the newspaper editor about the important news of the day. What is food to one might be poison to the other. Therefore you should know your audience first, lest you end up praising to horrified vegetarians the benefits of meat eating.

The best thing to know your audience and their interests is to study the publications for which you write. Study their emphasis, the direction of the editorials, letters to the editor, and — most important — the guidelines to authors issued by those publications. Once you identify the audience, it will be relatively easy to identify subjects that interest them.

A beginner in the field of writing might find himself struggling to discover subjects for writing, but if you implement the suggestions given in this course you will discover lots of interesting topics. In fact a time will come within three to five years of writing when your diary will be flooded with so many suggestions and topics that you will not be able to do justice even to half of them.

Once you are submerged in reading and writing material, it will be good to choose a few fields for concentrated writing. Do not try to become a jack of all trades because soon you will be reduced to a master of none. With that you will lose your market appeal as well as value. Further, if you
do not focus upon a few areas, the direction of your writings will disperse so much that your name will not be attached to anything. Do not underestimate the importance of such an attachment. If others can associate your name with at least a couple of subjects, your writings will be read with greater eagerness.

Develop A Rapport With Your Readers: No one-way communication in the world can last very long. Some sort of mutual interaction, howsoever little it might be, is necessary to keep the relationship alive. Since all writing is communication, a certain minimum interaction with the readers is essential. Unless this mutual communication is there, the writer has no way of knowing whether his writings are relevant and whether people are benefited by these writings.

A two-way communication between the writer and his audience is easier said than done, but there are many tried and proven methods to overcome this difficulty. The easiest way is to keep an eye on the “Letters To The Editor” and similar columns where feedback from readers is published. If any of your writings touches their needs, helps or motivates them, they will mention it. You should watch such feedback for quite some time because sometimes people start writing to the editor only after reading several of your writings, or even several months after a particular writing helps them.

Researches estimate that for each person who writes to the editor, there are ten to fifty who want to do the same but do not find it possible. This means that each letter represents at least ten to fifty of your readers who have similar feelings. If it is a letter of appreciation, good; if it expresses disapproval or hostility, consider whether you did something wrong. Above all this, try to see what else they want to read from you. Sometimes the clue might be hidden in a single phrase buried somewhere in that letter.

Some editors, specially those of small-circulation or newly published publications, will be very happy to pass on information about reader-response to you. The best way to get this information is to write a polite letter of inquiry to the editor after a few of your writings are published by his publication.
It Is Great To Develop A Rapport With Your Listeners  !!

Another way to interact with your readers is by reading about their problems and aspirations. Read all letters, feedback, and comments published in the periodical of your choice. Study what they say and what problems and pains hurt them most. Then see whether your present writings touch upon these subjects, or whether you might be able to write something significant on those topics.

Last, but not least, keep your eyes and ears open to people. Even social conversation or a passing compliment paid by a friend (about one of your writings which he happened to see) can give you a lot of information.

Keep striving. Communication is your ultimate aim, and that you must do if you want to be a successful writer.

Answering Objections to the Gospel: A Self-Study Course

“That’s fine that you believe in Jesus; but that’s not truth for me.”
“Oh, a Christian? So, you’re a mythologist!”
“The Bible is just a bunch of words written by monks in the Middle Ages to keep society under control.”
“You know, I used to go to church, but I stopped going. Everyone there was a hypocrite.”
“You’re so brainwashed! Jesus was just a good man. How can you believe he was God?”

Every Christian, if serious about walking with God, will come up against statements like these at some time or another. Every single person outside the family of God has one or more objections to the Gospel. Some objections, like those above, are obvious and easily articulated. Some are deeper within the person – perhaps ignorance to the person of Jesus, or rooted in a hurtful encounter in times past. Either way, it is the duty of the sincere believer to answer any encountered objections with truth, tact, and wisdom.

In this self-study course, we will look at principles for dealing with objections that non-believers may have to the Gospel. Because individual objections could well number in to the thousands, we will deal with two main categories – intellectual objections, and personal objections. Each of these categories encompasses many more objections, but each category has broad strategies and techniques useful for addressing any questions or attacks that may arise. In addition, we will examine some tools that are useful in answering objections. However, first we will start by looking at a passage of Scripture to set the tone.

Scriptural Foundation

One of the best-known and well-stated passages about dealing with objections to the Gospel is 1 Peter 3:15. It reads, “…in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect…” We will briefly mine this verse for the truth it contains, and see what we can learn.

First, we are to set apart Christ as Lord. This clearly means that we must be in right relation to Christ in order to adequately deal with the objections of others. We should have submitted to his Lordship by confessing our sinfulness and asking him for his free gift of salvation. Furthermore, we should be in a state of fellowship with Christ, rather than indifference or rebellion.

Next, we are to be prepared to give an answer. We should know Scripture, what it says, and what it means. We should know evidences and apologetics. We should also be regularly engaged in answering questions about the Gospel. All of these things prepare us more and more. Further, it is important to be prepared with truth. A sound and full knowledge of the truth is the best way to spot and counter error. Studying error itself has some value, but much less value than studying truth!

Moving on, we should give an answer to everyone who asks us to give the reason for the hope that we have. We are not limited to answering a certain type of person; we are told to answer everyone. Furthermore, we are not told where these people are or what their objections will be. It could be anyone, and they could have any objection. The believer who seeks truth and seeks to defend truth will assuredly hear some strange objections. Even so, we are told to give an answer!

Finally, we are to do this with gentleness and respect. Our reputation is not at stake when we are called to give an answer to an objection. Jesus said, “He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me.” (Luke 10:16) This gives us freedom to be gentle and respectful. We do not need to argue, threaten, or convince. A close reading of 1 Peter 3:15 shows that it say we are to give an answer, not to make someone else believe or agree with our answer. And, as we will see shortly, gentleness and respect are in fact incredibly powerful tools to use when dealing with an objection!

Text Questions to Consider

What are the most frequent objections you have heard to the Gospel? How have you answered them in the past?

Why should we be prepared to answer objections?

Write two pages on some instances where Jesus dealt with objections the Gospel.

Bonnie Bradlee studies graduate level theology online from home. She pays No tution, gets all her textbook free, and yet the course is unmatched in quality and depth. Visit her school online NOW! Trintiy Graduate School of Apolgoetics And Theology

“I just don’t believe that the Bible is inspired.”

“I could never believe that the Bible is inspired.”

Are these two statements the same? On the surface they may seem to communicate the same message, but do they? Can you spot a subtle difference, other than the different word choices?

A Christian who has a lot of experience talking about the Gospel may have learned to discern the difference between the two. The first statement expresses a certain belief, or lack thereof. The second statement expresses the inability or unwillingness to believe. You should see by now that the two statements do not in fact say the same thing, but rather they are saying very different things.

When speaking with non-believers, it is important to discern for yourself whether their objections are intellectual objections, or objections of belief or knowledge, or if they are personal objections, or objections due to a deeply held emotion or prejudice. While there is much crossover between the two, it is useful to take a look at each type and see how best to discern and deal with them. We will first broadly deal with the two types by looking at some examples from Scripture. Later we will examine how to handle them.

In John 20:24-29, we see the story of Thomas. Jesus has died and resurrected, but Thomas is a little behind in his knowledge. The disciples, others of whom were also skeptical like Thomas, have encountered just encountered the risen Christ, and are trying to tell Thomas about it. Thomas, for whatever reason, is unwilling to believe them. He says in verse 25, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.” Thomas has an intellectual objection!

It is worth our time to pause a moment and see the world from Thomas’s perspective. He has spent many months on the road with Jesus. He has lived with Jesus closely, and has seen many wonders. He has seen people healed, the dead raised, and sinners forgiven. He has seen Jesus outsmart the Jewish authorities time and again. He has come to love Jesus dearly, and even see Jesus as an invincible ruler. Now, a few days earlier, the very people Jesus has outsmarted for so long have killed Jesus. Thomas’s good friend is gone, and he is hurting.

So what does Thomas do? He creates a defense in his mind that he will no longer get his hopes up unless he has some hard evidence. It is a totally natural response, one for which Thomas should not be faulted by us. Several days later Jesus appears to the disciples, and first addresses Thomas with the proof Thomas had required. Jesus even calls Thomas ‘blessed’ for seeing and then believing.

This interaction between Jesus and Thomas shows us that an intellectual objection to the Gospel is something to be understood and addressed. As long as a person wants to believe, and is responsive in the face of contrary evidence, we should gently and purposefully expose them to facts and arguments tailored to address their concerns. We will deal more with a specific strategy in a later section.

Contrast Jesus’ response to Thomas, which while firm, was also loving and meaningful to Thomas, with Jesus’ response to the Pharisees. In Matthew 23, Jesus has nothing but woe and warning for the Pharisees. In fact, from earlier interactions between Jesus and the Pharisees, one might notice that Jesus rarely answers the questions of the Pharisees directly. Rather, Jesus answers with other questions, or with parables, or with words of woe! Why is there a difference between Jesus’ answer to Thomas and Jesus’ answer to the Pharisees?

The difference may be found in the nature of the Pharisee’s objections, versus the nature of Thomas’s objections. Both Thomas and the Pharisees saw Jesus at his most powerful and most inspiring, but they came to very different conclusions about who Jesus was. In the end, Thomas doubted because he lacked knowledge. The Pharisees doubted because they refused to believe.

Why did the Pharisees refuse to believe? What was their objection? They were in positions of power and influence and were used to the perks and admiration that comes with such power. This blinded them to who Jesus was. In short, their objections were not intellectual, although some Pharisees masked it as such. They knew the Scriptures and its prophecies well; they witnessed Jesus’ wisdom and power; they saw people healed. And yet, in the end, their personal reasons for doubting Jesus won the day.

That is the nature of personal objections. Put simply, they are objections that arise from some experience, belief, or opinion that are not subject to rational scrutiny. They are probably emotional in nature, making them very difficult to counter with reason. They may be the result of a deeply help bias or prejudice. The Pharisees objected based on fear of losing their power, and a contempt of those not educated in their tradition, demonstrating both emotion and prejudice.

Test Questions to Consider

Think of one example of an intellectual objection and one example of a personal objection that you have faced. What things were useful in countering each one?

Read John 4 and the story of Jesus’ conversation with the woman at the well. Write two pages on her objections to Jesus, both intellectual and personal, and how Jesus countered those objections.

Bonnie Bradlee studies graduate level theology online from home. She pays No tution, gets all her textbook free, and yet the course is unmatched in quality and depth. Visit her school online NOW! Trintiy Graduate School of Apolgoetics And Theology

“How do you know Jesus really existed?”
“Genesis is just a compilation of manuscripts from several different sources. It isn’t authoritative.”
“What about the people who never hear about Jesus? What happens to them?”

Every Christian at some time or another has had somebody ask them a question about their beliefs. For many people who do not know Jesus, Christians are a curiosity. They think they know what Christians believe (although they don’t; if they really did know about grace, forgiveness, and eternal life, more of them would be believers!), but have heard so many negative perspectives, oversimplifications, and attacks, that what they know is incomplete.

We live in a time where evidences for the veracity of the Christian message are not readily available to the general public. Those who look can find them easily enough, but they are not highly visible. As such, a professing Christian will draw frequent questions. In the same way that Jesus did not fault Thomas for needing evidence, we should not fault non-Christians for needing evidence.

Answering intellectual objections can be as easy as referring someone to a book or website about apologetics. It can also be more involved, requiring much patience and many conversations.

Here are some strategies to make the most of dealing with the intellectual objections of others:

1. Ask questions. Before giving a detailed answer that may miss the intent of the question, probe a little bit to get a clearer picture of what is being asked. Ask the person where they heard that fact, or why they hold that particular objection. Ask them if they have read any books dealing with the topic, and if so, which ones? Find out their church background, and how that has influenced them. Getting a good picture of the person, the nature of their question, and their background will help tremendously to avoid wasting time or falling victim to miscommunication.

2. Don’t argue. Remember from 1 Peter 3:15 that we are not charged with convincing someone, but with giving him or her an answer. God and His word will change a person’s heart and beliefs. Choosing to not argue is a very powerful stance to take. Many non-believers stereotype Christians as pushy and argumentative, and are surprised when we are not that way. Besides, arguing is rude, causes people to get defensive, and communicates that the aggressor is coming from a point of weakness that requires opponents to be attacked in order to win.

3. Admit if you don’t know an answer. It is OK not to know something. To be ready to give an answer is not the same as being omnipotent. No one is all knowing. Besides, the humility demonstrated when someone says they don’t know an answer is very appealing to many people. Always make sure to find out the answer to that question, though. Simply stating, “I’m not sure. Can I look in to it a little and get back to you in a couple days” is a great way to handle a question that you don’t know.

4. Be familiar with several different resources. There are numerous good books and websites available that deal with issues that may be encountered when dealing with an intellectual objection. One should familiarize oneself with some of these resources, so that the honest inquirer can be directed there for further investigation.

5. Beware of ‘rabbit trails’. Rabbit trails occur when the discussion goes off on a tangent, or when inconsequential issues take the forefront, or when a person asks the next question before the last question has been answered. Don’t follow the rabbit trail, because it is confusing and counterproductive, and many times leads to argument. Stay on track, and politely insist that one point is made before another one is taken on.

6. Know the truth. The truth is the most powerful weapon we have to counter error. Many people think that if they know all the answers to any question that may be asked, that they will then have command over the facts in a discussion. A better plan is to have a command over the truth, and deal with the errors as they arise. To study every erroneous view of Scripture is nearly impossible; to acquire a solid understanding of Scriptural truth takes much work, but less time. After all, truth comes from one perspective, whereas error comes from many.

7. Know when to end the conversation. If a person begins mocking, or arguing, or talking in circles, or putting up smoke screens, or if the person is unreceptive, it may be the time to end the conversation. Many Christians fear this, as if ending the dialogue will somehow damage the other’s opinion of Jesus. But again, we are charged with giving an answer, not with changing someone’s mind. If the answer is not sufficient to change their thinking, it can be counterproductive to continue. Simply thank them for their time, mention that you enjoyed talking with them, and move on.

8. Pray. God loves the head as well as the heart. God hears when we ask Him to illuminate truth to another person.

Answering intellectual objections can be fun and rewarding. It is a time a great growth, when faith and knowledge are challenged. Keep in mind that God loves it when people seek truth, whether that person is in Christ or not. A person apart from Christ must seek truth to find Jesus, and we can help him in his search!

Test Questions to Consider

What are some ways to know if a conversation has become unfruitful? How should you respond?

What intellectual objection has caused you to read and study the most? Write two pages on how you would answer that objection if you came across it today.

“How can you really believe that Jesus is God?”
“I used to go to church, but not anymore.”
“Yeah, my parents believed that stuff.”

Answering personal objections can be much more involved than answering intellectual objections. A person who has a personal objection likely has put it in place as some type of defense mechanism to protect them self from harm, real or imagined. To further cloud the water, a person might hold on to a personal objection in the form of an intellectual objection. How is one to know the difference?

Thankfully, according to James 1:5, God freely gives wisdom to those who ask for it. So, we can be assured that God will give us the wisdom to recognize personal objections and the best course of action to counter them.

The first thing that is important to keep in mind when encountering a personal objection is that successfully countering the objection may not in fact even lead to a full Gospel presentation. Rather, success may be merely identifying what is causing the objection in the first place.

For example, a conversation with a classmate reveals that he hates Christians and thinks they are deceived and foolish. In this case, would success be convincing him that Christians are not foolish? Not likely. Better yet, success might be finding out why he thinks Christians are foolish. Perhaps he grew up in a cult-like environment, and saw people swindled and deceived all the time. If that forms the basis of his impression, suddenly we can better empathize with his objection, and more effectively target our interaction with him to overcome this objection.

Here are some strategies to overcome personal objections:

1. Take the long view. If someone has an objection based on something that happened to him or her a long time ago, it could take a long time to overcome those feelings of hurt, etc. Of course God can and does work in an instant, but we should be patient and wait on the Lord and not get frustrated if nothing happens right away. It can take time to for someone to change his or her core assumptions.

2. Ask questions. When faced with personal objections, it is appropriate to ask personal questions, within reason of course. Ask about their religious background, and how that has shaped them today. Ask them what they have seen that causes them to think the way they do. People are generally surprised when someone asks them why they think the things they do. It shows that we care about them, rather than just trying to convince them to think like us. There are numerous questions that can be asked and scenarios that may be encountered. The principle here is that good questions help us to know more about the person and their assumptions, allowing us to better target their objection.

3. Empathize. Empathy is the ability to feel what other people feel. When we empathize, it shows the love of Christ to others. A person who has a deeply held objection usually has been hurt or mislead by someone they trust. This makes it hard for them to trust other people, and God. By showing sorrow for what happened, or feeling what they feel, we show people that we really do care. Empathy is a powerful vehicle to establish trust with others. Do not be afraid to apologize for wrongs done to that person by someone else.

4. Remember – don’t argue. Arguing likely caused the objection in the person in the first place. More is less in this situation. We are not to convince, we are to give an answer. We need to trust that God will work in that person’s heart through our answer.

5. Know when to quit. We see this principle in the way Jesus dealt with the Pharisees. Their hearts were so hardened with jealousy and hatred that they were no longer capable of seeing the truth. As a result, Jesus turned to the poor and lowly to receive the kingdom. Likewise, when someone’s heart is hard, no amount of empathy or logic can penetrate. It is a good idea at this point to disengage the conversation and pray in earnest for that person.

6. Pray. Prayer accomplishes much to soften the heart and weaken the objection. It is a powerful weapon that we should never hesitate to use.

In summary, personal objections usually run deeper than do intellectual objections. But if we take to heart Peter’s words of using gentleness and respect, we can do a lot to counter those objections by modeling the character of Christ.

Test Questions to Consider:

Is there anyone in your family who has a deeply held personal objection to the Gospel? Why do they have that objection? How can you begin to counter it?

Write one page telling the story of how you or someone close to you overcame a deeply held personal objection to come to a relationship with Jesus.