Hugh has a new book out: Heron River. The publisher, Mosaic Press, now has an online bookstore where the novel can be purchased. Visit www.mosaic-press.com for more information. Click here to buy the book directly.

Novelist and playwright Norman Mailer described writing as a “Spooky Art.” Writers are inherently introverted, yet when they dig into their underground psyche, their goal is to move, motivate or inspire the masses. From personal experiences come universal themes, and from private moments of life come scenes which expose their souls leaving them vulnerable to the world. For six West Michigan women, respectfully known by those in the writing world as The Guild, these emotional cross-currents have shaped the last six years of their friendships, and shaped their lives as they seek to use words to inspire others, and build God’s kingdom.

Almost eight years ago, independent writer Lorilee Craker, GR Press staffer Ann Byle, and aspiring novelist Tracy Groot got together to encourage and offer accountability to one another as they pursued their writing passions. Within 2 years, their informal gatherings grew by four, and The Guild was born. Today this group includes Cornerstone English professor Cynthia Beach, writing conference director Shelly Beach, and writer and mother Alison Hodgson, corporate writer Sharron Carrns, and missionary Angela Blycker. From their diverse backgrounds, these women meet regularly to encourage each other as they pursue the vocation and call God has planted deep in their hearts.

Read the whole article here

-Andrew for the Breathe Team

Writers need other writers to keep going. It’s that simple. Remember, even C.S. Lewis had J.R.R. Tolkien, and Mary Shelley had Percey Shelley and Lord Byron. We can get kick-started by encouragement, and we can thrive with camaraderie. It’s one of the reasons I love the Breathe Conference; because once a year in west Michigan writers get together and push each other towards their writing goals. There are no “shacks-in-the-woods” at Breathe, and the coffee is shared by everyone.

A good friend and novelist started a new blog called “Part Time Novel” in which he intends to write about the experience of writing a novel amid all the busyness of life. After reading the first post I was immediately encouraged; “someone else out there understands!” I thought. I felt a sense of camaraderie. Here’s an excerpt:

The intention of this blog is to share  what I have learned with those who work full time, have children, are otherwise engaged, but still have the wild dream of publishing a novel someday…

For those beginning their work, you may be under the unfortunate impression that writing is something that comes easy and it sometimes does but…It is more in the line of a job. For some it is a horrible job and you might soon discover it is not for you, having thought you could make a quick buck. For others it is a job occasionally but, more than that, a vocation, something we feel compelled to do. The enjoyment of words and the thrill of finishing a new chapter is something that cannot be subdued in our beings. We write, simple as that.

For a long time I struggled with the notion of calling myself a writer. I have not published anything (at least not in something that is still in circulation). I was not embarrassed of it, I just wanted to avoid the impending question that follows…

Whether you are a published author already or not, if you intend to keep writing well you’ll need encouragement, you’ll need camaraderie, you’ll need others around you that reaffirm “Yes, you are a writer.” One of the ways to find that will be at Breathe this year. Another is through great blogs like this one.

Write strong!

- Andrew

Andrew Rogers is a marketing manager at Zondervan, Breathe Conference planner, and freelance writer. His time is spent working, chasing his son around the house, and falling asleep at night with a book. You can follow his tweets for Zondervan at @EngagingChurch

Now, ask anyone who’s ever tried to sit down and seriously “become a writer” what they do not want and you’ll often get a one-word answer: “distractions.”

So why would I recommend using Twitter to new writers? Glad you asked.

1) Research: One way to use Twitter is to focus on aggregating information from sources you personally select. For example, if you are writing a novel in which one of your characters is a young athlete who’s suddenly thrust into the spotlight you could follow: @DatDudeBP (Cincinnatti Reds infielder, Brandon Phillips), @heathbell21 (San Diego Padres pitcher, Heath Bell), and numerous other young pro athletes. Here you’re given their thoughts about practice, their words just before and after a game, their jokes, and their rants. You’d get a sense of their movements throughout a season, and you’d see who else they “follow” on Twitter. All of this info is perfect for character development – you could build an entire psychological profile if you wanted to go that far!

For non-fiction writers Twitter is also a great place to research the movers and shakers of a given topic. For instance, let’s imagine you are writing a book on marriage. On Twitter you could follow @garyLthomas (author of Sacred Marriage), @DrGaryChapman (author of The Five Love Languages), and many others. In just a week or two of following this group you’d have numerous quotables to use in your manuscript from well-known experts on marriage, you’d be pointed to websites or books they recommend, and you’d get a sense of where each leader stands on the numerous issues within a marriage (discipline, sex, money, divorce, in-laws, etc.) without necessarily having to read each person’s published material.

So what niche are you writing in? Who could you follow on Twitter?

2) Platform building: Twitter is one of many ways writers can strengthen their platforms. A large Twitter following usually occurs when the person tweeting is either a) famous, or b) has interesting things to say about a given topic.

Since most of us aren’t famous, I’m going to talk about (b) having interesting things to say about a given topic. First, notice the caveat in the previous sentence – about a given topic. I’m speaking about “niche” here. The web thrives on niches. There are websites for every niche from pro sand castle sculptors to Lego artists. These people thrive online because their niche is established (sand or Legos, respectively), not because they are an artist of anything and everything. So, back to Twitter, if you are a short story writer then tweet things that only a short story writer would tweet. I.e. “Just suffered a twisted ankle. 800 word account forthcoming for sure.” Or “Is it possible to write a tragedy in 2,000 words or less? Only one way to find out…”

See what I mean? Granted, those might not be terribly interesting (they are just examples after all) but I hope you see the point. The short story writer tweeting like this will attract followers who are interested in short stories. Those are the people who will follow the writer with interest, and will likely turn into readers when the writer is published.

But how do I avoid distraction, then?

My recommendation: time management. The folks at Twitter want you online all the time, tweeting via your phone wherever you go and filling the web with noise. It’s how they stay in business, I get it, but that’s not what I recommend for writers.

If you decide to use Twitter for research then I suggest having a designated time in which you check your Twitter account. Maybe you’d check it twice a week, for 15 minutes during your lunch. In that time you take notes about whatever your topic is, gleaning from the endless stream of tweets what you can, and be done with it. Or perhaps if you’re writing on something every day you’d check it more often, daily, or two or three times a day. Whatever it is, the point is to pick a time, use the time, and then get off of Twitter and start writing.

If you’re interested in platform building on Twitter then I suggest picking a couple of times every day during which you’ll put out at least one or two interesting Tweets. By limiting the amount that you Tweet, and by focusing on tweeting truly interesting content you’re more likely to be re-tweeted (the ultimate brand-building goal of an avid tweeters) and you’re more likely to acquire and retain followers.

Twitter can be a great tool for writers, but tools work best when they’re used correctly. You’ll avoid Twitter fatigue (“twit-tigue”) if you know why you want to use it, and then pick a plan for how you’re going to use it.

Write strong!

- Andrew

Andrew Rogers is a marketing manager at Zondervan, Breathe Conference planner, and freelance writer. His time is spent working, chasing his son around the house, and falling asleep at night with a book. You can follow his tweets for Zondervan at @EngagingChurch

Think of what you can do with a fresh rough draft of a new story! Many have had their 3-Day stories turned into larger works, or have had them published as short stories. I’ll leave you to hunt the website to find out other success stories and greater details about the contest. Suffice to say, it’s a great contest and I look forward to it each year. If any of you choose to participate this year let me know here. We can encourage each other via Facebook or email throughout the weekend. (I’ve found that camaraderie in the face of sheer writing madness is critical!)

Write strong!

- Andrew, from the Breathe team

If Breathe had a status update, what do you think it would read? At this point I think I can safely say it would simply be: “Busy planning.”

See you on FB!

-Andrew for the Breathe team

News and Announcements

New to the Breathe Writer’s Conference website is the Blog section, which features frequently updated content from members of the guild. Grab the RSS  feed to be alerted when new information is posted.

Online Registration Available

Also new to the website is the online registration form. Breathe attendees can now register for the writer’s conference via the online form and submit payment the same day!