Ask the Author: Christy Bower
Answered Questions (8)
Christy Bower
It’s been five years since I published Crossword Bible Studies on the New Testament (12 Volumes). Since then I’ve had countless requests for the Old Testament. Honestly, I didn’t know how to tackle it. Would people really want to do a puzzle for a chapter of genealogies, census data, or descriptions of infectious skin diseases? Not likely.
Instead of a puzzle for each chapter as I did for the New Testament, I decided to use a thematic approach. I may do the life of David, Bible heroes, women of the Bible, favorite Psalms, daily Proverbs, and so on. This will function as a tour of the Old Testament using a thematic approach. I have the first six volumes completed and will continue to work on additional volumes for the next couple years, if not longer.
Instead of a puzzle for each chapter as I did for the New Testament, I decided to use a thematic approach. I may do the life of David, Bible heroes, women of the Bible, favorite Psalms, daily Proverbs, and so on. This will function as a tour of the Old Testament using a thematic approach. I have the first six volumes completed and will continue to work on additional volumes for the next couple years, if not longer.
Christy Bower
My mind is a pinball machine so I always have ideas bouncing around. When I see, hear, or read something, my mind ricochets around triggering new connections or sending a thought on an entirely new trajectory.
I also happen to love wordplay, so I listen to words and make random connections in hopes of finding a humorous comeback. This type of quirky wordplay comes up in my Dragon Hollow Trilogy (youth fiction).
I snatch up tidbits to meld together like a patchwork quilt or collage in my writing. For example, I needed a name for a kingdom in The Legend of Dragon Hollow so I looked down at the ballpoint pen I was using. I had picked it up at a recent writer’s conference and the writing on the pen read, “Mirabeau Park Hotel.” That worked for me. I named the kingdom “Mirabeau.” Inspiration can come from anywhere.
Beyond serendipity, most of my larger ideas for book concepts are from my personal life experiences. I can’t write about things I haven’t experienced—well, not in a helpful, empathetic way.
I happen to be a very introspective person. As I go through life, I spend a great deal of time thinking about things that happened, what they mean, and how they changed me. I look for growth points and develop them into content.
I figure I’m not the only one experiencing these things so if I write about what I’m learning, it’s bound to help others, too.
I also happen to love wordplay, so I listen to words and make random connections in hopes of finding a humorous comeback. This type of quirky wordplay comes up in my Dragon Hollow Trilogy (youth fiction).
I snatch up tidbits to meld together like a patchwork quilt or collage in my writing. For example, I needed a name for a kingdom in The Legend of Dragon Hollow so I looked down at the ballpoint pen I was using. I had picked it up at a recent writer’s conference and the writing on the pen read, “Mirabeau Park Hotel.” That worked for me. I named the kingdom “Mirabeau.” Inspiration can come from anywhere.
Beyond serendipity, most of my larger ideas for book concepts are from my personal life experiences. I can’t write about things I haven’t experienced—well, not in a helpful, empathetic way.
I happen to be a very introspective person. As I go through life, I spend a great deal of time thinking about things that happened, what they mean, and how they changed me. I look for growth points and develop them into content.
I figure I’m not the only one experiencing these things so if I write about what I’m learning, it’s bound to help others, too.
Christy Bower
When most people read the biblical narrative of the birth of Christ, they see a perfect, holy family fulfilling God’s perfect plan.
When I read the biblical narrative of the birth of Jesus, I see a teenage girl who got pregnant and everyone thought the worst about her. Her own boyfriend assumed she’d been unfaithful. The gossip and public shame became so great the poor girl left town to visit her cousin. She stayed with her cousin three months.
An angel helped straighten things out between the engaged couple, but then they were called upon to travel several days to Bethlehem at the very time Mary was to give birth. They were poor and the town was full because of the census. They had to give birth in an unsanitary barn.
Then, to make matters worse, an angel told the young family to flee to Egypt because this newborn baby was on Israel’s Most Wanted List. King Herod had it out for the infant because the wise men recognized the baby as a king. Herod had to destroy any competition for his throne.
Because my perception of the Christmas story was so different from the ways others seemed to portray these events, I wanted to write a book demonstrating that just because we are chosen by God and fulfilling His plan, doesn’t mean things will be perfect and easy. Quite the contrary. God has chosen us to do difficult things, including sometimes bearing the hurt and shame associated with doing God’s will. Life will be inconvenient, such as having to flee in the middle of the night at God’s bidding. There will be scary moments such as death threats, undesirable circumstances such as delivering a baby in a barn, and more.
I have bipolar disorder and I’ve often heard Christians say or imply that somehow I’m out of God’s will. I’ve examined that idea for years now. It simply isn’t consistent with the biblical narratives. God doesn’t expect us to have perfect, well-ordered lives. He expects us to live in our broken, undesirable, and inconvenient lives by depending on Him to lead, guide, and restore, as He desires.
So I wrote Chosen to express the biblical concept that being in God’s will doesn’t mean we will be healthy, happy, and whole. Rather, God wants to work in the messy details of our lives to accomplish his will. The birth of Christ was a messy ordeal, but it all happened in God’s perfect plan and those messy details fulfilled multiple Old Testament prophecies predicting the birth of the Savior. Don’t let anyone shame you for being broken. Instead, let God fill your brokenness and keep following his lead.
Chosen: A 31-Day Christmas Devotional is available in paperback, Kindle, or ePub.
When I read the biblical narrative of the birth of Jesus, I see a teenage girl who got pregnant and everyone thought the worst about her. Her own boyfriend assumed she’d been unfaithful. The gossip and public shame became so great the poor girl left town to visit her cousin. She stayed with her cousin three months.
An angel helped straighten things out between the engaged couple, but then they were called upon to travel several days to Bethlehem at the very time Mary was to give birth. They were poor and the town was full because of the census. They had to give birth in an unsanitary barn.
Then, to make matters worse, an angel told the young family to flee to Egypt because this newborn baby was on Israel’s Most Wanted List. King Herod had it out for the infant because the wise men recognized the baby as a king. Herod had to destroy any competition for his throne.
Because my perception of the Christmas story was so different from the ways others seemed to portray these events, I wanted to write a book demonstrating that just because we are chosen by God and fulfilling His plan, doesn’t mean things will be perfect and easy. Quite the contrary. God has chosen us to do difficult things, including sometimes bearing the hurt and shame associated with doing God’s will. Life will be inconvenient, such as having to flee in the middle of the night at God’s bidding. There will be scary moments such as death threats, undesirable circumstances such as delivering a baby in a barn, and more.
I have bipolar disorder and I’ve often heard Christians say or imply that somehow I’m out of God’s will. I’ve examined that idea for years now. It simply isn’t consistent with the biblical narratives. God doesn’t expect us to have perfect, well-ordered lives. He expects us to live in our broken, undesirable, and inconvenient lives by depending on Him to lead, guide, and restore, as He desires.
So I wrote Chosen to express the biblical concept that being in God’s will doesn’t mean we will be healthy, happy, and whole. Rather, God wants to work in the messy details of our lives to accomplish his will. The birth of Christ was a messy ordeal, but it all happened in God’s perfect plan and those messy details fulfilled multiple Old Testament prophecies predicting the birth of the Savior. Don’t let anyone shame you for being broken. Instead, let God fill your brokenness and keep following his lead.
Chosen: A 31-Day Christmas Devotional is available in paperback, Kindle, or ePub.
Christy Bower
I can’t count the number of times aspiring or “tinkering” writers have sought my advice. (By the way, an aspiring writer will say, “I have always wanted to write a book” and a tinkering writer has an unfinished manuscript in a drawer.)
To the aspiring writer, I would say the only thing standing in your way is YOU. Stop wanting to write a book and do it. Of course, this doesn’t apply if the aspiring writer is still in school. I always encourage the dreams of young writers by telling them to write as much as they can.
To the tinkering writer, I would say I have a couple unfinished manuscripts, too. It’s part of the learning curve. Don’t be afraid to try something new. As your skills increase, you may be able to return to the unfinished manuscript with new insight and skills. Sometimes, getting that first completed manuscript published will increase one’s confidence to tackle other problematic projects. And sometimes a project doesn’t need to be finished. Sometimes its value is in the experience of writing it as we practiced and improved our skills.
I also want to address the five things I recommend not-yet-published authors do to prepare for being an author. By attempting these five bits of writing advice, you’ll be miles ahead of other struggling writers.
Read a grammar book every year, forevermore.
Being a writer means continuing education. Being an author means a commitment to improving your skills as you would in any other profession. Never stop learning.
Grammar? Yes, grammar! If you want to be a writer and an effective communicator, you need to know how words, sentences, punctuation, paragraphs, and even essays work.
I’m not talking about college textbooks (although that’s fine, too). Plenty of fun grammar books will have you laughing so hard you’ll forget you’re learning something. Here are a few of my favorites:
Woe Is I
Eats, Shoots & Leaves
Lapsing into a Comma
When You Catch an Adjective, Kill It
The Curious Case of the Misplaced Modifier
Attend a writers’ conference.
Just as reading a grammar book every year will help you learn the skills of being a writer, attending a writer’s conference will help you learn the publishing industry. A writer’s conference consists of seminars on different topics so you can create a custom package of quick education in areas you want to learn more. You can learn how to write a book proposal, how to put together a media kit, how to structure your nonfiction book, how to write better dialogue in your fiction, and so much more.
When you attend a writer’s conference, you have the opportunity to meet with editors of different publishing houses. As terrifying as it seems, these meetings give you the opportunity to present your book proposal and sample chapters. It gives you the chance to ask questions and get a better idea of what they’re looking for and how you can adapt to meet their needs.
The Christian Writers Market Guide lists more than 70 Christian writers’ conferences. Undoubtedly there are some in your area.
If you honestly can’t afford to attend a writer’s conference yet, put together a list of the topics you need to learn more about and purchase books on the topic, look for podcasts, or online courses, but these will cost you money, too, and the experience isn’t the same.
Although you can learn the skills through other means, nothing replaces the connections you’ll make when you attend sessions, eat meals, and hang out with editors, professional writers, and newbies who are struggling to get started.
Consider the source of criticism.
Everyone is a critic these days. That’s one of the greatest challenges for writers. In order to improve your writing, you will need to accept criticism. But not all criticism is created equal. In order to weigh the value of criticism, you must consider the source.
Constructive criticism helps make your work better. Respect and cherish constructive criticism, especially if you asked for the feedback. Invite criticism from editors, teachers, and other authors or experienced writers.
Not all critics are qualified. If the person has no experience as a writer, whether it’s a friend or a total stranger leaving a review or comment, shrug it off. Recognize that each person is entitled to their OPINION, but don’t take their criticism to heart or it will eat away at your confidence. Unfortunately, those closest to you (family and friends) are often the most clueless about writing. And their criticism can have the greatest emotional impact.
Get it out there.
You write because you have something you want to say to people. If you keep your writing in a drawer or drive, you are withholding your wisdom or whimsy from others.
Even if your work isn’t perfect, get it out there. After all my advice to sharpen your skills, this might seem contradictory. Strive for excellence, not perfection. Strive to make your writing better each year. Each book should be better than the one before. So don’t wait for it to be perfect. Do the best you can produce right now and get it out there for the benefit of others who need to read it.
Mind the gap.
The gap is the distance between where you are now and where you want to be. Take a moment to write a description of where you are right now as a writer. Then write a detailed description of where you want to be—number of books, sales numbers, income, or whatever is important to you.
What will it take to get from here to there? Write down the three next steps you need to take to close the gap. Keep your writing career focused by making each thing you do get you closer to where you want to be.
Contrary to our natural dreams of being a writer, we’re not likely to become an overnight success. Instead, a writing career is unglamorous work. It’s a series of deliberate actions and discipline to keep moving forward with little or no affirmation from others. You may not get many Atta-boys as a writer because we live in a culture of critics. But when you do get an Atta-boy, it makes it even more special.
Throughout your entire writing career, always mind the gap and ask yourself how you can narrow the gap between where you are now and where you want to be. One step at a time, you’ll get there. Fight the enemy of discouragement with continual actions to move toward your desired goal.
The best advice is the advice you put into use. I’ve tried to give you some specific direction so you can put this advice to use right now. I hope this helps you overcome your obstacles and discouragement so you can keep moving forward because the world needs to hear what you have to say. Now get busy to make that happen. We’re waiting!
To the aspiring writer, I would say the only thing standing in your way is YOU. Stop wanting to write a book and do it. Of course, this doesn’t apply if the aspiring writer is still in school. I always encourage the dreams of young writers by telling them to write as much as they can.
To the tinkering writer, I would say I have a couple unfinished manuscripts, too. It’s part of the learning curve. Don’t be afraid to try something new. As your skills increase, you may be able to return to the unfinished manuscript with new insight and skills. Sometimes, getting that first completed manuscript published will increase one’s confidence to tackle other problematic projects. And sometimes a project doesn’t need to be finished. Sometimes its value is in the experience of writing it as we practiced and improved our skills.
I also want to address the five things I recommend not-yet-published authors do to prepare for being an author. By attempting these five bits of writing advice, you’ll be miles ahead of other struggling writers.
Read a grammar book every year, forevermore.
Being a writer means continuing education. Being an author means a commitment to improving your skills as you would in any other profession. Never stop learning.
Grammar? Yes, grammar! If you want to be a writer and an effective communicator, you need to know how words, sentences, punctuation, paragraphs, and even essays work.
I’m not talking about college textbooks (although that’s fine, too). Plenty of fun grammar books will have you laughing so hard you’ll forget you’re learning something. Here are a few of my favorites:
Woe Is I
Eats, Shoots & Leaves
Lapsing into a Comma
When You Catch an Adjective, Kill It
The Curious Case of the Misplaced Modifier
Attend a writers’ conference.
Just as reading a grammar book every year will help you learn the skills of being a writer, attending a writer’s conference will help you learn the publishing industry. A writer’s conference consists of seminars on different topics so you can create a custom package of quick education in areas you want to learn more. You can learn how to write a book proposal, how to put together a media kit, how to structure your nonfiction book, how to write better dialogue in your fiction, and so much more.
When you attend a writer’s conference, you have the opportunity to meet with editors of different publishing houses. As terrifying as it seems, these meetings give you the opportunity to present your book proposal and sample chapters. It gives you the chance to ask questions and get a better idea of what they’re looking for and how you can adapt to meet their needs.
The Christian Writers Market Guide lists more than 70 Christian writers’ conferences. Undoubtedly there are some in your area.
If you honestly can’t afford to attend a writer’s conference yet, put together a list of the topics you need to learn more about and purchase books on the topic, look for podcasts, or online courses, but these will cost you money, too, and the experience isn’t the same.
Although you can learn the skills through other means, nothing replaces the connections you’ll make when you attend sessions, eat meals, and hang out with editors, professional writers, and newbies who are struggling to get started.
Consider the source of criticism.
Everyone is a critic these days. That’s one of the greatest challenges for writers. In order to improve your writing, you will need to accept criticism. But not all criticism is created equal. In order to weigh the value of criticism, you must consider the source.
Constructive criticism helps make your work better. Respect and cherish constructive criticism, especially if you asked for the feedback. Invite criticism from editors, teachers, and other authors or experienced writers.
Not all critics are qualified. If the person has no experience as a writer, whether it’s a friend or a total stranger leaving a review or comment, shrug it off. Recognize that each person is entitled to their OPINION, but don’t take their criticism to heart or it will eat away at your confidence. Unfortunately, those closest to you (family and friends) are often the most clueless about writing. And their criticism can have the greatest emotional impact.
Get it out there.
You write because you have something you want to say to people. If you keep your writing in a drawer or drive, you are withholding your wisdom or whimsy from others.
Even if your work isn’t perfect, get it out there. After all my advice to sharpen your skills, this might seem contradictory. Strive for excellence, not perfection. Strive to make your writing better each year. Each book should be better than the one before. So don’t wait for it to be perfect. Do the best you can produce right now and get it out there for the benefit of others who need to read it.
Mind the gap.
The gap is the distance between where you are now and where you want to be. Take a moment to write a description of where you are right now as a writer. Then write a detailed description of where you want to be—number of books, sales numbers, income, or whatever is important to you.
What will it take to get from here to there? Write down the three next steps you need to take to close the gap. Keep your writing career focused by making each thing you do get you closer to where you want to be.
Contrary to our natural dreams of being a writer, we’re not likely to become an overnight success. Instead, a writing career is unglamorous work. It’s a series of deliberate actions and discipline to keep moving forward with little or no affirmation from others. You may not get many Atta-boys as a writer because we live in a culture of critics. But when you do get an Atta-boy, it makes it even more special.
Throughout your entire writing career, always mind the gap and ask yourself how you can narrow the gap between where you are now and where you want to be. One step at a time, you’ll get there. Fight the enemy of discouragement with continual actions to move toward your desired goal.
The best advice is the advice you put into use. I’ve tried to give you some specific direction so you can put this advice to use right now. I hope this helps you overcome your obstacles and discouragement so you can keep moving forward because the world needs to hear what you have to say. Now get busy to make that happen. We’re waiting!
Christy Bower
For fiction writers, the best part is playing “God” to your own created world. But apart from my Dragon Hollow Trilogy, I mostly write Christian nonfiction. I’d have to say the best part about being a writer is setting my own schedule, including extended writing binges when the words are really flowing. I like planning which projects I feel most passionate about, and seeing projects through every phase from concept to production. As an indie author, I find it immensely gratifying to have a hand in each phase of a book project. The tasks are many and varied so there’s no time to get bored. I guess I enjoy the variety best. It keeps me motivated.
Christy Bower
I don’t really believe in writer’s block. If I want to write, I write. The way I see it, the key to successful writing sessions is to understand and manage your left and right brain strengths.
The left brain specializes in logical functions such as outlining, researching, and editing.
The right brain excels in creative functions such as generating new ideas and imagining possibilities.
I have bipolar disorder so I’m intensely aware of shifts between the left and right brain. When I’m in a depressed mood, my logical left brain is dominant so I focus my efforts on research or editing. When I’m manic, my creative right brain dominates my mind so I generate new content—often prolifically.
When I’m at neither end of the spectrum, I have more control to shift from left and right brain at will.
I also know how to discipline my mind to minimize the influence of my left-brain editor until I’m done creating. That’s why I generate new content with pen and paper. This keeps me in my right brain longer. At the keyboard, as soon as I make a typing mistake, it wakes up my left-brain editor who wants to correct the error. This triggers my left brain to analyze what I’ve written instead of allowing me to continue generating new content in flow.
This is why I say writers need to understand and manage the left and right brain strengths. Harnessing the strengths of each ensures maximum productivity and virtually eliminates writer’s block.
The left brain specializes in logical functions such as outlining, researching, and editing.
The right brain excels in creative functions such as generating new ideas and imagining possibilities.
I have bipolar disorder so I’m intensely aware of shifts between the left and right brain. When I’m in a depressed mood, my logical left brain is dominant so I focus my efforts on research or editing. When I’m manic, my creative right brain dominates my mind so I generate new content—often prolifically.
When I’m at neither end of the spectrum, I have more control to shift from left and right brain at will.
I also know how to discipline my mind to minimize the influence of my left-brain editor until I’m done creating. That’s why I generate new content with pen and paper. This keeps me in my right brain longer. At the keyboard, as soon as I make a typing mistake, it wakes up my left-brain editor who wants to correct the error. This triggers my left brain to analyze what I’ve written instead of allowing me to continue generating new content in flow.
This is why I say writers need to understand and manage the left and right brain strengths. Harnessing the strengths of each ensures maximum productivity and virtually eliminates writer’s block.
Christy Bower
Yay! Thanks for letting me know.
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