The Purposeful Pen - Clarity for Christian Writers

Do you want to write, but you struggle to actually do it? It can be hard to find time, but then when we do find time, we sometimes succumb to distraction. Is it a time management issue? Or is it fueled by something else?

In this episode, we look at what might be getting in the way of our writing, as well as some tools to overcome those obstacles and move forward.

If you would like to learn more about using journaling and spiritual disciplines to get to the root of lies in your life, you can check out the BUILD method here.

If you are interested in the coaching package, “Establish a Consistent Writing Routine”, you can find it here. (Scroll to the bottom of the page).

The Purposeful Pen is a weekly podcast for Christian writers designed to help you build a writing life with eternal impact. Each week you’ll hear practical tips and Biblical truth on topics such as improving your writing, honing your message, and managing your time. I always respond to listener emails and I’d love to hear from you! [email protected]

What does your relationship with your phone look like? It keeps us connected to those we love and can allow us to serve our readers with our writing. But for many of us, (myself included!) it is a source of distraction and stress. It reduces our ability to concentrate and focus—needed skills for a writer!

This week, I interviewed Hannah Brencher, author of the book “The Unplugged Hours”. We talked about ways to use our phones without being constantly distracted by them. Hannah offers practical tools and suggestions for setting digital boundaries and fostering the abundant life Jesus promised us. (John 10:10)

Hannah Brencher is a writer, TED speaker, and entrepreneur. She founded The World Needs More Love Letters, a global community dedicated to sending letter bundles to those who need encouragement. Named as one of the White House’s “Women Working to Do Good,” Hannah has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Oprah, Glamour, USATODAY.com, the Chicago Tribune, and more. She lives in Atlanta with her husband, Lane, and daughter Novalee. Find Hannah at hannahbrencher.com. Her newest book, “The Unplugged Hours: Cultivating a Life of Presence in a Digitally Connected World” releases today, September 17. It is available in paperback, kindle, and audio formats wherever books are sold.

The Purposeful Pen is a weekly podcast for Christian writers designed to help you build a writing life with eternal impact. Each week you’ll hear practical tips and Biblical truth on topics such as improving your writing, honing your message, and managing your time. I always respond to listener emails and I’d love to hear from you! [email protected]

Disclaimer: I believe in and approach life (and writing) from a distinctly evangelical Christian perspective, but some of my guests may not. When I interview a guest on a specifically spiritual topic, I do my best to know in advance that I can support their theological stances on the topics that relate to our interview. When the topic is not particularly spiritual, our theological views may differ. My interviewing of guests and providing links to their work does not necessarily indicate a complete theological endorsement of all their written work.

Have you ever wanted to sit down with an author several steps ahead of you down the writing journey and ask her all the questions? I think that’s what you’ll find in this week’s episode. We talk about…

* self-publishing vs traditional publishing

* self-published books getting picked up by traditional publishers

* the importance of writing conferences and making connections with agents and publishers

* the importance of having author friends

* social media for writers

* processing our difficult life events before publishing about them

It was a wonderfully eclectic conversation full of helpful insight.

Kathy Izard is the author of five books who has helped raise over $75 million for innovations in housing and mental health in Charlotte. As the mom of four daughters and grandmother to two grandsons, Kathy believes in the power of intergenerational reading to discuss big topics. Her new titles Grace Heard a Whisper and Trust the Whisper (June 2024) can be read together to explore the idea of living a purpose-filled life. Through her book coaching, retreats, and workshops, Kathy loves helping women find what’s calling them. Kathy’s work has been featured on NPR and the Today Show inspiring people to be change makers in their communities. www.kathyizard.com

The Purposeful Pen is a weekly podcast for Christian writers designed to help you build a writing life with eternal impact. Each week you’ll hear practical tips and Biblical truth on topics such as improving your writing, honing your message, and managing your time. I always respond to listener emails, and I love to hear from you! [email protected]

Disclaimer: I believe in and approach life (and writing) from a distinctly evangelical Christian perspective, but some of my guests may not. When I interview a guest on a specifically spiritual topic, I try to know in advance that I can support their theological stances on the topics relating to our interview. When the topic is not particularly spiritual, our theological views may differ. My interviewing of guests and providing links to their work does not necessarily indicate my complete theological endorsement of all their written work.

What is your relationship with social media? Mine has swung on the pendulum from loving it and working hard to grow it to ignoring it as a waste of time. After interviewing so many authors, agents, and publishers this summer, I’m finding myself landing somewhere in the middle.

In this episode, I talk about the realities of social media as it relates to authors, as well as some ways to use it in a healthy way without it controlling you.

I would love to hear from you if you have found ways to put healthy boundaries on your social media usage. Comment below!

The Purposeful Pen is a weekly podcast for Christian writers designed to help you build a writing life with eternal impact. Each week you’ll hear practical tips and Biblical truth on topics such as improving your writing, honing your message, and managing your time. I always respond to listener emails and I’d love to hear from you! [email protected]

In episode 68, I talked about 11 ways to start and grow an email list and why writers need one. This week, I talk about different types of content you can include when you write to those on your list.

Do you have emails from others that you enjoy reading? What do you like about them? Why don’t you read the ones that you just skip over or delete? Let us know in the comments!

If you’ve been listening over the summer, you’ve heard several of my guests talk about the importance of email lists. OK, but how do we build and grow that email list?

In this episode, I’ve taken their suggestions, ideas I’ve learned elsewhere, and methods I’ve used myself, and put them all in one episode. Whether you’re starting from scratch or building a list you already have, you will find ideas here that you can put into practice today.

As referenced in the episode, here are the links to some common email service providers:

* Mailerlite

* Mailchimp

* Convert Kit

* Flodesk

Ladies! There is still time to join the free version of the Writers’ Bloc Christian writing community! Doors are open through August 31. Join here.

The Purposeful Pen is a weekly podcast for Christian writers designed to help you build a writing life with eternal impact. Each week you’ll hear practical tips and Biblical truth on topics such as improving your writing, honing your message, and managing your time. I always respond to listener emails, and I’d love to hear from you! [email protected]

Working as writers, we're usually our own boss, which can be great or not so great. We get to make all the decisions! But we have to make all the decisions... It can be really overwhelming.

In this episode, I talk with Carla H. Hayden, a.k.a. “Clarity Carla”, about finding clarity in our decision-making and leading ourselves well. You’ll come away with some practical tools and questions to ask yourself when deciding what’s next with your writing, whether you see it as a hobby, a business, or something in between.

Join the free Writers’ Bloc community here! Doors are open now through August 31.

About Carla:

Carla H. Hayden is passionate about raising up the next generation of women leaders for the Kingdom of God...one conversation at a time.

As a Maturity Mentor, Carla uses group mentoring and 1:1 clarity sessions - affectionately referred to as “Mentoring with Mama” and “Coffee with Carla” - to lead, guide, and mentor younger women - whether young in age or young in stage - in their personal, professional, and spiritual development.

As a Marketplace Shepherd, Carla works with early stage entrepreneurs, business owners, and executive leadership teams to provide them with the tools, encouragement, and support they need to move from a current state of chaos and dysfunction to their desired future state of order and health in their business.

Born and raised in San Francisco, CA, Carla and her family have called Indianapolis, IN home for the last 25 years. Among her hobbies, she loves connecting with people over coffee or cocktails, photo-journaling snippets of her story, and traveling locally and abroad. She is a healthy Enneagram 8, contributes her Working Geniuses of Discernment and Tenacity to every project she puts her hands to, and unashamedly declares that Gifts and Words of Affirmation are at the top of her Love Languages list.

You can connect with her on Instagram (@coffee_with_carla), LinkedIn (@Carla H. Hayden), or visit her website at coffeewithcarla.com.

You can also follow her on Swellcast (@coffeewithcarla), where she uses this micro-podcasting space to mentor you with a mama’s heart and disciple you with the truth of God’s Word through permission slips, practical tips, and prayers.

She has also offered a free decision-making guide for podcast listeners.

The Purposeful Pen is a weekly podcast for Christian writers designed to help you build a writing life with eternal impact. Each week you’ll hear practical tips and Biblical truth on topics such as improving your writing, honing your message, and managing your time. I always respond to listener emails and I’d love to hear from you! [email protected]

Do you enjoy the business planning side of writing? How about the idea of branding - creating a cohesive look and feel to the visual aspect of your writing? Many writers either cringe at the thought or ignore those aspects of writing altogether.

In this conversation with Karla Colahan, we discuss how business planning and branding are creative endeavors that provide a valuable piece to writing life.

Karla Colahan is the creative director and brand designer at The Inspired Foundry, a creative studio dedicated to being a collaborative partner for entrepreneurs. Hell bent on artistic alignment and intuitive design, Karla believes your business should feel as good as it looks and collaborates with creatives on their brands with strategy, design, and coaching. You can find her at TheInspiredFoundry.com or on Instagram @theinspiredfoundry.

Resources:

www.yourtinybrand.com 

The Tiny Brand Blueprint - your path to creating a business that makes money and makes an impact: https://theinspiredfoundry.myflodesk.com/blueprint

The Purposeful Pen is a weekly podcast for Christian writers designed to help you build a writing life with eternal impact. Each week you’ll hear practical tips and Biblical truth on topics such as improving your writing, honing your message, and managing your time. I always respond to listener emails and I’d love to hear from you! [email protected]

Are you a writer who struggles with chronic illness and wonders how to find the time and energy to write?

Or perhaps you wear many hats and aren’t sure how to juggle them all while still writing.

In this interview with author and speaker, Glenna Marshall, you’ll hear practical tips on managing your time and energy, whether you write through chronic illness or simply a busy schedule.

We also talk about:

* ways to grow your email list

* what publishers are looking for other than your platform

Glenna Marshall is married to her pastor, William, and is the mom of two sons. She and her family live and serve in rural Southeast Missouri. She is the author of The Promise is His Presence, Everyday Faithfulness, and Memorizing Scripture. You can connect with her on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and her blog.

The Purposeful Pen is a weekly podcast for Christian writers designed to help you build a writing life with eternal impact. Each week you’ll hear practical tips and Biblical truth on topics such as improving your writing, honing your message, and managing your time. I always respond to listener emails and I’d love to hear from you! [email protected]

We live in such a busy, distracted, instant gratification culture - we want everything to happen that we think should happen, and we expect it to happen now. And yet, that’s neither realistic nor healthy. 

What if growing slowly as writers turned out to be a much more healthy and sustainable way of operating?

Listen in as I talk with best-selling author and acquisitions editor, Jennifer Dukes Lee, about her own journey from the fast-paced world of city journalism to a slower pace of life writing books on her farm in Iowa.

You’ll also learn about the benefits of slow growth from the perspective of the publishing world, and what publishers look for in a book proposal (and it’s not necessarily an enormous platform).

This was such an encouraging conversation, wherever you are in the writing journey!

About Jennifer:

Jennifer Dukes Lee is the bestselling author of several books, including Growing Slow, It’s All Under Control, and Stuff I’d Only Tell God. She’s a fan of queso, bright lipstick, and singing too loudly to songs with great harmony. She lives on a fifth-generation family farm in Iowa, where she and her husband have made a life of growing crops, pigs, two beautiful humans, and an enduring faith. 

You can find her at https://jenniferdukeslee.com/, on Instagram, or Facebook. Her book on this topic, Growing Slow can be found here.

The Purposeful Pen is a weekly podcast for Christian writers designed to help you build a writing life with eternal impact. Each week you’ll hear practical tips and Biblical truth on topics such as improving your writing, honing your message, and managing your time. I always respond to listener emails and I’d love to hear from you! [email protected]