I know this title is kind of dorky — and it’s late, but I’ve just got to link to Terry Whalin’s post today. If you’re a writer, which you probably are if you’re reading my blog (because most people don’t even know what a blog is, so you’re way ahead), then you’ll love this post!
Terry Whalin is the fiction acquisitions editor for Howard Publishing, a subsidiary of Simon & Schuster, and he blogs at The Writing Life. I love, love, love this blog, and in fact, I’ve “met” some of the coolest people in the comments section of The Writing Life, such as Gina Holmes, Trish Berg, Cyndy Salzmann, and CJ Darlington.
One thing I enjoy about Terry’s blog is that he travels all over the country and is always thoughtful to take his readers with him. He just returned from the Greater Philadelphia Christian Writers’ Conference, where he taught classes and met one-on-one with aspiring writers.
Here’s what he said:
I love this process of interacting with writers and talking through their concepts and dreams. One of the most valuable times from my perspective is this face to face help for writers. It’s a chance to listen and then give them my personal perspective on their idea and how it can be improved.
I’m not speaking as the absolute authority—I’ve learned the hard way in this business that none of us have that absolute insight. Each of us only have our own perspective and each book has it’s own challenges as to how it enters the market. Or each magazine article idea or each book proposal is filled with it’s own difficulties and joys.
This quote is all the inspiration I need to be excited about my upcoming talk at the Smyrna Public Library. I’ve been so nervous thinking about standing up in front of people; but now I think maybe the people who will come are also book lovers and writers! So we can have fun encouraging each other. Maybe someone will hear something I say, and God will mysteriously transform my words into an idea that encourages them to write.
Enough of my babbling; if you haven’t clicked over to The Writing Life, I hope you can go now.
