Writing – Page 2

How to Balance Motherhood and Writing

November 7, 2017 by Ann 1 Comment

I’ve been a professional writer for the last decade, and for the last half of that decade, I’ve also been a mom. I deeply love being a writer, and I deeply love being a mom…but the two passions don’t always line up smoothly. Writing requires a certain amount of focus and quiet and time–three things that are often difficult (if not impossible!) to find as a mom. Kids don’t seem to appreciate the fine art of offering their parents uninterrupted blocks of quiet, focused time…

Still, I don’t think that writing and motherhood are mutually exclusive. In fact, I’ve found that the two can jive really well together–with some creativity and help. Over the years, I’ve talked with so many fellow moms who are struggling with how to stay connected to their passion as a writer while simultaneously holding down the fort at home (and also sometimes at work). And that’s why I’ve created The Writing Mom Course.

This course covers the big questions and practical insights that women are looking for as they pursue writing in the season of motherhood, and I am SO EXCITED about it. We talk about issues of time, balance, writing voice, platform, and others–the list goes on! I’ve poured what I’ve learned as a writing mom into these six classes and worksheets, and I’d love for you to visit the new site, watch the video, and learn about how I want to encourage and equip you on your writing journey!

Also, this week only, I’ve knocked the price down to $39.95…which is cheaper than a family of four going out to eat! I’m hopeful that this can be a resource for you as you pursue your passion of writing as a mom!

Join me here, at The Writing Mom!

Filed Under: Book Writing, Motherhood, Parenting, Writing Tagged With: Ann Swindell, how do I find time to write as a mom, how do I write as a mom, motherhood, The Writing Mom Course, time to write, Writing, writing and motherhood, writing for Christian publications, writing for publications

Come and Write Your Story

October 6, 2016 by Ann Leave a Comment

This is the start of my newest article for The Gospel Coalition.
You can read the article in its entirety here!

I’m not gifted at comprehending my own spiritual growth while still in the midst of it. I don’t typically live through trials and victories with my antennae attuned to how God’s transforming me. I wish it were otherwise; I wish I had the ability to see my immediate experiences through the lens of spiritual development. But most of the time I’m just doing my best to love God and my family—and make it through the day intact. I’m not necessarily looking for the big themes or revelations the Lord is weaving into my life in the moment.

But I know God has numbered the days of my life (Ps. 139:16) and that he’s working out all things for my good as he conforms me to the image of his Son (Rom. 8:28–29). I don’t want to miss these things; I want to be able to point to how God’s transforming me “from one degree of glory to another” (2 Cor. 3:18) as I walk with him.

I turn to two things in order to help me understand my spiritual growth: my Bible and my pen. via @TGC #amwriting Share on X

So I turn to two things in order to help me understand my spiritual growth: my Bible and my pen. Reading the Word and writing my story—these are how I’ve learned to experience my life as a purposeful whole, even when the days feel splintered and confusing.

Read the rest of the article here–and let me know how you understand your spiritual growth over at TGC!

And, if you’re interested in writing your story, make sure to check out the Writing with Grace: Memoir class that I’m teaching this fall. Registration is only open until October 11th, so don’t miss this opportunity to learn how to write your story powerfully and hear from industry experts! See you there!

Filed Under: God, Guest Post, Writing Tagged With: Ann Swindell, Christian writer, come and write your story, how do I write my story, memoir, The Gospel Coalition, write your memoir, write your story, writing your story

Yes, the World Needs Your Story

October 3, 2016 by Ann 1 Comment

This is the start of my newest piece for Darling Magazine.
You can read the whole article here!

For those of us who find ourselves drawn to the written word, the pull toward pen and paper is more than just a hobby. It’s a lifeline. Many of us flourish when there are words flowing from our soul onto the page — we’re able to make sense of things better when we’re writing, and we think our thoughts most clearly when we write them down on paper.

For those of us drawn to the written word, writing is more than a hobby--it's a lifeline. #amwriting Share on X

As unique as the personal writing experience is for each of us, research is starting to reveal a universal reality that many of us have inherently known for a long time: writing about our lives is healing. Several studies point to the fact that when we honestly write about our own lives, working through our questions and challenges on the page, we can experience emotional breakthrough. That’s because when we take time to write about what’s bothering us, the act of writing enables us to see our lives in a new way and release past burdens. Writing can help us reframe our experiences and see ourselves as active participants in our lives, rather than as victims or observers.

Additional research has found that people who take time to intentionally write about their emotional state “were able to create the distance between the thinker and the thought, the feeler and the feeling, that allowed them to gain a new perspective, unhook, and move forward.” When we write about what’s happening internally, it enables us to parse experience from emotion — and then decide how to change.

Writing is a powerful tool.

If you’ve never taken the time to write your story down, maybe this is the nudge that you need. While writing about our journey and the emotions that we’ve experienced may feel initially overwhelming, the work that it can do in our hearts and our minds might actually change the course of our lives. It can help us to really see how we’ve been living and what it might look like to flip the script in our current story.

Read the rest of the article here, at Darling Magazine!

And if you want to write your story, check out my online writing course, Writing with Grace: Memoir. Registration is open until October 6^th, and I’m offering a discount to blog readers: save 10% with the code: MEMOIR10. I can’t wait to join you there!

Image via Maddie Greer

Filed Under: Guest Post, Life, Writing Tagged With: Ann Swindell, can writing help me, Christian writer, Christian writing class, Darling Magazine, faith, memoir, write your story, Writing, writing for Darling Magazine, writing is healing, your story matters

Write Your Story, Change Your Life

September 20, 2016 by Ann Leave a Comment

I started writing my story years ago; long before I was anywhere near a book contract or a marketing team, I felt that the Lord was inviting me into a process of writing my story down and–in the process–meeting him in the middle of it. I’m not sure I’ve done anything more powerful in my personal spiritual journey than write my memoir.

Memoir is the genre that I love the most, because it’s the genre that allows us–even gently forces us–to re-examine the lives that we have been living as we write them down on the page. A good memoir isn’t autobiography, and it isn’t a personal journal. It’s the true story of our lives written in such a way that others can understand, access, and be changed by it.

I’m not sure there’s a more dynamic form of the written word.

Our God is the God of story, and he loves making himself known through our stories; it’s how he’s wired us. We start loving stories as children, and we inherently know when a story has a satisfying or unacceptable ending, because we were made to long for resolution, peace, and hope.

Our God is the God of story, and he loves making himself known through our stories. Share on X

If you’ve always wanted to write your story, or if you’ve been wondering how you can tell your story in a meaningful way, I’m going to suggest that writing your memoir might be one of the most powerful things you can do in your personal journey with Jesus. Down the road, might your story impact hundreds or thousands of people? I hope so! But in these days and months, writing your story will transform you most of all. I know that it has transformed me; I got to see Jesus at work all over again as I’ve written my memoir over the past years.

I just opened registration for the Writing with Grace Memoir course that I’ll be teaching this fall. To say that I’m thrilled about this class is an understatement; I’m practically jumping out of my chair!

Registration is open for Writing with Grace: Memoir! www.writingwithgrace.com #amwriting Share on X

I’d love for you to join me over at Writing with Grace–you can even see the new video that we created just for this course.

If you’ve been aching to write your story, this is your time. I can’t wait to see you there!

Filed Under: Book Writing, God, Writing Tagged With: Ann Swindell, Ann Swindell memoir, Christian writing class, Christianity, memoir, Still Waiting, write your story, writing class, Writing with grace

Don’t Write to Get Published

August 5, 2016 by Ann 2 Comments

I have a deep respect for The Gospel Coalition and the work that they are doing online and in the “real” world as an organization that unabashedly proclaims the truth of the Bible. I was able to attend The Gospel Coalition Women’s Conference in June, and just this week I had the opportunity to write for their blog. It was an honor to write for TGC about one of my favorite topics! You can link to the full article here.

And, if you’re a fellow writer, make sure to read all the way to the end of the article at TGC, where I offer a discount code for my Writing with Grace course–registration is open until the 17th of August (and don’t forget to check out the site and the brand-new video I released)!

Here’s the start of the article for The Gospel Coalition:

For those of us who love words, we’re drawn to the clack of the keyboard and the parsing of meaning on the page. We feel alive as we wrangle words into sentences; some of us even feel closer to God as we work out our faith by writing about it. Time spent writing feels important, even holy.

For those of us who love words, we’re drawn to the clack of the keyboard. We feel alive as we wrangle words into sentences. #amwriting Share on X

But for many of us, running parallel with our love of writing is the desire to get published. This desire can be fueled by the culture at large, which says our writing only matters if our readership is huge and our byline well known. Publication is commonly assumed to be the goal of the writing life, and seeing our words in print the truest form of validation for our work.

As an author and teacher of writing, I often have conversations with other writers fixated on publication. They’re desperate to see their work published somewhere. They want to know how to start a writing career, or how to get the inside scoop on writing for a top magazine.

In response to their questions, I have to ask: Do you want to be published? Or do you want to write?

Do you want to be published? Or do you want to write? Share on X

These aren’t the same question, although many of us confuse one for the other. For as much as writing is tethered to publishing, getting published doesn’t make a writer. Writing makes a writer.

Read the rest of the article over at The Gospel Coalition, and don’t miss out on open registration for Writing with Grace!

Filed Under: God, Guest Post, Writing Tagged With: am writing, amwriting, Christian writing, I want to be a Christian writer, I want to be a writer, I want to get published, The Gospel Coalition, Writing, writing class, writing for the Gospel Coalition, Writing with grace

Still Waiting Cover Reveal

August 2, 2016 by Ann 29 Comments

I’ve been writing a book this past year, and have spent the last few months crystallizing edits with my powerhouse team at Tyndale. It’s hard to believe that nine months have passed since I signed the contract; we have less time than that before it releases in April of 2017!

One thing that I’ve loved about the process of seeing this book come to life has been the excitement generated around the cover. I’ll share more later, but Tyndale walked me through a really helpful and empowering process when it came to designing the cover of this book. Although their design team creates the cover, as an author I had a clear hand in the tone and feel of the design, which I was deeply thankful for.

The #stillwaitingbook cover reveal! Share on X

The cover matters so much to me because as much as we say otherwise, the truth is that we really do judge a book by its cover. Whether we’re perusing the stacks at a bookstore or clicking through pages online, it’s the front of a book that initially draws us in or pushes us away. My hope is that this cover will draw you in and thrill you as much as it has thrilled me!

I won’t keep you waiting any longer. Here it is!

Isn’t it beautiful? This cover encapsulates so much about Still Waiting in one image. I’m amazed at how the design team captured both the beauty and the ache of trusting God; they nailed the feeling of yearning, and yet the rich colors point to the vibrancy that can be found even in waiting seasons. The handwritten title adds a softness to the cover without being overly dramatic.

In short: I love it. LOVE IT.

This cover blew me away the first time I saw it, and I’m so thankful that it will be the “face” of my first book. I’ll be sharing more about the book-writing process in the months ahead, but I wanted to let you be the first ones to catch a glimpse of the cover!

(If you’re new here and want to stay up-to-date with my work and this book, click here to join in on my monthly updates!)

Oh, and if you want to pre-order Still Waiting, you’re in luck. You can pre-order it here!

So, what do you think? Do you love the cover as much as I do?

Additionally, if you’re interested in writing, too, make sure to check out the course that I offer, Writing with Grace. Registration just opened TODAY, but it won’t be open for long! Click here to learn all about the class:

Filed Under: God, Still Waiting Book, Writing Tagged With: Ann Swindell, author, book writing process, Cover Reveal, how do I write a book, Still Waiting, Still Waiting Book, Tyndale House Publishers, writing a book

How to Balance Motherhood and Writing

Come and Write Your Story

Yes, the World Needs Your Story

And if you want to write your story, check out my online writing course, Writing with Grace: Memoir. Registration is open until October 6^th, and I’m offering a discount to blog readers: save 10% with the code: MEMOIR10. I can’t wait to join you there!

Write Your Story, Change Your Life

Don’t Write to Get Published

Still Waiting Cover Reveal

Look Around

Past Posts

How to Balance Motherhood and Writing

Come and Write Your Story

Yes, the World Needs Your Story

And if you want to write your story, check out my online writing course, Writing with Grace: Memoir. Registration is open until October 6th, and I’m offering a discount to blog readers: save 10% with the code: MEMOIR10. I can’t wait to join you there!

Write Your Story, Change Your Life

Don’t Write to Get Published

Still Waiting Cover Reveal

Look Around

Past Posts

And if you want to write your story, check out my online writing course, Writing with Grace: Memoir. Registration is open until October 6^th, and I’m offering a discount to blog readers: save 10% with the code: MEMOIR10. I can’t wait to join you there!