how do I write a book

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:

It’s a story a lot of people tell: that they’ve been writing since they were children, that they’ve been writing even when no one was reading, that they’ve dreamed about writing books for most of their lives.

That’s my story, too. I’ve been a writer ever since I learned to use words. First, I was writing my name and my age; a little later I was writing stories in blank books in second grace. Fast-forward a bit and I was writing my first poems, my first journal entries (diaries with locks and keys, anyone?), and then I was writing high school essays and fiction vignettes.

Photo by Ann White Photography

In college, I learned to write outside of my comfort zone. A few souls–professors and fellow lovers of Jesus–led me through the forest of words with their own machetes, and once they led me far enough, deep into the thick of language, they handed the knife to me. I started learning to cut out words in college, to make language mean in the ways I wanted it to, and to take risks to alter my voice on the page in surprising, exciting ways.

These are things only writers really care about–the lilt of a sentence, the shape of a phrase, the cadence of a line. And I found, the further I went into words and story and the grinding turn of revision, that I met God in the process of writing in deep, deep ways. I loved that when I wrote, I felt his nearness; I felt, more than anything, at home. I loved writing not only as a hobby or a passion, but as a career and as a calling. And so, I went to graduate school.

There, in graduate school, I was stretched nearly to the point of breaking–not because I was so wonderful as a writer, but because I felt so weak. I remember my first workshop in my MFA program, when I realized how weak my writing was. The other writers sitting around me used words more deftly than I did, and they commanded language with a precision I did not yet have.

And I had a choice. Was I going to keep writing? Was I going to keep trying?

No one was reading my words, other than a handful of friends and family. No one cared if I kept writing, or if I didn’t.

But I felt the courage of God to try, and to try again, and to try yet again. I stayed the course in graduate school because I wanted to see if I could do this–if I could write with power and grace and if I could find my own voice. And through the guidance of more professors–women who love Jesus and who wield words like flame–I learned. I grew. I found my voice as a writer.

That was years ago. I have still been writing, and I have been teaching, and I have still been seeking to grow and learn and stretch as a crafter of language. Although I write many places, I have been sharing my story and my heart in the form of a book that I have labored over in the quiet of libraries and coffee shops, unsure if anyone but Jesus would ever read it. I started this book not because anyone required it, but because I believe that this is part of the story I have to tell.

And just this past month, the team at Tyndale House Publishers offered me a contract to write this book with them.

I am more honored than I know how to say.

I am more humbled than I can express.

And I am grateful to the Lord for the chance to write a book about my story that is, hopefully, a book that is ultimately about His story and his presence in the world.

I can’t wait for you to read it. Although, you’ll have to wait–until 2017. Sorry! But in the interim, I’m going to write my heart out and, with His grace, seek to make this a book worth waiting for.

Thanks for celebrating with me!

If you want to join my online, six-week writing course for fellow writers, registration opens soon! Click here to learn more.