The world of Christian writers is different from almost all other writing worlds. Christianity is in a unique position where those involved in it have external standards they may not abrogate.
That being said, many writers published in the Christian arena abrogate those rules, and sell many units. Christian publishers are pleased that those units sell, but secretly wish most Christian writers would a). Know the rules of behavior and B). Follow those rules.
The Audience
Many Christian writers don’t understand the dictum, “know thy audience”. You have to know what your audience wants and what they will not tolerate. Much is made about one person selling books to Christian audiences that violate the rules…
…and little attention is paid to those Christian writers who outsell those authors consistently.
If you are a Christian writer – and I am – you have to know your audience will not tolerate violations of rules of conduct.
The other day, I wrote an article where I explained you need to get training in Christian doctrine. I value my seminary training, certainly the training in doctrine, church history and in Greek. Greek frightened me, and to get a 94 in the course was gratifying.
It is expected that Christian writers maintain certain standards. If you can’t write within those standards, do not write Christian books.
If you are wedded to philosophies about happy kittens with milk on their whiskers, write “Chicken Soup” books. If you want to write devotionals, then heed the article the other day and get some doctrinal training. Study historical Christian creeds. Read historic Christian commentaries.
Tools
What tools do Christian writers need?
Scrivener
You need a novel writing software. Scrivener is full of tools to allow you to write. I have a bad habit of ignoring most of their tools – and I’m a power user! For instance, I get so caught up in writing I often forget the full screen mode. I’ve learned how to create keywords and how to use them, organize collections – and then I start writing and forget to use them.
The most commonly voiced complaint is that, “Scrivener has a steep learning curve.” My answer is – not compared to Liquid Story Binder! Scrivener has a steep learning curve only if you want to be a power user. Really, you can install it, create a project, and start writing almost immediately. If ten minutes is a steep learning curve, then you’ll never figure out how to use a modern television.
Logos
You need powerful Bible software. “Can’t I just buy a Bible?” Sure! But software like Logos and Accordance cut out vast amounts of time. I’ve even described how I’ve done research in Logos in a day that formerly amounted to a scholar’s entire career! Is it expensive? Without a doubt. Get on a payment plan, and buy a Gold package. I’d recommend Logos Baptist Gold, and supplement it with Reform packages. You’ll find that as you buy Logos packages, the price of all the others drops rapidly. It almost gets addicting to add other packages.
You’ll need Bible dictionaries and encyclopedias, commentaries, grammars, lexicons, Bible handbooks, and systematic theologies. All these are contained in the package you buy. One easy transaction, all you need.
Accordance is the same, but the speed and ease of research you can do in Logos disappears in Accordance. It’s less expensive to get started in Accordance, but you get what you paid for (and to fully outfit yourself in Accordance compared to Logos means eventually spending much more money in the long run).
I’m a fan of both – some things are easier in Accordance, many things Logos does automatically when you open a workflow. The only thing I recommend is you try the baseline package of both.
Evernote
Evernote is a must-have writing tool. I collect all my research in it! I can’t stress this enough. Spend two weeks using it, and you’ll never go back.
Asana
You’ve got to have either Trello or Asana to keep all your projects on track. I prefer Asana because it uses a Trello style Kanban as well as a more detailed organizational process. Once you start a third novel, you need something to guide you through what stage you are in the editing process, or you sink very quickly in your own work. It works. Use it.
Summary
All Christian writers need certain skills and certain tools. Mastering these tools make the process of writing Christian books much easier to navigate. If you do the things you’ve always done them, you will always get the results you’ve always gotten!
