#428: 3 Ways to Learn and Grow as a Writer on a Budget

This year marks 20 years since I began my online business journey, and what a journey it has been! It’s been filled with both challenges and blessings, but through it all, God has taught me so much. As I reflect on the last two decades, I want to share 20 lessons I’ve learned along the way. To celebrate this milestone, we're giving away our Kingdom Writers book for free from December 17–19, 2024. You can download your copy here.

Stuck Psalm 40:1-3 Are you familiar with the word “mire”? A mire is an area of wet, spongy earth like a bog or marsh.  Have you ever been on a piece of land after the snow has melted or after a tremendous downpour of rain that leaves the land extremely muddy? Perhaps you’ve been on a trail where the mud cakes on the bottom of your shoes with every step and becomes heavy. Our lives can sometimes feel like this where we get stuck or each step forward becomes heavier and heavier.  What did David do when he was stuck in the miry clay? How did he climb out of his slimy pit of despair? He waited upon the Lord. Waiting is difficult for us because we’re impatient. So we try with all of our own effort to climb out of the mud. Like with David, God will hear our cries for help and will pull us out of that deep despair. We go from stuck to steady as He places us on firm, solid footing. This is God’s grace in our lives.  God is able to birth new words in our lives to share with the world. These words can be a “volume of praise to our God.” Perhaps many will be amazed and put their trust in the Lord as we have.   Resources: If you're ready to take a step of faith and finally finish your book we have a few ways we can help you.  1. Free Writing Week Challenge: Create a Writing Habit in 15-Minutes a Day Even if you feel overwhelmed or stuck in procrastination, sitting down to write for just 15 minutes a day is the best way to finally reach your writing goals. Most writers think they need hours of uninterrupted time to make progress in their writing. However, in this free challenge, we will show you how much you can accomplish in just 15 minutes of focused writing. Click here to create a consistent writing habit this week.   2. Book Writing Lab Workshop - Map Out Your Book in Just 90 Minutes If over the last year, you've struggled to get your book written, this workshop is for you. Choose your book topic, write an outline, and create a writing plan in just 90-minutes! Finally, feel confident that you will actually finish your book. Get started now for just $27 3. Want More Support? Join Christian Book Academy Most writers stay stuck and never finish their first draft. Inside Christian Book Academy, we help you partner with God to write your book so you can become a published author. Finally, ditch your self-doubt and take a step of faith so you can finish your book. Join Christian Book Academy (coupon code PODCAST) Get 50% off your first month by using the coupon code PODCAST at checkout.  

Shoring up Weaknesses “Shoring” is the process of temporarily supporting a building, vessel, structure, or trench with shores (props) when in danger of collapse or during repairs or alterations. Shoring comes from shore, a timber or metal prop. Shoring may be vertical, angled, or horizontal.  5 Lessons we can take from 2 Chronicles 32:1-8 Consult with trusted advisors - friends, pastors, counselors, fellow Kingdom writers - for wisdom and understanding moving forward. King Hezekiah showed humility by asking for help. Cut off anything that might fuel or refresh our enemy and allow him to prolong his attack. Sin is an obvious thing to cut off. Perhaps we also need to consider cutting off toxic people in our lives. Cut off the flow of toxic news or other social media that the enemy might utilize to create anxiety. Healing of the broken places in our lives. Shoring up those weaknesses to prevent the enemy from constantly zeroing in on those vulnerable areas. Perhaps forming a small prayer team could be a form of constructing a “second wall” outside the first. Manufacturing large numbers of weapons and shields could represent reading, meditating, and memorizing God’s Word daily. Listening to godly teachings that help sharpen us. Reminding ourselves and others that we have a power far greater on our side. (2 Kings 6:15-17) Notice that Hezekiah was proactive in doing the things he could while also looking to the Lord for ultimate protection over his enemies.   Resources: If you're ready to take a step of faith and finally finish your book we have a few ways we can help you.  1. Free Writing Week Challenge: Create a Writing Habit in 15-Minutes a Day Even if you feel overwhelmed or stuck in procrastination, sitting down to write for just 15 minutes a day is the best way to finally reach your writing goals. Most writers think they need hours of uninterrupted time to make progress in their writing. However, in this free challenge, we will show you how much you can accomplish in just 15 minutes of focused writing. Click here to create a consistent writing habit this week.   2. Book Writing Lab Workshop - Map Out Your Book in Just 90 Minutes If over the last year, you've struggled to get your book written, this workshop is for you. Choose your book topic, write an outline, and create a writing plan in just 90-minutes! Finally, feel confident that you will actually finish your book. Get started now for just $27 3. Want More Support? Join Christian Book Academy Most writers stay stuck and never finish their first draft. Inside Christian Book Academy, we help you partner with God to write your book so you can become a published author. Finally, ditch your self-doubt and take a step of faith so you can finish your book. Join Christian Book Academy (coupon code PODCAST) Get 50% off your first month by using the coupon code PODCAST at checkout.  

Hearing from Headquarters Whether it’s in the military or a strategic undercover operation, hearing from headquarters is crucial in order to carry out important plans. How much more do we as Kingdom writers need to hear God’s plans from headquarters?  We must be willing to set aside time each day to soak in God’s Word. Why would we need this important time? In order to get to know the God of that Word. As we do so, we become intimately acquainted with the character and ways that God might be leading us. When we get to know someone so well, we can almost finish their sentences. This is the idea we’re looking at in getting to know God well. “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” - John 10:27 NLT “Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding. Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding. Search for them as you would for silver; seek them like hidden treasures.” - Proverbs 2:2-4 NLT We tune our ears to the Lord like we might finely tune in a radio station and eliminate static.  If you received news that somewhere in your backyard was buried a precious gem worth 5 million dollars, you would turn over every square inch of your property in search of that gem. How much more valuable is God’s wisdom and direction for our lives, our writing, and the eternal nature of His plans? Nothing could be more important for us than hearing from headquarters and seeking the Lord fervently.  Resources: If you're ready to take a step of faith and finally finish your book we have a few ways we can help you.  1. Free Writing Week Challenge: Create a Writing Habit in 15-Minutes a Day Even if you feel overwhelmed or stuck in procrastination, sitting down to write for just 15 minutes a day is the best way to finally reach your writing goals. Most writers think they need hours of uninterrupted time to make progress in their writing. However, in this free challenge, we will show you how much you can accomplish in just 15 minutes of focused writing. Click here to create a consistent writing habit this week.   2. Book Writing Lab Workshop - Map Out Your Book in Just 90 Minutes If over the last year, you've struggled to get your book written, this workshop is for you. Choose your book topic, write an outline, and create a writing plan in just 90-minutes! Finally, feel confident that you will actually finish your book. Get started now for just $27 3. Want More Support? Join Christian Book Academy Most writers stay stuck and never finish their first draft. Inside Christian Book Academy, we help you partner with God to write your book so you can become a published author. Finally, ditch your self-doubt and take a step of faith so you can finish your book. Join Christian Book Academy (coupon code PODCAST) Get 50% off your first month by using the coupon code PODCAST at checkout.  

Happy In Hiddenness 1 Samuel 16:1-13 v.4 – It was quite a shock to the Bethlehem elders that Samuel came to their town. They assumed something was wrong. v.6-7 – Even Samuel was enamored with Jesse’s oldest son Eliab. But God wasn’t impressed. He was looking at hidden traits, not outward superficial data. David wasn’t even an option. He was out in the fields tending sheep and goats – a low-level job. Example of my Ray’s Food Place job in high school. Stocking shelves in the back room at minimum wage ($3.85/hr) Many of you are tending sheep & goats in this season. You’re living the hidden life and quietly honing your rock-slinging skills, practicing the harp, stringing words together, wondering if they’re even going to see the light of day. Here are a few people who can relate: Joseph waiting 13 years from the time he was sold into slavery to getting his call to serve in the Palace of Pharaoh. Moses tending sheep for 40 years before encountering God in the burning bush, Jesus and his hidden years of serving in the family carpentry business between age 12 and 30. Karate Kid – Daniel learning the mundane, seemingly pointless tasks from Mr. Miyagi. Runners toiling away in the winter putting in miles in hiddenness. It was always interesting to find out who had been putting in the work when some of the Spring races began. David was cultivating his gifts in hiddenness. He had no idea what the Lord would do in his life and the positions he would be called to. He was most likely 14 or 15 years old when he was anointed by Samuel to be king in the presence of his father and older brothers. But guess where he went right after being anointed? Back to the fields, tending sheep and goats. How difficult would that be for us? It would be at least 15 years before he took the throne at age 30. In those years, David was in the school of trials, turmoil, and testing. Many of us want the throne without the trials and testing. But it’s in these hidden years that the Lord does His best work is us. Is God enough for us? We see that David was known as a man after God’s own heart. I believe he was enjoying and cultivating that heart after God during his hidden years…even before being anointed as Israel’s future king. If God sees fit, He will anoint us and prepare us for the doors He’s open at the perfect time. Our prayer closets are the ultimate hidden place where victories are cultivated and won. “But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.” – Matthew 6:6 NLT Rather than making our destination (i.e. published books) the idol, we can be happy in hiddenness, knowing our Father is growing and maturing us during this season. May we also be men and women after God’s own heart, whether we’re hidden or thrusted into the spotlight. Resources: If you're ready to take a step of faith and finally finish your book we have a few ways we can help you.  1. Free Writing Week Challenge: Create a Writing Habit in 15-Minutes a Day Even if you feel overwhelmed or stuck in procrastination, sitting down to write for just 15 minutes a day is the best way to finally reach your writing goals. Most writers think they need hours of uninterrupted time to make progress in their writing. However, in this free challenge, we will show you how much you can accomplish in just 15 minutes of focused writing. Click here to create a consistent writing habit this week. 2. Book Writing Lab Workshop - Map Out Your Book in Just 90 Minutes If over the last year you've struggled to get your book written, this workshop is for you. Choose your book topic, write an outline, and create a writing plan in just 90-minutes! Finally feel confident that you will actually finish your book. Get started now for just $27 3. Want More Support? Join Christian Book Academy Most writers stay stuck and never finish their first draft. Inside Christian Book Academy, we help you partner with God to write your book so you can become a published author. Finally ditch your self-doubt and take a step of faith so you can finish your book. Join Christian Book Academy (coupon code PODCAST) Get 50% off your first month by using the coupon code PODCAST at checkout.    

Recovering What We Have Lost as Writers 2 Kings 6:1-7 In this little story tucked away in the Old Testament, we see several nuggets we can apply to our lives and our writing. Like the young prophet in the story, we may find ourselves losing our “cutting edge” and feeling powerless.  This group of prophets were building a new meeting place and insisted that their leader, Elisha, accompany them down to the Jordan River where they would cut down trees for the new facility. They were busy doing good work until one of them lost his ax head which sank to the bottom of the Jordan. At times, we can also be busy doing good work until we lose our cutting edge. In our case, we can refer to the power of God as our cutting edge. It’s the ability to get the job done most efficiently rather than relying on our own strength. Imagine trying to cut down a tree with only a wooden ax handle. It would be like our flesh trying to cut into the spiritual realm which is something bigger and more powerful than what we possess without the power of God. As Kingdom Writers, we need the ax head of the Spirit to accomplish writing that makes a dent and that’s able to cut right to the heart of the matter in someone’s life.  Listen to this episode as CJ shares 4 steps to recover our cutting edge based on this Old Testament story. The Power of Having a Weekly Business Meeting with God Learn the simple steps you can take to implement a weekly business meeting with God. This is one of the most important actions you can take as a Christian writer to ask God for the strategies to write, publish, and market your books successfully. Get access to the video and PDF download now here.

Do You Feel Rusty in Your Writing? “We must all either wear out or rust out, every one of us. My choice is to wear out.” - Theodore Roosevelt “There is a time for everything. We wait on God to renew our batteries, and then when they are up to full power, we turn them loose into the work of God.” - A.W. Tozer “Christians are like farm implements. Farm machinery seldom wears out. If you keep your machinery up, you can use it summer in and summer out until it becomes obsolete. The idle machine sitting in dampness will go to pieces in one season, but that same machine used for 10 years will only make it shine. One year of sitting around sulking will do more to rust your soul than 100 years of hard work, if God granted you that many years” - A.W. Tozer We can easily apply the above quotes to our own writing. There’s certainly a time to rest but we must be careful not to rust. Writing is a skill that must be practiced and refined over time. Staying consistent with a writing habit will help “keep our machinery up” so we can use it year after year. As little as 15 minutes a day can go a long way to preventing us from rusting out as Kingdom writers. Ecclesiastes 11:4 (NLT) says, “Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest.” Are we waiting for perfect conditions in our writing? If so, we may be in for a long wait which could allow our writing to become rusty. God is calling us to plant our words into the lives of others for His glory.  Let’s keep our pens active and the ink flowing, all for the purpose of fulfilling God’s call on our lives. The Power of Having a Weekly Business Meeting with God Learn the simple steps you can take to implement a weekly business meeting with God. This is one of the most important actions you can take as a Christian writer to ask God for the strategies to write, publish, and market your books successfully. Get access to the video and PDF download now here.

The Right Kind of Boasting In this episode of the Kingdom Writers Podcast, we look at the theme of boasting in the Lord rather than a boasting that originates from the flesh.  We look at Paul’s teachings from 2 Corinthians 10:13-18. It seems that there were some people trying to influence the church in Corinth and taking credit for the ministry taking place there. Paul will not be pulled into a competition with others but simply points to the work they did in planting the church there.  Paul’s desire was to see the ministry extended beyond the borders of what they did while living among the church in Corinth. He wanted nothing more than for this church to grow and mature to the point where they were multiplying beyond their local area. As writers, we have opportunities to see our borders extended through the words we write. Our books can go far and wide in their influence and reach people we wouldn’t be able to in person. Paul quotes Jeremiah 9:24 to emphasize the right kind of boasting. We get a little more of a full picture in verses 23-24, “This is what the Lord says: “Don’t let the wise boast in their wisdom, or the powerful boast in their power, or the rich boast in their riches. But those who wish to boast should boast in this alone: that they truly know me and understand that I am the Lord who demonstrates unfailing love and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth, and that I delight in these things. I, the Lord, have spoken!” In our world of constant self-promotion through social media, these verses cause us to always be intentional about pointing to the Lord as our Source of creativity and inspiration. He is the reason we call ourselves Kingdom Writers. It’s a privilege to even be called children of God. As we encourage our fellow Kingdom Writers, we are also recognizing what the Lord is doing in and through them. As followers of Jesus, we are on the same team. At the end of the day, we can boast in the Lord for all He continues to do in our writing! The Power of Having a Weekly Business Meeting with God Learn the simple steps you can take to implement a weekly business meeting with God. This is one of the most important actions you can take as a Christian writer to ask God for the strategies to write, publish, and market your books successfully. Get access to the video and PDF download now here.

Do The Work 2 Timothy 4:5 - “As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” Paul gives young Timothy four things to do in this powerful little verse… Be sober-minded - In a world where others may be losing their minds, we are to remain clear in our thinking and focused on the things God has for us Endure suffering - Whether from other people or from our spiritual enemy, we are told to endure which is the ability to withstand pain or hardship Do the work - In Timothy’s case, Paul specifically instructs him to do the work of an evangelist. As Kingdom writers, we might be instructed to “do the work of a writer.” Fulfill Your Ministry - Whatever God has called us to do, we are to complete that task and fulfill what He’s called us to do. Fulfill the ministry of writing that book that needs to get into specific hands the Lord wants to encourage What does it mean to “do the work”? We’ll look at this topic as it pertains to the Kingdom writer. The Power of Having a Weekly Business Meeting with God Learn the simple steps you can take to implement a weekly business meeting with God. This is one of the most important actions you can take as a Christian writer to ask God for the strategies to write, publish, and market your books successfully. Get access to the video and PDF download now here..  

Don't miss out! The Courageous Writer Bundle ends 5/7/24 at midnight eastern. Get yours here: https://courageouswriterbundle.com/ 1. Listen to podcasts for free. Check out my private podcast, Hitz Blitz here: https://trainingauthors.com/hitzblitz 2. Attend online conferences and summits. Sign up to one of the editions of the Kingdom Writers Conference here: https://kingdomwritersconference.com/editions/ 3. Sign up for bundles. We are hosting the Courageous Writer Bundle with over 40 experts. It ends 5/7/24 so make sure to get yours now here: https://courageouswriterbundle.com/ Which option will you choose this week?