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Home » Archives for Bob Hostetler » Page 12

Bob Hostetler

In Your Time (A Writer’s Prayer)

By Bob Hostetleron June 30, 2021
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Heavenly Father, 
you make everything beautiful in your time (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

I submit to your timing. 
I await your timing. 
I desire what you will, 
as you will, 
when you will. 

That goes for my writing, too.

I long to touch lives with my words … in your time.
I want to write passionately, effectively, impactfully … in your time.
I yearn to think and communicate clearly and sharply … in your time.
I pray to craft artful, beautiful words, sentences, and passages … in your time.
I ask for publication, for contracts, for endorsements, for readers, and for life-changing influence … in your time,

In Jesus’ name, amen.

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Category: Encouragement, Faith, Inspiration, Theology

31 Ways to Pray for Your Writing

By Bob Hostetleron June 17, 2021
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I consider prayer to be an important—indispensable, even—part of the writing life. I’ve written about that here, in fact. I’ve also written and published 31-day prayer resources (here and here). So, I thought I’d offer here a 31-day prayer plan specifically for you and your writing. See how nice I am? (Pray for me.) 1          “Alpha and Omega, First …

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Category: Encouragement, Inspiration, The Writing Life, Theology

A Literary Agent’s Wish List

By Bob Hostetleron May 27, 2021
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People often ask me, “What are you looking for?” It’s a natural question to ask a literary agent, even when the questioner knows that the agent has offered a detailed answer on the agency website (here, for example). After all, something could’ve changed. I may, since updating my interests, have suddenly decided to get bold, branch out, and try to sell a systematic theology in iambic pentameter. …

Read moreA Literary Agent’s Wish List
Category: Agents, Book Proposals, Craft, Grammar, Pitching, Platform, The Publishing Life, The Writing Life

O I C, U C?

By Bob Hostetleron May 20, 2021
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I’ve been a fan of James Taylor (he of “Fire and Rain” and “Carolina on My Mind” fame) since I first heard “Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight” on the radio at a particularly lonely time in my life. That’s a story for another time; we won’t get into it right now. But from that day I bought or stole every album he ever released. On his 1979 release, Flag, he included a song titled “B.S.U.R. …

Read moreO I C, U C?
Category: Humor, Inspiration

Ten Things to Quit Right Now

By Bob Hostetleron May 6, 2021
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Many writers—especially (but not exclusively) when they’re starting out on this long, uphill journey of writing for publication—are often tempted to quit. Some face that temptation even after they’ve published, and some even after much success. Because it’s hard. If it were easy, everyone would do it (nod to Jimmy Doogan in A League of Their Own). Still, sometimes the hard can get so hard—and …

Read moreTen Things to Quit Right Now
Category: The Writing Life

Procrastination Tips for Writers

By Bob Hostetleron April 28, 2021
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I was going to write this post months ago, but I kept putting it off. True story. Most writers don’t need much help procrastinating. Many of us will do almost anything to avoid the actual task of writing. It’s amazing how many things can distract us from our WIP (work-in-progress) or our WMNP (work-making-no-progress). Still, there may be someone out there in Writerland who needs a few …

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Category: The Writing Life, time management

A Common Platform Mistake

By Bob Hostetleron April 7, 2021
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Some time ago I received a submission that went something like this (names and details have been changed to protect the innocent, guilty, and all those in between): I’ve published three successful nonfiction books. All three, in the area of business and leadership, are still selling very well. One of them, coauthored with Bill Gates (with a foreword by Warren Buffett), reached bestseller status …

Read moreA Common Platform Mistake
Category: Book Proposals, Pitch, Pitching

Submission Mistakes of the More Subtle Variety

By Bob Hostetleron March 25, 2021
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I wrote a post on this blog a while ago (here) about some embarrassing and even disqualifying mistakes writers had made in submissions to me. One reader commented on that post, expressing gratitude and then adding, “What would be helpful to me is to hear the subtle or inadvertent mistakes aspiring authors make when sending a proposal to you. Can you help us with that?” Why, yes, Louise, since you …

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Category: Book Proposals, Economics, Pitching

A Cliché Simile Is a Bad Simile

By Bob Hostetleron February 24, 2021
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One of the many things I fairly harp on when I teach at writers conferences (full disclosure: I’m a fair harper) is the need to eliminate clichés from your writing. Seriously, they’re old hat.  One of the places clichés seem to creep in most often is in similes and metaphors. (Quick refresher: a simile is a figure of speech comparing two things, usually using “like” or “as,” while a metaphor is a …

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Category: Craft, Creativity, Grammar

A Writer’s Keyboard Prayer

By Bob Hostetleron February 11, 2021
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Lord God, my Father, my King, my Sovereign, my All, I RETURN to you with all my heart, I ENTER your presence with gratitude and joy, I ESCAPE into your arms and nestle in the shadow of your wing. DELETE the stain of worldly strife and wicked desires. SHIFT my attention and priorities to reflect your wishes. COMMAND me and bend me to your will. CONTROL my impulse, intellect, and intentions until I …

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Category: The Writing Life, Theology
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