The Writing Life

A Love Affair with Words

By Karen Ballon January 28, 2015

I love writers. Love how much they love words. Love how they seem to know from the earliest age, that words are more than just letters strung together, they’re…

Power.

Persuasion.

Delight.

Wonder.

Magic.

As I pondered this, I looked back at those early days when I started to discover I was a word person. And I wondered…

When did writing first sing to us? To me? To you? Whose words first stirred us, deep within?

For me, it was:

A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh books, read to me by my mom.
The Pink Room. One of the first novels I ever read. I don’t remember the story, haven’t been able to find it anywhere so don’t know the author, but I remember like it was yesterday the impact the story had on me. How it transported me.
C. S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia, read in installments in our Sunday School paper.
The Trixie Beldon series—Go, Bobwhites!
The Miss Bianca series—the actual books, not the Disney incarnations. Trust me, the real Miss Bianca books are NOT Disney. These books showed me how wonderfully awful villains can be, and how truly inspiring reluctant heroes are.

So how about you? What are the books or stories that first breathed the love of words into your soul?

I must have started this blog fifteen times. I’d write a word or a line, then delete it. All because I’m trying to think of something new and clever to say about the fact that we’re facing a new year. But you know what? There isn’t really anything new to say. Sure, publishing has changed, and will continue to change. Yes, books are being published and will continue to be published. How that …

Category: Art, Career, The Writing Life, Writing CraftTag: story, The Writing Life

Joy to the (Writer’s) World!

By Karen Ballon December 17, 2014

The Christmas season is upon us. A time of delight and good cheer. A time overflowing with laughter, when we’re restored to carefree children filled with wonder. Right? Um…not so much. In fact, a number of folks have said how frustrated they are, how they’re behind on everything, and overwhelmed with all they should be doing. After all, it’s Christmas! And if they don’t get things done, Christmas …

Category: Get Published, The Writing LifeTag: Christmas, Expectations, The Writing Life

The Most Important Word Every Writer Should Know

By Steve Laubeon October 13, 2014

Failure. It is a word every writer learns to appreciate with time. In the beginning it is frustrating and angry-making. Along the way it becomes “meh” to the point of quitting completely. Eventually there comes the realization that it is normal and part of the business. Michael Jordan, basketball icon, said, “I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost …

Category: The Writing LifeTag: Failure, The Writing Life

When Did You Know You Wanted to Be a Writer?

By Karen Ballon August 6, 2014

Yesterday was my birthday. 57 years of life. It struck me yet again how quickly the days goes by. I swear it was just yesterday that I was a kid, canoeing on Diamond Lake, walking my dog to the used book store to buy my Thor comics (which I collected until my senior year in high school, and which, when I sold my collection, financed my first year of college), gathering with my pseudo-cousins after …

Category: The Writing LifeTag: Career, The Writing Life

The World Rages

By Dan Balowon July 29, 2014

One hundred years ago this week, the Great War began. It was the war that was supposed to end all wars. The world decided it was about time to get all their anger out at once and then go back to living in peace. Following the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria on June 28, 1914, Austria-Hungary and Serbia decided they had had enough of civility and started fighting. A world war …

Category: The Writing LifeTag: Faith, The Writing Life, Theology

Orphan Trains & Wild Stallions

By Guest Bloggeron July 28, 2014

by Allen Arnold I recently read about the unexpected publishing success of Orphan Train. It’s a novel set in present-day Maine and Depression-era Minnesota. This fifth book from Christina Baker Kline has turned out to be a sleeper hit of the year, with more than one million copies sold. I’m intrigued by the book’s premise. But it’s the subhead of the article that caught my attention. “Unlikely …

Category: Art, Guest Post, The Writing Life, TheologyTag: Art, Craft, The Writing Life

My Secret Writer’s Tool

By Karen Ballon June 18, 2014

Guest post by Jennifer Sienes Jennifer Sienes, one of Karen’s clients, is a talented fiction writer who according to editors has a gift for bringing out the emotional power of the scene. She was recently named as a finalist in the 2014 Genesis contest with her novel Redemption. You can find out more and read her blog at www.jennifersienes.com I’ve been reading the Steve Laube Agency …

Category: Career, Guest Post, The Writing LifeTag: Spouses, The Writing Life, Writing tools

Look Up!

By Steve Laubeon May 21, 2014

by Karen Ball A friend shared the video at the end of this blog with me in response to what I wrote here last week. I love the message, not just for me personally, but for anyone who seeks to touch people through their writing. Because really, how effective can we be in what we’re doing as writers if we don’t see and spend time with the people around us? We write about our “core audience” in our …

Category: Get Published, Karen, The Writing LifeTag: Audience, The Writing Life

The Writer’s Pod

By Karen Ballon April 30, 2014

When I was at the Mount Hermon Writers’ Conference a week or so ago, I went to one of my all-time favorite places: The Santa Cruz Wharf. It’s one of the best places to see the sea lions, which are draped all over the pilings of the wharf, as well as swimming and playing in the water around it. A few years ago, I saw something I’d never seen before. A group of sea lions all floating together. Come …

Category: Career, Communication, Conferences, Creativity, Karen, Platform, The Writing LifeTag: Community, Conferences, The Writing Life