WRRS: An Acronym for Writers

Mary A. Hake - OCW President - This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Does the writing and publishing process ever make you grit your teeth and growl? Or cry? Or pray? I admit I have done these and more as I struggle to grow and produce as a writer.
Professional writers master the craft of writing. For the workshop I taught at our 2009 spring conference, I coined the term WRRS. This is an acronym for what the writing process entails as we seek to write for publication. It may be common advice, but it’s helpful to recall the basics from time to time. They are:

• WRITE regularly—daily if possible. (I take Sundays off—a weekly day of rest.)
•  RESEARCH information to provide accuracy and background for the manuscript (whether fiction or nonfiction, articles or books) and research the markets.
•  REVISE and polish. (Query if required.)
• SUBMIT to appropriate market(s).

When your piece is accepted and published, rejoice! Then repeat RRS for reprints. If your manuscript is repeatedly rejected, you can use RRS to help rework it to improve its likelihood of being published. Also get feedback from knowledgeable writers to help you improve it.

Complete these steps again and again and again—each time you begin a new work. Following this plan will lead to success as a writer. Perseverance pays off. Don’t become discouraged or weary in well-writing. Like anything worth doing, writing well takes effort.
Practicing regular writing helps perfect your craft. Attending conferences, reading books on writing and quality work in your genre, listening to recorded workshops about the writing business, participating in critique groups, and tapping into the wealth of online resources all contribute significantly to growth as a writer. Writing can be a lonely vocation. Interaction with fellow writers not only provides mutual encouragement but fires and inspires future writing. Take advantage of the myriad of opportunities God provides to hone you and your writing.

Research is paramount for the professional writer. It provides the information needed to mentally prepare to transfer data from the mind to the page. Background facts and nuances may never be included in the finished product, but they color and direct what you present on paper. Not gleaning enough details cheats you and your reader. Don’t rush to arrive at the creative segment until you have saturated your brain with adequate research. And more investigation may be required as the piece develops.
Researching not only information for your manuscript but also potential markets will enable you to target your writing more carefully as you develop your piece. Don’t aim at nothing—you’ll hit it every time. Know the prospective readers in your audience—ages, education, income level, etc., and what they want.

Get to know the publishers as well. Study their guidelines (and the themes for periodicals that use them). Read what is published by the places you want to target. Keep up with current trends. Make sure what you intend to submit fits the publishers you target and their style.

The next sequence in the writing process is probably endured more than it is enjoyed. Don’t skimp here. Revising means adjusting and improving. Correct every error; check those facts. Read your work aloud and mark places that are not clear or make you pause. Seek to remedy those glitches. Then give your well-crafted manuscript the final polish it deserves, until it shines like the full moon reflecting the light of the Son.

When it is as good as you can make it, send it off with a prayer. Many writers don’t follow through by completing this final step. Don’t be afraid to take the risk of rejection. Submit the manuscript; then move on to another project.

May our writing touch lives and bring glory to God. The labor can be intensive, but it is definitely worth it. We might never know the results of our efforts, but God will bless both us and our writing as we do it as unto Him.

Commit your writing to the Lord. Seek His direction and His desire. Follow His Spirit’s nudges. And leave the results in His hands. His timing is perfect—even if it does not appear so from our limited earthly perspective—for God views it from eternity. Just think: The effects of our writing can go on forever. Doesn’t that make it worth the work?