Rest

Read Psalms 21-24

Psalms 23:3 "He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake."

Rest is important for us, for our readers, and for our characters. For ourselves, we can’t keep pushing without allowing for a break, whether it’s a break each day or whether we set aside a day or days to rest.

For our readers, there are many markets for how to rest articles, whether it’s along the lines of how to get a good night’s sleep or how to take a break from a stressful life. For fiction, we build in some breathing room so our readers don’t wear themselves out reading our story.

For our characters, we write times when they take care of their needs like meals and times when they sort out what has gone before and plan their next move. There is also usually a downtime moment in the novel before the big showdown so both characters and readers can catch their breaths.

Readers

Read Psalms 17-20

Psalms 18:25 "With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright;"

When we’re writing, we want to keep our readers in mind. If we are writing a journal that no one else will see, we can let loose and write whatever we please.

Even a journal might have other readers, unless we destroy them before we die. But most writing we do is expected to have other readers.

Sometimes it helps to picture just one of those we hope will be reading our words. Other times, it helps to keep the variety of people we are writing for in mind.

Essays

Read Psalms 13-16

Psalms 14:2 "The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God."

Essays are a short piece of writing on a particular subject, according to the dictionary. They tend to be more formal than a column.

We write essays when we have strong opinions or maybe some experience about a certain issue. There are plenty of markets for any kind of essay we might want to write.

Whether we want to sell to magazines or newspapers, we will want to get familiar with the publication to see what kinds of subjects are covered and what tone will be expected from us. Once we get enough published, we might even gather them together for a book.

Self Help

Read Psalms 9-12

Psalms 9:1 "I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works."

Self help information has lots of markets. We all want to improve our selves and our lives.

Magazines, newspapers, newsletters are hungry for self help articles. Once we’re familiar with our target, we can think up all kinds of ideas for the readers.

If we already have ideas or expertise we might prefer to write a book. They take longer, of course, but if it’s a subject that comes from our hearts or experience, we may have a head start on the research.

Prayers

Read Psalms 5-8

Psalms 5:3 "My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up."

As we read through the Psalms, we can’t help but get in a prayerful mood. Is there any market for writing prayers or is prayer just for journaling?

Prayer books used in churches and synagogues are unlikely to be seeking material since the same ones have been used for so many years. However, there is a small market for prayers.

The markets are mostly for books of prayer or about prayer, for instance for children or for a certain subject. Also, there are a few markets for prayers in the form of poetry.

Blog Writing

Read Psalms 1-4

Psalms 2:7 "I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee."

Getting published is easy if we blog. Unless we’re writing things that are illegal or immoral, our blog will be published on the internet with a click.

We can choose to write about a subject we are passionate about like a political issue. We might write more of a how-to blog, for instance about writing.

We might write about our lives as things come up, like a diary. Or we could write about our lives combining a how-to approach with a journal, for instance coping with life as a disabled vet.

Endings

Read Job 40-42

Job 42:12 "So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses."

Endings need to be memorable. It’s the last impression the reader has.

If it’s an article, one way to end is with a circle back to the beginning. We might start an anecdote in the beginning and bring it to a close at the end.

If it’s fiction, we can still reflect back on the beginning in many ways. Happy ending or unhappy ending, we want to show the protagonist’s life beyond the story.