Some writers, however, rose to the top – and this post recognizes them for this past quarter, which ran from October to December. With nine topics and three levels, one post in each level earned a top rating each week. But which post for each level rated highest overall? That’s what this is about. Let’s give a cheer to these three writers, and their entries, that got the highest ratings in their level for the entire quarter.

October-December Writing Challenge Quarterly Winners

BEGINNERS/INTERMEDIATE
Don’t Worry, God Will Provide by Sandra Allsworth (Thankful Challenge)
https://www.faithwriters.com/wc-article-level2-previous.php?id=58481

ADVANCED
Invitations by Marilyn Borga (Generous Challenge)
https://www.faithwriters.com/wc-article-level3-previous.php?id=58441

MASTERS
The Six Jolly Church-Goers by David Butler (Thankful Challenge)
https://www.faithwriters.com/wc-article-level4-previous.php?id=58474

CONGRATULATIONS, SANDRA, MARILYN, AND DAVID!

The Writing Challenge starts up again on Thursday, January 2, 2020. Won’t you join us?

BEGINNERS/INTERMEDIATE:  Skies Open by Caryn Jacobs (Surprise Challenge)

ADVANCED: Declaration Dilemma by Arlene Baker (Clear as Mud Challenge)

MASTERS: The Weird World of Wigs by David Butler (Hair Challenge)

Congratulations, Caryn, Arlene, and David!

Watch for the Writing Challenge to start up again on October 3. Hope to see your entry!

Sally Hanan has been a FW member for a VERY long time (almost 15 years!), and though she hadn’t entered the Writing Challenge in a few years, she submitted an entry this past March. That entry took the top spot that week, and NOW has been recognized as third place in Best of the Best. Read on to learn more about Sally, her entry, her publishing successes and dreams, and her connection to the people of FaithWriters – and more.

JOANNE SHER: First of all, congratulations on your BoB win! What was your reaction when you found out you were third place in Best of the Best?

SALLY HANAN: I was very surprised, to be honest, as I hadn’t placed at all in the quarterly ratings. It was a lovely notice to get in my inbox.

JOANNE: Your winning piece, Royalty Enshrined, is such a beautiful, imagery-rich poem. How did it come together for you? 

SALLY: I’m a bit of a dreamer when it comes to what goes on in my head, and I saw it before I put the words down. The correlation of seeds heading off matched what was going on in my own life—our baby (age 24) was making plans to leave and our oldest child has already been gone for a few years. It’s like a wind blows through and carries them off, and it’s now up to them to plant where they will and become who they will.

JOANNE: Ohhh – can I relate (guessing I’m not the only one!) You have been at FaithWriters since 2005 – though your presence over the past nine years or so has been felt more in the FaithWriters Facebook group than on the actual site. What motivated you to enter for the first time in several years? Will you be back? What is it about the FaithWriters family that makes you stick around as you do?

SALLY: The FaithWriters family has truly been a lifeline for me, a lovely fit in so many ways. The talent, encouragement, laughs, and ongoing celebration matches no other social media group I’ve joined since, in that I started as a baby writer and wrote my way into better writing alongside incredible people.

I’m not sure what made me enter after so long. I think I was tired of doing boring work stuff and wanted to remind myself of what else was inside me, scratching to get out. Another part of it was that I’d gotten back into reading some really great fiction again, and it was inspiring to fill up with so many beautiful words. I wanted to see if I could write something as descriptive.

I’m sure I’ll be back from time to time. FW has a piece of my heart.  

JOANNE: We love you too Have you always enjoyed writing, or is it something that developed later? What is your favorite genre to write in?

SALLY: I’ve always loved words. My English teachers encouraged me all through my school years, but I stopped writing for many years while I raised my kids. Once they were fairly self-sufficient, I jumped straight back in. Writing makes me feel more alive.

I like writing women’s fiction because of the way the words can dance and reach into the soul, but I also love writing Christian nonfiction because words can give people so much understanding to a confusing topic, and they can also give great encouragement to someone feeling stuck or not good enough.

JOANNE: So true! How about reading? What’s your favorite type of book to read? Who are your favorite authors?

SALLY: I love good women’s fiction. Not too wordy, not too smarmy or too loaded with romance that it blocks a good story, not too depressing. I’m averaging about a book a week now that the kids are gone.

My current favorite is Diana Gabaldon. Her writing is magical, and I just haven’t found anyone else who can match the way she breathes life into every scene. Other writers I’ve enjoyed lately are Fredrik Backman, Gregory Boyle, Olivia Hawker, Rachel Kadish, Tara Westover, and Liana Moriarty.

JOANNE: Tell us a bit about you and your family.

SALLY: I’m an Irish immigrant. We moved here in 1995 after winning a lottery visa, and our kids were five months and three years old at the time. We moved to Austin and have never left. The weather here is fantastic compared to the temps and constant rain of home. I was a stay-at-home mom for many years and now I’m free to do what I want when I want. It feels divine. 

JOANNE: Sounds wonderful! What are your hopes and dreams for the future, both personally and professionally?

SALLY: I’d like to write many more nonfiction books. I already have three out in the big world, but I’m always planning new books in my head. We’ll see which ones make it out. 

I’ve written a few novels too, and I thought the latest one had a chance of getting published, but it never worked out. I might go back to it at some point and iron out the things that didn’t work in it. I’ve started three new ones….

I love doing heart healing ministry and life coaching with people, so I’ve been thinking a lot lately of starting a video course on it. Maybe that’ll grow into speaking opportunities.

I’ve had a writing and editing business for about ten years now, and it’s going well. The last few years have been more interesting in that I’m also doing typesetting and cover design. It’s always exciting to help an author see his/her book on websites and to be able to feel the real product of possibly years of effort in one’s hands.

 Long term, my personal Scripture is that God will make me a blessing to others. That’s my biggest hope and dream for my daily and future “being.”

JOANNE: Where can folks connect with you? 

SALLY: FaithWriters Profile

Facebook: Personal Page    Writing and Editing Business: Inksnatcher    Pick Your Life

Inksnatcher website

Pick Your Life website

Twitter

Instagram

JOANNE: Anything else you’d like to share?

SALLY: Overall, life is about trying everything and then keeping on with what is enjoyable. No one is great at anything starting out, but there is always a way to get better, learn more, understand more, and enjoy it all in the journey. Hard stuff always happens, but when it comes to writing and beautiful words, they make everything better. They infuse the soul like a hot cocoa on a snowy day. We can be those writers serving up the cocoa.

JOANNE: Love this! Thanks so much, Sally, for sharing with us. Congrats again, and i am praying your ministries, and everything else, will be a success and glorify the Lord.

Allison Egley has been around FaithWriters for a VERY long time, entering the Writing Challenge and encouraging others in their writing pursuits. And now, her poignant piece Strength and Dignity has brought her a second place Best of the Best “crown.” Join us as we learn more about Allison, her winning entry, her writing journey, and her life outside of FaithWriters.

JOANNE SHER: First of all, congratulations on your BoB win! What was your reaction when you found out you were chosen as  second place in Best of the Best?

ALLISON EGLEY: Well, once I found out this piece was judged “Best of the Quarter,” I was hoping it might find its way to the top three, but I was still definitely happy and a little surprised when I found out. 

 JOANNE: Your winning piece, Strength and Dignity, is well-structured and very thought-provoking. How did this entry come together for you? Any particular struggles getting it the way you liked it?

ALLISON: To get ideas for a topic, I often play what I call “The Alphabet Game,” where I try to come up with something related to the topic for each letter of the alphabet. For C, “cult” came to my mind immediately. Then, the idea went back and forth. At first, I was going to write a story about a cult that is very “proper” and where much is forbidden. Then I played with the idea of the opposite — a cult in which vanity is not only encouraged, but the main value of the cult. But I didn’t think I could really pull that off. And then I realized… I could combine the two, in a roundabout way – a cult that says that vanity and pride are forbidden, when, in reality, they think they are better than everyone else, which can be both pride and vanity.

As far as actually writing the piece, this came together pretty easily, and actually turned out better than I had thought, which is a rarity for me. I continued Esther’s story a few weeks later and have been encouraged to try to write more of her story. Interestingly enough, it wasn’t until after I wrote this story that started reading a couple of non-fiction books about people who have been caught in cults. Unfortunately, even in the modern day, the extreme corporal punishment I mention in my story is not uncommon in cults.

JOANNE: Thanks so much for sharing your creative process. You have been at FaithWriters for almost 15 years – and this is your second time being recognized for Best of the Best (the first time, you got first place in 2012 for Upload Complete – a VERY different entry than this one ) What has kept you around FaithWriters, and what do you most like about it?

ALLISON: What I like most about FaithWriters is the people. Honestly, if it were just the writing, I probably wouldn’t have stayed around. It’s the people and the community, and the support from the people and community, not only in writing, but in all aspects of life. I have met so many amazing people on FaithWriters. Some of them I’ve had the opportunity to meet in person at the various conferences we’ve had in the past. Others I’ve never met in person, but I still consider them dear friends.

JOANNE: I absolutely second that! Have you always enjoyed writing, or is it something that developed later? 

ALLISON: Oh, I am SO glad you asked this question, because it’s one of my favorite stories to tell. I think it would be fairer to say that I never disliked writing. As a child, it’s not like I was constantly writing. I wrote for school assignments, and that was it. As I stated earlier, I never disliked writing assignments, and I always got good grades, but writing wasn’t anything I sought after.

When I was in my junior year of college, I was taking a class called “Senior Seminar.” It was team taught by Dr. Hamblin and Dr. Azuma. I had had Dr. Hamblin before for one of my core English courses and I liked him. So when I noticed this class fit my schedule, was a topic I’d enjoy (sports and literature), and a professor I knew I liked, I decided to take it.

On one of the first days of class, I stayed after class to talk to Dr. Hamblin because I didn’t technically meet the prerequisites for the course, since I was taking it my junior year. (Because I was an education major in college, and due to field experience courses senior year, it was recommended we take our seminar class one year early) I was telling Dr. Hamblin this, and this next part is what I’ll never forget. He said to me, “Allison, I know you. You’ll be fine.” Then, he turned to Dr. Azuma and said, “Have you ever met Allison? I’ve had her in class before, and she’s a good writer.” I just stood there in complete shock. A college English professor just called ME a good writer, to another professor. Wow. Up until that point, I had always considered my good grades in English part of being a good student in general. I had never really separated it out. About a year prior to this comment, I had written a prompt for a book, but it never went anywhere. After the comment by Dr. Hamblin, I decided to find a place to publish that piece and found FaithWriters in a Google search. I’ve been writing on and off since then. An edited version of that piece that first brought me to FaithWriters was eventually published in the first “Trials and Triumphs” book, and I’ve been able to share that story with many others.

I’ve recently been able to reconnect with Dr. Hamblin through Facebook, have given him a couple of the FaithWriters books that have my stories in them, and have generally tried to keep him up to date on my writing. He’s told me that I was one of his greatest success stories (even though I wasn’t even an English major), and that he really misspoke in his comment to Dr. Azuma… That he should have said I was an “outstanding” writer. So, thank you, Dr. Hamblin!

JOANNE: What a wonderful story about the influence one person can have on another! How about reading? What’s your favorite type of book to read? Who are your favorite authors?

ALLISON: Recently, I’ve been into Sci-Fi and young adult dystopian novels. There’s something about them that’s so intriguing. With the dystopian novels, especially, it’s so easy to say, “Oh, that would never happen.” But then, as you think about the back story, it doesn’t seem as far fetched. It’s great insight into what could happen if human behavior is left unchecked.

I’ve also enjoyed Jodi Picoult books. She’s not a Christian author, and there’s a bit of language that some may not like, but her books are raw and poignant, and help you look at things from a perspective you might never have considered.  

JOANNE: Tell us a bit about you and your family.

ALLISON: I sometimes feel like there’s not too much to tell about me! Besides going to work, I spend time on the internet, and help with various church activities. Every summer, I help with a community children’s musical at my church generally with 40 to 60 kids involved. This year we have just over 55 kids. It’s so much fun watching these kids work together to perform a musical while also learning and sharing Biblical truths. It’s always one of the highlights of my year. The performance is always at the end of July, so it’s coming up pretty quickly now! During the school year, I help with the AWANA program at my church, which is a Bible memorization and service program for kids, from toddlers to high school. I’m also going back as an adult to do the AWANA books. 

For family, I live with my mom and oldest brother in the suburbs of St. Louis, Missouri… Go Blues, 2019 Stanley Cup Champions! Sorry. I’ve got to give a shout-out to my local teams. On a more serious note, my dad passed this past December, after battling Lewy Body Dementia. It’s been hard, but I know he’s with his Savior, and that makes a huge difference. The three of us living together has also helped all of us. I have another older brother who currently lives in Virginia with his wife and 3-year-old daughter. We get to see them about once per year, which isn’t enough, but we also try to call and video chat with them.

JOANNE: Sounds like a busy, but fulfilling, life What are your hopes and dreams for the future, both personally and professionally?

ALLISON: Professionally, I’ve worked for Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) for the state of Missouri for over ten years now. It’s not what I ever expected to be doing as an education major, but I love my job, and don’t see myself leaving any time soon. VR is a program which helps people with disabilities find and maintain employment. I do intake interviews when clients first come in, to figure out what types of services and assistances they need.

Personally, I’ve become an advocate for Hip Dysplasia, also called Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip (DDH). I had it as a child, and it’s actually what led me to write the piece that I mentioned above that brought me to FaithWriters in the first place. Each year, I do a Color Run 5k, and I walk (NOT run…) it in honor of a child currently going through treatment for DDH. It’s actually quite common, and yet so few people know about it. I see myself continuing to do that, as well as helping out with the church activities. 

As far as writing is concerned, I see it remaining a hobby. I have no aspirations right now for a book or novel, and I’m happy in my current job. Of course, God could always surprise me, but for now, it’s not something I see doing much beyond the challenge and other leisure writing activities. 

JOANNE: Sounds like you have a servant’s heart. Where can folks connect with you? 

ALLISON: My email address is ajegley at gmail dot com [not writing it out to hopefully minimize spam]. I’m on Facebook, FaithWriters, and honestly, that’s about it. I technically have Twitter also, but I think I have a grand total of about five tweets. So… you know. Not the best we to actually contact me.

JOANNE: Anything else you’d like to share?

ALLISON: I always just have to smile and shake my head in awe about how God brought everything together in my life to bring me to where I am today. There are a few things that may seem like tiny details to anyone looking in on the outside, but if just one of those were changed, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I’m so thankful for all the pieces God has brought together, and I’m so thankful to call Jesus my Savior. He is worthy! 

JOANNE: Yes He is! And we are glad He did too –  it is a blessing to have you as a FaithWriters regular. Congratulations again, and many thanks for sharing!

Be sure to watch for an interview with Sally Hanan, third place Best of the Best, on the blog soon!

Marianne Holbrook has been a Faithwriters member for many years, and has been a big encourager to many. And now it’s time for FaithWriters to encourage her – with FaithWriters’ 2019 Best of the Best win for her moving entry Come and Dine. Read on to learn about Mariane, her winning entry, her (embarrassing) writing debut, and more.

JOANNE SHER: First of all, congratulations on your BoB win! What was your reaction when you found out you were chosen as  Best of the Best?  

MARIANE HOLBROOK: Thank you.  I was both surprised and shocked.  I hadn’t been following the BOBs and didn’t know of my win until Verna Mitchell sent me a congratulatory Email. I called to my husband to read Verna’s Email with me so I could be sure I wasn’t dreaming.

JOANNE: Your winning piece, Come and Dine, is so incredibly inspiring, especially knowing it was a true story. Was “Daddy” your father, or someone else you knew? How true to the actual happenings did you stay? How did this entry come together for you? Any particular struggles getting it the way you liked it?  

MARIANE: It’s a true story of my father who, even into our adulthood was always called “Daddy” by his five daughters. The story was told to me by the members of my family and several neighbors who were aunts and cousins.  Daddy was a godly man who taught Bible studies to fellow workers on the railroad during their lunch hour. He also was lay pastor of a small church in an impoverished nearby village whose residents begged him to preach on Sunday afternoons. That way he could still attend our church in the mornings and evenings.  Since he never owned a car, he would walk three miles down the railroad tracks for the 2:30 pm service, then walk back home in time for our church evening service. My sister and I often accompanied him. Over the years, relatives added details of the “Come and Dine” story that I hadn’t heard before, like the picnic held in our back yard. 

JOANNE: What a wonderful man! You have been around FaithWriters for a long time, but took a break from the challenge until recently (in fact, “Come and Dine” was your first challenge entry back after seven years!)  – and you have been faithfully entering since then. What does FaithWriters mean to you, and how has it impacted you? 

MARIANNE:  I took a break because my health was declining.  After my sons and my relatives asked me to write down the stories I often told of my family, I could think of no better venue than FaithWriters.  It provides the impetus and motivation to complete a story each week. I am keeping them in a file for my family to enjoy when I’m gone. Since I am 85 years old, I realize I have a limited amount of time left so I’m committed to writing for as long as I can.  My health hasn’t improved but my coping mechanism are better. Every day I thank God for strength He gives me for each new day.

JOANNE: You are such an inspiration! So glad you are back. Have you always enjoyed writing, or is it something that developed later? What is your favorite genre to write in?  

MARIANE: I started writing in seventh grade when I wrote a love poem in class about our new English teacher, a handsome Marine, who had just returned from World War 2. When I finished, the boy across from me grabbed it and was reading it when the teacher caught him not paying attention.  He asked the student to read aloud to the class whatever was more interesting than his teaching. The boy eagerly shared it with the large class who burst into uncontrolled laughter until the teacher, as embarrassed as I was, confiscated the poem and buried it deeply in his desk drawer and tried to continue teaching.  

 As far as my favorite genre, I love to write true stories. In my long life, coming from a family of seven children, and born during the Great Depression,  I have a stockpile of stories still to write. About ten years ago I self-published two books of short stories and poetry, titled,”Prisms Of The Heart” and “Humor Me.”  They run the gamut from inspirational to humor, meditations to answers to prayers. I never advertised them and I think I sold two copies (both to my mother). The rest I gave away.  They are now out of print and likely collecting dust on some relatives’ forgotten bookshelves. (grin)

JOANNE: Love your sense of humor. How about reading? What’s your favorite type of book to read? Who are your favorite authors? 

MARIANE: I love biographies and read little fiction, with the exception of John Grisham, Ann Ruhl, and other crime writers.  I love the drama of a courtroom. I also love to read and write poetry and though I cannot write free verse, I like to encourage others who do it well, such as Verna, Linda Owen and others.

JOANNE: I know these ladies appreciate your encouragement. Tell us a bit about you and your family. 

MARIANE: I have been married to my college sweetheart, John, for almost 64 years. We have both been teachers in the public school system, (John much longer than I), until our retirement on the beautiful North Carolina coast twenty years ago. We have two married sons, Johnny and Tim, and three grandchildren. All are born again Christians and lead godly lives. We are blessed.

JOANNE: What a wonderful legacy. Where can folks connect with you? 

MARIANE:  I can be reached by Email (Mariane777 at bellsouth.net), through Facebook and of course, through FaithWriters. 

JOANNE: Anything else you’d like to share?  

MARIANNE: I like to encourage others to join or rejoin FaithWriters.  It provides unique opportunities to sharpen our writing tools, broaden our horizons, gain a wider audience, and give another raison d’etre.

JOANNE: And we SO appreciate it! Thanks so much, Mariane, for sharing, and congrats again on your win!

Watch for interviews with the two runners up – Allison Egley and Sally Hanan – on the blog soon!

The annual Best of the Best awards are announced July 1 each year, the awards going to the three highest rated Editors’ Choice winners for the previous twelve months. First place gets $100, second place $50, and third place $25.

Congratulations to our three awesome winners:

1ST PLACE Come and Dine by Mariane Holbrook (Feast Challenge)

2ND PLACE Strength and Dignity by Allison Egley (Vanity Challenge)

3RD PLACE Royalty Enshrined by Sally Hanan (Blessed Challenge)

Watch for interviews with the winners on the blog soon.

Congratulations, Mariane, Allison, and Sally!

ANNOUNCEMENT: Starting in July, the FaithWriters Writing Challenge will have nine topics each quarter, with a one-week break between weeks five and six.

Congratulations to the FaithWriters Writing Challenge entrants whose entries scored the highest in each level over the entire Spring quarter. Be sure to give these entries a read (click on the titles) – you WILL be blessed!

BEGINNERS/INTERMEDIATE: The Final Salute by Robin Newberger (RAIN challenge)

ADVANCED: Daddy by Arlene Baker (QUESTION(S) challenge)

MASTERS: Ginormous Love by Rachel Burkum (IT’S CHILD’S PLAY challenge)

Congratulations to Robin, Arlene, and Rachel! Keep your eyes open for the announcement of the 2019 Best of the Best winners (the highest rated entries for the last four quarters) on July 1.

By Randy Ingermanson

Writing a first draft is hard. You have to create a group of interesting characters in an interesting storyworld, force them into conflict in scene after scene, and never let the story go flat.

For some writers, writing a first draft is also fun. They write with abandon, pushing out the words, getting the story down on paper. But the problem is that when these writers finish the novel and actually look at what they wrote, they usually find that the first draft is bad. For other writers, writing a first draft is torture. They labor over every single sentence. They sweat the small stuff and the smaller stuff. And then when the story’s finally written, and they actually look at what they wrote, they usually find that the first draft is bad.

There’s a pattern here.

The First Draft is Usually Bad

I suppose a few lucky writers don’t write bad first drafts. But most writers do. And that’s OK. For most writers, a bad first draft is the necessary step to writing a fairly good second draft. Which is the necessary step to writing a pretty good third draft. And eventually, after enough drafts, the story turns into a very good final draft.

What If Your First Draft is Good?

That’s great, if your first draft is good! Super, actually. Amazing. You are not like most writers. If you are lucky enough to write awesome first drafts, be happy. But don’t tell anyone, because most writers don’t, and some of them will get downright snippy if you tell them your first drafts are amazing.

Some of them will sneer at you and say that if you really can’t improve on your first draft, you can’t be much of a writer. Pay no attention to those naysayers. But do get your manuscript edited, because even good manuscripts have issues. But the fact remains that most writers write awful first drafts most of the time. I certainly do.

Is It Bad to Be Bad On the First Draft?

No, it’s not bad. It’s uncomfortable. It’s discouraging. It can be downright debilitating. But it’s normal.

If you just remember it’s normal, that may keep you from beating yourself up. You have permission to write a bad first draft. You have permission to be awful. You have permission to write the worst drivel ever. Because you can fix it in the next draft. Or the one after that. Or the one after that.

But you’ll never fix it unless you first write it. So get it written, as the old slogan goes, and then get it right. And you have permission to take as many drafts as you need to get it right.

Homework—A few questions to think about

1. Are you working on the first draft of a novel right now?
2. Is it coming along more slowly than you’d like?
3. Are you worrying too much about making it perfect?
4. Would it hurt to leave some work for the second draft?
5. Would it speed things up to give yourself permission to be bad? (Just for this draft?)

It may be that none of these questions apply to you. If not, then keep doing what you’re doing. But I’m betting these questions apply to a lot of writers.

**

This article is reprinted by permission of the author.

Award-winning novelist Randy Ingermanson, “the Snowflake Guy,” publishes the free monthly Advanced Fiction Writing E-zine. If you want to learn the craft and marketing of fiction, AND make your writing more valuable to editors, AND have FUN doing it, visit http://www.AdvancedFictionWriting.com.

BEGINNTERS/INTERMEDIATE My Marine by Jenny Miller (Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder Challenge)
https://www.faithwriters.com/wc-article … p?id=57636

ADVANCED Milestones and Millstones by Stephen Kimball (Shop Challenge)
https://www.faithwriters.com/wc-article … p?id=57387

MASTERS Power from Beyond by Tracy Nunes (Shop Challenge)
https://www.faithwriters.com/wc-article … p?id=57391

Great job, Jenny, Stephen, and Tracy!

Effective with April 4th Entries

“I could write a fantasy piece with a lion and a witch and no mention of God, and yet be firmly Christian,” C.S. Lewis