If you have a book on your heart that you’d like to get out to the world, I’m glad to help! I’ve written over 30 books and helped others do the same. I’d love to help you.

The Apostle John said:

"Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written" (John 21:25).

And that’s exactly what I’d like to do: flood the world with stories about Jesus and how He IS STILL TOUCHING LIVES TODAY… including yours.

Watch my podcast or read Chapter 1 from my book below if you need some inspiration that YOU REALLY CAN do this. I believe you can. Why? Because God loves to share His stories through the people he’s touched, whether they’re unschooled fisherman, well-educated tax collectors, or farmers or lawyers or tech geeks like me.

YOU CAN DO THIS! I’ll show you how.

By the way, I’m starting another writing class online to begin October 2nd. I’d love for you to join us! My goal with this 12-week class is to work with each person in the group, as a group, to help you get going on the next steps with writing your book, whether you’re just starting out or somehow stuck along the way. We’ll meet on Zoom every Wednesday from 12-1PM Central Time.

Click here to learn more or sign up for the class!

Then watch today’s podcast or read Chapter 1 below for some encouragement that you REALLY CAN DO THIS!

Click here to watch the podcast!

Chapter 1 from Write With Me!
by Elder

For years, I had a book on my heart I wanted to write. I didn’t know how to start. I didn’t know where to start. And I didn’t know how to actually write it.

But then I was challenged to write a 50,000-word novel in 30 days. Unbelievable! Impossible! Or was it?

I found out it was possible! And I did it. (Well, I only wrote 30,000 words, and it took me 40 days. But at the end of those 40 days, I had finished the first draft of a fully fleshed-out, historical novel.)

And I’ve done it many times since. I’ve written over 30 books (35 if you count foreign translations and three books of piano music).

Now, I’d like to challenge you to write that book on your heart. Why? Because I believe when you share your experiences, your strengths, and your hope, others will be strengthened and find hope, too. And we could all use a little more hope, couldn’t we?

Whether you’re writing fiction or non-fiction, thrillers or sci-fi or mysteries, I believe your writing is worth it. People will read it. And many will be blessed by it.

Do you believe it?!? I hope you do! And throughout this book, I hope to give you more and more encouragement to finally write and publish that book on your heart.

How did I do it?

I’ll tell you!

I set aside one month, just 30 days, to get my thoughts out of my head and onto my computer.

First, I wrote down 30 scenes that came into my mind. I didn’t have 30 scenes initially. But as I thought about all the things I wanted to include in my book, I thought about the day my main character lost his parents. I thought about the day he took a boat alone to the Holy Land. I thought about the night he threw a bag of coins through an open window to save a woman from destitution.

I jotted down each of these topics on one piece of paper. I kept going and going until I had over 30 topics that I might include in my book.

Then, I set aside an hour a day, more or less, to write a few paragraphs of what I knew and could remember of each of these scenes. I didn’t look them up again. I didn’t waste time going through old books and magazines and doing internet searches. I just wrote from what I remembered. This wasn’t the time for editing or making sure every detail was perfect. This was the time to get the stories out of my head and onto my computer and to jot down the key points that were important and memorable to me.

I did this each day for 40 days because I started adding chapters along the way as they came to mind or helped the story flow.

At the end of 40 days, I had a finished the first draft of a book that made me laugh and cry and inspired me all along the way.

Was it good? Or was it not so good? I didn’t know. But what I did know was that it captured the heart—the essence—of the story I wanted to tell.

And that story, birthed during my quiet time for an hour a day in November of 2009, became the basis for what eventually became my bestselling book to date— one that’s been turned into a ballet, a musical, and even an Italian “puppet opera.”

How did that journey go? And what got me writing my next book and my next and my next for 35+ books? That’s what I’ll tell you in the rest of this book.

P.S. You can get a copy of Write With Me! and the Write With Me Notebook at inspiringbooks.com