It’s pretty dangerous to publish things online. You never know who will read it. I found out this out first hand this week when I enrolled in a Writer’s Workshop here at YWAM Kyiv.
The workshop was taught by Janice Rogers, the sister of Loren Cunningham (the guy who started YWAM). There were about fifty people taking the course all together from many different Missions organizations and churches. When we introduced ourselves at the beginning of class, and I said my name, Janice stopped and said something like, “Markus… and you work with at-risk kids? I read your story about the Masks.” I was a bit weirded out by that. Apparently that particular email update had been forwarded and taken a life of its own. People I never heard of sent it to her.
I’ve learned, from this workshop, that I make my email updates too long. I set “one page on Microsoft Word” as my standard. But people don’t like to read any email longer than one screen, unless they’re really big fans. If they see they have to scroll, they’ll skip it. So, like the people who make those fund raising candy bars, I’m gradually reducing the size of my emails.
I also received help on a special project. I have this idea for a kids devotional that I’ve been working on for quite some time. It has a target audience of boys around 8 to 10 years old who are fans of Star Wars and stuff like that. When I write, I imagine Jonathan or Austin from back home reading it. (won’t say their last names because this is the ‘net)
Problem is, I’ve been frustrated with it, and I wasn’t sure why. Now I have three specific areas that I can fix. Among other things, I had too many characters and too many anchor points. And I’ve got some format issues I won’t bore you with.
The problem with writing is finding the discipline to finish a project in a timely manner. I’m writing it for Jonathan, not his kids. To help me, I’ve offered to lead a monthly writer’s critique group for other wannabe writers. (Markus, the chronic volunteer) About 10 people signed up. The hope is that we can give each other accountability and feedback to become better writers.
So it was a good week. I feel like God has given me creative ideas and books to change my world. I’ve taken steps to move it forward, and I even got a college credit out of the deal. I think I’m at the right place at the right time.

¶ 1:57 PM

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