Don't Do It or How Not to Help Fellow Writers

I must’ve been mad. At the time, it seemed like a really good idea; a web-only resource for Christian writers in the UK. Yes! Finally, somewhere for UK based Christian writers to go for writing and publishing information. If only I’d known just how much work was involved!

 

The first Christian Writer website went live on January 1st 2003. It was designed and hosted by a friend; an artist, photographer and graphic designer in one. The same friend revamped the site in January 2004 and in April 2005, I took the site offline. Why? Several reasons:

Today, the website is hosted by a professional IT company and I'm still friends with my former website designer. Every Sunday, I sit in front of my computer and update Christian Writer. On the rare occasions that things go wrong with the website, a simple email to my hosting company and the problem is fixed. I've learnt the difference between paid-for service and a favour done for friends. With the former, because I'm paying for a service, I have high expectations from the company providing the service. With the latter, I didn’t have any expectations because my friend was "helping me out." He designed and hosted my website for free thus I didn't think I had any right to complain if things didn't work the way I wanted them to. Although my friend never complained or made allusions to the fact that he was giving me a free service, I was frustrated because I didn't think I had any right to expect anything from him. Which brings me back to Christian Writer.

 

Like I said, it seemed like a good idea. I thought I would be helping fellow Christian writers like myself. I thought I would just put 'stuff' on the website and leave them there for people to read. I hadn't bargained on the emails, the need for fresh content and the time the website consumed. Who knew there was so much to writing than just writing? Suddenly, it wasn't just a website. It was a ministry. It was a way of communicating with my supporters through the My Life pages. It was a creative writing school. It was an online magazine with its own e-magazine. It was a devotional. It was a launch pad for yet-to-be-published writers.

 

It was a lot of work.

 

Let me explain; I am (currently) the (only) writer and editor of Christian Writer. I believe in paying writers what they're worth which is why I am loath to commission writers without paying them as I currently do not have the capacity to do this. I also have a full-time 9-5. In addition, I run creative writing courses, monitor and manage the website and write my books. I’m adding to the craziness by launching Christian Writer and Reader e-magazine. These things take time. Sometimes, I feel like I'm hurtling from one deadline to another with nary a breath in between. My desire is to make Christian Writer self-sustainable by giving writers quality services and products to help them on their writing journey. I yearn for the day when Christian Writer will launch writing competitions that will make industry biggies sit up and take notice. I can't wait for the day when Christian Writer will commission writers and pay them their worth in £££s instead of the same person (moi) writing the articles week in, week out for free. And I can't wait for the day when I bow out as the editor of Christian Writer and make way for the next generation of editors and writers to make their mark in much the same way that I made mine.

 

My advice to other writers with 'good' ideas? It's never just "a good idea.” It’s always bigger and better than anything you've ever thought about or imagined. I started off with a web resource to help UK based Christian writers. Today, it’s a devotional. A writing school. An e-magazine. It’s grown into a ministry that's enriched my life in more ways than one. Tiring, yes but I wouldn't change it for the world.