Writing Devotionals (Part 9)

Writing devotionals is a good exercise in fine-tuning your writing. You have only 250 words to focus one idea. In this small amount of space, you need to make your piece real, establish reader identification, and offer a tentative application of how the reader might act on your point in his or her life.

The devotional market is wide-open and reaches many people. This is an excellent way to get started as well as a fun outlet for the established author. A publishing house may not want to take a chance on a first-time author with a book because the risk involves thousands of dollars. Yet, many of the daily devotional markets use first-time writers.

In writing devotionals, you are only limited by your imagination. Observe what is happening around you at all times, and you will find plenty of material to write about. Personally, writing devotionals is my favorite genre. Perhaps it can become yours, too.

Writing Devotionals (Part 8)

Characteristics of Good Devotionals

Mary Lou Redding suggests 8 characteristics of good devotional writing, which are used here with her permission. Posted below are characteristics seven and eight.

7. Authenticity: Good devotional writing is authentic. It is not affected or preachy. Don’t use Christianese—Christian clichés that only certain denominations use. You want nonbelievers to grow from your words, so they need to understand what you are saying.

Good devotional writing is a real person writing to other real people about what it means to live faithfully in a particular situation. It is the author saying, “This is how God is real for me.” Authentic meditations acknowledge that life is complex and sometimes difficult, while pointing to hope in God.

8. Exploration: Good devotional writing is exploratory. It is not arrogant or preachy. It invites people to explore with you God’s truth. It doesn’t offer final answers. It says, “This is my experience. Is it the same for you, or is a different?” You invite the reader to make connections by providing images that will link his or her daily life with God’s ongoing activities in the world.

Try to incorporate these eight characteristics when writing your devotionals. If you succeed, your readers will be touched by your writing, and hopefully they will grow closer to God.

Writing Devotionals (Part 7)

Characteristics of Good Devotionals

Mary Lou Redding suggests 8 characteristics of good devotional writing, which are used with her permission. Here are characteristics four through six.

4. Concreteness: Good devotional writing is concrete. It deals with what you have seen, touched, and heard rather than abstract concepts. Consider the images Jesus used to help people understand Him. He used bread, water, sheep—everyday items that people living in biblical times as well as today could understand.

5. Economy: Good devotional writing is economical. You want to deliver your message in as few words as possible. Be concise. Don’t attempt to impress people. Just direct them to God’s truth.

6. Strong images: Good devotional writing is full of images. It produces strong images in the reader’s mind. I would much rather read a good book than see a movie because my imagination is more vivid than the Hollywood portrayal. Perhaps many readers feel the same way.

Writing Devotionals (Part 6)

Characteristics of Good Devotionals

Mary Lou Redding suggests 8 characteristics of good devotional writing, which are used with her permission. Here are the first three.

1. Scriptural Base: Good devotional writing in Scripture-based. It is grounded firmly in Bible study. It grows out of meditation and reflection on the Holy Word and its meaning for our lives. Don’t take words out of context or use Scripture inappropriately, however.

2. A Fair Trade: Good devotional writing is a fair trade. It offers your inside in exchange for the reader’s time and effort in reading the meditation. Use this principle regarding every piece of writing you do. The reader should never feel cheated at the end of reading a meditation, a filler, an article, or a book. Provide something new and unusual.

3. Appropriate Style: Good devotional writing has a style that is appropriate to the content or purpose of writing. When you teach, your communication should be direct, with clear use of speech. Don’t make the reader struggle with your words. Also, you can’t get too much emotion into 250 words, so don’t try to deal with issues that are too heavy for the length of your piece.