Posts tagged James N. Watkins
Writing with Banana Peels by Jim Watkins
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Odd title, you say? Well, the book is about writing humor, and it’s by one of the funniest guys I know, James N. (Jim) Watkins, author, conference speaker, editor, humorist, and threat to society (by his own admission). If you have attended a Christian writers’ conference in recent memory, you may have encountered Jim as a faculty member. Just in case you’ve never heard of him, check out his Web site at www.jameswatkins.com.
The subtitle tells you what the book is about: Principles, Practices, and Pratfalls of Writing Humor. It’s a humor course in one volume. Each chapter contains instruction and examples of Jim’s humor to get your funny bone in shape for writing your own humor.
Get the book for your writer’s how-to library. I promise you will be educated as well as amused. Banana is available on Jim’s Web site at http://www.jameswatkins.com/bananas.htm.
Read Romans 7:14-25
Key Verse: What I don’t understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I can’t be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God’s command is necessary. Romans 7: 15-16 (The Message).
Our town recently installed traffic cameras at certain intersections to catch people running the red lights. At first glance, one might think that we have lazy policemen or town coffers that need additional revenue. When I read the newspaper article about it, I found that accident statistics showed a high incidence of crashes at these locations. And, the mishaps were usually caused by people running the red light. We know the traffic laws, but we break them all the time.
We know God’s laws, too. We have the Ten Commandments on which our American legal system is based. And, Jesus taught the Greatest Commandment, loving God and loving our neighbor. But, we ignore or intentionally break those laws regularly. Imagine what our world would be like without God’s laws, though. Total chaos. Every man for himself. We need guidelines for living because we just can’t seem to do the right thing on our own.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for giving us your law as a guide for living. Forgive us when we fail to follow, and help us to do better in the future. Amen.
Writers on Writing
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Full title – Writers on Writing: Top Christian Authors Share Their Secrets for Getting Published. Editor, James N. (Jim) Watkins.
If you total up the number of years’ experience represented by the list of contributors to this book, how many do you think it would be? I’m just guessing that, between Dennis Hensley, Cecil Murphey, Sally Stuart, Jerry Jenkins, and editor Jim Watkins, you’d have at least a couple hundred years. It says a lot for these successful writers that they would take time to contribute to a book specifically aimed at helping beginning writers. For me, the preface by Watkins is worth the price of the book.
The book covers every aspect of writing from inspiration to working with an agent and developing a platform. It’s organized in three parts: The Writer, The Craft, and The Business. If you’re a writer who has had no luck getting published, this book is for you. You’ll find plenty of ideas, and you’ll want to read it again periodically as you grow in your craft.
The book is available from Wesleyan Publishing House. Click here.
