I agree with the comments thus far, but believe we are still skimming at the surface. Specifically I am seeking to discuss what are the most basic, inner qualities that God has instilled in the hearts of man. The first of these, which has not yet been addressed is leadership.

All of the other qualities that make up a man aid him in accomplishing his God-given role as the leader. This is not the base, arrogant, insensitive brute kind of tyrant, but a thoughtful, compassionate leader who lives out his daily life with intent.

This single characteristic alone has filled volumes, but we must narrow the topic to the main idea of this discussion. As we seek to better understand how we as men can write for a male audience, we should find ways to better communicate male leadership in our writing. Not domination, but leadership.

It has been my observation that in many ways, Christian male writers have softened the leadership role of their male leads in order to garner greater market share from a readership predominated by women. This lost dynamic, in my opinion, has contributed to the reduction of male readership. I mean let’s face it, most of us men are always looking for male characters that agree more with what we feel inside.

As Christian writers, we should not be wary of competing with the secular market which is relegating the role of masculine leadership to a downplayed, less important factor. I have a strong conviction that Christian male authors should provide a better biblical stance on manhood and transmit such qualities in our male characters. Whenever we find ourselves depleting the ideals we feel strongly within ourselves, we are adding to the confusion that is being generated by society in general.

So, now we have discussed a little about the qualities of man, let us focus on the biblical qualities of male leadership. That leads to this week’s question:

What are the biblical qualities of a male leader?

Slough of Despondence
A man’s identity is sometimes all he has. When he loses the one thing he understands most, the world around him can descend rapidly into chaos and confusion. Caught between the stalled battle lines of warring armies, the loss of one’s can halt you in  your tracks. Which way do you go and who are your friends?

Broad River Dash
Under the cover of darkness, two fugitives flee into the night, but their pursuers are hot on their heels. One mistake could mean the difference between life and death, but with only freedom to gain, there truly is nothing left to lose.

While both of these stories are indeed very short, they are packed with suspense, action, and emotion. I could probably draw both of these stories out into longer episodes, but I feel that their brevity is appropriate and adds to the very mystery each of them represent.

It has been asked more times than can be counted, “Where are all the real men?” The question is often asked by women who are looking for more of themselves in a man than they are for a real, masculine leader. This truth is likely to offend the sensitivities of a female audience, but this conversation is aimed at the men who have become uncertain of how they should talk, how they should act, and how they should write.

It isn’t than men need to come out of their caves armed with a club and issue guttural demands. No, that is not manhood at all. The image of a controlling, abusive male is the exaggerated opposite of the whimpering coward. True manhood lies somewhere in between, but in order to communicate what makes a real man, such a definition needs to be retrieved from the ashes of our modern culture.

So, what does it mean to be a man, a real man, with real and honest emotions, cares, thoughts and desires? If one cannot realize what a man is, how can we communicate with other men? Where can we look to discover the many aspects of man that have been tamed out of us for so long, without swinging the pendulum too far and thus becoming the overbearing brute?

The tide has been out for so long now, that it may be difficult to find what we seek among contemporary literature. At the same time, if we go too far back, we will uncover the simpleton picture of the archaic and domineering master. I, for one, am convinced that what we seek, as Christian men, can be found in the Bible. There are other sources too, but we must start with a reference with which to gauge the polar opposites. If the stories we wish to tell do not derive from the God-given spirit within us, why should we try to write at all?

Yes, the Bible is where we must begin to rekindle our minds with the traits of honor, leadership, value and wisdom. This is, of course, a discussion and by no means a dictatorial pronouncement from my point of view. No, I am as immersed in our current culture as any of you reading this and I have experienced too many failures of manhood to be counted. It is my utmost desire for this to be a searching and revealing experience and conversation among many male authors.

So, the question for this week is: “What are the characteristics of a man?”

The “niche” is your unique viewpoint on any given subject. Let’s say you want to write about cars. Well, there certainly is a big audience for automobiles, but the problem is that there are already a ton of blogs and websites out there writing about cars. What you need to be a successful blogger is a special “niche” within the general subject of cars. You can narrow down “cars” to “sports cars” and further still to “Italian sport cars.” Of course you can continue down the line to even narrower topics, but hopefully you get the picture. The more unique your content is, the greater the chance you have of sticking out from the crowd.

When you have finally narrowed down your particular niche, you can choose a title for your blog and begin writing. Having a niche does in now way restrict you to only writing in that narrow topic, but the best advice is that the majority of your articles remain centered on that particular area.

We will begin to discus the particulars in coming articles, but having a more focused approach to the information you publish will help you identify how to best market your blog. It doesn’t matter whether you choose to earn money from your blog or not, but you will want to find ways to publicize your writing in order to attract readers. This is the essence of marketing, but that is a whole other realm that we will delve into next time.

The original story was half as long in order to qualify for the FaithWriters weekly challenge. This version is extended in order to give the reader a bit more information, but not too much. I believe the brevity of this story enhances the mystery of the circumstances that surround it.

I hope you continue to enjoy my Civil War short stories and there are eight more in the pipeline waiting to be published. As soon as they are all formatted and available as individual stories, I will then publish the entire collection in one volume.

It isn’t that men do not like to read, we know that. The problem is that too much of what we read doesn’t match our God-given personalities. Thankfully there are a number of male authors who have been given the gift to reach both men and women with their prose, but it seems for the most part that we are writing softer stories these days.

We have been convinced that all of what we write needs to paint a pretty picture and drift along on clouds of soft pillowed passion. What happened to the tough, gritty writing that men identified with? The majority of male authors that write for the secular marketplace are still biting bullets and doing hard things. Unfortunately, it seems that many Christian male writers have been duped  into believing that stories need to be tamed down in order to appease our critics.

I’m not buying it, literally! The circle of Christian male authors that I read is shrinking and that disturbs me. We are  in dire need of men who will take up the challenge of writing stories for men that read like stories for men. Enough of the flowery poetry! It is time to dig deeper and reach down inside ourselves to recall the nerve, grit and resolve that God has placed in our blood-pumping hearts.

Don’t think for one minute that your story cannot include nerve-wracking tension, edge-of-your-seat action, and yes, even blood. The heroes of our stories ought to storm through life, taking direct aim at solving whatever life throws at them. Trust me, it is okay to even include romance, but romance as seen through the eyes of the man, not the woman.

Our generation is starving for male leadership. Heroes that save the day, not through manipulation and coercion, but through hard work and steel resolve. Do we still have it within ourselves, men, to write tales of adventure that encourage the hearts of men? I think we do, and together we can find that masculine soul that so many of us are still longing for.

I hope you will join the discussion as we look for ways to improve our writing in order to end the disenfranchisement of our brothers in Christ! Mark your calendars for each and every Wednesday to come and be a part of Men Writing for Men!

It is upon that last point that drives my passion for writing historical fiction. Those of us who do write in this particular genre tend to believe that a better understanding of history is very important to our future. There are clear patterns that repeat themselves across time. Perhaps one of the greatest factors in this circle of unending events is the fact that we as a people are not learning from our mistakes (or our successes).

This is where many historical fiction authors attempt to step in and wave a red flag in an attempt to either warn people not to go back there again or to highlight how a similar circumstance was aptly solved in the past. There are other writers who simply enjoy the periods of time within which they write, but even so, the characters in those stories are living out lives and resolving conflicts.

It is within the context of history that such characters come to life and must navigate particular circumstances to some resolution. Isn’t that what contemporary life is still about? Readers of any given genre are not interested in characters that simply exist. They want vibrant and real emotions, reactions, and experiences.

The fun part of a historical setting, for me, is that through the research and writing, I realize that much of what human kind experiences today is really not that much different from the actions of our ancestors. A high school or college history class may not be able to relay such a reality because within that context, the focus is on the places, dates and names. The conflicts themselves are most often glossed over which makes contemplating their actions much more difficult.

Readers are interested in the human story, the life-blood of any good piece of writing. It may seem illogical to think that a story from the past can be as relevant to modern society as a piece of contemporary fiction, but we historical writers beg to differ. The human story, as played out across the centuries, has really not changed all that much. Our characters may not communicate with cell phones or across electrical networks, but in the end, communication is established and problems (hopefully) are resolved.

If you have not ever read a historical fiction novel, I would encourage you to at least give one a try. You may be surprised to find that regardless of the places, dates and times, the characters are alive with hope and promise for a better tomorrow, your tomorrow. I know that as I write, if I can entice my reader to a better understanding of our past, the chances for a better future will increase.

• Blogger: Originally known as BlogSpot, Google changed the name to Blogger when they purchased this platform. Because it is owned by Google, naturally there is a great degree of integration with the parent company. Blogger is an excellent choice for novice bloggers as well as bloggers not interested in creating unique, custom content. Among writers, it would appear that Blogger is a favorite.
• Compendium Blogware: Compendium Blogware is a platform especially suited to people involved in business blogging. Medium to large sized businesses wanting a remote-hosted solution may do well to consider this solution.
• Drupal: Drupal is more than simply a blogging platform. In essence it is more of a Content Management system and as such is a powerful tool for businesses and larger organizations. Novice bloggers would probably not benefit from Drupal and may in fact get lost in the complex array of options and configurable tools.
• Expression Engine: This is a pay-only platform, but for bloggers who intend to accommodate eCommerce solutions into their site, Expression Engine may well be a suitable solution. However, it too is not likely suitable for novice bloggers or those who will not be heavily engaged in blog monetization.
• Moveable Type: I have to say that while researching these platforms, Moveable Type was one I was not previously aware of. From viewing the material on their site it is apparent that this solution is highly targeted at businesses interested in engaging the entire social networking audience. What I have read about this platform is that it enjoyed a high degree of popularity in its early stages, then fell out of favor for a time, but is re-emerging as a favorite of business bloggers.
• Posterous Spaces: Yet another among this list that I discovered while researching popular platforms. From the appearance and details on their website, Posterous seems to offer solutions for both bloggers and businesses. Users can create simple blogs or complex business websites, both in the same space. Social networking is one of the highlights claimed by Posterous Spaces.
• Square Space: Squarespace claims to offer bloggers a home, but their platform seems much better suited to a professional business website. Users do claim that this platform is easily scalable without requiring a tremendous amount of technical expertise.
• Tumblr: When I first heard about Tumblr, my first reaction was that this is a solution that resides somewhere between Facebook and Twitter. Membership does appear to have grown rapidly in 2011. The “younger” generation appears to have welcomed Tumblr perhaps more than any other group.
• TypePad: TypePad is among the first blogging platforms I considered when I decided to move away from Blogspot (now Blogger). TypePad shares similarities with Blogger in that it offers a high degree of functionality and appears quite simple to configure. Beginning bloggers would probably experience success with this platform.
• WordPress: WordPress, my personal platform of choice, is a free, open-source blogging platform that can be configured on WordPress’ own site or within your own individual domain. The WordPress community is vast and there are perhaps more third-party plugins and themes available for this platform than any other. Due to the wide variety of plugins, the WordPress platform has surpassed the simple blogging platform and has in fact evolved into a one-stop content management system. Scalability is the key feature of WordPress and users can make it as simple or complex as they desire.

There are, of course, a multitude of additional blogging platforms available. I chose the above list because they have enjoyed the most longevity and support among the blogging community. Also, because I highly recommend WordPress, here is an offer for powerful WordPress Plugin and Design support:

As writers, we understand that there are many aspects to our craft, but the common thread that follows most of us is solitude. A writer that can whip out a manuscript in the midst of a noisy and chaotic environment is a rare creature indeed. It is much more common for a writer to require a calm, quiet atmosphere in order to draw out the creative spirit and lay down a believable tale.

The problem is that the longer a writer hides behind closed doors,  their ability to draw from reality becomes diminished. Writing involves characters , settings, weather, and emotion. Long periods spent away from those things that a writer tries to convey can be detrimental to their own personal relationships as well as their sense of what is real and what is fiction. There are a number of ways in which writers can balance the writing life with the reality in which they exist.

Although certain circumstances require a writer to be sequestered in order to achieve productivity, it is important to remain engaged with friends and family. Make an intentional effort to spend quality time with your loved ones and never let the manuscript become the highest priority in your life. Allow the people who love you to understand that your writing is important to you and work with them to determine an agreeable schedule for your writing that also allows for letting others into your world, and you into theirs.

Another great source of community for writers are writers groups and conferences. When writers come together as a body, they share their combined frustrations, successes and techniques for surviving the craft. Writers who actively engage each other in groups and conferences often experience tremendous growth in their own ability to write effectively.

Each writer’s life has unique aspects that require balance, and it is up to the individual to work out those specific details. If you find that your writing life has consumed you and that you have left no room for personal relationships, it is time to step back out into the sunshine and welcome your circle of friends back into your life. Your manuscript will wait for you to return.

What is a Blog?

In its most simple form, a blog is simply  website that contains content including such things as experiences, observations, opinions, or other related information. A blog can be written by either a single author or a group of writers. Why is it called a blog? People have been sharing information on the internet in various forms since the inception of the internet, but in 1997, John Barger coined the term “weblog.” Two short years later, in 1999, Peter Merholz shortened the term and thus coined today’s common term, “blog.”

What is the Blogosphere?

As blogging (the act of writing and publishing a blog) grew in popularity, many people began trying to distinguish between them and traditional websites. In order to better classify and group blogs into a clearer identity, the term blogosphere was born. It is within this “realm” in which blogs belong.

How Many Blogs are there?

Many attempts have been made to catalog and count the number of blogs in existence, but the fact of the matter is that the number varies greatly from day-to-day, if not hour-to-hour. The reason is because while many more people are creating new blogs, older blogs fall into disuse. It is safe to say that the number of blogs range in the multiple millions.

Is there still room for you?

Some pundits have declared blogging to be a passe’ form of communication, but the majority of active bloggers will adamantly disagree. Blogging was and is popular because people have interesting stories to tell. Individuality is perhaps one of the greatest strengths of blogs and when you come across a particular blog that strikes your fancy, your readership simply encourages that writer to continue in their writing endeavors. If you have something interesting to share and can figure out a rather unique way to share it, your participation is not only welcomed, it is invited!

How can you get started?

This question is as complicated as it is simple. The fact is that your blog can be as plain or as complex as you have desire to create it. If you follow this article series you will learn more about what it takes to be a blogger, but you are highly advised to do a little research on sites such as this one before making your initial leap. If you jump into blogging too fast, you may find yourself confused or burn out in the initial process. We bloggers love to see new people and new ideas so we encourage you to line up a successful effort from the beginning so that we can enjoy your writing and opinions for years to come.