ITL174: Take a Peek Inside the Writing Process of 21-Time Bestselling Author Jerry Jenkins
In the Loop with Andy Andrews
Matt Lempert
4.9 • 614 Ratings
🗓️ 28 February 2015
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this week’s episode, we’re honored to have special guest Jerry Jenkins with us to share his proven writing process.
Give us a snapshot of your journey that got you into writing.
- I played on a state championship little league team.
- I was hurt my freshman year in high school playing football and decided to be a sports writer so I could stay close to the games.
- We’re a bad example to great writers because we can’t identify the different parts of a sentence but composition was something that came so natural.
Did you go to college to write?
- My first year of college was at Moody Bible Institute.
- I wanted to go to journalism school, but by the time I was 19 I was a sports editor of a local paper and never did finish college.
- I felt a call as a teenage to full time ministry. I thought I would have to give up my writing to full-time ministry. Someone counseled me and said, “God sometimes equips us before he calls us. Don’t assume you have to give up writing. It may be the vehicle that you use to fulfill your call.”
- I looked for work in Christian journalism, and that really put me on the path that I am now.
Do you feel like writing is a discipline?
- I see people year after year that say they’ll write a book when they have the time or feel inspired.
- I keep a sign in my drawer that says, “The only way to write is with seat in chair.”
- Sit in the chair, look at the screen and do something.
- When I go to my writing cave, the work I do before noon is the best work I do. The first thing I do is a heavy edit of the work I did the day before. That catapults me into the writing I need to get done that day.
- When I finish the book, I’ll go back and start from the beginning with a heavy edit.
I have a phrase I use almost every time I teach: “Writers are readers. Great writers are great readers.”
If you want to become a writer, Jerry’s blog is must-read material. He teaches writers the little-known secrets behind writing an amazing book and getting it published.
Click here to get Jerry’s top 5 most crucial writing tips for FREE.
Questions for Listeners
Do you have a question? Call in and your question might be featured on the show!
- Phone: 1-800-726-ANDY
- E-Mail: InTheLoop@AndyAndrews.com
- Facebook.com/AndyAndrews
- Twitter.com/AndyAndrews
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You're listening to In the Loop, a unique opportunity to see life from a different perspective |
| 0:06.5 | with New York Times bestselling author, Andy Andrews. |
| 0:10.4 | Now here's your host, David Loy. |
| 0:13.2 | Hi and welcome to In The Loop with Andy Andrews. |
| 0:15.9 | I'm your host, David Loy. |
| 0:17.5 | Andy, thanks again for joining us. |
| 0:19.3 | I am glad to be here, David Loy. You're doing good? |
| 0:22.3 | I am terrific. And Andy, I got to tell you, I'm so excited because of the very special guest that we have here with us today. |
| 0:29.6 | Yeah, yeah, I'm excited, but I'm intimidated too. Why are you intimidated? I am. I mean, this guy's like a hero of mine, and I just, I can't believe he's on with us, and it's |
| 0:41.8 | just like, oh my gosh. |
| 0:43.8 | All right, so anyway, go ahead, go ahead. |
| 0:45.3 | Well, I don't know how to, you know, we won't tease it too long, but I will say this |
| 0:49.5 | person has sold over 70 million books, just published his 186th book, and Andy, everyone in the |
| 0:57.2 | industry and outside of the industry would agree. This is one of the most prolific |
| 1:01.5 | writers of all time. Fiction, nonfiction, biographies, bestsellers, 20 New York Times bestsellers, |
| 1:09.2 | and we are honored to call him a friend and to have him on the show. Jerry Jenkins joins us. Jerry, how are you today? I'm doing great. Great to be with you. And I'm intimidated too. I had no idea who you had. Yeah, I know. Isn't it funny? Jerry, sometimes I'll be standing on the side of the stage and they'll be saying, our guest today is so-and-so, he has done this, he has done this, he is this, and I'll be standing on the side of the stage and they'll be saying our guest today is so-and-so, |
| 1:28.4 | he has done this, he has done this, he is this. And I'll think, now, this is me, right? |
| 1:34.1 | Are they bringing somebody else up here? Because this sounds way too good to be me. |
| 1:38.0 | I can't wait to meet him. |
| 1:39.9 | Yeah. Man, thank you for being here with us. |
| 1:41.9 | My pleasure. Thanks. |
| 1:43.5 | Yeah, Jerry, thanks for joining us. |
... |
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