Fifty Years

of Successful Writing

by Kirk Livingston

Fifty years ago this month (February 2004) three writers decided rejection slips were not that encouraging. Rejection is proof you are sending out your writing-a requirement for anyone wanting to publish-but these writers wondered how they could see fewer "regrets" and increase their byline sightings and checks.

So Catherine Brandt, Margaret Anderson, and Ron Keelor decided to get together once in a while to "talk shop." Their monthly meetings, which became the Christian Writers Fellowship of the Twin Cities, later the Minnesota Christian Writers Guild, were not just for sneering at the passive voice and discoursing on the proper use of semicolons. They considered how to navigate together the thickets of rejections to become more productive.

Their early meetings began with prayer, a roll call, and a status update: how many manuscripts were in the mail, being considered, or rejected. They taught each other basics of manuscript preparation or the mechanics of writing or what editors want: ".but they need more, MORE, MORE ! manuscripts" (notes from the organization, May 13, 1968). Their meetings reflected the everyday needs of growing writers.

Early on, they ran broadside into that great truth all Christian writers eventually face: "Pay in the religious field isn't as good as it should be" (June 6,1955). They came to understand that while Christian writing does not pay well, it can still earn dividends: "Not the least of which is becoming a part in solving the problems of the world" (Agnes Mueller, May 20, 1968).

It started with three. Fifty years later, we are 130 strong. The original idea remains the same: to encourage writers to write as Christians. Not to write "Christian" stuff, but to put Christ in everything we write. Has the MCWG been successful? If longevity is a key to success, yes. If drawing other writers in is a measure of success, then yes. If producing famous writers is a key, well, there have been a few. But if encouraging good writing from productive writers is the measure of success, then indeed, the Minnesota Christian Writers Guild has been successful.