About the Author
Christian author, preacher and motivational speaker Carl Mathis began his work for the ministry in 2005 after a life-altering experience. At that time, the death of Mathis’ wife was the reason behind the dramatic turn of events that soon led him to his life’s purpose and calling.
Dealing with the loss of his wife and raising three children as a single father while struggling to make ends meet, Mathis had to contend with unbearable feelings of hopelessness and despair. It was during those moments that Mathis cried out for a strategy to overcome his situation. This experience soon pushed him to channel is grief and use its transforming power to change his own life and others as well.
Immediately after getting back on track, Mathis was moved to act on his burning desire to encourage and motivate people, especially those who have shared the same fate as him. It was then Mathis saw the need to reach out to the distressed and the depressed.
In 2010, he came out with his debut work entitled Life is What You Make It – seven steps to moving forward, a 104 page inspirational book drawn from his own personal life experiences and challenges. Filled with messages on how to deal with sorrow and ultimately survive the process of moving on, the book provides readers with the much-needed encouragement and motivation in order to strive better.
A man after God’s own heart, Mathis continues his passion today of reaching out to people using his God-given abilities, particularly speaking and writing, and becoming a blessing to others in return.
Tell us an experience about your writing process.
I have learned that writing is a craft in it self, what I am saying is not every one is cut out to be a writer. The process is long and tedious with a creative mind set. When I wrote Life is what you make it: seven steps to moving forward and submitted it to my publisher, they loved the concept, but as requested I changed some parts. In fact I had to rewrite about 80% of the manuscript to come to the company’s liking. So this was an experience in it self. If I wasn’t committed to fulfilling the project I started, things just may have been a little different, but I was determined and focus on pursuing this craft.
Is there anything you have learned and maybe wish you had known?
Because the craft of writing found me in such an unusual way, I had the liberty of finding out a few things I wish I had known prior to tackling this craft. I must say that it was not in my plans to become a writer, of even thought about writing a book, it’s seems like it just crept up on me out of nowhere. While sitting at my desk putting down some information, one thing leads to the next and before I knew it a manuscript was established. However, there were a few missing components, such as having a platform and a brand. In other words I need some credibility to what I am doing, so I had to back track and build a platform.
Are there any myths you have discovered about being a writer?
I have not found any myth about being a writer; however, it was revealed to me how dedicated and focus you must be to become a good writer. One must continued to write until it becomes a daily routine.
Please share your experiences with publication.
My experience with publication has been challenge and a great learning experience at the same time. I found out that publication can get you on some good avenues, but getting the word out for your book/project has to be your responsibility. Publishers have a certain way they want their manuscript to be formatted and laid out. But at the same time it’s not an easy thing to get a publisher to accept your work, they look for an individual who has a track record and could potentially sell a good amount of books. So being not so well known as some of the more established authors made it was a little challenging for me to get a publisher.
What is your pattern for timely effective writing?
Writing is a craft in a class by itself. However, just as any project or job that needs to be completed in a timely manner, it needs a well laid out plan.
One of the first things to be considered is resource into the topic and the content about what you’re writing about. Always remember that content is imperative and adds value and ingredients to your credibility, which would transcend to people drawing close to your work. I believe that this should be done before you attempt to write your manuscript.
You then want to create an outline to follow. This will help prevent you from writers block or quieting at the half way point, because you now know what you have to do to complete what you have started. With the resource and the outline done first, you have a good chance at a well formatted manuscript. The outline should consist of a Headline, an Introduction, a Body, a Conclusion and in some cases, a little information about the author.
Headline – This should be most appealing as possible because readers read this first then decide if he or she will continue reading the rest of the manuscript. In most cases they will just take a glance at the cove and scan over the headline, and if it’s not appealing they will put it down and move on.
Introduction – many has made the mistake in putting too much into the introduction, this will give way for the reader to lose interest in continuing at all. They will feel like they have already figured out the end result. Just introduce the problem you will be discussing in your manuscript or write a few paragraphs some relevant experience while introducing the plot.
Body – This is where you discuss all the solutions to the problem you expressed in the Introduction. You want to break up each point into separate paragraphs; this will give the reader a good understanding of what he/she is reading. A good idea is to create a sub-heading for each point to allow an easy read. Most people scan before reading, so sub-headings work in your favor.
Conclusion - this is where you summarize your story and pressure a call for action. Make sure there is a solution to the problem you explained in the body. Be direct in leading the readers, make sure they will fully understand what it is that needs to be understood.
Some things to keep in mind:
Write with passion and inspiration – in other words, write like you would explain something to your friend. Don’t worry too much about correcting mistakes or how it sounds. As long as the flow of thoughts is flowing, keep writing, you never want to break the train of thoughts. You can always correct them later. When you are finish writing, take a break, then come back and take a fresh look at what you have written, and make your adjustments. Make sure it flows well by clearly identifying the problem, providing a solution and concluding with an action step or steps. It’s a good idea to get someone else to read it over. Often they will find the mistakes that you missed. One of the most important things is going over your manuscript several times. This will help you catch the little things you might normally over look.
About the Book
Carl Mathis wasn’t prepared for the devastation the loss of his wife would bring to his life. He soon found himself grieving, struggling to make ends meet, and trying to raise his sons, who were also dealing with personal turmoil from the loss of their mother. After months of waiting for someone to rescue him, Carl had to face the inevitable truth–no one was coming. He realized that if he wanted out of the mess his life was becoming, he was going to have to do it himself.
Join new author Carl Mathis in this motivational story about one man’s struggle to put his life back together. Life Is What You Make It will teach you how to overcome any crippling situation you find yourself in and stimulate personal and spiritual growth by accepting the situation, taking responsibility, conditioning your mind, choosing to make right decisions, building a team, believing, and defining the new normal.
Purchase the Book Online at:
http://www.Amazon.com
http://www.BarnesandNoble.com
http://www.BooksaMillion.com
Visit the author at http://www.CarlMathis.com
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