What Every Writer Needs to Know Today

What Every Writer Needs to Know Today

Eighteen years ago, I went to a women’s conference at my church, the first women’s ministry conference I had ever attended. My life changed that day.

I listened to the speaker share from God’s Word, but also share parts of her life in a raw and vulnerable way which I had never witnessed before. A way that pierced my heart as I realized that she too had made mistakes in life, and she too was imperfect, but God had forgiven her, healed her and was now using her to speak hope and truth into the hearts of other women. I realized I wanted to feel that peace, joy and purpose, and that if God could do that in her life, He could also do it in mine. I prayed fervently that day and in the midst of a sanctuary of women, I heard God’s voice loud and clear – possibly for the first time ever.

There was no doubt in what I had heard. And it was only three little words. But they were three words which altered the course of my life from that day forward.

What were those three words? Go. And. Share.

It took about five years before I heeded that call, as I allowed fear of being transparent (especially with the messy stuff of life that I didn’t want to “go and share”), procrastination, the busyness of life and insecurities stand in the way of obeying God’s call. But during those years as I served in ministry in other ways, my faith grew and God groomed my heart to have a passion for going and sharing, and a passion for writing. I began speaking at women’s events and sharing my story, as well as writing devotions for my church newsletter, started a blog and wrote a few articles. I then began writing out my story and wrote my first book in 2007. I’ve now published five books and stand in awe of how God can take the broken pieces of our lives and all of our experiences to glorify Him if only we are willing to say yes.

But all those years ago, as a beginning writer with no training or experience in writing, I remember wishing there was somewhere I could go for encouragement, support, and training in the craft of writing. I didn’t understand the publishing industry much less how to break into it, and knew nothing about agents, book proposals, and the pathway to publishing. How I wish I had had COMPEL Training back then.

As only God could have ordained, I am now the Director of COMPEL Training and am continually learning from the lessons we offer. I also get the blessing of providing encouragement, opportunities and training for beginning, seasoned and published writers and helping them follow God’s call on their life.

COMPEL Training has an entire library of courses packed with hundreds of lessons to learn from. We also offer one fresh, new teaching every single week of the year. Myself, the COMPEL leadership team, and industry experts bring wise and helpful tips and advice through videos, webinars and podcasts. We also have an incredible community at COMPEL, which is so important because sometimes the life of a writer can feel lonely, isolating and discouraging. You can find out everything we offer on our website at www.compeltraining.com.

All of us at Proverbs 31 Ministries, and especially myself and our COMPEL leadership team, are so excited to be launching our brand new website today and launching the COMPEL blog too! We are also kicking off a new 6-week course today at COMPEL called “Your Writing Life”, which includes lessons on the basics of writing, how to write in the chaos of life, building your writing confidence, finding great ideas, and even spiritual encouragement. I’d love for you to join COMPEL and enroll in this new course!

When God places a call on our heart, we not only need to step out in obedience but also continue to invest in our calling and pursue obedience with excellence. If you have a blog, want to write a book, are interested in being a freelance writer, write devotions for your church newsletter or small group, just enjoy writing, or if you’ve ever felt called to write but simply don’t know where to begin, COMPEL might be the perfect place to for you.

 

Tracie Miles

COMPEL Director of Training

Author & Speaker at Proverbs 31 Ministries

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Tracie Miles has been the Director of COMPEL Training at Proverbs 31 Ministries since January 2017, and has been volunteering on the speaker and writer teams for Proverbs 31 since 2007. Tracie is an author coach who works one on one with writers of all levels to help them pursue their writing dreams, and can be found at www.traciemiles.com. She is the author of seven bestselling books, including Living Unbroken, Love Life Again, Unsinkable Faith, Stress Less Living and Your Life Still Counts, and has a new book releasing July 2024 called God's Got You: Embracing New Beginnings With Courage and Confidence. She is also the founder of the national Living Unbroken Divorce Recovery Program, a 7 week study series to help women heal and recover together. Tracie has three grown children, two of whom are married, and lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. You can connect with Tracie on her website at www.traciemiles.com as well as on Facebook and Instagram.

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Comments

  1. How do I find “Friends” to follow on the new Compel platform and how do I access the Compel Forum?

    • There is no forum anymore, Liz. Instead there are Community Groups. In each Community group, you have the opportunity to join and connect with other COMPEL members. To friend them once you join a Community group, click on Members. It will show a list of every person in that group. Click “Add Friend.”

      You can also click on a photo of someone. For example, you can click on my picture and choose “Add Friend” in my profile. Hope that helps!

  2. Absolutely love the new site and layout! Thank you for the wonderful roundtable discussion. So informative!

  3. Loved Suzie’s comment about honoring our time to write. If I want others to honor my time to write I must honor it as well. Such a great point.
    The entire video was so informative and beneficial. Thank you so much.

    Shouting His Name
    Bunny

    • That was such a hard lesson to learn, Bunny. It’s easy to say now, but the reality was hard-earned. It took a long time for me to honor my writing time, and today I’m so protective.

  4. Thank you, Compel Team for all the hard work you have put into recreating this site. I have learnt a lot just by watching the video you have posted. I look forward to learning more and putting into practise what I have learned.
    I really appreciate the different courses. It is much easier to navigate through to what I need.
    Thank you again. God bless you.

  5. Love the new site, I am already making use of it and love how easy it is to navigate and keep track of things. THANK YOU, COMPEL TEAM!!!

  6. Thank you COMPEL team for your diligent time and effort! The results are awesome! I look forward to poking around the site and reorganizing my notebook to align it with the new format. I’ve just recently retired from full-time employment, thus looking forward to easing out of “procrastination” into actually writing. So far, the results are short, but better than none.
    I was introduced to Proverbs 31 Devotions eleven years ago, and feel like each one of the writers is a dear friend. It’s tremendously satisfying to see how God has worked and still works through each ministry area. My life has been richly blessed because of it.

  7. Congratulations, COMPEL Team! Your masterpiece is here. This is going to enhance what you’ve envisioned since you first formed your mission. Training writers to write with confidence while supporting them with the tools and now the structure to make it real. Thank you!

    Praying God’s abundant blessings on COMPEL and Proverbs31 Ministries.

  8. Wow! This site is beautiful and so well organized. Compel has helped me believe in my long-lost dream of writing, and in pursuing that dream one lesson at a time, I found God walking with me every step of the way! Thank you, Compel!

  9. Melissa Henderson: September 5, 2018 at 6:24 pm

    Love the new site! Great information.

  10. Charlotte-Anne Allen: September 5, 2018 at 2:35 pm

    I love love the new site! Looking forward to exploring it more. Thank you COMPEL! 🙂

  11. The new site is beautiful! I’m SO excited for this new chapter with the COMPEL community. 🙂

  12. Kudos on this beautiful new site. I love the organization of all the different areas and the ease of joining and becoming a part of so many communities. Also, congratulations on such a smooth launch! I know that there have been countless hours spent getting everything ready. Well done.

  13. Absolutely love the new site and look forward to all the new content to come. Thank you for answering God’s call and blessing us all.

  14. I love the new site! It is so user friendly, I have already joined several groups and stared a course! Thank you so very much for all of your hard, creative work you have put into launching Compel 2.0!

  15. Gabriela Morante: September 4, 2018 at 10:22 pm

    I was visiting my sister today but I couldn’t wait to get home and check out the new site…. It looks great! I am very blessed and thankful I joined Compel – so much to learn!!!

    Thank you Team Compel for all your hard work to give us such valuable information.
    Now I just need to commit to learning a little bit each day. “Invest in my calling and pursue obedience”! Thank you! Thank you!!! 🙂

  16. I’m so excited about the new site, and to me one of the best parts will be this new blog. I’m planning on telling lots of writing friends about it! Blessings on your ministry, Tracie!

  17. I am completely in love with the new site! Thank you for all of your hard work in getting this up and running. Compel holds such a special place in my heart and I can’t stress what a valuable tool it has been in improving my writing, encouraging me and keeping me going!

  18. The new site looks so elegant and inviting. I’m excited for this new way to connect and get to know other writers. See you all soon.

    Connie

  19. Charla Matthews: September 4, 2018 at 1:38 pm

    “When God places a call on our heart, we not only need to step out in obedience but also continue to invest in our calling and pursue obedience with excellence.”

    A great post to begin this new chapter 🙂

    Thank you, Tracie! Thank you, Compel!

  20. I am SO excited to see the launch of this new website. In this new season of my life, I am committing to answer that call. I have been refreshing my page since 7:30 this morning in anticipation of the Launch!! I love the look. Now, to figure out how to add a profile pic and I’ll be good to go. 🙂