In the Loop with Andy Andrews

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

On this week’s episode, I answer a listener question on how to get your kids to read.

 

It’s extremely important that you get your child to read.

  • I understand when people say they don’t like to read.
  • I’m more of an outdoor kind of guy so I have to make myself read.

 

When we look at the massive benefits of reading, then it doesn’t really matter whether you like to read or not.

  • The statistics about reading show that people who read make more money, have a lower divorce rate, have fewer problems with their children, and get many more benefits.
  • I want my kids to read because I know what reading does.
  • Do we always want to read? Not necessarily, but we do want to make a better living for our families. We do want to be more valuable in our careers.
  • If there’s something you want to learn how to do, you can learn exactly how the best people in the world have done it by reading their books.

 

If you think a certain book is critical for your child to read and it can’t wait…pay them.

  • Have them give you an oral or written report.
  • Make it worth their while and worth your while.

 

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

On this week’s episode, I answer a listener question on how teens’ social media accounts affect their life and their employability.

 

You’ve heard me talk about how we’re misinformed about change. There are two things that have to be there with every single change.

  • What’s in it for me?
  • Proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
  • It is critical that you understand how change occurs.

 

The guidelines for social media are going to be different for different people. Knowing that, what we do want is the best for everybody.

  • The one thing that separates 100% great results from scattered results is explaining why we do things this way.
  • One of the first things you want to do with your kids is make sure they know what you want their life to be like when they’re an adult.
  • Build stories and examples.

 

I talk to a lot of people who are in the position of hiring and firing.

  • When a company puts out word that they are hiring, they sometimes get 10’s or even 100’s of applications.
  • Somebody will knock it down to the top people by just looking at the applicants’ social media profiles for obvious reasons not to hire someone (cursing, nudity, etc.).
  • They will then knock it down to a few people after having personal interviews.
  • Now they are down to the best people and just need to find a reason to pull someone.

 

Companies are looking for someone that is going to represent them outside of work.

  • Let’s say 9 years ago you had your picture taken with your hat on backwards.
  • We know that having a hat on backwards is not something bad or sinful, but 20% of people may think that’s not a good look.
  • While they know you wouldn’t be wearing your hat backwards at work, they may wonder if it’s still the way you present yourself to people.
  • Since they have to cut someone, something as little as that could be the difference between you starting at a company and you not having a job.

 

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

On this week’s episode, I talk about the myths that keep us living in fear, and how to stop anxiety from ruling our lives.

 

The key to unlocking our confidence is examining our fear.

  • If you could put people on a scale and see the level of fear in their lives, I am convinced smart people would be on the higher end of the scale.
  • Smarter people have bigger imaginations, and possibly more opportunities for fear.
  • If you know what fear is, you can determine the effect it has on your life.
  • Fear is nothing but the misuse of the creative imagination that has been put in you.

 

In The Noticer, there is a section that is based on a real study of what’s really happening during our episodes of stress and anxiety.

  • 40% of what you worry about will never happen.
  • 30% has already happened and is in the past.
  • 12% has to do with totally needless imaginings.
  • 10% involves petty little things about what other people think.
  • 8% was left for legitimate concerns, and most of them we actually have control over—but we’re using all our energy worrying about the other things.

 

You are in control—so direct your imagination to things that excite you.

 

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