My Most Valuable Resources as a Christian Writer - Ruth L. Snyder

People often talk about how isolating it can be to be a writer. This can definitely be an issue because authors do spend hours alone, writing. As I thought about my most valuable resources as a Christian writer, the word community came to me. This past year has been one of the darkest and most difficult for me personally. However, through the struggles and pain, God has shown me the treasures I have.

Without a doubt, my most valuable resource is God's Word. During conference I described it as my life-blood. In a recent time of family Bible reading using The Family Project Devotional we discussed whether God's words taste "sweeter than honey" to us. God provides instruction, correction, encouragement, and relationship through His Word. I don't always spend the time I should reading, studying, and memorizing Scripture. However, the time I do spend in it is precious and powerful. Included in this post are a few verses which have spoken to me lately.

As a Christian writer I deeply appreciate the faithful prayer supporters God has brought into my life. I have seen many answers to prayer in my marriage, family, and writing because brothers and sisters intercede for me. Shelley Hitz challenged members of her Author Audience Academy to put together a writing prayer team. When she shared, I couldn't believe I had never thought of asking people to specifically pray for my writing projects. A few months ago I put out a call in my local church and on Facebook, and I now have a prayer team. I give them specific things to pray about and now also have an email list so that I can report to them on a regular basis. (Shelley also shared this information at our recent InScribe Writers' Christian Fellowship Fall Conference. Recordings are available!)

Beta readers are another valuable resource for me as an author. (Shelley Hitz also spoke about this at conference.) I'm currently writing 31 devotionals on the topic of spiritual warfare. In the past couple weeks I have been putting together my group of beta readers for this project. (For some reason, I have many women offering help, but only 1 man so far. If you would like to round out my beta reader team, please let me know.) These are people who are willing to commit to reading my manuscript and giving me honest feedback. These comments are like gold to me as an author. Someone asked me if I really wanted honest feedback. Apparently some people don't want to know if their writing needs improvement. I know that my writing can always be better. Yes, comments sting sometimes. But I'd rather hear those opinions now, before my book is published, than hear them as reviews after my book is published!

 Social media can be a huge time waster, but for me it is also a source of community. One thing I often do is share what I'm learning from my devotional Bible reading. All the pictures in this post were created with the WordSwag app and shared on Instagram, Twitter, and/or Facebook. Other photo editors I use often are the Preview app on my iMac, and Canva.

Speaking of resources, I'm delighted to have a children's story, Hope for Jimmy, in the newest InScribe anthology, Christmas: Stories & More. This book is a wonderful collection of stories, poems, dramas, recipes and more with contributions from 40 different Canadian authors. Purchase your own copy or buy them for presents!


I've enjoyed reading about other valuable resources shared by Christian writers this month. What is your favourite resource? Or which new resource are you going to try? I'd enjoy hearing about it in the comments.

Ruth L. Snyder

Creativity is my passion. My mission is helping other creative people achieve their goals. How can I help you? Follower of Jesus. Coach. President of ICWF.