Book Review: Writers on Writing, by Kimberley Payne

 

Last year, I joined Inscribe Christian Writers' Fellowship to be part of a national writing community. 

In addition to finding lots of writing opportunities and inspiration, it's also been a great way to discover new books! 

When Kimberley Payne started talking about her new book, I knew I wanted to read and review it.

Writers On Writing - Interviews With Writers of Faith is a collection of writer profiles compiled from the Koinonia community. This Medium-based publication features "stories by Christian writers to encourage, entertain, and empower you in your faith, food, fitness, family, friendship, and fun." The editors have been hosting interviews with their 350+ contributors to provide a "snapshot into the lives of writers of faith." This collection features 35 interviews from this series.

The writers represent a wide spectrum of ages, backgrounds, nationalities, and experience levels. Their common ground is a love of both writing and the Gospel.

Each writer was asked such questions as: 

- What inspires you? 

- What do you like most/least about writing?

- How do you balance professional time with personal time?

- What makes you unique?

- How is your faith reflected in your writing?

Owing to the original online format, many of the answers to these questions are quite short. This isn't a collection of long form essays on writing. It is, however, a wonderful collection of writer profiles, emphasizing the diversity and passion of Christian writers. The answers are straightforward and honest. You can easily read the whole book in a day, or read an interview a day for a month's worth of inspiration. Some will connect with you more than others (as is the case in any collection), but every interview has some gem that you'll want to underline and bookmark for further reflection.

I think this would be an especially fantastic book for the newer writer of faith - 

either for the writer to buy, or for a supportive friend to offer as a gift! 

You can learn more about Kimberley Payne at https://www.kimberleypayne.com

You can follow the Koinonia community at https://medium.com/koinonia 

I was offered a complimentary e-copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.