Wordsowers Christian Writers Group

A multi-published author, Dr. Craig von Buseck is the Editor of Content for the website of Inspiration Ministries. Craig has extensive speaking experience, traveling often to conferences, professional events, churches, and writer training meetings. Craig served for twelve years as Ministries Director and Programming Director for CBN.com, one of the world’s most popular Christian websites. He also served for more than ten years on the Executive Board of the Internet Evangelism Coalition (IEC). Craig is a contributing writer for CBN.com, ChristianPost.com, MTL Magazine, and Charisma Magazine.

Craig is our keynote speaker. He will also be teaching ABC’s for Beginning Writers as well as Adapting a Book to a Screenplay. Visit the workshops page for more information.

Do you set goals for the new year? I typically revise and rework goals at the beginning of each year rather than set new goals and constantly have several projects in various stages of development.

Who influenced you most in your life? One of my biggest influences, my father, always made it clear that he believed in me and that I had the abilities to fulfill God’s plan for my life. A  world-class portrait painter, one day he told me why he chose art as his profession. “Craig,” he said, “if they took my oils away I’d use acrylics. If they took away my acrylics I’d use watercolors. If they took my watercolors I’d use a pencil. If they took away my pencil I’d grab a stick and doodle in the dirt. You see, I’m not an artist because that’s what I do. I’m an artist because that is who I am.”

How do you deal with ‘writer’s block?” I recognize that it doesn’t exist. Would you go to your accountant and ask him or her how they deal with ‘accounting block’? Of course not. The concept of ‘writer’s block’ is just as ridiculous. //The way to deal with the problem of difficulty in writing a story, or a book, or a screenplay is to work the problem until you find a solution. The accountant who is missing some figure will work on that dilemma until they find the answer to the problem. It is the same for a writer. Anything less is simply laziness. //Writing is work. When an obstacle reveals itself you push through until you overcome. There are days when I am more ‘inspired’ as a writer, just as there are good days for your average accountant. But every day is a work day — inspired or not. //My writing mentor said: “If you write one page per day, by the end of the year you will have a 365-page book.” Do the work – and work through the problems as they arise. Inspiration will come.

All of us have faced rejection, how do you deal with it? I was rejected numerous times for my book “Nobody Knows: The Harry T. Burleigh Story.” One acquisitions editor wrote that I didn’t understand the genre. That hurt, but it also opened my eyes. //I was often invited to writers conferences to teach on how to write articles for the web. Conference leaders often allow faculty to attend classes as the schedule allows and I typically sat in on fiction classes. I took copious notes and tried to buy the books that the teachers recommended. I read and studied those books when I went home and saw that the editor who rejected my Burleigh book was right. I rewrote the story based on what I learned about the genre. In 2013 Baker Books acquired it. //Being rejected is difficult, but how we respond to that rejection is what matters in the long run — will the rejection make us bitter or better? The key is to never give up and to keep working on your passion projects until you succeed.  

Visit Craig’s website to discover more about what he does and what he writes.