by Katy Kauffman @KatyKauffman28

If you write nonfiction, are you ready to expand your reach by trying similar genres to what you’re writing now? If you write fiction, are you ready to use your fiction skills in the nonfiction world?

Finding your niche in the writing world is like discovering what sport you’re good at. You have to try a few sports and play a few positions to find it. My height early on made me a great candidate for basketball. By the time I was a high school senior, I found the position I loved—point guard on defense. The thrill I felt at stopping the opponent’s progress transferred into my writing. Today I write about spiritual battles and how to guard against the enemy’s strategies and schemes.

Have you tried your hand—or your pen—at different genres? Each genre is needed as God strategizes His eternal plan and positions His writers where He wants them. And sometimes He has us “play” more than one position.

For nonfiction writers, three genres allow us to share from the heart, using Scripture and personal experience. The “ingredients” we use and how much focus we give to them, depends on each genre’s purpose.

For fiction writers, the following genres can bring new readers and the opportunity to use storytelling skills in a new way. Each of these genres holds explosive power that makes a difference for God and His team.

Devotions

When we write devotions, we let our storyteller come alive. We focus on a story or illustration and then connect it to a verse or passage of Scripture. Through the power of our stories, we share peace, strengthen hearts, and restore hope with truths about God and life with Him.

Where do we get our ideas? Life. Everyday occurrences, the beauty and wonder of nature, and thrilling adventures provide illustrations for spiritual truths. We can make our very own parables. A writer looks for lessons every day, and once I started blogging, I saw through the eyes of a teacher and a writer how God speaks through daily circumstances and gives surprise lessons.

Christian Living

In devotions, we focus on story, but in Christian living articles and books, we focus on application. How does Scripture apply to life today? With this genre, we have more room to share “how to,” such as how to overcome fear or how to handle grief. Scripture is included, but the focus is more on applying Scripture than explaining it. Christian living writers share hard-won insights born out of their own experiences.

To transition from writing devotions to Christian living, expand the takeaway. That gives us more room to explore the struggles we’re addressing and why it’s worth it to trust God and persevere. We can share how God helps us to be overcomers and what our part is. We can also pass along the practical steps we have discovered to live out Scripture.

Bible Studies

While Bible studies, like other genres, have elements with reader-friendly appeal—stories, illustrations, insights, and application—the focus is on explaining and applying Scripture. Bible study writers act as a tour guide through Scripture, showing its deeper insights and relevant application to life today. This genre connects readers to Scripture and helps them to cling to its promises, practice its truths, and heed its warnings.

Devotional writers can dive into Bible study writing by adding explanations of Scripture to their writing and expanding the takeaway. The work involved in studying Scripture with God becomes an adventure when we use special tools such as key persons, repeated words, contrasts and comparisons, definitions, cross-references, and more. The very elements that have helped us to understand Scripture may become the tools that etch Scripture’s application on the hearts of our readers.

Which One?

Which Scripture-based genre is right for you? Or do you like all of them? Tell us in the comments below.

If you need a place to submit devotions, Christian living articles, or short Bible studies, consider my family’s magazine, Refresh Bible Study Magazine. Our mission is to connect God’s Word to life today, and in our Writers Guidelines, you can find the word counts for these genres, plus some editing tips.

Keep sharing about God from your heart, and make a difference for Him and His team.

Katy Kauffman is an award-winning author, an editor of Refresh Bible Study Magazine, and a co-founder of Lighthouse Bible Studies. She loves connecting with writers and working alongside them in compilations. Her writers’ newsletter called The Lighthouse Connection shares writing tips, inspiration to write, and news of submission opportunities. Katy is also the co-director of the Enrich Conference for Bible study writers, speakers, and teachers.

In addition to online magazines, Katy’s writing can be found at CBN.com, thoughts-about-God.com, and three blogs on writing. She loves to spend time with family and friends, draw flowers and landscapes in her sketchbook, and do yard work in the morning sun. Connect with her at www.lighthousebiblestudies.com