By Brad Bloom @faithfitnessmag

Let me get inside your brain for a minute. It’s better if I do it now through this casual conversation rather than later when you’re writing for my magazine.

When I started presenting at BRMCWC back in 2017 it was partly with the anticipation of finding writers to contribute content to Faith & Fitness Magazine, my publication. That’s happened and we’ve been blessed to feature some wonderful work.

But let’s be honest. Most of you attending the conference don’t self-identify as a fitness magazine contributor. That is at least until you discover how it works and what final drafts ultimately become. THEN – the feedback I get from writers is often, “Let’s do it again!”

Our conversations and brainstorming at the conference are often energized and filled with vision casting and strategic next steps. The subsequent overview, outline and follow-up planning continue the momentum. Then writers do that first draft and submit it to me and I reply with A LOT OF RED INK.

The email I send with the subject line: Your Article With BRAD’S COMMENTS typically includes the marked-up draft as an attachment and comes with a little cautionary note:

“Don’t cry!”

It’s my nod to the fact that as a writer you’re going to likely deal with some internal feelings as you read my feedback. I admit it. At this stage I have my editor hat firmly in place. Perhaps I’m like a surgeon or mechanic or project manager. I’m certainly not in the role of, “Let me be your friendly coach.” We have a feature to bring to my readers. Often it is content we’re already promoting. Perhaps we’re selling advertising based around it. Maybe you’ve interviewed people on behalf of my magazine and they are now anticipating and telling others of the impending release. There IS a lot on the line. My company’s reputation at the very least, your opportunity for certain, and most importantly the cause of Christ and the ministry God has to accomplish through the feature. You may see it as just a writing job. I see each feature as our next gift from God to serve Him well.

So, yep, some of my comments in red can be brutally frank. In some cases, I’ve asked writers to nearly do an entire rewrite (not usually). More often I’ll ask for a citation, clarify our writing style and suggest some better organization or flow. This is where I say, “I’m not following what you’re saying.” I push you to dig deeper and reveal more. I challenge you that a Bible citation needs to be clearly relevant. We push for content that goes beyond cliché. I don’t produce a magazine that strokes the Christian ego. We want to help our readers mature spiritually and quite honestly that usually means we need writers that are willing to mature in their skills AND ministry.

Cry if you must when you read my comments. Then get over it, work hard and give me an amazing second draft and perhaps even a third.

Why would you want to put yourself through the scrutiny, the demanding work, and the tweaking until it is ‘just right’? The answer is in that final draft—that published work that you finally see.

That is when I want you to cry.

We all shed tears of joy, amazement, hope and thankfulness that GOD has guided our process. It is through the drafts that He anoints our words. It is in the process that we too are shaped by the very message that hasn’t just been composed but has been fashioned through the fire of collaboration and pursuit of His heart.

I know that one of my roles is to encourage you as a writer. I also know that the divine encouragement God wants you to have comes through the testing of your faith and the continual submission of your skills to Christ. He wants to reveal through you a beautiful message as only He can do.

Brad Bloom, Publisher of Faith & Fitness Magazine, Shout! Outdoor Lifestyle Magazine and map Travel Lifestyle Magazine.  He is president of Lifestyle Media Group, a ministry that develops and distributes content to help people fuel their passion to connect daily living and Christian faith. Bloom draws a distinct difference between secular and his faith-centered brands, “Life should be lived way beyond training harder, living adventurously and going further. That’s all good but God is great. We can be equipped to be great when we get beyond all the doing and actively Be Life – the life of Christ to others.”