Sample Blog Post #4
A Conversation With Wendy Blight
My friend, Wendy Blight, is releasing a new Bible Study, I Know His Name: Discovering Power in the Names of God. Wendy teaches how the very names of God reveal His character and heart.
Wendy is a member ofthe Proverbs 31 Ministries’ First 5 Writing Team and serves as the Proverbs 31 On-Line Bible Study Small Group Ministry Training and Development Coordinator. She is the author of 3 books and most enjoys helping women, through Bible study, gain confidence so that they can tackle life’s problems through God’s Word.
I’d love to share with you A Conversation with Wendy Blight about Writing Books and Bible Studies:
I Know His Name is your 3rd published book. How is writing Bible studies different from writing a book?
My books are an interesting combination of both. They are Bible studies because they require digging deep into God’s Word and contain challenging and practical application questions. But they are also filled with personal stories, anecdotes and my beloved and nerdy research, which I love, to bring alive what we are studying. I don’t just want women to read a book. I want them to meet and experience God in the pages of my book. I want them to develop a hunger and a thirst to continue in the Bible long after they turn that last page of my book.
What part of I Know His Name was the hardest to write and what was the easiest?
The research was much more intense for this book. My past books had me mostly in the New Testament. This book is filled with many Old Testament stories, and it stretched me more than ever before. But I absolutely LOVED it!! I learned so much, and I can’t wait to share all God taught me with my friends who read I Know His Name.
Do you like to write "old fashioned" with pen and paper or do you write electronically?
Before I begin a book, I sit down at my antique dining room table, covered with my grandmother’s handmade lace tablecloth, and pray, inviting God into every step of my book-writing process. My initial note taking is pen and paper with hardcopy commentaries and books stacked all around me. My second phase is electronic research. And then when the writing begins, I actually “write” on the computer.
What are your favorite Bible study tools to use for research in your writing?
Commentaries. Bible dictionaries. Biblegateway. Logos. Books by my favorite authors who have written on the topic. My journals. Notes I have taken along the way.
What do you like to do when you need to take a break from writing?
I walk over to my couch, have a snack and watch an episode of one of my favorite shows. It might be an old show like Murder She Wrote or Matlock. It might be a new episode of Hawaii 5-0 or NCIS Los Angeles. Sometimes even Bewitched or I Dream of Jeannie. Something to stop thinking and just relax and rest.
I invite you to check out Wendy’s newest Bible study, I Know His Name. Visit her blog to get a sneak peek of I Know His Name and also sign up for her FREE companion devotional, “5 Days to Knowing God More Intimately.”
(link to Wendy’s public book page)