Ruth Marlene Friesen: Welcome!

This site is like Ruthe, the heroine of my novel, Ruthe's Secret Roses

Ruthe is. . .
intimate with God,
prays a lot,
a bleeding heart for the hurting,
a big sister,
rescues friends,
has creative ideas,
likes to give surprise gifts,
loyal to friends,
dreams of love and marriage,
dreams of writing a book
goes the extra mile

So this site offers;
good books to read!
help to become Friends with God,
The One Ideal Real Friend
a cure for loneliness
An Older Sister's Coping Secret
how to pray Panic Prayers,
& regularly/daily
devotionals,
how to grow in faith
Christian mentoring,
how to share your faith
character development
how to become a writer



te-Oh-oh!

If you are a writer, and have practiced your skill for a while you may have noticed that the kinds of writing you do shifts and changes over time.

Or perhaps you've struggled at one type of writing for years, and not found it fruitful. What if you tried a new type? See if it works out better after you allow for some learning curve.

I'm shifting writing styles right now, so I've been thinking about the various stages or types I have already spent time writing.

Dabbling, Experimental Writer
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As a teen I dabbled in short stories and poetry. Mostly I think, I wanted to know the joy of having written a nice, touching piece, and because my mind was teeming with so many imaginative ideas. I usually had kind comments from the teachers on my school assignments. This gave me hope that I could really write.

As early as age twelve, I tried to start a novel (in secret no less), but decided that I needed more life experiences. I could tell I was too naive for the things I was trying to write about.

The Serious Novelist
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After high school, working as a telephone operator, and longing for the adventures of my daydreams, it came to me that I should write those up in a novel. They were so vivid, surely they would be well received.

But it took me many upsets, discouragements, further research, and re-writes to polish my novel and learn the craft of writing. I often cried out to the Lord for help, and could see my writing tighten, grow more colourful as well as organized, and effective in making my point. All while I was learning to spell and correct my grammar and punctuation too. It was an apprenticeship.

I tried some more short stories and sent them out as a freelancer on the side, and occasionally even made a sale.

The Freelance Writer
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
During my caregiver era back here at home with my parents, I set the novel aside. I couldn't see how to improve it any more, and I told the Lord I wouldn't touch it until He gave me a consuming desire to work on it again. For eight years I hid it under some bed linens in a deacon's bench in my room.

Instead, during those years, I worked systematically at becoming a freelance writer who got paid for articles and short stories. I set goals like sending out at least one piece a week, and then aimed for five a week.

I took on writing and self-publishing family history and genealogy books, and translating my grandmother's and great-great-grandmother's old German diaries as well.

(Journaling and Pen Pal letters were major expression points for me besides, which met my emotional needs).

I was just getting into a productive swing when Mom's health went downhill faster, and I had to give up my writing time to focus on nearly 24 hour caregiving.

The Self-Publishing/Marketing Writer
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After Mom died I suddenly had lots of free time. Since I had read about the internet, I took to polishing my novel again with vigour, anticipating my next career as a publisher and business woman.

I taught myself to design web pages, and discovered that I could "publish" anything I wanted to put on my web pages. Wanting to be humble and open-faced and to assist others who were on this learning curve, I began a daily journal on a free sub-domain at HyperMart. I treated it like a business site, calling it A Journal of God's Provision, with a sub-title of, ...for a Woman starting an internet business on a shoestring too short to wrap around a finger.

Of course, then I had to learn how to attract visitors to read my site. Therein began my business training.

The Ezine Editor/Article Writer
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The key turned out to be starting an ezine. I called my first one, JournalDigest, listed it on some ezine directory sites, and began to make friends around the world as people started subscribing.

Since I didn't want to run into copyright problems, and I knew I was prolific enough with ideas, I vowed to do all the writing myself. Since JournalDigest began as a weekly, it meant I was writing a fresh article every week, and I was generally following the advice of ezine editors who said the articles had to solve problems for the reader and be "you" focused.

Any time I learned something I tried to turn it into an advice article for the benefit of others.

When I won my first domain in a contest, and started up Ruthes-SecretRoses.com, I felt it was time for a new ezine of a more inspirational nature to go with my novel's themes. Gradually I shifted from giving advice to sharing touching stories and thoughts out of my own heart and life. In a sense I was coming full circle back to the inspirational pieces I was writing when focused as a freelance writer.

(Recently I catalogued all my online articles and found I've written close to 200 of them).

NEW Stage: Persuasive Web Copywriter
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The more I work on making my web sites profitable, the more I see the need to write persuasive copy on my web pages, to guide and influence people to make the decisions I wish they would make. This turns out to be a new skill and also takes practice. But it may well become my most profitable type of writing. There is a huge demand for copywriters who can influence people to click, to buy, to sign up, to fill out a form, etc.

It is this skill that makes a web site attract lots of visitors and sell plenty of books, or widgets or whatever it takes for that site to be successful. It incorporates all of the above writing skills!

According to the Well-Fed Writer (site & ezine), and some other sites, this type of writer can command rates of $50 - 100 or more an hour for their fees.

Now, I'm still at the beginning of this transition period, but just reviewing the stages I've come through, and looking ahead makes this exciting.

If you've always wanted to write, but hesitated, I suggest you plunge in. The Net is a writer's paradise. Although graphics and voice have a place, the greater part of how communication happens is through words. The sooner you learn to be a wordsmith, the better!

Giveaways

Ruthe's Secret Roses available in softcover! Purchase it at BookLocker.com and it will be in the mail to you within 48 hours!


The novel:
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Tips & Solutions

You don't really have time to read on the couch, but if you're like me, you do read snatches on the run, and somehow make time to read a GOOD book completely.

So how can you be sure this Ruthe in the book is not some kook? Read the six sample chapters.





You've heard of power naps at work, right? You rise refreshed, bright and alert. Take a break to refresh your spirit with a good inspirational story.





Do you eat novels like chocolates? Here's one with both weight and excellent flavour! For a satisfying treat, read Ruthe's Secret Roses