Shannon-and-Cec-Murphey

Could You Learn Lessons from Cec’s Lifetime of Writing?

In Resources, Resources, Writing by Shannon Cochran

Shannon-and-Cec-Murphey

After the whirlwind of events that took place in a matter of half a morning in 2010, I paused for a moment to thank God for so quickly and clearly answering my heartfelt prayer. Words that I had uttered to Him just that morning. Pleas to my Father in Heaven that echoed the passion He placed in my heart to help women reclaim their virtuous womanhood the time-tested way. “Where in my life do I help women, Lord?” I had asked.

By lunchtime that day, the Lord had lined up an unexpected encounter with a woman in my Bible study. My usual family plans afterward were cancelled due to my Grandma’s cataract surgery. My small group friend stopped me after our Discussion time to ask me if I would meet with her. She desired to spend time with a “godly woman.” I was both shocked and honored that she would approach me with that request. Amazingly, my schedule that afternoon was free. My Bible study friend and her children came over to my home that very afternoon. It was the beginning of a short term discipleship. We met a handful of times at a Starbuck’s inside a grocery store and once outside a restaurant.

Nevertheless, God used this encounter in a big way to get my attention. He answered many specific prayers. The Lord used my family members and friends to help me make progress in my God-calling as Writer. I shared my blog publicly. I joined the prayer team for a women’s conference that came to my home church. Through this encounter, God primed and readied me to meet Lorraine Pintus who would become my writing coach the following year. God used a question from the Bible study friend whom I met with a few times to remind me about She Speaks. The Lord opened the hearts and schedules of my husband, mother, and mother-in-love to make a way for me to participate in She Speaks 2010. These events came together in a matter of weeks and I stood amazed at God’s obvious work in my life. I could not deny His presence and provision, nor His answers to my prayers.

That is the medium (length) version of the backstory that led me to the point of this article, which is supposed to tell you about a fabulous writing resource that has helped me hone my writing skills for over half a decade! It wasn’t until I registered for She Speaks that I heard of Cecil Murphey. He would be one of our conference speakers. I Googled him (boy that sounds awkward) and stumbled upon his Writer to Writer blog. Guess what? I read every single post before the conference and even sent him a personal email, which Cec answered. That made my day to think that he would take the time to answer my question, in spite of having speeches to prepare and books to write.

On the first night of She Speaks 2010, I got the chance to meet Cec Murphey. It was an honor to hear him speak. I still remember the theme of his talk where he listed case after case of “Cinderella Stories” for authors.

Then my timer beeped at me. It was time for me to leave to meet a publisher.

I’ve been a virtual student of Cec Murphey since 2010, gleaning writing tips from his writer’s blog ever since. Maybe you could learn lessons from Cec’s lifetime of writing, too?

Shannon Cochran