LDSPMA

Empowering Latter-day Saints to spread light and truth by connecting them at the intersection of faith, creativity, and professional skill

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18 Books and Podcasts Recommended by LDSPMA Members

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LDSPMA is all about publications and media. But which publications? Which media? Before we jump into our March theme—“A Month of Editing”—let’s see what LDSPMA members and friends are immersing themselves in. 

Book Recommendations

Podcast Recommendations

Empowered to Become Part of LDSPMA

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By Joseph A. Batzel (LDSMPA Director of Education)

Our theme for this year’s conference can invite many thoughts and interpretations. As I think of the word empowered, I am drawn to a definition from Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary: “having the knowledge, confidence, means, or ability to do things or make decisions for oneself.” 

I was empowered several years ago when I was searching for an organization that provided an opportunity for me to further my knowledge in publishing and media. I had tried several other groups who provided similar opportunities, but their values and principles were not what I was looking for at the time.

As I perused the website I was so impressed with what Latter-day Saint Publishing and Media stood for in their mission statement: “LDSPMA is an international organization for members and friends of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who work in media and publishing or seek to do so.”

We provide online and in-person opportunities for our members to learn, network, share and refine their work, and support one another in magnifying and marketing praiseworthy works that bring light into the world. The media represented by LDSPMA members include books, blogs, articles, songs, poetry, videos, films, audio programs, podcasts, and others.

I had years of experience in writing, singing, poetry, video, and audio, and  I was also going to have the opportunity to work with people with the same values and principles. This combination was precisely what I was looking for to fit my spiritual and artistic needs. I made a decision that day to join the organization. In my past, I had been the CEO of my nonprofit organization for the preservation of the arts. I realized at that time I not only wanted to be a member I also wanted to serve on the board of directors.

I was at the right place and the right time when I felt guided by inspiration to find the website and notice they were looking for a director of education. The criteria met my qualifications. I filled out the application and was contacted shortly thereafter by the current president and approved by the board.

My privilege to serve others has been a mantra of mine for many years. I have been a professional educator for more than forty years. In those years, I have had the privilege of teaching students in the classroom of universities, colleges, and public schools. I’m blessed to say, “I have learned as much from my students as they have learned from me.” Education is a collaborative effort; we don’t need teachers if we don’t have students to teach. 

I look at serving on our LDSPMA board in the same capacity. We can’t function if we don’t have members that support us by becoming involved as our future leaders, committee members, presenters, keynotes, and general attendees at our conferences. 

We operate as a nonprofit organization; all of us who provide service are volunteers. As the director of education, it is my responsibility to provide as many opportunities to educate our members. Our yearly conference scheduled for this September is an ideal chance to receive some excellent instruction from our many presenters sharing their expertise in all facets of publishing and media. Along with our conference, I would like to share with you some of my educational goals for this coming year:

  1. I want to continue with our podcasts and include some of our conference presenters in our interviews.
  2. I want to encourage our college and university students to become involved by establishing and joining chapters on each college and university campus.
  3. I want to provide more opportunities for our members to submit their poetry and short stories to our blog and social media pages.
  4. I want to encourage our members to give us feedback on our blog, website, and social media pages. We want to provide the best educational experiences you are seeking.
  5. I want to encourage all of our members and potential members to attend our conference and learn from the most knowledgeable, insightful, passionate, and uplifting presenters that we are assembling to teach you in your respective areas of interest.

It is my hope and prayer that we can grow together as leaders and members and become one as we reach for the goal of “Empowering our Vision” for the coming year. I hope to meet many of you at this year’s conference.

Joseph

Trusting Your Teenage Writer: Three Tips to Avoid Overwriting

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By LoriAnne Spear

Have you ever tried to bluff your way through a conversation with your teenager, pretending you’re an expert on a subject so you can give them advice? Have you ever made up statistics to make sure they remember your warnings about whatever it is you’re worried they might do?

If you say no, hooray for you, awesomely cool and integrity-filled parents! I may have given a few impromptu lectures with far-out examples about having unprotected sex, falling grades, drinking, or just the sassing-your-parents-means-you-won’t-be-able-to-keep-a-job variety. Maybe they saw through me, but I wanted them to believe that I am an expert in all the downsides of those exciting dangers, and I hoped the more I talked and used impressive words, the more they’d believe me.

In much the same way, many of us novice writers overwrite in our insecure attempt to sound like a real writer. We use flowery language or big words so the reader will believe we’re legit. Instead, we produce overwrought writing and get in our own way. 

Here are three tips to avoid overwriting traps:

1. Cluttery Language. Choosing a twenty-dollar word when a simple one-dollar word is more authentic to your character. When you can’t choose between three foreboding images to describe a spooky place, so you throw all of them in—in the same sentence. Sometimes new writers add intrusive adverbs to describe the action on the page, instead of simple, powerful verbs in short sentences. That is how you build tension. The rest is clutter, and it gets in your reader’s way.

2. Redundancy. Do you want to be sure your unfinished-teenage-reader’s-brain truly understands how complicated the conflict is, how high the stakes really are, or how forbidden the love is? Repeating the same information using different words, in consecutive sentences, or even on the same page, is just hitting the reader over the head again and again with your pointy-point. It doesn’t add emphasis. It is not effective. It’s just annoying. What’s worse is that it takes focus off of what is most important—the story.

3. How to stop. Carol Lynch Williams teaches her students to look at every single sentence. If it’s not building toward the climax of the story, cut it. Look at each word in a sentence. Get rid of all helping verbs, all -ly adverbs, all passive constructions. Make every—single—word—count. Then give it to your beta readers, ask them to highlight all redundant information, overwritten descriptions, and irrelevant tangents. Then cut. Tighten. Refine. Repeat.

My Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers instructors have told me, “Trust your reader. Let them fill in the gaps. It’s more satisfying for them.” One simple, but unique, description ignites the readers’ imaginations. They subconsciously fill in the details of a setting or a character’s appearance by drawing from their own life’s experiences. It personalizes the story to them.

Finally, when you tell your story, start the movie in the reader’s mind as straightforward as you can. Revise and decorate it later with lovely language if needed. Clear the clutter and let your reader hear the character’s voice, and see the story play out in front of them. Isn’t that what we really want? For them to remember the characters and story long after they turn that last page.

Empowered By Vision

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By Steve Piersanti

The Sixth Annual National Conference of the Latter-day Saint Publishing and Media Association (LDSPMA) will take place at the BYU Conference Center in Provo, Utah, on September 24–26, 2020. Like our previous conferences, this is going to be a tremendous event. We don’t think we are exaggerating when we call it the best networking, learning, and professional development opportunity ever created for Latter-day Saints interested in publishing and media. We hope that you will plan to attend and will take advantage of the early bird registration offer when it is made available in a few weeks.

The theme of our 2020 conference is “Empowered by Vision.” This theme was chosen in recognition of the 200th anniversary of the First Vision. And it signifies that Latter-day Saints who are writers, editors, filmmakers, designers, artists, performers, producers, marketers, and other kinds of publishing and media professionals—and students and others who are preparing for these roles—can be tremendously empowered by the vision contained within the scriptures and teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This vision is a source of inspiration, creativity, clarity, and wisdom. It provides great benefits for making publishing and media more meaningful and impactful. Furthermore, publishing and media can be—and in numerous ways already are—powerful means of spreading positive vision in the world.

During the conference we will be privileged to hear from several distinguished keynote speakers:

  • Bruce and Marie Hafen. Bruce is a former member of the First Quorum of the Seventy, former provost of BYU, former president of BYU–Idaho, former dean of the BYU Law School, and former president of the St. George Utah Temple. Marie has held many Church leadership positions and has taught writing and religion classes at BYU, the University of Utah, and BYU–Idaho. They have authored several books together, and each has authored books individually.
  • Brandon Mull. Brandon is the #1 New York Times best-selling author of the Fablehaven, Beyonders, and Five Kingdoms series. He is one of the best-selling and most beloved Latter-day Saint fiction authors today. His latest #1 New York Times best seller is Dragonwatch: Wrath of the Dragon King. He is also an inspiring speaker as he shares his challenges and struggles in going from unknown writer to international star.
  • Hillary Weeks. Hilary has risen to the top of music charts both with Latter-day Saint audiences and within the broader Christian music world (which is rare and difficult to do). She is an award-winning, best-selling singer and songwriter who is also author of several inspiring books and a masterful and entertaining speaker.

In addition to these keynote speakers, the conference will feature over 75 other leaders in publishing and media who will share useful and informative advice in seven different conference tracks:

  • Fiction Writing
  • Nonfiction Writing
  • Media
  • Marketing
  • Editing, Design, and Production
  • Publishing
  • Interactive Sessions

Last year the conference featured, for the first time, four preconference, deep-dive, half-day workshops. These half-day workshops were such a big hit that we are expanding them to 10 pre-conference workshops this year, to take place on September 24. These workshops will cover fiction writing, nonfiction writing, fiction editing, foundational editing skills, screenwriting and film production, podcasting and audio production, self-publishing, social media marketing, website design, and media marketing and business development.

Please watch for more information about the conference and the opportunity to get a large early bird conference registration discount. We hope that you will join us!

Steven Piersanti

Director of Conferences, LDSPMA

Our Origin Story

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By Devan Jensen

Every superhero has an origin story about gaining powers, overcoming daunting obstacles, or maybe even assembling a team to help save the world. Want to hear our origin story? 

Publishing can be a lonely profession. Steve Piersanti of Berrett-Koehler Publishers in Oakland, California, decided to reach out to a tiny group of Latter-day Saint authors and publishers, believing that he could find strength in numbers. This tiny group decided to organize a network of publishing professionals to reinforce shared values and improve career possibilities, hone communication skills, and use skills to bring healing to the world. 

Piersanti recruited publishers in a 2014 survey to brainstorm names. That initial committee of Sue Bergin, Brad Farmer, David Miles, Josh Piersanti, and Christopher Robbins narrowed the choices to two top contenders: the Latter-day Saint Publishing Professionals (LDSPPA) and the Association for Mormon Publishing Professionals (AMPP). In a survey, some noted that Mormon was a problematic adjective, so they chose the former option. 

They gathered a larger group of publishing professionals—both young and old—at an organizing event at the Salt Lake Public Library on April 3, 2015. That group included Sue Bergin, Brad Farmer, Kimball Fisher, Devan Jensen, David Miles, Bryce Mortimer, Steven Piersanti, Christopher Robbins, Eric Smith, Kathryn Thompson, Amy White, Erin Willder, and younger professionals such as Aleesha Bass. Our tiny band of heroes assembled to conquer the world! ☺

Revisiting Our Name

Since that initial meeting, we adjusted our name to address two concerns. First, some aspiring authors resisted joining because they felt daunted by not being established “publishing professionals.” Second, media influencers felt the focus was too strong on traditional print publishers. So we brainstormed options and sought survey results. The winning name? The Latter-day Saint Publishing and Media Association (LDSPMA). 

As part of our growing pains, we continue to question to use “LDS” in our logo even though “Latter-day Saint” is officially our name. We wondered if “PMA” might confuse people that we have “positive mental attitude”—that’s not the worst thing Latter-day Saints are accused of! So we’re constantly discussing our name and logo—leading to fascinating debates! 

Our Goals

We identified three goals that have remained stable: (1) to improve professional skills, (2) to network and broaden our publishing connections, and (3) to play an increasingly vital role in disseminating ideas to make the world a better place for all. Our annual conference became the most visible way to hone our skills and network with each other. As Christopher Robbins expressed, “Meeting each other and networking could provide a much richer opportunity for those of us who wish to work internationally or outside the Rocky Mountains but want to stay in publishing. Exploring each other’s networks can provide a rich field to harvest the very best Latter-day Saint talent available.” He added, “We all obviously understand the importance of networking. But as the world deviates from truth and religious moorings, the need is stronger than ever for Latter-day Saint publishing professionals to be connected, to help each other, to stand together in a world and industry that is increasingly more hostile to what we believe to be true and valuable. For years the church has grown one of a family and two of a city. Latter-day Saint publishing professionals should consciously resist being separated and silenced. There is strength in numbers.”

Our Mission

Although the names and faces of our team of heroes have changed over the years, our basic mission remains the same: We are “an international organization for members and friends of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who work in media and publishing or seek to do so. We provide online and in-person opportunities for our members to learn, network, share and refine their work, and support one another in magnifying and marketing praiseworthy works that bring light into the world. The media represented by LDSPMA members include books, blogs, articles, songs, poetry, videos, films, audio programs, podcasts, and others.”

To all you authors, bloggers, editors, designers, filmmakers, or storytellers in any medium, we invite you to join in our quest to use the power of the word to fill the world with light and truth.

Devan Jensen is a writer and editor who is shaping a better, kinder, more sustainable community, nation, and world. He loves telling stories to bring history to life.

From the Writer's Toolbox: Thematic Purpose

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By Alice M. Batzel (Author, Playwright, Journalist, Poet, Freelance Writer)

When writing a story deep in suspense or mystery, I confess that I want to block off the door of my home office with crime scene tape and post a “Do not disturb” sign. When writing a romance, comedy, stage script, poetry, or an article, I need that same level of isolation, concentration, and I would still consider using the crime scene tape to get it. I’m not unlike other writers. We know of the methodical plotter who uses a detailed storyboard or extensive collection of index cards full of plot points. We also know of the relaxed writer who sits at her desk with an iced beverage, leaning backward in deep thought while waiting for inspiration to come. And when that inspiration comes (after taking a break to make a grilled cheese sandwich), the relaxed writer constructs a story with every ebb and flow of creative impulse or vision that she receives.

I would say that I’m a hybrid writer in that I work more constructively, but I like to allow change to occur, and I do keep my beverage or snack within reach. With this in mind, it’s been my experience that writing with a theme provides a constructive, focused working format. Writing with a theme provides direction, purpose, helps define a timeline for my story and characters to reach an arc that the reader will accept and need. The thematic influence also allows my creative process. But what you might not expect is that writing with a theme also can direct our lives and our goals. 

To illustrate this, here is a recent personal experience. Shortly before Thanksgiving 2019, my stake music program director asked to come to my home and meet with me. That was perplexing enough, but during that home meeting she also asked me to participate in the annual Stake Christmas music program. I was stunned. I don’t play a musical instrument, nor do I sing. I was relieved to learn that my invitation was to contribute as a writer. An invited award-winning composer/pianist would be participating in the program, and he, along with a guest vocalist, would be performing one of his latest compositions. I was provided with the lyrics and asked to write a narrative story that would introduce the concluding number in the program. I reviewed the words, felt that I could provide what was needed, and accepted the invitation.

In the following days, amidst the typical holiday preparations and festivities, I began working on the story I needed to write. I had several ideas, though none came together as hoped. I realized at that point that my approach was wrong. I was trying to create a story, and that was not what I was supposed to do. I was supposed to tell the story that the Lord wanted. I prayed and asked the Lord to help me know what story it was that he wished for me to write, and I would do so. Weary from much, I then retired to bed for rest. While sleeping, I had a vivid dream as if in real time, including place, names, circumstances, characters, plot points, story arc, theme, and purpose. After awakening, I immediately went into my home office, turned on the computer, and transcribed the story as I had seen it in the dream. During the writing, I developed a couple of additional complementary points to facilitate a good flow of the story. 

In the days before the submission deadline, the story underwent five rewrites and extensive line and content editing. I worked closely with the narrator to ensure time compliance for the program. Interestingly, to meet the program’s time parameters, I ended up deleting the additional points I had previously inserted. The completed story was an accurate representation of the dream that I had received in answer to my petition to the Lord for help that I could tell the story he wanted. I felt pleased that the final edition of the story supported the lyrics of the music composition. Furthermore, the story’s message also invited the audience to come unto Christ, provided testimony of the Savior, and gave hope for eternal happiness—each point I had hoped my work would be able to achieve. 

The program narrator read the story at the appointed time, and the audience received it favorably, as did the composer/pianist and stake leadership. Since that time, the spontaneous local response has been positive and heartfelt. A similar response has been received from readers as far away as two thousand miles across the country due to sharing over the internet. Souls have been lifted and invited to come unto Christ, a testimony of the Savior shared, and hope for eternal happiness—all because I asked God for help, listened to the Spirit, followed divine direction, and used my skill and talent to support the theme. 

Having a theme can provide a vital constructive framework and anchor in all genres yet still allow the artist’s voice to be creative, authentic, and unique. It’s also applicable to music composition and performance, vocal performance, film production, visual art, graphic design, and marketing. Having a theme can also direct our lives, our goals, and reaffirm the purpose of our work. An artistic expression that reflects a particular theme and or mission statement is a powerful voice, the equivalent of a signature. 

You can read the story, “Once upon a Christmas Time,” at this link, https://www.alicembatzel.com/once-upon-a-christmas-time. This story was written as an introduction for Garth Smith’s “Heaven’s Hallelujah,” performed at the Brigham City Utah West Stake Christmas music program on December 15, 2019.

Theme: The Deeper Truth Within Your Story

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By Josi Kilpack

What Is Theme and Why Does It Matter?

Theme can be a difficult concept to pin down and is often explained as “what the story is about.” It’s a fair enough definition except that it can confuse theme with the subject or genre. For instance, it’s easy to say your romance novel is about love or your mystery novel is about justice. That’s true, but those are not the deeper truth, which is how I define theme. Theme is what stays with the reader after the story ends; it’s what makes them look at how that deeper truth plays out in their own life or understanding of the world.

For writers, especially those starting out, theme can be a difficult concept to grasp because theme is abstract, vague and, to an extent, subjective, as opposed to concrete concepts like character, plot, rising action, or resolution. The writer could write to a theme that a reader may not see. Or the reader might see a theme that wasn’t the writer’s intention. The disparity of interpretation can make the writer ask after the point of caring about theme at all when there are so many other—easier to understand—concepts that require our attention. The reason theme matters, however, is because writing from the place of deeper truth on the part of the writer leads to a place of deeper truth on the part of the reader. Even if the theme does not translate exactly, the depth does. To write without theme is to write without the depth that leads to the resonance of your story. 

An Idea for How to Develop Deeper Truth

That deeper truth comes from you, the writer, in that it reflects your own values or curiosity or expansion. While the author is the one to determine theme, it is usually expressed through the main character—what she does and says and wants and works toward. The first part of developing theme, therefore, is to ask what belief you want to either explore or expand on in your story; what is the deeper truth you want to tell? 

One way to do this is to brainstorm early in the development of your story. There are a hundred ways to do this, and I encourage you to try a variety of methods before choosing what works for you. For me, the method that works best so far is doing word bubble diagrams, something I learned back in elementary school. So let’s say I’ve decided to write a story with the theme “Beauty for Ashes,” which is a theme I’ve used many times in my stories. I take a blank piece of paper and write that in the center of the page, then circle it. Now I’m going to ask myself what thoughts are sparked with that phrase. I draw lines coming out from that nucleus phrase and write what comes to mind.

For the sake of our example, let’s go with a center cluster that looks like this: God, overcoming hardship, delayed understanding, personal growth. I circle all those things and use them as a new nucleus to expand upon with thoughts that I associate with those words. Let’s take the “delayed understanding” angle. I draw new lines out from it that include the following associations: tragic loss, faith, overcoming hopelessness, purpose of trial. I sit back and see that “faith” connects with “God,” so I make a line between them. I also notice that “purpose of trial” relates to “personal growth” and draw a line between them. Those are interesting connections. I already know I want the main character to be a man who loses everything—like Job did. I add “Job” to “faith,” though I could have added it to “God” too, but I’m developing this “delayed understanding” angle. I think about what I know about Job and draw lines out from that new place: faithful, rich to poor to rich, lost literally everything. I look at that last part—lost literally everything: status, friends, children, wife, home, health. 

As you can see, it’s not pretty, but it’s effective. My thoughts about how to tell a “Beauty for Ashes” story is tightening in my mind. I’m going to work this exercise until I have run out of ideas to explore. I might start new pages with “Job” as the center idea or maybe “rich to poor to rich” and see where it takes me. What I’ll find is that my brainstorming is going to come back to some specific concepts. The man I have already envisioned as my main character is going to fill out and become more real. I’m going to better understand where he came from and where I want him to go. I might determine a different theme or a more focused theme, but it will likely be some version of “Beauty for Ashes.” While I’m doing this, I’m looking for a buzz inside myself, that’s how I recognize truth (it might be different for you), a sort of electric excitement as pieces come together. The entire process might take twenty minutes and one piece of paper, or might be a few hours and several papers—it’s different for each story depending on how much mining goes into finding that deeper truth. 

The Process Continues

Once I feel like I know the theme, I put it aside and start writing the story. I might need to sit back after writing a particular scene to see if it’s reflecting my theme as well as it could, but for the most part I am done with the “work” on theme. The theme might change as the story develops, meaning I might have thought I was writing “Beauty for Ashes,” but I’m actually writing “Strength Comes from Overcoming Struggle,” which is similar but a little different. I might need to go back and test that new theme in each scene to make sure it’s still consistent, but that’s all part of the process. Change is okay if it leads to a better reflection of deeper truth.

An example of changing theme is my novel As Wide as the Sky. This is a women’s fiction novel about a woman whose son has been executed for a mass shooting he committed a few years before the story starts. She goes on a journey to find the owner of a class ring she found in her son’s belongings while trying to make sense of her complicated feelings. Throughout the initial writing, I thought the story’s theme was “There is Life after Tragedy.” The story was all told through the main character’s point of view, until I encountered a character named Coach Miller. He was an old man who had recently lost his wife, and I wrote his chapter in his point of view in order to better connect with him, planning to change it back to the main characters’ point of view later on. Through that chapter I realized how stuck he was in his sadness and how well his mourning both connected with and contrasted against my main character’s loss. I couldn’t make this a duel POV story since Coach Miller was featured in such a small portion, but I let the chapter sit in his POV while I moved forward. Then I wrote another chapter in another POV character—a love interest—who was stuck in the regret of having abandoned his family years earlier. Three characters, all of them stuck. One because her son became someone she both loved and hated, one because he’d made a huge mistake he couldn’t fix, and one because the natural order of things had taken his sweetheart. Stuck for different reasons, but all of them grieving. Grief was a deeper truth for the story I had not seen until the story was almost finished. In trying to better understand these three characters, I studied up on the cycles of grief and ended up adding additional POV characters earlier in the story to reflect the different stages of grief and how people can become “stuck” in any of them. This adjustment to the theme hopefully allowed more readers to see themselves in my story and see a bigger picture of what grief looks like in its different stages. Writing and revising toward the new theme of grief also helped me to explore the deeper truth of grief as I have experienced it in my own life. Not all of my books have such a strong sense of theme, but it was cool to see how it played out in this experience and has left me with the reminder to make sure I do the work to find the deeper truth in each book.

It Won’t Be Easy, But …

Like all aspects of writing fiction, the recognition of theme is easier for some than others. Just as some writers have a natural ability for setting, some find uncovering theme to be a more organic practice. But in the same way that a writer who struggles with setting must exert the extra effort necessary to grasp it, determining theme may take some practice for those of us who don’t come to it naturally. It won’t be easy, but then no one said that writing was easy. If it were, everyone would do it. ☺ 

Practice. Read how other writers determine and include theme in their stories. Look for it in the books you read. Find that deeper truth and write it.

A Word for the Year

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By Michelle McCullough

When I first started using a word of the year as part of my new-year planning, I will admit it was foreign to me. As a hard-core, goal-setting lass, I didn’t understand just having one word. I have learned over the years that it’s not an either-or option. You can have a word of the year and goals—and after starting this practice seven years ago, I have come to find that I really like having both.

My first yearlong word of the year was “intuition.” I was really trying to understand myself better, trust myself better, but ultimately I wanted to know my Heavenly Father better. That year was a year of incredible growth. I remember thinking about intuition while I was training for a half marathon and while I was potty training my daughter. Thoughts about trust and revelation came to my mind when I was driving down the street and doing the dishes. It was only something I had percolating in my mind, but it seeped into many aspects of my lives and was a focal point of my thoughts. From that moment, I was hooked. I knew a word of the year would be a mainstay for me in addition to my annual goal-setting practices.

I also learned another key that year through the lens of intuition. As a mother (and also someone who pursues professional goals), I was pretty good about running the regular guilt script in my head. If I went to a meeting, accepted a speaking engagement, or set up a client consultation, I felt guilty for not being home with my kids. If I stayed home and said no to the event or client meeting, I felt guilty for not growing in my professional career.

Guilt if I do, guilt if I don’t.

Yet the word “intuition” helped me make decisions about what was truly right for me and my family and helped me trust that God would be my partner as I carefully and prayerfully made each decision.

A couple of years later as I was preparing for the launch of my book Make It Happen Blueprint, I chose the word “savor.” I had a book tour scheduled, lots of travel, and lots of book launch events. It wasn’t that I wanted to savor and remember every moment of that launch. It was that I really cared about making sure that the moments that I was home mattered to both me and my children. What I was really craving was feeling a sense of presence in my life, and “savor” was a great reminder to focus on the moments I was in.

I still set goals every year. However, I first asked myself two very important questions:

How do I want to feel this year?

How do I want to grow this year?

We often joke in a personal development world that you don’t use the word; the word chooses you. I’ll brainstorm words that work a write them on sticky notes and put them somewhere I’ll see regularly. As I pass, I look at the list and take off the ones that aren’t right and add new words for consideration. Ironically, I don’t often get my word from this wall, but I think it’s part of my process. As I’m reading or driving or thinking, a word will come to mind and will encapsulate the two questions above. If it feels light and exciting, I keep it, but if there is any heaviness or dread, it has to go.

For example, one year I wanted to pick the word “health” (insert eye roll). I had been studying different kinds of eating plans and spending a fair amount of time at the gym. At the same time battling my sweet tooth and my love for all things with carbs, I felt like I needed to make this a priority (and if I’m being honest, I wanted to shed some pounds). After a few days, the word felt heavy and forced, and I had to make a different word choice. Again, if it lights you up and you want to tell everyone about it, that’s a good sign. If you cringe when you think about it and you don’t want to tell a soul, you haven’t quite found your word yet.

Choosing a word of the year is one of my favorite things about closing out old years and preparing for new ones. And yet, I also know that I can’t rush the process, and the right word comes on its own timetable.

Last year I experienced this on a significant level.

As I closed 2018 and prepared for 2019, I was committed to have my annual plan and word of the year set before January 1. Two days before Christmas I was in a car accident. At the same time I had bronchitis, and the cracked rib and sternum I had pierced me with pain at every cough. Shortly after the new year, my husband was down—in bed, with a condition that brings him chronic pain, and he was experiencing a major flare-up—which meant I was pulling both mom and dad duty, recovering from being sick, and recovering from the injuries associated with the car accident. At. The. Same. Time. I remember this time feeling dark and lonely and a lot overwhelmed.

As I prayed for direction in my life and business for the new year, in addition to finding my word of the year, I kept drawing a blank. Previous words like “miracles,” “savor,” “light,” and “peace” didn’t resonate. I watched other friends post their word of the year, and I didn’t have one.

About the same time, I was studying spiritual gifts. I had just completed President Nelson’s challenge to read the Book of Mormon before the end of 2018, and when I finished Moroni 10, I hung around for a while and looked up many scriptures about spiritual gifts in the following weeks. Studying spiritual gifts was part of my post-accident healing and sickness. As if inspiration, I had the thought, “That’s your word.”

It was a weird thought, “Spiritual gifts isn’t something you do or be. It’s something you learn,” I said in prayer. The thought continued, and so I trusted.

As I continued to pray about what that meant, I had an image flash in my mind of our kids’ playroom. The floor is covered with toys and train tables, and the walls are bare. The image that flashed in my mind was to put up giant, poster-sized sticky notes (that I used for client strategy sessions) in the playroom, where I could capture key thoughts, scripture references, and stories.

Again, I resisted. Explaining to Heavenly Father that it would be weird for me to put up posters in a place where my kids play. But would it? Perhaps they could benefit from the words on the walls, and perhaps they could benefit by watching Mom immersed in study of singular spiritual topic.

I’m embarrassed to say that thought and image pressed on my mind for over ten days before I heeded it. One day I got out the poster papers and started writing each spiritual gift on its own poster. Then I wrote the scripture references from the Bible, Book of Mormon, and Doctrine and Covenants. Soon the walls were covered, and I couldn’t wait for the times when I could sneak in there to read a conference talk and record my thoughts.

Over the last twelve months, that room transformed from a playroom to a room of personal revelation. As I read, studied, and prayed, the pages filled up with insights from General Authorities, and I was also able to recollect spiritual experiences where I had been given or been a witness to spiritual gifts. I set my scriptures on my daughter’s play kitchen, and then I wrote on posters and color-coded my scriptures.

And since this is an article about selecting your word of the year and not about spiritual gifts, I won’t go into the details about all that I learned and experienced, but let me just say I was changed in that playroom surrounded by posters, princesses, and pirates—and I might not have had that kind of learning if I hadn’t followed the path of the word of the year. It also never would have happened if I hadn’t trusted that this year would be a year of significant growth—despite the ever-present challenges. In some ways, spiritual gifts and my words of the year saved me.

Even these many months later, as I prepared for a new year in 2020, I do not feel done with spiritual gifts, and yet I have felt like it’s okay to find a new word to helping me along this year and along the new decade.

When Lessa, the newsletter editor, reached out to see if I would write this article, I was still without a word of the year and a little embarrassed that it was so. With great study, meditation, and even some pleading (right before the deadline), I finally found it.

This year, my word is actually a phrase, as it has been a time or two before. My phrase is “Do the next right thing.” This is a common theme in the new Frozen 2 movie, and while it’s a little cheesy for this middle-aged woman, when it dawned on me, it fit like a missing puzzle piece.

This is the year I write two books, my first spiritual and religious narrative nonfiction, and I’m also working on a book for the corporate audience I serve most frequently as I travel the country to speak at corporations and associations. I have so many to-dos running through my mind I have found myself a smidge paralyzed and not moving forward. With this phrase I can ask myself and the Spirit what is the next right thing—and then do it.

Over the past few days, I have been more productive using this simple tactic as my core value and mission.

If you already have a word of the year, I would love for you to share it. If you don’t, I would invite you to ask yourself, “What do I want to feel this year?” or “How do I want to grow this year?”

I have found that starting with this before I set goals helps the rest of my goals become clear in priority and purpose. If you have already set your goals for the year, all is not lost. Perhaps in your goals you may find a common thread or theme that will help you stay focused.


If you already have a word or phrase, or if you find one, place it in multiple places where you will see it regularly. I made a backdrop for my phone and printed words or phrases on 3 x 5 cards that sit on my bathroom mirror for twelve months. There is no right or wrong way, however I recommend both digital and physical reminders for greatest results.

It has been so fun to explore and write about a word of the year with permission to use a spiritual filter. When I share this concept with private coaching clients one-on-one, or on a stage to hundreds, it’s typically focused on high-performance practices for professionals. And while I always encourage they use this principle on their personal life as well, I crave to share with them the spiritual benefits of having our hearts work with God on the direction that he would like to see us go in a new year. As I consider all that our prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, has asked of us over the last couple of years, I have felt a deep desire to be more purposeful in my days, and focused in my vision. As I develop personally and professionally, I also focus on becoming who God needs me to be spiritually so that I can do my part in the gathering of scattered Israel, myself included. Anything we do to progress better prepares us to be instruments in the Lord’s hands and also puts us on the covenant path where the Savior can shepherd us home.

Wishing you all the success spiritually, personally and professionally in 2020 and beyond!

Michelle McCullough is a national speaker, a best-selling author, and a cohost on the faith-based podcast The Living Room. Michelle can’t live without chocolate chip cookies or her iPhone and is afraid of her two kids growing up too fast. If given a magic carpet, she would like to go to Italy for the artwork and the carbs. And a little something we should all know about Michelle, her middle name is Sunshine. You can find Michelle professionally at speakmichelle.com, though she blogs on spiritual things at sunshineinthemiddle.com.