A Writers’ Vision Interview! :D

Louise: Hey guys! Welcome back to Bookish Productions! We have a really special treat for you today! I’m going to be interviewing Kaytlin Phillips from Sisters Three– 

Kaytlin: *waves* Hey, folks!    

Louise: -about her online community called Writers’ Vision! It’s an online Christian community, a safe space for members to be able to share their work and receive feedback from fellow writers and advice from authors! So! Kaytlin, thanks for coming! 

Kaytlin: It’s an honor to be here, thank you so much for having me!

Louise: Of course! To begin: when did you first begin to think about creating an online Christian community for writers?

Kaytlin: When I was about sixteen and couldn’t find one. I didn’t have a job, so I couldn’t afford to pay to join a community (I have six sibling so my parents paying for that is not an option…lol…) and none of the free ones seemed very secure, also no one had a spot for my genre which at the time was MG fantasy. So, an idea started that maybe I’d start my own…but I wasn’t sure. Seemed like a lot of work, and I didn’t know anyone who would be interested. So, I tucked the idea away.

Louise: What pushed you into making that first step into actually acting upon this idea and creating it? 

Kaytlin: God really. I was looking for a writing community, again, at the age of 18 and still couldn’t find one that looked like something worth joining. Nothing clicked, nothing seemed right, and then God brought that idea to my head. “What about starting your own?” My sisters and I had started a blog, we knew some writers, and I was like…yeah, maybe soon.

God was like, “maybe now.” So I did it, signed into my Wix account and set up the site, thinking no one would join. I had about ten people within the first day! It was pretty incredible!

Louise: That’s so awesome! Why did you decide to name it Writers’ Vision? (Was there any special process behind the name?)

Kaytlin: Well it started out as my vision, a Writer’s Vision…but, then I realized that we all have a vision. When we start our books, poems, short stories, we all have this idea, this vision, of what we want to do with them, what we want them to be. Where we want them to go, how we want them to touch lives and change hearts and impact the world! That is our Writers’ Vision…and so, the site was named.

Louise: What is your goal with Writers’ Vision? 

Kaytlin: To provide a safe place for authors to connect and receive beta reading services and feedback on their writing. I wanted a spot where you knew everything was safe, from the content on the site to the stories you upload. I hope to build a community of writers who all want the same thing, to honor God with their writing! To serve Him first and foremost!

Louise: Why is it important to have close-knit communities like Writers’ Vision? 

Kaytlin: About 90% (guess-ta-mating here) of writers are introverts and we think we can do this alone, but it’s not true. Writing seems like a one person thing, but you really need a community. People who are going to back you, encourage you when times are hard, cheer for you when you succeed, and push you to become better as a writer!

Without a community you kind of flounder. You have no one to bounce ideas off, no one to ask for help, no one to understand how your writerly brian works. But when you have access to likeminded people it is CRAZY how much better your writing can become even in a short amount of time. Because community is the backbone, it is the gateway to success, it is something beautiful!

Louise: How many members do you currently have? Are you hoping to grow into a larger community?

Kaytlin: I have 24 members currently, I am. I want to be able to help as many people as possible. I want them to know they are not alone out there. There are other Christian authors and writers, there are communities they can join and be a part of, there is a place where they fit. They have a story worth telling and so many people need to hear that!

Only 1% of writers make it, you know why? Because the road gets hard and they give up. They just say, “well, that didn’t work, moving on.” But that is not how writing works, this is where community comes in to pick you up and tell you to try again. One fail does not make you a failure. That is what community is there for, to make sure you don’t give up.

Louise: What are some of the behind the scene processes that go into a site like this?

Kaytlin: There’s a lot of wondering if I’m doing things right, so I’m always checking with everyone. Honestly, I don’t have as much time as I would like to put into the site, but I try to write encouraging blog posts at least once a month, make sure everyone knows we are still active and alive! I do a lot of praying, wondering what the next step is, where do I go from here? But I’m trusting God with it!

I’m always looking for ways to invite people to the Writers’ Vision, but I don’t want to over self promote and be like, “Hey, I’ve got a site I think can help you.” Lol…so it makes things a bit diffucult. But I’m learning to more open about marketing and really just sharing about the site. It’s free so it’s not like I’m trying to get them to buy anything…lol…it just feels weird.

Louise: What have been some of your favorite moments with the community thus far? 

Kaytlin: Probably seeing people join, telling me they needed something like this. Seeing people’s excitement over the feedback they just received. Or someone commenting that the blog post was just what they needed. I love feeling like I am giving back to the writing community! Even if it is in a very small way.

Louise: Are there any particular Bible verses that you’d say would describe your mission and goal with Writers’ Vision? 

Kaytlin: Probably, Proverbs 3: 5-6, because I’ve always felt it is the code I should not only live, but write by:
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.”

I love the “lean not on your own understanding” and “in all your ways acknowledge Him”. Trust in God’s knowledge, not your own. And honor Him in everything you do and He will guide us. It’s a good code for Christian writers because if we are not acknowledging Him in all we write…why are we writing?

God should be center. I’m not saying writing a book with no mentions of God is wrong (World of Silence my debut has no faith elements) but God should be at the center, prayer should be your buoy through the writing process and God should be invited into every writing session. And I’ll stop before I start preaching, pastor’s daughter…lol…

Louise: haha, no, I think we all really needed to hear that! It is very important to stop and re-align yourself, so to speak. To look back on what really matters, and tell yourself that’s going to be your focus. Thank you again for coming on and answering all these questions! 

Kaytlin: Thank you so much for having me! And letting me have my mini rant there at the end. I just want to say, to the writers who think they don’t need a community. You never know how much you need one until you become part of one. It’s really amazing! Thanks again for having me, Louise!

Louise: Of course! It was my pleasure! And to anybody who hasn’t yet visited this amazing site, go ahead and take a look! Consider joining if you need a solid christian community to encourage you, help you up, and celebrate with you in your successes. Community is something a writer cannot forfeit! So thanks everybody for joining us!