Welcome to the Christian Writer’s Den as we learn more about the writing life from author and speaker, Mary Scro…
What fun to introduce Mary Graziano Scro today. Mary and I met years ago when she attended Christian Communicators Conference and she’s been a dear friend ever since! I’m honored to share her writing journey with you today.
Be sure and leave a comment for Mary and you’ll be in the drawing for a free copy of one of her books. Don’t forget to check back next week to see if you’re the winner!
Now let’s get started. First of all, Mary, I’m always interested in hearing how authors got interested in writing.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved to write…and I’ve always loved to read. There’s something about the power of the written word to teach, inspire, and entertain that wakes up the gift God put inside me. When someone reads what I’ve written and it blesses them, well, there’s nothing like it. And the same goes for me when I am inspired by the work of others.
Oh, I know what you mean. I’m so encouraged when readers say my books helped or even entertained them. But we all have writing challenges. What are a few of yours?
One is trying too hard to “get it perfect” without editing. Many years ago, a manager asked for a one-page management summary of a huge document. A co-worker and I labored over it all day but didn’t have a thing done when the manager came back to check. Instead of being mad, she laughed and said, “You’re trying too hard. You won’t get it right the first time so just get something down on paper, then you can edit.” She nailed it!
Another area is to “write clean”: keep verbs active, don’t use too many words when fewer will do, stay to the point. I’ve had awesome help from my Word Weavers critique group in that area. And I’ve learned helpful edit techniques, such as searching for “ing” words and reading my writing out loud.
One thing I learned: we can always improve our writing…and we need to keep working at that.
Yes, it’s taken me a long time to learn that trying to make my words “pretty” before moving on gets me nowhere! Please share when and why you started blogging.
My first blog post was in May, 2013. I like the spontaneous nature of blogging – sharing what God is showing me at that moment. At first I wanted to do something so great that many would flock to my blog and I’d be famous overnight. Then I came down to earth and realized we need all the voices we can get on the internet to tell people about our awesome God. He gifted me to write, I need to steward it well and share for Him, not for me.
Along those lines, I used to get discouraged when someone posted something similar to what I just posted. Now I get excited because I realize that I heard God – He is speaking the same message to many so He can reach our different audiences.
I had to laugh when I read that you expected readers would flock to your blog and you’d be famous overnight. Sounds like we have a lot of the same tendencies! Would you tell us a little about your books, and how they came about?
The first book, Intentional Fitness: Working Out Your Salvation, started as a teaching about how to move from the world’s ways to God’s ways to grow in your faith. We grow our faith because a lost world needs Jesus, and they won’t see Him unless He’s strong in us. Our faith doesn’t just grow with time; it takes effort, choice, and obedience. I share parts of my testimony to encourage others that if I can have an awesome life with God, they can too.
The second book, Intentional Warfare: Winning the Daily Spiritual Battles, started as a teaching about spiritual warfare in a class I co-taught at my church. I didn’t know what to teach – God literally fed it to me one week at a time. Then with my co-teacher’s encouragement, I wrote a book about it. Most of the book is about becoming aware of the daily battle that is going on around us, how to fight the right enemy in God’s strength, and how to live a more God-empowered life.
I think I see a theme here with the word “intentional.” Want to share about that?
My passion is to see Christians take responsibility for growing their faith – to talk, act, and live differently than people who don’t know Jesus. We need to be more than good people who do good things, we need to be supernatural people whose God works miracles in and through us. Most of my writing is about obedience and what amazing things God can do in our lives…and conversely, how we give our enemy, the devil, power when we try to go our own way.
Walking with Jesus is not about where we are in our journey, it’s about the direction we’re headed and our willingness to lay down our way for God’s. When we do, oh, what a glorious life!
Amen, sister! Thank you so much for being with us and sharing your story, Mary. I know your experience will be helpful for writers out there.
Friends, be sure to leave a comment and next week you could win a copy of Mary’s book. Just check back next Tuesday to see if you’re the winner!
Bio: Mary Graziano Scro, a graduate of Christian Communicators Conference, is an inspirational author, speaker, and blogger who intuitively weaves analogies and personal testimony with practical biblical teaching. Whether in person or at the keyboard, Mary loves sharing what God has done in her life to encourage others in their own walks with the Lord. Mary’s books, Intentional Fitness and Intentional Warfare, are available through Vox Dei Publishing Amazon.com, and she has more projects in the works. She lives in Virginia with her husband Don, her parents, two cats, a dog, and occasional rogue bears who raid the bird feeder.
You can reach Mary through:
Facebook: Life Is Not A Formula
Twitter: @marygscro
LinkedIn: Mary Graziano Scro
Blogs: Life Is Not A Formula (Mary’s website) at
Vox Dei Publishing blog at
Almost an Author, WARFARE! Column at
