{"id":2957,"date":"2015-10-06T10:54:08","date_gmt":"2015-10-06T15:54:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.littworldonline.org\/?p=2957"},"modified":"2016-11-18T22:32:19","modified_gmt":"2016-11-18T22:32:19","slug":"friends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/zh\/friends\/","title":{"rendered":"Friends"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

\"Ruth<\/a>By Ruth O’Neil<\/p>\n

I have truly been blessed. There is a group of readers who are willing to read my books before they are published. These are my beta readers. These readers tell me when something isn\u2019t working for them in my story. They pick out typos I may have missed. They even post reviews of my books once published and available for purchase online. But more than just readers and fellow writers, these people have become my friends.<\/p>\n

By the age of nine I knew I wanted to be a writer. My mother, who was a great help and encouragement to me, gave me opportunities other want-to-be writers only dream of. Partly because of my mother, I learned at an early age to develop thick skin. She taught me that unless I could accept criticism, my writing would not grow and develop. Of course, I also had to learn which criticisms to accept and which to reject. That was a maturing process.<\/p>\n

Proverbs 27:17<\/a> tell us, “As\u00a0iron\u00a0sharpens\u00a0iron, so one person sharpens another.” I need that. I need someone to give me honest and constructive criticism. Often people see problems that I didn\u2019t because, quite frankly, I look at a manuscript so often that my eyes begin to cross and the story runs together. Fresh eyes help me see things I couldn\u2019t see.<\/p>\n

As Christian writers we need each other. We need the companionship of fellow writers. Let\u2019s face it, when people know you write, sometimes the reaction you get is a little strange or disappointing. Writers understand writers, and even more so, Christian writers understand Christian writers. We can help shape one another\u2019s writing (as the Scripture states) and we can bounce ideas off each other when we have no one else.<\/p>\n

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank You so much for the writing friends You have blessed me with. I pray that I would be able to help strengthen and improve their writing with fellowship, discussion and prayer as they do mine. Amen.<\/em><\/p>\n

Ruth O\u2019Neil<\/a> has been a US freelance writer for 20-plus years. She sees everything as a writing opportunity in disguise, whether it is an interesting character, setting or situation. When she\u2019s not writing or homeschooling her kids, Ruth spends her time quilting, reading, scrapbooking, camping and hiking with her family.<\/p>\n

This article was an entry in MAI’s LittWorld 2015<\/a> Devotional Writing Contest.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Ruth O’Neil I have truly been blessed. There is a group of readers who are willing to read my books before they are published. These are my beta readers. These readers tell me when something isn\u2019t working for them in my story. They pick out typos I may have missed. They even post reviews […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"iawp_total_views":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[307,46,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2957","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christian-writer","category-writing-resources","category-writing-contest"],"yoast_head":"\nFriends - Media Associates International<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/zh\/friends\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"zh_CN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Friends - Media Associates International\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Ruth O’Neil I have truly been blessed. There is a group of readers who are willing to read my books before they are published. These are my beta readers. These readers tell me when something isn\u2019t working for them in my story. They pick out typos I may have missed. They even post reviews […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/zh\/friends\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Media Associates International\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-10-06T15:54:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-11-18T22:32:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Ruth-ONeil-headshot-150x150.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dawn Jewell\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"\u4f5c\u8005\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dawn Jewell\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"\u9884\u8ba1\u9605\u8bfb\u65f6\u95f4\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 \u5206\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/friends\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/friends\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Dawn Jewell\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/#\/schema\/person\/fe9cb0aeb56fbdaecf5057c965411976\"},\"headline\":\"Friends\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-10-06T15:54:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-11-18T22:32:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/friends\/\"},\"wordCount\":406,\"commentCount\":1,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/friends\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Ruth-ONeil-headshot-150x150.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Christian writer\",\"writing\",\"writing contest\"],\"inLanguage\":\"zh-Hans\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/friends\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/friends\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/friends\/\",\"name\":\"Friends - Media Associates International\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/friends\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/friends\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Ruth-ONeil-headshot-150x150.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-10-06T15:54:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-11-18T22:32:19+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/friends\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"zh-Hans\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/friends\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"zh-Hans\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/friends\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Ruth-ONeil-headshot-150x150.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Ruth-ONeil-headshot-150x150.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/friends\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Friends\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/\",\"name\":\"Media Associates International\",\"description\":\"The power of the written word transforms lives.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"zh-Hans\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Media Associates International\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"zh-Hans\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/maismall.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/maismall.jpg\",\"width\":145,\"height\":60,\"caption\":\"Media Associates International\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/#\/schema\/person\/fe9cb0aeb56fbdaecf5057c965411976\",\"name\":\"Dawn Jewell\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"zh-Hans\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8c17432c720821e211d58fcd87b64dd7b5a20866d8381a7b281e963564019e63?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8c17432c720821e211d58fcd87b64dd7b5a20866d8381a7b281e963564019e63?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dawn Jewell\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/zh\/author\/dawnjewell\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Friends - Media Associates International","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/zh\/friends\/","og_locale":"zh_CN","og_type":"article","og_title":"Friends - Media Associates International","og_description":"By Ruth O’Neil I have truly been blessed. There is a group of readers who are willing to read my books before they are published. These are my beta readers. These readers tell me when something isn\u2019t working for them in my story. They pick out typos I may have missed. They even post reviews […]","og_url":"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/zh\/friends\/","og_site_name":"Media Associates International","article_published_time":"2015-10-06T15:54:08+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-11-18T22:32:19+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Ruth-ONeil-headshot-150x150.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Dawn Jewell","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"\u4f5c\u8005":"Dawn Jewell","\u9884\u8ba1\u9605\u8bfb\u65f6\u95f4":"2 \u5206"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/friends\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/friends\/"},"author":{"name":"Dawn Jewell","@id":"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/#\/schema\/person\/fe9cb0aeb56fbdaecf5057c965411976"},"headline":"Friends","datePublished":"2015-10-06T15:54:08+00:00","dateModified":"2016-11-18T22:32:19+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/friends\/"},"wordCount":406,"commentCount":1,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/friends\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Ruth-ONeil-headshot-150x150.jpg","articleSection":["Christian writer","writing","writing contest"],"inLanguage":"zh-Hans","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/friends\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/friends\/","url":"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/friends\/","name":"Friends - Media Associates International","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/friends\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/friends\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Ruth-ONeil-headshot-150x150.jpg","datePublished":"2015-10-06T15:54:08+00:00","dateModified":"2016-11-18T22:32:19+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/friends\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"zh-Hans","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/friends\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"zh-Hans","@id":"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/friends\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Ruth-ONeil-headshot-150x150.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Ruth-ONeil-headshot-150x150.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/friends\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Friends"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/","name":"Media Associates International","description":"The power of the written word transforms lives.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"zh-Hans"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/#organization","name":"Media Associates International","url":"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"zh-Hans","@id":"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/maismall.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/maismall.jpg","width":145,"height":60,"caption":"Media Associates International"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/#\/schema\/person\/fe9cb0aeb56fbdaecf5057c965411976","name":"Dawn Jewell","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"zh-Hans","@id":"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8c17432c720821e211d58fcd87b64dd7b5a20866d8381a7b281e963564019e63?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8c17432c720821e211d58fcd87b64dd7b5a20866d8381a7b281e963564019e63?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dawn Jewell"},"url":"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/zh\/author\/dawnjewell\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2957"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2957\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}