Write Like A Nerd by Elizabeth Ludwig

I used to love books as a child. All books. Even books that no one else wanted to read. Now that I have grandchildren, I want them to love books as much as I did, although maybe not for the same reasons.

See…I was a nerd, and I read to escape. I wasn’t popular or exceptionally pretty. I wasn’t athletic or artsy. I was one of the kids on the fringe—tolerated, but not accepted. Sometimes, I still feel that way.

Amazing, right? No woman in her mid-forties should struggle with feelings of being a social outsider, but I do sometimes. If I’m honest, it happens more often than I like. And yes, I do know who I am in Christ. I know how much I’m loved and accepted by Him. Still, I can’t help but desire to be loved and accepted by my peers as well. It hurts when I go to conferences and all the seats next to the popular kids…er…authors, are taken by other popular authors. It hurts when others are invited to be panelists, teachers, workshop leaders and I am not. It hurts when awards are handed out and my books are not among them. I watch from the fringes, battling familiar feelings of inadequacy and unpopularity.

 All of which are completely, unequivocally, and undeniably untrue. 

 The truth is I am everything that God intended me to be. Okay, so I’m still polishing off a few rough edges, but I’m getting there, which is why I write characters with similar flaws and insecurities. I want my characters to speak to people—real people—with real problems and issues of self-worth. I want to speak for the nerdy kid who might have grown into a forty-year old, but still hides that child inside who watches from the fringes. I don’t want to paint the perfect Christian. No such person exists! I want to laugh and cry over my character’s failures and insecurities. I want to ignite something in them that sparks passion in the readers who love them. I want to encourage. I want to inspire. I want to challenge.

I want to write like a nerd.

Elizabeth Ludwig is the bestselling author of Christmas Comes to Bethlehem, Maine and the highly successful EDGE OF FREEDOM series from Bethany House Publishers. Her popular literary blog, The Borrowed Book, enjoys a wide readership. Elizabeth is an accomplished speaker and teacher, often attending conferences and seminars where she lectures on editing for fiction writers, crafting effective novel proposals, and conducting successful editor/agent interviews. Along with her husband and children, she makes her home in the great state of Texas. To learn more, visit ElizabethLudwig.com. 

Contact Elizabeth: HERE