Devotional Writing Guidelines

Thank you for your interest in contributing devotionals for the PCCWeb Daily web page. Here are the guidelines.

The Ideal Devotional

Over the years, we have found that the ideal devotional: (1) is short (about 300-400 words); (2) is simple (keeps to one main point); (3) draws a spiritual analogy from an everyday situation or experience; (4) begins with a Scripture; (5) closes with an application for the reader's life; and (6) ends with a prayer asking for God's help in carrying out the application.

When I realize that there is a connection between an experience I have had, and my relationship with God, the devotional writes itself. Looking for a devotional subject seems to make one's spiritual life more intentional. Often the same material used in a children's story in worship is suitable for a devotional.

Guidelines for Writing

Structure
There should be five parts to each devotional: a title, a Bible verse or two, the body of the devotional, the application, and a prayer. The order may be varied; if the Scripture has more impact after the devotional, it could follow rather than precede the body.

Contents
The devotional should be a reflection on one of the following: a brief story, a personal experience, an everyday-life situation, an answer to prayer, or a vivid illustration from a book you have read or a sermon you have heard or preached. It should be intended for a "general public" audience, and should have a theme of encouragement, e.g. hope for the downhearted, better relationships with others and God, trusting God in difficult situations, a better quality of daily life, etc. It should not be "preachy". An ideal way to avoid this is simply to use the inclusive pronouns "we", "us" and "our", rather than the preachy pronouns "you" and "your". Short and punchy is the watchword, and abstract theological dissertations must be avoided. Feel free to use humour, in good taste.

Length
The body of the devotional should be about 300-400 words. The object is to be able to read it in about two minutes. The word count feature that is available on many word processors should be used if possible.

Simplicity
In the space of 300-400 words it is possible to focus on only one point. Try to keep it simple and to that one point. In fact, before writing a devotional, write down in one sentence the one point that you want to make, to clarify it in your mind. In a second sentence, state the change that you want your readers to make in their lives (the application) as a result of reading your devotional.

Emphasis
The e-mail convention of marking emphasis by enclosing words in asterisks, *like this*, will produce words that appear in italics.

Paragraphs
The sure sign of a new paragraph is a blank line.

Scripture
We assume that as people read the Daily devotional, they do not have a Bible handy to look up Scripture references. The Scripture verse(s) should be copied out and sent with the devotional. The reference should be placed before the verse; the name of the Bible book written in full; the chapter and verse references separated by a colon and followed by a hyphen; no quotation marks around the verse should be used. The version or translation used should be specified (in brackets) after the quotation, e.g. (NIV).

Prayer
The closing prayer should be one that any reader can pray, rather than being one that the writer would pray. It is good to include everyone in a friendly way by using the pronouns "we", "us" and "our", rather than "I", "me" and "my".

Instructions for Submitting

1. Some contributors have devotionals written previously for the radio, the newspaper or their church newsletter, and those are fine to submit. Otherwise, write any time you feel inspired, when the reflections are fresh in your mind. Some writers write a series, and these are always accommodated.

2. Please submit only original material, your own writing. If you are incorporating a quotation or illustration gleaned from another source, please identify the source if known.

3. Please include your name, and place of residence (town or city, province or state, and country) at the bottom of your first submission.

4. It will save the Submissions Editor time if you are able to (or learn how to) compose in a word processor document and send your devotional in the form of a file attachment. If you choose to write using your word processor but not send as an attachment, you can move your material into an e-mail form by highlighting the section in your word processor that you want to move; choose "Copy" (usually under the "Edit" menu); switch to your e-mail programme; open a blank e-mail form; place your cursor in the body of the message; and choose "Paste" (usually under the "Edit" menu). Your material should appear. Sometimes it helps if you set the margins of your word processor to coincide with the width of your e-mail form.

5. It will help with the Devotional Editor's organization of electronic files if you fill in the "Subject:" line in your e-mail with the words "New Devotional" (without the quotation marks), followed by a colon, a space, and the title of your submission, as follows:

   New Devotional: Title

6. Devotionals may be submitted at any time. The receipt of each submission will be acknowledged by reply from the Submissions Editor, via e-mail. Receipt of a submission does not guarantee that it will be published, but all devotionals that are selected for publication will be placed in a queue, and writers will be advised of the date on which a given devotional is scheduled to appear.

Feedback

Encouragement of our writers is a vital part of the Daily Page, since writers need to know that their work is appreciated. The names, e-mail addresses and locations of our writers are included with their devotionals. Readers can and do contact the writers with their reactions. Simply clicking on the writer’s address (or on "Reply" in the e-mailed text version) automatically opens an e-mail note to the writer, with a copy to the Feedback Editor. When you receive feedback, simply look at the "To:" field in the header, and if <pccwebdaily@cogeco.ca> is included, you need do nothing further. If not, send a copy of the feedback letter to the Feedback Editor at <pccwebdaily@cogeco.ca>. A digest of feedback received each day is posted to the PCCWeb Daily website every night. Sometimes readers express their thoughts very well or relate a personal experience that would be of general interest, and they are contacted in regard to becoming a potential contributor.

We encourage our writers to respond personally to feedback received. We ask that writers respect the privacy of the readers, and do not add their names or e-mail addresses to any distribution lists or start any electronic distribution list comprised of those sending feedback.

Copyright Policy

Our policy at PCCWeb Daily is that the authors retain copyright on their materials, and are free to submit them for publication elsewhere. Those wishing permission to reproduce these copyrighted materials elsewhere need to contact the individual authors to secure their permission.

We encourage our authors, when publishing their material elsewhere or giving permission for reproduction elsewhere, to indicate that their material first appeared on the PCCWeb Daily webpage, and to indicate the URL for the site, http://daily.presbycan.ca since all material remains available in an online archive on the site.

May you know the Lord's blessing in writing, as we labour together to "spur one another on toward love and good deeds" (Hebrews 10:24) in following the Lord Jesus Christ.

Sincerely, in Christ,

Robin Ross <rross@telus.net>

Acting Daily Submissions Editor,
Mission, British Columbia.