CHICAGO — Recognizing one’s call to write is one tip best-selling author and Emmy Award-winning television personality Michelle McKinney Hammond will share with aspiring writers at this year’s Urban Ministries Inc. Christian Writers Conference.
Urban Ministries is the nation’s largest independent, African-American-owned and operated Christian media company. The two-day event will be April 22-23 at Conference Chicago at University Center, 525 S. State St. The theme of the conference is “Follow The Call. Find Your Voice. Fulfill Your Purpose.”
Organizers said the conference will give Christian writers an opportunity to network, receive mentoring and possibly get jobs with Urban Ministries.
McKinney Hammond is the keynote speaker for the conference. She has appeared on national and international radio and television broadcasts. She has been a featured relationship expert on many news shows.
She now lives in Ghana in West Africa, but has some roots in Chicago. She has lived in neighborhoods including the Gold Coast and River North.
Hammond began writing in 1995. She has since written more than 30 books, but it all began, she said, when she felt led by God to write about being single from a Christian standpoint.
Hammond said Christian writers need to know for sure that God is leading them to write before they pursue the career.
“I just want to make sure that they know that they’re assigned to write, since a lot of people say they want to write,” she said. “I think it’s very important to be clear about why we’re writing, what we’re writing and who we’re writing to.”
Your calling and passion go together, McKinney Hammond said.
“If you can’t do anything else, then he definitely called you to it. If you can’t get away from it, he definitely called you to it.”
McKinney Hammond said she learned that lesson firsthand when she started her writing career.
“I was very passionate about single issues,” she said. “It ended up being my calling to be a relationship expert.”
It wasn’t until she started trying to write about other topics that she realized that she needed to focus on just relationships.
McKinney Hammond encourages people to not only attend the conference to hear her story, but to come so they’ll be a part of a network.
“I just encourage writers to build community with one another because you need the support,” she said. “It can be quite an isolated career. Whatever the ups and downs of writing are, I think it’s easier when you have companions who get it and are there to support you, listen, give feedback and encourage you to keep going.”
The conference will be led by Christian authors, journalists, educators, bloggers, editors and publishers.
“For over 40 years, our goal has been to reach, teach and transform,” Urban Ministries CEO Jeff Wright said in a statement. “The conference is an extension of those goals as we strive to provide writers with the tools for success in the Christian publishing industry.”
Register online at http://umichristianwritersconference.com/event-registration
Follow McKinney Hammond on Twitter @McKinneyHammond.
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