If you like to spend time in the kitchen, you know that it’s important to understand what you’re making before you gather your ingredients and begin cooking. The recipe for making Buffalo wings is quite different than the one for chocolate cake.

In other words, you must understand the form of what you’re making in order to create it simply and successfully.

My guest today is Janet McHenry, and she is here to help us learn how to use this simple principle of studying the form for your writing. She is a national speaker and the author of 25 books, with six of those on prayer, including the bestselling PrayerWalk and her newest, The Complete Guide to the Prayers of Jesus.

Janet has written in a variety of genres: Christian living, gift books, Bible studies, devotionals, as well as children’s board books, first chapter books, girls’ mysteries, and a cozy mystery for adults. She is an expert on “studying the form” and can easily shift from one kind of writing to another.

In this conversation, we dive into this concept, why it’s so important for writers, and how to start applying it to your writing today.

Make sure to check out her website at https://www.janetmchenry.com, where you can also grab her free ebook, Prayer Helps—Scripture-based Prayers When You Don’t Know How to Pray.