IF It Is To Be, It Is Up To ME

I once knew a man who could figure and plan the stories he intended to write
But the minutes, the hours, even weeks flew by, with never a word in sight.
He'd set up his platform, work through the night, a great protagonist to defend!
He'd dream and envision, mark the revisions, with the greatest novel to thank.
Imagine the surprise in everyone's eyes, to find when he died, his pages were blank.

  My dear readers, remember, there is someone out there who needs your words---your story.
*.  Your Own Story. James Gilcrest Lawson said writing a book changes you throughout the process. You will be a different person after you write and reflect.
*  Your Family. 
*   Future Generations. My distant relative wrote his book years ago. I doubt he everthought about his great-great-nephew reading it.  There will be poeople in your family yet to be born who will be proud and touched by the book you wrote.
* People You Minister To. The people you connect with are going to feel and receive your message.Your book is the furtherance of your calling.
* People Who receive A Copy. Think of the impact of books passed to you.
* PeopleBeyond Your Circle.  You have no idea where your book can end up around the world.  The possibilities are endless---and so is the number of hearts it can change.

   ..Until next time, think on these things...

Checklist

Benjamin Franklin, said, "Either write something worth reading, or do something worth writing about."
Someone else said we are our own worst critic. Good! Else we miss the best opportunity for improving our word structure.
And you do know how to be a good critic.
But first, you must start well, in order to finish well. Verdell Davis Krisher says:
Three Things a Writer Must Possess:
*     passion                   (desire)       "Purpose-Driven --- a reason to write?"
**   perspective            (distance)     "How far are you willing to go?"
*** perseverance          (discipline)  "Will you pay the price?"
Now start two checklists: One you may use before you begin, but if you are already 'into it', the other may be in order.

Before:
1.  Is you goal clear and specific?
2.  Have you fixed your audience or readers in mind?
3.  Are you coming to them as a know-it-all or as a fellow human?
4.  Have you gleaned enough material so that you can incarnate your mesage, telling it in terms of people (if possible)?
5.  Are you setting aside adequate time to organize your ideas and to find just the right words to express them?
After:
1.   As your eye falls over the page, do any colorful words or names of people or places stand out?
2.   Is your first sentence short? Is it interesting?
3.   Does it begin "There is" or "There was" or "It is", or "It was"? C If so, change it.
4.   Have you used strong, descriptive words?
5.   Have you overworked, "this", "that""How many 'have's" and "has's" did you use?
6.  Have you used present tense whenever possible?
7.  Is there an obvious antecedent for every pronoun?
8.   How many words can you eliminate without destroyinng its thought or power?
9.   Have you used all the senses available and told your reader in concrete terms what happened?
10. Would you like to read what you have written?

Where Do We Go From Here?

My, how time flies! I'm still seeing the dust settling from the race. Where did it all begin? Let's see. First of all we looked for a publisher on line and in Christian Writer's. We narrowed it to two. Both insisted in their opening files that the manuscript would be submmitted in photo-perfect style. You see,
 PDF files have many advantages over native software files. For instance, all fonts and graphics are embedded into a PDF, eliminating most converison errors and the need to send fonts and artwork.

In order to present a picture-perfect manuscript means editing and editing and editing.  Then reading it aloud. Actually, reading it to myself left something to be desired. *(After publication, I'm telling you), I found myself reading it to a group of children in Barnes and Noble one Saturday afternoon before Christmas.  At that reading, several sentences, when ommitted, kept the sequences running and dancing along the page, and better served the story.

"A word in time could have saved nine,"  the same as  "a stitch in time saves nine." So read on, and on and over and over to a live audience and you're sure to uncover unnecessary words, or any break in the rhythm.

Writing is much like music, you see. It has rhythm, movements, crescendos and yes, rests. Whereas classical music, as well as, written clasics, appeal to an ever wider audience, your story must declare its precise audience. Spend your time wisely deciding if your readers are eight to twelve, or young adults, retirees, or other.  (more next week)

Hold Your Horses!

Hold on! Before you jump too quickly to the conclusion that I neglected my blog these past 3 weeks, let me tell you something.  I have been tied up with a little project of my own which I think will help you--- self-publishing something!  I always want writers to be writing their memoirs.  Not exactly what I accomplished. But, in a way, because I wanted a family tradition to live on, I made up a children’s story for Christmas. You see, placing 9 wooden scripture ornaments on our tree each Christmas Eve is what the kids in our house did. While I've never written a children’s story, I fancied one starring three little angels searching for the real Christmas.

So, how did I get started? Here’s how! Oh, not like the old days when you looked for an agent and selected many publishers for simultaneous submissions! I studied the self-publishing offers, checked with self-published friends, and checked my bank balance. Did I need a hard cover/soft cover? Page-sized illustrations? Not being a graphic designer… (Stay with me!....TBC on Wednesday!)

How You Play the Game

How You Play the Game

Grantland Rice wrote: "For when the One Great Scorer comes

                                      To mark against your name--

                                       He writes not that you won or lost---

                                       But HOW you played the game."

So what are the rules for the Writer's Game?  Let me share one writer's list:

1. Rule 1:      Limit 15 words per sentence. Whether you are writing a story, a screenplay, or an ad, remember "Brevity."
2. Rule 2:      Do not use the same word twice in one sentence. *Exception: words of 3 letters or less.
3.  Rule 3:     Limit one adjective at a time.  The tall, towering pines framed the sky.
4.  Rule 4:     Limit  one comma per sentence. This keeps you from saying more than one thing at a time.
5.  Rule 5:    Write like you talk. Eliminate the editorial "we.
6.  Rule 6:    Do not insult the  reader's intelligence.  Charlotte is dead, she weeps no more. It was snowing, the sky was overcast.
7.  Rule 7:      Work to find the perfect word.  "Heavy hangs the head that wears the crown."
8.  Rule 8:      Work to find the perfect verb.   Your words should march, bounce, jump across the page.
9.  Rule 9:      Avoid overuses of the verb "to be".
10.  Rule 10:     Begin the story with a "grabber" and close with a clear "take-away". What you'll sandwich in between in your story is the main character, a crisis, and a solution.

Set Your Sail

"One ships sail east, another west by the self-same winds that blow..

It's not the gale, but the set of the sail that determines which way they go.."  Helen Wheeler Wilcox

Tonight, let's take a minute to discern your gift as a Christian writer. At the same time let's write not only for Christians, but for the broader audience as well. This will get you in shape to do the Lord's thing through your pen/computer. We all need to be craftsman, don't you agree?

The greatest Teacher who ever lived found the short story the surest way to reach the minds and hearts of his audiences. The earliest account we have of His life was probably written 40 years after his death, and yet the stories He told never faded.

What a craftsman He was! Listen closely---"a certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves..."  Just 13 words. But, instantly you have a specific location, a central character, a crisis that demands resolution. "Which stripped him of his clothes and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead..." Fifteen more words:action, danger, man against death, mounting suspense.  And then what happened? Something in the listener cries out, and is not satisfied until the Good Samaritan comes to the aid of the victim and the great moral question, "Who is my neighbor", is answered for all time.     *Location, character/s, crisis,---resolution.

YOU--- the writer, are the main focus. Out there in the world there are literally millions of people who have turned Him off long back.They have given up on the church, and as a result there is a despair, a deep searching and restlessness adrift.

 You can be a good writer and you can do wonderful things for the Lord if you how to get your  computer running, and your mind moving in the direction of proclaiming the gospel through the written word. It's all in the set of the sail!

Want to catch a moonbeam?

     Want to catch a moonbeam? A falling star? Ever want to slide down a rainbow and find its end? Why not? Let's try it!
     A good writer...No, a great writer collects bits and pieces of good material, not to plagiarize, but to assimilate and make it his own. He stores away a clincher line that sweeps him away. He jots down catchy phrases and colourful imagery. He reads, reads, reads. He grabs his random thought and scribbles it down whenever it comes...in the grocery aisle, in bed at night, or while driving. (*Please pull over to do this!)
     He finds a great quote, lines from a poem, or a terrific expression like, "Keeping a secret from Aunt Maude was like trying to sneak dawn past a rooster!"  (*If you like that one, why not write one of your own right now?)
     Eyes and ears of great writers are ever on alert. They see a rainbow---really see the vibrant pastels, trace the graceful arc, and chase the crescent ribbons to where they fold into the earth. You'll do well to craft your stories like the rainbow---a gently lift-off, a graceful arc, a satin landing , and you just may find a pot of gold awaiting you at the rainbow's end!