The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug. **Mark Twain

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Who cares?

Being an author is a difficult life. You have to want to write more than anything else in the world. If you feel "called" to be an author....the difficult life becomes more complicated.



Very few authors are hermits. Hermits do not make good authors. As authors we need to be out there - observing and living life. Authentic writing stems from the fact that we are in the trenches with everyone else.


While everyone else can concentrate 100% on their families, their jobs and their external relationships - authors are often distracted. The average Joe can put his life into categories. For example, the norm is to eat breakfast with the family, go to work while they go to school etc.., come home and spend time with the family, spend time with friends on the week-end and spend time at church on Sunday. Each area of his life has a category.


An author's life is much different. While we are eating breakfast with the family, we scribble a funny saying on a napkin. While we are at work we scribble thoughts on a notepad. If you are a full time writer, we are thinking of family and friends so we have something to write about. In the evening while spending time with the family we have a notepad close by for those moments of inspiration. Watching TV can cause us to write furiously. Going out with friends sparks a great conversation that must be recorded.....and on and on and on.


In other words....we are constantly working and looking for that nugget of gold that will lead to an article or book that just might inspire our readers.


Have you ever been enjoying the company of friends only to realize you haven't heard the last few statements because you were thinking about your article?


On a discouraging day I wondered, who cares? Why does it matter so much? What if I don't write that book....will the world just crumble? I'm driving myself nuts over something that might not matter.


I prayed most of the day and finally asked God to give me a scripture. I thought about the passage in John where Jesus asked Peter three times, "Do you truly love me, more than these?" (John 21:15-19)


I turned to that passage and read beyond that situation. Peter was looking at John and wondering if he was going to live forever. Then my eyes centered on verse 24. I'm not a great theologian so maybe this means something different but on that day - it spoke volumes to me.

John 21:24


This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true.


What a wonderful goal for an author - To be God's recorder. To be trusted with the truth. To be counted on for accuracy, compassion, strength, passion, inspiration and a host of other virtues. How exciting to be the person who keeps it straight for all those busy people with compartmentalized lives.


Are you an author that the world can count on? Are you diligently "recording" life and pointing to truth?


God loves you and has called you to write,


Debbie

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Wasn't that mistake great!

Perhaps writing is the only craft where we can make mistakes with Joy!

I was fretting over my writing when a dear friend stepped in for an intervention.  "Don't worry so much about being perfect.  Instead, use a notebook to record all your mistakes."

I swiped at a tear forming in the corner of my eye.  "Why would I want to record my failures?"

"They aren't failures if you use them as a training tool for improvement.  You are a smart gal.  If you make a mistake once....are you going to make it again?"

I thought about it for a moment.  All the mistakes I'd made when I first started writing have diminished because of the new thought process I use that filters everything through checkpoints.  "Hum....I guess you are right.  I don't make the mistakes I once made."  It didn't take long for me to roll my eyes and continue...."Now I make new ones."

"Yes, but once they go in your notebook they will become tools for learning and probably mistakes of the past.  How else are you going to grow?"

I smiled.  I hugged her neck.  And today I checked my notebook.  It includes a lot of mistakes....that I don't make anymore.

I hope you will take your negatives and turn them into positive writing tools.

God loves you and has called you to write,

Debbie

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Calling all big mouths!

The Oil spill in the gulf......

Sharia law in Michigan.....

The Role of the church.....

Children losing their innocence....

The Divorce rate.....

Abortion.....

The loss of American Christianity and the hope of the world......

So many topics and so little time....

I'm only one person.  I spend 6-8 hours a day writing.  While I love my job (most of the time) some days I get so tired of writing I just want to get away.  For me, that's when frustration and writer's block sets in.  Yet, there's so much to say and so much to do that I wonder if I can do it all.

Nope, I can't do it all.  The world needs you.  We need your input, your knowledge, your wisdom, your viewpoint.  Unfortunately, many new writers want to give up by saying, "That topic was covered by Today's Christian Woman.  That topic was covered by Glenn Beck.  I can't add anything to it.  I agree with them, but who cares what I think."

I want to scream when I hear that point of view.  Your thoughts are needed.  You will reach people I can't.  We need everyone in the world using every talent they have.  Your writing is important.  If you don't feel like you are polished enough for publishers....start a blog.  Write your thoughts down and save them to a disk.  Get a pad and use the old pen and paper routine.  But for the sake of our children....write, record, document, share!

The following video cause me to ask a new question.  What do you think this country would be like today if no one had recorded the founding of this country?  What if there were no stories about Paul Revere?  What if there was no record of George Washington, no writings from Ben Franklin, no history of the Revolution?  How would our children have developed over the last 200 plus years?  How would injustice increased? 

We need all the big mouths we can find!  Voice your opinion, share your thoughts, document the facts and let the whole world know.....

I hope after you watch this video you will get busy writing!  We need all the writers we can find!



God loves you and has called you to write,

Debbie