Motivation for July - Writer's Terror!

Is writer’s block just that? Let me word it another way: Is there really such a thing as writer’s block? I have never liked that term. I know I can write when I put my mind to it. There are so many characters and stories in my mind, waiting to get out, that it’s not for lack of material.

Then there were the times that I was drained physically or emotionally that, try as I might, it didn’t seem I had enough emotion to write into my character’s lives. At one point, I even felt the Lord’s gentle voice telling me to “rest”—at least from writing fiction—and I began to write devotionals for a time. That was a good learning experience for me.

After I became unemployed again in early February, I thought how great it would be to have plenty of time to work on my writing. However, that was part of my problem. I no longer had to reserve my writing time for twenty minutes or so at Starbucks before work, or during lunch and hope to find additional time on the weekend. I had a whole day before me, so why not start with coffee and email, then write a blog post. When I was done with all that I needed to get going and run errands, clean or cook. Before I knew it, another day was gone and I would go to sleep with thoughts in my head of how wonderful it would be to write tomorrow.

"The Scream" by Edvard Munch {PD in the US}

Some days I accomplished a little, but what was stopping me from digging in and racking up those word counts? I read books that encouraged writers to keep writing, saying encouraging me to write over 2,000 words a day, that it wasn’t that difficult. I took the advice of keeping a writing appointment each day, but still wasn’t making the kind of progress I wanted.

Each day I would look at that rectangle of white on the screen and the words rolled around in my mind, but they didn’t make it quickly onto the page. I’d ask myself where I should start or what should come next, but I would begin with trepidation. Only after I had taken some time and worked myself into the “zone” was I able to relax.

What was causing this block to my productivity? Fear caused my lack of confidence and snail like pace. My internal editor was on high alert and critical of everything.  The fear of failure lurked within, holding me back.

Then I decided to read Jim Denney’s, Writing in Overdrive, where he hypothesizes that some of the world’s greatest writers did their best work in compressed amounts of time, giving themselves to the pure joy of writing. Hmm . . . I’d also read over and over that if you write a first draft, you give yourself something to work with—it doesn’t have to be perfect the first time around.

Talking with other inspirational writers who were very productive, I was invited to participate in a group, which keeps you accountable for daily word count, but most importantly, they prayed for me. It was the first time in my writing life I prayed a different way for my productivity—and for others’.

Making a word count goal for the month, giving it to the Lord and sharing it with others made a difference. I started to take off and really enjoy writing again. No longer was it a mechanical process to be feared, but a story freely taking shape. Mind you, my draft will need plenty of editing and rewriting, but I have another novel manuscript first draft nearly finished.

What made the most difference in curing my writer’s terror? Accountability, prayer and allowing myself to enjoy writing again each played a big part. I still have my slower days, but pushing and challenging myself to a larger word count than usual helped turn writer’s terror into creative productivity.

May you go and achieve even more!

Leave a comment or follow for a chance to win Brave New Century this week!

Writing Prompt - The Eyes Have It!

The eyes have been called the window of the soul. We use our eyes not just to see and perceive others, but also to express ourselves to others. Depending on how we look at others, they may see anger, withdrawal, sadness, happiness, or affection, for starts.

When I am writing a scene and I think of how my main character perceives another, I think about how I can reveal emotion in the other character’s eyes and face. Their eyes may shine with happiness or they may arch an eyebrow when questioning or numerous other things. These aren’t the most original examples, but you understand what I’m getting at no doubt.

My writing prompt for you this week is to look at eyes, whether in a picture here
or someone in your house, even a pet. (My cat knows just how to cock her head to
the side and giving me the cutest look with those big green eyes when she wants
a treat. I inevitably fall for her tried and true method.)

Now take the expression or emotions which you believe can be seen in the chosen person’s or animal’s eyes and think of a unique way to write about this, rather than cliché. Take a few minutes and have some fun!

Come back tomorrow for July's Monday Motivation . . . on Wednesday! I'll be writing

about writer's terror-- oooh, scary!

Giving away a copy of Brave New Century with its new cover this week. Please leave a

comment or follow to qualify for the drawing this week.

(All image in this post from imagbase.net and free for public use.)

Books 'n' Blurbs

This week's picks are both excellent reads! I recommend them for your summer reading. 

For Such a Time

by Kate Breslin

April, 2014

Powerful Retelling of the Story of Esther

In 1944, Hadassah Benjamin feels abandoned by God when she is saved from a firing squad only to be handed over to a new enemy. Pressed into service by SS-Kommandant Colonel Aric von Schmidt at the transit camp of Theresienstadt in Czechoslovakia, her Aryan-like looks allow her to hide behind the false identity of Stella Muller. However, to maintain her cover as von Schmidt’s secretary, she is forced to stand by as her own people are sent to Auschwitz.

Suspecting her employer is a man of hidden depths, Stella appeals to him on behalf of those in the camp. Aric's indulgence gives her hope even as she risks discovery with every attempt to help the prisoners. When her bravery brings her to the point of ultimate sacrifice, she faces an excruciating choice. God may have brought her to the camp for such a time as this, but how can she save her people when she cannot save herself?

WHERE TO BUY: Barnes & Noble; ChristianBook.com; Amazon.com

The Pastor's Wife Wears Biker Boots

by Karla Akins

August, 2013

Humorous and touching!

Pastor's wife, Kirstie Donovan, lives life in a fishbowl, so when she hops on the back of a bright pink motorcycle, tongues start to wag at the conservative, century-old First Independent Christian Community Church of Eels Falls.

Kirstie loves roaring down a road less traveled by most women over forty, but she's not just riding her bike for the fun of it. Kirstie has a ministry. However, certain church members have secrets to hide, and when God uses Kirstie's ministry to fill the pews with leather-clad, tattooed bikers, those secrets could be exposed...and some will stop at nothing to hide the truth.

Join Kirstie and her motorcycle "gang" - two church matrons and a mouthy, gum-smacking non-church member - as they discover that road-toughened bikers are quite capable of ministering to others, and faith is fortified in the most unexpected ways.

Weekly Writing Prompt

Thunderstorms. Lightning, thunder and sheets of rain! Oh my! From soft, romantic summer rains to turbulent, windy storms, we’ve seen lots of rain this last month.

Think of the last rainstorm you were really aware of. Were you out in it? Or just watching from the inside of a house or car? How did the rain feel? Or sound? How did the air around you smell? What did you see? Take a few minutes to write about a recent thunderstorm and the circumstances you were in at the time.

Give yourself permission to really enjoy your writing time. You may find a new story taking shape or perhaps a stellar piece of creative nonfiction!

Later this week on the blog: More Books ’n’ Blurbs

Next Monday: July’s Monday Motivation

Books 'n' Blurbs

Over the next few weeks, I hope to introduce some

recent and upcoming releases--more to think about

for your summer reading pleasure! Happy reading!

Annie's Stories 

by Cindy Thomson

July, 2014

The year is 1901, the literary sensation The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is taking New York City by storm, and everyone wonders where the next great book will come from. But to Annie Gallagher, stories are more than entertainment—they’re a sweet reminder of her storyteller father. After his death, Annie fled Ireland for the land of dreams, finding work at Hawkins House.

But when a fellow boarder with something to hide is accused of misconduct and authorities threaten to shut down the boardinghouse, Annie fears she may lose her new friends, her housekeeping job . . . and her means of funding her dream: a memorial library to honor her father. Furthermore, the friendly postman shows a little too much interest in Annie—and in her father’s unpublished stories. In fact, he suspects these tales may hold a grand secret.

Though the postman’s intentions seem pure, Annie wants to share her father’s stories on her own terms. Determined to prove herself, Annie must forge her own path to aid her friend and create the future she’s always envisioned . . . where dreams really do come true.

Rachel

by Jill Eileen Smith 

February, 2014

Beautiful Rachel wants nothing more than for her older half sister Leah to wed and move out of their household. Maybe then she would not feel so scrutinized, so managed, so judged. Plain Leah wishes her father Laban would find a good man for her, someone who would love her alone and make her his only bride. Unbeknownst to either of them, Jacob is making his way to their home, trying to escape a past laced with deceit and find the future God has promised him.

But the past comes back to haunt Jacob when he finds himself on the receiving end of treachery and the victim of a cruel bait and switch. The man who wanted only one woman will end up with sisters who have never gotten along and now must spend the rest of their lives sharing a husband. In the power struggles that follow, only one woman will triumph . . . or will she?

Someone Always Loved You

by Brooke Williams

November, 2013 (Paperback) 

It is Jay Bartlett's first day as an ambulance driver. Instead of simply delivering his patient to the hospital safely, he hits a pedestrian as they arrive. The victim, Jordan James, is just arriving at the hospital to tend to her husband, who has had a heart attack. Instead of keeping vigil by his side, she is thrown into a coma and her own medical emergency. In his guilt, Jay drops his own life and stays with Jordan. Their lives soon become intertwined both in the present as well as in the past as a story of love over time unfolds.

An intricate drama including adoption, love, suspense, and plenty of questions, Someone Always Loved You is a novel that keeps the mind churning and the soul alive.

Weekly Writing Prompt

Everyday Miracles

My weekend devotional post was about seeing the miraculous in how God’s greatness is manifested in creation. I used for example a time when I was rather down and I believed the Lord had put a rainbow in my path, so to speak, to remind me of His faithfulness and closeness to me, which cheered me up.

Is their some way the Lord has spoken to you through His creation? Take a few minutes to think about how He has or what you see, hear or touch in nature that causes you to want to give God praise. Take five to ten minutes to write about one of those experiences in all the detail you can remember. Let the joy of the Lord flow through you as you write!

If you'd like, please feel free to share something in the comment section too!

Worthy of Praise . . . and Trust!

Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise! No one can measure his greatness . . . I will meditate on your majestic, glorious splendor, and your wonderful miracles. (Psalms 145:3,5)

I remember when I was in my 20s and driving down the road after a storm. I was a young mother and feeling rather overwhelmed, so I was a bit down. It was one of those days you could smell the rain and the wet earth meeting together in the cool breeze. A beautiful rainbow appeared, arcing across the gray sky in well-defined, vibrant bands of color.

And I remembered the promise God made to Noah, telling him that the rainbow in the sky was a sign for all mankind that He wouldn’t destroy them again with a flood. I love the book of Genesis and seeing the rainbow made me feel closer to the Lord at that moment. I felt like the Lord knew I needed some encouragement and perhaps put that rainbow there just for me. At the time it seemed like a miracle.

Miracle is actually defined as “an effect or extraordinary event in the physical world that surpasses all known human or natural powers and is ascribed to a supernatural cause,” according to Dictionary.com. The Lord may not have moved a mountain or healed anyone in my presence that day I saw the rainbow, but the cheer it brought my heart felt like a miracle, like the Lord was speaking directly to me.

Little finite me can see the wonder, the beauty, the splendor in creation, knowing that it takes an awesome God, bigger than anything He made, to put a rainbow in the sky or a majestic sunset. He’s omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent! Jesus is the Word who created the heavens and the earth, everything was created through Him and he gave life to everything living! In other words, everything God has done is doing or will do is beyond my comprehension. What is an every day thing for the Lord seems like a miracle to me.

If I look at my problems compared to the vastness and greatness of God, I realize that He can handle them much better than I can. Those thoughts don’t necessarily take away the pain or make things seem easier, but it may help me with the eternal perspective. Later in Psalms 145 it talks of God’s mercy and compassion, His unfailing love, the same love Paul talks about in Romans 8:38-39: And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. (NLT)

A God of such holiness, greatness, glory, splendor and love has the power to forgive sins, to heal, to perform miracles, even if the miracle is the grace to endure the problem one day at a time, just as He showed me the rainbow when I needed it the most.

Father, thank You for the every day miracles and for loving us unconditionally. Help us to take our problems to You and depend on You for healing grace and mercy. Help us to have an eternal perspective.