Monday Motivation - Shaken?

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;

Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.

(Psalms 46:1-3, KJV)

 These verses struck me as I read them this morning. Most of the people I know have never experienced a major earthquake or tidal wave, but there are still things in life which can rock us to the core.  One day our loved ones are healthy and the next day they’re in the hospital. Accidents, illness, surgery and death can seem to shake our foundations.

When those we love pull away and stop communicating, sometimes for no apparent reason, we feel bereft. Family members say hurtful things which you never expected. These things fuel emotions such as anger and hurt. I struggle with not letting these things turn to bitterness . . . or dealing with them after the bitterness has crept in. Betrayals, unkind words, these are the things which pierce our hearts.

Sometimes we ask, “why?” We wonder when we feel we’ve tried our best to live the right way that these things happen to us, whether physical or emotional. I do know this one thing: Through the storms and earthquakes of life, Jesus is there for His own. He will be our refuge and our strength when we turn to Him!

Monday Motivation: The Marathons of Life

With the Detroit Free Press/Talmer Marathon coming up, I admire those I know who are participating in one of the events. For various reasons, running hasn’t been something I’ve taken on for a long time. I’m just a boring walker. (Not of The Walking Dead zombie variety!)

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I had been ignoring the weight gain of the last couple of years that is due to hormonal changes and stress, so I am now faced with the reality of changing some of my eating habits-- more vegetables for one, less on-demand chocolate for another. I’m also working on increasing my exercise, whether walking through the neighborhood, getting on the treadmill, popping a walking DVD into the player, or working out with weights.

Gone are the days in which I could work this hard and lose five pounds in a week. That’s been my problem lately, I want to give up too soon. I am trying to get it into my head and heart that lifelong fitness is a marathon, not a sprint.

Many other things are also like this in other areas of life. Broken relationships take time, love and patience to repair. Building a good marriage takes perseverance. Overcoming bad habits takes a relentless commitment to change. Writing a three or four hundred page novel doesn’t happen in a day. It can take months or years, but you have to take the first step by writing the first word, first paragraph, first page--and repeat.

Those preparing for the marathon this weekend didn’t start last week. They’ve been working at it for a long time. What might have seemed impossible at one time became doable, because they took the first step and kept moving forward.

What marathons are you facing in life today? Ask the Lord to guide you in your first steps to move in the direction He wants you to go.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up.

(Hebrews 12:1-3)

Dear Heavenly Father, please help me to trust You today. Guide me to take steps and move forward in the direction you want me to go. Help me to persevere and not give up as I take one step, one day, one moment at a time. Thank you that Your mercies are new every day!

Please leave a comment--share something you are learning about walking in faith in the longterm. We love your comments!

June's Monday Motivation - Deep in the Mind's Eye

Watch anybody these days. They’re in the moment, whether they’re texting, playing video games or listening to their iPod while on the computer and using any number of additional electronics. Eventually they’ll be able to wear a computer on their face and complete even more of these tasks while walking. (Check out this Google Glass demo.) After all, why waste time just walking and enjoying the outdoors when you could be multitasking? Sometimes walking and chewing gum seem like a challenge. I’m not sure how I feel about practically never disengaging from media and electronics!

However, readers who’ve been immersed in electronic media all their lives are impatient. One way writers keep them in the moment is through deep point of view (POV).  Today’s reader doesn’t want to be slowed down by she said or he thought. No more long rambling pages of narrative one might find when reading Ann of Green Gables or Pride and Prejudice. While these classics live on with loving followings, today’s editor wouldn’t likely take a second look at such historically lovely prose if written these days.

Even readers of the previous generation are used to being somewhat immersed in the life of the character through media. In television and movies, they see the character’s world up close and personal. However, they aren’t always right in the character’s head.  Deep POV allows the reader to “see” with the character’s eyes and experience with their senses.

Here are some examples:

Before deep POV: Moira watched as Tad terrorized Nathan in the cafeteria at lunch time. She thought about what a jerk Tad was when he tripped her brother and stomped on his lunch bag.

She suddenly didn’t feel so hungry any more and put her sandwich down. Anger rose within Moira and she . . .

After deep POV: Moira couldn’t believe it. Didn’t Tad ever get tired of bullying others? Nathan slammed face first into the cafeteria floor. But tripping her little brother wasn’t enough for Tad. He had to squash his victim’s lunch bag under his clodhopper feet too. What a jerk!

The last bite of Moira’s sandwich sat like cement in her throat. She stood, running toward the commotion with clenched fists. Tad’s going down!

In the second example the reader gets more of a feel of what’s going on inside Moira’s head. While it’s still written in third person, deep POV gives the reader a front row seat rather than a removed passive view of things. Once you know your character’s story arc, who they are as a character and how they react, deep POV is one of the innermost layers of character development. It takes practice, but is a very rewarding way for the reader and writer to get even better acquainted with the character. While it is a partly a narrative method, interspersed with creative dialogue, it’s a very helpful method of deepening characterization.

For more in depth information on deep POV, here’s a great article on The Editor's Blog. Enjoy!

This is a writers’ and readers’ week at Writing, Whimsy and Devotion. What's on the blog this week?

Tuesday – Weekly writing prompt.

Wednesday – Review of Kate Breslin’s debut novel, For Such a Time.

Friday – Interview with debut novelist, Shelba Shelton Nivens.

See you tomorrow!

Monday Motivation - Under Their Skin

Under Their Skin

Last week I wrote about how writers often choose how a character looks before they decide much of

anything else. We creative types typically picture a character before fleshing out everything else about them. So we have our shell, an exoskeleton, if you will. Analogies break down after awhile.

Underneath the skin are a lot of physical components of the human body. We can actually see some of our veins under the surface, feel the tendons, joints and bones. We can flex our muscles. Let’s think about our musculoskeletal system for a moment. Without these important parts, we would be blobs of flesh, going nowhere. 

Now, what gets our characters moving? How about motivation? What is motivating them to move forward in the story? Are they running from danger? Are they lonely and looking for their soul mate? A young man trying to escape the grip of pirates who have boarded the ship where he is cabin boy, will be different from that of an orphan looking for a family. Or will it? This could be two separate stories—or one. What if the pirates ask him to join and it’s the closest thing he’s ever had to family. Yet, he knows they’re bad people. Now we have a conflict too! Really we have both interior and exterior conflicts. He wants to get away, but they’re seeking to recruit him, make him feel like part of the gang.

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I’m only scratching the surface here. Next week I’d like to discuss personality types and tools to help make a good match. Our characters have many layers and we need to get to find out what makes them tick? What is at their core? Sometimes it takes awhile to get to know a character well enough to make these decisions, but greater depth will make a difference. You don’t want your protagonist to be a paper doll, but instead to give your reader the picture of a living breathing person who they can identify with.  We may get bored with paper dolls and put them back in the drawer after awhile, but you want to know more about real people, don’t you?

Food for thought: Think about what motivates your favorite book characters and compare that to your own characters. How can you give your characters more depth?

Monday Motivation - More Write Prioritizing

More Write Prioritizing

Household chores are done, check. Laundry placed in dryer, check. Seated comfortably in recliner, check. Homemade low-fat caramel latte sitting on the end table at my side, check. Cat sleeping on lap, check. Flames are dancing in the fireplace and music is playing on the radio. My circumstances are now just right for my daily writing appointment. However, why don’t I just check my email and get it out of the way first? Then I won’t be curious if anyone has replied about something important. Well, then I should answer another email, write a little, read a blog, make a comment, recommend the article on Twitter and Google +, write a little more, hit like on friends’ Facebook statuses . . . Oh look, it’s nearly time to make dinner.

Now my two hours of uninterrupted, productive writing time has become 45 minutes. My ten in the morning writing appointment didn’t start until 2:30 p.m. But  it only took a couple of minutes to check my email, right? Wrong! While I do admit to truly being present for my writing appointment three times last week and being fairly productive during those times, it certainly made me look more closely at what I am truly doing with my writing time. I sure am easily distracted!

A successful author friend of mine encouraged me to make writing even more of a priority. She challenged me not to even check email or any social media before I write until I hit a set daily word count. Hmm . . . Or I’m thinking, at least hit goals for the day, whether it’s finishing an outline or a chapter.

This week’s goal is to move writing time to the next priority after time with the Lord and a little exercise. I don’t have to have everything perfect first. The dust bunnies aren’t going anywhere!

I do miss the days of physically having to plug in the modem to be on the Internet, though. Yes, I can turn the connection off while I write, but distractions are only a mouse-click away. What about you—how do you unplug from the Internet and social media while you write? Please share in the comment section below!

This week’s writing prompt: The first time I went to see a movie in the theater I . . .

Enjoy the walk down memory lane today!

Monday Motivation: How May I Serve You Better?

When I began Monday Motivation early in October, I had hoped to encourage other writers and perhaps create some rapport and a sense of community, but without taking up too much of your time. As we gear up for accomplishing more and writing better throughout 2014, my desire is to serve you, my fellow writers, better. Please take a couple of minutes to fill out the five question survey below to let me know how this can be accomplished. Thank you!

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Monday Motivation - Think about what you see . . .

Monday Motivation - Think about what you see . . .

Well, I told you I would reveal the secret location of last week’s writing prompt photo this Monday. I took the picture next to the historic site of Tom Walker’s Grist Mill, now known as the Parshallville Cider Mill, at the millpond. Parshallville is a little town tucked between Hartland and Fenton, Michigan. If you blink, you might miss it! Here’s another photo I took, looking in the other direction the same day. 

Stories can spring from what may seem the most mundane things. I picked up a catalog I’d received from L.L. Bean the other day. On the cover, a couple sat on the back end of a pick up truck in an idyllic autumn scene. With a lake and evergreen trees in the background, as well as crisp brown leaves around their feet, they looked like the perfect couple to star in a contemporary romance novel. I started to think what conflict could come into play to start things out right.

What if they were being watched and an SUV speeds into view. The intruders kidnap the guy at gunpoint and knock the woman out. But why? What had he been involved in? What did he know? Was he in the witness protection program? And how would she ever find him again? Voila! My imagination was off and running with the beginning of a romantic suspense novel. (Either that, or  I've been watching too many Castle episodes lately.) I’m going to keep that catalog cover with a few lines about my ideas, tucked away for possible future use. Sparking the imagination is always good
exercise for the creative side of the brain!

Writers: Your challenge this week is to keep an eye out for pictures that inspire your creativity. Write down your ideas. Save the pictures.

Has a picture ever inspired you to write a story? Please share your thoughts about this week’s post or about creative inspiration in general. Or follow to be entered in this week’s drawing for a chance to win a paperback edition of Brave New Century, which includes my debut novella, The Pocket Watch, and a package of assorted Lindt Lindor Truffles.

Happy Thanksgiving!