WIP = Work In Progress
Seriously, would you define yourself as a WIP?
At age forty-three, I believe I am, and I think God likes me this way. He may be getting impatient with the slowness of my progress, however, but still, I believe He's rooting for me to become all He desires me to be. And I have a feeling I'll die somewhere in the process of trying to achieve His goals for me. I just hope He'll take me for my effort in trying to succeed, at least.
Life is full of learning experiences. Knowledge is next to Godliness, as they say, and with each new ounce of knowledge that sinks in, I am forever changed. So I say being a WIP is a good thing. What about you?
Surrendering to Him,
Eileen
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
Finishing the task
Do you?
Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 8:10-11: "I want to suggest that you finish what you started to do.... Let your enthusiastic idea at the start be equalled by your realistic action now."
Did Paul walk his talk?
I'm no theologian, but by all that Paul suffered in the lashings, stonings, persecutions, imprisonments, all in the name of Christianity, I'd say he did. Paul dealt with physical and emotional hardship throughout his ministry, but he continued to act! Continued to spread the news, the love of Christianity.
Would Paul say to us Christian writers who are striving to spread the good news through our written words: "I want to suggest that you finish what you started to do....Let your enthusiastic idea at the start be equalled by your realistic action now."?
I think he would.
If you believe that God is your ultimate provider, that He spins these fantastical, emotional, entertaining stories that reveal His everlasting love, through the unique and complex imagination God gave only you, then yes, dear writer friend, you too need to recapture that enthusiastic feeling you began with, and finish the task of writing His story. For there is no one else who could write it quite like you. Seriously!
Don't be a quitter. See it to completion and let God do with it as He sees fit. And yes, I'm writing this for me, but if it helps you, too, to God be the glory! For it is through His dear apostle Paul that He sent us this message. What message may He be trying to send through you?
Surrendering to Him,
Eileen
Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 8:10-11: "I want to suggest that you finish what you started to do.... Let your enthusiastic idea at the start be equalled by your realistic action now."
Did Paul walk his talk?
I'm no theologian, but by all that Paul suffered in the lashings, stonings, persecutions, imprisonments, all in the name of Christianity, I'd say he did. Paul dealt with physical and emotional hardship throughout his ministry, but he continued to act! Continued to spread the news, the love of Christianity.
Would Paul say to us Christian writers who are striving to spread the good news through our written words: "I want to suggest that you finish what you started to do....Let your enthusiastic idea at the start be equalled by your realistic action now."?
I think he would.
If you believe that God is your ultimate provider, that He spins these fantastical, emotional, entertaining stories that reveal His everlasting love, through the unique and complex imagination God gave only you, then yes, dear writer friend, you too need to recapture that enthusiastic feeling you began with, and finish the task of writing His story. For there is no one else who could write it quite like you. Seriously!
Don't be a quitter. See it to completion and let God do with it as He sees fit. And yes, I'm writing this for me, but if it helps you, too, to God be the glory! For it is through His dear apostle Paul that He sent us this message. What message may He be trying to send through you?
Surrendering to Him,
Eileen
Saturday, March 28, 2009
When Slumber Refuses to Abide...
I find myself surrendering to keyboard in the stillness of the night.
Alone, with nothing but the trickling fish pump and scent of hyacinths at my side.
My girls ignited a spark of a story with their shared observations last night.
It's not like any story I've contemplated before.
And yet, the spark caught flame in these wee hours of the morning, stealing slumber from blurry eyes.
I sought prayer for sleep to return, but alas, I was denied.
Complicated tugged for attention.
A novel for teens--a novel my girls might enjoy and benefit from reading.
Maybe not.
"But, Lord," I said, "I want to finish the story You started in me weeks ago. Can't you grow this idea later, once the other is done?"
"Jot down the ideas I give you now, let them smolder, catch fire, as you finish the other. I promise, ye of little faith, I will not forsake the other one, for there is value in both."
And once again, I'm reminded why I'm a woman.
What's one more thing to multitask?
Tithing time complete,
Summoning diary log posted to blog,
Next, obediently capturing the spark of Complicated,
Followed by more work on WIP, should slumber still evade me,
That is until the babes awake, and weekend family time rejoices.
Surrendering to Him,
Eileen
P.S. Feeling very poetic in these still, wee hours. Fearing what this will read like, but praising God for the guiding!
Friday, March 27, 2009
Which works better for you?
Setting a goal, or creating a little reward system to go along with that goal?
I know people who can set a goal and the satisfaction they get from achieving their goal is reward enough to keep them going. But then there are people like me.
Writing a thousand words a day is definitely satisfying in and of itself, but to make me eager to prioritize that goal, make it tops on my long list of to-do's, is to attach a little reward to it. I love it when I have a book on the go that screams for my attention. Like I do now.
Sometimes it's a craft book that helps me hone my skills, and other times it's a novel that I'm either reading for pleasure (love it when I get so engrossed in one that I don't get caught up in critiquing it. Unfortunately, that doesn't happen often to writers. I'm no exception.), or to review as a volunteered influencer.
As I multi-task throughout the day, interspersing my writing duty, laundry, dishes, scrubbing, dusting, vacuuming, supervised potty breaks for the canine friends, various errands that must be accomplished, blog visits, blog post writing, paying bills, supper preparation, eating, I work toward one simple reward and the sooner I finally accomplish my daily goals, the longer I have to cozy up to my chosen book. See, I make my rewards inexpensive--very important in this economy.
Some days, more often than not, I don't reach that reward until my head hits the nighttime pillow, and through burning eyes I strain to get a chapter in, but on lucky days, I actually get a little more time to enjoy my reward. Either way, though, knowing that that story is waiting for me, helps me strive to scratch each item off my list of to-do's as quickly as possible.
Do you use a reward system? If so, what's a typical reward for you?
Surrendering to Him,
Eileen
I know people who can set a goal and the satisfaction they get from achieving their goal is reward enough to keep them going. But then there are people like me.
Writing a thousand words a day is definitely satisfying in and of itself, but to make me eager to prioritize that goal, make it tops on my long list of to-do's, is to attach a little reward to it. I love it when I have a book on the go that screams for my attention. Like I do now.
Sometimes it's a craft book that helps me hone my skills, and other times it's a novel that I'm either reading for pleasure (love it when I get so engrossed in one that I don't get caught up in critiquing it. Unfortunately, that doesn't happen often to writers. I'm no exception.), or to review as a volunteered influencer.
As I multi-task throughout the day, interspersing my writing duty, laundry, dishes, scrubbing, dusting, vacuuming, supervised potty breaks for the canine friends, various errands that must be accomplished, blog visits, blog post writing, paying bills, supper preparation, eating, I work toward one simple reward and the sooner I finally accomplish my daily goals, the longer I have to cozy up to my chosen book. See, I make my rewards inexpensive--very important in this economy.
Some days, more often than not, I don't reach that reward until my head hits the nighttime pillow, and through burning eyes I strain to get a chapter in, but on lucky days, I actually get a little more time to enjoy my reward. Either way, though, knowing that that story is waiting for me, helps me strive to scratch each item off my list of to-do's as quickly as possible.
Do you use a reward system? If so, what's a typical reward for you?
Surrendering to Him,
Eileen
Thursday, March 26, 2009
When things don't go as planned...
what do you do?
When your characters get caught in a downward tailspin, defeated, failed, how do you help them discover peace? Correct the errors of their ways?
Does a secondary character provide the answer? In many cases this could work, just remember the plausibility factor, though. By weaving hints of how this secondary character might be able to help throughout the story long in advance of when the actual need arises, this method could work successfully without the risk of cheating the reader from a plausible solution.
Or, do you have your character suffer and inch their way out of the mess they've created on their own? If they messed up early in the story, you'll have plenty of time to show their growth using this plan. I like this, but even better...
Do you leave some threads untied? Do you allow your character to hold onto a little regret? Allowing for your readers to dream new ways of his/her redemption thus making the story live on in your readers' imagination. To me, some of the strongest stories I've read wraps up key elements, but leaves at least one unresolved emotional tie. Something you can envision the main characters working together to eventually resolve, come to terms with. This is my favorite way to tackle the unplanned.
Like real life, some things just can't be figured out, or come to terms with, within the confines of a specific time frame--say like your books specific time frame. Allowing for this bit of reality to seep into your story may just keep your story world entertaining the reader far longer than their eyes meet the pages.
So, how do you handle your character's unexpected responses that cause them grief? What other ways are there to resolve these lovely twists we find ourselves writing?
Surrendering to Him,
Eileen
When your characters get caught in a downward tailspin, defeated, failed, how do you help them discover peace? Correct the errors of their ways?
Does a secondary character provide the answer? In many cases this could work, just remember the plausibility factor, though. By weaving hints of how this secondary character might be able to help throughout the story long in advance of when the actual need arises, this method could work successfully without the risk of cheating the reader from a plausible solution.
Or, do you have your character suffer and inch their way out of the mess they've created on their own? If they messed up early in the story, you'll have plenty of time to show their growth using this plan. I like this, but even better...
Do you leave some threads untied? Do you allow your character to hold onto a little regret? Allowing for your readers to dream new ways of his/her redemption thus making the story live on in your readers' imagination. To me, some of the strongest stories I've read wraps up key elements, but leaves at least one unresolved emotional tie. Something you can envision the main characters working together to eventually resolve, come to terms with. This is my favorite way to tackle the unplanned.
Like real life, some things just can't be figured out, or come to terms with, within the confines of a specific time frame--say like your books specific time frame. Allowing for this bit of reality to seep into your story may just keep your story world entertaining the reader far longer than their eyes meet the pages.
So, how do you handle your character's unexpected responses that cause them grief? What other ways are there to resolve these lovely twists we find ourselves writing?
Surrendering to Him,
Eileen
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Ever had your characters play telephone?
Oh, what a mess things could become if you did. Talk about upping the angst, building conflict.
According to my real life experience, as of 4:00 pm yesterday, the "he said, she said" saga, also known as "playing telephone" around here, can really twist an innocent statement into a hair-raising, defensive back-stabbing retaliation of sorts by the time the twisted message reaches the end of the line.
Until now, I never thought of incorporating this type of scenario in a novel, but I could see it being good for the needed conflict quota and surprisingly, I even think it could provide a dose of humor to an appropriate story if handled with care. What do you think?
Would an unsuspecting, uninitiated game of telephone work well within your story? Do you have a host of characters and a plot with which this could work to reveal character and move the story forward? Are your characters sufficiently vested in something, and have a natural ability to twist things in translation? If you do, this true-to-life unfortunate phenomenon might work for your story.
Think of the prospects for resolution. What an opportunity to reveal growth in your characters, and unconditional love, trust, and understanding too.
Just a thought. Okay, I'll get back to my writing now. Feel free to experiment with a game of telephone in your story, though, if you think it might help lift that sagging middle, glum start, or weak resolution.
Surrendering to Him,
Eileen
According to my real life experience, as of 4:00 pm yesterday, the "he said, she said" saga, also known as "playing telephone" around here, can really twist an innocent statement into a hair-raising, defensive back-stabbing retaliation of sorts by the time the twisted message reaches the end of the line.
Until now, I never thought of incorporating this type of scenario in a novel, but I could see it being good for the needed conflict quota and surprisingly, I even think it could provide a dose of humor to an appropriate story if handled with care. What do you think?
Would an unsuspecting, uninitiated game of telephone work well within your story? Do you have a host of characters and a plot with which this could work to reveal character and move the story forward? Are your characters sufficiently vested in something, and have a natural ability to twist things in translation? If you do, this true-to-life unfortunate phenomenon might work for your story.
Think of the prospects for resolution. What an opportunity to reveal growth in your characters, and unconditional love, trust, and understanding too.
Just a thought. Okay, I'll get back to my writing now. Feel free to experiment with a game of telephone in your story, though, if you think it might help lift that sagging middle, glum start, or weak resolution.
Surrendering to Him,
Eileen
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Review of: Love Finds You in Humble, Texas
Love Finds You in Humble, Texas by Anita HigmanBack Cover Blurb: Trudie Abernathy is a little inelegent, and she's never had much luck in love. To make matters worse, her thirtieth birthday is fast approaching and her sister, Lane, has decided to "treat" her to a makeover and a blind date. Trudie is about to protest, but then she meets the kind and devastatingly handsome Mason Wimberley. In spite of Trudie's humble manner, Mason finds her attractive, funny, and smart. But there's one obstacle in the way of the budding romance: Lane suddenly decides that she's in love with Mason! Trudie has never been one to compete with her glamorous sister, even when it means giving up the things she wants. Will she be able to stay true to her humble self and find her heart's desire in the process?
Review time: Early on in this read I made the following note in the back cover: "it has a fairy tale feel that captures life's unpredictableness." It is that, and much more.
If you like stories where all, and I mean everything, turns out peachy and gets resolved, then you may really enjoy this story. For me, though, when I finished reading it, I wondered if "making everything rosey" was a prerequisite for the Love Finds You series written by various authors. I haven't read any others in this series, but now I'm wanting too, just to see if I'm correct in that assumption.
It is my experience that for all to turn out perfect in any novel, sacrifices in plotting and craft often takes place, making the read a little less enjoyable for some. Despite the fact that I felt the story was weakened by the fairy-tale feel, I enjoyed many of the twists and the way the characters related to one another. It certainly makes me curious enough to get hold of another of this multi-published author's books to see if this is her usual style. If it is, I'd be very surprised.
There is definitely entertainment and even "writerly" benefit to reading this fairy tale romance. So, if a love triangle involving two sisters and a very lovable man appeals to you, try Anita Higman's Love Finds You in Humble, Texas, and let me know if it suspends disbelief for you, or if you'd prefer a few threads left a little unravelled or not so nicely tied-up to keep it more real.
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