A Gift Unused is ...

God's grace denied.

A profound thought. At least for me it is.

Consider the following verse:

"Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various form..." 1 Peter 4:10

I've always thought of God's grace as an amazing gift that I don't deserve, but so thankful to have. But never before did I really consider that I could be used as a vessel to deliver His grace to another person. According to Peter, though, we are to be faithful in administering God's grace through the gifts we are given.

We are instruments through which God extends His grace to others. Doesn't that make our responsibility to discover our gifts all the more important? It does to me.


Blessings,

Eileen

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The Word of the Week: Grace (definitions brought to you from http://www.dictionary.com/

1. elegance or beauty of form, manner, motion, or action.
2. a pleasing or attractive quality or endowment.
3. favor or good will.
4. a manifestation of favor, esp. by a superior: It was only through the dean's grace that I wasn't expelled from school.
5. mercy; clemency; pardon: an act of grace.
6. favor shown in granting a delay or temporary immunity.
7. an allowance of time after a debt or bill has become payable granted to the debtor before suit can be brought against him or her or a penalty applied: The life insurance premium is due today, but we have 31 days' grace before the policy lapses. Compare grace period.
8. Theology.
a. the freely given, unmerited favor and love of God.
b. the influence or spirit of God operating in humans to regenerate or strengthen them.
c. a virtue or excellence of divine origin: the Christian graces.
d. Also called state of grace. the condition of being in God's favor or one of the elect.
9. moral strength: the grace to perform a duty.
10. a short prayer before or after a meal, in which a blessing is asked and thanks are given.
11. (usually initial capital letter) a formal title used in addressing or mentioning a duke, duchess, or archbishop, and formerly also a sovereign (usually prec. by your, his, etc.).
12. Graces, Classical Mythology. the goddesses of beauty, daughters of Zeus and Eurynome, worshiped in Greece as the Charities and in Rome as the Gratiae.
13. Music. grace note. –verb (used with object)
14. to lend or add grace to; adorn: Many fine paintings graced the rooms of the house.
15. to favor or honor: to grace an occasion with one's presence. —Idioms
16. fall from grace,
a. Theology. to relapse into sin or disfavor.
b. to lose favor; be discredited: He fell from grace when the boss found out he had lied.
17. have the grace to, to be so kind as to: Would you have the grace to help, please?
18. in someone's good (or bad) graces, regarded with favor (or disfavor) by someone: It is a wonder that I have managed to stay in her good graces this long.
19. with bad grace, reluctantly; grudgingly: He apologized, but did so with bad grace. Also, with a bad grace.
20. with good grace, willingly; ungrudgingly: She took on the extra work with good grace.

Origin: 1125–75; ME < class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">grātia favor, kindness, esteem, deriv. of grātus pleasing


Wow, that's a lot of uses for one compact, beautiful word.

May grace guide my every deed.

55 days left to reflect and celebrate our Saviour's birth.

It's in the Details

It's details that bring a novel to life...or kills it, as the case may be.

Not only can a writer use specific details to show, rather than tell, but it's the well chosen details that can set a mood, sketch a picture, and thus bring a scene to life for the reader.

Be careful, though, there is a need for brevity when dealing with details. It's important to discern which details to include, and which to let the reader discover within their own imagination. If you provide too much detail, you risk boring the reader. Too little, and you haven't given enough to spark the reader's imagination so that they can complete the canvass to their own satisfaction.

A good exercise to educate yourself on details in writing is to pick a scene in a novel that stood out particularly well to you. A scene that you'd consider shone. Pick that scene apart word by word, paying attention specifically to the details that the author provided. Then consider what other details you added through your own imagination that completed the picture for you. Can you see how the details the author provided aided in your completing the picture? Were they specific, maybe unique, conducive to a specific style/mood, of particular interest?

The first example that popped into my mind for me to do this exercise with is actually from one of my critique partner's work. Becky Melby, with Cathy Wienke, painted a marvelous tour of a Victorian House so vividly for me in the following two paragraphs from their novel Treasuring Kate.

"Built in 1897, Heathercrest was the largest of the Victorian homes in Woodbridge, Wisconsin. It was painted in its original colors, a soft sage green with gingerbread trim the color of butter. Thirteen wooded acres protected it from being engulfed as the little lakeside town expanded.

Setting his camera back on the dresser before heading down to breakfast, Grant scooped up a pile of change and looked around the curved-walled turret room. It was this house, this room in particular, that had birthed his career in historic renovations. The thought of being able to see it only on a guided tour, the doorway cordoned off by a velvet rope, twisted something deep inside. No more treasure hunts in the gardens, no more sliding down banisters, no more stockings hung from the cherubs on the fireplace mantle, no more laughter, no more tradition. He couldn’t imagine raising children of his own without the backdrop of Heathercrest. (From Chapter 1 of Becky Melby's and Cathy Wienke's novel Treasuring Kate. This story has yet to find a publisher. I really hope it does some day soon.)

I just love this excerpt. Okay, let's look at the actual details provided in the first short paragraph.

Built in 1897
Largest Victorian home in the area
The home itself is called Heathercrest (These three facts alone paint a grandiose picture in my mind. I'm immediately drawn to think of Castle Kilbride, a local Victorian home. Facts or details like this provide the reader with data that they can associate with something concrete they are familiar with. I already have a pretty good picture of what I want Heathercrest to look like now.)
Colors of the house provided (Now I know specific details that set this house apart from the one I'm comparing it to, further making Heathercrest its own. I'm really liking it!)
Gingerbread (I love gingerbread trim, all its swirls and curves inviting me to come visit. When I picture gingerbread trim, I think of peaked roofs, attic rooms, covered veranda's, welcoming front entries,...I could go on and on, and that's just from one small detail of the house.)
Thirteen wooded acres. (What a picturesque, elite, backdrop for such a grand house. I'm thinking there might even be trails in those wooded acres. And all the critters that must live and play on such a property. Surely the yard has a birdbath and feeders situated near the home. Maybe the owner keeps binoculars in a basket sitting on a deep wooden windowsill inside the parlour.)

So in four lines of writing, I have a pretty good picture of this home in my mind's eye, and the property that surrounds it, and I've even started thinking about how the owner might live (binoculars and all). All this came from six specific, concise details provided by the author.

This post would go on forever if I attempted to go inside the house with the second paragraph's details. It's just so vivid to me, I feel like I'm actually pocketing that change from a high bureau chest of drawers, passing the wide wood-trimmed doors upstairs and descending the wooden staircase with heavy, shapely spindles guiding the way into a hallway that opens into a room with a grand fireplace. I can even envision the type of furniture this house holds, solid, sturdy, lasting.

Go ahead, pick that second paragraph apart, and enjoy the picture it provides for you. I bet it's different than mine, because you'll use your own storehouse of Victorian House memories along with the details provided to complete your canvass, and what a perfect picture yours will be for you, as mine is for me. Details, chosen wisely, can appeal to all your readers.

I challenge you to discover the details that lend themselves to a bigger picture. Include those details in your writing and let the reader's imagination paint the rest of the canvass subconsciously.


Blessings,

Eileen

56 days left to reflect and celebrate our Saviour's birth.

Imperfect and Candid Characters are In...

...so I'm told.

By allowing your protagonist to be candid, whether he's of the likable nature or not, and by revealing at least one of his vulnerabilities, a writer essentially has the ability to create a character that readers can relate to and will want to learn more about.

So go ahead and reveal the flaws within your characters early on, but consider doing so within that particular character's own POV. Let the reader experience your character's flaws through his or her own perception.

Create real time empathy and your reader will be drawn in. Well, at least the readers with an ounce of compassion will be, even if your character is ugly inside and out. As long as the reader receives a hint of "why" the character is the way he/she is, or that they're disturbed by their own faults, then empathy can be conceived.

How do you make the unlikeable tolerable in your writing?

Blessings,

Eileen

57 days left to reflect and celebrate our Saviour's birth.

Raising Questions

Yesterday we talked about using a surprise to hook your reader. Another way to grab your reader's attention is to invoke questions through your writing early on. Be sure to leave the question(s) unanswered for a while, too. At least until you've raised another one or two to keep the story moving forward at a steady pace.

The goal is to get the reader contemplating about what's going to happen, or what has happened to put the character in his/her present state, or raise a why this or why that type of question. You want your reader to want to know more, and to do that you need to get them wondering about this or that. Any type of question that you can spark will go a long way in keeping your audience reading to find out the answer.

Curiosity draws readers in, so be sure to give them something to be curious about in your opening paragraphs.


Blessings,

Eileen

58 days left to reflect and celebrate our Saviour's birth.

The Surprise Factor

Does your story include a surprise?

You might want to consider including one in your opening paragraphs if you haven't all ready. An unexpected incident or character reaction is a great way to grab the reader's attention pronto and keep them hooked on your writing. So, if you find your opening isn't catchy enough, think of what the average reader wouldn't be expecting, and utilize it to your advantage.

One of the biggest surprise openings I've read lately was in the opening of Cheryl Wyatt's A Soldier's Family, a Steeple Hill, Love Inspired novel. She opened with a crash landing. Not your typical start to a romance. Thriller/Suspense, yes, but not in a romance. She immediately surprised me, and thus caught my attention to keep reading and get to know her characters.

What ways have you found, or can think of, to surprise your reader? Feel free to share.


Blessings,

Eileen

59 days left to reflect and celebrate our Saviour's birth.

Critiquers, what's the worse comment you ever received?

Over on the ACFW course loop, we're learning a lot about critique groups/partners. It reminded me of my very first lesson of what NOT to comment on with respect to a beginner's work.

As a rule, I believe I give constructive criticism with a dose of praise in each of the critiques I do. I view my job as a critiquer to be fair and honest within the confines of my own subjectivity. That end part is the key, I believe, to helping those new to critiquing. If you go into the rounds of critiquing with nothing else than the knowledge that subjectivity is everywhere in this craft, you'll be so much more emotionally equipped to handle the comments coming your way. If your critique partner(s) are truly invested in helping you, then take their comments seriously, mull over even the ones you disagree with immediately to see if you can discover its merit on further thought, then alter your work according to your decisions.

Now, I don't know what the most hurtful comment that I've given has been because no one has scolded me for being malicious with their work yet. But I certainly know which one and only comment I received that stung bad, so bad that I sobbed over it (this happened very early on in my writing, I've developed a much thicker skin since then). For all you critiquers out there, do you have a comment to share to add to the "DO NOT INCLUDE (DNI)" list for new critiquers? I really think there should be such a listing, it would alleviate a whole lot of heartache for beginner writers.

I'll go first.

#1 DNI item: "You have no voice, or at best it's generic enough that I can't hear it."

You tell me, how does that help a writer develop their writerly voice? A writer's voice is something that develops over time, and is so complex, that commenting on the non-existence of it is futile, and seriously hurtful to a beginner. My suggestion, wait until you start 'hearing' his/her voice, and then comment on how lovely or unique it sounds. Save the voice thing for a praise since there isn't much a writer can do other than to keep writing and honing their craft to develop their voice anyway. Always think constructive when making comments on other's work.

Okay, it's your turn all you seasoned critiquers reading this. What would you add to the DNI (Do Not Include) list for critique etiquette? And for those who aren't yet involved a critique group, feel free to comment on what you would hope to get out of a critique partner(s) relationship.

Blessings,

Eileen

63 days left to reflect and celebrate our Saviour's birth.

National Novel Writing Month Is Just Around The Corner

Ever heard of NaNoWriMo?

November is National Novel Writing Month. A month where writers all over the world work to create a novel in one month.

In the words of the official organization : "National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30."

Last year I wrote the first draft of For Better or For Worse? (one of my Olive Series stories) during November. This year, I have a slight head start, I'm up to 2,500 words of The Unlikely One, but discovering that I really need to do some character sketching and GMC charting for it before I continue writing. So, although, I won't be writing this year as a die-hard seat-of-your-pantster, I will be participating in NaNoWriMo, and hope to see The Unlikely One grow to a good size during the month of November. Due to time restraints, I may not make the 50,000-word organization goal, but I'll do my best, that's for sure.

What about you? Have you ever dreamed of writing a novel? If so, please join me during November, sign up at NaNoWriMo, and let the writing begin on November 1, 2008.


Blessings,

Eileen

66 days left to reflect and celebrate our Saviour's birth.