Writing and Wildlife

Last week I took some time away for a bit of writing. Now, I will admit I didn't get a ton of writing done, but I sure had a great time watching the wildlife from the window.

To the right is a raccoon stealing some birdseed. Then she turned to look at me. (I could tell it was a "she"
because she wasn't wearing a nursing bra. )

A squirrel, finches, quail, hummingbird and wild flowers. There's nothing like nature to bring out the writing muse.

Hey, remember I live in Las Vegas. (The wildlife here is much different than this--smile! )

I love God's beautiful world.
Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare. Psalm 40:5.

Friday--The Writers' Porch--Finding Your Voice (Part 2)

Find Your Own Voice (Part 2)

Several years ago I bumped into an acquaintance that I had made at a She Speaks Conference. Lisa Richardson had been an attendee and I had taught one of the workshops at She Speaks. We met again at the International Christian Retailers Conference in Georgia. We were both sitting in the Harvest House hospitality room waiting to pitch our books to editors. Lisa recognized me and we began to chat about our book proposals. We reconnected as writers and our friendship blossomed.

She was pitching a book that told some of her very unique life experiences. (I can’t remember what I pitched—it was rejected.) Lisa’s book sounded great. I thought she would get a contract for sure, but she didn’t for that book.

However, after a few months Lisa began to feel that she needed to pursue a different genre. She decided that the Lord was leading her to write a book about tea. Obediently, she switched gears and became an expert on tea. About five years later, my friend has completed two contracts with Harvest House for gift books on tea. Why? Because although she had a great book the first time, God’s purpose for her was completely different. She listened to His voice and found her voice in the publishing world. Her first book just released—Tea with a Twist.

For myself, I felt for years that I was called to write Bible studies. Also, the Lord had placed in my heart the seed for a devotional book for parents of wayward children. I trudged to writers’ conference after writers’ conference with my proposals in my hand and pitched them. Repeatedly I heard, “Bible studies and devotionals are almost impossible for a new author to receive a contract on—publishers only want a recognized name.”

I didn’t give up. I felt that this was the direction the Lord was leading me at the time. It was. My first contract was for Perplexing Proverbs: A Woman’s Study and my second was for Birds in My Mustard Tree: How to Grow Faith.

Finally, my 3rd was the devotional book, Divine Prayers for Despairing Parents. Honestly, I cannot tell you how many times Divine Prayers was rejected, but God’s timing is always perfect. I was able to perfect my voice of writing and truly write from the depths of my own heart.

I want to encourage every writer who has received the heart-piercing rejection letter to keep writing, stay submitting, and continue to search for your personal voice and genre. Allow the Lord to steer you in another direction. Perhaps you want to write fiction, but He may direct you to a non-fiction book. Or maybe a devotional is your heart’s desire, yet God may want you to write a children’s book.

Here’s my best advice on searching for your own voice—listen to God’s. Proverbs 3:6, Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. (NLT) Amen!

Babbling about Books--Thursday--The 4 A.M. Breakthrough

The 4 A.M. Breakthrough
Brian Kiteley
Non-fiction
Publisher: Writers’ Digest Books
(2008)

My husband states I am addicted to books—all kinds. But I admit that books on how to write top my list of favorites. Last week I told you about This Year You Write Your Novel. Today I want to sing the praise of a great tool to overcome writers’ block. Its title is The 4:00 A.M. Breakthrough by Brian Kitely.

It gives 200 stimulating ideas to jump start your writing. It’s great for those days when you look at the screen, nothing creative creeps into your thoughts, so you decide it might be a good time to play a few rounds of Solitaire.

In addition, I think it's great to help practice your writing in general. If you are a beginning writer, these short assignments will be great practice. If you are a professional writer, they are fun to do because they are creative—without a deadline.

Here’s a partial excerpt to give you an idea of what The 4 A.M. Breakthrough is like in content.

Birth Order: Write a fragment of fiction about a three-sibling family. The youngest and the middle children battle the oldest for something. This should be a war of wits, not fists, or hair pulling. 500 words. (Kiteley page 221).

If you’re a writer and like this type of exercise, this is a great book. There are many books along this line to help break through writers’ block, but The 4:00 A.M. Breakthrough is more on the literary side. It is available through Amazon along with many other books published by Writers’ Digest books specifically to enhance the craft of writing.

See you tomorrow on The Writer’s Porch.

Just a Spoonful of Sugar

Do your remember Mary Poppins singing, "Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down." Humpf! Tell that to my three-year-old granddaughter who just had her tonsils out. At this point she doesn't care how much sugar or flavoring is in it. She's not swallowing nothin'!

Which brings me to another point. Everytime I go to the pharmacy I read a sign with a smile child that states, "Get your medicine in your favorite flavor--cherry, lime, or grape. My question is, do we want children to "like" medicine? Or perhaps it might be worthwhile for it to taste nasty. Hmmm...just a thought since I have two adult friends who like prescription drugs way too much.

And on another note, I went to the dermalogist for an overall skin check. He says, "My, you have a lot of sun damage." (Really, I was a sun worshipper for years and I live in Las Vegas.)

Then he says, "I have a wonderful cream that will rejuvenate your skin. It's by prescription only." He proceeds to tell me all the miraculous things this will do for me--makes it sound like I will look 25 again.

Sold! He writes me the prescription and advises I fill it at Walmart since it won't be covered by insurance.

Okey Dokey! Off I traipse to Wally World. I wait for 30 minutes. I go to pick it up and the clerk looks at me and says, "We don't have it in stock, we have to order it. Plus, it will be $177.00."

Eeek! I told her never mind. I will just go back to my Oil of Olay. Maybe I'll add some sugar to it and make a facial sugar scrub.

If It's Not One Thing

Yesterday was Father's Day. My husband and I spent it lounging around. He went motorcycle riding, read the Sunday paper and watched the US Open -- a great day for him. Later, he took me to Borders for a great cup of coffee and we split a double chocolate cupcake. Yummy.

Later, my sister called to let me know that my beloved step-mom had been taken to the emergency room. To make a long story short, after hours and much testing in the emergency room, they sent her home. I think she is going to be fine and someone is staying with her tonight. I wish I could be there, but I am 500 miles away.

Tomorrow my chickadee peep, Emily, is having her tonsils out. Oh, I wish I could be with her, but she is 1700 miles away. Thankfully, our Father's eyes are on the sparrow--both young and old.

Thank you, Father, for being a great Dad always.

Friday--The Writers' Porch--Find Your Own Voice

Find Your Own Voice (Part 1)

As a writer one of the most difficult things to accomplish is finding your own voice. Beginning writers muddle around with tone and phrasing, many times copycatting another writer that they admire. They mimic words, phrasing, and structure that they read and attempt to sound just like ________________________________. (Fill in the blank with a famous author.)

I certainly went through this phase. Honestly, I still struggle with it. Just today I was reading Little Bee by Chris Cleave and thought “Ooooh, I love this writing. Hmmmm, I must study it more.” Well, first of all, Chris Cleave is a man, Englishman, raised in Africa and married to a French woman. I doubt that my muse is going to sound like his at all . . . sigh.

I admit going through my Beth Moore craze and wanting to write with passion and wit. My first book, I used the phrase, “Beloved," blah, blah, blah. My editor said, “Are you kidding me? No way are we using the term, “Beloved” when talking to the reader.” He was right. I would have sounded ridiculous since I am not Beth Moore . . . sigh. Then there was the Anne Lamott phase, but how can you write like Ms. Lamott without intentional vulgarity . . . sigh again. My dreams of writing like Philip Yancey deteriorated after I realized that I do not have his intellect or the time to write a treatise on why bad things happen in a world that a sovereign God controls—big sigh. I think you see my history as a writer.

But remember, writers write. And if you are going to discover your own voice you must write, write and write. Eventually words that are yours begin to appear on the screen, and they sound like you. Now, after many years of writing, I am told frequently that whenever one of my devotions come up on Encouragement for Today (Proverbs 31 Ministries) someone begins to read it and recognizes me as the author--before they see my name. I am beginning to find my own voice.

In addition, as I write, edit, and revise I am much more adept at detecting when I am writing in an artificial tone. It’s as if a loud clang goes off in my head and then I think, “Who wrote those words?”

Let me close today with this final thought on finding your own voice in writing. I do not believe that we are locked into one emotional voice of writing. I can write in a dead serious tone, but I can also write droll little pieces that make people laugh. But “my voice” still comes through.

Next Friday, we will chat about another way of finding your voice in writing which includes deciding what genre and type of material you desire to write. Until then, I have a little assignment for you. Browse through your own writing and see if you detect any authors that you have consciously or subconsciously copycatted. Try to rewrite these manuscripts from your personality and writer’s voice.

Babbling About Books--Thursday--This Year You Write Your Novel

This Year You Write Your Novel
Walter Mosely
Non-fiction
Publisher: Machette Books
(2007)

This year I plan to write a young adult novel. Well, that was the plan on January 1st, but I got bogged down and couldn’t seem to figure out how to get the words onto paper. Fiction is a new genre for me. I will definitely stick to non-fiction for publication, but writing this novel is one of my dreams.

Anyway, I found a great book to jump start the fiction writer—This Year You Write Your Novel. The book's fast-paced format makes it an easy read. Mosely touches briefly on each of the elements of fiction—plot, story, character, and voice. My favorite part was the voice of the narrator. I learned a lot!

If you want to know more about the craft of writing, this is a quick book to jump start your motivation. Now do I want to use a metaphor or a simile?

This Year You Write Your Novel is like a jumper cable: from the book to your brain to your computer.

See you tomorrow on the The Writer’s Porch.