Writing When It Hurts

Writing a novel is alot like the cliffs notes of a book.

All the important stuff - but in a condensed version.

There has been a lot of tough stuff going on for a lot of people lately, and I've been thinking about how our stories parallel life in so many ways.

As writers, we help people understand one of life’s basic truths.

They are not alone because bad stuff happens to everyone.

Whether in this century or the last, we could quote what the preacher said yesterday. “Manure happens.”

Definitely.

Was he talking about gardening? Cattle farming?

Nope – he was talking about ‘the fruit of the Spirit’.
Anyone else lost by that correlation?
 Let me explain:

Life is full of stuff- good, bad, amazing, horrible, shocking, transforming…stuff, but the stuff that has a tendency to ‘grow’ us the most, is the strategically placed trials God allows into our lives.
The manure, so to speak.
God cultivates kindness, goodness, gentleness, patience (I always cringe when I type that word) – through our suffering. We grow.

(The picture to the right is of quadraplegic, painter, singer, speaker and Christian author Joni Erekson Tada)

As writers, this news shouldn't surprise us. We throw manure at our characters from the first chapter to the last. Piles of it.
Why?
Conflict makes a good story, of course – but suffering builds character.

Trouble has a way of refining us, digging to our core and showing what we’re really made of and who it is we truly trust. And ya know what?

I’ve learned that it’s okay to ask why.
It’s okay to scream to heaven and wonder what He’s doing up there.
It’s okay to show your weaknesses, pout, and shudder from the fear of what might happen next.

God isn’t surprised by any of our reactions. He made us. He knows.

So the question isn’t really ‘why does bad stuff happen’, but ‘how do we grow from the bad stuff that does happen?”

Perspective changes everything. The lens through which we view our circumstances directs our thoughts, emotions, and reactions. Our POV, if you will.

I know we’ve shared a lot on this site about our dear Alley Cat, Krista, but her journey for the past year with her daughter, Annabelle, has been an example of perspective and faith. I’m sure she’d tell you that there were plenty of times when she felt like screaming to high heaven, when she questioned why, when her heart cried ‘how long’, but within the weak moments, God grew elements of strength that the rest of us may not have yet.

I don’t know how you deal with the bumps and bristles of life, but I’ve found comfort in the fact that there is purpose in them. When trials and hurts come into our lives, we usually respond in various ways. Here are a few of the positive ones:

1.       We slow down
2.       We reflect
3.       We gain perspective
4.       We find the light
5.       We grow from the moment

Besides the spiritual aspect of growing more like our Creator, we grow in other ways too. As writers, working through our own wounds, trials, and disappointments adds spine to our stories in ways other things never could.

I can assure you that the way I describe the emotions involving death is a lot different than before I lost one of my best friends in October (my grandmother)

But...I don't want or need to experience first-hand all the heartaches I put my poor characters through to write about them - I will say though, the deeper our pain, the deeper our growth, and from those deep wells of emotion we can write.

Great things usually come out of struggles. In fact, look at this nation! Today we celebrate Independence Day - a day carved in American history after years of conflict and pain.  Would we have a day like this to celebrate or be as proud Americans as we are, if we hadn't fought for this liberty? If it hadn't cost us something?

Writing can be great therapy. By putting our thoughts, feelings, wounds, and praises on paper, it slows us down so we can reflect on them. As Christians, it gives us time to gain a proper perspective and find the light of God’s grace in the middle of the pain. Out of our writing, reflection, and soul searching, we grow more like Jesus.

(And the best thing about it is that HE is with us all the way. He sends His hands and feet, through other Believers, to comfort us and give us strength)

Did you know that more writing time was spent on the last week of Christ’s life than any other part of the gospels? For example, the book of John is flying along chatper by chapter and then…boom – we slow down once Jesus rides into Jerusalem. The pacing is slower. There are more descriptives. God is drawing attention to an important part of the story, helping us experience it with the disciples.

It’s a powerful writing tool. When your character is struggling, emphasize the moment by slowing down the pace. If God used it, then it must be a good one J

What else do we learn from suffering and the Bible? Well, it’s what any good novel shows.  A main character struggling through adversity and growing from it in the end. The Bible is peppered with examples. Wounds, adversity, poor choices, calamity, persecution, temptation… for both heroes in the faith and the every day ‘women at the well’, there is a story of growth through pain.

Hmmm…..sounds like life.

Manure happens.
We grow from it – as people and as writers.

I wrote a poem after a miscarriage because conversations just weren’t powerful enough.
I started a novel born out of pain and it became a beautiful way for me to deal with a deep wound from my childhood. Cathartic.

If nothing ever happens from my words in print, it was enough to write them for my healing heart.

You see, if you haven’t figured it out by now – writing is more than just a hobby, it’s a calling. We take emotionless words on a page and bring them to life for broken hearts? And sometimes the reader who needs them the most, is the one who wrote them.

You are not alone. Your words are not empty.

Take up your pen….and write.

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pics courtesy of http://www.personal.psu.edu/set5099/blogs/english_202c_technical_writing/technical-description.html
http://alwaysnewmistakes.wordpress.com/2008/02/10/the-one-thing-every-entrepreneur-needs-to-have-hope/