Fiction Fossils: Uncovering The Deeper Story in Your WIP

Fossils.

What's the big deal about a bunch of dried of bones? Why do they matter, anyway?

Well, because when it comes to archeology, they're the very things that tell the story.

Fossils, when given enough study and when put in the proper order, come alive. They tell us untold stories about a version of the world we never knew.

Today I want to talk about the fossils of novels: how we can discover, develop, and breathe into them to find the larger story we're writing.

Discovering Fossils

If you're anything like me, you love a book with beautifully written layers. Rachel Hauck's The Wedding Dress is a great example of this for me. (By the way, if you haven't read The Wedding Dress, you need to stop what you're doing right now and buy it. Rachel's racking up all kinds of awards for it, and I can tell you that personally it's made my favorite books of all time list.) She does an incredible job of combining a catching plot, colorful characters, and beautifully written, lyrical prose with the depth of a metaphor.

Usually, when I read a book and finish the story feeling unsatisfied, it's because that book has failed to register with me on a deeper, emotional level. I may have liked the characters and been interested in the plot, but my heart just didn't connect with it. Have you ever had this experience? It's unfulfilling at best and frustrating at worst. 

So let's talk about finding the bones of our stories. First of all, fossils are not easy to find. They aren't just lying around on the sidewalk. They are buried beneath layers and layers of soil, and they take a lot of toil and effort, time and energy, to unearth. The same is true of fiction. Many writers skip past the digging it takes to create a truly amazing, layered story because doing so is both tiring and overwhelming. Sometimes we feel like giving up. Sometimes the dust of the soil burns our eyes, and our arms grow tired from all the digging. 

If that's you, keep on keeping on. The deeper structure--the heart of your story--is worth the effort it takes to find.

Developing Fossils

I don't know much about archeology, but I do know that dinosaur bones don't look the way they do in museums when they're first found. Some of the bones might be broken from time. Some may not seem to fit. They are fragile and in need of preservation before being displayed.

The same holds true for your novel. Once you start to find the deeper pieces of your characters' struggles and the deeper motifs you want to work with, it's easy to get excited by your discoveries. But before long, you start to get frustrated. The bones seem to be falling apart. You may have a hard time fitting them together. Yet in the end, this is all part of the process.

So how can you develop the bones of your story? Well, for starters, look for moments that shine and sparkle. Do you use figurative imagery--maybe even accidentally-- that can be expanded and developed throughout? Perhaps even as a metaphor? Does the character have a deeper flaw or secret you've yet to reveal (or maybe even admit to yourself)? It all starts with recognition.

Once you find a gem buried in your story, spend time investing in it. Think through how you might be able to challenge your characters with that image or idea. Think of all the possibilities it offers for your plot. How might you expand that metaphor or deeper character arc by developing it further throughout the entire story? Could other characters get involved in the same issue or usher your main characters along?

Breathing into Fossils


Ezekiel 37:1-10:

The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones.  Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

So I answered, “O Lord God, You know.”
Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! Thus says the Lord God to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.”’”
So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them.
Also He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.”’” So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army.


Some days, it's tempting to believe all my ideas and stories are nothing more than a pile of dry bones lying in a valley. Can you relate? At best, God has commanded me to prophesy to the bones, and I have, and miraculously, they've come together: bones, sinews, flesh. This makes me excited. But then I realize something's still missing. Something very important. 

Breath.

Ultimately, only God can breathe life. This passage, however, demonstrates a beautiful concept: sometimes He uses us to do that very thing.

Maybe you have a story. Maybe you've even found the deeper bones of it. Maybe you've done the work to dig them up and polish them, and maybe you've carefully pieced them together.

Maybe, like me, you're looking at your novel and asking, "What's missing? I've found the bones. I've prophesied to them. They've come together. Why aren't they standing? Why aren't they going anywhere?"

If that's you, it's time to heed the word of the Lord. It's time to prophesy to those bones again. It's time to declare words of life over your ministry and calling. It's time 

to believe, to really believe, that these bones will live-- and not only live, but produce a great army, taking back what the enemy has stolen, for the fulfillment and enrichment of the hearts and souls of the children of God. 

It's time to declare an army of beautifully written stories to arise from the very dust where they were left behind.

I want to challenge you today to not only dig deeper into your story, but to also dig deeper into yourself. Have you given up on the life of your story, counting its bones forever dry? Have you lost sight and faith in the life-giving power of the spoken word of God in your heart, your ministry, your life? You don't have to settle for lifeless work any longer. I believe God is saying He wants to do something fresh in our lives and writing, but we must rise up and speak His words of life into these valleys. 

How can we put these principles into action in our everyday writing routines and lives so that we keep from growing dry?

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Ashley Clark writes romance with southern grace. She's dreamed of being a writer ever since the thumbprint-cookie-days of library story hour. Ashley has an M.A. in English and enjoys teaching literature courses at her local university. She's an active member of ACFW and runs their newcomer's loop. When she's not writing, Ashley's usually busy rescuing stray animals and finding charming new towns. You can find Ashley on her personal blog, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. She is represented by Karen Solem.

Sarah's Laugh

Has God ever spoken something to you that you had a hard time believing? Or maybe you believed it once, but as time has gone on, that promise has seemed to flicker and fade?

Seems so much of a writer's life is spent waiting. We wait for clarity, for direction. Then we wait for feedback. We get rejections, so we change our stories. We study and grow in the craft. And then we wait to see if we're yet ready, hoping with baited breath that this will finally, finally be our time.

Can you relate?

Sometimes, in the midst of all that waiting, doubt begins to creep in. We don't always even know that's what's going on. Maybe it's one particular comment a contest judge made, or even a friend. Maybe those around you seem to be making leaps and bounds of progress in their writing journey, meanwhile, you're where you feel like you've always been... waiting.

It can be so hard to hear God's voice in what feels like silence. Have you ever searched, longing for direction, for even a whisper of clarity, and felt like God was hiding out?

Often, I think we shortchange the work of God in our lives. When something seems to be fizzling out, we're quick to get discouraged and leave that project or calling behind, instead of pushing through to the higher purpose God has for our lives. Or, if we do push through, we do so with heavy discouragement and hunched shoulders, filled with doubt and self-consciousness rather than standing strong.

This week, I was reading the story of God's promise to Abraham and Sarah. First, God tells Abraham (then Abram) that he's going to be the father of many nations and richly blessed. Abraham says God must mean He's going to make one of Abraham's servants an heir, to which God says, no--the heir is going to come from Abraham's own bloodline. Already, Abraham's insecurities begin to crop up. He has trouble stepping out in faith because he can't see past the obstacles he's constructed in his own perception.

Then Sarah comes up with a plan. She tells Abraham to have a child with her maidservant because she herself is too old to bear children (a situation which, by the way, God still redeems--meeting Hagar right at the point of her need).

You would think this would give God reason to go back on the deal. But instead, what does He say? He comes to Abraham years down the road--Abraham is now 99--and reaffirms He is going to establish an "everlasting covenant" with Abraham and his descendants. I don't know about you, but this story brings me peace that God does not forget the promises He has declared in our lives, even if we mess up along the way.

Later, three men--an image, I would say, of the trinity--appear before Abraham, and they ask him where his wife Sarah is. He tells them Sarah is inside the tent. This is what follows:

"Then the Lord said, 'I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.'
Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. Abraham and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years, and Sarah was well past the age of childbearing. So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, 'After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?'
Then the Lord said to Abraham, 'Why did Sarah laugh and say, 'Will I really have a child, now that I am old?' Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son.'
Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, 'I did not laugh.'
But he said, 'Yes, you did laugh.'"
-- Genesis 18:10-15


How many times do we, like Sarah, struggle to believe the promises of the Lord in our lives? How many times do we go as far as laughing at them, then reminding God all the reasons we can't do what He says we will? Think of Moses, struggling with the idea of leading the people of Israel. This concept isn't a new one, even in Biblical times.


When we fail to believe in our ability to carry out the promise of God in our lives, we fail to step into our calling. Like Sarah, we shift our focus from the "could be" to the current obstacles we're facing.



Maybe your doubts are not stemming from feeling too old and dried up. Maybe it's just the opposite. Maybe, like Moses, you feel unqualified. Maybe you've received some harsh feedback that you've taken to heart, and now you doubt your ability to convey emotion on the page, to be vulnerable, to even hear the word of God in your life. Maybe tough circumstances have left you feeling emotionally paralyzed. Maybe you've grown so tired of getting rejections that you just feel like giving up.



I have news for you. Sarah was 90 when she had her first child.

God is a faithful and just God, who will fulfill the promises He has spoken over our lives.

It may take one day, or it may take a hundred years. But that makes no difference. God made a mighty nation out of Abraham's descendants, more numerous than the stars. He didn't give up on Sarah, even when she doubted His word. And He won't give up on you. Keep keeping on. One day, you're going to see the fulfillment of His promise--and just imagine what a glorious day that will be.

Do you struggle with doubt over being a writer? (Don't we all?!) When do you find this doubt hits the hardest? How do you keep it from entangling you and distracting you from your calling?

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Ashley Clark writes romance with southern grace. She's dreamed of being a writer ever since the thumbprint-cookie-days of library story hour. Ashley has an M.A. in English and enjoys teaching literature courses at her local university. She's an active member of ACFW and runs their newcomer's loop. When she's not writing, Ashley's usually busy rescuing stray animals and finding charming new towns. You can find Ashley on her personal blog, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. She is represented by Karen Solem.

The Reasons We Write

We all have reasons we write, but are they the right reasons?

See what I did there? Okay, tongue twisters aside, today I want to challenge you to some introspection. Let me use myself as an example. The past week or so, the current stage of my writing career has become increasingly clear to me. My manuscript is being reviewed by a couple different publishers I have an uber amount of respect for, and in December, I had a really good perspective about that. Pray about it, be at peace. I trusted that I had spent months crafting this proposal, and that God would lead me and my stories where He would have me. Then for whatever reason, the reality started to dawn on me now that it's January. The possibility of hearing back from publishers is becoming more of a reality. What had been so easy to trust God with suddenly became much more challenging.

Up until now, my approach has been to keep writing and crafting stories until one of them sticks. My philosophy has been that if a traditional publisher is not interested in my manuscript, I am not yet ready for a readership. Now I know that's not necessarily true for everyone, especially genres that are a hard sell in CBA, I have felt like it's true for me. I know God has called me to be a writer. Otherwise I never would have found the courage to follow this dream. So I've sort of always assumed there's a reason for that calling, and the reason is that someday I'll have readers. :) And I really, really hope that is true. I mean, really hope that is true.

But here's the thing. I had this ah-ha moment Sunday morning. At some point, I have conflated the idea of writing books out of obedience God's calling with the idea of someday being a "successful" author. Now, I don't think there's anything wrong with dreaming about touching readers' lives, or even being on a bestseller list. These are normal dreams. But the thing is, they are not the same as our calling. The Bible says our calling is "sure." Solid. Stable. Reliable. True. Can I say the same thing about someday hitting the NYT Bestseller List? Simply put, no.

If we aren't careful, traditional ideas of success come to mesh with our confidence in our purpose, so that good news makes us feel assured of our calling and bad news makes us doubt it. Oh, how easy it is to fall into this trap. But friends, we must guard our hearts against this impulse. God is always, always on our side, assuring us onward to complete this task He has put before us. His whispers to our dreams, His guidance, His love is all we can be assured of, but it's also all we need.

Being published does not mean you will be assured of God's purpose in your life.

Likewise, being unpublished does not mean you are doing something "wrong," necessarily.

Success in the eyes of the world, while nice-feeling, is not the same as success in God's eyes. Consider the woman who cleans bathrooms for a living and hums songs of praise under her breath, then consider the business executive who is rude to a child on the way to a meeting. These are extreme examples, but they illustrate the point. For us as writers, it is all-too-easy to consider publishing the ear marker of whether or not we've "made it." But that's really such an illusion. I'll venture to bet that even after we someday get published, we will still battle against feelings of fear and insufficiency, only with different stakes.

And here's where it gets hard. Here is the question I came to on Sunday, and I think it's the only way to really challenge yourself to a true answer about the state of your heart.

If this book gets rejected--if I write another dozen books and they all get rejected--what will keep me going? If I never do get to hold a copy of my own book in my hands, will I grow discouraged enough that I just stop trying?

Suddenly the answer became strikingly clear to me. No, I will not stop writing. Do I want to have a published book? Absolutely. Do I want to be able to tell people I'm an "author" instead of someone whose books are only on Microsoft Word? Yes. Do I feel discouraged when challenges prevent movement into the next stages of my writing career? You bet.

But at the end of the day, these things do not define my calling, and thus, they do not and can not sustain me. These traditional considerations of what defines success are dangerous. There will always be another step and an ever-lurking step of failure. The only way you can escape the discouragement and pressure that comes from these challenges is to cast your perception of success in another place, and really, that place is much more beautiful anyway, tailored for you. The call of God upon your life.

If you're struggling with silence or harsh critiques, I want to encourage you today that these things do not define you or your writing. The only One with that power is the One who has authored your story. He has a plan for each of your days, and He has been leading you all along. Don't give up hope. Don't give up faith. Don't give up your dreams.

Have you ever struggled with feelings of inadequacy? How do you shift your focus to a higher calling?

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Ashley Clark writes romance with southern grace. She's dreamed of being a writer ever since the thumbprint-cookie-days of library story hour. Ashley has an M.A. in English and enjoys teaching literature courses at her local university. She's an active member of ACFW and runs their newcomer's loop. When she's not writing, Ashley's usually busy rescuing stray animals and finding charming new towns. You can find Ashley on her personal blog, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. She is represented by Karen Solem.

The Seed and The Harvest

I have a Plumeria cutting sitting in my office windowsill right now. My husband and I got it on our last trip to Hawaii, but the problem is, we went in October, which means I’ve had to do the rooting process indoors. And let’s just say I don’t have a greenhouse.

I want this thing to grow so badly. I bought the special root grower powder stuff, I did research on how to plant in the right way, and I’ve kept it near the sunniest window in the house to try to maximize its exposure to the sun while keeping it protected from the elements.

And then I've stared. Literally stared. I go in there all the time and just look at it, hoping, wishing, praying some leaf bud will form, some flower, something—anything that will show the evidence of life, of roots.

It’s been four months. You’re supposed to see leaves after one to two. In other words, it wasn’t looking good for my Plumeria. Should’ve bought the already-rooted kind, I keep thinking to myself. But the thing is, I didn’t. I wanted this one, with the pretty multicolored flowers on the packaging. From our favorite place on the North Shore. Not some mass-produced Floridian Plumeria from down the street. This is my heart flower, the one I was so careful to keep safe on the flight home.

This week, the Plumeria started changing. No, it hasn’t boomed yet. No, there are no flowers or even leaves. But a couple weeks ago, I adjusted the blinds to allow more sunlight to stream through, and it must’ve done something. Because now, the brown “scars” on the tops of the cutting are breaking up, and the littlest evidence of fresh-looking sprouts is coming through.

Now, I don’t know where you are in your writing journey or what you’re hoping will flower. But I’m writing this because I want you to know—and I believe God wants you to know—there is hope. There is always, always hope.

Maybe you’re looking at the plant that is your writing life, and right now, it looks like nothing more than a dead stick. A very dry, very brown, very brittle stick, breaking from rejection.

It’s very easy to yank up that stick and throw it away. Or to shove a prying finger into the soil to check prematurely for roots. But the thing is—and this is key—doing that will disrupt the natural progression of the beautiful mystery that is life.

God has called you. He has gifted you with purpose, and He desires to see that cultivated and propagated. Sometimes when the seed is still in the soil, the process seems invisible. But don’t mistake visibility for actuality.

Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Maybe it’s winter in your writing life. Maybe everything seems frozen and cold. Maybe God’s even got you on a windowsill beside the sunniest window in the room. Maybe you’re tempted to rip the whole thing out of the soil and toss it in the trash.

Don’t.

You don’t see what’s happening underneath. It’s exactly what you hoped for and so much more than you dreamed. And you don't want to miss the fragrance of dreams.

Where are you hoping God will sow seed in your writing life, and where has He already? Have you seen the evidence of flowers lately? What actions can you take to protect the “dream seeds” God has planted in your life?

*Pictures used from alohaislandweddings.com and exoticplumeria.com

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Ashley Clark writes romantic comedy with southern grace. Born and raised in the South, her favorite vegetable is macaroni and cheese, and she loves sweet tea. Ashley has an M.A. in English and enjoys teaching literature courses at her local university. She's an active member of ACFW and runs their newcomer's loop. When she's not writing, Ashley's usually busy rescuing stray animals and finding charming new towns. She's thrilled to be represented by the fabulous Karen Solem. You can read more of Ashley's thoughts on writing, crafts, and life on her personal blog:http://ashleyclarkwrites.blogspot.com/. She's also on Facebook and Twitter (writerashley).