The Gift of Writing

I received a gift recently. It was small, simple, in fact it was only a card. And even though it was a store bought card, it had a timely message directed uniquely to me.

Of course I was immediately drawn to this gift. I held it for a time in my hand, looked at the front, back, and inside then set it in a prominent place in my writing nook, the corner of the house belonging to me.

Even today, during my work break when I am writing this post, I thought of the gift carefully written in such a way to touch a heart in need.

God gave me a gift for writing. It needs a few more bows, ribbons, perhaps packaging. He has given me the supplies to finish off the gift. Each time I study the art of writing or write a work I am adding these touches to the gift. Each time someone reads my work and is touched, I have shared the gift with them and brought a smile to God's loving face.

At times I take the gift and hoard it.

I choose to waste freetime set aside for writing or learning the craft.  This is not referring to important family time or other important tasks, but true time set aside for writing. At times like this, I have set the gift God gave me in the back corner of a closet where it is dark, dusty, and ignored.

Other times I work hard to write a work then get lazy or arrogant, convinced that the first draft was great work. I become offended when crits offer little praise. I use "something shiny" as my excuse and toddle off to a different work, ignoring the one God prompted me to do at that time.

And other times I work diligently on my ms, listening to crits, judges, and friends editing and polishing the work to be pleasing to God, but then heed the words of a few who say this work is not of today, no one would read it, no publishing company would want it. I lower my head and allow sadness to fill my heart and snuff my drive. The work is set aside.

I have often heard the words: to be a writer you must be strong, have steel skin, Mt. Everest tenacity, a Fisher Price heart (unbreakable), and a wild passion.

All these are true.

Sometimes God sends a kindred spirit to rekindle these in us.

May we here at the Writer's Alley offer you the spark to start, complete, polish, and/or submit your work today so that you may offer your gift to others.

How can we pray for you today?
(if you prefer you can email us your prayer request-our email address is in the upper right corner of this page.)
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Photos courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

This blog post is by Mary Vee
Mary lives in Montana with her husband and loves to hear from her three college kids. She writes Christian young adult fiction (pirate tales, missionary and Bible adventure stories).

Come Step into Someone Else's World with Mary's writing

To learn more about Mary, visit her blog http://www.mimaryvee.blogspot.com/

Immersed in our Stories

Something shiny has distracted me from my intended post. 

Alas, at times, I too have toiled through the bog  to finish my WIP.


For me, to move forward in my story I need to step back, reread the last chapter, tweak a few sentences, perhaps whole paragraphs, slash a little, add something else, saturate my mind in the words.

New chapter/scene/sentence rarely flow from my brain to the keyboard with the golden hues of a sunrise. 


Maybe I need different coffee. 


Like an inchworm, I need to step back, no--immerse myself into the story.

Getting from point A to point Z in my manuscript involves more than hopping on the Autobahn until I exit at my destination. 


I need the scenic route. I like to feel, see, hear, and taste the the action.


The scenic route immerses my thoughts into the lives of my character. It focuses my attention in the wholeness of my story. I look back at the path and see flora, gaze to the sides and see animals, peek straight ahead and behold glistening rays through a canopy of oak branches.


Looking back at the flora (previous chapters or scenes), I eye mutinous weeds--twining, murderous vines around daisies or an obnoxious patch of sagebrush forcing sweet Williams to surrender their lives. The weeds can be adverbs, passive voice, awkward sentence structure, etc. The sagebrush can be rabbit trails or context errors like interchanging characters, events, and  locations.


Looking to the side (the point I left my work yesterday), I question if all is as it appears. The spot on the tree may be the eye of an elk, and the branches may be the antlers. What's hiding off to the side that could be used to raise suspense in this scene?


Looking ahead, the climax and end, I don't see the sun in all its spender. It's hampered by  branches to thick in some points to allow light. Still, a ray or two eek through other branches to give a  promised hope. Is this what I see with today's step?

I am immersed in my story and unable to stop the words from flowing into a new chapter or scene


This process doesn't take long. Sherlock Holmes is not invited. Simply rewind, call attention the footprints, and fix the obvious as a warm-up to today's writing. 


One day closer to finishing a book.  :)

Once again the Alley Cats have unawares presented a theme: Press forward to the end using your voice completely immersed in your story. Then send your treasure to an expert to be polished or to a contest for critique.

Do you take the scenic route, smell the roses, breathe the fresh air, or wallow in your character's lives at times? What are your struggles in your writing today? How can we support, encourage, enlighten, entertain, energize, applaud, and fortify you? 


Nature photos taken by Mary Vee in Glacier National Park. 
Autobahn photo courtesy of Desktop Nexus Abstract