Blog Archives

7/30/2019 0 Comments

Planting Ideas

“The beauty hidden inside a tiny seed can never be discovered until it is planted, until the rains fall and the sun shines down upon it. The process takes time and patience, just as it does when God works in our hearts. When we wait on the Lord, weather the storms, and bask in His light, He takes our lives . . . and turns them into something beautiful.” Julie A. Campbell

Likewise, the beauty of story can never be discovered until we allow the germ of an idea to take root in our minds. When we plant an idea, water it, expose it to sunlight, weed it, prune and shape it, we’re preparing a story for harvest.

The process of growing a story takes time, patience and hard work. Very rarely does a story arrive in our minds in full bloom. And even when it does, the translation to paper usually seems to lose something. Just as some plants thrive best when surrounded by plants of other varieties, story ideas often need the stimulus of other ideas before they can grow.

Here are some questions, we need to ask ourselves, when we have a new idea:

Have I talked to God about my writing lately?

Have I recommitted it to Him?
Have I asked Him what He thinks about this idea?
Am I willing to trust this new idea to Him?

Am I willing to weather the storms of writing?

Such as trusting His timing for publication?
Doing my part by working hard?
Being willing to change my work?

Is the soil of my mind prepared?

Do I need the tilling of a new experience or situation?
Do I need a class or workshop to sift out the rocks in my field?
Do I need to add fertilizer by doing research or talking with other writers?

Do I know what I want to grow from this idea?

Fiction or nonfiction?
A short piece or a book?
Do I need to read in the genre I want to write? Or am I like a gardener who can’t tell a weed from a vegetable plant?

And finally, is it time to write this now? Is this what He wants me working on?

Sometimes an idea can lay dormant for months and years before it sprouts. Some have to grow many years before they can bloom. Just as we can’t expect immediate results when we plant an apple tree, not all ideas are ready to be written.

Whatever we write, whether it be secular or Christian, should bring glory to God. We should ask the Lord to help us to turn each new idea over to Him, to let Him guide us and lead us, to make each piece of writing into something beautiful.

0 Comments

7/13/2019 0 Comments

The Writer’s Paraphrase of 2 Peter 1:5-8

Now for this very reason
…in your writing…
     …apply all diligence
     …supply moral excellence
     …knowledge
     …self-control
     …perseverance
     …godliness
     …brotherly kindness
     …Christian love

Diligence – steady application to one’s occupation or studies, persistent effort

Learning your craft
Doing research faithfully
Doing your best
Rewriting
Researching the marketplace
Willingness to keep learning

Excellence – state of going beyond a standard, performing at a higher level

Accuracy in statistics, facts, quotes
Not sending unidentified multiple submissions
Honesty and truthfulness with editors
Only sending what fits a market
Proofreading carefully
Never plagiarizing
Working to improve your writing

Knowledge – familiarity, awareness, or understanding gained through experience or study

Knowing your category and genre
Knowing the marketplace
Knowing the specific magazine or publishing house
Knowing the basic rules of writing

Self-control – control of one’s emotions, desires, or actions by one’s own will

Not sending out a story when it is hot off the fingertips
Not buttonholing or monopolizing an editor or agent to talk about your manuscript(s)
Not arguing with a critique
Not monologuing in a class or workshop, but letting others talk, too

Perseverance – the holding to a course of action, belief, or purpose without giving way; steadfastness

Writing
Getting feedback and rewriting
Submitting
Not giving up, unless God tells you to
Commitment to a schedule of writing or to writing goals

Godliness – resembling or of the nature of God

Trusting our Heavenly Father, even if it means you are never “published”
Conforming to His will, even if it includes doing something besides writing

Brotherly kindness – being generous, warmhearted, charitable, helpful, showing sympathy or understanding, considerate

Viewing other writers as co-workers, not competition
Sharing with those new to the industry—this does not mean sacrificing your own writing or schedule
Being considerate when critiquing

Christian love – intense concern for another person

Encouraging others in their writing
Not bragging
Not putting others down during a critique
Rejoicing in others’ successes

“For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful …”

…in using your writing for our Lord Jesus Christ.

0 Comments

YOUR CART

Best Words

Planting Ideas

The Writer’s Paraphrase of 2 Peter 1:5-8

Author

Archives

Categories