When I was a child, I could write a long letter with little to no effort.  You see, I am from the letter writing era.  I know that concept is foreign to many, since we live in a world of emails and tweets.  However, there was a time when people communicated via post, and I was one of them.

It’s sad when I consider that the world has lost this great pastime.  I imagine the letters that Jane Austen and Charles Dickens penned.  If you have a chance to study them, you will find they are filled with much wit and humor as well as grim salutations.  Letters were how people conveyed what was going on in their daily lives–along with any sadness or happiness that came their way.  What do we do now?  We email or text someone our news, and I am afraid that in many cases our mode of communication has completely broken down.  Will we every get it back?  In many cases, I fear we will not.

More and more I see where people do not stop to take the time to notice the person they are talking to.  Their mind is filled with their to-do list for the day; therefore, there is no time to talk to the old college friend they just saw at the grocery store.  Why as humans are we like this?  When did we forget how to focus, listen, and communicate with each other?

Have you ever talked to someone before and felt they were not really listening to you, or that your conversation was one of inconvenience?  I know I have been in that place many times in my life, and I must confess that I strive to never treat others like that. When did we get so busy that we forgot how to enjoy the company of the person standing in our midst?

So how did the poets and authors of old treat other individuals?  I am sure they had their moments of strife and upset, but I also know from reading their letters that they prided themselves on being able to reach out to a family member or friend they had not seen in awhile.  Many even wrote to strangers, such as C.S. Lewis, who composed many letters to his readers.  Some of my favorite letters of his to read are those he wrote to children.  So many little ones wrote to him in order to ask about Aslan and the world of Narnia. It is so lovely to see that Lewis cared enough to not only write them back, but he also took the time to answer each of their questions regarding this special world he created in his books.  Splendid!

I wish we could go back to days of letter writing–how lovely that would be.  I know that is not possible in modern times, but there are many occasions where I do take a moment to send someone a card.  And I always love getting a hand written note in the mail from someone–it makes my day!  So take a moment this week to pen a letter to a friend or maybe even a short thank you note to your mom or grandma–I know they will cherish this timeless act!

Since a particular holiday is coming up, I decided I wanted to share a bit of classic literature this week.  As an English major in college, my love for the written word grew, but even as a child, I loved reading so many of the amazing stories that were written decades ago.  How old were you when you read Little Women or Secret Garden for the first time?

These amazing classic authors contributed so much to the literary world.  Can you imagine not having the works of Jane Austen or Robert Browning?  I am so grateful that we have these incredible works to read and cherish today.  So when you have a moment, please take the time to discover a beautiful novel from centuries past, and please let me know what book you chose in the comments below.  Happy reading friends!

How Do I Love Thee? (Sonnet 43)

by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height

My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight

For the ends of being and ideal grace.

I love thee to the level of every day’s

Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.

I love thee freely, as men strive for right.

I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.

I love thee with the passion put to use

In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.

I love thee with a love I seemed to lose

With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath,

Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,

I shall but love thee better after death.”

If you’re interested in my writing journey and behind-the-scenes details about my books in progress, I’d love to have you visit me over there too.

In other news, I just got back from another amazing ACFW conference. I met so many wonderful people and came away so refreshed and inspired to keep writing. I wrote a little Thank You to ACFW, which tells more about my experience. You can read it here…

Hope you all are having a great week! What’s been going on in your world recently?

Is there anything I can pray for you?

Admit it, within those pages we all thrive on the surprise. The dangers and secrets that are often at stake. And the possible down-the-road repercussions. So many things hang in the balance and we love every suspended minute of it, don’t we? While we’re rooting for our beloved characters and holding our breath to see if they will rise to the challenge or fall, we can handle crossroad moments like these. But in real life – our lives – do we welcome challenges with that same kind of faith, strength, and courage we hope and expect in our characters?

I imagine this question pops up all sorts of scenarios for each of you and varies heavily on the level of your adventurous spirit. The challenging moment that jumps first to my mind is last weekend’s backpacking trip with my hubby. And I’ll tell you right now, he’s the adventurous one of the two of us by far, so you can probably guess where I’m going with this. 😉 It was my first backpacking experience and we hiked 17 miles through the Paddy Creek Wilderness carrying 35-40 lbs on our backs.

It started out as pretty as any novel setting, towering pines and dogwood trees accompanied our trail with wildflowers at our feet and beautiful rock bluffs above our heads. I do believe time spent in the woods is never a waste, but when we lost our trail for over 3 hours that first day, we were met with an unexpected challenge that had me temporarily wishing I was reading rather than living the experience.

There came a point for me when the back pain, blistering feet, and dizzying noonday heat had me at my breaking point. I didn’t feel like pressing on, but I knew I couldn’t stop for long and catch my breath either. I discovered the point of no return was as emotionally taxing as it was physically. “If only’s” repeated themselves in my head over and over again like an annoying song. If only we hadn’t gotten lost. If only I hadn’t gotten my feet wet crossing the creek. If only my pants hadn’t ripped.

Needless to say, things were not going according to plan. But when do they ever, right? Reality and fiction definitely have this in common.

Little did I know at the time, the Lord was sending doses of lessons my way disguised as difficulties. Here are a few lessons I want to remember when I’m throwing my characters into great challenges of their own. Maybe you or your characters can relate too.  Love how the Lord uses real life moments to help us write fiction, don’t you?

[pullquote]Even the bleakest moments have their bright spots. It’s a beautiful mess we live in where the painful and pleasant blend, and the conflict can also bring peace.[/pullquote]

–AT THE POINT OF NO RETURN, YOU DISCOVER JUST HOW WEAK YOU REALLY ARE. For me, this sort of thing is easier to read in a book than to live it. How I would love to tell you I faced my recent challenge with unwavering resolve and courage, but I can’t. I survived to tell the tale, yes. 😉 That doesn’t mean I survived the difficult moments with flying colors. I complained. I cried. And I prayed a LOT! Thank the Lord for my hubby and our desired goal that day, which was to reach the spring-fed creek complete with a waterfall.

–YOU REALIZE THE NEED FOR YOUR SUPPORT TEAM. By the grace of God and my hubby, I survived that trip. My heroes were certainly with me. 😉 Do the characters in your story have someone to push them and encourage them onward? Or maybe it’s not a person, but perhaps an impending threat, a regretful memory, or even an animal that encourages your protagonist to take another step. Even if they’re walking alone, they’ll need something or someone to press on for. Give them plenty of motivation to reach their goal.

–YOU ALSO LEARN WHAT’S MOST IMPORTANT TO YOU. You discover what perseverance and endurance really look like up close. And just how rewarding it can be to reach your desired haven. That moment we finally made it to the waterfall on our hike, it was the sweetest, softest music to my ears.

–YOU MUST LEARN TO ADAPT.  YOU MUST LEARN HOW TO ACCEPT THE UNEXPECTED. Our favorite books certainly demand a lot of our characters at times, pushing them outside their comfort zones and challenging them through great difficulties and decisions.

[pullquote]

Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are fearful-hearted, “Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God; He will come and save you.” Isaiah 35:3-4

[/pullquote]

We shouldn’t shy away from those moments in real life either. Despite my sore muscles, I wouldn’t have preferred to avoid the experience altogether. Sure, I would welcome a few less miles next time and no detour, but you get my point. 😉 Like it or not, conflict is often needed for the outcome to be truly rewarding. Yes, that includes difficult challenges. Even painful ones, perhaps. Our storybook worlds prove that.

But maybe, if we’re lucky, hopefully there will always be a waterfall to finally grace those last weary steps.

Never give up. You or your characters.

And try to not lose track of your trail. That will help. 😉

Has there ever been a “Point of No Return” for you, a challenging moment you’ll never forget and learned a life lesson from?

If you’re a writer, can you tell us about a defining moment your character memorably rose – or fell – to the challenge at hand?

You all have blessed me so much these last few months by welcoming me and my blog into your world. And while I’ve been praying over the blog – and its visitors 😉 –  since beginning in January, this past week the Lord has really been reminding me of the power of prayer. And especially the need for it.

When Ephesians 6 describes the armour of the Lord that we are to put on to protect ourselves against spiritual warfare, “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit”  is part of that. Prayer will help us to “Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.”

All around me lately, God has been working, both answering prayer requests and drawing me before Him in prayer for others. Both present victories and needs abound. Just in the last few days, He’s been revealing some not-so-pretty issues in my heart that need some serious healing and prayer. He’s also been working to show me the needs of others that I should be lifting up.

So I thought today we’d take a moment and pray together. I certainly don’t know every need and every cause, but God knows. I hope you know that I pray for you. I ask that you pray for me. And I hope together we’ll pray for others whom God has placed upon our hearts, including our beloved authors who need our prayers too. 😉

There are SO many beautiful prayers in Scripture, but this one in Ephesians 3:14-21 has been underlined in my Bible for quite some time and I’d like to share it with you today.

“For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end, Amen.'”

Have a blessed weekend, everyone!
~Savanna

Please, don’t mistake me. There are MANY authors I highly admire and respect. Our praise, however, should ultimately rise higher to the only perfect One who could ever wield such weak creatures as you and me for instruments and ministers of grace. To Him, the honor is truly due.

So why am I fretting so many days away, psyching myself out before I’ve even begun?  I’ll tackle smaller, easier projects, ones I know I can mentally – even literally – cross off my “To Do” list, while the larger, looming projects – a.k.a my novel – produce less pleasing and productive results. Do you ever feel this way?

[pullquote]”Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” Ephesians 6:13 (KJV)[/pullquote]

So many doubts and thoughts keep swirling in my head.  I’m not ready to write a novel. I don’t know enough about the Civil War.  (Will I ever?!)  😉  I can’t write like others can.  I still have so much to learn.  Maybe I should wait?

But wait for what, that I couldn’t answer. I’ve been holding back, with eyes nearly bulging over this massive undertaking ahead of me, questioning myself if I really have the guts to keep going. It has to be perfect. I began to believe the lie and this goal of illusion.

But if I commit, Lord, I’m going to fail. Any pursuit at perfectionism is destined for that end. I can’t do this on my own. That much is true. He never said life wouldn’t be a battle.

Then this morning, in Beth Moore’s study on Esther – yep, Esther 😉 – she made a great point:

“Beloved, do we believe that the only way to do something acceptably is to do it perfectly? Sometimes God is more aware than we of just how much He requires of us. He knows how hard its going to be for us.

I could stop and sob with relief. I’ve never conquered my nervousness over speaking or my self-doubt in my writing. My heart pounds before I speak, and afterward I’m drenched to the bone with sweat. Every time I send in a manuscript, I wonder if a single word was worth hearing. Still, I persist because it appears to be God’s will. Can you relate?

What would have happened if Esther had waited to go to the King until her hands stopped shaking and her heart stopped pounding?

Do you feel if you can’t do something to perfection, you ought not bother? Perfectionism is a disposition to regard anything short of perfection as being unacceptable.

I’m not suggesting we shouldn’t do our best. I’m simply saying that sometimes just surviving certain tasks without falling apart is our best and in those times God is not ashamed of our performance. He’s proud of us for fighting overwhelming human emotions to do His will. God isn’t interested in our stellar performances but in our hearts. He loves our willingness and obedience despite our insecurities.”

My dear friends, make sure your ultimate goal in life – and your writing – is not to attain perfection, but find peace in obeying and honoring the Lord through the work of your hands. He alone makes us conquerors through Him that loved us. (Romans 8:37) We’re called to glorify Him with our hearts above all else. He knows our weaknesses, our insecurities, and our fears. All praise be to Him, He can work mightily through us anyway.

It’s time we stop holding back.

In what area of your life are you holding back out of your fears and/or insecurities?

Have you been pursuing perfectionism over obedience?

Do YOU think the perfect writer exists?

Oftentimes for me it feels like searching for lost keys. I hunt all over the place, finding everything but the one thing I’m looking for, completely exasperated over my horrible memory lapse until I eventually give up. Then the moment I finally stop looking, the keys magically re-appear. You know what I mean? 😉

The writer’s road is not an easy one. Sometimes those great ideas remain in the foggy parts of our brains, oftentimes blocked by over-thinking.

Our minds are always spinning, dreaming up new worlds and swimming with words. It’s the life of a writer, but sometimes we need to free our thoughts. We need to step away from our stories at times to see things clearly and find refreshment to keep on writing. Sometimes it’s necessary to stop and be still.

For me, my heart is most free and clear when I’m studying. In those quiet moments with the Lord, reading His book and talking with Him, that’s when I’m provided the strength and sustenance to serve Him best. Just when I’ve stopped mulling over my writing, He uses the Scripture before me to remind me of the work He’s called me to do. Through His words, I find my own.

This morning as I was reading through Psalm 55, I came across a verse that instantly brought my book to mind. I love it when Scripture does that, don’t you? I love it when God doesn’t let us forget!

In the 21st verse, David is mourning over a friend’s betrayal and says, “The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart: his words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords.” What a picture he painted with those words. I can almost see the painful expression in his eyes.

Thoughts of my main character and his own struggle over bitterness jumped to mind as I was reading. I glanced up from the page in my lap and started forming words and stringing together a story on a page in my mind. Just when I wasn’t looking for it, God lit another spark to my story and breathed new inspiration. Suddenly there were fireworks again.

David’s words throughout the Psalms sweep through so many different emotions that my characters are facing as well. They can relate to his struggles as well as his victories. That’s why I’m so excited to include portions from the Psalms in my book-in-progress and why I am so blessed every time God reveals Himself through His Word.

Writers are always told that to write well they must read well. I would add that they must also read the Scripture well. Others books make great tools, but our greatest teacher will always be the original Author of life and love Himself.

In Charles Spurgeon’s Morning & Evening devotional, he writes encouraging Christians to always seek the face of Christ every day before we ever see the face of another person. What a lovely way to start our day. It seems so obvious and yet I often struggle to set aside time every day to spend with Him. We can’t forget as Christians – and as writers – the importance of Christ’s fellowship in our lives. How can we write if our hearts are not replenished with His fresh truths and mercies every morning?

If you’re lacking inspiration, it may be that you need to redirect your focus to the head of the fountain and not to the pool beneath. I pray the Lord will establish that discipline in my life and in yours as well. Open the eyes of our hearts, Lord. Just imagine what discoveries we will find in Him!

I enjoy drawing inspiration from so many things, but finding it in the Bible is by far my favorite way to discover it. Nothing excites me more than to live in our Savior’s service.

What about you? When do ideas and inspiration tend to flood your heart and mind?

Is there a particular place, a special song, or a favorite activity that sparks new words to life? Has a Scripture verse ever jumped out at you? If so, please share below!

]]> https://theengraftedword.net/sparks-of-inspiration/feed/ 2 1380 https://theengraftedword.net/learning-to-write-like-david/ https://theengraftedword.net/learning-to-write-like-david/#comments Thu, 02 Jan 2014 01:23:49 +0000 http://theengraftedword.net/?p=551 He was called a man after God’s own heart. And he was a writer. Is it any wonder Psalms is such a beloved book? Boy, did those inspired words flow.

There is so much for Christians – and writers – to learn from the Psalms of David. Through the Lord’s inspiring power, a young shepherd-turned-king was able to eloquently express his heart and pen the words that have captured the hearts of readers for generations. What writer today does not dream of the same?

I’m in the middle of doing a study on the life of David right now and there have already been so many applicable lessons for my life as well as my writing. No real surprise there. God is a great multi-tasker, isn’t He?

Here’s a few aspects of David’s writing that I think all of us writers should take note of. It has definitely given me a lot to ponder. Ask yourself if these same elements could be said of you and your writing.

His Priority Remained Constant

David’s words endured largely in part to the heart behind them. His psalms were written first and foremost to God. The purpose of our work should be the same. Our ultimate priority should always be to glorify God, no matter what it is that we’re writing. All the work of our hands should be dedicated to Him.

His Humble Honesty Spoke Volumes

David experienced some great victories as well as great shame during his lifetime. Through his open-hearted psalms, one moment we find ourselves singing with him along a mountaintop and in the next, we’re carried with him through some valleys we would have preferred to avoid altogether. He feels, thus we feel. Just as well, our own stories must first impact us if they will ever impact our readers.

He Was Extremely Passionate

You could say David was a man of extremes. He was passionate whether he was on the battlefield or in private prayer and worship before God. And through his passion, God used him in a mighty way. Go ahead and be ruled by your passions. Just make sure they’re seeking the glory of God.

His Words Never Grew Old

Of course, how could they? They’re from the Bible, ultimately authored by God Himself. My humble work will never compare, but I strive to write stories that contain truths even if they’re wrapped within fiction, can relate to a large audience, and bear repeating.

He Represented Someone Greater

Last, but not least, it’s not really about us. We need to remember that. Our lives should always point to Christ. David’s certainly did.

David could never hide his heart – or his sinful imperfections – from God. In turn, those imperfections made him beautiful. And his legacy and lesson for us, immortal. God loved him and He used him for His glory. May the same thing be said of our lives.

 

What lesson(s) have you learned from David or another writer from the Bible?

What writing legacy do you hope to leave behind?