Pray First by Peggianne Wright

 

As a lifelong writer it's not uncommon for thousands of words to be continually swirling in my head. In turn, those oodles of words begin to mesh together into a plethora of ideas. And that gaggle of ideas quickly becomes overwhelming. Sound familiar?

It's a struggle we all face as our creative juices flow. As Christian writers, we have been blessed with a gift from God and that special assignment will lead us on numerous exciting journeys, though at times, may also derail us. When faced with too many possibilities, too many ideas, and too many potential projects, we will soon begin to feel overwhelmed. We'll lose our focus, and may even feel the passion for our craft wane ever so slightly.

Pray First.

The temptation to dip our pen into the ink pot and venture off in multiple directions can be exciting at the beginning, when all those fresh ideas are oozing onto the paper. But, in reality, we may just be missing the real purpose God had in mind for creating us as scribes. 

Pray First.

God's laid a unique focus on my writing that centers around all things K9. As my writing career has gathered momentum, I have also faced the particular dilemma that I know is not only my own. The trap the enemy throws in my path (and many of yours too, I'm certain) calling into question my ability, my qualifications, my credibility; often pressing me into self-doubt and insecurity. Known as "imposter’s syndrome", this issue can be a powerful negative force in a calling that is God's wish for us.

Pray First.

Over the years, I have participated in countless workshops, seminars, and Christian writing academies with the deep desire to learn, grow, and maybe even excel in this pursuit. Highly respected facilitators and leaders have shared their personal experiences and imparted wisdom they found to be beneficial in their own personal writing journeys. Volumes of notes are stashed away in binders now collecting dust on my bookshelves, rarely to see the light of day.

However, over time, I have come to follow my own one piece of advice faithfully each and every time I sit down to write. PRAY FIRST. In fact, I have a special prayer that I have written on my glass top desk that is visible to me while I work.

Lord,
Lead me in the right direction.
Grant me guidance.
Give me purpose.
Make me productive.
Let me be a blessing to someone today.

When we first and foremost invite the Holy Spirit to sit down with us, we can be sure that what forms on our computer screens are the words and thoughts God wants us to share with others. We can be confident that when we PRAY FIRST, our Heavenly Father is guiding us through our writing journey in the direction the He has chosen for us.

Peggianne Wright is a published author and is the founder of the pet parent ministry Paws To Pray, blending her passion for the Lord and all-things-K9 to form this unique, faith-based community. Peggianne is an ardent Bible study student, devoted dog mom, wife of 44 years, and lover of music. Her blogs Spiritual Scribbles and Fur-Kid Fanatics can be found on her website www.PawsToPray.ca 

You can follow her on Facebook

www.Facebook.com/PawsToPray/ and on Instagram www.instagram.com/sister_in_prayer/

The Best Unedited Advice About Editing by Bob Jones

"The writer who breeds more words than he needs,

is making a chore for the reader who reads.” Dr Seuss

"The best writing is rewriting." Anne Lamott

“Embrace the shitty first draft."

That’s the unedited version of the best advice I’ve received on editing, courtesy of Anne Lamott. The sanitized version is, “Give yourself permission to write poorly in your first draft.”

And I’m glad I get to go first with this prompt because I imagine there will be a few more Inscribe writers who would say the same thing.

When I first started blogging, a friend suggested reading Bird by Bird, by Anne Lamott. And ever since then, Anne has become a friend. She’s launching her next book this month and I’ve pre-ordered my copy so I could get a sneak peek. (Spoiler alert: more unsanitized words.)

Initial Drafts

Anne emphasized the importance of getting ideas down on paper without the paralyzing pressure of perfection. This initial draft, she argues, is just the beginning—a necessary step to be taken before the real work of writing begins. The first draft is just to get the story down; it does not need to be good, or even coherent.

Writing without editing is a discipline I‘ve struggled with for two decades. However, I fight the good fight with perfectionism.

My name is Bob and I'm a perfectionist.

“Perfectionism will ruin your writing, blocking inventiveness and playfulness and life force. Perfectionism means that you try desperately not to leave so much mess to clean up. But clutter and mess show us that life is being lived. Clutter is wonderfully fertile ground— you can still discover new treasures under all those piles, clean things up, edit things out, fix things, get a grip.” Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott

The genius of an unedited first draft is it will free up more time to edit.

I don’t have superior thoughts or extraordinary talent. I have a great commitment to rewriting. Perhaps you don’t rewrite enough in part, because you don’t have enough time. But if you can cut your writing time in half and reallocate it to editing, you’ll be making a good start.

 

As always, thank you for reading. Looking forward to reading what you write about editing.

 

Writing Advice by Lorrie Orr

 

March Prompt: What is the best writing advice you’ve ever received, and why? Was it given in person or through another format?

I sit at the kitchen table trying to pull together all the thoughts and notes I've had this month. While my mind wanders this way and that, I idly watch a pair of House Finches flit about in my neighbour's plum tree. The male's bright red breast is a stark contrast to the neutral browns of the female's plumage. My mind suddenly snapped out of neutral as I watched and a thought suitable for this prompt came to me. I'll include it later in my post.

Don't you wish you could discover the absolute best advice on writing that would galvanize your writing into perfection? Alas, such advice does not exist. But there are many good tips on writing, as illustrated by the photo above, a small sampling of the plethora of books on the topic. Every writer offers their own advice, gleaned through experience over time. I couldn't come up with one succinct piece of writing advice, so I'm including five of my own, gathered through the years.

Number One

Commit your writing to the Lord.

Ask yourself the question, "what is the desire of my heart?" I know that there are many things I want in this world - health and happiness for myself and those I love, work that satisfies me, good relationships, beautiful blooms on my rosebushes in a few months, to lose a few pounds, and so on. Desire is deeper than want, and ultimately, my desire and my delight is to please Jesus who loves me, saves me, and transforms me. And so, I commit my days and my plans to him, asking him for guidance and wisdom along the way. 

"Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. 

Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him..."

Psalm 37:4-5a

Number Two

Write down thoughts as they occur.

When my husband retired a couple of years ago, it became important to have a coordinated calendar. I prefer to use a paper calendar and write things down. I love a day planner where I can see everything at a glance. He, on the other hand, prefers a digital calendar because that's what he was used to in his career. We decided to use a joint digital calendar, accessible on our phones and computers. In the early days, before I got used to the habit, he would say, "If it's not in the calendar, it doesn't exist." (note: I still keep my own paper calendar.)

That pithy statement of Tim's applies to writing, too. How many stories have I written in my head? How many wonderful lines were lost because I didn't write them down? Too many to count. If the words are not recorded on paper or digitally, they don't really exist. I will now open the Notes app on my phone and stop in the middle of a walk to quickly type something that has come to me. If I don't, I'm likely to forget it when I walk in the door and become busy with another task. If it's not recorded somewhere, your writing doesn't exist no matter how vivid the pictures in your mind.

Number Three

Take time to read.

Remember the enchantment of losing yourself in a story. Each story you read deepens the vast creative pool in your brain, where life's experiences swirl to provide you with a unique perspective on the world. 

Read for enjoyment. Read to learn. Read widely. Read deeply. Just read!

Number Four

Be observant.

Here's where the thought from the House Finches came in. Observe the world around you. People and nature provide infinite entertainment and ideas for writing. Sometimes you can let your mind go into neutral while gazing outside and you find your thoughts untangle or ideas come to you. Airports, waiting rooms, ferries, and parties are good places to sit and watch the world go by. Personal interactions can be wonderfully amusing or heart-wrenching.

Number Five

Never lose the wonder.

Where will my imagination take me today?

 What would happen if...?

I wonder how...? 

These are questions that can lead to creative solutions and innovative plot twists. Cultivate your imagination. Keep those synapses firing. 

Most of all, keep on writing. Your desire to write is a gift from God. Honour the Giver by paying attention to the gift. 

Lorrie Orr writes from her home on Vancouver Island. More of her writing can be

found at her slice of life blog Fabric Paper Thread

and

Excerpts from her memoir Life is Short but Wide on Substack

A Letter to My Younger Self by Sandra Rafuse

Dear Sandra, 

I am thinking of you right now. I am thinking of all the years you will spend living in the world while you are also of the world with no knowledge of what either word really means. Oh, the wonderful sales you will find, the endless knickknacks you will accumulate, the delight you will take in shopping for hours to find bargains on items you don't need, all so they can sit in your closets and on your cupboard shelves and you can look at them and think, they are mine, mine, mine! You won't recognize the selfishness and greed that was in you then. It won't be until you accept Christ as your Lord and Saviour that your mind and eyes will be opened and you will understand and see. 

When you accept Christ, the Holy Spirit will come to live in your heart. He will be your teacher and he will help you grow in getting to know Jesus Christ. You will learn to trust him. What a difference he will make in your life! The desire to buy and accumulate possessions will begin to fade and fall away. You will realize when walking in a mall, that while you will still notice the FOR SALE signs everywhere (you might even walk over and take a look at the offerings), the impulse to purchase them will no longer be there. The words thank you, God, will rise up in you time and time again. Thank you, God, for setting me free.

Then there will come a day when you will say to the Lord, "Show me what I was like," and you will mean it. You will want to know what kind of person you had been all those years before you accepted Christ. What you had said or not said, what you had done or not done, who you had helped or not helped, you wanted to see what God had seen. And he will respond to your request: he will show you what you wanted to know. Maybe not immediately, but soon enough. 

You will be walking down the street and suddenly you will remember a time when you said some unkind words to a friend and your heart will suddenly feel cold and you will say to the Lord, "I said that?"

You will be driving somewhere and the memory of an occasion when you had been selfish or critical or judgmental of others will fill you with regret and you will say to God, "I was like that?" 

You will be hiking along a dirt road and you will stop dead in your tracks. Tears will start gathering in the corners of your eyes because God will have shown you something you have always been ashamed of, something you've always wished had never happened, and you will sorrowfully say, "Forgive me, Lord. Please forgive me." "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9 NIV)

And because God is always gracious and kind, he will forgive you. He will let you see what kind of person you had been but he will also remind you that you are a new creation in Christ and you will remember that you have been washed clean of your sins and you are entirely new.  "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!" (2 Cor 5:17 NIV)

Sandra, the years of living in the world and being of the world will be many. When you finally do not belong to the world, you will belong to God. Seek him with all your heart. 

There will be several years where you will not have enough contact with your immediate family. Reach out to them. Accept them as they are. 

"Go often to the house of thy friend, for weeds choke the unused path." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson   Treasure your friends. Go and visit them. You need each other.   

There will be difficult times as you enter your later retirement years. When they come, and as they are there, remember God's words to you. "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." (Isaiah 41:10 NIV)

Blessings on you, my dear.

 

Sandra Rafuse lives in the small town of Rockglen, Saskatchewan, with her husband, Bob, a Gordon Setter named Sadie, and a Peregrine Falcon named Peet. She is a retired elementary school teacher, an amateur writer and is thoroughly enjoying having the opportunity to share what God has been teaching her through her life experiences.

 

    

 (Top) Image by Anisur Rahman on Subsplash