What's In My Bucket? by Mary Folkerts

 

When asked how I fill my creative container, I think of my blue gardening bucket that I lug around my yard each summer from flowerbed to shrub border. In it is everything I think I might need to create a beautiful array of dahlias, snapdragons, cosmos, and rudbeckia.

Here’s the problem with my bucket. It has become a catch-all, with items lost on the bottom that never see the light of day. For that reason, I bought myself a new container this year, one that is shallow and will only carry the necessities.

I wrote a light-hearted poem about my blue bucket and its contents.

You might call us a Mötley Crüe
tossed in her gardening
bucket of blue.
Two left gloves
with holes in the thumb,
a spool of brown string,
pruners and some
odds and ends
she’s forgotten about,
a rusty old hammer,
a trowel,
and no doubt
torn, empty seed packets
strewn throughout—
and I.

It’s a bit of a game we like
to play—
who she will reach for first
in the day.
She, being the gardener
who makes things
grow,
trowel pipes up loud,
“It’s obvious you know.”
I help her plant, to dig up
the ground,
I’ll be the one
she’ll need around.
We all hold our breath
as she bends down low,
she makes her selection
And I'll have you know–
It’s not the first time
that trowel’s been
defeated,
for I am her favorite,
and have not been unseated.
She holds my shaft deftly
as she flicks off dried dirt,
she spits on my blade
and shines on her shirt.
She plunges me deep down,
to dig up the weed,
then I make furrows
for planting the seed.

With my long reach
I help scratch her back,
I prune off the dead stuff
and open the sacks,
of soils and mulches,
make holes for new flowers–
trowel can’t hold a candle
to all of my powers.

See, a gardener does more
than just plant the seed.
She cuts back and digs out
removing the weed.
That’s why she selects me
above all the rest,
I don’t like to brag
but I may be the best.

So at night when the waning
light sends her in,
she nestles me back
in the bucket with them.
And tomorrow we’ll do this
all over again.
I’ll let trowel think
that maybe she’ll win.
But what can I say
since I came into her life,
I’ve become her
favorite— her Hori knife!

I wonder if sometimes, that’s how we think of our writing. We can overstuff our containers with all the tools we think we’ll need for successful writing, but never use half of them. Maybe we just need a few favorite tools to help us stay motivated and avoid getting overwhelmed by everything out there.

Some tools I depend on for writing are–

- Grammarly Pro for sentence structure, spelling, and punctuation.
- I write a lot of quick notes as ideas come to me in my phone's notes app. I save them for future reference.
- I do most of my writing in Google Docs, where it is easy to find back.
- I’ve been writing my debut poetry book with Google Docs, using tabs to create chapters.
- Que Cards are wonderful to put ideas on, and then you can arrange them into a proper sequence.

For writing inspiration, the online community has been my lifeline. Without it, I don’t think I would have ever been able to share so much of my writing. What first really inspired my writing was becoming a member of Compel Pro Writers (with Proverbs 31 Ministries). Since then, I have also become a member of InScribe and The Way Back To Ourselves. These organizations (I’m sure there are many more) can all be found online. They are a place to practice your craft, but also a place for mutual encouragement along the way!

And always, God’s word inspires. This is where it begins and ends, for He has given the desire and ability to put thoughts into words, and He is the One who continues to light the fire within.

Mary Folkerts is mom to four kids and wife to a farmer, living on the southern prairies of Alberta, where the skies are large and the sunsets stunning. She is a member of Proverbs 31 Ministries' COMPEL Writers Training, involved in church ministries and music. Mary’s blog aims to encourage and inspire women and advocate for those with Down Syndrome, as their youngest child introduced them to this extraordinary new world. For more inspiration, check out Joy in the Small Things https://maryfolkerts.com/ or connect on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/maryfolkerts/

Hand Me That Wrench by Sharon Heagy

The 'farmer five.' I may have mentioned this phenomenon before. It is the time frame required when the farmer needs a hand. "Can you come and help me?" he says, "It will only take five minutes." Please understand that a 'farmer five' is very rarely or dare I say ever, five minutes long. Shut off the stove, turn off the coffee, grab the kids, pack a lunch. You may, by some miracle, be gone for five minutes but the reality is that you will probably be gone all morning, all afternoon, or all day. Could be sunrise to sunset, there is no real way of knowing.

If the farmer requires help with livestock, that requires one skill set, but if he needs help with machinery, it's important to know what tools may be required and how to identify them. It took this city girl awhile to grasp a basic understanding of the multitude of tools that are out there. Take wrenches for example. There are Open End wrenches, Box-End Wrenches, Crescent Wrenches, Torque Wrenches, Pipe Wrenches, Oil Filter Wrenches, Ratcheting Wrenches, and Allen Wrenches, which do not look like wrenches at all. And that's only a few! It's of utmost importance to know which one is required when the farmer says, "Hand me that wrench."

There are hammers - claw hammers, sledgehammers, ball-peen hammers, welding hammers. Screwdrivers - flat head, Phillips, Robertson, and Torx head with various sizes for all. There are over 15 types of pliers and over 18 types of saws. Nuts, bolts, sockets and ratchets, oh my! Some use hand power, others use electricity and still others are powered by air. Air!

The bolt size in relation to wrench size confused this 'nut' the most. "Bring me a 3/8 bolt and a 9/16 wrench." This sentence caused me to pause. Why would a 3/8 bolt need a 9/16 wrench? Shouldn't a 3/8 bolt need a 3/8 wrench? Not wanting to ask questions during a stressful farm fix, I kept my questions to myself. Took me a lot longer than necessary to figure out that a bolt and the head of the bolt are actually different sizes and it took me a very long time to commit to memory which size of wrench fit which bolt head or nut. I still struggle. Apparently, it is necessary to purchase an abundance of 9/16 wrenches. They were one of the most common sizes we used and often got lost in the dirt when fixing in the field. If they ever germinate our fields will be full of them and we will be able to recoup the loss.

Writing has a fantastic and expansive set of tools too. First there are the instruments; computers, typewriters, printers, notebooks, journals, page markers, labels and paper in a variety of quality and colour. There are multiple computer programs that boggle the minds of we who are less than tech savvy. Stationary stores are bulging with a plethora of different pens, pencils, markers, and highlighters. I LOVE stationary stores. I ooh and aah down the aisles and inhale the smell of fresh paper and swirl around in comfy unaffordable office chairs.

Our tools are put to good use when we fill our chosen brand of blank pages with words. Verbs, adverbs, adjectives, nouns, prepositions, conjunctions, determiners and interjections combine to make sentences and paragraph after paragraph. We can dangle our participles with the best of them. And don't get me started on punctuation! Now you've done it! Exclamation marks, periods, question marks, colons, semicolons, apostrophes, hyphens, dashes are a light offering of all that is available.

Next come genres, and sub genres. Fiction has romance, fantasy, mystery sci-fi and history in forms of novel, novella or short story. Poetry writers are not just writers of rhyme. There are writers of haikus, sonnets, odes, ballads and elegy. Non-fiction contains such entertainments as memoir, travelogues, devotionals, essays and journals. To write all the categories would take up this entire blog post.

Once you've written something worth reading, the next step is publishing; traditional, self-publishing, hybrid publishing, digital publishing, print on demand. What an abundance of things to learn. It can be incredibly overwhelming. It's all high tech now with no SASE. Now I only get bills and the occasional card in the mail instead of standard rejection letters. The world of publishing continues to change rapidly. Good thing there are wise people who keep up with it all. They are an invaluable asset to a writer's journey.

All of this information is causing me a little anxiety. How about you? Maybe you are experienced and know not to panic. (Sharon, don't panic.)

The writer's energy is fuelled by endless cups of tea or coffee and many a tank of water. It's important to stay both hydrated and awake but not shaky. Be sure to eat, take breaks and move around. Though our tools are powered by the brain and hands and even our voice, there is something much more important with which we need to engage. It's air.

Stop. Take a breath and let it out. Close your eyes. Pray. This is where the power of the writer begins. We need to allow the breath of the Holy Spirit to wrap around the synapses of our brains, and run down our nervous system to our hands to write or type. This Way is the beginning, middle and ending. Him. As the paraphrase of Proverbs 4:12 (NKJV) says "As thou goest, step by step, I will open up the way before thee." There is no need to grasp it all. No need to know all the steps. Just write. Pray, breathe and write and He will let us know what we need to know when we need to know it. Enjoy the process and don't get discouraged. Keep writing and may you be blessed each and every time you come to the blank page, or the partially finished book, or to the end of an article. Let Him be your air, your breath, your source of power and write.

 

Sharon Heagy writes from the wonderful town of Rockglen, Saskatchewan where she lives with her husband, a big dog and furry cats. She writes to bring hope and humour to a world that needs both. She can be reached at sharonheagy@gmail.com 

Thanks for taking the time to visit today. God bless.

Running on Fumes by Susan Barclay

 

 from Clker-Free-Vector-Images on Pixabay

                                         

This month’s writing prompt presents a challenge. For me, it must read, “How do you fill your creative container and strengthen your craft when time is not your own and you’re running on fumes?”

The simple answer is, it’s hard. Near impossible for me if I’m honest.

Filling your creative tank and improving your craft require time, opportunity, and practice. Time is a precious commodity in these days of caregiving and sleep deprivation. Getting up before others rise, when I can do it, is time I use for prayer and connecting with others online for friendship and support. I have a limited amount of time for writing – contributing content to this blog is currently the biggest part of my practice in that regard!

Opportunity sometimes comes in surprising forms. This semester my son took a creative writing course at his college. It was an elective we felt he would do well in as he’s inherited his momma’s writing gene, and as the course comes to an end, he is sitting at 99.6%. (Pardon me if I brag, LOL.) When we discovered that he’d have weekly writing prompts, I said I’d do them too. It’s an “opportunity” I took advantage of the first few weeks but discontinued when the exercises got more difficult and time-consuming. However, for the major final assignment, I’ve had the opportunity to provide my son with editorial suggestions and that has been a gift to both of us. One’s craft is strengthened through the analysis and revision of work as much as it is through the initial writing.

If I had more time, I’d write more. I’d work on revisions more. I might take classes, read more on the subject of writing, listen to podcasts, attend writers’ conferences. I’d get out in nature more often and take more pictures, both fillers of creative containers, for sure!

I’m part of two book clubs and since reading is also an important part of strengthening one’s craft, I’m thankful for the challenge of reading a minimum of two books each month, ten months of the year. An excellent book I read some time ago on the subject of writing is Self-Editing for Fiction Writers: How to Edit Yourself into Print by Rennie Browne and Dave King. In Downriver Writing, Jane Ann McLachlan (from whom I once took a course) shares her best writing process. I also recommend Cary Tennis and Danelle Morton's Finishing School (which I first wrote about here), Janice Elsheimer's Creative Call, and Stephen King’s On Writing, which is both a how-to and an intriguing memoir of sorts. FellowScript Magazine, published by our own InScribe Christian Writers’ Fellowship, is a valuable resource.

Other titles I hope to get to on my writing bookshelf include, in no particular order:

Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott

To Be Told by Dan Allender

Your Novel Proposal from Creation to Contract by Blythe Camenson and Marshall J. Cook

Writing Young Adult Novels by Hadley Irwin and Jeannette Eyerly

Arc of the Arrow: Writing Your Spiritual Autobiography by Carolly Erickson

Being a Writer by Travis Elborough and Helen Gordon

Writing for the Soul by Jerry B. Jenkins

Memoir Writing for Dummies by Ryan G. Van Cleave

The Portable MFA in Creative Writing by the New York Writers Workshop

WriteShop, volumes 1 and 2 by Kim Krautzer and Rebecca Oldar (a teacher’s manual I purchased when I was homeschooling my children years ago)

I haven't gotten around to reading Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way, but I still have plenty of unfilled pages in books I picked up at Indigo several years ago: 300 Writing Prompts and Complete the Story.

When I do have time to read these, where do you suggest I begin?!

_______________________________

For more about Susan Barclay and her writing, please visit www.susan-barclay.blogspot.com

Keep Our Words Alive by Alan Anderson

 

Our writing prompt for this month’s blog posts asks:

How do you fill your creative container? How do you strengthen your craft? What writing resources do you use? Share books and publications, quotes, podcasts, and other resources you’ve found helpful.

So far this month I have learned a lot from our other members. I hesitate to think about what I can contribute. Yes, indeed, I often lack confidence in how I answer writing prompts like those for this month.

Nature, Solitude, and Charlie

When my creative container needs to be filled, there are a few resources I hold close. On sunny days, the first thing I do is have a quiet time of meditation outside. I leave all my writing materials inside where they can await me.

While outside, I often sit on the porch with Charlie, my poodle pal, and we watch the local birds who share the backyard with us. An extra fun time is when hummingbirds zoom around and do aerial acrobatics. They seem to have no cares in the world. Watching the birds provides all the creative recharge I need for at least this part of my day.

On less sunny and warm days, I sit inside at home in a spot where there are few distractions. I like to be alone as I mull over writing projects. Chronic health issues I live with have played havoc on my concentration; therefore, I find periods of solitude help me focus and recharge.

There are times of solitude, both inside and outside, where I sit in a comfortable spot just to be. Charlie is often with me. Over the years he has taught me the fine art of curling up on a mattress with no agenda. He is the master of the mattress curler.

I write in solitude most of the time: no music, no chatting with others, no noise, just the words jumping out of my head onto a page. I read over the words with no compulsion to edit or change anything for the moment.

Solitude gives me the time I need to reflect on what I am to write, as the words caress a page. In solitude I am never lonely, but sometimes I crave the company of others. When I visit a local coffee shop, I love watching people. I don’t have to chat with them, but I enjoy seeing how they interact with each other. I don’t know of many writer types in my area, so I rely on online contact with writers. Sometimes when I chat with writers online, Charlie sits on my lap and once again curls up and snoozes.

Keep Words Alive

When my creative container needs to be refilled, I turn to the creative work of other writers to help keep my words alive. Our InScribe Writers Online blog is my immediate go-to resource. I can always trust the writers who post there, and I am confident in their skills.

I joined Substack a couple of months ago and noticed a few of our InScribe members are on Substack as well. I hope this platform helps to keep my words alive.

A few years ago, I found an interesting and interactive website for poets from the University of Pennsylvania. The website is https://modpo.org/. This group offers helpful ways to improve and develop one’s poetry skills. There are also courses one may enroll in to strengthen one’s skills. Dear readers, please take the time to look around this website.

My InScribe friends, thank you for the encouragement you offer to us all as we endeavour to develop our craft and keep our words alive. Together we can be a voice of hope to the world. Lord have mercy!

Alan lives in a small village called Deroche, British Columbia, with his wife, Terry, and their poodle, Charlie. He enjoys walking on the dike near his home, with trees all around and where he finds inspiration to write. He has occasionally written articles for FellowScript Magazine and is a regular contributor to the InScribe Christian Writers’ Fellowship blog. Alan’s website and blog is https://scarredjoy.ca. He also writes on Substack.