Running on Fumes by Susan Barclay

 

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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?!

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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.

Filling Your Creative Well by Steph Beth Nickel

Photo Credit: City Architecture Countryside - Free photo on Pixabay

The Most Important Well to Fill

As Christians, the most important well to fill is our spiritual well . . . through prayer, the Word, and fellowshipping with other believers (in addition to other spiritual disciplines).

And as stewards of our God-given creativity, it's important that we do our part to keep our creative well full.

Filling Our Creative Well

Below are five disciplines that contribute to the filling of our creative well:

1. Observing and Developing Relationships with Others: While much of the creative process can be a solitary endeavour, observing others and developing our relationships with family, friends, and other creatives plays a vital role in filling the well. Inspiration is all around us. And when we spend time with other writers, we often come away energized and eager to get back to the page.

2. Interacting with Fellow Writers: Not only does time with our fellow writers energize us, we often gain insights from them, get ideas on how to push past a barrier to completing our WIP, learn about new markets for our work...and so much more. Personally, "talking shop" with even one other writer fills my creative well more than almost anything else.

3. Setting Goals: While some writers will insist that we must write every day, others find it better to set aside a block of time once or twice a week. There are countless factors that make each of our lives unique, and we must find the process that works best for us. When we set a writing goal, we must be willing to adjust it if, after giving it "a fair shake," we are not getting the desired results. Setting goals can be helpful, but beating ourselves up for not achieving those goals can do far more harm than good.

4. Scheduling: Are mornings your most productive time? You may want to get up half an hour earlier and devote that time to writing. Does it work better for you to write in the evening after the house is quiet? Instead of scrolling on your phone or watching one more TV show, you may want to reclaim that time and use it to get the words on paper (or the computer screen). And because life is often in a state of flux, our schedule may need adjusting...often. And that's okay.

5. Gathering Supplies: This may seem unimportant, but for some of us, our favourite pens (in a multitude of colours), a shiny new journal, our favourite scented candle, and instrumental music playing softly in the background can be just what we need. 

Below are three resources I find particularly helpful:

1. Podcasts: Listening to podcasts hosted by fellow writers reinforces and adds to our knowledge of the craft and the business side of writing. Three I listen to are Writing at the Red House hosted by Kathi Lipp, Helping Writers Become Authors hosted by K.M. Weiland, and The Modern Editor hosted by Tara Whitaker.

2. Craft Books: There are a plethora of books I would recommend, including these two that I am currently reading: The Intuitive Author by Tiffany Yates Martin, and Dear Writer, You Still Need to Quit by Becca Syme.

3. Novels: There are several reasons to read novels, among them inspiration, developing a sense of genre expectations, learning to recognize what draws us in and what tempts us to set a book aside. And even if we don't write fiction, a well-written book can motivate us to polish our own work. Plus, reading for pleasure is a great way to spend some of our downtime.

And of course . . .

The Key Component

We can read countless hours each day and add to our knowledge base. We can create an extensive list of goals and schedule multiple writing sessions each week. We can nurture our relationships and people watch for hours. We can gather all our favourite writing implements and set up our personalized creativity corner. We can even join writers' groups (such as the InScribe Christian Writers' Fellowship) and attend virtual and in person writers' conferences.

However . . .

If we don't actually spend time writing, our creative well will never be full. While the disciplines and resources are important, let's never forget to devote adequate time to putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard.

Note: Each writer must determine what "adequate time" means to them.

Steph Beth Nickel is the former Editor of FellowScript and the current InScribe Contest Coordinator. Steph is an editor and author and plans to relocate to Saskatchewan from Ontario to be close to family in this year or next. (Headshot Photo Credit: Jaime Mellor Photography)

The Resource of Shimmering Images by Sandi Somers

Writers occasionally talk about where we get ideas and inspiration for our writing, but we don’t usually think of them as being a writing resource. Yet they are!

Inspiring ideas are so important that the writer Lisa Dale Norton called them “shimmering images”. She explains:

“A shimmering image is one of those memory pictures you’ve had for years.” It is “a memory that rises in your consciousness like a photograph pulsing with meaning ….You have thousands of these images inside yourself.” They stay with you. You can’t get them out of your mind. “They have energy….these images flitting into consciousness are stories waiting to happen.”[i]

Let’s unpack “shimmering images” and their implications for our writing.

Shimmering images can spring from all five senses

While the idea of “images” brings to mind the sense of sight, they’re also driven by the other senses. The aroma of baking bread reminds me of coming home from school with the house filled the delicious fragrance of my mom’s baking that day, and I couldn’t wait to bite into a piece and taste it. I love the feel of the sun’s warmth on my face as I step outside on a warm April morning. I can be absorbed in my thoughts, but when a bird sings, my attention is immediately drawn to the sound of its melody. Yet these experiences are almost always accompanied by sight.

Shimmering moments take us back to the context of our experience

We see our younger selves as we were then, where we were, and the mystery that surrounded us. For example, in a spiritually transformative event in Colombia, I was debating: should I go home to Canada and stay? or should I go home for a break and return to Colombia to engage in wider mission work? I remember where I was in the missionary guest house, sitting on a rocking chair, feeling the overhead fan blow cooling breezes onto me, and hearing the parrot announce, “Tobito! To-BI-to!” as Tobito the cat strolled into his line of vision. I recalled the sacred silence that followed, and knew my place was back in Canada. It was a powerful moment.

Shimmering images can even occur in an unexpected thought

I think of Tolkien. As a professor in Oxford University, he was marking student papers, and out of nowhere popped the thought that went something like this—“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.” He said he had no idea where the idea came from, nor what a hobbit was, nor what he’d do with it. However, the image went on to become a major driving force for writing The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

Shimmering images can arise from all areas of life

Everyday events, from ordinary to breathtaking, become charged with significance. My years growing up in rural Alberta, my hobbies such as reading, gardening, skiing in winter, quilting, and bird watching have all inspired shimmering images.

Farther afield, I lived in Colombia, travelled to other countries, and taught English to immigrants and refugees from 130 countries. Not only have I grown in understanding of many people, their customs, and beliefs, these experiences have given me a wider world view and new shimmering images that energize my writing.

Shimmering images have great emotional impact

It has been said that we remember significant moments because of their emotional impacts. Something startles us, makes us laugh, gives us joy or awe. Or we remember our hurts, a difficult relationship, our rise of anger when we see injustice. All these emotional impacts give shimmering images their power, and according to Norton, are the source of our most potent stories.

Shimmering images can lead to universal themes that touch the hearts of our readers

Our stories can become effective bridges between us and our readers. Readers may not experience the same situations we write about. But larger themes leap off the page and embed themselves into their lives—themes such as hope, forgiveness, healing, growth in our relationship with the Lord, answers to prayer, and more.

And that is why we write. From the heart of shimmering images to the greater themes that touch people’s lives, the Lord asks us to be His co-writers, sharing His greater story. “Go…and tell (others) what great things the Lord has done for you…” Jesus said (Mark 5:19).

In this way we share His love and redemption to a world that so desperately needs Him.

Sandi Somers’ writing passion is to help readers grow their faith in Jesus, including their vision of what God wants them to be and do. She writes in several genres—devotionals, personal essays, and Biblical fiction. Sandi lives in Calgary, Alberta, the delightful city between the Rocky Mountains and the Prairies.

[i] Lisa Dale Norton, (Shimmering Images: A Handy Little Guide to Writing Memoir, New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2008), 28-29.

Image by Yuri_B by Pixabay