Growing in Faith and as a Writer by Susan Barclay

This month's topic is about spurring one another on in faith and writing. Both areas are dear to my heart. I don't want to be a recipient only, I want to be a giver as well. I want to encourage, cheer, prompt and inspire others. I want to help them do their best and meet their potential.

Over the last several years I've had different opportunities to spur others on in faith. First, I was the Creative Writing coordinator at my church. I led a team in producing take-home papers for parents to use with their children. These "newsletters" included devotionals and activities to help deepen the faith of young people from junior kindergarten through grade 6. The next opportunity was becoming involved as an Inscribe Writers Online blogger. 'nuf said? More recently, I've created an online prayer community. This deliberately small group is committed to sharing requests, praying for one another, and seeing God work. We are putting legs to our belief in the power of prayer and as we see prayers answered (not always the way we want them to be), our faith is being increased. 

With respect to writing, I've been involved in writers' groups for fifteen years. If a writers' collective doesn't spur its members to improve the quality of their writing, increase the frequency of their submissions, and encourage attendance at workshops and conferences, it isn't much good, is it? My primary group has helped me in all of these ways, and though we are struggling a bit right now (one of our members passed away in the summer) it's because our commitment to each other means that each person matters. My secondary group is just a twosome, but the feedback I get from my critique partner is invaluable to me and I trust mine is just as helpful to her. In addition to reviewing one another's work before meeting, then sharing our thoughts face-to-face, our creative juices flow as we respond to writing prompts found in different sources. It's amazing to see what we come up with!

Now that I've taken on the role of Writing Groups coordinator for Inscribe, I'm looking forward to inviting others to join my little group as well as helping other Inscribe groups to flourish. Please contact me through the directory if you'd like to start a group or need some direction with an existing one.

In the next issue of FellowScript, look for my article, "Highlights from a Writer's Education." I hope it will spur you on as you seek to improve as a writer.

Remember, "those who seek the Lord lack no good thing" (Psalm 34:10b).
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Susan Barclay maintains a website at www.susan-barclay.blogspot.com and has recently returned to blogging there on a regular basis.