Out of Focus by Lynn J Simpson

"I challenge you not to hit the Delete button," my friend Richard said, leaning across the table. Glancing at my five other dinner friends, I could see them nodding in agreement. I looked down at the napkin laid neatly across my lap, white and blank, like the templates of my word programs. Not even a speck of a crumb.

I'd just been lamenting to my friends that I had writers block since mid-March. Since the day I decided to do an entry on my photography blog stating that I would be taking a break from posting photos as I needed to focus on my writing, I couldn't seem to keep words on a page, hitting the backspace button faster than I could type. Ha! Stopped shooting pictures and my writing stopped too, like a lens cap does to a camera. The picture was just not getting through.

I must confess though, I was beginning to get very critical of my photography. My pictures did not

seem to be as sharp as I wanted them to be, the clarity and depth of field out of reach of what my mind saw and what actually showed on my computer screen. So I would play with the tools to sharpen, to balance the colours, to crop and scale. And then have a picture quite different than the one I actually took. Good enough, I'd think, and post to the blog.

But feeling utterly disappointed with myself.

Yet the comments came. Comments on how I will be missed, that my photography was 'inspiring' and 'full of talent.' And how my words following each post that brought comfort and encouragement would be missed too.

Inspiring even though completely different than what my mind saw, what my critic said it needed to be, to be worth publishing.

Maybe it is time to take that lens cap off and let the picture lead itself, instead of me getting in the way.

And maybe it is time, like my friend Richard advised, to stop hitting the Delete key, and just let the writing flow. To get out of my own way and just let it be. And maybe, just maybe the first few shots at writing again will be out of focus in places. But that is okay.

'Cause I have the tools to bring it into focus again.

InScribe Christian Writers' Fellowship Fall Conference 2014 - Ruth L. Snyder

InScribe Members Sheila Webster, Glynis Belec, Carol Schaefer, Ruth Snyder, Tandy Balson and Greg McKitrick at the ICWF Book Signing, The Fig Tree in West Edmonton Mall

Thursday night mixer

What a wonderful few days I've enjoyed! The fun and fellowship started on Thursday afternoon at the InScribe book signing at The Fig Tree in West Edmonton Mall. Six of us were able to participate. Although we didn't sell books that day, the manager invited us to leave our books in the store on consignment. He also set up a special InScribe Christian Writers' Fellowship section in the store! That evening we held our first ever Artists and Writers Coffee House Mixer. About 40 people came out and most attendees shared either a reading or a description of art. One attendee commented,

"This was a great way to meet others and share stories. I appreciated having the stories connected to the art piece."

Plenary session at Fall Conference

Attendance was up a bit for this year's conference, and before the weekend was over we gained 15 new members :). The extra workshops on Friday went over extremely well; in fact, people are asking for conference to start Friday morning next year. Attendees commented they appreciated the variety in workshops and the warm, welcoming atmosphere.

Keynote Speaker, Phil Callaway

Phil Callaway shared stories from his own writing journey and walk with God. On Saturday morning his session was called, "If Phil Can Write...So Can You!" He encouraged us to:

1. Be talented
2. Be a reader
3. Be self-critical
4. Be neat
5. Be strategic
6. Be focused
7. Be knowledgeable about words & markets
8. Be personable; Act like a Christian should!
9. Be observant (Show, don't tell)
10. Be persistent
11. Be yourself
12. Be prayerful; Ask God what He wants you to say
13. Be a doer (Psalm 34:3-4
14. Be faithful

"It is by sitting down to write every morning that one becomes a writer. Those who do not do this remain amateurs." Gerald Brenan

Executive members for 2014 - Back (L to R) Bryan Norford, Tracy Krauss, Ruth L. Snyder, Glynis Belec, Gwen Mathieu, Eleanor Bertin. Front (L to R) Sheila Webster, Shirley Patterson, Sheri Hathaway, Sandi Somers, Janice Dick, Bobbi Junior

 I'm thankful we have almost a full slate of officers on our executive for 2014. We still need someone to step into the Vice-president role. Here's a list of our current executive members:

President: Ruth L. Snyder
Vice-president: (Vacant)
Secretary: Sandi Somers
Treasurer: Bobbi Junior
Membership: Gwen Mathieu
Website: Janelle Baldwin
Local Writing Group Coordinator: Tracy Krauss
Publicity Coordinator: Glynis Belec
FellowScript Editor-in-Chief: Sheila Webster
FellowScript Acquisitions Editor: Pam Mytroen
FellowScript Columns Editor: Joanna Dawyd
FellowScript Layout Editor: Bryan Norford
Contest Coordinator: Eleanor Bertin
Conference Convener 2015: Shirley Patterson
InScribe Writers Online Blog Moderator: Tracy Krauss
Professional Blog Moderator: Stephanie Nickel
Spiritual Advisor: Sheila Webster
Listserv Moderator: Sheri Hathaway
BC Rep: Tracy Krauss
Saskatchewan Rep: Janice Dick
Manitoba Rep: Addy Oberlin
Ontario Rep: Glynis Belec
New Brunswick Rep: Elaine Ingalls Hogg
NL/Labrador Rep: Beverley Nippard

One of our new members sums it up well:

"I’m very grateful for the effort put into the conference this year.  Glad to have met so many new friends."

Am I Still a Writer? – Ramona Heikel

At the end of this past summer I was offered a job at a high school which was just what I was looking for, but I wasn’t sure I was qualified. I took it anyway, and since then I’ve been making plenty of adjustments: working full-time instead of part-time, driving to the other end of the city instead of a short commute, and taxing my brain all day so it refuses to operate after I leave the school. As a result, I have suddenly stopped writing!

And boy does that feel strange. It’s like I’ve been kidnapped to another planet.

I haven’t posted on my own blog since September, and forgot last month to post here. I haven’t even thought about all my unfinished writing projects. I feel guilty about all of those things, but at the same time, I know that I am incapable of doing anything else at the moment. It is what it is.

But today I am writing something original for the first time in months. And I can safely say that yes, I still have stories in my head and things I want to say, and I am still a writer. And something good in all this from a writerly point of view is that I am cleaning house. No, not my real house; my visually organized yet actually out-of-control To Do pile of writing activities. Priorities are being defined (and not necessarily by me).

For example, some of my half-finished stories grew out of my trying to squeeze water from a rock, or from someone else’s idea of what would make a good story—and no wonder I can’t seem to get them off the ground. By contrast, one of my favorite pieces that I “haven’t had time for” has just caught the eye of my best friend who is an artist, and she wants to illustrate it.

I recently received a cheque for a reprinted story from one of my favorite children’s magazines; on the other hand, I just packaged up a load other children’s magazines and some marketing books to donate to the thrift store. As I no longer have the luxury of agonizing about finding the perfect places to sell my writing, or trying to learn more and more about writing, I’ve also cleared those off from my dusty mental desk for the time being. There went a lot of frustration out the door!

It’s a good time to redefine the purpose of my blog, or to decide whether or not I should have one. Yes, I’ve made the choice to dedicate myself to the students at school, and I can’t do everything, so I won’t be feeling as much like a writer as I used to. However, during the large chunks of time of school holidays, like the one coming up next week, I’ll enjoy returning to my keyboard as I would a dear friend, to catch up on my favorite pastime.


Posted by Ramona
www.happilywriting.com