Finishing School by Susan Barclay

The last couple of years have definitely been faith-stretching for me. And as much as I'd rather not have one of my children turn his back on the things of God, the unexpected experience has deepened my own spiritual walk. This year, I look forward to growing closer still to the Lord, walking in obedience to Him, listening for His voice. One of the tools I'll be using is Priscilla Shirer's study, Discerning the Voice of God. Perhaps in future posts I'll be able to share some of the things I learn from it.

Regarding the writing, anyone who's read my previous Inscribe posts will be aware of my unfinished novel. Whether it's God's leading or not, I feel that before I can move on with other significant writing, I need to finish this. My goal is to complete this year, once and for all, the first draft. After that, it can lie in a drawer if need be.

Before Christmas, I read Finishing School by Cary Tennis and Danelle Morton. The authors aren't Christian so there's occasional language, but their proposal of a workable method to bring  writing projects from stalled to fruition seems reasonable and doable. To that end, I asked a writer friend if she's interested in buddying up, and she said "tell me more." Stay tuned!

Jim Cymbala says that "If we prevail in prayer, God will do what only He can do." In other words, when we do our part, He'll do His. Thus, I intend to focus heavily on prayer, inviting God's presence and participation into my life and writing. I am confident that since He will never leave me nor forsake me, He will be faithful.

So forward in faith I go, thankful for a new year in which to experience His life abiding in me as I abide in Him. 2018 may be full of surprises, sunshine and rain. In all things, I will aim to please and praise my Creator, the One who sustains me and gives me breath.


And now, excuse me; I'm off to school.
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Please visit Susan at her website, www.susan-barclay.blogspot.ca.

Finishing School. Book Review by Brenda Leyland

Finishing School
The Happy Ending to That Writing Project
You Can't Seem to Get Done

by Cary Tennis and Danelle Morton

TarcherPerigee 2017

An Imprint of Penguin Random House LLC

“Not finishing a piece of writing can feel like the death of a dream. . . . Many writers start strong, with big ambitions, but eventually reach a crisis of completion.” CARY TENNIS 

Sound familiar? Has your beloved writing project reached a crisis of completion? Maybe you don’t know how to finish it or something keeps getting in the way of finishing it. Maybe you don't even want to finish at this point, though you know deep down you do. And, when you think about working on it, often feelings of shame, failure, and guilt show up, which certainly don't help. If that's the case, dear reader, take courage -- I might have just the book you need. Hot off the press, Finishing School promises to help writers out of their slumps and get back on track.

“Finishing School restores order to your work. It helps you set aside a realistic number of hours each week and define a task that can be completed in whatever time you have. Every week you finish something and, week by week, you get the project done.”

Finishing School is a breath of fresh air. Bestselling author Anne Lamott is quoted as saying, "I love Cary Tennis's mind, and heart, and work." I agree. It's about Tennis and Morton offering a simple method, without fuss or too many rules, to help you complete the project. All without judgment.

The book is filled with great self-discovery anecdotal material by both established authors. Divided into two parts, they first identify their own struggles with six emotional pitfalls that cause many writers to falter, even give up. Perhaps you recognize them: Doubt, Shame, Yearning, Fear, Judgment, and Arrogance. In the book's second half, the authors talk about the Finishing School method and how it works.

Cary Tennis convened the first class of Finishing School and Danelle Morton was his first pupil. Both had long-dormant projects they were desperate to complete. Their journey of discovery in this school  eventually became the basis for this book. Tennis encouraged his students to give their project the status of 'most important work in your life'—setting it in a ‘sacred’ place in your mind and reminding you to honour your commitment to it.

Although the book was written for writers, the method used is easily transferable for anyone who has a large task they want to finish. As Tennis says, “If finishing this project is something you really want to do, you have to go after it with everything you have within you.” Finishing School is the book that could help you do it.

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Sensitive Reader Discretion: A small amount of cuss words are scattered throughout the book.

Brenda Leyland is working on her Project 60: gathering the memories of a lifetime lived thus far. She invites you to visit her blog at It's A Beautiful Life and connect with her on Facebook.