Rewrite, Uncover a Hope by Alan Anderson

 

But they who wait for the Lord

shall renew their strength;

they shall mount up with wings like eagles;

they shall run and not be weary;

they shall walk and not faint.

(Isaiah 40:31, ESV)

 

After reading through the posts this month, I don’t think I can add anything insightful to my post. You have all taught me so much.

I focus most of my writing these days on poetry. A life-altering experience, a few years ago, caused me to search what direction my writing is to take. Through time to process and reflect on the impact of this experience, I sensed poetry was my path. I am still a student of this amazing use of words.

Rewriting allows me to uncover and share hope with those who gift me by reading my poems. The poems I write are not for me, but I take the responsibility for crafting them with the hope others will benefit from them in their lives.

Writing poems takes work. A favourite poet, Mary Oliver, offers this wise counsel to poets in her book, Mary Oliver: A Poetry Handbook:

“What you are first able to write on the page, whether the writing comes easily or with difficulty, is not likely to be close to a finished poem. If it has arrived without much effort, so much the better; if it was written with great toil, that does not matter either. What matters is that you consider what you have on the page as an unfinished piece of work that now requires your best conscious and patient appraisal.”

For me as a poet, to craft and prepare a message of hope for someone requires “conscious and patient appraisal.” I do not want to just slap something together presenting a work of mediocrity; therefore, rewrite is necessary. My poems often exhibit raw emotion; therefore, I approach revision with great sensitivity.

I pray the Lord will use my words as He sees fit. My job is to nurture the writing piece I am working on. Using the love of words God gave me, I carefully craft each word before releasing my poem into the world. To love words means such parts of the process as doing a rewrite is a must.

My rewrites come about through me, asking a few trusted people to read a few of my poems. I then receive their feedback and give thought to what they suggest. I accept their critiques, revise where needed and polish the poems, to avoid mediocrity. I must rewrite and revise the poem before it is ready to be launched.

I do not view rewriting my work as a drudgery. I see it as vital to nurture and breathe life into the poems to prepare them as messages of hope.

 

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 occasionally writes 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.

Write What You Know ~ Guest Post by Barbara Fuller

 

K is for knowledge. As a writer, I have heard “write what you know.” So what do I know? 

I know what I have experienced, what I have learned, stories of my family, things that I am interested in, and those that I am passionate about.  I have learned things through research and instruction. But I also remember my mother’s response to my ‘independent learning style’: “I told you that would happen. Why don’t you listen and learn from someone who knows better?” My cheeky response: “I learn better the hard way.” Indeed, I have learned some things from the school of hard knocks. Our lives and experiences are part of the vast tank of resources from which we draw for any type of writing.

 At a writers’ conference last May, Carolyn Arends spoke about the creative process. She said that your whole life is preparation for what you are writing. You draw from your experience, your training, what you have been exposed to, the places you have been. Therefore, we should live in a state of receptivity and nurture a sense of wonder.

Poet Mary Oliver wrote: 

Instructions for living a life.

Pay attention.

Be astonished.

Tell about it.

The other day, I tried to pay attention as I stood in a park by the river. I focused on my senses one by one. What do I see? The almost barren trees, leaves on the ground, clear blue sky adorned with ribbons of cloud, and a duck swimming at the river’s edge. I closed my eyes and asked, what do I hear? Birds twittering, children laughing, cars rumbling across a nearby bridge, traffic in the distance. What do I feel? The November chill in the air and the welcome warmth of the sun on my back. Some of those things I had not even noticed previously. 

Paying attention helps but when it comes to remembering the experiences and stories deposited over the years in this aging brain, I don’t always seem to have the access code. Talking with friends about shared experiences can help to remember. In a helpful workshop Lea Storry talked about how we hang on to things for their sentimental value when we really need to de-clutter. She suggested using the objects as visual storytellers.  Ask questions about the item – where you got it, why it matters to you, who gave it to you, what does it remind you of? Then write the story, release the object, and preserve the memory.

Not long afterward I tried it, considering one item after another as I sat and looked around my living room. There was the wall hanging I purchased in Jerusalem – what a great trip that had been! A painting by a dear friend reminded me of the years of friendship. A miniature church gifted to me after my husband’s death brought back a river of memories and I crafted a story to share with my grandchildren. (Note: I still wasn’t ready to get rid of the things!)

There are different kinds of knowledge. For example, there is factual knowledge, experiential knowledge, self-knowledge, spiritual knowledge, and relational knowledge. As Christian writers our knowledge of God undergirds and informs every story we tell, every piece we write.

So, I want to try harder to pay attention to the Spirit so that my knowledge of God through Jesus Christ will be constantly increasing. Then with a sense of wonder and gratitude, I will be able to write what I know about Jesus and his healing grace and love into my stories, whether it be explicit or implicit.  My hope and prayer, with Paul, is that my readers also “may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Colossians 2:2,3) 

 

Barbara Fuller, a native of Nova Scotia, has been writing since she was a teenager. Now living in BC, she is currently working on her fifth book in the Inlight Bible Studies series. Barb enjoys her six grand-darlings, music, books, languages, traveling, and walking on beaches, preferably with her dog Toby. Find her books and her blog at Barbara Fuller.

https://barbarafullerauthor.wordpress.com/

A Summer of Poetry by Alan Anderson

 

Words jump around,

they mingle in my head,

they keep me awake when I have gone to bed.

They wake me up with a giggle and a “hee hee”

then remind me morning always means coffee.

I tell myself as I think of summer,

without a book, it would be a bummer.

                                by Alan Anderson

 

This summer I am reading, as well as writing poetry. Poetry is the genre I focus on these days, at least for the most part. I mentioned in my February 22, 2021 InScribe blog post how a sleep apnea condition has left me with slight memory and concentration challenges. These challenges persist but I cope well with them, for the most part. The challenges teach me the importance of persistence in my call to write. I need the embrace of poetry these days.

 

My goal to write well means I also want to read well. This summer I am reading A Poetry Handbook by Mary Oliver. I am also reading and studying a book I love called The Poet’s Companion, by Kim Addonizio and Dorianne Laux. As I read these books, they teach me about the craft of poetry. They also remind me of the love and curiosity I had for poetry and stories I enjoyed as a boy.

 

I remember when I made my way through the obstacles of my life as a young boy, I resonated with certain characters. Do you remember Jack and Jill? Here is a brief look at an experience in their lives. Disclaimer: Even after decades of being read by countless children and adults, this stanza is not for the squeamish.

 

Jack and Jill went up the hill,

To fetch a pail of water;

Jack fell down and broke his crown.

And Jill came tumbling after.

 

I understand this poem later informs readers Jack, and Jill suffered no permanent injuries. As a boy I didn’t know this. For years I wondered if Jack ever went up this hill again. A question about his fall haunted me. Did his crown ever heal or reach a level of repair where he didn’t walk around with a huge bump on his head?

 

I read a story in my childhood still stuck in the recesses of my boyish memory. The story of Hansel and Gretel. Please forgive me if the very mention of the title causes readers to shudder. The story of these two beautiful souls offered me an introduction to horror stories. Oh, my Lord, the thought of the witch and her mean intentions for Hansel and Gretel haunts me. I admit in a similar light the way the witch met her end brings no pleasure to my creative leanings.

 

I share these memories from my childhood to say my imagination remains inspired through poetry and stories to this day. I also see the need to learn more about the craft of writing poetry. This is a reason I enjoy working through A Poetry Handbook and The Poet’s Companion. Books like these encourage me to appreciate poetry even more. They reinforce the need of poets to be aware and respect formal poetry and the popular free verse style common today.

 

I am entering a new chapter in my life story as I allow poetry to absorb me. As I write my poems, I embrace them like companions. I also embrace times of solitude to allow the poems time to gather their thoughts to express themselves. The poems understand me more than I understand myself.

Alan lives in Deroche, B.C. with his wife, Terry. He contributed stories to Good Grief People by Angel Hope Publishing, 2017, Story by Story: The Power of a Writer, Unstoppable Writers Publishing, 2018, and Easter Stories & More, by InScribe Christian Writers’ Fellowship, 2021. He has also written articles for FellowScript Magazine. Blog: https://scarredjoy.ca. Alan is the Provincial Rep. Liaison and BC Rep for InScribe.

Polka Dots of Joy … by Jocelyn Faire

There was a time I wondered if I would run out of crafting ideas. It seemed every year something new came along, and I would love to try my hand at it, from folk painting, to decoupage, to muslin starched dolls, Christmas angels, wax candles, wood crafts and so much more. Soon I realized as long as creativity thrived, there would always be more projects.

In the last number of years my creativity has been in seeking beauty, sharing

sunsets at Clear Lake, Mb

it with others via photography, intentional connections, fun picnics. The focus has moved from doing to being; being in the midst of God's creativity. Sometimes I wonder who paints the skies every morning or night. Who dips the frost on the trees? Who writes the river's song?

This summer I want to spend time intentionally with a book at the river's edge, or viewing the sun moon and stars. I want to become an aficionado of the abundance of heavenly created artwork

With that in mind I would love to share a poem by Mary Oliver.

The Summer Day

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?



Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

 —Mary Oliver

Jocelyn is the author of Who is Talking Out of My Head. She also blogs about hope in the hard places at:  http://whoistalking.wordpress.com