Give Writing Time by Sandi Somers

 

“There is a time and a season for everything.”

 (Ecclesiastes 3:1.)

In my early years of writing. I was facing a deadline and didn’t have time to bring my piece to full maturity. I was in a hurry but submitted it anyway, feeling as though I was birthing a baby too premature to survive. Of course, my article was not accepted for publication. I promised myself I’d never do that again but work diligently with time to complete my writing properly.    

Today, many writing gurus emphasize that we “write fast” and “publish fast”. This concept is so promoted in our age of speed and instant results that it’s easy to be swayed and feel as though we need to hurry through our work. 

But God’s way is different. If we want our writing to be of the highest quality, we must give writing time. It is said that Ray Bradbury advocated that writers “put a novel-length manuscript away for a year. Then when you take it out and read it the words will appear to have been written by someone else. This process allows you to get a new look at your own work.” 

Giving our writing a rest is a principle from God Himself. Just as He instructed us to keep one day a week for Sabbath, He may ask us to give ourselves a break from our w-i-p. He knows the rhythms of our writing: when it is going well and when ideas and concepts spring to mind easily. He also reveals to us that when we begin to stagnate, we need to give our writing a rest, and with it, our mind, emotions, and body. Doing so will give us time to meditate on our ideas, gain a new perspective, and allow God to infuse us with new transformational truths. 

And yet, setting our project aside might seem counter-intuitive. We might be afraid that we’ll abandon our work altogether. But if God has prompted and inspired us to write, He’ll keep the idea in mind and will bring our attention back to it when we’re ready. 

During this rest period, we don’t stop writing, however. A new project might just be the incentive that spurs our creativity. Bradbury also knew that putting a manuscript away temporarily “works best with writers who have multiple projects open at once and who can work on two or three books or stories at a time, in rotation. When one is completed, you can switch to working on another, and when that is completed you can go back to the one on your desk.”[i] 

As we write, let us pay attention to the ebbs and flows of our writing, not hurry our project into premature birth, and follow God’s revealed plans. In so doing, we will write in rhythm with God.

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[i] William Cane, Write Like the Masters, (Cincinnati, OH: Writer’s Digest Books, 195-196).

Going Green--Bamboo Green by Connie Inglis

I do enjoy seeing the new growth, the new green, of spring. I realize for some of you, spring has been green for a few months. For those of us on the Canadian prairies, the new green growth of spring is just beginning. And it is truly invigorating after months of white, months of no growth but only cold harshness.

My writing went through a long, long winter like that--something I shared about in last month's blog. But then shoots of growth started sprouting--Holy Spirit-driven sprouts of greenness and new life. It was unexpected but oh so welcoming to my frozen heart and soul.

I cannot explain how my life has changed since those green sprouts returned. I just know I never want to go back to the tundra. Which presents a challenge: How do I keep my writing green?

First and foremost, I need to invite the Spirit into everything that pertains to writing... that includes any reading I do, any listening to sermons or podcasts I do, any music listening I do, even any tv watching I do. I am still learning this one. It takes practice but if I keep it up, it will become a habit. I have discovered that you just never know when an idea will jump out at you if you are in the "write" frame of mind. That's one of the things I LOVE about the Holy Spirit--He is anything but predictable. That's what makes His inspiration so fresh and green.

In his book, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, Stephen King states, "If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot." I've always been a reader. However, I have recently been choosing books that help me with my writing--books like, Ordinary Genius by Kim Addonizio, Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury and, You are a Writer (So Start Acting Like One) by Jeff Goins. Each author has a unique perspective on their craft and as I read I feel like a young "Grasshopper" sitting at their feet with so much to learn.

I am also learning to read proactively--to read seeking something fresh, green, inspirational. You might think that ruins the enjoyment of reading but it actually has made the reading more enjoyable. Sounds strange I know. Again, I believe that's the working of the Spirit.

It's the writing that I had stopped long ago that has returned and I'm learning that it requires work. I always thought that for famous authors writing came easy, with little work. I am learning that this is a false assumption.  In the book mentioned above, Jeff Goins says, “Everything is practice. Every word you write and action you take is a chance to get better.” Believe it or not, this encourages me. I'm not afraid of work. I have learned throughout my life that perseverance pays off--that the Spirit is present in the perseverance. That doesn't mean there won't be slow days or "writer's block" days. But I believe it does mean there will no longer be years of winter. For that I am thankful.

I am still a novice--my toes are just beginning to sink into the pristine sands of an undiscovered tropical island, one that is lush and green. Funny, when I think of green growth, my years of living in Southeast Asia take my imagination to a picture of bamboo forests. I love bamboo for many reasons. In how it relates to writing, I love its green growth--without hibernation, without winter. Bamboo is strong yet pliable. It will bend but not break. It is also persevering. Cut it down and the growth will return. In fact, some species of bamboo can grow three feet in 24 hours. What?!! Now that's prolific. It's sort of scary to say this (because of the prolific part) but I feel like my writing is a bamboo forest right now--a forest where God's Spirit is alive, weaving in and out of the graceful jointed stems, catching the Light on the slender leaves. I feel alive--hardly able to breathe sometimes--and it is beautiful. God is oh so good.

InScribers Review: Do I Love Writing? - Lorrie Orr

While visiting my daughter in Vancouver last summer (2012), I noticed a book on her shelf and asked if I could borrow it. She'd found it in a used bookstore. By Ray Bradbury, Zen in the Art of Writing, is a collection of essays first published in 1990 in which he "shares the wisdom, experience, and excitement of a lifetime of writing."

I read most of it on the 90-minute ferry ride home. Bradbury's enthusiasm for writing so fired me up that I began a short story that very day, triggered by something I saw at the ferry terminal. Although not a "how-to-write" book, Bradbury shares what works for his writing life, and much can be extrapolated to anyone's schedule.

Bradbury advocates writing a lot - every day. But rather than a "stick-to-the-chair-no-matter-what" approach, he confesses to getting out of bed each morning filled with words. And so, he plays. He practices word association and from these associations come stories. His exuberant approach to writing is illustrated in the following excerpt:

"The history of each story, then, should read almost like a weather report: Hot today, cool tomorrow. This afternoon, burn down the house. Tomorrow, pour cold critical water upon the simmering coals. Time enough to think and cut and rewrite tomorrow. But today - explode - fly apart - disintegrate! The other six or seven drafts are going to be pure torture. So why not enjoy the first draft, in the hope that your joy will seek and find others in the world who, reading your story, will catch fire, too?"

Read widely. Bradbury's favourite authors are a motley crew, ranging from Shakespeare and Molière to Shaw and Gerard Manley Hopkins. Poetry, essays, novels, songs, music, and art all act as influences upon ideas. The more we take in, the richer our writing is.

When I did a search for the book while writing this post, I discovered that it's available on-line as a pdf. Free.


Read it. Fall in love with writing again.

Oh, and Ashley, I'll return your book someday. Maybe.

by Lorrie Orr