U is for Underwood by Lorilee Guenter

Recently I picked up an old Underwood Standard desktop typewriter. Compared to newer typewriters it is huge. Based on my research, it improved the technology of the time. It made administrative work easier because of adjustments to the mechanisms. In 1934, there were typewriters in every office the way we have computers today. The Underwood was one of the popular models. Unlike our computers, typewriters had one purpose- to create documents. 

My typewriter sat unused for an unknown amount of time. Dust and rust hinder the smooth movement of the type slugs. The ribbon is dry. In short, this machine- a workhorse in its time- is unable to fulfill its function. But it is a beautiful machine. With care it can be restored. The restoration will take time as I learn the intimate details of this machine and its needs. My Underwood will still bear scars that hint at the story of its life when I'm finished. 

As I blew out the first clouds of dust, I found myself thinking about how God is restoring me. When I wander away from Him, I get dusty. My words get rusty when I choose to leave my pen in the drawer. I no longer fulfill the work God has for me- the purpose He made me for when I withdraw from everything. Like the modern computer, I try to do many things. Like the Underwood, I have one purpose- relationship with God my Saviour. Everything else flows from that. God has been gently restoring me for decades. He will continue until I take my last breath [Philippians 1:6].  

In order to complete the restoration of this machine, I will have to remove pieces. Some of them will be replaced, like the dry ribbon, some will be polished and restored. As he restores us to Himself, God removes pieces. He polishes other pieces, scrapping away the decay. When I stay connected to Him and accept His work in my life, I will not need the major overhaul that I once did. I am grateful for that.

As I learn the inner workings of my machine, I can be confident that God does not need to pause and learn what I need next. He knows. Nothing will surprise Him regarding my needs. Nothing. He knows my desires, my strengths and my weaknesses. He is already working with them, restoring and rebuilding my life.

I look forward to the day my Underwood standard desktop typewriter is all polished and functional. What a treat it will be to type on this classic machine. However, I am even more excited to see how God continues to restore me and those around me. 

B is for Because by Lorilee Guenter

As I contemplated what to write this month, I considered and rejected many words such as book, beautiful or becoming. These words and others are good words that apply not only to writing but to our lives. However, I struggled to pull together coherent thoughts relating to them and found myself asking why.

A few decades ago, in the early 1990s, I walked into drafting class and saw one word on the chalkboard: Why. When we answered the question we could leave. There are two simple answers to the question: "Why not?" or "Because". My questions of why and that incident led to my word for this month. B is for because.

I write because I have stories to tell. The Bible is full of stories that show God’s character. As I read them, I am encouraged and, at times, rebuked. Always, I am drawn to God. God has given me stories to tell as well. When I write, I am sharing the stories He has given me and the lessons He has taught me.

Snippets of conversation, words read, and things seen can all spark a story, a poem, or an essay. I write because some of those ideas are so persistent. They even get in the way of other tasks like sleep if I don’t pick up my pen. Because I write, I also notice things around me that I might otherwise overlook. I write because it reminds me to be present in the time and space I occupy. This doesn’t necessarily limit me to writing about here and now. I am finding more and more that, if I rush through my days or conversely waste my time on distractions, I miss living the life God has given me.

I write because God placed us in a beautiful world. It is a gift to us and a responsibility that He charged us with at creation. In my writing, I can remind others of the beauty of God's creation and the amazing detail He included. 

Even though though that creation has been broken because of our pride and rebellion, He didn’t give up on us. For some of us God gives us words and asks us to share them so others can see the beauty He created. He asks us to share our words so others can know His patient love, His mercy and His grace. 

I write because God is good. He made me who I am. He walks with me through the pain. He shelters me in the storm. God gave me words and asked me to use them. Sometimes the words are for me as I wrestle to understand what is happening around me. Other times the words are for others. If I don’t write, I am not being a good steward of this gift God has given me.

I create because God created and made us in His image. He uses our flawed creations, our inadequate words and our lives to show His character to bring glory and praise Him. My art and my writing are part of my offering to Him. They are the imperfect works of a student of the craft. My Master is a patient teacher. Because He loves me, He adds polish to my life and my work as He writes my story.

Stalled by Susan Barclay

Waaay back in 2004 I started work on my first novel. I'm a pantser so I didn't work with an outline, but I did have a good idea of how the story would begin and how it would end.

For a while, I wrote consistently and the words pretty much flowed from my head and onto the page. I was part of a monthly writing group that offered amazing feedback, encouragement, and support.

Then I got stuck. Hit a roadblock in the plot and didn't know where to go, what to write next. Somewhere along the way I also lost much of my work due to a computer snafu. Here's a fact I can endorse from experience: always, always back up your back-up.

A member of our writing group passed away after a years'-long battle with breast cancer. I hadn't realized how much of the glue she must have been because our group fell apart and has never regained its momentum. 

I started a writing course with author J.A. McLachlan. Her feedback on my work was great but her gentle suggestions made it clear that I needed to pretty much start over.

Then Covid hit. My mom fell and moved in with us. My daughter boomeranged back home as well. And now my son has returned. While I'm happy to have a full house and to care for the people God's placed in my life, it's also meant setting my project aside for this season. We talked more about this in my August post.

So, in terms of strategies I'd normally suggest to someone who's stuck - take a break and work on writing something else, seek feedback from others and see if it generates new ideas or directions, ask yourself 'what if this?/what if that?' - none of those help me right now. I also find it difficult to get up any earlier in the morning or stay awake any later at night. The one thing I can do is read other people's books. As I said in the August post, "Reading is an important activity for writers as we learn from both good and bad writing and get ideas for subjects we might want to explore further through our own work." All is not lost.

As I was scrolling through Facebook this morning, I found some encouragement on Jennifer Rothschild's page. She said:

Sometimes we look at Psalm 37:4 as a blank check. We think that if we delight in God, He will give us what we want. But the emphasis of the verse is on delighting. When we delight in God, He places in us the desires He wants us to have. “It is God who works in you,” Paul reminds us, “to will and to act according to his good purpose” (Philippians 2:13). When our delight is in God, we can trust that our desires will be what He wants for us. That way we never settle for less!

Today instead of worrying about my set-aside project, wondering if it will ever get finished, I choose to focus on delighting on God. I want nothing less than His best for me, and that may mean forgetting the novel and all the years I poured into it. I know the time wasn't wasted as I improved my ability and skill. 

God has good plans for me (Jeremiah 29:11) and for my writing. When the time is right, He will show me the next step(s). My trust and my hope are in Him and nothing else. Nothing is better than Him!

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For more about Susan Barclay and her writing, please visit www.susan-barclay.blogspot.com

 

 

A WRITER'S MORNING PRAYER - by Joylene M. Bailey

 

Eternal Father of my soul, let my first thought today be of you, let my first impulse be to worship you, let my first word be your Name,

let my first action be to kneel before you in prayer.

(John Baillie)

Father, I give back into Your hands all that You have given me:

My gifts and talents. 

I rededicate them to Your service, they are Yours to use as You want, Father. They are Yours, Christ Jesus. All these are Yours, Holy Spirit. 

May they bring You glory.

My passion.  

Use my passion for words to keep me searching out the right words for the right moment, that they may be like apples of gold in settings of silver. Let them be faithful and arrive true at their destination. 

My purpose.  

O Lord, speak through my words today. Thank You for making use of me to fulfill Your mighty purpose for the world and for my neighbour. Let me be a channel of Your love and compassion to those within reach of my words. Fold Your purpose for my writing into Your ultimate purpose, that my words might bring You glory.

My perseverance. 

Help me to persevere when the writing is hard, when the trials and urgencies of the day keep me from the page. And when I have to be away from the writing, may the thoughts and ideas keep percolating so that when I return, Your voice is the ink flowing onto the page.

Keep me mindful that writing is a gift and a privilege. May I never take it for granted or make it an idol.

You alone are worthy.

O God my Creator, accompany me into this day with Your blessing, and may the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.

Amen

~~~~~

Joy writes from Edmonton where she lives with The Cowboy and very-soon-to-be-married Babe. She is appreciating the prayers of John Baillie, which can be found in the classic, A Diary of Private Prayer. 

Find more of Joy's writing at Scraps of Joy.

Photo by Tom Henell on Unsplash

The Three-Legged Writing Stool - Tracy Krauss

                                  PASSION - PURPOSE - PERSEVERANCE 

I love a good alliteration, don't you? These three P's are like a three-legged stool. Now, sit down and write!

Passion

I think most writers love to write, or they wouldn't be doing it. There has to be something that motivates us beyond fame and fortune, cause let's face it--those two are unreliable! Ever since I was a child I've needed an outlet for the stories in my head. Until my young adulthood, that outlet was art, but once I started writing as a young mom, I never looked back. I LOVE to write. There is no other way to say it. So, even if I feel ill-equipped, get stuck or just tired of a story, or suffer from "imposter syndrome" (as many authors do) I will never stop writing. 

Purpose

In my experience, this leg of the stool develops over time. At first, my purpose was simply for my own gratification. My passion was my purpose. But when I started submitting my work for publication, I soon realized I needed to examine my motivation. Who was I writing for? Was I simply trying to entertain or was there a deeper message in my fiction? Even after answering these questions, one size doesn't fit all, especially when one writes in multiple genres as I do. 

I learned a technique from Nancy Rue at an InScribe conference which I still implement today. I try to distill each individual piece of writing into one word--one main theme. What is the essence of this novel/play/devotional book? I've come up with GRACE, REDEMPTION, MERCY, FRIENDSHIP, and others, depending on the piece. Sometimes it is just to entertain, and that's okay. But knowing my purpose has helped me stay focused on what's important, in both the writing stages and the marketing stages.

Perseverance

I think this last leg is one that needs special attention once one steps into the 'publishing' arena. I really appreciated Bob Jones' post this month about tenacity, and I think I have a bit of that same gene, or I would have given up a long time ago. 

I wasn't prepared, at first, for the fact that my first novel--my baby--wasn't as good as I thought it was! I wasn't prepared for rejection after rejection even after I had revised and edited. Then, once I'd "made it" with my first book deal, I wasn't prepared for the hard work and effort that goes into marketing. And after that, I wasn't prepared for negative reviews or criticism from other Christians because my book wasn't as squeaky clean as they wanted it to be. 

Trust me, I've had ample opportunities to just give up, already! 

Then I realized I need this leg of my writing stool. My passion for writing isn't going away and I believe in the purposes I've identified for each piece, so perseverance is the only logical choice since I can't teeter on two legs for long. 

These three go together. Without one, you will eventually fall (or fail) as a writer, but when you're sitting squarely on your three-legged writing stool, there is a sense of security no matter the outcome of any individual piece. 

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After thirty-some years of writing, Tracy Krauss continues relentlessly on, writing in a variety of genres from devotional books to romantic suspense novels to stage-plays. She is also currently serving as president of Inscribe Christian Writers Fellowship. Visit her website for all the low-down: "fiction o the edge without crossing the line" https://tracykrauss.com