Help, I need Somebody! – Ramona Heikel

What do bakers, dog-trainers, doctors, cooks, crane operators and The Beetles have in common?  They need somebody to help. To come alongside, as in…an apprenticeship!  So what about us writers, how about an apprenticeship for us?

I have run across a few instances of writing apprenticeships, but they are random and rare.  Some schools consider an MFA (Master of Fine Arts) to be an apprenticeship. (Have you had experience with an MFA?)

An apprentice is one who is learning by practical experience under a master, and I haven’t had a master author walk with me through these many years, guiding my writing. However, my writing apprenticeship has consisted of a variety of helpers: mentors in writing courses I’ve taken, successful authors in writing and critique groups I attended each month, and authors who write books and blogs devoted to writing skills.

             

Last fall I signed up for an online spiritual writing retreat with author Vinita Hampton Wright. Through this group “mentorship” and one of the exercises, I made a discovery; it was good news and bad news. I realized I have a tendency to write when I'm excited, but when the excitement wears off I stop working. I love the enthusiastic part of the idea process and that initial burst of putting my original thoughts and explorations down on a page. But often, when I go back to it, the novelty has worn off and I have lost momentum and motivation.  Because of this bad habit, I have many pieces I have started and abandoned.  I am ashamed to admit this because it seems rather childish and undisciplined, but I have to hope that simply realizing this after so many years of writing is a step forward!

My advice to a new writer, especially one who is juggling many other responsibilities, would be that your apprenticeship very realistically could take 10 years or even more. During this time, you shouldn’t assume you are going to write a best-seller, or even anything publishable.  Seriously consider getting a writing coach, which may be the closest thing to an apprenticeship. This is the route that I would have taken, had I realized that I would be spinning my wheels and wasting a lot of valuable time by trying to "do it myself."  (And it’s not too late. I am looking for one, so if any of you readers are coaches, or can recommend one, let me know.)

  

As I think about having help along the writing journey, it makes me think about how much help we have on our life journey.  Jesus is the Master who walked alongside his apprentices, allowed them to get to know him and watch him work, and demonstrated how to live life.  And after he finished his work on earth, he left another helper, our own one-on-one mentor, the Holy Spirit.  He knew we'd "need somebody, not just anybody."  I marvel that we are so important to him, that we “merit” his constant companionship!

Posted by Ramona

www.happilywriting.com

Photo credits:

A shoe repairman and his young apprentice, Apprenticeship, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apprenticeship; Road to Emmaus, Bloor Lansdowne Christian Fellowship,  https://bloorlansdownechristianfellowship.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/road_to_emmaus.jpg

What If - Marcia Lee Laycock

What if the words I write here on this earthly plain have an effect in eternity?

What if the Lord is smiling with approval even when the rejection letters keep piling up?

What if the next article or poem or book I write is already planned, just for me?

What if all of those words will be put into just the right place for the right people at the right time?

What if all of those words are just as much for me as they are for my readers?

What if some day the veil will drop and I’ll understand why all the struggle and frustration was necessary?

What if all that I do, all that I write on this earth is just a training ground for what I will do, what I will write in the realm beyond?

What if this career I strive so hard to maintain isn’t the point of my existence?

What if the more I struggle with my craft the more I get to know the One who wants me to develop it?

What if I remember all of the above each time I sit down to write? 

Yes, what if.

****

Marcia Lee Laycock writes from central Alberta Canada where she is a pastor's wife and mother of three adult daughters. She was the winner of The Best New Canadian Christian Author Award for her novel, One Smooth Stone. Her second novel, A Tumbled Stone was recently short listed in the contemporary fiction category of The Word Awards. Marcia also has two devotional books in print. Her work has been endorsed by Sigmund Brouwer, Janette Oke, Phil Callaway and Mark Buchanan. Abundant Rain, an ebook devotional for writers can be downloaded here. Visit Marcia’s Website

Let Mystery Do Its Work - Marcia Lee Laycock

“Let mystery do its work – encourage the listener (or reader) to participate.” Jeffery Overstreet

“Awaken the questions. Tease the mind into active thought.” – C. H. Dodd

Jesus was the master of mystery. He spoke in parables and hyperbole and metaphor. He rarely, if ever, gave a direct answer to a question. Often he answered a question with another one.

I imagine his disciples were often wandering around with quizzical looks on their faces as they tried to figure out what it was he was teaching them. And I imagine they found that very frustrating. But I’m sure, after wandering the landscape of Palestine with their teacher for three years, they came to an understanding that it was as they searched and pondered and struggled to understand, that they learned more and more about Him and His kingdom.

As writers I believe this is something we should emulate in our work. I believe, as C. H. Dodd said, that we should “awaken the questions” more than seek to provide the answers. It is when we leave our readers asking questions that they become completely engaged in our stories. They want to find the answers and it is oh so much more satisfying when they are led to discover them on their own.

Think about a book you love. What was it about those words that drew you in? The poetry of language perhaps, the lovely flow of words that seemed to sing? Or was it a deeper understanding of something that had eluded you before, the epiphany, the discovery of that which had been hidden? In most cases our favorites are books that were a blend of these things, books that made us think, made us ask questions, books that led us deeper into the mystery of life and the spiritual realm.

When our readers are caught up with the mystery of our stories they can’t let them go. The characters linger because there is a bit of a puzzle in their personality. Their motivations are deep and complex, their fears and foibles real yet still something to make the reader wonder. And then, when the mystery becomes clear, the reader understands more about the world, more about himself and more about the One who created both.

As  David Weinberger has said, "We don't need more information. We don't need better information ... We need understanding ... And understanding is not more or higher information. If you want understanding, you have to reenter the human world of stories. If you don't have a story, you don't have understanding."
 

So let’s follow Christ. Ask the questions, spin the tales, tease the mind and awaken the soul. It’s what He taught us to do. It’s what good writing is all about.

Marcia Lee Laycock writes from central Alberta Canada where she is a pastor's wife and mother of three adult daughters. She was the winner of The Best New Canadian Christian Author Award for her novel, One Smooth Stone. Her second novel, A Tumbled Stone was recently short listed in the contemporary fiction category of The Word Awards.

Marcia also has two devotional books in print. Her work has been endorsed by Sigmund Brouwer, Janette Oke, Phil Callaway and Mark Buchanan.

Abundant Rain, an ebook devotional for writers can be downloaded here. Visit Marcia’s Website.  To receive Marcia's bi-weekly devotional directly to your inbox, email her.