Painting a Word Picture - Lynn Dove

If I liken my writing process to painting a picture...


The canvas rests precariously on the easel.  In stark contrast to the room that surrounds it, it is bleached, devoid of colour.  It has so much potential where it is, but it will never be fully realized unless splashed with colour, meticulously or haphazardly applied, dependent upon the artist's whims.  It begs to be painted, the masterpiece vibrantly alive and vivid in the mind's eye of the artist, but she hesitates over the canvas.  The colours are right there in front of her, the brushes poised to be picked up, but she procrastinates again wiping her hands nervously on her smock. 


This is the most difficult part of the painting: the first stroke.  The whiteness of the canvas is, in many ways, pure perfection.  There are no mistakes to wipe off and away, no regrets, no tears upon it yet.  That first stroke will change it forever.  The experiences and will of the artist will be reflected upon it, the moment she begins to paint.  That is why she hesitates.  She knows what she wants to express.  She knows the colours and the shading she wants to incorporate into the piece, but will the masterpiece in her mind come to glorious fruition on the canvas?  Has she over estimated her abilities as an artist?  Does she have the talent, or the will, to express herself in such a way that anyone who gazes upon the painting will experience the same colourful landscape she sees in her mind's eye?  She is almost paralyzed with insecurity. 


Taking a deep breath, and whispering a sigh-like "help me" prayer, she dips her brush into the paint.  As soon as she makes that first brush stroke she is committed.  The painting takes on a will of its own.  The original picture she envisioned is changing before her eyes.  She adapts by adding hues, texture, and tones she hadn't originally thought about using.  It's not perfect but it's the imperfections that give it subtle essence and depth of perspective.  She steps away many times to pace, clear her head, and rethink what her next move will be. 


She forgets to eat, the clock on the wall ticks on rhythmically, keeping time with her brush strokes.  The light dims in her studio, but still she paints on. Reluctantly, she lets the brush drop when her eyes can no longer focus on the intricacies of the work before her.  She is spent.  The canvas is still wet.  Wiping her paint splattered hands off on her smock; she sees something out of the corner of her eye and wonders if she has time to add just a dab or two more of burnt umber to highlight the scene.  Shaking her head, she wills herself to walk away.  Tomorrow will come soon enough, and though the unfinished picture still burns in her mind, she forces herself to return to some kind of normalcy that is found just outside of her studio at day's end.  Sleepless nights and crazed days of painting, sap her of strength but she is driven to finish her work.  Her imagination now splayed in wild abandon, on the once bleached canvas, is uncontrolled and unbridled. No amount of coaxing can sway her from completing her task.  


Her family has been patient with her while she has felt the urgings of creativity pull her away from the chores of making dinners, vacuuming rugs and cleaning toilets.  Her paint projects always seem to take her far away from the trivialities of life.  Her family understands.  Subsisting on pizza and take-out while she paints, her family are her greatest cheerleaders.  It does not go unnoticed by her.  She will call them her precious inspirations.  When the painting is finished, framed and displayed on the walls of a gallery, she will trivialize her efforts in a humbling attempt to bring honour to the way her family sacrificed while she painted.  Until then, she is completely immersed in the project at hand. 


After what feels like a lifetime of effort, she jabs her brush like a rapier towards the canvas one last time.  With the conclusive splash of colour, she steps back exhausted and almost weeps at the finality of it.


In the days following the unveiling of her work, when others praise and critique her efforts, she will remember and recount the "help me" prayer lifted up in panic, moments before the first brush stroke.  She will acknowledge that without His Calling on her life, and His Gifting, she would not be able to generate the art before her. 


In the weeks that follow, there is a peaceful lull.  She cleans her studio, and her home.  She reacquaints herself once again with the routine of being a wife and mother and finds some tranquil satisfaction in her less flamboyant role as homemaker.  She all but abandons her paints and brushes in favour of this temperate existence until she remembers a new blank canvas with so much potential waiting for her in the studio.  A picture gradually develops in her mind's eye, and she cannot abandon the thought of it.  It beckons to her until she can no longer ignore the Call and she breathlessly murmurs another "help me" prayer before she once again begins to paint.




  

Lynn Dove is the award-winning author, of the YA “Wounded Trilogy”- a contemporary Christian fiction series with coming-of-age themes.  A wife, mom, grandmother, and free-lance writer with articles published in several magazines and anthologies including Chicken Soup for the Soul books, her blog, “Journey Thoughts” is a Canadian Christian Writing Award winner.  Readers may connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and at lynndove.com 


Note: this metaphorical story is an extension of what I posted last month.

Welcome to My Garden of Words by Nina Faye Morey

Spring is the time of year when everyone gets anxious to get outside in the fresh air and sunshine. Those of us who are gardeners have already been planning what to plant for months. We’ve been studying our seed catalogues throughout those last cold days of winter, choosing the seeds we want to grow. We may even have started germinating some seedlings indoors in preparation for planting. My favourite spring ritual is the annual trip to a local nursery to choose which flowers I want to transplant into my flowerbeds and flowerpots. The warm, moist, fragrant air; the sunshine streaming down; and the glorious rainbow of colours that greets you once you step inside the greenhouse is enough to cure anyone’s winter doldrums and awaken a yearning to create that prize-winning garden.

Writers are the gardeners of words. We spend plenty of time planning what to write. We read, study, and research the Scriptures and various writings, searching for those special seeds that inspire us and so titillate our senses that we want to plant them in our next nonfiction book or novel. We hope that if we do our groundwork properly and sow these seeds under just the right conditions, they will germinate and flourish. So we diligently toil to transplant them into vivid, descriptive words and sentences that will likewise captivate our readers. As a writer, I pray that I will be able to skillfully sow the seeds God has given me in such a way that they will grow and blossom in readers’ hearts, souls, and spirits.

Writing, like gardening, not only demands preparation, but also a lot of perspiration and patience. Beyond selecting what seeds to sow, we need to carefully prepare the plot in which to plant them if we want them to take root, sprout, bloom, and bear fruit. As Jesus explained to His followers in the Parable of the Sower, if seeds are sown into ground that is not properly prepared, they will not germinate and grow (Matthew 3: 4-8). We can’t just scatter our seeds indiscriminately; we first need to sketch an outline of our plot. Then we can plant them seed by seed, working our way methodically line by line, watering and fertilizing them with just the right components, so that the entire composition contains rhyme and reason. As we work section by section, according to our plan, we must make sure that each part contributes to the overall composition. Placing faith in our creativity, we work patiently to ensure these seeds gradually germinate and grow into an intriguing garden of words.

If we want our creation to develop and mature into a true work of art, it will require the sweat of our brow throughout its entire season of growth. And we will need the patience to labour on through several seasons if we want to create a perennial masterpiece. If we tend our creation carefully, it will flourish. If we fail to regularly water, weed, and fertilize, it will become dry, barren, and lifeless. Weeds may resemble pretty flowers at first glance, but they will overgrow and overshadow the beauty of our budding creation if allowed to proliferate. If we make no effort to uproot them, they will sap the strength and smother the life out of our precious creation. Therefore, it’s vital that we keep reseeding and reworking our garden of words over and over again until we’re absolutely convinced that we’ve created a beautiful piece we can be proud of. Then we may even dare to daydream about winning that coveted award or creating a work that will someday become a classic.

Photos: Pixabay Free Images

A Dramatic Metaphor - Tracy Krauss

"All the world’s a stage,

And all the men and women merely players;

They have their exits and their entrances,

And one man in his time plays many parts."

As You Like It, Act 2, Scene 7

I couldn't help myself. I've been teaching Drama full time for almost eighteen years and seem to find a lot of useful metaphors from the theatre. This month we're talking about metaphors for writing, but this one applies to all of life. Specifically, I want to highlight two key principles of improvisation. (Side note: I'll be facilitating a workshop at the Fall Conference called 'Acting Up' which includes improv!

Good improv has few rules, but there are two basic ones that can make or break the success of any given session. They are: 1) the rule of agreement and 2) be a giver. 

The rule of agreement' simply means that the actor must 'buy in' to whatever is suggested by his or her scene partner. Some people mistakenly interpret this to mean "Always say yes," but it's a little more complicated than that. Without the rule of agreement, a scene can die a quick and often disastrous death. (I've given some examples below.*)

So it is in life. As Christians we need to 'buy in' to God's plan for our lives. This means we are acting upon what God is telling us, not necessarily what other people suggest. We can't always say "Yes" to people, but we must always say "Yes" to God, knowing He will bring about an outcome that will be just right for our lives.

'Be a giver' is the next most important rule in improv. It's not enough to 'buy in' to a suggestion on stage. It's each actor's job to provide information to keep moving the scene forward. If one actor is carrying the entire scene it begins to look lopsided. The 'giver' might even get tired and give up. When the actors work together, however, bouncing ideas off one another, it is a spectacular thing to watch.

This principle can also be applied to real life. We need to be supporting others in their journey, not always taking for ourselves. Being a giver isn't always easy. It can be hard work and sometimes it takes us outside our comfort zone, but in the end the rewards are great for everyone involved.




It reminds me of Jesus' response when He was asked which was the greatest commandment. In Luke 10:27 He said, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind." This is a full scale 'buy in', just like the 'Rule of Agreement'. Then He goes on to say, "And love your neighbour as yourself." What better way to love other people than by being a giver?
_______________________________________

*Examples of the rules in action:

Peggy: Hi Grandma. How are you today?

Bill: I'm not your Grandma.

Done. Dead. Scene over. Nothing kills a scene more quickly than Bill NOT agreeing to

Peggy's suggestion that he is her Grandma. Boo! Let's do that over.



Peggy: Hi Grandma. How are you today?

Bill: Your meds are making you hallucinate again. I'm not your Grandma, remember?

Bill still isn't buying in, but at least he gave Peggy another avenue to carry the scene forward.



Peggy: Hi Grandma. How are you today?

Bill: Just fine, dearie, Come on in and I'll fix you some cocoa after I feed my pet rhinoceros. 

Okay... probably not what Peggy was expecting, but Bill bought in to her idea AND

offered new information that she now has to run with.

_______________________________

Tracy Krauss continues to write - and play theatre games - in her role as Drama teacher at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School. Visit her website for more: http://tracykrauss.com  

- fiction on the edge without crossing the line -

Writing and Lemon Meringue Pie - Ruth L. Snyder

This month we've been invited to share a metaphor for our faith and/or our writing. I've enjoyed reading other people's metaphors. Now I invite you to think of the similarities between writing and one of my favourite desserts, lemon meringue pie (made from scratch).

I was introduced to the joy of pie making (and eating) by my paternal grandmother. We spent many hours in her kitchen, side by side, baking. We also spent many hours at her table savouring homemade food. There was always dessert at Grandma's house—like her zesty, lemon meringue pie. Just thinking of it makes my mouth water!

When making a lemon meringue pie, we gather a number of tools and ingredients. For the crust we need a bowl for mixing, measuring cups, measuring spoons, a pastry blender, flour, lard or shortening, salt, an egg, and water. We also need a pie plate and an oven. For the lemon pie filling we use a pot, more measuring cups and spoons, a whisk, a spatula, flour, sugar, water, egg yolks, salt, and lemon juice. Finally, for the meringue, we need a bowl, something to beat the egg whites, a spatula, measuring cups and spoon, egg whites, vanilla, cream of tarter, and sugar.

Writing also requires a number of tools and ingredients. The tools can vary from a pen and paper to a dictionary, thesaurus, and software like Word or Scrivener. Ingredients include nouns, verbs, adjectives, metaphors, prepositions, and punctuation. We need an idea, a hook, and some type of cohesive form, like a short story, essay, poem, etcetera, to share our ideas.

It's one thing to know what the tools and ingredients are, but it's another thing to know how to use them. Anyone can take a list of tools and ingredients and throw something together. However, it takes a recipe, some skill, knowledge, and practice to use the tools and ingredients and come up with a lemon meringue pie—especially one with a flaky crust, filling with no lumps, and fluffy meringue that melts in your mouth. There are many things that can go wrong when we make a pie. If we don't use enough lard, the crust is hard. If we use too much lard, the crust is crumbly and hard to work with. If we don't have enough heat for the filling, it won't thicken properly. If we have too much heat (or get side-tracked and don't stir consistently), our filling will scorch.

Most people know how to write their names and make simple sentences. However, it takes skill, knowledge, and practice to put sentences together to create writing that is cohesive, entices the reader to keep reading, doesn't jar the reader, and evokes emotion. Many things can go wrong with writing as well. The message can be obscured when the author mixes metaphors, or goes off on a tangent. The writing can be flat and boring if a writer leaves out the senses and just tells the story instead of helping the reader experience it.

Just as lemon meringue pie has three distinct parts, most forms of writing consist of an opening with a hook, the body where a message is shared, and a conclusion. Each part must be well put together to form a delicious dessert or an enthralling tale. A boring introduction, like flat meringue, will probably result in the piece being discarded without going any further. Telling instead of showing, like filling without enough flavouring, may also result in the reader moving on to something that is more zesty and appealing. A dissatisfying conclusion, like a tough crust, will most likely leave a bad impression on the reader. When our writing is well put together, like a delicious lemon meringue pie that tantalizes the taste buds, our readers will gladly leave positive reviews and will want to know what else we've written for them to enjoy.

Hmm. I think it's time to make another lemon meringue pie. (I still use my grandmother's recipe!)

Ruth L. Snyder enjoys making lemon meringue pies with and for her husband and five children. She is loving being a grandma and is working to pass on good memories and recipes to her grandchild. Her goal in writing is to spread hope and put a smile on the face of the reader.