One Moment in Time by Sharon Heagy

 

            Recently, the curator of an art gallery in a nearby town took photographs of several paintings and asked people to write a short snapshot of a moment in time to correspond with a photo of their choice. The prose was to be 250 – 300 words. Once the stories are gathered, he plans to put together an exhibit of the actual artwork, each with their story. Just one moment in time.

            As I pondered this ingenious enterprise, I began to appreciate how much writing is like painting. Paper is our canvass, words are our paints and palette, pens and keyboards our brushes. 

            Some painters may sketch what they plan to paint before they apply any colour to canvass and some dip their brush in a colour, put it on a canvass and see where it takes them. Some writers draft an outline before they begin to write and some just put pen to paper or start clacking on a keyboard and see what develops. In the end both the artist and the writer tell a story. It might end up being a moment in time, or a multitude of moments. A single painting, or a collection, a poem, prose or article or an epic poem, novel or series. And all the gifts and inspiration for either work come from the Master, the ultimate Creator, from God. “Every good and perfect gift is from above coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” James 1:17

AND what absolutely blows me away (as we older folks say) is that you can sit 100 writers or artists in a room, pass around a picture, ask them to tell a story and, though some may have similarities, you will get 100 different results. The gifting comes from the same Source, yet He has created us as such unique individual beings in His image, what results from the same gifting in each person is amazing! Mind blown, as the kids say. Mind blown indeed.

            There are folks that believe you need to venture beyond your own backyard and travel the world to appreciate the vastness and variety of God’s creation, but that is only one amazing facet of our highly multidimensional God. I challenge you to go to a gallery or museum, a bookstore or a library, and stand and look, not at individual titles but at the rows upon rows of creativity with not two exactly alike. (Okay, okay, I know, what if there are copies. Please work with me.) Just imagine if each of those writers and artists realized the true Source of their gifting and used it for His glory – for that is ultimately the gift’s true and pure purpose. Wow.

            Be fearless, fellow writer, knowing you too have a story to tell in a way that only you can. You were created and gifted for this purpose. For His purpose. If you need a little kick start, say a prayer, grab a photo or a painting and start with one moment in time.

What Makes a Compelling Cozy Mystery by Steph Beth Nickel

 

https://pixabay.com/vectors/detective-searching-man-search-1424831/

Among many others genres, I enjoy reading a compelling cozy mystery.

In my mind, these are five of the characteristics that make a story "unputdownable":

"In Medias Res" Opening

I want to be plunged into the middle of the action. I'll figure out who the main characters are and what I need to know about them and the situation as the story unfolds.

Believable and Relatable Characters

I have to care intently about one or more of the characters, especially the protagonist. I can only care about them if they are three-dimensional. When it comes to relatability... This doesn't mean I have to have experienced what they're going through, but their human experience must be something that makes me think, "I get it."

Needed Descriptions

I want only the details I need. If I need to know the pathway was lined with pink roses to reveal something vital about one of the characters, go for it. However, if this detail serves simply as "filler," I prefer that it be left out. Plus, I don't need to know the hair and eye colour and build of any of the characters unless it's crucial to the story. 

Emotionally Charged Content

I want a story that "grips me by the throat" and doesn't let go. Skillfully creating that type of story with brief passages in which I can catch my breath...and the author may have earned a new super fan. If those passages make me laugh out loud...BONUS!

Although I like heart-pounding page-turners with realistic moments of "downtime," I also want to feel a wide variety of emotions intensely. I once read a book which had me sobbing aloud—yes, sobbing—as I read the last chapter. So much so that my hubby came downstairs to see if I was alright.

Do I always want to read books that make me cry? No, but there are times "a good cry" provides a wonderful catharsis. 

And speaking of catharsis...

Cathartic Endings

Too many mysteries I've read end on an anti-climactic note; they just peter out. The ending should be like a big sigh of relief. The emotional highs and lows of the story should be resolved in a way that acts like a steam valve that releases sufficient stress to steady me yet, on some level, still experiencing the residual effects of the emotional ride I've been on.

Finally...

What I Don't Want in a Cozy Mystery

• Graphic gore, violence, language, etc.
• An obvious perpetrator. (Keep me guessing but scatter breadcrumbs throughout, clues that are obvious only when I read the story for a second time.)
• While it's important to include "red herrings" to throw readers off the scent of the perpetrator's identity, if there are too many and/or they're too obvious, I find it detracts from the story.
• Although I enjoy a well-written mystery in which one or more of the characters are Christian, their faith should be evident more by their actions than their words, and the ending shouldn't be the result of inexplicable "divine intervention." (Note: I believe if you're writing a story in which the supernatural plays a key role, that should be clear from the beginning.

How about you? Do you enjoy cozy mysteries?

Mighty Ministry and Modus Operandi by Joylene M Bailey

 

Modus Operandi (MO): 

1. A mode of operating or working; 2. One's usual way of doing something.

I've seen a growing trend in Christian circles in the last ten years or so. It is especially rampant among the 30- to 40-somethings, but I also see it in people entering their senior years. It's the idea that they're not doing/haven't done enough work for the kingdom of God; that there is so much more they should be doing to fulfill their purpose ... getting out there, making a mark, bringing in the sheaves. It's a kind of striving that undervalues their role as mothers or fathers, grandmothers or grandfathers, brothers and sisters, neighbours and friends.

Busy moms with busy children say, "I'm not doing enough for the kingdom." 

Caring grownup children who visit their elderly parent every day say, "I'm not doing enough for the kingdom!" 

How is raising the next generation of warriors not doing enough for the kingdom? How is spending time with a lonely elderly person not doing enough for the kingdom? Why is there this idea out there that if you're not shouting from a platform--literally and figuratively--you're not doing enough?

Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands ... so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders.  -- 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12

"So that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders."

Daily life is just so ... ... daily.

Yet, I was just going about my daily life when, out of the blue, my neighbour asked me to tell her about my faith. I hadn't been preaching or quoting scripture to her. I'd been minding my own business, living my life.

People notice our modus operandi, don't they? I would hope that my MO included a quiet assurance as I went about my day; that the faithfulness of my life, the inner peace, the joy, the gratitude--all this even in a troubled world--would be noticed.

It's not about striving to be a certain way or to do a certain thing. It's about Him working through us, in our neighbourhood, in our families, in our faithful writing.

Right where we are, with who we are, and what we've been given.

Yes, sometimes God asks us to do hard things, but getting out of our comfort zones to strive to do work for the kingdom does not signify a greater ministry than something like befriending a neighbour. 

God gave you your gifts for a reason, and when conducted from a place of quiet confidence in the King of Kings, they are mighty. 

********

Photo from Pixabay

After a very busy season with family, Joy plans to spend the next few weeks breathing. Find more of her joy-infused writing at Scraps of Joy.

How Do You Measure Your Life? by Bob Jones

Clayton M. Christensen is a big deal when it comes to innovation. Steve Jobs credited him with life changing insights. Christensen gave a powerful speech to the Harvard Business School's graduating class of 2010. The speech was memorable because it came at a time of intense personal reflection. He had just overcome the same type of cancer that had taken his father's life. As he struggled with the disease, the question "How do you measure your life?" became more urgent and poignant. The speech morphed into a bestselling book, “How Will You Measure Your Life?”

 

How do you measure your life? What is your measure of success? Or progress? Are you hard on yourself? Are your expectations in line with what God wants for you?

 

To start the new year, I looked at seven familiar units of measure that can shape a measured perspective on life.

 

Inch

Inch is one of the few units of measure that we have turned into a verb, in this case meaning “to move or progress very slowly.”

 

When I feel overwhelmed by a major project, I remind myself that, “Inch by inch it’s a cinch.”

 

Ounce

When someone asks you if you have “an ounce of common sense,” the measurement system doesn’t matter. They are using the word simply to mean “a minimal amount.”

 

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Make space in 2024 to care for your wellbeing. Come apart before you come apart. Take a break. Go for a walk. Dance in your kitchen. Sing in the shower.

 

Fathom

In Old English, fæthm referred to the length of one’s outstretched arms. As a verb, to fathom originally meant to encircle something with the arms as if for measuring as well as to measure depth. Now the verb is used as a reference to this literal getting to the bottom of something.

 

Can you fathom the depth of God’s love for you? In this world, all we know is limited supply. Eventually, we will run to the end of everything: money, time, resources, energy, pleasure, satisfaction, peace, safety, health, life. We have this life and all eternity to plumb the depths of God’s love. You are loved.

 

Watt

Did you know the watt is named for James Watt (1736-1819), known for inventing the Watt steam engine? though his namesake unit of measure probably makes you think of light bulbs.

 

Is there a 100 watt light bulb over your head illuminating a breakthrough idea for 2024?

 

Meter

The base unit of measurement in the metric system, so basic that it derives from the Greek word for “measure” (metron). For a musician, the meter is the regular background rhythm, or 4/4 time.

 

What is your rhythm of writing? Of living?

 

Furlong

A furlong refers to a distance equal to 220 yards (or one-eighth of a mile), but in olden times it was defined less precisely as length of a furrow in a cultivated field. The furrow made up the long side of what we now call an acre, originally regarded as the amount of arable land that could be plowed by a yoke of oxen in a day.

 

Writers measure a day’s work in words. Some try for 500 words a day. Others lean into a 1000. What amount of words do you plow in a day?

 

Milestone

A milestone is a stone used to mark a milepost, which designates a point located a certain number of miles to or from another designated point. Metaphorically, it’s a significant point or accomplishment in any journey.

 

Carve out 45 minutes this month to reflect on significant milestones in your writing journey. You will no doubt be amazed at how far you have come.

 

How will you measure your life?

Happy New Year! All the best to you on 2024.

 

Thank you for reading. And for commenting.

 

You can follow Bob's writing at REVwords.com