A “Thousand Daily Plots” by Sandi Somers

 

The evening sun, edging toward the horizon, nearly blinded me as I drove westward out of Calgary. The surrounding sky and clouds glowed golden. I glanced in the rearview mirror and caught sight of an apartment tower, its windows shimmering with the golden reflection.

The lovely sight reminded me that there are so many golden moments in a day we could write about. Or memorable in other ways when God reveals Himself. The grey days of rain after a drought, with blades of green grass poking through the yellowed parched lawn. The red heart emoji accompanying encouraging words from a loving friend. Or the ebony blackness of night punctuated by laser flashes of lightning.

But how can we write the whole context of the incident and shape it into a story right then and there? It seems too great a task while absorbed with life or a major writing project. We might conclude that it’s easier to let those moments slide into oblivion or become vague, distant memories.

But we can capture the impressions, perhaps in a short vignette or a paragraph. Just take a few moments while writing morning pages, or record into your cell phone, or reflect in your journal or computer document at the end of the day.

Here’s an example I wrote several weeks ago on an ebony night punctuated by those laser flashes of lightning:

I woke up last night to see flashes of lightning, brightening even my closed eyes, but I didn't hear thunder. I peeked out the windows, but with houses surrounding me, I couldn’t see where the distant storm was. It reminded me of visiting my grandma as a child. One summer evening, driving home on the country roads from visiting her friend just as dusk was falling, we watched a storm in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. The silent glow of lightning illuminated the cloud, yet no thunder followed. Sheet lightning, Grandma called it. I felt secure with her. Secure that the storm was far away and would hopefully stay there. Because earlier that summer, lightning had struck our farmhouse and left me terrified of thunderstorms and lightning strikes.

These daily scenarios can arise spontaneously and capture the immediacy of the memory, with sensory images, details, and emotions that can later grow into stories or poems or become plot points of a larger work. Whatever we choose to do with our drafts, these nuggets provide great practice for encapsulating significant God-given moments that enhance our creativity.

Like the psalmist, we can declare, “Beautiful words stir my heart. I will recite a lovely poem…for my tongue is like the pen of a skillful poet” (Psalm 45:1 NLT).

“Thousand daily plots”, from Ann V. Klotz, https://brevity.wordpress.com/2024/07/22/so-many-stories-in-a-day/

Image by Pixabay

Take Stock, Take Another Look, Take a Chance by Joylene M Bailey

~~~~~

Have you ever come across a piece of writing and immediately fallen in love with it, only to find out that YOU wrote it? That happened to me recently. It took me aback because I hadn't remembered writing it. But as I read, I thought, This is really good. I almost couldn't believe the author was me! 

The truth of the matter is, I write the kinds of things that I like to read. I don't write devotionals because, generally, I don't enjoy reading devotionals. I do love to read stories filled with whimsy and wonder. So, that tends to be the kind of thing I write.

Lately, I've been taking stock ... going through old pieces of writing: some finished, some barely begun; some written many years ago, and some more recent; some that seem like dull non-starters, and some that still spark excitement.

I've been taking another look at the ones that stir up something in me. It might be the feeling that this could be a good piece of writing; like it could go somewhere. Or it might be that I still love the characters and want to find out what happens to them. Whatever the allure, I think it's worth pulling them out again and giving it another go. This could be the perfect time to find the right words to tell the story.

This happened to me last year when I was looking for something to submit to InScribe's Fall Contest. I went back through stories I'd written but that had never gone anywhere. And I found one that I still really liked. I worked on it a little more, polished it, and entered it. Lo and behold, it won first place in its category. I was so glad I'd taken the chance.

As a former InScribe Fall Contest Coordinator, I know the work that goes into offering this contest to InScribe's members. I know how dedicated and diligent the judges are; how much they want to make the writing of the entrants the best that it can be. Their detailed and conscientious critiques are worth more than any prize. Over my years of entering the contests, I've learned so much from them about how to develop my writing and make it even better.

There's still time left to enter this year's Fall Contest. The deadline is midnight, August 15. You might say you have nothing to enter, but I'm sure you've got some old unpublished pieces somewhere that just need a little tweaking. Why not give it a go?

Take stock.

Take another look.

Take a chance.

You might be glad you did.

~~~~~

Joy writes from her home in lake country, Alberta, where she lives with the Cowboy, a couple of seniors, and a couple of pets. Find more of her joy-infused writing at Scraps of Joy.

Timely Reading, Timeless Writing by Bob Jones

When writing starts where people live - their questions, struggles, and concerns - and

then offers a timely and helpful word from the Scriptures, people are more

interested in hearing what else the Scriptures have to say.

Have you ever read someone’s story and thought, “That’s exactly what I needed to read”? Your writing will do that for someone else. Affirmation for what we write is like gold, but it’s the comments about how timely the content is for a reader that inspire us the most.

“This was exactly what I needed to hear to start my day! Thank you!”

“This is definitely what I needed to read today… absorb it and now live it.”

“Just what I needed to hear this morning to strengthen me and know beyond any doubt that God has me.”

“You don’t know how much I needed to read that today.”

 

Timing is Everything

Timely words - the right words at the right time - are a gift from God. Inspired words can be most inspiring when truth meets need. 

 

Amy Rees Anderson is an author and a highly sought after keynote speaker and a frequent lecturer on college campuses. She posted this prayer on her blog on June 13^th with the comment: Hopefully one of you reading this will find this poem to have exactly the words you needed to hear at exactly the time you needed to hear it too.

The Knot Prayer

 

Dear God:
Please untie the knots
that are in my mind,
my heart and my life.

Remove the have nots,
the can nots and the do nots
that I have in my mind.

 

Erase the will nots,
may nots,
might nots that may find
a home in my heart.

 

Release me from the could nots,
would nots and
should nots that obstruct my life.

 

And most of all,

Dear God,
I ask that you remove from my mind,
my heart and my life all of the ‘am nots’
that I have allowed to hold me back,
especially the thought
that I am not good enough.

AMEN

-unknown

 

The beauty of a book or blog or archived content on the web is that people can access it from anywhere, at any time. Timeless words can become timely. The comment below resulted from the reader encountering content I published three years previous.

 

“I accidentally came across this article. It touches me deeply. I wanted to keep myself isolated from anyone and anything that could hurt me. I now realize I was afraid, holding myself in a mental prison because I wanted to be the peacemaker and it was taking my peace of mind. Keeping up the expectations of everyone else. I am learning how much He loves and cares for me regardless of my situation.” 

I look for comments right after I post content, especially on the Inscribe Writers blog. How about you? Are you ever discouraged by a lack of immediate response from your invitation to connect or comment? I hope this post will encourage you that your writing is timely and can have a timeless effect for good.

 

Timely Conversations

Timeliness is not only about people engaging writing, but writers engaging people in random conversations. As you seek God for inspiration, pay attention for God’s direction.

Julia Cameron, famous for her book, The Artist’s Way, and for the practice of Morning Pages, says,

“When we seek daily spiritual guidance, we are guided toward the next step forward for our art. Sometimes the step is very small. Sometimes the step is, "Wait. Not now." Sometimes the step is, "Work on something else for a while." When we are open to Divine Guidance, we will receive it. It will come to us as timely conversations with others.”

What content have you written that was inspired by a timely conversation? What might you encounter today that would be the creative breakthrough you are praying for?

Do you feel God’s nudge to write something today that the Spirit can use in a timely manner? What are you waiting for?

 

Thank you for reading. And commenting. 

Bob and his wife Jocelyn are both Reverends and write at www.REVwords.com

T is for Time, by Susan Barclay

 

There's a certain amount of irony in choosing time as my theme for this month's post. Time got away from me and I am writing this on the day of deadline. There are two reasons, I think, that time's passage escaped me: 1) I had rescheduled my July post to the 25th because I missed that deadline; 2) my husband and I were at a cottage last week and found that time passed much more slowly there. Can it really already be August the 6th today?!

As I think about time, a number of quotes come to mind. Are you familiar with any of these?

"I wasted time and now doth time waste me." ~William Shakespeare

"Where your attention goes, your time goes." Idowu Koyenikan

"Take care of the minutes and the hours will take care of themselves." ~Lord Chesterfield

"Time is the single most important resource we have. Every single minute we lose is never coming back." ~Taran Sharma

 Now, how about this one?

"...teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom." (Psalm 90:12)

As I watch my mom struggle in her final years (months? days?), I'm reminded of the importance of using well the time God has graciously given each one of us. While most of us will leave this planet with unfinished work, projects, and plans; unrealized hopes and dreams, while we are here, we ought to make the most of the time we have. Though there is a place for downtime, rest, and relaxation, and I'm not suggesting we burn ourselves out with activity (even meaningful, worthwhile activity), how many of us are skilled at managing ourselves well? How many of us fritter away our time on pointless things?

"There is no such thing as time-management; there is only self-management." ~Rory Vaden

"...each of us will give a personal account to God" (Romans 14:12). I don't know about you, but I want to hear those words referenced in Matthew 25:21, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

God has given us gifts, including the gift of writing, and not to use them is a waste of the gift of time - don't you agree? 

Therefore, let's put legs to this quote from author Stephen King:

Amateurs wait for inspiration while the rest of us just get up and go to work.

And "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving" (Colossians 3:23-24).

Write on, my friends!

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