EMPTY IT OUT! A Lego-Inspired Guest Writing Post by Allison Lynn

 

One of my favourite childhood pastimes was an afternoon of building Legos. We had piles and piles of the colourful plastic blocks. Maybe they were originally packaged to build a house or a car, but they very quickly ended up in the shiny red storage box. There was no attempt to sort by colour or size. They all lived happily in a big, complicated mess. 

So, there was only one way to start an afternoon of Lego magic: empty the box!

We lifted it as high as our little arms could stretch and dumped the whole thing out all over the floor. Colourful pieces scattered across the carpet, followed by Mom’s strict warning to eventually pick them all up. (No one wants to step on a lost Lego!)

Seeing those Legos spread across the floor was all we needed to spark our imaginations! 

Spread before us was a rich and varied palette of colours, shapes, and sizes. Flat green platforms provided the perfect base for a country cottage with flowery gardens. Long rectangular pieces anchored the strong base of a looming tower. Tiny two-bump pieces formed ornate battlements along the top of a castle. Black rubber wheels turned any creation - car or otherwise - into a racing vehicle. And, of course, heads, hands, and feet were mixed and matched to build families, rock bands, parades, and teams of superheroes.

But it all started by emptying the box. 

Laying out our tools and playing in the mess, allowing our creativity space to grow. 

You know, writing is no different. 

Sometimes, it’s helpful to organize everything in our heads. I’m a planner by nature, so this makes sense to me.

But sometimes, the plan doesn’t form on its own. Sometimes, it’s just a bunch of random thoughts or words, bouncing around in our imaginations.

And in those moments, we need to empty our ideas out like a messy box of Legos!

Make a list of those random words. Or maybe, don’t make a list! Just write them all over the page at various angles and spacings. Allow each word or idea to float on its own, or bounce against another. See what new creations might come from bringing words together or pulling them apart. 

Write down those odd sentences. Maybe they’re not connected, but maybe they are? Won’t it be neat to see them on the page together and look for synchronicity? Dictate them as they formed in your head, and then, write them out again, switching up a few keywords. Maybe put them in a different tense, or switch up the pronouns. How many variations can you find with just those specific words?

And that unformed draft that keeps bouncing around inside you? Empty that out, too. Just start writing. Get out what you can in this moment. If it’s bumpy or nonsensical, that’s okay. Save it, giving yourself the freedom to delete it later. Don’t worry if it doesn’t make sense now. You can sort it out when you edit and rewrite.

So, I encourage you to empty it all out today! Grab your laptop, or your pen and paper, and just get those words, ideas, and thoughts down on the page. Allow yourself to play in the mess, and see what sparks … 

And if you need a little extra inspiration, pick up a box of Legos, dump them on the carpet, and really have some fun!

Singer, songwriter and worship leader, Allison Lynn, is drawn to the power of story to grow hearts and communities. Allison and her husband, Gerald Flemming, just released their 9th Infinitely More album - The Sum of All Love. Publications include The Anglican Journal (national newspaper), Taste and See (journal), Love STC (Niagara Tourism Blog), and four stories with Chicken Soup for the Soul. www.InfinitelyMore.ca

E is for Expectancy by Sandi Somers

At our InScribe Fall Conference last September, Grace Fox, our guest speaker, told the story from the Scriptures of a destitute widow who cried out to Elisha, “My husband is dead, but now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves!”

Elisha asked, “What do you have in your house?”

“Nothing except a little flask of olive oil.” Elisha instructed her to borrow from her neighbours all the empty jars they had available. And secluded with her sons, she was to pour oil into the jars. In expectancy, she did as he said. From that little flask, oil flowed into each container until they were all filled to the brim. Elisha directed her to sell the oil, pay her debts, and live on what was left over (2 Kings 4:1-7)

Grace Fox then related that when she was writing a book of devotionals under an impossibly tight deadline, she needed 90 devotionals—90 "jars"—to be filled in 30 days, and that meant three “jars” a day. God filled her with His presence and purpose and she succeeded. 

 “God will never give us an assignment without giving us the creative resources to get it done,” Grace concluded.

God is able to give abundantly what we need through the “oil” and power of the Spirit. What “jars” do you need God to fill so you can complete your writing projects?

Pray with anticipation, “Lord of Creativity, from my little flask of ideas, fill me with expectancy that You will supply what I need today and in the future. With gratitude I praise You.” 

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E is for Encouragement - Guest Post by Brenda J. Wood

 The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is a historically true novel documenting the German occupation of the Guernsey Islands during World War 2.  Read it and tell me what you think!

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society resembles the Bible in many ways. Both the Bible and the novel are historically true. Both are made up of a series of letters. Finally, all the authors must be surprised at the success of their particular venue.

 Did you know that the Bible authors did not think of themselves as writers? Matthew was a tax collector, Mark the rich kid on the block and Luke a doctor. They just wanted to document their life with Jesus.

You have a life. Are you documenting it? Will your children know who you were, what you did or what you believe? Anybody can keep a journal. I’m pretty sure our notes won’t make it into the Bible, but they’ll be a best-seller, at least in our families. 

I challenge you today to follow Luke’s plan. He documented everything he learned about Jesus. Do your nearest and dearest know what you know, about Christ?

With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught. (Luke 1:3-4)

A life worth living is worth documenting to encourage the faith of others.

Brenda J. Wood is a speaker, author, and blogger. Her book: My Affair with Cancer, is available online.

E is for Earmarks of Good Editing ~ Wendy L. Macdonald

 

 

(This will be a short post to leave room for an important message at the end of it.)

Earmarks of a well-edited and prayerfully written manuscript include more than just good grammar and correct spelling. Whether it’s fiction or nonfiction, the writing should grab the attention of the reader in the first sentence. And since the reader has opened the book in the first place, that proves another earmark was present: The title and/or back jacket blurb had an effective hook.

Now that the reader bit the bait, the next milestone is when the reader sets aside her plans to watch a favorite program and flops on the sofa and flips through pages instead. This is because another earmark was achieved: The author kept the unspoken promise to continue with the same quality of writing she produced in the first five pages. And she made sure to continue creating questions in the reader’s mind. Each chapter should answer the hook placed at the end of the previous chapter. And each chapter should end with a new hook to encourage the reader to keep reading.

It's also an important earmark to tie up all loose ends. All the questions should be answered in a satisfying way by the end of the book. There are exceptions—such as in a series. But the ending must satisfy, or the reader won’t read another book by that author. 

The happy thing about the book world is there are too many good books and not enough time to read them all. This is also why writers need to meet as many earmarks of a well-edited manuscript as they can.

I’m going to end my E post here because I want to mention something about the contributors to this blog: I appreciate you. The posts you’ve all been sharing here are wonderful. It’s a delight to read them. Thank you so much for showing up and showing us your stuff. You’re rocking it. 

As always, I look forward to seeing what you come up with this month. Enjoy E.  

Blessings,

Wendy Mac

P.S. Sandi Somers will be helping with the blog administration for a few days while I’m out of town later this week and next.