Do You Really Want To Print That? by Brenda J Wood

The line she whispered as we prayed together got my attention.

“Lord, may my conversations be so pure that I could end them with “In Jesus’ Name. Amen”

 OUCH!

I thought of my complaint about the slow service at the coffee shop.

I remembered how I gossiped about a neighbour.

Of course I’d made my thoughts known about a recent newspaper editorial.

I knew when I said them that none of them honoured Christ. I knew that I wouldn’t ever add his name to any of them because they were not pleasing to Him. I’m reviewing my words more carefully now…before I say them… instead of after. NOTE: it’s even worse when they end up in print with your name on the by-line.

Are you using any of your writing as a way to get back at someone? Think before you publish.

Prayer: Father God, may the words of our mouths and the meditations of our heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen (from Psalm 19:14, NIV)


Brenda J Wood
http:// heartfeltdevotionals.com

Conversations will Begin Again by Linda Aleta Tame

I’ve always loved writing poetry. For years I neglected the craft, and now the joy of returning to it is indescribable. It makes me so happy! Sometimes it makes me sad too, and that's okay.  It’s all good.

I’m currently working on a book of poetry, entitled Rim of the Visible World. The collection will include several sections, a few of which are entitled: “Here We Come A Ghazaling,” “Echoes,” “A Bit of Ham” and “Rim of the Visible World.”

The idea for this book came about during a poetry class I attended. For homework, my professor assigned the exercise of simply sitting in silence, doing nothing, for at least an hour a day. Admittedly, I didn’t always do my homework, but when I did, I felt tranquil and able to sift my thoughts. No small feat in my world!

I've tried to continue this process of quieting my spirit, during which bits and pieces of memory, beauty, humour, faith and so on surface and eventually find their place on the page. I think the goal of writing this particular book is primarily to indulge myself, take the liberty to explore a realm that seems mystical to me. Though somewhat selfish, I think it's a good place to start. I’d be delighted if others enjoy my explorations too, so another goal would be publication. I hope to have the manuscript completed by the end of this year.

The piece I’ve included here was written as I grieved the loss of two brothers and a sister to cancer.  The loss is beyond words, no matter how poetic, but in a measure the words bring comfort, and perhaps they'll unite other grieving hearts. 

There is Not Silence

after John Thompson’s Translations of René Char’s –

Eternity at Lourmarin Albert Camus

We have ceased to speak

with those we love,

but there is not silence.

And there will never be.

The rhythm has not changed,

of song and step,

or that simple smile

consisting of one sustained beat. 

A bond so close never falters.

The power of love 
transforms insolent darkness 
into glorious light. 

When that hovering menace

has once and for all,

victimized its last,

love will overwhelm

the perceived severance,

into harmony

with all the parts

of the whole, 
and the conversations will 
begin again.

In memory of three beautiful people who were incredibly loved:  

Clark McCrae, Terry McCrae, and Karen McCrae

Trying Something New: stress-filled, but good for the creative soul

By Dayna E. Mazzuca

Trying something new is sure to induce stress. Tackling a project bigger than the last one can lead to sleep loss. Obsessing over something with no guarantee of success to loss of appetite, shortness of temper and increased irritability…. all sure signs of stress. It also might mean you’re absorbed in something large enough to motivate you, stir the imagination and spur you on to a finished work. I’d even argue that trying something new and big and scary is necessary to the creative soul.

So, yes, I am trying something new (a book length project—solo). And, yes, I am losing sleep, acting grumpy, not eating regularly, etc., etc. (Thank you God for my family's love and wisdom in giving me space during these seasons of creative-surges).

In the past, I’ve contributed to books; co-authored and self-published. But. I really think I need a book that’s all mine, published by a traditional print publisher. I see it as a calling card—basically a door-opener to leading writing workshops, which I love to do.
 
It should be easy. As a freelancer and a former journalist, I’m used to writing to deadline, following assigned word counts (under 2,000) and generally using a template for my work. But I find setting my own deadline (June 30) and my own word count (35,000) and working with chapters rather than sub-heads requires a different energy level, sustained focus and a longer admin process. In other words—I'm not sure I'm entirely up for it!

Turns out matching the writer’s skill and experience with the writer’s goals and dreams is no small feat. As Yente the MatchMaker in Fiddler on the Roof knows, we all need some help now and then to make that perfect match!

So... I took a breather and went back to leading writing groups for Christian women. Eight to ten of us meet every second week at the local Christian bookstore after hours. They serve us fancy coffees and arrange comfy chairs around the tables. We talk about writing, genres, publishing goals and the roadblocks along the way. Even though I’m the one facilitating the evening, I am part of the group, with my own writing goals and roadblocks. It’s very (very!) encouraging.

Coaching this group of women through the basics of the business and realizing how deep our support for one another goes...  inspired me to take the next step in my own career—the next step forward on this path the Lord has had me on for a long time now.

Doing something new, something big IS scary. It causes stress and can lead to fretting. So I am thankful for these wonderful women who gather together to pursue their own dreams of writing. I realized it wouldn’t be right for me to encourage and equip them to follow their path without being willing to follow my own. I really believe we are all on this larger, God-designed and Spirit-inspired path together—daring to create something that mirrors and echoes all the good stuff HE has put inside us.

The good news is the creative soul really does love a challenge! 

A Second Edition, by Bryan Norford

Editing an earlier work is a harrowing and humbling project. Daily, it serves up amazement at the odd flash of brilliance, but embarrassment at verbose and turgid prose. Ann and I have been editing our first book authored together six years ago, Happy Together: Daily Insight for Families from Scripture. The book. written in a daily devotional format, reviews examples of marriage, family, and relationships from Genesis to Revelation.

Why edit? It’s a mammoth task with over 350 pages of text. But feedback over the years has led us to condense the material to a page-a-day format; reduce the daily readings from 300 or 350 words to about 250, but still retain the basic message of each one. As you can imagine, a useful exercise to sharpen and produce concise writing.

In addition, we have added a text from each day’s reading, and a responsive prayer. Each page is reformatted to camera ready and paragraphs reduced to newspaper style for easier reading. Now to add the front and back ends, build indexes listing Scriptures used and subjects reviewed, check references for accuracy and consider cover redesign.

It has also given us the opportunity to incorporate ideas from reading and conferences we’ve taken in the interim. As always, our purpose is to produce a worthwhile legacy for our family and others; if it sells, that’s an added bonus!

Looking back is a reminder of the frailty of our work. I’m sure you get the feeling a work is never finished; there’s always some improvement we could make. Editing is an opportunity to catch up on some of those improvements, but accept the fact is still comes up short and we depend on Him to complete it in the hearts and minds of our readers.

Here is a sample page.