Fishing for Word Pictures

Recently a sweet but slightly delusional friend of mine suggested that I teach a workshop on word pictures. I laughed. She said she was serious. I laughed like a talk show host with a dud guest.

“I don’t really know how I come up with word pictures,” I told her. “How could I possibly teach someone else what I don’t know myself?”

But in the following weeks the notion kept surfacing. I tried to reel in the flopping idea only to lose it once again to the depths of my murky subconscious.

Finally, when I’d given up fishing for inspiration, it landed in my boat all shiny and slick. The only problem? Well, it was a Minnow of an idea. Not some big, impressive Marlin leaping from the ocean with power and grace.

With a smirk, I told my friend I’d discovered the evolution of my word pictures.

“Great,” she said, “I’ll get on the phone and set up a workshop.”

I snickered. “Don’t you want to hear my brilliant idea first?”

“Sure!”

“Okay.” I gave her a classic you-asked-for-it grimace. “You think about the object, emotion, or action you want to describe. You get it squarely in your head.”

“Uh huh.”

“The first thing that comes into your mind is a cliché.”

“Uh huh.”

“Don’t use that.”

At this point I deserved a smack, but my friend—who is Wal-Mart truck loads nicer than me—simply said, “You’re going to have to come up with a little more than that.”

Awhile later, we went out to dinner and she helped me brainstorm my “workshop.” It’s still in progress. It doesn’t even get to wear a “Coming Soon” banner. But, eventually, I hope to have something to share—maybe on the order of a rainbow trout—a teaching model that’s interesting, digestible, and beneficial.

Black Friday

This month I decided to do NaNoWriMo. Unfortunately, my life decided to do something else. So much for progress. *sigh* Because of these turn of events, I’m now officially pegging the end of my NaNoWriMo days as “Black Friday.”

The phrase “Black …” was originally associated with catastrophic events, such as the stock market crash of 1929 (Black Tuesday) and the great financial crisis of 1869 (Black Friday). The first use of “Black Friday” in retail terms occurred in 1966, when the Philadelphia police department dealt with a mad rush of shoppers and traffic in Center City (downtown) the day after Thanksgiving. However, the term didn’t catch on nationwide unit 1975 when retail madness spread throughout the country, causing several well-known newspapers to coin the day “Black Friday;” thus, the tradition began.

So what does all this have to do with NaNoWriMo and my writing? Nothing, really. Except, in order to make my 50,000 November word goal, I would have to type as quickly and madly over the next few days as shoppers shop on Black Friday. And that, my fellow writers, just ain’t gonna happen.

I have given myself grace, however. I made it to approximately 20% of my writing goal. As far as shopping? I’m at 0%. One Black Friday is all I can handle for now.



(If you have a “Black Friday” experience to share—whether it be writing or shopping—I’d love to hear about it.)

Forgetful Things

This has been a crazy month. I've been participating in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). For anyone who might not know what that is, it is where you go crazy for a month with a purpose. You lock your I.E. (Internal Editor) in the basement, even if you don't have one. If necessary, use Duct tape. Then you write 50K words as fast as you can and hope you hit that words count before running out of the days in November. They don't have to be good words, just words. You have to be highly focused to reach that goal. Well, at least I have to be highly focused.

So I've been looking at my calendar and reminding myself that I was up to blog on the 23rd. I even thought about it that morning. But my focus was centered on NaNoWriMo and my words count (I was behind and trying to catch up), and so I spaced it.

It can be like that with God too. We get so busy with all the things going on in life that we space God. We are so focused on the task at hand or the current crisis or whatever else is swirling around us that we forget to look to God.

I'm reading a book by Max Lucado called Facing Your Giants. In there he talks about David. How when David focused on God, it didn't matter how big his problem was or how big Goliath was, he knew God was bigger. As long as his gaze was on the Lord, there was no giant too big. But when he took his eyes off of God, even a munchkin was too much to handle.

Often we don't look to God when there is a munchkin standing in front of us because we think it is just a small problem and we can handle it. But God wants to help us handle all our problem, big or small. He also wants to share in our joys and triumphs.

So during this busy season of the year don't forget God.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Fear Not

“And I will put enmity between you and the woman…”
A few days ago, as I was studying Genesis 3:15a, (NASB) and I realized God decreed there will be and enmity – antagonism and hostility – between me and Satan. He didn’t decree fear. Fear is a product of Satan. This week I started a new project with my writing and I am terrified because it is one that puts me in a position of great vulnerability. It has taken me weeks to start because of my fear, but I was reminded in this verse fear doesn’t come from the Lord. My gift as a writer comes from the Lord and as long as I am writing for Him, I have no reason to fear. It really doesn’t matter who likes or approves of my words, as long as I am writing what He wants me to write. So I challenge you, my fellow writers, to remember for Whom we are writing and not to allow our fear to slow us down.

On the Trampoline

First of all, let me admit this -- I have never actually jumped on a trampoline. But, I have seen people doing it, and I have heard them talk about it. And, I consider myself to be highly observant and a great listener.

Jumping on a trampoline looks like a lot of work, a lot of excitement, and a whole bunch of pain.

Face it, you have to climb up there and get the momentum going to get the jumping started. And, as your feet leave the surface and you soar up, up in the air, reports are that you feel like you are being propelled into space. And, of course, if you aren't careful, and you hit those nasty metal springs on the edge, or miss the edge at all and hit the ground, well -- you know that hurts. And, even if you do manage to land on that rubber surface, you still need to pump those legs, flex those muscles, and work to get back up in the air again.

So, what does this have to do with writing and the writing journey?

I have talked to a number of writers these last few weeks, and the general consensus is that this writing life is tough. You have to have faith in the calling God has placed on your life to even consider putting pen to paper, in a literal or figurative manner. You have to be able coordinate everything else that is going on in your life to make time and energy to take on just one more thing like writing.

That's like climbing up on this flimsy rubber surface for the very first time. You don't know for sure you are going to like writing. You don't know you are going to be any good. And, you don't know but that everyone is going to end up laughing at you as you make a fool of yourself.

And, once you do get started with the writing process, oh, the ups and downs. Up, up -- you managed to string together three logical sentences. Down, down, your critique group hates it. Up, up -- you're going to a conference. Down, down -- you have so much to learn. Up, up -- you've finished the book. Down, down -- no one is looking for this genre. Up, up -- you send it off. Down, down -- now what?

You get the idea. Every step of this journey is like a trampoline ride. And, what if you miss the mat on the way back down -- you get a rejection? Rejections hurt. They can crush your spirit. They can undermine your faith in your calling, and cause you to question whether you really heard God or not.

So, what to do? Get back up on the trampoline. Learn from your mistakes. What can you do differently so that doesn't happen again? And, if it does happen, how can you learn to fall so you don't get hurt so badly? How do you get over the fear of getting hurt? How do you get past this down time?

You need to start writing. Immediately. Like, right now. Write right now. Start with plotting the book that's been swimming around your head. Do some goal-motivation-conflict charts of your characters. Do some research. Write with a pen -- it stimulates different areas of your brain.

And, spend some time in prayer, some time with the Lord. Ask Him to confirm His calling in your life. Call a friend who supports your writing. Go back and read a good review of your book, an email from someone who read it and said they couldn't put it down.

Yes, this writing life may be like jumping on the trampoline, but here's the important thing about trampoline jumping -- without the downs, there wouldn't be any ups. You need the downs to build the momentum to carry you up, up, up again.