Devotion: Musings from a Dot in the Atlantic Ocean

by Sherma Webbe Clarke | @sdwc8181 

Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.
3 John 2 (NKJV)

Inspiration and Habits 

Some writers stick to a fixed schedule. First thing in the morning before the birds and children are moving around. Two o’clock at the same café every other afternoon. Ten o'clock to midnight every evening. Others write when inspiration prompts them, hastily recording their thoughts onto napkins, scraps of paper, or into electronic devices.

One famous writer visited Bermuda many times and considered the Island vital to his health and creativity. Between 1867 and 1910, Mark Twain (born Samuel Clemens) frequented the Island as an escape from his routine life in favor of the natural beauty and slower pace that he enjoyed during his residences here. His famous quote, “You can go to heaven if you want to; I’d rather stay in Bermuda,” floats around the Island like a longtail (white-tailed tropicbird) soaring over the ocean. I liked the idea of a connection between the Island and this revered literary figure, but the statement never settled well with me. As beautiful as Bermuda is, it can't compare to God’s heavenly paradise.

Digging into the context of the quotation, however, I discovered that Mark Twain’s intention is opposite to the message that is conveyed as popular understanding. Or misunderstanding. Whether convalescing at one of the local hotels or enjoying the eerie beauty of the Crystal Caves, Mr. Twain experienced a revival in his health after the doctors had pronounced their grim prognoses. As a man defying his ailments and infirmities, he declared to those who seemed poised to make funeral arrangements, “You can go to heaven if you want to; I’d rather stay in Bermuda.” In other words, “Don’t write me off yet; I’m not going anywhere.”

In one particular way, he was right about staying in Bermuda. Bronze statues of Mark Twain dot the Island, giving him a permanent presence, albeit in an immobile form. I recently worked in an office building that boasted a statue of the author at its entrance. His bronze likeness also sits on a bench at the hotel he frequented in the City of Hamilton.

What inspires you? 

As writers, we receive inspiration from many sources, and we pour these experiences into words, sentences, novels, a series. What inspires you? Is it a long, scenic walk? Camping by a lake? Or playing with your grandchildren? Jesus connected with people through stories crafted from situations in ordinary life. Seeds and sowers. A woman sweeping. Lost coins. Vineyards and grapes. A traveler who helps an unfortunate man without expecting a reward.

Some of us may not be as prolific as Mark Twain. And having multiple statues built in our honor? Probably a long shot. Maybe we have one book in us. One book that will fulfill our purpose. One book that will touch the heart of someone who will experience God’s love and grace through our story. As the words of a favorite hymn say, You may have this whole world; give me Jesus.


Let's chat: Where do you live? Has any particular place, close to home or far away, inspired you on your writing journey? I'd love to hear about it!

About Sherma . . . 

Sherma is a contemporary fiction writer, amateur photographer, reading enthusiast, and wife who often takes her husband by the hand to explore nearby and far-flung areas of the globe. This wanderlust has its perks. She credits many of her story ideas to these adventures, which provide great opportunities for research for short stories and the novel series she is currently working on. Quiet, early-morning walks along the railroad trails on her home island of Bermuda provide inspiration when she is homebound.

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The layers of the writer, not the writing

In pursuit of improving my craft, I have been diving into the thoughts from a range of different authors to find out how they produce better stories.

One thing I found common to many of them is an idea that our writing should have different layers, and the deeper we go into them, the more engaging our stories will be.

I’ve read about going to deeper layers within characters. Readers will care about a character with depth, who has quirks and foibles not unlike their own. As the story progresses, they reveal more of themselves that the reader can embrace.

I’ve also read about the deep layers of plot. There is an intricate art to weaving subplots in, through and under the main storyline so there is something there for the reader to sink their teeth into.

There are layers of research, whereby authors don’t just check the spelling of the place name or breed of horse. They know what their story setting sounds like, smells like and feels like. They go deeper into finding out where their stories are set.

Lastly, I’ve read about the layering of scenes, so it’s not just a mad scramble from the opening line to the final phrase. Instead, the scene itself takes the reader deeper into the character’s dilemma.

I’ve embraced this advice and all of them have deepened my writing.

But I’ve been challenged beyond this. There is another level of layering that really makes a story deeper and more engaging.

It’s going deeper into the author. Me. You.

I’ve been challenged by God to respond to this. To not just provide a story that has deeper layers in and of itself, but to look at the layers of myself so my story will go deeper for my reader.

These are the layers I’ve been looking at:

1. My mind. I’m a pretty cerebral, rational guy and I live in my head most of the time.  I’m comfortable at this level. So when I write stories that are only at this layer, they might be observational but it’s still surface. It’s like reporting on a news channel.  Stories should go deeper than that.
2. My experience. I’ve found that writing from my experience takes the story another level deeper again, when I convey through my characters that I know the wrenching grief of what it’s like to lose a grandfather, or the heart-pounding sprint to catch a flight. It’s another layer again and drives the reader deeper into the story. But I’ve been challenged to take my stories deeper than that.
3. My heart. I could take the already-signposted route and claim that as an Aussie bloke this is the element of writing I’ll probably struggle with the most. But I’m surprised by how many other authors struggle with this; bloke or not, Aussie or not.  Peeling away the onion-like layers of mind and experience, and connecting with what you feel – in a tangible, real way for readers and putting it on the page – is scary and confronting. Writing from the heart draws readers even deeper into the story we’ve created. I’ve noticed with my own reading, this is where I connect with characters because I can see the passion bleeding through the words on the page. The author has gone beyond that they think or know, and has dared to put on the page what they feel. But there is another layer deeper than that.
4. My soul. This deepest layer is where I want to be.  I don’t mean by this that all Christian authors instantly turn into writers who produce sermons dressed up as fiction, but to me, writing from the soul is not just writing what you think, know or feel – it’s writing from who you are. It’s the essence of you.  I’ve read stories recently where there is almost something primal about connecting with someone on that level. I love a good plot twist and clever turn-of-phrase more than the next person, but when I read James L Rubart’s The Five Times I met Myself, I was drawn in by the fact that this wasn’t just Jim’s words on the page, it was Jim himself.

So I’ve been challenged not just to go deeper into the layers of the writing, but more into the layers of the writer. 

In my reading, I can see how this writing is the best and it’s a challenge that I’m working towards.  How about you?

PS: Speaking of layers, I've just launched my eNewsletter, which will be looking at the idea of diving deeper into reading, into writing and into life.  If you'd like to subscribe - https://davidrawlings.com.au/how-to-get-in-contact/ - I'll send you a short story I wrote called The Funeral. It's another take on a life event we've all experienced.

About David Rawlings

Based in Adelaide, South Australia, I am a sports-mad, married father-of-three with my own copywriting/communication business who reads everything within an arm’s reach. I can see a typo from across the room and always – always – make sure my text messages are grammatically correct.

Oh, and I love cooking, comedy and surfing. Over 25 years, I’ve made writing my career and paid the bills with words. It’s not a big leap from the six-year-old writing short stories instead of doing homework.

www.davidrawlings.com.au

Inspiration for Writing: Living As a Sponge

I don't know about you, but I prefer washing dishes with a sponge. Sponges are simple things, not deeply complicated or awkward to get along with. But they are great. They absorb huge quantities of liquid when they need to, but they also let it all out again at the slightest squeeze. 

Except for the bit about not being complicated, that sounds like us writers, doesn't it? (Complicated? Who, us?)

Think about it, we absorb everything: the pitch of the irritated lady's voice in the queue ahead...  the sad creases of disappointment around a little person's mouth when mom says no! to his nagging for a sweetie. The flush on the cheeks of a teen around their current crush.

Life is never boring when you are constantly surrounded by techni-colour material that will breathe life into your next bit of writing.

Even our own insides become grist for the mill... Think about it - we have ringside seats to what churns inside when bad news comes at us down the phone.  How about the Adrenalin thumping, squeal-inducing good news we've been waiting for?

I'm training myself to savour and ABSORB each moment - good and bad - analyze it, tag on some appropriate words, then file it away in my mental filing cabinet for the 'write' moment. I've found inspiration in the weirdest places. No, really! Look at this:

An topographical map of a new planet? Alien skin perhaps? What about the inside of a cave wall threaded through with an undiscovered mineral that could repair the hole in the ozone layer... Tracks in soil - clues for our hero to unravel? It could be all those things.

But in reality, it is just burnt spaghetti at the bottom of a pot I forgot on the stove because I was writing. With minds like ours, it doesn't have to stay as 'just burnt spaghetti'.

Life is truly a delicious array of  inspiration. Good and bad. All of it can be used.

Your turn. I want to hear about the strangest source of inspiration you've found and what you did with it.

Dianne J. Wilson writes novels from her hometown in East London, South Africa, where she lives with her husband and three daughters. She has just signed a three book contract for a YA series, Spirit Walker, with Pelican / Watershed.

Finding Mia is available from Amazon, Pelican / Harbourlight, Barnes & Noble and other bookstores.

Shackles is available as a free ebook from Amazon & Smashwords.

Find her on Facebook, Twitter and her sporadic blog Doodles.

Walking on aeroplane wings and other preposterous ideas

So I’m in an aeroplane. We are thousands of feet above mother earth. I look out the window and read this little gem printed on the wing…

‘Do not walk outside this area’

Oh really? Why ever not? I’m so glad they put that out there, because you know – I was just about to head out to stretch my legs…

After I recovered from a severe laughing fit, I got to thinking. That’s pretty much what we writers do all the time. It’s craziness to get out of an aeroplane and walk on the wing. Its also craziness to spend hours, days, months, years! at the keyboard, producing hundreds of pages that we hope – yes, HOPE! not know, hope – will snag the right persons attention. And yet we do. Because it’s what we’re built for. We do it because we hope our words will make a difference inside someone along the way.

It’s a good thing to hope for!

So I say to you (and me) today:

Walk outside this area!

Run

Fly

Soar

WRITE!

Disclaimer: I’m sure some of you, my tech boff buddies, will feel the urge  to enlighten me as to why they print that daft sentiment in that particularly daft place. I’m begging you to leave me wallowing in my ignorance this time. You’ve got to agree, it’s just so much funnier this way. 

Dianne J. Wilson writes novels from her hometown in East London, South Africa, where she lives with her husband and three daughters.

Finding Mia is available from Amazon, Pelican / Harbourlight, Barnes & Noble and other bookstores.

Shackles is available as a free ebook from Amazon & Smashwords.

Find her on Facebook, Twitter and her sporadic blog Doodles.

Five Things I Like About Traditional Publishing (and Indie)

As a writer, there have never been so many avenues available for putting your “baby” into print. Some as simple as uploading it onto Amazon. OK, it’s not as easy as it sounds. I’ve spent the last week playing with formatting and reading all the fine print, etc. to get a novella ready to release on April 26^th. While I am both excited and nervous about sending my story out to the world on my own, it has definitely given me cause to analyze my choices for publishing my current works and future books.  

I guess I’m what you call a hybrid right now (feel free to correct me if I’m wrong) with one novella being released indie, and then in a boxed set with other authors, and three novels contracted with traditional publishers, (the first now available for preorder on Amazon!) And while I have read many wonderful blogs and articles pro indie, I would like to share some of the reasons I will probably stick with traditional publishing for the foreseeable future.

(Disclaimer: every author is different, as are their goals and why they write; this is merely what I like about traditional publishing. I am not trying to convince anyone one way or the other!)

1.The first thing I like about Traditional Publishing is… REJECTION! 

Not what you were expecting, was it? Does that mean I like rejections to pile up in my inbox? Does that mean the last ten pounds I put on has no correlation with the gallons of ice cream and chocolate eaten when I received said rejections? Don’t think so.

Over the years, I have received all sorts of rejections. The strong silent type that never even answer your inquiries though they’ve had the full manuscript for six months. The form, “thanks, but no thanks.” And the very polite and constructive:

·         “Your plot is intriguing, but the writing isn’t quite there yet.”

·         “Your characters are cardboard cutouts—two dimensional.”

·         “Wasn’t gripped.”

·         Etc…

Of course, each of these, and many more, felt like a kick to the gut when I first read them, but when taken to heart they have driven me to become a better writer. I have learned how to make my characters alive, and my writing more gripping, etc. Through the pain, frustration and I-just-want-to-throw-it-to-the-groundness of rejection, I have grown.

And I’m not done. So I guess I’ll set myself up for still some more. J

2. At this point, I like that I am not the final authority on my work. Where I am in my career, I appreciate the gatekeepers telling me if my work is ready. I don’t want to have to decide that for myself. Also, similar to above, having someone to provide the constructive feedback that allows me to focus on weaknesses in the story is humbling, educating and refining.

3   3. I like the type of competition I feel in the traditional publishing setting. And I admit, I am competitive. But I don’t want to have my main focus finding the perfect marketing strategy so I can climb the Amazon ranks. Maybe someday. But for now I want my focus to be on writing. I want to become best writer I can. Right now, my competition is with myself. Can I write well enough to attract the agent I want, and the publishers I want? Someday.

To be accepted and equated with my role models and (dare I say it) heroes of the publishing world is the ultimate recognition to me. This note from one of my readers already made my year:  

“Ms. Couch is fast becoming one of those authors to me that I will buy a book simply because her name is on the cover. (I kid you not! Welcome to the Tamera Alexander and Karen Whitemeyer club.)”

Personally, I think I have a ways to go! But I think traditional publishing will help me keep focused on the growth.

      4. Editors, and more editors...and more editors! I know some authors have been driven to the indie world because of editors they have dealt with in the traditional publishing houses, but so far I have enjoyed working with mine. Once in awhile there will be a bit of prose that I thought was perfect and they don’t, but we can usually work out the differences easily enough. And often they are right, and my book is better for their insights. I appreciate all the effort that is put into making my manuscript shine by others who are also invested in the book.

5    5. I’m not required to make all the little, tiny decisions. The font? What color of paper to use?  I don’t really care, to be honest. I just want people to enjoy the story. Gloss or Matte for the cover? Let a professional graphic designer worry about how to make my cover concept into a reality. I’d rather not be required to become an expert in Photoshop in order to create promotional assets. There are only so many hours in the day and I just want to write my stories.

                                                                                

Still, indie also has a lot that I like as well, and in the future I will probably enjoy some of the perks:

This is the unfinished prototype for my novella

•  I get the final say over my prose. No need to fight it out with an editor. ;)
• The cover concept is mine. I absolutely LOVE how my cover is looking for my novella, Mail Order Revenge. I enjoyed having control over the details.
• You don’t have to wait years to see your work in print. (Though once you get rolling with the traditional route, it’s not too bad.)
• The Christian Indie groups are very welcoming and encouraging. 

     So I guess for now I will remain a happy Hybrid. :)