Three Attitudes that Give Impetus

Beatrice, Irene, and Dora

As I can't picture three attitudes, I thought my grandmother, and my two great aunts might just capture these mental positions.

1. Need
A leading character, either male or female or both, should have some sort of deep need.

2. Determination
If they want to reach their goal, this is necessary to reaching it.

3. Hope
This is that wonderful something to keep striving toward.

Need can be physical or mental. And it can be a real struggle for your character to face the challenge to overcome and when they have the odds against them. They remain conscious of their need throughout the story. Maybe others are aware of it, maybe not, but it's as if it mocks all their efforts.

Determination can also be considered as Perseverance. As we say, 'hanging in there' no matter what. We want to root for our main character - though at times bloodied and nearly beaten - to hold on and come through. Maybe at times with so much thwarting them at every turn they feel like giving up, but still they 'grit their teeth' and get on with pushing toward their goal.

And Hope. What would be do without it? Hope gives us courage. Hope promises better things. Hope helps push us forward. And so with our characters.

As in real life, the great thing is to see our leading lady or man developing stronger characters by what they've been through. Even though, being human, they stumble along the journey, they pick themselves up and move forward.

As Christians we soon learn to trust God in every area of our lives, which means we often need to search out the root of our problem and ask the lord to help us overcome it. So if we write inspirational novels, let's also write our characters so they learn some great lessons along the way.

This is something I am working through right now with two stories, as part of a series. At first my characters were thin. But they are slowly developing as each is showing me throughout the plot how they would react. I am really liking them now. Even though at first I thought, "Oh, you're so boring!" There's no doubt throwing difficulties for them to overcome pushes the story forward, at the same time leaves me, as the writer, scratching my head as to how I am going to get them out of the trouble I've thrown their way. Thankfully, they just seem to find their own path, despite mean old me!

Indie Publisher, Rita Galieh, has written a trilogy of historical novels & has also contributed to several US anthologies. She is now completing a second historical romance series. She can be found on Facebook and www.ritastellapress.com  

Rita studied art at the National Art School then joined the family ceramics studio. After their marriage, she and her husband attended Emmaus Bible College, and currently co-present Vantage Point, an Australia-wide Christian FM radio program. She enjoys giving her fun-filled presentations of ‘Etiquette of the Victorian Era’ in costume.

Learning from a marathon runner who hits the wall

I’ve got a mate who runs marathons.  Why is anybody’s guess - I told him the industrial revolution gave us ways to go anywhere in a 42-kilometre radius - and his constant invitations for me to join him are politely left to rush by.

It’s quite an achievement running forty-two kilometres. Pushing through the pain, wringing every ounce of effort out of yourself and doing something very few people achieve.  I do admire him for it. 

One of the most fascinating parts of running a marathon is known as hitting the wall. My mate talks about hitting it just past the halfway mark.  Everything about his experience says to give up; to walk; to even stop.  His legs are screaming for a break from the lactic acid and muscle cramps.  His lungs are screaming for relief. Even though he’s got the ability and the tools – and he’s already run half the race - things happen to him that make the finish line feel like it’s further away than when he started.

And he talks about feeling like he’s running in jelly.  He’s got the movement of running, but doesn’t feel like he’s getting anywhere. 

Writers hit the wall too. Our lactic acid might be family time that encroaches on writing. Our muscle cramps could be the pull of work or church over writing. Or our energy burnout could be when our ideas or storylines just run out of petrol. Or we're over halfway but just can't seem to find a way to finish the book.

It’s happened to me a number of times this year – when everything about my writing experience says to give up and stop. When my brain wants a rest and my bank balance tells me I should be doing extra work that actually pays the bills. When my ideas have run out of petrol and my characters feel like they can’t move on.

And it feels to me like the finish line – holding the final manuscript in my hands – is further away than when I started.

Now, my mate just laughs when I talk about writers hitting the wall, but there are things that he does that I’ve implemented this year.  And they’ve worked.

• Keep moving.  A runner needs their feet to keep moving. That movement is important as stopping the movement makes it 1000 times harder to restart it.  I’ve done that this year, at times I’ve just kept moving. That could be as simple as giving my protagonist another character trait, adding 200 words to the manuscript.  Or editing another chapter or scene. Or simply reformatted one exchange of dialogue.  That movement is important as I can look back and see that I've done something.
• Focussing on the finish line. Marathon runners often disassociate from the pounding beat of their stride and focus on the finish line. It helps break the dawning thought that they're in pain now, and is a reminder of why they're doing what they're doing. At times this year, I’ve just taken a deep breath and visualised typing The End at the tail of my manuscript. That disassociation has been enough to push me on and to spur me into action, because I now have the end goal in frame.
• Breaking the race down into chunks. This is the opposite of the previous point. One things my marathon running friend does is run the next 1km, then the next, then the next. I’ve done that – written the next scene, then the next scene, then the next scene. And when I’ve looked up at the end of the week I’ve written another 3,000 words.
• Enjoying the process. My friend says he tries to breath in sync with his steps or count out as his feet pound away. He enjoys the process of running.  That’s what I’ve tried to do this year.  I’ve written a particularly difficult scene and enjoyed the words as they’ve come, or the plot point as it has unveiled itself. I've gasped in surprise when a character says something I wasn't expecting or smiled when the protagonist got out of a jam even I didn't expect him to get out of. It sounds crazy, but it's FUN!

Writing a piece of work – any work – is hard. Especially if it’s something you’ve drawn from the depths of your experience or character. You’ve pushed through the pain, wrung every ounce of effort out of yourself and done something very few people achieve. 

And, like my friend, I admire you for it.

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.

My manuscripts have finalled in the ACFW's Genesis competitions and the OCW's Cascade Awards.

And now I'm working with the Steve Laube Agency as my agent to find that elusive first publisher.

Don’t Give Up

By Jebraun Clifford

One of the things I’ve learned in my life is that perseverance is key. Whether it’s pushing ahead a career or committing to a relationship or raising kids or pursuing our walk with the Lord, anything worth doing is also worth doing well. And all of the above take a great deal of perseverance.

It’s easier, of course, to react rather than become proactive. To allow things to simply happen, the chips to fall where they may. But being proactive (which sounds kinda passive) is also the key to perseverance.

“Let us not become weary in doing good…” Galatians 6:9 tells us. “…for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

In this case, Paul urges us to not become weary. I love how it’s translated in the Amplified version: do not grow weary or become discouraged. That sounds like wariness is a process that can be recognised, staved off, and recovered from.

I’ve found returning to my writing after a twenty year hiatus to be a study in perseverance. 

Unlike many writers who write and write and write through all stages of their lives, I stopped completely. The tasks I had before me—marriage, three kids, moving to New Zealand, church-planting—seemed quite enough, thank you very much. Perhaps are some (many?) who would’ve been able to add a writing career to the mix, but I found my perseverance stretched so tightly in all these areas that I was not up to the challenge of writing as well.

Now I’ve jumped back in. And for some reason, I thought it was going to be a lot easier than it’s turned out to be. I entered two manuscripts in the 2015 Genesis contest, fully confident that they were both amazing, primo, wunderbar…pick a superlative in any language and I thought they were it. 

I was shattered with scores in the low 60’s and comments like, “I believe this was entered in the wrong genre” and “you have way too much back story here.” I wanted to delete my hard drive and pretend like I hadn’t secretly already planned my Oprah book club selection speech.

And then the bane of every writer’s existence, the dreaded writer’s block, hit with a vengeance. Every single thing I wrote was flat and boring and full of –ly words and so uninspired I decided I’d rather take a job painting road markings than continue writing. Not that there’s anything wrong with painting road markings. In fact, there’s this really cool Segway-like painting contraption they use here that looks really cool to operate. But I digress.

I grew weary. I grew discouraged. I stopped persevering.

I forgot that writing (and again, anything worth doing) is like planting trees, not growing radishes.

So I took some steps to refresh myself, enjoyed getting outside as much as possible (we had a brilliant summer/autumn this year in Rotorua!), and wrote even though I didn’t feel like it. I also spent a lot of time praying.

God, I believe the stories You’ve given me, the ideas You’ve planted in my head, and the talents You’ve sown into me are good things. And I believe they’re going to yield a good crop. Help, help, help me to not give up! Help me to keep going!

Well. God was faithful. 

I kept chugging away like the Little Engine That Could. And the joy came back, the words began to flow, the confidence that what I was writing mattered returned.

So where are you today? Are you a multi-award winning author with a heap of books under your literary belt? In the middle of some serious line-edits with a gazillion post-it notes stuck throughout your manuscript? Perhaps you’re planning a promotional tour. Have you signed your first contract? Or perhaps you’re like me…at the very beginning of the process, tucking tiny seedlings into fertile soil.

Wherever you’re at don’t give up. Don’t grow weary. Don’t grow discouraged. You are doing a good work! You will reap a harvest of righteousness!

Look to the Author and Finisher of our faith to help you persevere.

Be blessed, Jeb

How's your passion?

I’ve been a technical writer for over a decade. In mid-2010 I got a contract as a Training manager – a bit of a departure for sure, but I loved every minute of it. When that contract ended I started looking for software training jobs. In December 2011 I got an email from an HR professional regarding a job I applied for that I really wanted. The email was asking about my availability during the second week in January. I responded and waited eagerly for a confirmation of an interview date. The second week in January came and went but no word. Late one afternoon I was praying and I was feeling low, so I prayed a short prayer and asked the Lord to please intervene. About half an hour later I got an email from the company confirming an interview! I was so sure that job was mine.

The interview was scheduled for the following Monday, and on the Saturday morning I developed a severe cold. By Saturday evening I lost my voice. I rested it for the rest of the weekend, but by Monday 6am I couldn’t speak above a painful hoarse. I got out of bed to make myself some tea and then my nose started to bleed. Badly.

From my earliest memories I regularly suffered from nose bleeds. Soon after my family moved to Nigeria from the UK when I was six years old the bleeding stopped. So much so that I totally forgot about them until over 30 years later. I was in New York, it was winter and I had a series of scary bleeds. I had both nostrils cauterized twice. Didn’t help at all.

In January 2011 I had an interview for a job I really wanted. This was probably my first interview in months, and I was so excited and hopeful. I had a septoplasty, which dramatically lessened the bleeding episodes, but didn’t stop the bleeding completely, but stopped them enough that they weren’t part of my everyday life. So this nosebleed, coupled with the loss of my voice was very annoying and inconvenient. No devil is going to stop me from going for this job I thought to myself. I went for the interview truly believing that the Lord had given me this job. The interview lasted about an hour, I spoke in a whisper and the interviewer was extremely understanding and accommodating. I was so sure this was my job. A few days later I learnt that I didn’t get the job. Thing is, even till this day I still think that job was/is mine. Crazy huh?

Pondering on the job made me think about passion. My older sister is one of the most talented and hardworking people I know. She’s an interior designer, who had her own business making passimentrie and even had her collection sold at Bergdof Goodman in New York. She works so many hours for much less than she’s worth. She goes the extra mile for her employers and sometimes doesn’t even get the credit for her work. But she’s passionate about it.

I have a friend who was determined to go to university even when he had no financial or moral support either. He persevered and did what he had to do and eventually got admitted into university at a time when his age mates had already graduated. He had to work and save most of his money to fund his education. There were times when he felt like giving up, especially when it was time to pay his tuition and he wasn’t sure where the money would come from. God, however on many occasions, blessed him through people who decided to help out even without his asking. In his own words, “what kept me going was my trust in God and I kept telling myself every time discouragement came, He who started this work in my is faithful to complete it (1 Thess 5:24)

Do you have a dream, or something that you believe God wants for you that you are yet to achieve? How do you handle the obstacles or the passage of time when life and circumstances seem to be saying the opposite to what you’re believing for? How do you hold on when people are asking you, hey what happened to that plan you had? Are you still…? Even more difficult sometimes, how do you encourage yourself when it would be so much easier to throw in the towel?

I think sometimes the lessons we learn during the waiting process, or during the journey is as much a part of fulfilment as is the manifestation of the dream.

This blog is as much a blessing to me as it is an intimidation. We have so many accomplished and brilliant writers contributing to it, that sometimes I wonder what I could possibly have to say that would be as interesting. Weeks before my turn comes around to post, I wrack my brains trying to come up with something witty and interesting.

But then I remember that God gave me a story to tell. I have written it, and although I am not yet published, I may have something, just a small something that could encourage someone else. The reward for writing is not necessarily tangible. The strongest reward is in knowing that no matter what goes on; you’re doing what God requires of you. And even though you may never know the impact of your gift, the passion never leaves you so you keep carrying on, believing that God will use your story for His glory. Now isn’t that gratifying?

And by the way, the Lord did heal me of those nosebleeds and I haven’t given up on that job either. ;-)

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Ufuoma Daniella Ojo is a Senior Technical Author and Software Trainer. She lives in London. She is working on some new stories about relationships and is trusting God for connections leading to publication.

GIFTS AND ABILITIES



After completing her nursing training, Mary met her husband, Ray, at Bible college 50 years ago. They have ministered in churches in Australia, two years in England and now enjoy living in Tasmania. Mary has had 19 titles published and Ray has five devotional books out also.

Web and blog: http://www.mary-hawkins.com






The joy of receiving that first book

I’m currently trying to prepare a Bible study for an elective at a Christian women’s conference on “Wisdom in the way you develope your gifts and abilities”. I intend to share about spiritual gifts God gives for His specific purposes too but on this blog want to focus on talents we have been given as natural parts of our personalities from birth.
There is so much to share but where to start has been difficult to decide. Sounds like that first sentence, first paragraph of our novels?

The first thing before we can ever develope our abilities – which I think most of us would call natural talents – is to discover just what they are. There are many who may be multi-talented but is there one that stands out, one that God wants developed so He can use it to bless others and glorify Himself? For some, discovering this may be easy, but I suggest there are many folk who take their lives so much for granted they don’t stop and wonder about any specific one they have which God wants them to develope for His specific purposes.

I was certainly one such person. As many of you may have heard before, it was not until I was thirty years old I had any idea about writing more than my diary and letters. Would these years of being a published author ever have happened if my husband had not read my diary and simply told me, “You have a talent for writing, what are you going to do about it?”

But was that really the beginning of my writing career? What if I’d never met that wonderful man? What if I’d never had a Dad who wrote diaries and thus inspired a fourteen year old to start her own? What if I had never enjoyed books, never become an avid reader long before I was fourteen?

For me as a committed Christian, it ultimately goes back to the time I completely surrended my life, my will, all that I was and could ever hope to be to my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. For me, it was my husband He used to show me a talent I had never considered before, never realised it should be developed, refined, worked hard at so He could use it where and how, and even more importantly when He wants to.

Over the years I have been saddened when I have met lovely Christians who obviously have a real talent in some specific area but shrug off any suggestion of trying to develope it. Because I am a published author, I’ve heard this said too many times about becoming a writer, but also from talented people in many other arenas. The reasons are many and varied. While some are definitely quite valid, the ones that concern me and even grieve me are ones like, “Me? I could never be as good as...” And then they mention someone in that area of expertise they know of who has achieved success.

When thinking about this journey of mine I glanced at my bookshelf and there was that Famous Writers Course set of books. It was supposed to take me eighteen months full time but becoming pregnant and moving to minister at another church meant they let me take four years. This is the list of assignments and I noticed that the last few were in 1974. Seems nearly a lifetime away now. Only the deep knowledge that this was indeed what God wanted me to do kept me persevering all that time. Then I discovered it was only that first "step" to have my first published novel in the photo above. That took too many years to write but then thirteen years before that pile of books above fnally arrived.
Some of the biggest reasons for not wanting to recognise a talent that should be developed include the fear of failure, not being prepared to do the hard work to improve, and perhaps the most important one of all is the lack of perseverance when the rejections and criticism of our efforts come. If God wants that talent, that ability he has given, to be used by Him, not to do so is simply disobedience and that earns a heavy price.

And that perseverance is certainly something we writers know only too well we must deal with. How do we persevere? Why should we persevere? The specific answers are many and varied for each person but I know personally it is because I know this is what God wants of Mary Hawkins. Because of my intimate relationship with Jesus, He has been and remains my comforter, my guide, my strength, my all in all. But He does use not only the Scriptures but fellowship with His people to bring me all of these. I can only pray that perhaps He has used me too to help others as they seek to obey Him in developing their talents to glorify Him and bless and challenge whoever He wants to.

Giving Up

Giving Up

Persistence is a virtue and I am all for persisting in the face of difficulties and obstacles. But, and it is a big but,...sometimes there is just no other way forward but to give up and start again.

When I lived in Sydney a friend, knowing how I love them, bought me a jacaranda. I planted it with great hope and waited and waited for it to flower. I never saw it happen.  My husband’s job transferred to Orange and we had to move.  Pointless uprooting the jacaranda as it wouldn’t grow in that cold climate. Reluctantly I left it behind thinking at least the new owners would enjoy it when it flowered.

This is a poem I wrote about that time.

Initiated Into Blue


All November I ached
for the tiny jacaranda in my garden
that had not been initiated into blue.
I watched large jacarandas
bleaching colour from the sky.
All November I admired
their insistence, the blue larceny
that left neighbouring eucalypts
drab as tarnished pewter.
Then came December
and while Sydney jacarandas
still whispered bluely
through the streets,
we moved to cooler country
where rhododendrons purple
the parks
and elms solid as sandstone
line the streets.
But in all this town
not one tree
wears jacaranda blue.


First published Northern Perspective vol 17- 1994

Imagine my devastation a few years later when I went back and re-visited our old house and saw the new owners had ripped out my precious jacaranda.  I felt like part of me had been ripped out.

I vowed that when we left Orange I would plant a jacaranda wherever we moved. A bit over five years ago we moved to a warmer climate near the coast and I did just that. The plant was watered and fed while I waited eagerly for it to flower. It didn’t. We decided it must be in the wrong place, so we moved it to another spot in the garden and repeated the process of tending it. Another year passed and then another. It still did not flower. This year, the fifth year of waiting, I had high hopes it would be big enough to flower. But again not a flower appeared. Then we’re not sure whether it was violent winds or vandals but our little jacaranda was partly destroyed. On closer inspection my husband found it also had some sort of disease. We agreed it was hopeless. Time to face facts, this jacaranda was doomed. I had to give up on this jacaranda. It was never going to flower.

So I went up the nursery and priced another jacaranda. ‘It will flower in twelve or eighteen months,’ I was assured. Forgive me if I was sceptical. I’d heard that story before. I resolved not to buy one unelss it was already flowering. I priced a taller jacaranda and nearly had a heart attack when I heard the price. Yet it still didn’t have flower on it. But I'd learned my lesson. Needless to say it was a case of no sale.

A few days later my husband and I took off  down  for a drive down the coast. What started out sunny turned into a dreary grey day. We saw a nursery and called in. He had tall jacarandas and yes, they either had buds on them or were flowering.  With trepidation I asked the price. Imagine my delight when the price was less than quarter than that of the larger unflowering ones we had seen! What’s more the man in this nursery really seemed to know what he was talking about, as I quizzed him about the requirements and right position in the garden for the tree. Elated I choose my jacaranda and brought it home. The next day while I was out my husband took out the old misshapen tree and planted the new one. And the weather turned way hot all of a sudden. I despaired for my tree and ensured it got watered and fed often.

Imagine my joy when a couple of weeks later the buds turned into jacaranda blue flowers. I rushed out and took a photo. Sorry I tried to post a couple of pics but couldn't get it to work for some bizarre reason.

Back to the jacaranda though. It made me think about the writing life. Sometimes I have had obstacles and have pushed on with a project regardless. Other times no matter what I have tried, a poem or story refuses to work. I am faced with a choice. Either persist or give up and start on something new. At times in my life I’ve known it’s time to do what I had to with the jacaranda. I’ve had to admit defeat and start again.

Sometimes that may mean starting over on the same piece of work but looking at it from a different angle or a trying it from a different point of view. Other times, it means shelving it all together and starting a new project. The trick is to know when it is time to move on and admit defeat or just to change focus.  So my question is how do you know when to keep going or when to give up with a writing project?

 

Streets on a Map, is Dale’s latest novel. Prior to that, Dale has had seven children’s books and Kaleidoscope a collection of poetry published. She has also written bible studies and Sunday school lessons. More information about Dale can be found at www.daleharcombe.com or on her Write and Read with Dale blog http://www.livejournal.com/users/orangedale/

Dig Your Wells Deep

Here's a simple story about perseverance that I think any of us on this fiction writing journey can be inspired by. I've certainly found it helpful to remember and often mention it when giving workshops or addressing audiences.

There was once a man who had a farm in the middle of the desert. He got tired of traveling a long distance to fetch water every day and asked God to please supply him a water course closer to home. When God heard his request, He sent an angel to the man, who said, "God would like you to dig a well. If you do, you'll have all the water you'll ever need." Then the angel left and the man got digging.

Fifty years later, the man met the angel again when he got to heaven. The man cried out, "God deceived me! I dug one hundred wells, all fifty feet deep, and never tapped into any water. I just wasted my time." With that, the angel replied, "If you'd just dug one well one hundred feet deep instead of a hundred wells fifty feet deep, you would've found all the water you ever needed."

I took that simple story to heart. I'd dug plenty of fifty feet deep wells over the years and abandoned them. We probably all do in our early years. It's part of growing. I've made up my mind to concentrate on a few wells and keep digging. The wells of writing my novels and homeschooling my children are worthwhile to me, even when I feel that I've long since plumbed fifty feet and it's still dry down there. These wells don't necessarily show any signs of dampness from day to day, but I won't stop digging.

Are you digging wells too? I'd love to give you some friendly encouragement to keep going. Don't take the dryness as a sign that there's no water down there. Remember the angel's words in this story, "God would like you to dig a well," and keep those shovels flying.

Paula Vince is a homeschooling mother and award-winning Christian fiction author who lives in the beautiful Adelaide Hills of South Australia with her family. She believes that fiction authors have a responsibility to offer readers their very best, and takes the quest seriously. Nothing can penetrate the depths of a person's heart like a well-written story with lovable characters.