Sometimes life gets in the way

About two years ago I had these ambitious writing plans. I had just finished my first secular novel, had a Christian novel with a publisher preparing for print, was getting another ready for submission, and had finished four chapters of my next story in the Alpha series. More projects were forming an orderly queue behind them, jostling for attention.

Then, something happened. Actually, a few things happened. I won't go into details but suffice it to say that my head was spinning so fast I had neither the energy nor desire to work on any of these projects. The only thing that did go anywhere was the secular novel. This made the final step to print but with absolutely zero marketing it may as well be sitting on my spare hard drive at home.

It has taken what feels like forever but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and am slowly working towards it. I am not in the clear yet and the anxiety of what may happen means I get precious little sleep, but I can now imagine a time when I will have the desire and energy to start putting pen to paper. Contributing to this blog is part of that.

In the meantime, as a way of keeping the creative juices flowing, I started a little webcomic featuring conversations between a programmer and the Artificial Intelligence he created, loosely based on Brett and Jay from Alpha Redemption. The artwork is very basic, initially taking an hour or two to create using Serif Drawplus (great for simple projects) while the comic itself takes about five minutes to prepare each evening. I think of some dialogue during the day and jot it down. Then, when I get home, I add it to my comic and publish it.

You know what's the surprising thing? For almost two decades I slogged away at a keyboard in an attempt to produce good quality fiction, doing courses and reading everything I could lay my hands on about how to create attractive prose. I spent countless hours sending out manuscripts, and reading the rejection letters. In 2010 I finally made it to print and have enjoyed a modest level of success. Then, something unexpected happened. During one of the most stressful periods of my life, a daft little comic that takes almost no effort to produce gets more readers each week than all of my novels put together. Last time I checked I was getting almost 2,500 views a month.

I can only scratch my head in amazement and wonder if perhaps God isn't trying to tell me something.

Anyway, it's good to be back and I look forward to chatting with you all again.

DEVOTION: Living Parables

Matthew 13:10,13 Jesus' disciples came to him and asked, "Why do you use nothing but stories when you speak to the people?"
[Jesus replied] "I use stories when I speak to them because when they look, they cannot see, and when they listen, they cannot hear or understand."

When our youngest went to school, my husband and I attended the first Parent Teacher Association (PTA) meeting with his teacher. I was amazed when he said, "If your child only wants to read comics, let him. At least he's reading." It was the first time I'd heard a teacher make such a recommendation.

By the time of this meeting, our oldest child had graduated to reading books without pictures, while the middle one enjoyed a book with the occasional illustration.The youngest still loved books with big, colourful drawings that he could examine while I read the words. All three loved story-time in the evenings. Their dad or I would sit on the bed and read them the story, while they clustered around on the bed or on the floor, listening intently. Whenever we came to a picture, we would stop to show it to them. Yet they all enjoyed comics, with their constant stream of elaborate pictures.

Today more and more churches use projectors to show pictures or even media-clips to help their congregations understand what the message is about. The illustrations hold their attention. They help the people understand what the speaker is saying.

How well Jesus knew his audience all those years ago. When he taught the crowds or even the disciples, He didn't have large pictures to hold up to illustrate his message. He didn't have PowerPoint. He had to rely on the power of words. And so he spoke in parables. He told stories that illustrated the points he wanted to make.

As writers we are encouraged to "Show, don't tell." Instead of saying, "The stove plate was hot," we show with our words: "Jenny yelped and jerked her hand away from the plate." Whether we write fiction or non-fiction, we are wise to make use of the power of story. We want to paint a picture in the minds of our readers, pictures so clear they will understand what we say.

Unfortunately, those around us are often like the crowds in Jesus' day. They "cannot hear or understand". So perhaps we need to take a lesson from Jesus. We need to show instead of telling.

As writers, we need to tell them stories they can visualise and use illustrations from modern-day society.

Yet surely the best picture of all can come from the way we live our lives. People close to us may not hear our words, but they will see the pictures we create from the way we behave, the things we say, and the example we set.

What is so fascinating about the comic book? Surely it's the continuous strip of pictures. Whether we like it or not, our lives are continuous strips of pictures. We show the world, one picture after another, what it's like to live as Christians. Will our life's comic book be one that the Greatest Teacher of all time wants people to read? Will He say, "If you don't want to read the Bible, watch that child of mine. At least you'll then you'll learn about the Christian life."

Prayer: Lord Jesus, please help us to live our lives like a comic book, one clear picture after another. Help us to show those who read us some of the fabulous truths in Your Word. Help us to be living stories to a world which often doesn't want to listen. 
We ask this in Your Holy Name. Amen. 

SHIRLEY CORDER  is an RN, a pastor’s wife and a mother who has read far more comics than her kids, but then she started before them. You can contact Shirley through her website or follow her on Twitter.