Please welcome this weeks guest Jo Walker for The Journey. She answers the question: How have you seen God work in your writing journey? In Psalm 139, King David begins by telling us there is simply no place we can go that God isn’t already there. In verses 13-16, he points out the reality that God is even with us when we are being formed in our mother’s womb. He speaks to how wonderfully we are made, and goes on to tell us that every day of our life was recorded before one ever … [Read more...]
Day 34: The Duck or the Pâté?
OR It's strange to think of pâté. Personally, I've never tried the stuff and really don't want too. When I was growing up my mom let my sister have a pet duck. His name was Peepers. I always thought it strange to have a pet duck but we did. He was a cute little thing. When I think of pâté I think of him. I just couldn't think about doing it. Eating Peepers, uh, no. When I read what Ms. Abercrombie wrote it was more like she was … [Read more...]
Day 33: Diving, Not Drowning
When I went to go read today excerpt, this was the first line: "The fear of going back into your past — reliving trauma or grief — sometimes can block writing about the most important part of your story." This struck me to the core. I have so many things in my past, the good, the ugly and the tragic. All of which have shaped and molded me into the person I am today. The unfortunate part to all of this is there has been those very ugly things that no one ever wants to have happen to themselves … [Read more...]
Day 32: Improvisation
When we think of the word improv, we typically think of actors and actresses in an acting class. All they may be given is a word or a phrase. From there the true magic behind acting comes forth. They get to play out whatever comes into their heads. Sometimes its funny. Sometimes sad. Sometimes it just makes you think. The bottom line is they have fun doing what they love to do most and that is to act. This should be the same for us as writers. To be able to tap into our own creative muses and … [Read more...]
Day 31: Dreaming Your Ship
I love this: "If you say your story is fiction, it’s fiction. Period. How much or what part of it is autobiographical is nobody’s business." That was quoted from the author of the book I'm using. As most of you know, I am very new to writing fiction, well writing at all for that matter, but in particularly fiction. It has never once crossed mind to accuse an author that the fiction story he or she has written is anything but fiction. I'm sure there are some people out in the world today … [Read more...]
Day 30: Out of the Box
The age-old saying goes, "Think outside the box." But first we must have a box to think outside of. Is our box more of a literal box we throw different things in for differing reasons? Or is it more of a mental box in the far corners of our brain? For some it might even be both. So what's in our box? For me, I have boxes for tax related stuff. Shoe boxes with shoes, sometimes. While others I use as a temporary storage facility for whatever is around at the time. Then I have them for my … [Read more...]
Day 29: First Things First
There's an old saying that goes like this: In order to start your journey we must first know where we're going. For example, in order for Keith and I to know the exact route we would take to get to Alaska when we started our journey, we first had to know exactly where we were going. So in this case, first things first, we knew we were going to Anchorage. From there we could plot our long course, making our stops along the way … [Read more...]
The Journey with Janet Chester Bly
Please welcome this weeks guest Janet Chester Bly for The Journey. She answers the question: How have you seen God work in your writing journey? CALLED TOGETHER, FORCED APART When my husband found God's ministry for him, after seminary and pastoring his first church, I wanted to find mine. What were my spiritual gifts to help the church fellowship and other believers? After a prayer journey and searching for several years, I attended my first writing conference. And got excited. So, in … [Read more...]
Day 28: In the Company of Animals
Our pets are more than just animals. They're our family. We treat them as one of our kids. We worry for them if they become sick. We grieve for them if they die. For someone who might live by them self, a dog or a cat or even both for that matter, can give them the peace of mind and comfort they seek. Looking back to the time right after Mari died, I knew I couldn't go and live back in the same house we'd been living in. Keith didn't understand it. We'd only lived there for six months since … [Read more...]
Day 27: Fruitcakes and Discipline
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit. — ARISTOTLE Think about that quote for a minute. How thought-provoking is that? Discipline. I will be the first to admit I struggle with discipline almost on a daily basis. Don't get me wrong. If I'm focused on an in particular goal, I am 100% committed to that current goal. It's when I start to get the least bit bored that I find myself no longer disciplined and I move away from what I'm doing. And to be honest, it's … [Read more...]
