HOW OFTEN SHOULD I WRITE?



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Recently a friend of mine, who is interested in writing his first novel, asked me if he should write only when he feels like it.

I had to chuckle. The first time I considered writing a novel, which was over 10 years ago, I thought the same thing. Since fiction writing is creative, how can an author do otherwise than to write when the urge strikes or when creative juices are flowing?

But now I look at the process differently. I’ve had to learn what works best for me, and what works best for me may be suffocating for another. Every writer has to figure out their own timetable—whether it’s writing daily, several times a week, or sporadically. However, if you’re under a deadline or a contract, then you’ve certainly got to discipline yourself in order to complete your work on time.

As for me, I can’t afford to rely solely upon inspiration to write. I’ve got to establish a writing schedule. Like Thomas Edison said, “Genius is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration!” Since writing a novel is such a long-term project, one of enormous perseverance, if I leave it to my moods and emotions I’ll never make it past chapter one.

Although this may sound mechanical or stifling, I develop a wrtiting schedule based on a few basic calculations. For example, if I want to finish my first draft in six months then I will follow this formula:

• One double-spaced page is approximately 300 words
• An average novel is at least 70,000 words
• 70,000 words divided by 300 equals 233 pages total
• Six months of writing equals approximately 120 days (weekends off)
• 233 pages divided by120 equals 1.95 or two pages per day

Two pages a day—now that’s doable! Like many, I have to squeeze my writing in around a full-time job. It’s a lot more stressful to think about finding long blocks of free time to write than to think about producing just two pages a day. And if I’m feeling inspired, I’ll certainly go beyond that; but two pages is a must.

I typically keep this schedule in my head, but some may find it more motivating to cross off the dates on a calendar so they have a visual of their progress and productivity.

Again, setting a writing schedule is not for everybody, but it has seen me through three completed novels, and so far I’ve never struggled with writer’s block (knock on wood!).

Little by little, one travels far. – J.R.R. Tolkien

BEWARE OF THE PLEONASMS!

I have always loved words. And yes, I am one of those people who actually enjoys perusing the dictionary from time to time. Not only are words the building blocks of our ability to communicate with one another, but they are the means through which God created the world! “God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.”

Needless to say I love unusual words—words that sound peculiar or are amusing to pronounce. To me, one such word is PLEONASM (not to be confused with neoplasm, an abnormal mass of tissue—yuk!).

Pleonasms are those superfluous little words that tend to sneak into our writing, when we are not paying attention, and weigh it down like extra baggage. They usually show up side by side, in phrases that say the same thing twice. For example, “at 12 noon,” or “close proximity.”

So the next time you are in the process of self-editing your work, be on the lookout for those nasty little pleonasms and chop, chop, chop!

Below is a brief list of common pleonasms. See if any have become part of your regular vocabulary.

• advance warning
• armed gunman
• attach together
• awkward predicament
• basic fundamentals
• cash money
• continuing on
• difficult dilemma
• each and every
• end result
• filled to capacity
• free gift
• general public
• little baby
• long litany
• null and void
• pair of twins
• play actor
• regular routine
• revert back
• surrounded on all sides
• tiny speck 

SELF-EDITING YOUR WRITING



http://www.capecodography.com/

Over the last year I’ve had the honor of leading a small writer’s group, and the experience has been more of a blessing than I ever anticipated! About seven of us gather once a month on a Saturday morning to share our work, and to share our lives.

Serendipitously, we are all close in age and have undergone similar life experiences, and I am sure that is part of why our fellowship has been so strong.

Since most of the participants are new at writing, I have tried to stress the importance of self-editing—the process of going over and over our own work—rewording, remolding, reshaping until it’s the best it can be. For some the process is tedious. I know when we finally manage to get something down on the page, we are eager to be through with it. But that’s akin to a sculpture slapping a slab of clay on a slate and stopping with a basic shape. Self-editing is fine tuning that gives precision to our work. If we want our work to be readable, pleasing and publishable, we must take the time to revise it.

Here are a few of the basic self-editing tips we've been discussing. They may sound simple but they have the power to transform your writing!

• Vary sentence structures. Combine simple, complex, compound and complex-compound sentences throughout your paragraphs.

• Vary sentence lengths. Some sentences may run three or four lines; other sentences may be only two words. And there is everything in between. Mix it up.

• Where possible use the active voice instead of the passive voice.

• Write in the positive verses the negative. Instead of saying Mary does not like apples, say Mary detests apples.

• Cut out extra words. We all have a tendency to stretch out what we want to say with needless verbiage. Instead of saying, “There were ten trees lining the road,” say, “Ten trees lined the road.”

• Keep your tenses consistent.

• Use strong nouns and verbs and limit the number of adjectives and adverbs (more on this in later posts).

A GLORIOUS INHERITANCE

http://www.theholylandexperience.com/

I recently enrolled in a Personal Enrichment program through Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. They offer an exciting variety of bible-related courses at an affordable price that you can complete at your own pace. Discovering this opportunity was a wonderful answer to prayer. With my passion for reading and learning, courses like these ignite my fire for God because they are packed with rich nuggets that help build up my faith.

I just completed a course on the book of Ephesians. One lesson in particular blew me away because it pointed out a verse I’d read countless times before but never really "saw." Ephesians 1:13 tells us Jesus Christ is our inheritance. “When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.”

But what really struck me was the next part of this passage in verse 18: “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people.” Not only do we gain an inheritance in Christ, but God gains an inheritance in us!

When I hear the word “inheritance” I think of wealth. How stunning that God prizes our faith so much as to consider us a worthy inheritance for Himself! Sometimes in light of all our sins and struggles it’s difficult to understand how we can be of any value to God. That’s why I appreciate the precious reminders in scripture that put the glory of my faith back into perspective.

“In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” (I Peter 1:6-7).

MAKE YOUR WRITING SING!

http://www.capecodography.com/

 For most of my life I’ve been a veracious reader, sometimes balancing three or four books at one time. So great was the satisfaction I received from reading that when people asked me if I liked to read I would jokingly respond, “I don’t read books—I eat them!” Whenever I ran out of reading material, I’d literally go into withdrawal until I could get to a bookstore or library for my next fix.

Naturally when I first attempted to write, I assumed that after years of digesting wonderfully-written books my words would flow out effortlessly in a pleasing, rhythmic manner. Not so. I discovered that writing well was harder than I had imagined. I knew what I wanted to say but my writing sounded flat. Monotonous. Even boring! What, I wondered, was I doing wrong?

Then one day I stumbled upon a book that pointed me back to the basic rules of grammar, particularly the four different types of sentence structures. When these various structures are mixed together within a paragraph, the result is a symphony of words that create a melody to the reader’s ear. I like to call this “musical writing.” Here is a list of these four sentence structures:

• Simple sentence: has one independent clause.
     Amy reads novels.
• Compound sentence: has two independent clauses.
     Amy reads novels but Sandra reads poetry.
• Complex sentence: has one dependent clause joined to an independent clause.
     Although Amy reads novels, Sandra reads poetry.
• Compound Complex sentence: has two independent clauses joined to one or more dependent clauses.
     Sandra reads poetry, but Amy reads novels because poetry is too difficult to understand.

What an exciting transformation this simple rule creates when applied to any genre of writing! Give it a try and make your writing sing!

TIP:
An independent clause contains a subject and a verb and is a complete thought. A dependent clause may contain a subject and a verb, but no complete thought.


Recommended Reading: The Elements of Style by Strunk and White

COMING UP WITH "NOVEL" IDEAS

A number of times I’ve been asked the question, “How do you come up with the ideas for your novels?” And often on the heels of that question comes another: “Is the story about you?”

In answer to the first question, typically I begin by thinking of an issue that affects a broad spectrum of society, something the average person would likely struggle with. That way the reader will hopefully connect with my main character. From that point I try to come up with a theme—the message I hope to communicate through the story and ultimately pointing back to God. In the end, I realize a dozen different readers could walk away with a dozen different opinions of a story’s meaning, but this is the glory of fiction—it becomes so personal.

In answer to the second question I would have to say yes and no. A piece of me is in each story I write, yet the stories are also a conglomeration of several elements including personal struggles and experiences, aspects of family and friends, discoveries made through researching and interviewing, and finally—pure imagination. It’s the melding of these different facets that makes fiction writing so enjoyable!

In my first book, Soul Cry, the overall theme was the sovereignty of God. Expanding on this, I wanted to convey the message that even Christians undergo horrific trials and are not always shielded from the gruesome hardships of this world simply because they are God’s children. It was a story I needed to write in order to clarify in my own mind that no matter what happens to us, God is intimately in control and is abundantly able to bring good out of bad.

In my second book, An Old-Fashioned Love, the theme was purity. I wanted to demonstrate the crippling effects of sexual immorality upon one’s soul and to show how adhering to God’s design brings great blessing. The inspiration behind this novel was my sorrow over the moral decay of our culture’s sexual values, knowing first hand the pain and suffering that naturally flows from promiscuous living. I wanted to demonstrate cause and effect, although I don’t know whether I succeeded in doing that or not.

Currently I’m finishing up my third novel with the working title The Truth About Shauna McGrath. It's a story about a young, career-minded woman who must come to terms with accepting that she suffers from clinical depression. I recently read a staggering statistic—three out of five women in America suffer from some type of mental disorder. What saddens me is that despite the great strides the medical field has made in this area, the subject matter is still shrouded in stigma and judgment. My goal for this novel is to help dispel the guilt and shame that plagues so many who suffer from this condition.

A LESSON FROM NATURE

One activity my mom and I never tire of is watching the antics of the wildlife that frequent our front yard every day, particularly the birds. Recently, because of an unusually mild winter this year, we caught sight of one of our favorite species—a Carolina Wren. They are a compact little bird with a perky tail and are known for their vast repertoire of songs.

Seeing the wren reminded me of a difficult period in my life several years ago when I lived in Florida. I had been out of work for quite a while and was anxious over my finances. We had no bird feeder at that time, but one evening when I was relaxing on the front patio, a Carolina Wren landed on the banister just a few feet away. Holding my breath, I watched as he began to perform a fascinating song and dance—chirping and twitching—and then he flew upward and swooped into a hanging basket overhead. Tickled pink, I peered into the basket to discover he and his mate had made a nest within the Spanish moss.

Every night after that, my family would gather at the kitchen door and peer through the glass, waiting for the return of our unusual visitor. And like clockwork, right at sunset, he would faithfully appear and enthrall us with his ritual all over again.

One night it occurred to me—this was a gift from God, a gentle reminder of one of His great promises: "Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink or about your body, what you will wear. . . Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much valuable than they?" (Matthew 6:25-26).

Eventually, with the turn of the season, the wrens disappeared . . . most likely headed back up to their native territory of the Carolinas. My family was sad to see them go; how quickly they had wormed their way into our hearts and had become a frequent topic of conversation at our dinner table. Yet although their presence disappeared from our lives, God had reminded me of His faithfulness to provide for my needs. "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away." (Luke 21:33).

TO KNOW OR NOT TO KNOW

It was the summer of 1997. I had just undergone major back surgery and was on a three-month leave from work, laid up in a body cast and bored out of my wits. That was when I decided to attempt to write my first serious article, and by serious I mean writing for publication.

Since my teenage years I had been enamored with the idea of becoming a writer, but it was more of a whimsical dream than a serious pursuit. Throughout the years I had taken a few stabs at writing, but while the longing was present the know-how was lacking. Like many wannabe writers, one of the obstacles that held me back was this question: what on earth can I write about?

I had heard it said you should write what you know. And that made perfect sense. It sounded safe. But it also scared me because I saw myself as a person who knew a little about a lot and was an expert on nothing. In other words, I felt inadequate to speak to the world—what could I possibly say that had merit or appeal?

I began by making a brief list of the various subjects that interested me: hobbies, courses I’d taken, personal experiences and so on. Eventually I settled on writing a personal testimony about my faith and was amazed when it was published in Decision magazine! But after a few more attempts at writing about "what I knew," I realized I was about to run out of fodder for my work.

Years later I took a job as an editorial assistant at a magazine. Amongst other tasks, I was assigned to write monthly articles on a wide spectrum of topics unfamiliar to me. At first I was terrified . . . certain I would fail. But in time that challenge led to one of the most profound growth spurts of my writing career because it taught me an invaluable lesson: write what you don't know!

It was freeing to discover that as writers we are not limited to our own narrow worlds of experience. If we are willing to research, to analyze, to postulate and to interview then we will open ourselves up to infinite possibilities of subject matter to write about.  

If anyone were to ask me today what they should write about, instead of responding, "Write what you know," I would say, "Write what you are interested in learning," and enjoy the journey!