EILEEN GREGORY

WRITING: A DREAM OR A GOAL

2012-02-29T18:16:00.001-05:00

www.CapeCodography.com

I once read that a dream is something we wish for, but a goal is something we work for. That definition has made all the difference in my life.

For a long time, I dreamed about becoming a writer. I spent years imagining how great it would be, just waiting for the “gift” to descend upon me in the same way the dove descended upon Jesus at his baptism. But that magical moment never happened, so I figured I wasn’t meant to be a writer after all—until I learned the difference between a dream and a goal.

Once I understood that a goal was something largely within my control, my entire attitude changed. I began reading everything I could get my hands on about magazine writing, book writing, editing, and publishing. I took a few classes and I joined a critique group. Finally, with great trial and error, I began to write until I finally reached the point where I had the courage to submit a piece of my work for publication. I am still learning, still growing, but I am always engaged in effort—doing everything within my power to do to reach my goals.

In his book, The Pursuit of Excellence, the late author Ted Engstrom (president of World Vision) wrote: “Perhaps part of our problem is just some defective theology. Many of us have difficulty living with the biblical truth that a sovereign God is doing it all—and the parallel truth that man has not only been given complete responsibility for his actions but is commanded to take action! This is part of the tension between theology and living, a tension that will never be—nor should it be—resolved.”

Another writer, Charles Paul Conn, said, “Whatever it is, however impossible it seems; whatever the obstacle that lies between you and it; if it is noble, if it is consistent with God’s kingdom, you must hunger after it and stretch yourself to reach it.”

Because we are made in our Creator’s image, I believe each of us is called to take an active part in the work of creating. Life is most fulfilling when we find a constructive avenue to serve God with the very abilities He has bestowed upon us. Perhaps fear inhibits us from fulfilling our potential . . . the fear that if we acknowledge our gifts, then we will become responsible for acting upon them, and action always carries the risk of failure. But the greatest failure in life is the failure to try.

And as for fear . . . does the sun fear whether it should paint the sky pink in the early dawn? Do the trees question whether they should blanket the earth in read and gold in the fall? Does a bird question whether it should make melodies? God’s creation is filled with purpose, and every creature has its God-given niche to bring glory to the Lord. God has not given His children a spirit of fear. So if we desire to write, then let us write with boldness to the glory of God!

“And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” (Colossians 3:17).

A PLACE TO WRITE

2012-02-22T17:26:00.004-05:00

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I always find it interesting to learn where other writers do their writing.

A few months ago, I stumbled upon an article about a writer who had reached the pinnacle of his career and was finally able to purchase his ideal workplace—a house built into the side of a mountain. The photograph made me drool. He had an enormous mahogany desk hand-crafted for his study, which was perched before an entire wall of windows with a panoramic view of the valley below. No envy here!

When I was young, that is exactly what I pictured a writer to be—someone who spent most of their life hidden away in secluded places, like mountain cabins or lakeside retreats, insulated from the world and isolated from humanity, inspired by the beauty and tranquility of nature. Ahhh, sounds like a slice of heaven.

But how many of us can afford a slice of heaven? For those whose wallets don’t stretch that far, I suppose the next best thing to a quiet cabin in the woods is a quiet corner in a house. As a matter of fact, just about every writer I know personally works in a home office or a personalized nook in a room.

Ironically, as long as I have been a writer, I have never lived in a house. When I first took up the craft, I was working a full-time job and living in the city. Out of convenience-sake, and, of course, money, I leased apartments but they afforded little space to move around in. There was no opportunity to create an official office, or even a nook in which to write.

So I learned to block out the world around me and to write wherever I happened to be—on a park bench, in a restaurant, at a doctor’s office, etc. Over time, I began gravitating toward various coffee shops—Panera, Borders, Barnes & Noble, hole-in-the-wall cafes—and eventually this became my preferred location to write.

Today, I finally do live in a house with several little nooks that offer privacy to write. But when it comes time to create, to write a rough draft, I still prefer to seek out an environment full of energy. Just give me a comfy wing chair, a warm atmosphere and some high quality caffeine, and I can find all the inspiration I need.

In the end, I thank God for teaching me to appreciate small pleasures and to find contentment with whatever I have (or don’t have!). " . . . for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances." (Philippians 4:11).

And maybe, just maybe, someday when I write that blockbuster novel I’ll be able to buy that little slice of heaven after all. I think I could probably adjust!

THE SCRIPTORIUM

2012-02-17T21:58:00.001-05:00

www.theholylandexperience.com

The Scriptorium: Center for Biblical Antiquities, is the home of the incomparable Van Kampen collection—one of the largest private assemblages of rare scrolls, bibles, and religious artifacts in the world. A non-sectarian library and research center, this 18,000 square foot museum takes its name from the medieval monastic world when Bibles were once painstakingly reproduced by hand.

Transferred from Grand Haven, Michigan to Orlando in 2002 and on loan at The Holy Land Experience (a replica of ancient Jerusalem), the collection is world class according to Dr. Herbert Samworth, library curator and bible lecturer at the park. “There is nothing out there like it—it shows how God gave us His word and providentially preserved its accuracy.”

Since it’s opening in Orlando, visitors from around the globe have enjoyed this 55-minute interactive walking tour, which twists and turns through 13 uniquely themed rooms designed to transport guests to historical and geographic eras of human history. Special lighting cues accompanied by an “unseen narrator” overhead guide viewers on a journey through time, which traces the transmission of the Judeo-Christian scriptures over the centuries.

The tour begins in 2,200 B.C in the city of Babylon with a display of rare cuneiform—one of the earliest forms of written communication. Next, in a replication of the great Library of Alexandria, several 2,000-year-old papyri are arrayed. Flames of the great fire that destroyed the Library move onlookers to the Bindery Room where the process of binding parchment or vellum pages made it possible to assemble scripture in small portable volumes. Sounds of a Gregorian chant draw the tour through a European monastery where the shadow of a toiling monk is seen reflected on a wall, committed to a lifetime of flawlessly hand coping the Bible.

Guests then meet the animated figure of John Wycliffe, responsible for the first translation of the Latin Bible into English, before making a quick escape through a secret passageway to emerge 100 years later in Mainz, Germany, home of the Johannes Gutenberg’s printing shop. Notably, the Bible was the first book Gutenberg ever printed. In the room of William Tyndale, who was burned at the stake for his bible translation work, shadows of an angry mob drive the crowd to the jail cell of John Bunyan who was incarcerated 12 years for preaching God’s word. See the actual key to this 17th century cell, where Bunyan wrote the classic Pilgrim’s Progress. A recreation of the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London introduces visitors to Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the “prince of preachers,” before moving to the deck of the Mayflower where 102 defenders of religious freedom come ashore at Plymouth, MA.

The tour ends in a Byzantine rotunda. One at a time, curtains rise to reveal life-size portraits of several “giants of the faith.” As the lights dim, viewers find themselves standing at the base of Mt. Sinai to witness the climactic carving of the Ten Commandments into stone. Exiting through a modern-day room, the tour concludes with a spectacular rotating exhibit gallery where additional significant biblical items from the Van Kampen collection are available for viewing.

The Scriptorium—a dramatic historical, educational and inspirational presentation—is open Mondays through Saturdays during regular park hours. For more information log on to http://www.theholylandexperience.com/.

A PLACE I CALL "NOW"

2012-02-13T10:22:00.003-05:00

www.CapeCodography.com

I love to watch the snow fall. I love the way it silences the world for just a little while, coating it in delicate specks of magic.

In my living room is a large bay window overlooking a group of bushes and a couple of birdfeeders beyond. During the snowfall, I will sit and watch the birds dart in and out and all around. Their brilliant streaks of color—particularly the cardinals—against the pure winter white take my breath away.

To me the snow is spiritual—a symbol of God’s cleansing nature—soft yet powerful, covering the dark with the purity of His righteousness.

What I especially enjoy during a gentle snowfall is taking a slow and leisurely drive while listening to classical music. Perhaps it’s nothing more than my imagination, but the flakes seem to dance in time with the notes, as if directed by an unseen choreographer.

When it snows, the world around me is transformed into a canvas of grays and whites, and I become part of a fairyland—neither here nor there—living in a place I call “now.”

CHRISTIANITY AND THE ARTS

2012-02-06T10:09:00.001-05:00

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Recently I invited a couple of dear friends over for dinner and a movie. I don’t get to entertain as often as I’d like to, but I’ve always found it deeply satisfying to spend time with the one’s I love, and to feed them both physically and spiritually.

We ate beef burgundy (yum, yum) and watched Facing the Giants, a wonderfully inspiring story about a football coach who is on the verge of losing his career until he turns his life over to God. The ripple effect is amazing! Afterward, we spent some time talking about the movie—it’s theme and various sub-themes, about God, and about life. By the end of the night our bellies were full, as well as our hearts.

I know some Christians struggle with the question of whether or not there is any place for fiction, entertainment and the arts in our walk with Christ. After all, we are called to be truth-seekers and truth-speakers, so I understand how this might sound like a contradiction at first glance.

But I’ve always seen the arts as another extension of God’s rich and multi-faceted personality. Even fiction is based on truth for, “there is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). In my opinion books and movies are a blessed medium to convey the real truth in a way that reaches not only the mind and the emotions, but the spirit as well.

Our God is the Creator and we are made in His image (Genesis 1:27). And in His image we are like Him in that we have intelligence, we are relational, we have conscience or morality, and we are CREATIVE. The book of John also reminds us that a man has nothing unless it is given to him by God, and that includes our creative talents and abilities.

Throughout the years, next to Scripture, God has spoken to me, ministered to me, comforted me and convicted me in profound ways through the arts—be it a novel, a play, a song, or creation itself—the ultimate work of art. Even in non-Christian books and films with spiritual eyes we can find spiritual undertones and messages, whether they are intended by the writer/author or not. One of my all-time favorite secular movies is The Edge with Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin. Three men crash in the wilderness and fight to survive, but only one makes it out alive—the one who had character. The theme of that movie has flashed into my mind dozens of times throughout the years, because I know that character is God’s goal for us, in conforming us to the character of Christ.

When setting out to write a novel, I pray for God to inspire me with a story that will touch people’s hearts and move them in a direction toward Him. For me God is the theme, so to speak, of my work and thus the ultimate motivation for what I do. As God gave Noah the wisdom to craft the ark and the artisans the ability to create the priestly clothing and the tabernacle, all to accomplish His purposes, and He is the same God today as yesterday, likewise He gives us the ability to work His will—even through the arts!

USING STRONG VERBS

2012-02-02T09:46:00.001-05:00

One way to make your writing sparkle is to choose strong action verbs wherever possible. Good writing evokes images and paints word-pictures in the reader’s mind, and nothing is more boring than bland verbs linked to lifeless adjectives.

The tip off is usually the “ly” ending. When self-editing your work, search for the adjectives that end in “ly” and replace them with a word that is more appealing to the senses. For example:

The woman walked quickly. = The woman dashed.
The woman walked slowly. = The woman meandered.
The woman walked angrily. = The woman strode.

LESS IS MORE

By using fewer words you’ve actually said more because the conversions create drama and evoke emotion.
Check out this paragraph filled with weak verbs and boring adjectives:

The man walked quickly to the door and closed it forcefully. He then looked meanly at the woman and spoke harshly, “I told you we can’t afford a vacation right now!” She answered nervously, “I—I thought you wanted to get away for awhile.” Holding her purse tightly to her chest, she began to cry softly.

Here’s the same paragraph with stronger verbs:

The man stormed to the door and slammed it shut. He then glared at the woman and hollered, “I told you we can’t afford a vacation right now!” She stammered, “I—I thought you wanted to get away for awhile.” Clutching her purse to her chest she began to weep.

See if you can come up with strong verbs for the following examples:

• Spoke tenderly
• Picked up impulsively
• Answered grouchily
• Spoke persuasively
• Sang quietly
• Bothered frequently
• Danced daintily

HOW OFTEN SHOULD I WRITE?

2012-01-25T21:28:00.032-05:00

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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!

2012-01-19T02:26:00.009-05:00

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

2012-01-15T13:21:00.002-05:00

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

2012-01-13T10:15:00.049-05:00

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!

2012-01-09T15:04:00.005-05:00

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

2012-01-05T20:33:00.008-05:00

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

2012-01-04T17:47:00.006-05:00

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

2012-01-01T17:41:00.004-05:00

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!