Speculative Faith: The ‘priesthood of artists’ and Godly criticism

As a Christian writer, the discussion of how artists honor God intrigues me. This is a thoughtful discussion of the priesthood of artists. Speculative Faith: The ‘priesthood of artists’ and Godly criticism

If Jesus came today

Must Christians Ensure That the Narnia Films Succeed?

Must Christians Ensure That the Narnia Films Succeed?

Marching on

After the peaks come the valleys.  After the highs come the lows.  Cliches, all, but still true.

After winning NaNoWriMo this year, I've been working through the frustration of wondering if those 50,000 words have any value whatsoever.  I've been tempted to set the novel aside, half-done, and try something else.

This is not unusual for me, sadly, and I decided it's time to quit it.

Not quit the writing but quit the second-guessing.  God clearly told me to write the story.  I don't know if it's this story and I don't know what the outcome will look like.  But I write.

Sometimes it's the eating of the elephant:  one bite at a time.

What writing goals provide

After joining ACFW's NovelTrack challenges in July and October, followed by National Novel Writing Month's 50,000 word challenge, I'm reflecting on what I've learned through these.

Thanks to NaNoWriMo, I've walked through the valley of the third week, where I was sure my novel was disgusting and why was I doing this anyway?

If not for NovelTrack, I probably would have.  Here are the stages I've seen so far in NaNo:

Week 1

Excited, sure this was my break-through novel.  I loved the genre, loved the characters, loved the setting.  I logged well over 1700 words a day and the time flew by.

Week 2

 Still excited at seeing the word count rise.  The plot was murky at times but I wrote.  Words on the page, right?  I could clean this thing up in the edit stage.

Week 3

  Why am I doing this again?  I am no writer.  This plot is transparent and disorganized.  Obviously, I shouldn't have chosen this genre.  Could I switch to re-writing the story I wrote last summer?

Week 4

 OK, the plot is smoothing out a bit.  I can see a theme developing and I'd sure hate to leave my characters hanging where I last left them.  I'd better keep writing.

I think these writing challenges teach me to spell better, as in "writing challenge" is spelled "persistent."  So many threads of fiction writing - character development, dialogue, plotting, description, theme - are starting to weave themselves together.  I am learning.

And keeping on writing.

New contest

Alison Strobel has a contest going at her blog to support Sandi Rog, who has been diagnosed with cancer just as her debut novel, The Master's Wall, was released.  I posted a report on Sandi's story recently.

Check out Alison's contest here.  And keep praying for Sandi's healing, please.

Want to write faster?

This is my first time to try to ride the rip-roaring bronco called NaNoWriMo.  You've probably heard of it:  write 50,000 in 30 days.  Plot doesn't matter.  Passive sentences?  Ignore them!  Cardboard characters?  Bring them on.

The idea is to experience writing without the internal editor reading over your shoulder.  I'm doing moderately well in that category, sadly enough.  I'm slapping words on the monitor screen, promising to come back later and whip them into shape.  I probably will.

But the best thing I've discovered is that I write fast.  Being me, I timed myself today.  I write about 1200 words an hour.

How did this happen?  Here are some things I've noticed:

I don't sit down without a scene in my mind.
My best brainstorming times are while brushing my teeth and while having problems falling asleep.  Contemplating tomorrow's scene usually brings sleep right away.

But I digress.  The point is that I have some direction before I sit down at my computer.  I use those dull moments (like while showering) to let my brain skitter hither, fetching ideas.

I make mistakes.
And I don't care.  Sometimes the internal editor says, "whoa, that was the third was you've used in this paragraph  Aren't you ashamed?'  But mostly it doesn't and I keep rolling. I'd rather edit than stare at a blank screen.

I have experience.
 For me, working as a reporter on a small weekly newspaper helped shred my perfectionist tendencies.  Although I wanted to lovingly craft every lead paragraph, I did not have time.  I had the basketball stories to write after I finished up with the feature interview I'd done.  And now, unexpectedly, a news story demanded my full attention.  The point of my writing was to communicate clearly, not produce literary excellence.

Experience happens when we write.  Which brings me right back to my first paragraph.  I'm doing NaNoWriMo to get experience.  I am pushing myself to write 20,000 words a month (after NaNo) to get experience.  I'm committing myself to a consistent practice so that I get more and more experience.

Writing is easier when you can write fast.  Maybe these ideas will get your writing going, too.