When I write “stony silence,” what do you think of? A conversation that went too far? Anger? Or maybe the presentation that dwindled into awkward silence from boredom? Stony silence is not typically a goal for us writers—quite the opposite. So imagine my surprised when I noticed something in Scripture . . . Continue reading
Monthly Archives: March 2016
Pew Sisters
Wouldn’t it be great if Lutherans reviewed Lutheran books? Oh, wait, they do! And it’s a practice we can encourage! One way to do so is by blogs giving positive reviews and then offering a giveaway, which is exactly what Sisters of Katie Luther is doing right now. Want to read Pew Sisters with the added fun of a drawing? Or want to send me a positive review of another Lutheran writer? Send it my way! (Comment, Facebook, you know the drill.)
Mimicking Life
Something sad has happened in our congregation and it has me thinking of darker, sadder things. It wasn’t anything grand or thrilling. It wasn’t anything that someone would jump to write about. There wasn’t even the thrill we sometimes wickedly seek in sin or seeing a sinner’s downfall. It is real life in this fallen, death-ridden world. It is loss and pain and uncertainly and the trauma of life support for a beloved young man.
While our days go on in the midst of myriad vulnerabilities, I thought about how novels sometimes are mimicking life in part to emotionally prepare us for the unknowns ahead. Guiding us toward answers and lessons we finally learn when we experience the grief or pain first hand. At the same time . . .
Filed under Theological reflection
Mary Sue
Lutheran writer Lars Walker posted a great piece over on Patheos.com as part of the Patheos Public Square on Myth, Imagination, Fairy Tales, and Fantasy. And Faith., titled, “Mary Sue the Barbarian: Mining our Inner Evil.” In it, he explores character formation in light of what we know to be true: actual evil!
National Poetry Month & Contest
This April marks the 20th anniversary of National Poetry Month. To celebrate, let’s gather up the names (and books, if possible) of living Lutheran poets & hymnists. Send them to me by comment or Facebook, and I’ll add them to my Lutheran Authors page in April. And, for now, here’s a little writing exercise (for you grownups) and a writing contest for homeschooled kiddos ages 7-19. The Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA for short) has three creative angles that will be sure to be a lot of fun, whatever your age.
Filed under Contests, Poetry, Writing Exercises
Punctuation
Writing reflects life and thought, my friends, and punctuation plays an important part. Yet, how like Nicodemus! There are teachers of grammar and yet so many do not understand these earthly things. How then can we speak of what we know, bear witness to what we have seen, and offer more celestial testimony? Facebook memes.
This Guy
There was this guy. In a lot of ways, this guy could be any other guy, and that doesn’t really make him main character material. That is, sometimes being mundane sort of sets the scene to explore what’s actually different or valuable underneath. Isn’t that the point of plot and character development? But what if I told you . . .
Mother’s Day Contest
I’m always happy to broadcast writing contests, so here is another one for your consideration: He Remembers the Barren is hosting a Mother’s Day Contest. That blog has been a Lutheran voice comforting the infertile and wrestling with difficult questions for five years now! And, who hasn’t been assigned to write an ode to your mother? (Actually that practice is newer than you likely realize, in part due to the romanticizing of motherhood when maternal mortality was so high in the 19th century or so.) Anyway, I also happen to know that if you’ve ever wondered about the new novelist publishing through CPH . . . Continue reading
Prolific
I have always wanted to be prolific. Seriously, I was a weird little girl who was always starting something new: something new to read, something new to think about, or something new to write. Some people aren’t so captivated by . . . I don’t even know what it is . . . productivity? Ambition? A wandering nature? A love of novelty? Some sort of random flow chart? Maybe you haven’t thought about it much, but I happened to come an article that made me think about it. Continue reading
Filed under Writer's Life
Fear
My biggest fear about blogging, and really writing in general, is burn out. Churning out text can be daunting enough, but striving for it to be interesting and in some way crafted too? But I’ll tell you my hope (and it is not a hope in myself):
Filed under Theological reflection, Writer Troubles, Writer's Life