Beverly Cleary: "Write It"

 

"If you don't see the book you want on the shelf, write it."

~Beverly Cleary

    The fact that we writers can do this is so awesome; it's almost like a superpower! Knowing that one can think of a story that they'd want to read, and being able to produce it--the thought is both mind-bending and exciting, ripe with possibilities.
    Though it takes a while to produce this story (to plan, plot, research, type it all up, then re-write parts or even the whole thing, and then doing more revisions, etc.), even the long process is fun because it builds up one's knowledge of the story and characters. It helps the setting develop in one's mind, and the history of the story can kind of seem longer. Plus, investing so much time and effort into the story makes it even more precious, and that can give a writer pressed for time more determination to finish the work.
    One could imagine that some really great novels have come from moments where a writer suddenly thought, "I want to read a novel with elements of such-and-such," and decided to write that story. Because of moments like that, writers have not only produced a nice story to read themselves, but something that others can enjoy as well.
    Is the story you've written or are writing now one that you wanted to find on a bookshelf? Do you know of anyone who wrote the kind of story they couldn't find anywhere else? :)

Psalm 147:5

 

"Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite."

Psalm 147:5 (NKJ)

    The understanding of the Lord is infinite. What an awesome thing to point out. Understanding is tantamount to having sensibility and knowledge in a matter (or in God's case, all matters). Having understanding also speaks of great experience, having seen what occurs when certain things happen. All in all, someone with great understanding has great wisdom, which is a very impressive quality.
    And the Lord's understanding is limitless. He literally understands everything.
    Our God is incredible; isn't He?

"What are You Thankful for this Year?"

    Thanksgiving is the giving of thanks.
    And Thanksgiving Day is an entire day formed for giving thanks. Giving thanks for freedom, for family, for having a great nation, for friends, and all the little things in life. As Christians, we have even more things in life to be joyfully thankful for: salvation, a relationship with God, His love, His guidance . . .
    It's kind of funny. There are so many blessings in life to be thankful for that it'd probably take a lot longer than one day to list and consider all of them. Yet at the same time, the concept of coming up with and pondering that massive list of blessings can be so complicated and difficult, because where does a person even begin? There are so many wonderful things to be thankful for!
    I've heard a question that seems like a really great starting point for this kind of matter: "What are you thankful for this year?" It's a simple question to consider because it sets some perimeters in the thinking, but the emphasis of the question isn't on importance. It's not like asking "What are you most thankful for this year?," because then one would try to sift through the top things on their list and carefully consider which blessings are "better" than the others. But with "What are you thankful for this year?," one could literally answer anything, big or small. And after giving thanks to the Lord for that blessing, one would have in mind more blessings related to the first topic.
    What are you thankful for this year? Spiritual growth? The election results? A new family member? Improvements in a skill?

The Spectacular Experience of Writing Emotional Scenes

When written really, really well, an emotional scene/moment can
be as beautiful and touching as a sunset (if you love sunsets, that is).

    Stories with emotional moments in them are spectacular! Formed with care and caution, scenes with deep, realistic feeling are beautiful like a vibrant sunset, and powerful like a hurricane. You can see it when people get thrills of exhilaration or start to cry during a movie.
    Writing something with emotional moments like that is awesome for more than one reason. For one, emotions in fiction are good (it's part of what makes the reading experience fun). And secondly, certain parts of the story (like the introduction of a key character, the story's climax, or the epiphany scene) need emotion for them to work. And in addition to those things, writing emotional moments in a story usually means writing from one's own heart, which is a wonderful experience for a writer!
    Starting with the idea. Sifting through the concept of an emotional scene, discerning whether or not it's necessary for the story, or realistic for the characters involved. It's important to have discernment in valuable scenes like this since while they are powerful, an emotional moment set in the wrong time could have no effect, and too many emotional moments would water down the effect of all of them.
    After the idea stage, there's the first draft stage. Pretty much everything in a first draft is a little disheveled, but emotions? Definitely. Because feelings are incredibly difficult to pin down, and the chances that the right words to describe it will be found in the first attempt or two is basically zero. So sometimes (at least, in my experiences) first-draft emotional scenes can seem too short or too fake-sounding or too out-of-character; which can be a little disappointing. But it is important to keep writing because:
    Revisions! Once the whole first draft is done, the reshaping of the story and its chapters and the events of said chapters begins! Looking over the scene as it fits into the whole plot, seeing whether it really does work with the characters' personalities, and whether or not it comes at the right time during the story; deciding once and for all whether it belongs. And then, once the fantastic emotional scene is determined to belong where it is, making the necessary adjustments until it's just right.
    And when it's just right, it's just great to read. The emotional experience is captured perfectly, conveyed successfully and efficiently, prompting readers' feelings, giving them a beautiful and meaningful moment.
    It's good how writing and hard work can make such a thing.
    What do you think of emotional scenes? :) Do you like reading/watching them? Do you write them?

Psalm 4:11

"But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You; let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them; let those also who love Your name be joyful in You."

Psalm 4:11 (NKJ)

    It's great how joy is an effect of the Lord in life. Knowing how wonderful He is, how He loves us, how we don't have to stress out about anything because He defends us. It's an incredible blessing that's basically impossible to uphold without Him. Bible verses like these are great to recall at any moment.
    I hope you have a fantastic week! :)

Self-Depreciation: Not as Good as it Might Seem

This is the kind of view one gets of oneself when they
take self-depreciating comments to heart instead of
holding to the Lord's comforting words.

    Am I the only one who's believed that calling oneself "stupid" after making a dumb mistake is just humble self-depreciation?
    It kind of seems okay. It isn't calling anyone else those names; just oneself, and it feels deserved most of the time. Such self depreciation (insulting, chiding, mocking) can be seen as self-discipline, an improvement strategy.
    Only now I'm pretty sure that "self-depreciation" isn't humble, helpful, or okay to do at all.
    For one, there's just something fishy about putting the responsibility of scolding (or complimenting) into the hands of the person who's going to receive it. It's too tempting to pass on the scolding, for one, and just ignore the problems. But a bigger issue is that when one puts themselves in charge of monitoring their own flaws . . . well, there are probably a lot that a person would never realize they had until someone else pointed them out.
    It's not our job to judge ourselves like that anyway. Discerning problematic attitudes and flaws that need fixing is one thing, but when one calls themselves an idiot (a vague insult) and don't even fixate on the issue that prompted the scolding, nothing is being improved. The only one who's really able to instruct us in how to change is the one who actually has the right to: God. He alone sees all the core issues that need to be addressed, He knows the correct way to mend those issues, and He instructs us on doing that in a kind, loving way, whether by people in our lives or by the Good Book.
    Which doesn't involve name-calling. That's another evident problem with self-demeaning. Typically, when a person scolds themselves, they mutter something like "idiot," and feel cruddy about themselves. But after that? Probably not much else.
    Which is eerily a lot like what the enemy does to us. In Revelation 12:10, Satan is said to be accusing us "day and night." Accusing, condemning. Drawing attention to all the mistakes, sins, all the bad, but not in a way that helps or gives hope. It only hurts.
    But God gives hope, healing, forgiveness. The salvation He gives has redeemed us from all our mistakes; another reason not to judge oneself with self-depreciation. Yes, we make mistakes, but we're redeemed from them. The amount of wrong choices we make even after accepting Christ is not going to annul that grace, but allowing self depreciating comments to fill our minds (and actually believing them) will definitely distort one's memory of it.
    God wouldn't call any of us "idiot," and He definitely doesn't want us calling other people things like that (see Matthew 5:22), so logically, it makes sense that He wouldn't want us calling ourselves that.
    So; personal conclusion? Calling oneself "stupid" or "moron" is probably not right.

Writing Games: Weird Words!

    Have you ever just Googled something like "weird words" to find out-of-the-ordinary terms? You know, the long, difficult-to-pronounce, whimsical-sounding words. Like jouska or pluviophile; peculiar words that are fun to use and to know about . . . the ones that are so awesome that one very much wishes they were used in modern day. These kind of terms are awesome, and it's a shame that they can't be used in writing, since nobody would understand what they meant.
    Or could they be used in writing?
    Maybe not in a novel/short story manuscript (except maybe in the historical genre, depending on the word), but I think weird words like this would make great writing prompts.
    Take pluviophile, for example. It basically means a love of rain, or a person who really likes rain. Using this word as a writing prompt, one could make it a character (a guy named Josh who loves rain), or utilize it for a setting (a region that has only one rain season, which people eagerly anticipate all year long), or it could be an action/event that makes up the situation (a person getting caught in the rain and suddenly becoming fond of the wet weather).
    Here's a short list of weird words that might make a good writing prompt. Have you ever heard of any of them? :)

-Coddiwomple     -Yonderly     -Vellichor

-Slugabed     -Gonzo     -Athazagoraphobia

-Zugzwang     -Overmorrow     -Hobbledehoy

Psalm 147:11

 

 

"The LORD takes pleasure in those who fear Him, in those who hope in His mercy."

Psalm 147:11 (NKJ)

    Hope is such a relieving thing. It's like the understanding that one can rest on something, and rely on it for total protection and support. Something good to hope in is like a shelter, a haven.
    And the Lord's mercy is the perfect hope. Unwavering and vast, there's a sure reliance that God cares about and for us in spite of any mistake we might make. It's a massive comfort to know that it doesn't have to be earned with good works.
    No wonder the Lord is called the Rock of ages; He's absolutely reliable in every way.

Albert Einstein and Science and God

 

"The more I study science, the more I believe in God."

~Albert Einstein

    Science is so epic.
    It not only shows what exists, but how it exists. And it pairs up so perfectly with the Bible, which not only states what exists, but also why it exists.
    It drives me nuts when people try to say that science disproves God's existence, because when one really looks into it, they can see that the exact opposite is true! God's fingerprints are all over creation (Romans 1:20 says that this in itself is enough for a person to believe He's real). Plus, science (and archaeology, studies of history, and the Dead Sea Scrolls) not only shows that our faith in Him isn't completely blind, but seeing things like laminin and the creative design of genetic coding is sort of comforting. It's a reminder of how intricately thoughtful God is, and how much consideration He's put into making us and everything else.
    Books/articles/documentaries that talk about how science supports (not contradicts) God's word are the best! Some of my favorite books about God and science are Evolution Exposed by Roger Patterson, and the Case for books by Lee Stroble. There are also some really great articles on this website called godandscience.org.
    Do you have a favorite concept/fact about God's hand in science? Or a quote? Please feel free to share in the comments section! :)

Things I Learned from The Hunger Games

    The Hunger Games is possibly one of the most popular series in modern day; a trilogy of books, four movies, and a gigantic fandom . . . When I finally got to reading this series a while ago, one of my first reactions was, Wow; this writing is great! I learned so many writing techniques from it, including:
    Narration. Personally, I thought it was what stood out first. Katniss's voice is clear, very distinct, and she totally sounds like a sixteen year old girl. Though Katniss is hardened by a rough life and required to know a lot more than the typical teenager does, she acts her age.One of my writer fears is that as I get older, I'll write young characters who don't act or think like actual people their age do, but Suzanne Collins clearly does not have this problem.
    Pacing. Oooh, so you don't have to describe scenes moment-by-moment. This book had fantastic pacing. Rather than write every single action that happens and every place Katniss walks through, there are some parts where it's just briefly mentioned. Like saying "they went to the cafeteria" instead of "they walked out of the room, through the hall, into and down the elevator, went through another hall, and entered the cafeteria two doors down." There was no fluff in the writing. The pacing flowed smoothly, seamlessly, carrying the reader from event to dialogue to action, and so on.
    Humor. The funny moments in this book really balance out the more grisly events of the novel. Some sources of humor in this somewhat gloomy setting were Katniss's sarcasm, Haymitch Abernathy, Effie Trinket, and some scenes where Haymitch and Effie collide. The presence of these humorous characters act as sort of an alleviation in what could otherwise be a very tight, sinister setting, and Katniss's wit is just really balanced well with other parts of her personality.
    The training scenes. In the story, Katniss, Peeta, and all the other tributes have to go through extensive training. These scenes are shown in the book, but they're not boring or too long or anything. The length is reasonable enough to show that a lot of time is invested in preparation, but not enough to make it seem like time is dragging on and on. Plus, the training scenes don't just push the plot forward, but there's some foreshadowing, added conflict, and character development. The scenes are really utilized to their fullest extent without crowding them up with information.
    Killing is not justified or romanticized. This was one of the reasons I stayed away from the series until I was older. I feared that the story was beefed up with characters who kill and then justify it with "them or me" without any qualms, but that's not the way it is. Katniss does take lives in the story, but one was an accident, and one was a mercy killing. She understands that the killings in the Hunger Games are murders, she is horrified and repulsed by the death she sees, and she's haunted by it throughout the whole series. In a story like this, death would be inevitable, but I sort of admire how Collins carefully handled the subject in this first book.
    Wounds and consequences were realistic. One of the things that's fantastic about novels is that there's more room to add and go into details. In The Hunger Games, details are definitely given attention. The arena is a synthesized forest, so Katniss has to constantly hunt for food and fresh water. The authenticity of the hunting/cooking details are also impressive, going beyond mentioning only shooting arrows and cooking over a fire. There's also a part where Katniss is very, very close to a large explosion, and she suffers the consequence of partial deafness. This kind of thing isn't always touched on in TV serieses or movies, so I found the realistic consequence almost refreshing.
    So there are the major writing things I picked up while I was reading. What about you? What's your favorite writer thing about The Hunger Games?

Psalm 119:169

"Let my cry come before You, O LORD; give me understanding according to Your word."

Psalm 119:169 (NKJ)

    You know that sort of mindset you get just after hearing a sermon, after having a Bible study? Refreshed by the pure words of the Lord and a godly message, it's like one sees the world through different eyes--righteous eyes. It's easier to think in biblical terms, easier to understand feelings, and doing right is also less difficult than it might usually be.
    Reading God's Word makes things in life clearer, brighter, it gives such a deeper understanding of things! I wish that I always had this mindset 24/7, don't you? :)

Blah! Distractions!

The view outside the window . . .

    Everywhere! Distractions are everywhere!    In the house, at school, at work, by the sidewalks. No matter where I go, there's always something to keep me from doing what I should be doing, or something that's more interesting to think about than the thing I need to be planning for. Even when there's nothing in the room, zoning out or daydreaming happens in an instant, and the minutes get eaten up like crazy!
     And it's not just stuff like that or the Internet or snacking or having a sudden interest in the fish tank in the other room. Distractions tend to involve good things too, like other forms of work; "fun" projects and skill-developing things. Like, for example, designing decorations for an event instead of studying, or reading a great book on writing instead of finishing required reading for class. It's still work, but work that can be put off, and work that keeps a person from doing something that needs to be completed now.

Pets . . .

    But the worst kind of distraction's got to be the kind that one thinks is useful while they're spending time on it, but really isn't. I stopped and began to read a book recently, spent precious hours doing so, thinking "This book has great material! It'll be so useful!" but really I was just enjoying the book for myself, and when the book was finished, I found that I didn't have anything to apply to other kinds of work. And then came that guilty feeling.

And even the way the light shines onto
the wall can be a distraction!

    The guilty feeling that marks the end of the distraction cycle. After the time's been spent, and the distraction's gone, when one thinks about what they have left--which is sometimes really nothing. Guilt, shame, and even anger can come, because it's not just our time that's wasted on distractions, but God's time. He's given us a certain amount of hours, and the thought of some of those precious hours being gone forever because of a thoughtless decision . . . it's really crummy.
    Distractions . . . (cue the long sigh). They'll always be a part of life, which means fighting it is a regular thing too. I guess the only way to really resist distractions and get down to work is to be determined, and to pray (especially the prayer part).
    How do you deal with distractions? Do you put yourself in a place where they're minimal? Or do you have the grit to ignore them and just get the work done?

Borrowing!

    Does anyone else read the fine print in the very first pages of a novel? The ones that show the publishing house and the  book's subgenres and the legal stuff? It's pretty interesting; particularly when there's a short, short, short summary of the book (you know, the kind a writer finds impossible to write for their own story!). There's also another interesting few sentences near the bottom. It's a disclaimer of sorts which states that none of the characters, settings, and events in the story are actually real. That they're completely, totally, utterly fictional.
    That kind of makes one wonder about the characters that are based off real people. Not copy-and-pasted, of course, but inspired by persons in the real world. A lot of published authors are said to have written characters slightly based off friends, family members, and other people they knew. Alice Liddell, Tom Sawyer, Sherlock Holmes, and even Iron Man supposedly had real-life counterparts that at least partially inspired them.
    Hearing the stories about these people is cool, and it's also awesome when one considers how their own acquaintances might have been inspirations for their characters. It's not an uncommon practice for any writer to do that. "Borrowing" little things from the real world and putting them into a story. As long as it's not too much, little things taken from real life can make a character more three-dimensional, and bring hilarious and believable incidents into scenes.
    Physical appearances, for example, can be borrowed from real life. Not just hair or eyes or even a sort of smile, but a certain outfit can be too awesome to not give to a character.
    Habits too, like snapping one's fingers to every song they hear, or straightening books in a room (but nothing else). It can add so much flavor to a character.
    And names! Haven't you ever met a person with an incredibly awesome name that you just want to use for a main character? Not their whole name, of course, but a first name, surname, or middle name.
    One of the best parts about borrowing is that when you've experienced/seen/have the characteristics, you can write about them easier and more accurately. Plus, a lot of people would be excited about seeing some of their own words/actions in an awesome story.
    But there is a dark side to this sort of thing. There's a law that allows someone to sue for libel if a fictional character bears a little too much resemblance to them (often in an unflattering way). And then there's the matter of hurting feelings. The teacher who was supposedly the inspiration for Severus Snape in the Harry Potter series was said to have been really dismayed when he found out. Nobody likes to have their negative characteristics and flaws splattered out in print.
    So yeah, borrowing should be done with consideration of others' feelings, and perhaps permission prior to writing. But with that consideration and permission, borrowing is a really cool writing technique!
    Have you ever written a character inspired by someone you know? When you think about the character, do you think about the real life person? Or when you see the person, do you immediately think of the character?