7 Things #Writers Do ... Besides Write

by +AneMulligan  @AneMulligan

There are times when life gets in the way of writing. Then there are times when our muse refuses to come out an play. So what's a writer to do? Here's what I do:

1. Read. It's all about story. Besides a good story, I learn from reading other author's books.

2. Take pictures. I drive around with my phone poised and ready. After all, I might capture something in the background that sparks a story. You'd be surprised what's going on in the distance.

3. Eavesdrop. We might hear something that sparks a story.

4. Bang my head. I admit my head against my keyboard when nothing comes. It's like my imagination has gone on vacation and forgotten to invite me along.

5. Make up memes about writing or reading. I have always loved to do craft projects. Making a meme is a digital craft project. I can call it marketing and procrastinate for hours.

6. Quiver in fear. Writers are an insecure lot. We're gelatinous blobs of quivering fear that the story well has dried up. We're hacks. We'll never come up with another salable story.

Hubs & me with Lord Graham

7. Share photos on Facebook. They say a photo is like 1,000 words, so I keep posting them to see if the words come. I've posted some in the hopes my life would look glamorous, when in reality, I'm home scrubbing toilets and sorting laundry like the rest of the world.

So, if you're a writer what do you do besides write?

Leave your answer in the comments and be entered in a drawing to win a book.

While a floppy straw hat is her favorite, novelist Ane Mulligan has worn many including pro-family lobbyist, drama director, playwright, humor columnist, and novelist. She firmly believes coffee and chocolate are two of the four major food groups. Ane writes her Southern-fried fiction in Sugar Hill, GA, where she resides with her artist husband, chef son, and a dog of Biblical proportion.

Home to Chapel Springs

A homeless author, a theatre ghost, and a heartbroken daughter ~ 

there’s trouble in Chapel Springs

There’s always someone new in Chapel Springs, either coming home or stirring up trouble. Bestselling author Carin Jardine’s latest book is a flop. Homeless and broke, she and her little boy have no choice but to retreat to the house she inherited from her nana in Chapel Springs—the house that’s been gutted. Then, a stranger knocks on her door. One that will change the course of her life. With one of her daughters in love with the wrong boy, a theatre rumored to be haunted, and Howie Newlander and Mayor Riley go head-to-head in a hot election, Claire gets caught in the middle. 

TWEETABLE: 7 Things #writers do ... besides write. 

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Keep Calm And … by M. Lee Laycock

Shallow Bay, Lake Laberge photo by M. Laycock

We see it everywhere; on social media, posters, billboards, signs. Keep Calm and …

The meme originated in England in 1939, just as the second world war was beginning. The British knew an attack by Germany was likely imminent, so they produced the poster, Keep Calm and Carry On, and two others that were similar, to encourage the people not to panic but to stay strong.

In the light of recent events it is understandable that the meme has gone viral on social media. Natural disasters are frequent, terrorists seem to strike at will and the darkness all too often appears to be winning. It’s easy to be distracted by all the apparent evil in the world. We need all the encouragement we can get.

Perhaps this meme’s popularity is partly due to the fact that it can be adapted to any situation. Keep Calm and smile; Keep Calm and sing a happy song; Keep Calm and drink this brand of coffee; Keep Calm and eat this breakfast cereal. The list is endless.

I saw one that struck me hard recently, since I was thinking about the vital role and responsibility Christian writers have in our culture today. It simply read: Keep Calm and Write. It is imperative that we are not stunned into silence by the terrible events like the massacre in Orlando or the beheading of Christians in Saudi Arabia or the destruction of over half a city by a raging fire or torrential rains.

We must speak. We must write, for our God has called us to it. Canadian singer/songwriter Bruce Cockburn said: “You’ve got to kick at the darkness till it bleeds daylight.” Each article, non-fiction book, novel, poem and play that points to the hope of Christ does just that when we write knowing that it was the blood of Christ Himself that poured out to open the floodgates of heaven.

Can you imagine how God might use this meme? Perhaps with something like:

Keep Calm and Remember I Am God. Does that sound familiar? See Psalm 46:10.

Keep Calm and Follow Me. Perhaps a paraphrase of John 12:26.

Keep Calm and Love one Another. No need for paraphrase here – John 4:7

Keep Calm and pray. A no-brainer just like Ephesians 6:18

And then the classic one … Keep Calm And … “Act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8.

Those are sayings worth remembering, worth pondering, worth depositing between the lines of everything we write.

So yes, Keep Calm and Write!
****

Marcia Lee Laycock writes from central Alberta Canada where she is a pastor's wife and mother of three adult daughters. She was the winner of The Best New Canadian Christian Author Award for her novel, One Smooth Stone. The sequel, A Tumbled Stone was short listed in The Word Awards. Marcia also has three devotional books in print and has contributed to several anthologies. Her work has been endorsed by Sigmund Brouwer, Janette Oke, Phil Callaway and Mark Buchanan.

Abundant Rain, an ebook devotional for writers can be downloaded on Smashwords or on Amazon. It is also now available in Journal format on Amazon. 

Her most recent release is the first book in a fantasy series, The Ambassadors

Visit Marcia’s Website

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