Words are Wonderful Things

by Linore Rose Burkard

Writers are wordsmiths. We play with, struggle over, muddle in, misuse and pluck words into and out of our books or articles with anything from reckless abandon—the heady steam of inspiration—to plodding, pulling-teeth frustration. 

One day's work is like rolling full steam ahead, while another's is a journey on a horse-cart as we struggle to find the right words. If we do, the magic happens, the work sings, and we leave readers happy.

As writers we know perhaps more than anyone, the power of the written word.

And yet--what a struggle we have at times to get those words written.

We may over-write, under-write*, fail to write, or fail to thoroughly edit what we've written.  

Since this is my last post for the year for Novel Rocket, I offer the following words that I've gleaned over the past months to encourage you in your writing journey, whether you are at an acme of success, rolling along on a fast track, or climbing the trenches. (Do we ever leave the trenches? Even J.K. Rowling has to face a blank page when she writes.)

Enjoy the following—and if the shoe fits, well, you know what to do.  

It is never too late—in fiction or in life—to revise. -Nancy Thayer 

Write even when you don't want to, don't much like what you are writing, and aren't writing particularly well. -Agatha Christie 

Forget about all the reasons why something may not work. You only need to find one good reason why it will. -Dr. Robert Anthony 

I don't know of one 'overnight bestseller' that didn't take a year and a half to get there. -Mark Victor Hansen

I mailed a manuscript to fifteen publishers. The fifteenth one said yes. - Max Lucado                           

You cannot cross the sea by staring at the water. -R. Tagore (You cannot write a book by staring at a blank page. Write, now. Right now.)

Nothing will come of nothing. Dare mighty things. -Shakespeare

Every writer I know has trouble writing. -Joseph Conrad

It's not over til it's over, and it's never over. Don't give up too soon, and it is always too soon to quit. -Edward W. Smith

If God didn't have real plans for us and want to use us, he'd take us to heaven. It's that simple—and that complicated. -Anonymous

The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary. -Donald Kendall

Believe, when you are most unhappy, that there is something for you to do (or write) in this world. So long as you can sweeten another's pain, life is not in vain.    -Helen Keller

Writing is like a sculpture where you remove, you eliminate, in order to make the work visible. Even those pages you remove somehow remain. -Elie Wiesel 

You can't think yourself out of a writing block; you have to write yourself out of a thinking block. -John Rogers

In closing, a poem on the power of words. While the poet may have been thinking of the spoken word when she wrote this, it can apply to us who wield the pen as well.

Words are Wonderful Things 

Keep a watch on your words, my darling,

For words are wonderful things; 

They are sweet like the bees' fresh honey,

Like the bees they have terrible stings; 

They can bless like the warm, glad sunshine,

And brighten a lonely life;  

They can cut, in the strife of anger,

Like an open, two-edged knife. 

                                  Mrs. E.R. Miller

To your writing success,

Linore

*For word detectives: Under-write, a compound word, meaning not writing enough, or fully, to describe or portray a subject. NOT underwrite, as to accept liability.   

TWEETABLES

Words are Wonderful Things by Linore Rose Burkard (Click to Tweet)

Even J.K. Rowling has to face a blank page when she writes~ Linore Rose Burkard (Click to Tweet)

Linore Rose Burkard writes historical romance and, as L.R.Burkard, YA/suspense. Linore teaches workshops for writers, is a mother of five, and still homeschools her youngest daughter—preferably with coffee in one hand, and an  iPad in the other. 

For a chance to win a free copy of one of her books, simply subscribe to her mailing list at either of her websites (above). Winners are announced in each newsletter, which now has content for writers, readers, poets and dreamers. (That means you!) 

Read More

WORDS AND CHANGE

By Cynthia Ruchti


It wasn't until the third or fourth complaint that I stopped myself mid-sentence. I'd whined about the list of tasks keeping me from what I really wanted to do. I'd whined about how difficult it was to pack lightly for a business trip that long, and in a climate that hot. I started to whine about how busy I'd be from morning until night with responsibilities, activities, and oppor-- Opportu--

I couldn't finish the word opportunities without heavy but welcome conviction settling on me, snuffing the fire of complaints, dousing remaining ashes to make sure the flames were most sincerely dead.

The night before, I'd lingered over some of my favorite passages in Jeremiah. Among the verses I'd highlighted were these from The Message:

"Use words truly and well. Don't stoop to cheap whining. Then, but only then, you'll speak for me," Jeremiah 15:19 MSG.  

Read More

Who's the Boss by DiAnn Mills

by DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills

Every time I begin a new writing project, I panic. Can I do this again? Do I have the necessary skills to carry another

book through to completion? Will my readers like the characters? Is my plot credible with enough twists and turns to keep the reader guessing? Will my critique buds keep me accountable?

Then I remember who’s my Boss.

I bet many of you thought writing would be free of the worries and hassles of a boss. No clocking in. No staying late and arriving early. Then you discovered all the demands made on your time and effort: publishers, agents, editors, copy editors, publicists, critique partners, readers, social media, and family responsibilities. But did you stop to consider your real Boss?

Stress . . . Deadlines . . . Beat the clock

The One who called you into the writing ministry?

If you’ll think back to the time when writing began as a dream, the urge and passion to communicate through the written word became so powerful that you didn’t know what to do with it.

It was power.

It was passion.

It was alive.

It was undeniable.

A realization began to grow deep inside you that this newfound urgency came from outside the realm of your own being. Writing had become a calling from God, and you had a responsibility to learn the craft.

With the understanding that God purposed you to write, I can assume He didn’t include a timetable as to when you’d be published. If He did, please forward me that e-mail.
I can also assume the techniques and tools of the craft weren’t immediately drop-shipped into your brain. If so, I want that e-mail too.

This wild, sweet gift of writing is a lot like the road David walked in the Bible. He discovered his Boss at a young age, and he clung to Him all the days of his life. 

David didn’t take the throne immediately. He had much to learn.

David had to learn how to be a king.

David battled lions and bears to build strength, courage, and endurance.

David’s family probably didn’t understand who he was or what he was attempting to accomplish.

David fought Goliath - the world of publishing - by using his skills and trusting in God.

David faced rejection from Saul, his wife Mikel, and those he thought were his friends, and family.

David made mistakes and had to ask for forgiveness.

David never gave up. He had hope, which means he waited for the Lord to fulfill His promises. What about you? Where is your hope and commitment?

We use our words to entertain, inspire, and teach. That’s what God wants for His writers. Like David we can dream, learn, obey, and reach our purpose.

So I ask you, who is your Boss?

A finished book is a read book

      

DiAnn Mills is a bestselling author who believes her readers should expect an adventure. She combines unforgettable characters with unpredictable plots to create action-packed, suspense-filled novels.

Her titles have appeared on the CBA and ECPA bestseller lists; won two Christy Awards; and been finalists for the RITA, Daphne Du Maurier, Inspirational Readers’ Choice, and Carol award contests. Library Journal presented her with a Best Books 2014: Genre Fiction award in the Christian Fiction category for Firewall.

DiAnn is a founding board member of the American Christian Fiction Writers; the 2015 president of the Romance Writers of America’s Faith, Hope, & Love chapter; a member of Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, and International Thriller Writers. She speaks to various groups and teaches writing workshops around the country. She and her husband live in sunny Houston, Texas.

DiAnn is very active online and would love to connect with readers on any of the social media platforms listed at www.diannmills.com.

Read More

A PERSON OF ACTION

by Cynthia Ruchti

When a novelist tangles with an opening line that flops in death throes on the page, or peeks into the Mason jar marked "Marketing Funds" and sees that the contents barely cover the bottom of the jar, or hunts for crumbs of significance in the pages of the book just arrived from the publisher, he or she may feel like a slack-jawed disciple when Jesus looked at the hungry crowd and said, "You feed them" (Matthew 14:16).

"With what? I got nothin'." (Loose interpretation of the disciples' actual reply.)

As much as my husband will appreciate that I finally wrote devotional thoughts that could utilize a picture of one of his typical catches, this picture doesn't fit the biblical story we know as the feeding of the five thousand. The Bible specifically notes that the food available at the time was five loaves of bread and two small fish. But thanks for your attempt at illustrative help, Bill.

The enormity of the need compared to the smallness of the offering--many writers' daily dilemma--didn't rattle Jesus, as we know. He took action. Without fanfare, ranting, hair-pulling, tears, or throwing something at His computer.

The Bible tells us:

• He said, "Bring them (the small fish-and-loaves words) to me."
• He ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. (He got organized.)
• He took the five loaves of bread and the two fish. (Used what He had been given.)
• He looked up to heaven. (Remembered the source of everything good.)
• He blessed them. (Prayed for their effectiveness and thanked God for the gift of them.)
• He broke the loaves apart. (Kept writing as if the words would be enough.)
• He gave them to His disciples to distribute. (Hit SEND.) Matthew 14:18-20 CEB

Notice the verbs: said, ordered, took, looked, blessed, broke, gave…

Not a whine, rant, commiserate, flail, mourn, or sob in the bunch.

What if we followed His lead? What if when we are convinced our stories, our writing, our career, our words are inadequate, we became people of action who got busy thanking God for what we have, praying our way through, and expecting that the God who gave the gift would make the words enough?

Why would we who follow Him expect any less result than the kind He witnessed--many baskets of leftovers? Enough for take-out, enough for the writer to eat too?

Cynthia Ruchti is breaking apart loaves and fishes words to tell stories of Hope-that-glows-in-the-dark through her novels and novellas, devotions, and nonfiction. In addition to recent releases When the Morning Glory Blooms (novel) and Ragged Hope: Surviving the Fallout of Other People's Choices (non-fiction), both from Abingdon Press, she's anticipating the soon release of All My Belongings. Lord, only YOU can make them satisfy hungry souls. But You can!

www.cynthiaruchti.com or www.facebook.com/CynthiaRuchtiReaderPage

Read More

The Day I Said a Naughty Word

I sat in the studio, my stomach nervous. I'd never read one of my books for an audio version before, which was one reason for my queasiness. But the main reason resided firmly on page 36 of Thin Places.

Jimmy, the producer, asked me at the beginning of the recording. "What are you going to do about that word?"

I'm not normally a swearer. Typically the only time I hurl an expletive is if I drop something on my foot, but even then, I don't say that word. It's too ugly. "Can I say something else that starts with F?"

"Of course. Just say it strong when you do."

So we started our two-day recording journey. And I thought about that awful word, about how it would sound if I said it out loud. I knew they'd bleep it out anyway, so I felt confident I wouldn't have to say it.

But something happened as I read my story. I was five years old again. Remembering the landscape of my kindergarten year. Feeling the fear I had inside, how it boiled and churned. Nearly every day teenage boys would take me from my babysitter's house and do that unthinkable, unmentionable word to me. I couldn't tell the babysitter because I knew if I did, she'd wash my mouth out with soap. The only word I knew to use to tell her exactly what was happening was that awful, stark word.

I let the abuse continue, afraid to say the word. Knowing that if I said it out loud, I would be in trouble. But the abuse escalated. The boys brought friends. And no one would rescue me, so I mustered up my courage, asked my babysitter to stoop to hear me, then whispered the word in her ear.

In the studio, a holy anger burst through me the moment the word came near. I saw it there, remembering my own fear of saying it. And when I found my voice, I let the word leave my tongue. Bare naked. In its awful glory.

Jimmy looked up at me, stunned, then gave me a thumbs up. Somehow he knew how hard it was to say that word, and I think he understood that saying it brought healing to me.

Because sometimes there is no other word to describe hell.

The word got bleeped, but I got healed.

Which goes to show that as storytellers (whether we're telling our stories, someone else's or a character's tale) we must be willing to allow for the dark places. Sometimes we have to write the truth in its dark nakedness. Not to titillate or glorify, but to show it's depravity. Because, as Ted Dekker once said as a keynoter at Mount Hermon, "The light of redemption shines brighter on a dark canvas."

Read More