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Good enough?

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I wonder how you define ‘good’ writing? It’s a question that's been on my mind as I put this together, my first offering for the More Than Writers blog. I’ve written in one form or another for years, but I’ve only been a member of ACW for a few months. Will my blogs be good enough? Can my words match up to other entries? What on earth have I taken on?!   What exactly is the benchmark for ‘good’ writing though? When I think back, it has varied hugely, depending on the context I’ve been in, and it’s seldom been measurable. I worked in academia for many years. Whenever new students or junior researchers started working with us, one of our first concerns was ‘can they write?’ There wasn’t really an objective way of assessing this. However, if they ‘couldn’t,’ this would inevitably mean more work for senior team members, because multiple drafts would be required before research papers were ready to submit to scientific journals. At the start of my career, it was hard not to view the num...
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Preaching Puzzles by Meryl McKean

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  I’d popped over to see my mum the other day when, as I was leaving, she happened to mention that she had reached a frustrating point in her jigsaw puzzle and felt stuck. My ears pricked up, I do love a puzzle, and I couldn’t resist casting my eyes over it to see if I could help. I soon found the cause, not a mistake, but a case of missing pieces from the edge. A swift check under the sofa revealed the hiding place of one, the other would need to wait. As I thought about puzzles, I realised that doing a jigsaw had some similarities to my main activity of yesterday – preparing to preach. I thought I’d share with you, in a nutshell, some of my preparation steps. My preference is to have around a month to prepare – I know this will sound like a luxury to some of you. I like to look at the whole picture, sort out the pieces and find a framework. I’ll take time to read the scripture passage, maybe in a few versions, then have plenty of thinking and praying time letting the text mar...
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Writing when life is confusing, by Joan of Green Pastures Christian Writers

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The 17th of the month features members of this ACW-affiliated writing group. Today, we welcome Joan as our guest blogger. I like to knit and my current project is an angel with a complicated repeat pattern of four rows. To add to the mix it uses fine crochet thread and very fine needles. It took until the fourth repeat for me to see where the design was going. It was so confusing! How quickly life can change for us sometimes. Ten years ago, when my husband and I moved from Yorkshire to East Anglia, we were fit, capable grandparents of twins, loving family life. The last two years have been very different. My husband's rapidly deteriorating health, requiring chemotherapy, and his gradually progressing dementia have changed everything. Becoming a 24/7 carer has been the most challenging experience of my life. How do I find the time to write? Even a journal? When I felt at my lowest, nothing seemed to make sense and my constant prayer to God for 'help' seemed to go nowhere. Bu...
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What's In A Name? Part 1

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  For those who write fiction, choosing the name for your protagonist and cast of characters is important, but can be a challenge.   Selecting names for my children was relatively straightforward in comparison. How do you choose the names you’ve used, I wonder? Do they come to you in a flash of caffeine-inspired morning inspiration, or in the dreamy place between sleep and wakefulness so loved by Peter Pan? Charles Dickens was a master at name choosing.   I defy anyone to come up with better ones that Uriah Heep or Ebenezer Scrooge.   Somehow, they seem onomatopoeic, or perhaps the nature of the character is now so interwoven with the name that it suggests an individual to us as soon as we hear it. You maybe aiming at comic value.   I was ridiculously pleased with myself when I came up with the name of Mr McCavity for the Scottish dentist in Charlie Peach’s Pumpkins titular story. He had me giggling foolishly for quite some time. (Please forgive the shameless s...
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Good things take time

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  The title today is a little advertising slogan on a box of crackers - not those you pull but the type for cheese. Rather fine crackers by Peter’s Yard. I read the slogan in the morning and pondered it all day. I watched out for good things that don’t take much time - the minor miracle of my goldendoodle placing her bottom on the floor at the first command of ‘Sit’. But then I realised that this good thing had taken some practice to reach this point - time spent teaching her and her time to learn and then to obey. Good books, good games, good writing sessions, good relationships all take time - but doesn’t everything? Good or bad? We are time-bound creatures whether we rush around or ‘take time out’ to relax and refresh our minds, bodies and souls. In John 3 we see that Jesus took time to be with his disciples:  ‘Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them’ It is so special that we can take time to be with Him through praye...
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The Love of Writing

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  My goodness, my first time on the blog is St. Valentine’s Day. How fortuitous because St. Valentine, is celebrated today as the patron saint of many things including Love, Young People, Happy Marriages, and it was love I was thinking about today. I did not plan to dwell on the courtly love with which the Saint is associated, but the love of writing and how it improves our lives. God certainly moves in mysterious ways, because I began my writing career when I was recovering from cancer. I had had to take early retirement and was struggling with the side-effects of treatment and really feeling very sorry for myself. However, following a chance comment from my husband – “If you know so much about what makes a good book, why don’t you write one?” – I decided to give this writing lark a try. Since then it has not only seen me through cancer but has also given me a diversion during the Covid lockdowns, introduced me to many fascinating people and replaced the former lecturing career ...
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The art of seeing by Jane Walters

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I’ve recently returned from leading one of my regular Ready Writers Retreats, in lovely Morecambe Bay. I like to include a poetry workshop as part of the week and, although the content changes from year to year, I always start by making a few similar observations. My chief motivation is to get any reluctant poets on-side, remembering my inner chuntering at school when faced with similar horrors. I’m not going to repeat everything here (why, you’d have to come along for that!) but want to focus on one point: poets see the world differently. I deliver this annual workshop in the presence of an award-winning poet, who certainly doesn’t need either my teaching or my encouragement, and he always nods (and I breathe a sigh of relief) when I say this.  What do I mean? Well, when you look at the care that a poet takes over the words, the form and so on, you have to appreciate that it doesn’t start at the moment they touch pen to paper. It doesn’t even really start in their imagination or c...
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