More than Writers

  A few days ago, in the Netherlands people celebrated King’s Day. I only remembered it today, as before King Willem Alexander, it used to be Queen’s Day, on the 30 th of April. Have I ever mentioned I don’t like change? Maybe I should write a blog about that... Anyway, on King’s Day, people hang out the Dutch flag and streets and parks are decorated. There are street games, special markets, and one city or town will get the royal visit. The entire royal family will join them. They will be looking at local places of interest, they’ll take part in games and they’ll take selfies with the public. It made me think of a host of rabbit warrens. Kings, good and not good, weak, strong, kind...so many types of king. When you read through the books of Kings and Chronicles, you can see that sometimes, being a king meant you’d probably not have a long life. Other kings reigned endlessly. Then there is the story about the new king and queen of a country who disguised themselves as poor p...

Image Credits: Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos. Writers need a certain amount of faith to put pen to paper/hands to keyboard to write anything. There has to be faith in the process and the knowledge that, having written, you can write again.  For the first timers, it is a case of not having anything to lose so just write. Getting into a routine (even if it just five minutes at times) can also help encourage your faith in the process of writing. It is a case, I think, of conditioning your brain into thinking this is writing time, let’s get on with it then. I’ve found this to be the case.    The biggest single thing any writer can do to help themselves is to read widely and often. Read non-fiction as well as fiction, read inside and outside of your genre, classic and contemporary. You will pick up from all of this how stories/non-fiction works are set out. You will also work out what you like and dislike here and can apply that to your own creations or avo...

  Eve was awake. She was just 2 weeks old in the heavenly realms but it never ceased to amaze her how each day held something new, exciting, exhilarating and even intriguing! The previous day, she had met Mr Serpent again. She had consciously fought dwelling on his appealing and magnetic personality even as she flashed back on the incidence. Was he stalking her? Adam didn’t think so. ‘Hello, beautiful’. She had ignored him but he continued speaking. ‘ I particularly like the way your breasts have been created. They are sexually attractive compared to Mrs Apes’,’ he blurted. ‘What are you talking about?’ ‘I can see what you can’t see because I have eaten that apple! ‘If you are here to try and tempt me again, go away! You are not a friend of Abba. I won’t touch it!’ Clicking her tongue, she had walked off in search of Adam. ‘But before you go away, have you never wondered why I’m still alive? Yet, I have tasted it…’ ‘Adam?’ she called quietly. ‘Are you awake?’ To ...

I am back!  After sharing my final blog contribution to MTW in January it seems that there was no one eagerly waiting to take my place, so here I am once again.  It is a strange feeling to say goodbye and just a short time later to say 'hello, I'm back!'  With Easter not long behind us, I'm wondering if Jesus found it strange too?  How did it feel to walk out of that tomb into the glory of a new day?  Sometimes in life and in our writing we feel something has come to an end.  We say goodbye and turn away.   But its important to remember with God that our human goodbyes are often His hellos. We see in creation, even now, the hellos of spring flowers turning the barren ground gold or blue; the winter hush and rush becoming the symphony of birds and petals in concert.  Life returns, joy rises, life blooms.  Creation shouts out 'Hello, I'm back' The agony of Jesus death meant that He left His friends and family overwhelmed with grief and hor...

I  am currently in the process of moving house (again) for what will hopefully be the last time in my life. This makes me wonder, ‘How often does someone read one of your books and declare that they will never read another one of your books again?’ Ouch! What a horrible thought. Where did that come from? How many books have you read? How many main characters' names can you remember? Can you remember how they behaved? Did you fall in love with them? Were you upset when they were hurt? How many have you forgotten? Stant Litore (Daniel Fusch), in his book, ‘Write Characters Your Readers Won’t Forget’, says, “Once you know what your character’s strength is, you need to understand how it drives nearly everything in your story – including plot, conflict, what choices the character needs to make and how they make them, everything.” My wife used to read Danielle Steel books, so someone gave her a couple for Christmas. As they were a gift, she did read them and in doing so, she conclu...

 Last month I wrote about anniversaries as I celebrated 3 years of being an author, and almost three years of being a grandparent. This month I am celebrating another anniversary – my husband and I have been married for 32 years today. I am deeply appreciative of my husband, for many things. Which is a good thing seeing as I am still married to him! But one of the things that I appreciate the most is the way that he has embraced my writing life and celebrated me becoming a published author. He knows nothing about writing or publishing. Or he didn’t. I daresay he does now, three years or more later. More than he probably ever thought he would need to know and enough to know what I am talking about - most of the time. He is also good about it when I disappear for hours on end. Not that I leave the house – or become invisible   - but that I am just ‘not there.’ My mind, my concentration, my imagination is all elsewhere – usually in 13 th century Wales. Sometimes I can even b...

     ‘What does that mean for me tomorrow?’ That’s what a very pragmatic friend of mine used to ask at the end of every church service. He wanted a ‘take-away’, something that would inspire, encourage or challenge him to behave differently in his everyday life. I always remember that when I’m preaching.    Not that it’s all up to me: rooted in prayer, a sermon is hopefully a way for God to speak to his people. But in the same way as the Bible is not just a list of rules we need to know, a sermon needs to be more than head knowledge. It should touch our hearts and prompt us to make a practical difference to the way we live our lives.    Does the same apply to fiction? First and foremost fiction needs to be entertaining. It needs to engage us in the story and the characters so that we feel invested in their lives. But I think a lot of us, if we write fiction, have more than the story. We have things we want to say; a deeper message that will hopef...

  Writing with Others by Rebecca Seaton Although writing can seem a solitary occupation, we should remember Proverbs 27:17 “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” There are many times I’ve benefited from the insight of others and I hope I have given positive input too.   Writing groups are one of the best ways of honing our craft. This month I shared some work with my group and even as I read it aloud I spotted things that didn’t sound right. I can do this at home but there is something about a critical and supportive audience that is quite different. Magazines are also a chance to write collaboratively. I’ve had the chance to be part of a local writing magazine, Write On! and this has led to me writing different sorts of articles and being part of editorial meetings at various times. This wouldn’t be the case when submitting to all magazines but I strongly recommend getting involved with a magazine related to your interests or local area as there ca...

  “Will you come again?”   Today, perhaps even as you read this, I will be visiting a nursery school.   I’ve visited once before, to read them my book, Also Made .   And they invited me back.   Trouble is, I don’t have any other picture books.   I replied saying that I’d be happy to come and read to the children again, but that I’d have to read someone else's work.   That was fine with them, which is why – perhaps even now – I am reading to the children.     They were happy for me to read someone else’s work.   Are we happy to write someone else’s work?     I’m currently working on a devotional book.   ( Probably not literally currently , see above.)   The other morning, God said to me;   “ I’m excited to show you what we’re going to write today.”   Just like that.   As I cleaned my teeth.   I’m glad I have a God who speaks into normal.   Who magnifies the mundane.     L...