More than Writers

Language is a living thing. New words appear and old ones fade away. Words that have always been in the dictionary but lain low will suddenly come upon everyone’s tongue, and their meanings bend and morph. Language is changed, amongst other things, by current events. In December last year, on my own blog, Write On , I listed some of the words that have burst into our vocabulary because of Coronavirus. Revisiting them five months on is revealing. Coronavirus Coronavirus is a generic term for a group of viruses, including the common cold.   What we mean is SARS-CoV-2. Some time during summer 2020 we stopped referring to Coronavirus and called it Covid… see below. Covid-19 Or just Covid. (SARS-CoV-2.) Pandemic An  outbreak  of a disease that occurs over a wide geographic area (according to Merriam-Webster dictionary). Pandemic with a capital P means the spread of Covid infection. Lockdown ...

I just sat there, staring at the screen, where an unnamed platform told me in cheerful letters that my book was now LIVE. I gasped, bashed on all kinds of keys, refreshed, did what I could. Nothing changed. My novella was officially launched upon an unsuspecting world. My first proper thought? “Thankfully it was only a novella and not a real book.” Of course, by the time I receive a copy of Viking Ferry, it will look like a book. It has letters on the spine, that’s how real it is. It has an ISBN on the back. But in my mind, it’s not a real book, ‘only’ a novella. The same way I’m not a real writer, ‘only’ a mum who writes when not sorting out sibling squabbles or missing socks. Are you like that? ‘Only’ a part-time writer? Only someone who writes some poems? Maybe I’m the only one who brushes off what I do. “I like to sit down and write stories, just for fun, you know.” This time, bringing out a book is even worse. As soon as I published it, I thought, “Why didn’t I make it into a pro...

Inventing my own people has always been my favourite aspect to story writing. I believe if you get the character right, so much of the storyline will arise from that portrayal. If my character is a villain, then I know they are going to do something criminal (even if I haven’t worked out what that is yet) and the conflict will inevitably come from whoever tries to stop them. So basic story structure is already in place.  Pixabay image   I thought I’d share ten thoughts which have helped me as I outline “my people” prior to writing their stories up (and it is their story. You do want the reader to be totally taken by the characters).  Time for tips then! Can your reader identify with your character? What do you think this identification hinges on? Pixabay image   Can your character cause a reaction in a potential reader? (It doesn’t have to be a “good” reaction - think of the impact a well-portrayed villain can have on a story). What do you the writer think of your ch...

  Logo of the continuing stalwart work  of the Keep Sunday Special campaign Once Sunday trading became almost universal, the whole question of keeping the sabbath became more challenging for many of us. I have to confess that from strongly feeling that SundayTrading was a disaster, I found that the possibility of a quick visit to the local foodstore to complete a Sunday lunch dish was a convenience I couldn’t resist. So, with such a dismal personal record, I looked on at those stalwarts who are even today continuing to do battle over Sunday trading with real admiration. I feel I should stand with them - but know that would make me a hypocrite: not a good feeling at all. So I’ve taken a softer option. I don’t say this with any pride, but I’ve worked a pattern out that feels to me useful, and who knows, may encourage me and others to a more beneficial view of Sabbath-keeping as we emerge from lockdowns into unknown terrain. The option is not rigorous, it is very straightforward;...

Sometimes as I read through the Gospel accounts of the Easter story I wonder what happened inside the disciples hearts as they heard Jesus' oblique references to his approaching arrest, torture and death?   Noise Pain Running and tearing Sinking, falling, roaring How could God be about to die? Shaking Hurricaning Paralysing Numbing How could God be about to die? They'd seen dead, sightless eyes flashing with light and wonder, corpses walking from their tombs, shattered, shrivelled limbs leaping and dancing. loaves of bread multiplying, a familiar lake becoming a dance floor. Glory exploding Light unravelling Heaven guffawing Joy birthing How could their God be about to die? What do we do with those questions and deeply disturbing emotions when they rear their heads? Or when laughter and wonder bubble up and we don't know why? When we feel weak with love or hoarse with unshed tears? The Psalmist processed their emotions and confusions by wrapping them up in words. 'My Go...

I’ve always been struck by the name God gives Himself when Moses asks His name: ‘I Am Who I Am’, or ‘I Am’ for short (Exodus 3:14). He is God. He needs no other introduction. He is. I’m also struck by Jesus’ use of ‘I Am’. In John’s Gospel, there are seven or eight (depending how you interpret them) ‘I Am’ sayings of Jesus: ·            ‘I Am the bread of life’ (6:35) ·            ‘I Am the light of the world’ (8:12) ·            ‘I Am the door’ (10:9) ·            ‘I Am the good shepherd’ (10:11) ·            ‘I Am the resurrection and the life’ (11:25) ·            ‘I Am the way, the truth and the life’ (14:6) ·            ‘I A...

 I was surprised and delighted when our book club chose Wodehouse's The Inimitable Jeeves  recently. Surprised because he doesn't conform to current PC mindsets and delighted because I've been a fan from early teens. Are his books akin to the marmite love hate thing? One member overcame initial resistance, happy to read 'anything that sends up the aristocracy'. On that note, Orwell complained: 'Wodehouse's real sin has been to present the English upper classes as much nicer people than they are.' This is hard to support given that the aristos in his prolific output are populated by criminals, phonies and other disreputables. I had not dipped into his pages for years but still found the scenarios, characters and humour to be wonderfully relatable – despite a lack of upper class heritage. Words flow across the page as though they came effortlessly. Not always the case. Wodehouse said plots were the hardest to work out. He liked to 'think of some scene,...

I’m writing this on the anniversary of the beginning of the first lockdown. I’m asking myself if there is anything to say about the connection between the pandemic and the activity of writing, from a Christian point of view. And this is a challenge. I don’t think it would be helpful to talk about the effects of lockdown or of the Covid crisis on our individual, personal, writing lives, because there’s no generalization that can be made. Many people have said that they couldn’t write at all — and this has been the case both for people who have been materially affected by Covid and the response to it, and for people who have simply sat it out, thankfully without physical effects. Others, myself included, have found themselves very productive, but it would hardly be considerate to make a big issue out of this; we are just very lucky. So what generalizations can be made? Perhaps we have to start outside the sphere of writing, at the most general level, asking ourselves what generalization ...

  Research by Rebecca Seaton Research is always best accompanied by a good cuppa! Many authors talk about the importance of research. From crime writers with dubious search histories to historical writers aiming for the period-perfect dress codes, it makes the real difference to a story and can be a lot of fun, too. 🔎 Why do it? Authenticity. You might think, as a fantasy writer, that I haven’t got a great deal of need for research. After all, I can’t learn magical powers or ride a dragon. However, I can make sure that the many activities my characters undertake which I haven’t got much idea about – sailing and singing, for example – are well-researched. I don’t want my reader to be distracted by something sounding wrong to them. There will be people reading it who know how to sail a boat or hold a tune and I want them to be swept up in the book, not frowning at errors which pull them out of it. 🔎 How? The obvious answer is to Google but do use more than one source to c...

  (Image: Christopher Paul High, www.unsplash.com) A priest, a minister, and a rabbit walk into a blood bank.  The rabbit says, ‘I think I might be type o’ During the past year, I have had cause to think about rabbits – or typos – quite regularly. As more and more things have moved online, I am so grateful for auto captions. They mean that I, as a deaf person, can follow what the speaker is saying, as speech is automatically converted to text. Most of the time, the captions are impressively accurate. Sometimes, they get it slightly wrong. Nearly always, when they do, I find them thought-provoking (TP). I’ll give some examples. Each could be a blog in itself: Psalm 23, ‘The Lord is my Shepherd, I lack nothing’ came up as 'The Lord is my Shepherd, I like nothing’ TP: Do I like nothing? ‘Thanks be to God’ came up as ‘Thanks Pizza God’ TP: How can pizza be used as an illustration? Let me count the ways….. ‘Pastoral issues’ came up as ‘Postural issues’ TP: Are pas...

  Trust in the Lord and do good;      dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Take delight in the Lord ,      and he will give you the desires of your heart.   Commit your way to the Lord ;      trust in him and he will do this: Be still before the Lord      and wait patiently for him;                                       Extract from Ps.37:3-7 This 10inch heart is a variety of chocolate bars, eg Crunchie, Smarties, Twix and others melted down and covered in Maltesers.   For Valentine’s Day my son had made one each of these for his wife and two daughters.   He’d made a heart mould from cardboard, covered it in clean film and poured in the chocolate mix adding the Maltesers before it set.   Theirs were same size as this, but with a stick at the bottom to hold like lollipops. ...