Briefly Obeying Shakespeare by Emily Owen

On Saturday, I went to the theatre to see Richard lll. It was a wonderful performance. I didn’t know the play well, and it is one I shall revisit. Not in this blog though. In this blog I shall aim to pay attention to a line from the play:

Tis better, sir [Emily?!], to be brief than tedious

William Shakespeare (Richard III), Richard III

In Richard lll’s opening monologue, he says:

But I, that am not shaped for sportive tricks,

Nor made to court an amorous looking-glass

 Some people are born with a proverbial pen in their hand. 

They’ve always known they’d write.

I am not one of those people.

I could rewrite the above quote:

But I, that am not shaped for writing books

Nor made to market them

 

And yet…

While it is true that I am not a marketer, I do find myself writing.

God, as He often does, had other plans.

 

Some people have a strict writing routine. 

They write from X time to X time every day.

I am not one of those people.

Some days I write. 

Some days I don’t. 

Occasionally I might write something maybe beautiful. 

Some days I perhaps shouldn’t have bothered to show up at my keyboard at all.

 

And yet…

God, who calls me, is faithful.

God, who calls you, is faithful.

(1 Thessalonians 2:12)

 

Last week, I was at my sister’s house. My niece, who is six, came to say goodnight.

She gave me a hug, then stood back and looked me over. 

After a second or two, she said, ‘goodnight, beautiful glasses.’

(ALT text: A pair of glasses, pink, black, and brown)

At the end of the day, she focussed on something positive.

Can I encourage us, as writers, to do the same.

One more quote from Richard lll:

The king’s name is a tower of strength

The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run to it and are safe.

Proverbs 18:10

May our Lord and King strengthen us.

Wherever we are in our writing, we’re safe.