Pantser Writer Tackles Taboo Subject: by Jo Wanmer

 

MY EXPERIENCE TELLS ME  there are some topics that good Christians don’t discuss after church or even over coffee. These topics don’t tend to turn books into Christian best sellers. But they can become literature that pulls important ideas into the open and challenges readers to consider a different point of view. It can also put God in the middle of the mess, not seated high above controversy, unwillling to view the unclean parts of real life.

Francine Rivers wrote about abortion in ‘The Atonement Child'. I appreciate that book because it acknowledges that rape is real. It looks at the cost of not having an abortion, facing the fact that we may be opposed to abortion until it is the only way to save the family’s reputation. Challenging stuff and a great read.

 I began to write books because I wanted to tell of the amazing things God has done in our life. That story, Though the Bud be Bruised, included sexual abuse, christian witchcraft and religious superiority, as well as God’s incredible grace and mercy. What I didn’t know was that a series of books would follow, with the same theme, showing a wonderful personal God.

(Pic showing the books where my writing is published)

 A few years ago, as I asked God what He wanted me to write next, I felt He asked me to write about pornography. I was unimpressed and suggested He give me a different topic. But there weren’t any other ideas in the heavens! I summoned my courage.  After all there was no harm writing it. Publishing would be the challenge and that was unlikely to happen. I mean who wants to read a book on a taboo subject?

It was NaNoWriMo time. I started. This discipline leaves no time to question anything. Just 50,000 words on the screen in the month. And so began another pantser adventure. I asked the Spirit to write with me and looked forward to the journey. When I finished, I loved the story, the adventure, and the God-revealed truth. And yes, it exposes pornography and brings hope.

Time has passed. Since then, I’ve published El Shaddai and El Roi thanks to Anne Hamilton, of Armour Books. In the back of mymind I knew the next book is the one about porn. I was excited because it’s a great book, but nervous because it could upset many and may negatively affect my reputation. However obedience is my highest value.

All nervousness pushed aside, it is now in the final phrase of editing. I sweat over many passages. Is it too graphic? Is it not shown well enough? Why don’t I write books that are fun and comfortable, and not controversial? As God has said in other circumstances, He chose a different path for me. By definition His path is a good path… the best one for me to follow. So, it seems I write about taboo subjects.

How do I know God is in this? Simple things like writing revelation that I’d never thought of before. And when I re-read, I see things at the beginning of the story that become important in the end… not that I knew!

In checking the structure of the book, it is close to right…as If someone (not me) knew what they were doing. This book has two stories running parallel.  They need to be the same length so I checked. The book has about 240 pages. The stories have only two pages difference. Not plotted. Not planned. Just Holy Spirit keeping balance!

The story has a new name in keeping with other books of the series. It’s called El Gibbor, which means Mighty God… the One who does the impossible. It’s this character of God that brings these protagonists to the fulness of restoration.

 I have one more book waiting in the wings and then it will time to write a new one. I wonder what adventures God has in store for me next.

Tell me… 

• How do you pick your topics? 
• Are you dealing with other taboo topics? 
• Would you read El Gibbor, knowing it deals with pornography?

Jo Wanmer is a story teller, that has learnt how to turn those stories into acceptable prose. She writes with the help of the Holy Spirit. Without His inspiration, there would be no books. Though the Bud be Bruised was published thirteen years ago. Late in 2024 El Shaddai was released and its prequel, El Roi, was released late last year. She lives, with her husband of  fifty-five years, just north of Brisbane. Family, God and writing are her three passions. Eleven great-grandchildren now fill their home with love and chaos.

The Curious Case of NaNoWriMo and Two Very Different Writers

This image of this writerly couple is © Susan Bruce 2020.

It’s that time of the year again where writers all over the world hit their writing desks on November 1 and start pounding those keys in a frenzied attempt to write 50,000 words in a month. Yep, it’s NaNoWriMo time – National Novel Writing Month – and we’re all invited. All we have to do is to head over to the NaNoWriMo site, enter a project and start creating. 

 

Simples?

 

Image by Hazi54 from Pixabay 

Well it depends. If you are like my husband, the inimitable Marc Z Jeffrey, you will thrive during ‘Nano’ as it is affectionately called. If you are like me, then maybe not. 

 

Marc amazes me. He can pick a story and run with it. He rarely gets bogged down but seems to able to ride the waves of writer’s block like a world championship surfer on Boomer Beach. If he can’t write one day, he makes up the word count the next. He types about a third faster than me too. There I am, plodding away, and his fingers are racing over the keys. NaNoWriMo is his element.

 

Marc has ‘won’ Nano five times (he thinks – he’s lost count!). That means that despite working long hours he’s managed to get 50,000 words on paper in 30 days. And that’s not typing the indefinite article 50,000 times!

 

I asked Marc why he liked Nano and he gave me the following answers:

1.    November is a good time to write because there’s no sport to watch on free-to-air TV. It’s also before Christmas ramps up. December is too hard with parties and finding time to buy great presents for his wife (okay, I added that bit).

2.    It’s a social thing because people here and around the world are writing at the same time. You can join ‘write-ins’ with other authors (in person and online) and feed off their energy in a frenzied Sharknado of writing (okay – I added that last bit too).

3.    Nano gives us a good excuse to write. I mean, we know we don’t need an excuse to be creative, but the rest of the world hasn’t always got that memo. Because Nano is a focus for one month only, Marc finds he faces less judgement from non-writerly people. I must note that no one in this household has that attitude other than our dog (and sometimes the bird who wants to whistle football songs… endlessly). The cat loves it when Marc writes because she gets to sleep on the fleecy blanket in his study. Our dog thinks we should be playing with her all the time and that this writing stuff is a huge waste of time. Some might say she’s a dog, not a person - and so doesn't count as 'people' - but she has a huge personality, so she has to qualify. Let's call her a non-human person (NHP).

4.    It allows him to neglect household chores ­(which in our house means the ‘dishwasher’ breaks down – a LOT!) 

5.    If he succeeds in writing 50000 words he has the best part of a novel written – albeit very roughly.

 

Image of this non-human person is © Susan Bruce 2020.

When I asked Marc what the disadvantage of Nano was – he said: you have to edit the novel you write! Marc loves editing other people’s manuscripts. He can spot an errant apostrophe at a thousand paces and grab a past participle by the scruff and drag it kicking-and-screaming into the present. But he never seems to get around to editing his own work. The good thing is that there is work ready to polish – but the bad is that you need to actually polish it. 

 

Harsh, but fair?

 

But what about me? What is it about Nano that works/ doesn’t work for me?

 

1.    I don’t care about television sport as much as Marc does. I probably prefer writing in winter because it's cold and wet outside; but November is an okay time as we can set up our computers on the patio on a warm night and have a romantic evening, typing. Yes. I know... 😎😆😂

2.    I love the social aspect of Nano. I’ve made great friends from attending write-ins at cafes. I might not have got much writing done on those days, but I’ve made friends who continue to inspire me in my writing journey.

3.    I don’t need an excuse to write – I can neglect housework anytime! The above mentioned canine NHP sees it as a challenge to disrupt me whenever I sit down to work.

4.    It’s an opportunity to try new things. If you write outback romance but have yearned for years to write a tentacled shape-shifter urban fantasy detective mystery (Christmas themed) then you might be able to use Nano to get this story out of your system. Or maybe it could spawn a whole new direction for your career. Hmm spawn...

 

Image by M W from Pixabay

The main problems I’ve experienced in Nano are:

1.    A lack of preparation. I never seem to hit NaNoWriMo when I have a story ready to write. On the occasions when I’ve ‘won’ Nano I’ve ended up with a tale with faulty foundations that needs rewriting, rewriting, rewriting. NaNoWriMo seems to suit ‘pantsers’ – those who write by the seat of their pants. These daring souls – like my afore mentioned spouse – have no fear of the unknown (on paper anyway) and can boldly go where they’ve never gone before. Me? I'm not a total plotter - and I try not to lose the plot 😁 - but I like to have a roadmap. If I know where I’m heading, I’m happy to improvise along the way.

2.    I like to edit as I go. Nano also works well for those who like to write and edit later – or not – as the case may be. The NaNoWriMo website encourages you not to edit as you go. However, I like to spiral edit – editing the section I wrote the day before, before writing new stuff. This slows me down but I don’t seem to be able to work any other way.

 

I’ve decided not to do NaNoWriMo this year (no typing Sharknado for me). I may still sign up and harness some of the collective creative energy Nano generates, but I’m not going to try for 50K words. 

 

But please, tell me what you are doing. Have you signed up this year? Have you ever tried NaNoWriMo? Did it work for you? Why/why not?

 

Susan J Bruce, aka Sue Jeffrey, spent her childhood reading, drawing, and collecting stray animals. Now she’s grown up, she does the same kinds of things. Susan has worked for many years as a veterinarian, and writes stories filled with themes of suspense, adventure, romance and overcoming. Susan also loves to paint animals. Susan won the ‘Short’ section of the inaugural Stories of Life writing competition and won the 'Unpublished Manuscript' section of the 2018 Caleb prize. Susan is the editor of'If They Could Talk: Bible Stories Told By the Animals' (Morning Star Publishing) and her stories and poems have appeared in multiple anthologies. Her e-book, 'Ruthless The Killer: A Short Story' is available on Amazon.com. You can check out some of Susan’s art work on her website https://www.susanjbruce.com.

---

Reference:

 IMDB 2013, ‘Sharknado’, viewed 28 October 2020, <https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2724064/>. I’ve never actually seen Sharknado but from the preview I really, really want to. It looks hilarious. They made six movies in all.

Building That House er Novel

I recently finished reading an enthralling novel, 'No Time For Goodbyes'. In an interview the Canadian author, Linward Barclay, was asked how he began with the idea to form the story. He said "Once you come up with a premise, you have to work out how the story unfolds." Well that's fairly obvious. But what he said next got me. 

"It's a bit like coming up with a spectacular roof design first. Before you can get it up there, you need to build a solid foundation and supporting structure."

Yes, that's exactly what I've been working on. I had an unusual idea first, and since then I've been steadily building on the structure, walls and windows, you know, supporting the original idea and letting in glimpses of light so the reader has an idea what's coming, but a little unsure. (Can't give away the plot can you?)

Now you'd think I'd have worked on the foundation first. I tried that but it wasn't too solid so I've been going back, (actually several times so far) and shoring up the groundwork.  I really don't think I could have begun with the foundation first - unlike building a house - because the background could only be written afterward.  You see, I had several different directions (plans) but just had to try out each one before BINGO, it worked. Now i have my solid foundation.

Incidentally, I'm so glad a house isn't built like that or it'd be a disaster. Brick by brick it goes up according to the exact plan. Hah! Many of us pantsers wouldn't be able to work that way. We like our characters to surprise us. That is, after we've fleshed them out, they have their own ideas how they'd react.

I can't wait to get to the roof. That's where my original idea will climax, wrapping up the whole plot. Does this make sense to you when you get your first idea? Or do you know the end from the beginning and then start building?