D-Day

For all those Sesame Street Fans, today’s blog has been brought to you today by the letter ‘D’.

In recent months, I have faced more than the usual amount of disappointments in both my personal and writing life. I recognise that this has affected my level of positivity, and if we were looking at it on one of those mathematics graphs, it has dipped below zero into negativity a few times. Add to this the amount of negativity that is the side-product of what we see on the news every day, and the social and political tension there is on so many different fronts, my soul has become disturbed and at times disgusted. This puts heavy pressure on any positivity index, and I find myself staring at the negative side of the ledger. I realise I am not the only one like this, who has personal and creative disappointments, and unless we unplug completely from the news media, we all have the potential to be disturbed by the things that are swirling in the world around us.

I was heading out bush to the family farm (my favourite place to escape), and my father asked if I would bring the word to their country church the next Sunday morning. I’d done this many times before. There are not many folks out there in that church, but I still believe they are as important as if I was sharing with the larger congregations in the city that number in the hundreds. I was feeling down, to be perfectly frank, but I said yes anyway. It was Dad’s turn to share, and he has been feeling a bit blue himself of late. 

When I hung up from the phone call, I said to God: ‘What on earth will I say. I have nothing. I am feeling really down at the moment.’

As is usual for me, God always starts speaking to me with a thought and here is where it started:

The Downward Spiral

It starts with disappointment or feeling disturbed or disgusted.

Then it leads to:

• Discouragement
• Downcast
• Depressed
• Despairing
• Disillusioned
• Doubt
• Deceived
• Destroyed

In my state of negative mind-set, I thought how ironic that there were so many words that started with a ‘D’ leading to that place of destruction – no hope. Then I thought, I bet there are hardly any words starting with ‘D’ that will lead us back the other way.

I bet wrong. 

I teased this all out into a long sermon with Scriptures, but these are the dot points

•   Decide – Do not keep heading further down. Stop and decide to face the other way, towards God and towards hope.
•   Delight – Delight in the Lord. Bless his name in worship. Give thanks for every good thing (Yes there are good things. You’re breathing, aren’t you? Do you have clothes and food and water? Start there.)
•  Declare – From a Scripture in Isaiah 45:19-24 “Declare what is right. Declare what is to be … present it.” There was much more to this point, but essentially, do you have Scriptures or promises from God? Speak them out loud in prayer.
•   Divine Direction – Keep your heart and ear inclined to God. Let him speak to you. Let him give you direction. Be obedient when he tells you to do something.
•   Divine Deliverance – Of course this involves the waiting part—waiting for God to reveal how he’s going to sort things out, because we all know, after our best shot, we’re still fumbling around in the dark. It is God who will bring the deliverance.
•   Destiny – We might have made plans, and sorted it all out nicely in our head, but when it all comes down to it, God is the one who orders our path. He is the light to our feet. He is the rock upon which we stand. He is the one who is our strength when we are weak. If we are going to have a destiny, let it be in God. 

Meredith Resce is author of seventeen published fiction titles, including the ‘Heart of Green Valley’ series.

She is currently working on two non-fiction titles “When Hell is on Your Doorstep” and “Saints Sinners and Zombies”

To learn more about Meredith and her writing work, visit her website: www.meredithresce.com

Or contact her through her Face Book Author page

Five Facts for Every Author

by Charis Joy Jackson 

 

My dream holiday, as a writer, is finding a cabin in the middle of the wilderness where I can sit and write for days.

So at the end of last year, when I knew I was coming home for the holidays, the land considered the "Last Frontier", I thought I'd found the perfect place and I day-dreamed of days and days of writing.

But it hasn’t happened.

In fact, I've spent very little of my holiday writing. At first I felt guilty. Why was the idea of writing my novel so overwhelming? Why was I procrastinating? I love to write. I love my story, so what in the world was wrong?

And then the self-doubt started… If I'm not committed to writing every day, does that mean I'm not a writer? Has all the love and passion gone? Will I ever get my novel published? Am I really a writer? Or am I just a fake?

I needed a broader perspective - the cold hard facts and I knew I wasn’t the only one who wrestles with doubts so I made a short list of facts to hold on to in the “dry” moments.

Fact 1 - We need rest

When I came home for my holiday I was sick. I spent the first two and a half weeks lying on my blue fainting couch, barely taking in the tv shows and conversation going on around me. I couldn’t even form coherent sentences, let alone try to write from one of my characters povs.

Sometimes we need to rest from the work and creativity to replenish our supply. In my case, I literally needed to recuperate and get well, but sometimes it may mean taking a day off from my computer.

It’s good to give ourselves a break from the world of our characters, because it allows us to see things differently when we pick up the story again and maybe we’ll suddenly have solutions to story questions that our over tired brains couldn’t find before.

Fact 2 - Being an author doesn’t mean you just write

The truth is, even when I was feeling better I wasn't writing my novel, but I was spending a lot of time building my author platform. Taking part in a blog tour and promoting Glimpses of Light, an anthology recently published with one of my short stories.

There’s a tremendous amount of other things an author needs to do, so many ways we build our audience.

Writing blogs, updating our author pages on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Wordpress, website, etc. These platforms are not just busy work, but valid, important sites to keep updated so we can continue reaching new readers.

Fact 3 - Reading more, makes you a better story-teller

One thing I’ve been doing a lot on this holiday is reading. Re-reading old favourites I knew would wake the “something” in me that seemed lost. Reading new novels that were recommended to me, reading my own copy of Glimpses of Light and being blown away by all the talented story-tellers I get to share the pages with and even branching out to other genres I don’t normally have a desire to read.

The best writing resource for any budding author is to read more.

I remember someone telling me to read everything I could in the genre I wanted to write in - the good, the bad and the ugly. When I asked why I should read the bad, I was told, "Even the bad ones teach us what not to do."

Fact 4 - Spending time with God is the secret weapon of the creative

One of the reasons I haven’t been writing much is because I’m hanging out with God. Reading devotionals, journaling, spending time in worship and prayer.

I’ve discovered that after times of deep immersion with the ultimate Creator, my own creativity and love for story takes on a fresh new life. Every word becomes richer and more profound.

In order to grow in a specific thing, you must learn from those who know it better. Well, who's better to learn from, than the One who created my story and yours?

Fact 5 - Don’t become a critic, keep your wonder

I recently finished reading Frank Peretti’s Illusion and one of the themes that stood out to me was the importance of keeping your wonder. In the case of Peretti’s story it was keeping their wonder as magicians, but I think it can apply to any creative - especially the author.

I like what Robert Frost says on the subject. “No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader.”

In other words, be in awe of the stories and characters you dream up.

And more importantly, be in awe of the God who wants to see you make up these worlds of adventure, daring sword fights and great romances. It’s what He created you for and the more time we spend in self-doubt the less we live out the truth of what He put in us.

The other day my mom and I were walking to the car, we'd just finished doing some shopping. It was cold and the sky was blanketed with a thick mist, blocking the majestic mountains that surrounded us. I was just about to hop into the car and get away from the dreary weather when I glanced up.

The mist had broken in some places and revealed the hidden glory there. I snapped a picture on my phone and even though it wasn't the best photo, it soothed something within me. Reminding me that even the darkest days are filled with glory if only we take the time to look.

So, what about you? What are some facts you’ve found helpful to keep doubt away and hold on to the truth?

Charis Joy Jackson is working as a missionary with Youth With a Mission (YWAM) a non-profit organization & is part of The Initiative Production Company. She loves creating stories & is currently writing a novel, which she hopes to create into a seven part series.

Here's to a life lived in awe & wonder.
Welcome to the adventure.
www.charisjoyjackson.com