The Value of Unpublished Words

 

• A traditionally published book = Value
• A quality self-published book = Value
• A homemade photocopied booklet = ?

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the value we place on various types of writing. As writers, we want to find an audience for our work. In my role as an editor, however, I’ve often had to tell authors that their manuscript needs more work if they want it to be published. Sometimes a LOT of work. Many take feedback on board and polish up their drafts, but I know there are others who’ve felt discouraged and maybe even doubted whether they’re meant to be writers. This is never my intention, as I always try to be encouraging, but I have no control over how people will respond to my comments.

I think one of the problems is that we tend to equate value with publication, but they’re really two separate things. If we want to be traditionally published or produce a quality self-published book, there might be certain things we need to do (e.g., adhere to spelling and grammar conventions, use creative writing techniques, have the work thoroughly edited, ensure that the cover and overall book design are pleasing). However, our work can still be of value even if none of those things happen. Here are some examples.

[Note - This blog was initially published in 2022, but some new material has been added in 2025]

Journaling

You might record your thoughts in a journal on a regular basis or for special occasions (e.g., during a trip). Or you may keep a diary on a particular theme (e.g., a gratitude journal or a prayer journal). You might later use some of this information as the basis for a book. However, even if you don’t do anything specific with it, the practice itself is still valuable. It helps you to recall events such as answered prayers. It hones your powers of observation and reflection. Even the process of writing can be beneficial in helping you to work through issues, including mental health concerns. Click here for some more information on the benefits of journaling for mental health. Whether anyone else ever reads what you’ve written, journaling is valuable.

Blogging

Blogging is similar to journalling, in some ways, only you're making it available on the internet. Technically, that means it's published in cyberspace so people can access it, but I've included it here because blogs in themselves can be undervalued compared to books.

Of course there are different reasons for blogging. Some use it mainly to express their thoughts and opinions, some use it in a professional way to provide people with information or to direct potential customers to their business, and others use it to help or bless others. While some blogs do generate income, that's not always the case. I know many Christians who use their blogs for ministry purposes. In some cases, those authors have also written books, but that's not always the case. I can think of a number of people I know personally who have written hundreds of devotional blogs that have ministered to countless people over the years. We can never underestimate that type of ministry. 

Letters

Back in the Dark Ages when I was at school, I had a lot of overseas pen pals. I also collected stamps, so I loved opening the letter box and finding letters from India, Sweden, Germany, England, Austria and more. With the advent of email, text messaging and social media, we've largely lost the art of letter writing. Even sending Christmas cards is becoming less common. After all, if you've been in touch with someone on Facebook all year, what's the point of sending them a card and Christmas letter? 

While the speed and ease of modern communication certainly has its advantages, there's still something special about receiving an actual letter from someone. They're ideal for those who aren't on social media, such as older folk in aged care homes who might not have a mobile phone or computer. They're more permanent than emails. You can keep them and read them over and over. 

Remember that most of the New Testament, including Luke and Acts, are letters to various individuals or churches. We're still reading them 2000 years later.

Postage can be an issue. I'm old enough to remember when you could post a letter within Australia for 7c and overseas for less than $1.00. Now it's $1.70 for a small local letter and more than $4.00 for small overseas letters. Phew! I guess I won't be sending out 100 Christmas cards anymore (though Christmas rates are cheaper). However, think about who might be blessed by receiving an actual letter and who might like a longer email occasionally. Or depending on distance, you can hand-deliver a letter or card. You can't underestimate the power of an encouraging word. Your words are of value.

Gifts for Family and Friends

I've edited a number of memoirs over the years, and many of those people have since had their books published, either traditionally or indie-published. Some of those books have wider appeal than just family and friends because the authors are sharing lessons they've learned along the way that could help others. However, you don't necessarily have to think that broadly. Maybe you have some stories, poetry or devotions you'd like to share with family and friends. Or perhaps you want to compile a family history that would mainly be of interest to your immediate family. There's nothing wrong with doing things simply rather than going the whole hog with publishing.

I remember one lady from church who invited my husband and me over to her house for morning tea. She told us a bit about her background and then proudly showed us several volumes of family history that she'd put together. She'd typed all of them up in Word, inserted relevant documents and photos, then had them photocopied and spiral bound at Office Works. Could she have done more with them? Maybe, but she was putting them together for her family and the spiral-bound copies were fine for that purpose.

You might have some stories, poems, devotions, reflections or other material you'd like to share with others. It could be your family, a particular group of friends, or just one person. You don't have to wait until some magical day in the future when it's published. You can bless people now.

Zines

A zine is a small homemade booklet that is usually photocopied and distributed free of charge. There’s no ‘right’ way to make a zine. Some zines are produced using computer software, but they can also be handwritten, cut and pasted from other material or a combination of both. Some zines are like newsletters (e.g., they might advertise what’s happening in the local community), while others contain poetry, art, comics, short stories, true stories, opinions, reviews, calls to action, how-to information. There’s really no limit.

 My local book shop (Jeremy’s Book Exchange) has just started a zine library and I felt inspired to have a go at making a little mini zine for fun. Click here to see Austin Kleon’s two-minute video on how to make a little zine from a single sheet of paper.

I used some blackout poetry for this zine, which involves finding some text from newspapers, books or magazines, choosing some words that would make a new poem and then blacking out the rest. Here’s a photo of the finished product.

You can put anything in a zine. You could use it to try out some ideas, to bless other people, to get across some information. Whether it’s just for you, for the members of your family, or for a wider audience, it’s of value.

Writing Prompts and Exercises

We’ve all probably come across blogs, books or classes that have included writing prompts or exercises. But is there any point to these if we’re just writing bits and pieces that aren’t for publication? Absolutely! They help us to hone our craft and get the creative juices going. The process of creating in itself can be good for us. I’ve sometimes written a funny piece just for fun and it’s really lifted my spirits. I’ve also ended up with some publications from snippets that started out as writing exercises, though that shouldn’t be the main aim. Art for art’s sake is still of value.

 

Intrinsic Value

I’ve only just scratched the surface here and could have easily written longer blogs on each of those topics, but hopefully that’s whetted your appetite for more. Don’t equate your worth or the value of your writing with society’s idea of what’s valid. You are made in the image of God and are of unimaginable value to him. He has also imbued you with interests, desires and gifts to help you and others. Whether published or not, your work has immense value.

 

Have you got some other examples of unpublished work that’s helped you? I’d love to hear your stories.

Author Bio

Nola Lorraine has a passion for faith and social justice issues, and loves weaving words that inspire others with courage and hope. Her books include the inspirational historical novel Scattered, the Christian devotional book Comfort Zone, and the Christian charity anthology Glimpses of Light which she co-edited with Jeanette O’Hagan. She has more than 150 short publications, including fiction, poetry, devotions, true stories, magazine articles and academic papers. She loves sharing the words and stories God impresses on her heart, and prays that He will use them to bless others. She would love to connect with you through her website: www.nolalorraine.com.au

Picture Sources

Featured photo by hobin on Pixabay.

Journal writing photo by kaboompics on Pixabay.

Letters by blende12 on Pixabay.

Family tree from Clker Fre Vector Images on Pixabay.

Zine photo by author.

Author photo by Wayne Logan at Encouraging Photos.

Poking the Muse: Weird, Wacky, or Wonderfully Worthwhile?

Mazzy Adams

The Muse can be a fickle and cantankerous beast. Give it a deadline and it will run away and hide behind any number of obstacles and excuses, be it a flu virus, a family crisis, or the sudden need to binge watch six seasons of a thirty-year-old television series because, you know, you can never experience too much historic authenticity in research mode … (a worthy cause according to The Right Honourable Idle Pro Crastination). Yet that same Muse will shove its stubborn creativity under your nose when you’re trying to grocery shop, work the 9 to 5, drive a car, cook dinner, shower, catch up on desperately needed sleep, or during any number of awkward and inappropriate moments.

Despite her unpredictable (and unreliable) nature, I’ve learned to truly appreciate my creative writing muse. Her weird, wild, wasteful, wistful, and wonderful moods have actually inspired some worthwhile words over the years—not to mention several truly wacky ideas.

But hey, I love her anyway.

When we first met, I thought my muse was amazing—funny, clever, sophisticated—and with my typing prowess, surely we were a match made in heaven. First love …

is blind.

(Image by 139904 from Pixabay)

Truly great relationships don’t just happen. Ours was no exception. Our relationship needed nurturing. It took time and effort for us to discover each other and to develop an understanding of each other’s hopes and dreams. It demanded tolerance, patience, persistence, perseverance and mutual respect (we agreed Alliterers Anonymous meetings didn’t work for either of us).

We spent our courtship hours creating quick responses to writing prompts for uni, socialising with other writers (and their muses), dreaming and scribbling together, chatting about all the wonderful places we could visit, all the friends we’d make along the way, arguing over which of us would take the rap for the characters we planned to kill off, choosing cream and white sheets to make up our literary bed, picking out names for our book babies …  

Though I speak tongue-in-cheek, for a writer, the relationship between inspiration and actual, useful text on a page requires active encouragement, engagement, and frequently, some outside assistance (like education and counselling). Poems, flash fiction, memoirs, novels, informative and/or inspirational works of non-fiction don’t magically arrive perfect and mature on the first draft. It takes informed effort to transform ideas into useful and entertaining literature. For this reason, I say kudos to every writer who perseveres to improve their craft.

But today, I don’t want to focus on the hard slog of editing and perfecting. I simply want to rejoice in that crazy, delightful ‘something’ that calls and inspires people to write—that’s calling you to write. I want to celebrate the huge variety of writing styles, voices, forms and expressions arising from the relationship between muse and writer. I want to sing and splash around in the bubbling flow that springs to life when the muse turns on the faucet. I want to thank God for it. Thank him for the fun and the frustration alike. Thank him for the solid, worthy ideas that translate into powerful text. And thank him for the absurd, quirky ideas that remind me to embrace the momentum of words and enjoy the ride.

Speaking of quirky ideas, 10% of the marks for some of my creative writing uni subjects were earned by completing ‘Quick Writing Exercises’. Students were required to read the prompt, write for ten minutes by the clock, post the piece to the forum and engage in mutual feedback and discussion. I found the challenge daunting at first, but also very fruitful, because it taught me to think beyond the obvious, to stretch my imagination, to get words on the page without stressing about their initial quality (big ask for a pedant and perfectionist) and, ultimately, to not only discover my ‘voice’ but to trust and treasure it. Like all good relationships, I believe our connection to the writing craft grows in quality as we invest in it and strengthen it through engagement.   

  

If your relationship with the muse is a tad stale, if you’ve been neglecting it (willingly or reluctantly) of late and it needs a bit of a jump start, or if your muse has been persnickety, hiding behind excuses when it should be making you a cup of tea, perhaps it’s time to try a quick writing exercise or two. All it takes is a prompt not unlike the example* I’ve posted below (or a word, an image, the poke of an umbrella …) and ten minutes of your time. It’s a small but invaluable investment for such an important relationship don't you think?

One of my favourite uni prompts was this:

*Write a piece that begins with the words, ‘I write this sitting in the kitchen sink …’

The variety of responses posted to the forum ranged from the sublime to the ridiculous, but it was a great deal of fun. Here’s what I wrote way back then. Why not give it a go? If you’re game, post your piece in the comments.

Sitting in the Kitchen Sink

‘I write this sitting in the kitchen sink’ is an intriguing opening to a story. It raises so many questions at so many levels.

At level one, I consider the grammatical structure and its implications; if the absence of a full stop and capital letter is intentional and not accidental, the introduction proposes several truly mind-boggling possibilities. For example, I can envisage a scenario which quite reasonably puts me in the sink. I’ve cleaned the gable windows above my kitchen sink before and very nearly come a cropper. A landing in the kitchen sink would be a more viable option for survival than a continuance of movement downwards to the floor.

If, however, my comfortably large posterior is actually lodged in my kitchen sink, I doubt that I would have the peace of mind or inclination, given the unlikely and clearly uncomfortable circumstances, to engage myself with pen and paper and wile away several minutes, hours or days in creative composition. I suspect my first, and only, priority would be to dislodge myself from my constricted circumstances with as much haste and as little pain as possible.

At level two, conditional upon the previous assumption of grammatical correctness of course, another possible scenario involves my accidental exposure to some strange beam of light which has transformed me instantly into a midget. Or a tea-cup. But tea-cups don’t have hands, so the ‘writing’ part of the opening becomes problematic in this instance also. Perhaps the beam allows me special new skills, such as the ability to project an image across the room onto a piece of paper or onto an interactive whiteboard using purely the power of thought. That could be cool.

(Image by haidi2002 from Pixabay)

Of course, there’s level three where I might not actually be me. I could be someone else. Or something else. That raises even more mind-boggling options. I could be a cockroach in search of a tasty morsel left dangling on a dirty dinner plate. If so, I am not only intelligent, but extremely skillful and I have access to miniature writing implements, unless I intend to cocky-poo my message on the illicit bacon rind which should be residing in the bin.

I could be the mouse that I once clobbered with a rolling pin and then drowned in the kitchen sink. (Ick! Disgusting, right?) I doubt that in the midst of all that violence, with the threat of imminent death looming, I would have the presence of mind to write, not even my last will and testament. Hmm … Imagine that –

‘To my darling great-great-grand-nephew, Horatio Mousling, I hereby bequeath my summer nest in the pile of left-over roofing insulation in the rear right-hand corner of the Brown’s garage. To my cousin, Katrina Ratspring, I leave the directions to the dog-bowl at 57 Evinrude Avenue, St. Kilda …’

Sadly, given my current predicament, the creative juices just aren’t flowing as swiftly as they should. Perhaps I should play it safe, and punctuate. Therefore:

I write this. Sitting in the kitchen sink are the questionably salubrious leftovers of my husband’s first adventurous exploration into the world of gastronomic creation. I have to say, for a first effort, the dinner didn’t taste too bad. Even the after-taste was reasonable. After the third and fourth regurgitations however, I have begun to suspect that something was not altogether kosher.

I would rise from my chair at the kitchen table and call an ambulance, but the slightest movement results in another violent altercation with my digestive system. Thus I write this, just in case I don’t survive, so that any investigation of my demise will be straightforward.

I write this so you will know there was absolutely no ill or harm present in my husband’s intent. He’s just never tried to cook anything more adventurous than a fried egg before! 

As for the lengthy verbosity of my report, I simply offer, in my defence, that I never do my best writing when I’m throwing up.

© Mazzy Adams

Mazzy Adams is a published author of poetry, fiction and creative non-fiction. She has a passion for words, pictures and the positive potential in people.

Website: www.mazzyadams.com 

Email: maz@mazzyadams.com

Writing Prompt + Holy Spirit = Opportunity

Writing prompts can help get the creative juices flowing.  However, if we’re open to the Holy Spirit, they can also lead to unique opportunities.  Let me give some examples.

The photo accompanying this post shows a prompt that our Quirky Quills writing group used recently.  We each had to pick something to add to a still life and then gave ourselves 15 minutes to write about it.  It seemed like a motley collection of objects, but when we read out our pieces, it was amazing what everyone had written.  There were poems and stories about racial tensions and prejudice in the United States, women forced into prostitution in the Middle East, and an amusing piece about Peter Jackson revisioning Gone With the Wind to include hobbits.  I couldn’t help thinking that the Holy Spirit had inspired those ideas.  Okay, mine was the wacky one about the hobbits, so maybe Holy Spirit inspiration is harder to argue for that one.  Then again, maybe God knew we needed a lighter piece to balance out the serious ones.  In any case, we all went away with something we could work on, something we wouldn’t have thought of without the prompt and that moment of inspiration. 

Some anthologies and writing competitions also focus on a particular theme.  For example, the Australian group Poetica Christi had the theme of “Taking Flight” for their 2011 poetry collection.  I felt God prompting me to write a poem about Joseph fleeing to Egypt with Mary and baby Jesus.  It’s since been published.  In 2012, the theme was “Into the Depths”.  I felt God leading me to write about a couple who always skirt around the issues rather than sharing intimately.  It’s been accepted for this year’s anthology.  I wouldn’t have written either of those poems without the theme as a starting point.

Recently, I decided to try my hand at a short story competition where the first sentence had to be “Heads we get married, tails we split up.”  I didn’t find that line particularly inspiring, so I thought I’d just write a light piece for fun.  Then I felt God whisper, “put them on a train in India”.  India?  Where did that come from?  But I sat down, typed in the first line and started writing about two people on a train in India.  The story took on a life of its own and ended up being a tear-jerker about an orphan girl rescued by aid workers.   I asked a work colleague to check it for cultural accuracy.  Not only did she pick up one of my cultural faux pas, but she said she really enjoyed it.  That led to a chat about the current situation in India.  Another colleague also liked it and wanted to know what happened next.  Mmm … could be a Friday lunchtime series in the making.  I wouldn’t have had those two conversations if not for the initial sentence and God’s quiet nudging.

If you’ve never used writing prompts, why not give them a try?  If you’re sensitive to the Holy Spirit and willing to step out of your comfort zone, you may find opportunities opening up for you – the odd publication, relationship-building conversations, and more material that you can later develop into other projects.  Do a google search for “writing prompts” and let God and the creative juices take you for a ride.  Mmm … “take you for a ride”.  I think I’ve just found my next prompt!  

 

Nola Passmore is a freelance writer who has had more than 90 short pieces published in various magazines, journals, and anthologies (including true stories, devotions, poetry and short fiction). She has a passion for writing about what God has done in her life and encouraging others to do the same. (Some call it "nagging", but she calls it "encouragement").