Wild Onions, Orange Popsicles, and Truth

Yesterday Joyce Hostetter and I brainstormed our upcoming workshop for theWrite2Ignite conference. We have presented “Using Life Experiences to Inform Your Writing” at other venues, but we like to tweak it each time to make it fresh. We introduce ourselves by each reading a passage that springboards from our own life experiences.  Previously, I have read from an article for adults in...

Compelled

We writers are a quirky crew. We just look at life in a unique way. It seems that no matter where we turn, there is always inspiration lurking, igniting a spark that propels the cogs of our brains to churn away until that inevitable pile of words makes its way to the page.  We have to write it down. We can’t help ourselves. We’re obsessed. We’re compelled. We write. It’s what we do. The...

Does Your Character Have Character?

Do you want to write, but don’t know where to start? There is an easy solution… write anyway. Start at the beginning. Start at the end. Start in the middle. It doesn’t matter. Just write! No one can sculpt your scenes into beautiful landscapes and glorious escapes. No one can bring your characters to life and make them jump from the page and into our hearts. No one can write your story. No...

Words Endure

Ah, the power of words. Spoken words, written words, they do linger. Spoken words remain in the minds of the speaker and the hearer. They last there, for good 0r bad, bringing hurt or healing, evoking laughter or tears. Once they are out there, you can’t take them back. Words are powerful. The written word wields that same potential… perhaps to an even greater degree. Written words can...

Silencing the Voices

Someone was talking to herself in the bathroom at work the other day. And this time it wasn’t me. Boy, was I relieved. Because once I started talking to myself, there was no stopping. And I had a writing project to conquer. I tend to hear a lot of voices when I am tackling a difficult writing project. For example, just last night I sat down at the computer, cracked my knuckles, and took a deep...

The Win Win of POD

I was at Lifeway Christian Store to get a song to sing Sunday and it was the first time we’ve used Lifeway’s new system to burn accompaniment tracks in house. Several thousand songs that you just look up and if they have it you can listen to it and then burn the track right there. Too cool. It immediately made me think that it won’t be long until books will be printed that way too. A number...

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch (Exodus 2:23 – 3:1)

I was reading Moses’ story in Exodus the other day when one word jumped out of the passage and waved a big flag in my face. In Exodus 3:1 it was the word, Meanwhile. I quickly wrote the reference and a few thoughts into my writing journal. This writer had to back-pedal a few verses to Exodus 2:23 -25 to get the front end of that word. The Children of Israel were enslaved in Egypt. During this...

Tie Me to the Chair

Disclaimer:  I’m a day late with this post.  All because of the lack of discipline to just sit down and write!  Irony can be daunting. Are there any Oliver and Company fans out there?  It’s an oldie, but goodie.  In fact it’s so old that our copy is VHS.  My daughters watched it when they were little.  They are now 26, 25, and 22.  I can still hear those sweet voices quoting Tito...

Are Those Stretch Marks I See?

After carrying four children, only one of whom weighed less than eight pounds at birth (one was nine pounds), it’s reasonable to assume that I have my share of stretch marks. And fortunately for the rest of the world, I keep them covered up. J But over the past few years, I’ve stretched in other ways as well — positive ways, ways that God has orchestrated to prepare me to do...

A Writer’s Influence: Are You Ready to Lead?

In his classic, Spiritual Leadership: Principles of Excellence for Every Believer, J. Oswald Sanders defines leadership as “influence.” That’s kind of scary when you meditate on it. Think of all the people we touch in our lives. Think of the influence we have over them whether we are aware of it, or not. in·flu·ence [in-floo-uhns] The capacity or power of persons to be a compelling...