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Thoughts...
The work of art which I do not make, none other will ever make.
—Simone Weil
What's the work of art you are intended to create this year?
We’re well into the second half of the year already and I’m thinking,
“Where has the time flown?” There’s that old adage, Time flies when
you’re having fun. Actually time flies whether you’re having fun or not.
A number of years ago, my niece was considering pursuit of her Master’s degree in Education while teaching English in her local high school. But she lamented the five years it would take to complete the program. “Why, in five years I’ll be forty,” she said with that hushed voice of unbelief the young have over the swift passage of time. “Honey,” I said. “In five years you’ll be forty anyway, whether you go for the degree or not!” She made the decision. She did achieve the Master’s—and she did turn forty.
The publication of my first book (written with an associate) took six
years from conception in 1994 to release in the fall of 2000. I’ve
recently finished a novel ten years after its inspiration, but the
marketing hasn’t yet begun. When new projects flirt with my creativity I
still cringe at the thought of the time it will take, not only to complete
the writing, but to pursue the publication. It’s tempting to give in to
the thought that it’s too late. But time is a gift. This day—today—is a
gift. It’s all we have.
Sportswriter Red Smith once said, "It's really very easy to be a writer;
all you have to do is sit down at the typewriter and open a vein."
Have you done any bleeding over your keyboard lately?
L.H., August 2006
Most people want to serve God, but only in an advisory position. (Source Unknown)
*Position: an act of placing or arranging...
I've been doing a lot of editing lately, and one thing has become dramatically apparent. Sometimes our written words are good, but just don't seem to work or flow the way we imagined they would. Some words do need to be cut, but I've found that a simple rearranging of sentences or phrases often results in a better impact or flow.
As writers we become very protective of the words and thoughts we've labored to bring to birth. We don't like to give up a single one; they were inspired after all! But you've heard Thomas Edison's comment, "Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration." After he had finally invented and produced the light bulb, a reporter asked him how it felt to fail 9000 times, to which Edison replied, "I was glad I found 9000 ways not to invent the light bulb."
Let's not miss the opportunity to increase the effectiveness of our written words by careful editing, being willing to cut, peel, trim, reposition, paste, reread, and go through the whole process again and again. Don't forget that ninety-nine percent!
• Position: social or official rank or status; a situation that confers advantage or preference.
Jesus did some "editing" and "repositioning" of His disciples, teaching them that position, as they perceived it, wasn't the way God wrote His story. Remember the repeated fusses about who would be greatest in the kingdom? The brothers, James and John, were particularly adept at positioning themselves for advancement, and even their mother got in on the act.
But Jesus reminded them, and us, that position is not what we're to be about. "...he who is least among you all—he is the greatest" (Luke 9:48), and "If anyone wants to be first, he must make himself last of all and servant of all" (Mark 9:35).
So the position of last is actually first in God's eyes. That does not mean, however, that we can be lax in striving for the excellence of our craft.
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving (Colossians 3:23-24).
So, writers, check your positions—your hearts, your attitudes, your words!
L.H., February 2006
Imagination is the highest kite one can fly.
...attributed to Lauren Bacall
How's the kite of your imagination? Have you run in the wind and let out the string? Has the wind caught it yet? Is it soaring up there in the freedom of the skies?
My brothers were avid kite makers and flyers. I remember holding the fragile cross sticks steady while they glued tissue paper, and sometimes even newspaper for their homemade kites. The "funny papers" made particularly whimsical kites. I'd help tie the knots in rags we tore into strips to make the tail. Ah, the tail was a vital part of the construction: too much weight and the kite would never get off the ground, too little and the flight was erratic and uncontrollable. I'd tag along to watch, but I could never get a kite aloft. Though I hadn't yet met him, I was a kindred spirit to Charlie Brown, my pitiful kite skittering along the ground, snagging on rocks and twigs. And even when my brothers took pity on me and got the thing in the air, it wasn't long before it came plummeting down into the nearest tree, causing that Brownesque self-evaluation: "I killed it." As a result, I never became a kite flyer.
Imagination is another matter. I could look up into the same sky dotted with tiny diamonds of color, and my thoughts could soar in directions as diverse as the sun's rays reaching around the edges of a high-flying cloud.
What if? What a great thought-starter! I've just finished my novel, The Tenth Month, which was launched in my imagination a number of years ago with a "what if" question: What if God became tired of our cavalier attitudes toward life and death, abortion and euthanasia, and decided to close the womb?
For several years I didn't know how to classify the story; it didn't seem to fit any of the genres, and it was difficult to describe. That seemed like a kite tail too heavy to solve. Like my stubborn kite that bounced along the ground hitting every obstacle, I found myself stumbling along in my efforts to tell the story. Yet the "what if" question kept developing and demanding to be answered. When I quit trying to classify it, and just began writing it, it came. And just this summer I learned there is a specific genre the industry now calls speculative fiction. Just the thing for "what if" questions.
The next time you find yourself reaching for an idea, grab the string of the imagination kite and ask lots of "what if" questions, let out the string and see where the kite soars.
LH, January 2006