Well, I just checked my messages and a desperate attempt to wow an agent with some of my half finished projects has produced fruit, maybe small fruit, but fruit. This agent wants to look at a book I started a few years ago and never picked it up again and now I have to get it ready for her to "look at".
I am wondering, "Do I have the time to pull it together and make it presentable?" or "Why bother? I am not totally passionate about this orphaned project!" Until I remembered the purpose. I just got through telling this agent, who has become an email friend, that God was my Agent and I did not stress writing projects. God gave me what I needed to do when I needed to do it. It is his calling and purpose on my life - it is not my problem to come up with leads - it was His - that is our deal. He gives me stuff to write and I write, He makes the appointments- Divine Appointments. Not 2 hour after I wrote that, she wrote that she had just opened an email I wrote more than a month ago and was interested in one of the ideas.
The point is, God has given me the ability to write about the Bible in a way that anyone can understand. He has inspired every idea I have ever had. It is my job just to write what I know - it is His job to provide the projects and provide the means to publish them. That is how it has always happened in the past.
I do not have a real hard back or soft cover book with my name on it. My youngest son Sam says that I am not a REAL writer because I do not have my name on a book cover. All the articles, curriculum, and web content is not REAL writing to am. Who knows? This may be it - the chance at a real book with my name on it to make Sam think of me as a REAL writer ! In the end, that is not the point. The point is, I wrote with passion to fulfil my purpose.
Well, better to get writing,editing, and gathering - my agent friend is waiting....
Saturday, June 14, 2008
"Burning Desire"
Working at Georgia Writers Association for the past two years, there is one common thread woven among writers of all genres - the burning desire to write.
You know a writer when they are never far from a pen..they can write on anything - a napkin, the flip-side of an important document, their hand, any scrap will do. This burning desire is not quenched until they get the words that are rattling around in their heads out and onto something more permanent.
My Executive Director of GWA, Ralph Wilson, advises his students NOT to be writers, it is too hard. He says you should only be a writer unless you cannot help yourself. You will be like a kleptomaniac who cannot help but shop lift or a pyromaniac with a lighter in hand near a pile of hay - ready to burn.
Author Kelly L. Stone, interviewed more than 100 professional writers from across the genres to ask them to spill their writing secrets in Time to Write. (http://www.kellylstone.com/) Stone explains, "Writing is something that they simply have to do, and because of this relentless burn to put their stories on paper, they are motivate to find time to write. Indeed, they are drawn to the written word and they have the constant urge to get their own thoughts into written form. Their burning desire to write causes them to year for writing whenever they aren't doing it and writing is what they want to do most of the time."
Why do writers write? Because they have to - it is like breathing to them. In that I believe it is what they are made to do while on this earth. A writer's message, the voice they have been given at birth, is meant to be written down. That is their purpose. I know personally that I have a book inside, that must be written. I do not have a choice.
As I get older, I wonder if I will get it done before my time on earth is over. I must, it bothers me all the time, but I bury myself in my work, my family, and the ridiculous pace of life we believe as normal. When I am alone, with no other sound but the shower or driving alone in silence, my book inside pops up and nags at my heart - "When are you going to finish me? Are you scared?" I answer to that nag in my head, "Soon..." and "Yes, I am.."
You know a writer when they are never far from a pen..they can write on anything - a napkin, the flip-side of an important document, their hand, any scrap will do. This burning desire is not quenched until they get the words that are rattling around in their heads out and onto something more permanent.
My Executive Director of GWA, Ralph Wilson, advises his students NOT to be writers, it is too hard. He says you should only be a writer unless you cannot help yourself. You will be like a kleptomaniac who cannot help but shop lift or a pyromaniac with a lighter in hand near a pile of hay - ready to burn.
Author Kelly L. Stone, interviewed more than 100 professional writers from across the genres to ask them to spill their writing secrets in Time to Write. (http://www.kellylstone.com/) Stone explains, "Writing is something that they simply have to do, and because of this relentless burn to put their stories on paper, they are motivate to find time to write. Indeed, they are drawn to the written word and they have the constant urge to get their own thoughts into written form. Their burning desire to write causes them to year for writing whenever they aren't doing it and writing is what they want to do most of the time."
Why do writers write? Because they have to - it is like breathing to them. In that I believe it is what they are made to do while on this earth. A writer's message, the voice they have been given at birth, is meant to be written down. That is their purpose. I know personally that I have a book inside, that must be written. I do not have a choice.
As I get older, I wonder if I will get it done before my time on earth is over. I must, it bothers me all the time, but I bury myself in my work, my family, and the ridiculous pace of life we believe as normal. When I am alone, with no other sound but the shower or driving alone in silence, my book inside pops up and nags at my heart - "When are you going to finish me? Are you scared?" I answer to that nag in my head, "Soon..." and "Yes, I am.."
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Finding Purpose...
Bestselling author Ric Warren made a fortune and created a subculture of Purpose-Driven Life clones. I like the book. I taught the book. It is so popular that it continues to show up in various forms years after it was released. This book was a key plot when Ashley Nichols, held captive by Brian Nichols after he went on a killing spree in a Fulton County Court house, read from her bookmarked copy of The Purpose Driven Life. Smith used the book to convince Nichols that his purpose now was in prison. Warren repackaged and then unpacked this age-old message of finding your purpose on earth - it' a good book with a great message.
I believe as a writer, you have a purpose. You have a book, an article, a dissertation in your heart and head swimming around looking for a way to surface. How to get those words on a page is simple word mechanics, but unleashing that which is within requires heart surgery.
This blog is not intended for professional advice on how to get your book published - that is the easy part. This writer is not a motivational speaker, selling you another way to get that book on the market and make lots of money. The purpose of this blog is to share my journey, as a freelance writer and semi-published author(I will explain that later), with the purpose of encouraging you to answer the title, "What's the Point?"
I believe as a writer, you have a purpose. You have a book, an article, a dissertation in your heart and head swimming around looking for a way to surface. How to get those words on a page is simple word mechanics, but unleashing that which is within requires heart surgery.
This blog is not intended for professional advice on how to get your book published - that is the easy part. This writer is not a motivational speaker, selling you another way to get that book on the market and make lots of money. The purpose of this blog is to share my journey, as a freelance writer and semi-published author(I will explain that later), with the purpose of encouraging you to answer the title, "What's the Point?"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)