...On Writing

I have to tell you, having this blog makes me feel a little bit like a journalist. I’m always trying to come up with a topic for my “article.” And it has to have a title, and it ahs to be short enough that people won’t despair of getting to the end of it while they’re scrolling down.

Of course, my audience is much smaller than any newspaper or magazine; but I still appreciate you taking the time to read my humble, rambling thoughts. I hope you also know that I LOVE getting comments about what I write, hint hint.

I always like to get feedback on my writing. For one reason, I like to feel connected to my readers, and knowing how people respond helps me to be a better writer. I can only write so much (on one of my twenty ideas) before I make someone read it—usually a member of my family, like my brother Kyle, or my good friend Brianne.

Right now, however, I have a couple of other people reading my “Found Phoebe” manuscript. I want to get all the errors caught and confusing parts clarified before it goes to press with Red Lead. I want it to be the best it can be…and I’ve already been revising it for two years. It’s always different, though, when someone else reads your work.

About a week ago, the pastor of North Park Church came by the house with my dad after lunch. Pastor Hopper mentioned to me that he had read the first chapter of my book online, and that he enjoyed it. He was very encouraging and shared with me some advice from a class he had taken on writing for publication. He told me that his teacher said not to identify too strongly with your writing. Authors who do that have a hard time with criticism because they feel like they themselves are being edited and judged. It’s called “Red Pen Syndrome” or something like that.

I had my first real experience with that (outside of school) earlier this week. A friend of my dad’s is one of the people editing “Phoebe” for me right now. Mr. Lesher sent me the first two parts of “Phoebe” edited in such a way that you can see what was changed as soon as you open the document in word. The changes are marked in red. Naturally. When I opened the document to the first page, all I saw was a mass of red.

Now, I’m not saying that his revisions weren’t helpful; they were. And I really do want my writing to be the best it can be. It’s like…if you watch a craftsman at work—A potter for example, or a glass blower or metal smith. They take a portion of their material, work it, shape it, and the next thing you know thy destroy it. It is a formless blob again and they are starting the process all over. They saw a flaw that needed to be fixed. It would be silly for one of them to let his pride in his talent keep him from making the best objects he can.

In the same way, I know that the kneading and melting processes are necessary for my work to be its best. Is it hard? Heck yeah. But it’s worth it. 

Creative, or Crazy?

Yesterday I decided to take stock of some of my store of ideas. These are thoughts that have come to me out of the blue, or have been rolling around in my head for a while, that I start to scribble down on scraps of paper. I finally organized these scraps last week into folders for different story ideas.

Yesterday, however, I went through and actually made a list of all the story ideas that are actively floating around in my head at the moment. These are things I think of through out the day and ponder how to expand on, clarify, and complete.

Would you believe my list had twenty items on it??? I was a little shocked. Now, some of them are at most a few lines I jot down to convey the ideas behind the book I intend to one day write. And some are just a few pages or paragraphs to get me started, but still!! Twenty?

As of yet, I have only completed two of those twenty, and yet they are still on my list because I am forever revising them. As for the rest…I’m having trouble prioritizing them. What should I work on today? What should I try to finish next?

Found Phoebe was the first really solid story idea I had, that I was able to see through from beginning to end. And Jagged Edge came next; it was something I had to write. That was one of the ideas that had been rolling around in my head for a while and finally I had an insight on how it could all come together. I barely worked on anything else while I wrote it, because I was so set on getting through it. (I’m now on my second draft. It is a ridiculous 243 pages—the 81/2 x 11 kind, 12 pt. font, single spaced. Whew!)

But now I am starting to wonder if I am creative, or just crazy. How on earth do all these ideas fit in my head? And how am I ever going to get around to all of them? Believe me, I want to! I love telling stories. That is something I am so passionate about. Even if it takes me the rest of my life to get out jut the ideas I have right now, I hope to do it. But I hope to be writing stories for the rest of my life anyway.

And after all, the human brain is an amazing thing. I suppose if I was made in the image of my Creator, who had the ideas for things like giraffes, kangaroos, pandas, mountains, waterfalls, sunsets, stargazer lilies, oak trees, monarch butterflies, Hawaii, Scotland, and, oh yeah, every single human being that has ever lived or ever will live in the history of the planet, then I guess my brain should be able to hold the ideas for a couple dozen books.

But I still don’t know which one I should work on today. 

(P.S.:In case you're new, I'd like you to know that I love getting comments. That way I know you've been here.)