We Can't Do Everything -- But We Can Do Something

I just returned from the Greater Philadelphia Christian Writers' Conference. What a great (exhausting) four days! I met so many wonderful writers and came home with new focus.

Liz Babbs, one of the speakers, said Great Britain is a post-Christian nation and she sees America quickly following. She talked about darkness in Great Britain. A missionary/writer serving in Bulgaria talked about the darkness in Bulgaria and how difficult it was to share the gospel. The people are discouraged, without hope, she said. America as a post-Christian nation? What do those in darkness need but light?

Let's keep the ground fertile for the message of life. What can you write today to let your light shine? Jesus is not dead. Neither are we. As long as we have breath, our writing is important. Let's put God's love in writing.

Write a letter to someone struggling and remind them of your love. Write an article, a devotion, a brochure, a letter to an editor, an e-mail to offer hope, comfort, encouragement. Do a little thing today. The book can wait. Wrap your words in an envelope of prayer, stamp with love and send your message on its way.

Let's commit to being light, sharing light, through our writing. Remember the Motel 6 tag line, "We'll leave the light on for you"? Let's leave the light on for our children.

Keep On Keeping On

I need about two more weeks to get ready for writers' conference. But instead, I have two days. I've been focused on preparation for more than a month.

Early on, I studied the list of authors, editors and agents coming to the conference. I requested meetings and pulled out articles I wanted to present. I had plenty of time, I thought, to get the writing done.

But this morning, I was still struggling with getting one article just right. How could I best say what I wanted to say in those worrisome paragraphs?

I needed some help. Then one of Oswald Chambers' devotions from My Utmost from His Highest came to mind. From December 15th, "Approved Unto God":

"If you cannot express yourself on any subject, struggle until you can. If you do not, someone will be the poorer all the days of his life. . . Always make a practice of provoking your own mind to think out what it accepts easily. . . . The author who benefits you most is not the one who tells you something you did not know before, but the one who gives expression to the truth that has been dumbly struggling in you for utterance."

This morning I wanted to quit. I didn't see how I could finish the article. But I know this: just when we want to quit, it's time to keep on.

All an editor at conference can do is say no. And if she does, then I have a completed article to send to another market when I get home.

An Encouraging Story

Yesterday I caught part of an interview on the radio with author William Moss. He said he'd gotten an order for 1,000 copies of Finding Inner Peace During Troubled Times for distribution to inmates. He got a second order for 4,000 more. If you go on Amazon you'll see this book was published in 2009. Moss said he's gotten over 100 letters from inmates telling him how his book has changed their lives.

Here's the encouraging part of the story. Moss wrote the book after he became sober six years ago at the age of 85. That's not a typo.

So tell me again how you'll never be free from that thing that plagues you? How you've given up on yourself or on someone else, how you've given up hope? How you'll never get published? How you can't change? How you're too old?

Hmm. Okay. That's what I thought.

Unexpected Surprises

A delightful new book in our public library collection is Tereasa Surratt's A Very Modest Cottage, a Country Living Book by Hearst Books, a division of Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. Ms. Surrratt describes the process of moving a 1920's log cabin she'd dreamed about owning as a child across two states and renovating it. You'll appreciate the authors humor and the ample color photographs. One of Surratt's comments on page 32 made me close the book and smile. I had to think about her observation and mull over it.

She describes what she calls the beauty of low expectations. "You are never disappointed if you predict only disaster." She was talking about a weather forecast during the cottage's cross-country trip. But think about it if you're a reluctant writer. Isn't it true that you are never disappointed if you predict only doom and gloom?

What are your predictions of disaster regarding your writing? You'll never get published, right? You can't compete with all the talent out there? Your writing will never be good enough? The topic has already been covered?

If we don't write and submit what we write, then we'll never feel the sting of rejection. But rejection isn't that big a deal. It's just a little sting. We can face disappointment and still go about our daily business. We're tough.

Judging Our Work

I'm taking a six week pottery class. Jessie is a very talented young woman in the class. Every piece she's made both by hand and on the wheel looks like it should be on display in a museum.

Jessie comes from a family of artists. Her grandmother was a water colorist. In going through her grandmother's things after her death, Jessie said she found some wonderful paintings that her grandmother evidently didn't like. Sometimes Jessie found paintings on both sides of the paper, and sometimes the paintings had been discarded for scrap. Jessie said she went through her grandmother's discards, and she framed paintings she loved to display in her house.

After someone else in class groaned about how pitiful his work was, our instructor, Kate, said she's noticed we often don't realize how good our work is. Everyone else's work looks better, we think, than ours. We're all guilty of comparing our work to others'.

In our last class, Kate asked us to get all our pieces together to glaze. I saw one vase I thought was so beautiful I consciously thought, "I wish this were mine." I picked it up, turned it over to see whose initials were carved into the bottom, and there they were -- JD, mine. Under pressure to crank out a piece the week or so before, I'd rolled out a slab, chosen a stamp for design, and attached a bottom. It was a simple piece I'd done quickly, and after it went through the fire, I loved it. Hopefully I'll still love it after the glaze is applied.

We are not in position to evaluate our own work. Just do it. Let it sit a week. When you go back to read your manuscript, you might be surprised.

originally written 10-15-10

From This Day Forward

It's lucky I have any hair left on my head. This morning I yanked at handfuls in frustration.

Yesterday I spent time on the internet trying to locate Word files of something I'd submitted just two weeks ago. This morning, I hunted for articles I'd published in 2008 to include in a list of writing credits. I remembered a term that might describe me, at least where paperwork is concerned. Stacks of papers? Can't find what I'm looking for? Chronic disorganization -- that's me.

Peter Walsh, http://www.peterwalshdesign.com/, Business and Work, Tip #184:Conquer Your Paper Files, suggests handling current papers first. I could do that, if I only had a system.

"I have to find a way to organize my papers," I told my husband. "I don't know whether to file by publisher or title or date." This is the man I've been married to for 41 years.

"Why don't you have three files?" he asked. "You can make one for current projects, one for articles submitted, and one for manuscripts accepted for publication. You can file by date."

His system came together in a matter of minutes. Now I can make similar folders for my computer files.

I have a fair number of publishing credits, but I still struggle with organization. Never assume anyone knows anything. What's easy for you may be a mystery to someone else. If you have a system that works well for you, why not write about it? Someone needs your help.

To Do List

It is 10 a.m. I've been on the computer for over two hours. I've uploaded photos to send to friends. I've written a very long e-mail I decided not to send. I've researched communities in another state.

When I first got up, my plan was to start the next chapter of the non-fiction book I've committed to writing. Here it is two hours later. I've been busy on the computer, but haven't moved forward with the manuscript. As I got out my notes for today's work, several distractions came to mind. The letter I intended to mail to my granddaughter yesterday still needs to be put in an envelope. I really need to call my friend, Lin. I promised my husband I'd play Frisbee with our dog.

I could handle these "to do's" in one of two ways. I could get the letter ready to mail, call Lin and take the dog out. Then I could block off two hours to write. OR I could begin a list of "to do's" that come to mind as I'm writing and tackle the list when I need a break. A pad of paper by the computer is helpful to record those necessary important things that can wait. I'm taking the dog out now to relieve myself of guilt. My husband asked me to do that as he left for work, and I could hardly hear him over the clatter of keys on the keyboard. I'll walk the letter out to the mail box and call Lin after I get a few pages complete.

Come, Annie, good dog. Oh, dear. Who left those dishes in the sink?

I'm not really putting off writing. I'm just allowing myself to be distracted.

Who am I kidding?