Author: K D Holmberg

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History in the Making

Reverential Capitalization, or God and Pronouns

History in the making

An interesting thing happened to me on my way to being traditionally published. During my most recent edit, the editor changed all pronouns of God (he, him etc.) to capitals. In writing my novel, I did my due diligence and consulted several style guides to find that pronouns of God should not be capitalized.

Following the style guides did not mean I do not respect God (caps in English do not mean respect anyway). It meant I did not want the capitalization of pronouns to muddle clear communication to the largest number of readers as possible. It can be a distraction, which you don’t want. And a broader than Christian readership may think a Him or He in the middle of a sentence is there for emphasis, changing the meaning of the sentence.

Fervent Feelings

I discussed the changes the editor made with my husband and a couple of friends and found strong opinions on the subject. I unintentionally stoked the flames of a fight regarding grammar and religion. “Of course they should be capitalized,” was the initial reaction.

And then we opened the Bible.

We looked at the first translation, the King James, and found pronouns of God were not capitalized. We looked at the New International Version (the most used Bible translation), The English Standard, and The New Living translations and found no capitalized pronouns.

I use the New King James Version, and knew the pronouns were capitalized. But reading in Matthew, I found verse 16:1. It says, “ Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven.” The capitalized pronouns read as though the Pharisees and Sadducees accepted Jesus as a deity, and they did not. Which to me, seemed to change the meaning of Scripture.

The Style Manuals

The Chicago Manual of Style, The Society of Biblical Literature, and Associated Press style guides, state that he, him, his, and so on shouldn’t be capitalized even when referring to God. The Christian Writers Manual of Style states: Most publishers, religious and general, use the lowercase style in large part to conform to the two most popular versions of the Bible (the best-selling NIV and the historically dominant KJV).”

I wanted to confirm most religious publishers used the lowercase style, so I dug around in my own library. I pulled out Historical Biblical Fiction and even one non-fiction book from Tyndale and Bethany House. Flipping through the pages, I found the style guides were right, they did not cap the pronouns referring to God.

Authors and publishing houses can make their own rules regarding reverential capitalization. But the large houses have chosen lowercase pronouns that refer to God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. However, words that refer to God; the Lord, the Almighty, the Creator, are capitalized.

Those are the rules, but what are your thoughts on this subject?

Blessings,

KD Holmberg

K. D. Holmberg is an author, blogger, and freelance writer. She is a member of ACFW, Word Weavers International, and a founding member of the Jerry Jenkins Writers Guild. She is represented by Hartline Literary Agency. A retired flight attendant, she has traveled and lived all over the globe. She and her husband, Keith, love to golf and live in South Carolina. You can find more about her: Facebook @authorkdholmberg, twitter @kdeniseholmberg, and website kdholmberg.com

Categories
History in the Making

Hospitality in Writing

History in the making

Have you ever read any books by Shel Silverstein? Since 1963, his poems and drawings have delighted countless children and adults. Even though we lost “Uncle Shelby” in 1999, new generations are still discovering and enjoying his work today.

I appreciate his wit and wisdom and simple illustrations in The Giving Tree, A Light in the Attic, and Falling Up to name a few. He is silly and sad, yet profound in his work. Few have ever done it better.

But in Where The Sidewalk Ends, Shel does something really special. He graciously invites us into his world with this poem titled, Invitation:

If you are a dreamer, come in,

If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar,

A hope-er, a pray-er, a magic bean buyer …

If you’re a pretender, come sit by my fire

For we have some flax-golden tales to spin.

Come in!

Come in!

I love that. The idea of showing the reader they are welcome, to invite them to come in and ‘sit a spell’ is an idea as old as Genesis, the first book to display hospitality.

The Bible teaches that acts of hospitality or inhospitality reveal the good or evil of a person or a community.

Christianity Today.

Our Christianity is on full display in our work. We willingly allow others in to observe us in our most vulnerable state, where our beliefs are vividly displayed in our prose. In the Bible, hospitality was shown in the host’s home. In the craft of writing, our readers take us into their homes when they buy our work. It would appear that we become the guest, but actually, we want them to enter the world we built and enjoy themselves. Therefore, we remain the hosts.

So how do we nurture a spirit of biblical hospitality in our work so a reader knows we love Jesus?

I believe we must come to the end of ourselves. We cannot trust or boast in our achievements, we cannot wallow in our rejections. We must find ourselves at the altar laying it all down at the feet of our Lord and Savior. We must allow the Holy Spirit to open us to the mystery of inviting others in, not just to our work, but our lives.

Come in! Come in! Sit with me in my world for a while. Let me offer you a little bit of me, let me warm your soul and make you feel welcome. And while you’re here, I pray you see Christ in me.

Grace to you and peace be multiplied,

KD Holmberg

K. D. Holmberg is an author, blogger, and freelance writer. She is a member of ACFW, Word Weavers International, and a founding member of the Jerry Jenkins Writers Guild. She is represented by Hartline Literary Agency. A retired flight attendant, she has traveled and lived all over the globe. She and her husband, Keith, love to golf and live in South Carolina. You can find more about her: Facebook @authorkdholmberg, twitter @kdeniseholmberg, and website kdholmberg.com

Categories
History in the Making

Notes from a Contest Judge

History in the making

Have you ever entered your work in a writing contest? These contests are organized by organizations like the American Fiction Writers of America (www.acfw.com) and Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference (www.blueridgeconference.com).

There are categories for each genre, so you can submit and be judged against other historical fiction writers. Some of you probably just shuddered when I said be judged. But letting others look at your work is one of the best ways to improve it. Plus, this helps you develop thick skin, a must in this business.

I always spot someone new to writing through a few telltale signs when I judge a contest. These speed bumps slow the story for me, and will eventually do the same for an agent or publisher.

Here are some common mistakes to avoid:

  1. The beginning of a new chapter, or a new scene, should not be indented. Flush left treatment is the general norm for submission.
  2. An ellipsis can express a mood change, hesitation, or a thought that trails off … Think of it as a word and leave a space before and after the three dots.
  3. Hyphens, en dash, and em dash are horizontal lines of varying lengths and it matters how you use them.
    • A hyphen is the shortest line and used to generally hyphenate two or more words when they come before a noun they modify. They are not interchangeable with dashes.
    • The en dash is used when you refer to a span of dates or numbers, like pages 10-20.
    • The em dash creates a strong break in a sentence. It can be used in a pair¾like parenthesis (as I did here)¾to add more information. Although, the sentence should be able to stand alone without them and the extra info between them. You also use the em dash to detach the end of a sentence from the main body.
  4. Capitalize the first letter in dialogue when it begins mid-sentence.
    • Johnny narrowed his eyes and spat on the ground before adding, “You just stay out of my way.”

Also, read your work out loud. You’ll trip over sentences that need to be fixed and catch more typos. Enter the cleanest copy you can so you don’t lose points. Simple errors could cost you the contest.

There are many great contests for unpublished authors and a Goggle search will list several. But here are a few I know of:

*ACFW First Impressions Contest is open now and you can have your first five pages evaluated by professionals.

*ACFW Genesis Contest has many genres to enter for fiction writers and you get unbiased feedback from the judges. It opens January 2.

*BRMCWC Foundations Award is now open.

Visit their websites, look over the guidelines, and submit your work. Finalists and winners often draw the attention of agents and publishers.

Good luck becoming an award winning author!

K. D. Holmberg is an author, blogger, and freelance writer. She is a member of ACFW, Word Weavers International, and a founding member of the Jerry Jenkins Writers Guild. She is represented by Hartline Literary Agency. A retired flight attendant, she has traveled and lived all over the globe. She and her husband, Keith, love to golf and live in South Carolina. You can find more about her: Facebook @authorkdholmberg, twitter @kdeniseholmberg, and website authorkdholmberg.com/