Tag: Christian writer

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The Ministry of Writing

Improve Your Writing With Your Spiritual Gift

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If you are a born again follower of Christ then you have been given a spiritual gift or gifts. Scripture tells us that our gift is for building up the body of Christ. There is no doubt that ministering with our gifts gives God glory and enhances our witness.

The benefits of our gift — building up the body, glorifying God, and reaching the lost —probably steal lines from your personal writing mission statement. Those things are the reasons we write. They are our purpose. Therefore understanding our spiritual gift is essential to our ministry of writing.

There is a hiccup though.

Writing is not listed as a spiritual gift in the Bible.

So does that mean our writing is not important or a tool for ministry? NO WAY! We know better. I will only provide one example — the Bible was written, right? Definitely God has blessed you with a gift of writing, but I believe spiritual gifts should be understood that they are more about the message rather than the method.

Spiritual gift lists are found in Romans 12:1-8, 1 Corinthian 12:1-31, Ephesians 4:1-16, and 1 Peter 4:10-11. Read a complete list [here]. There are methods of ministry listed like preaching, service, encouragement, and others. But even with those the emphasis is on the thought process and the message. There are gifted writers throughout the spectrum of spiritual gifts. We are tempted to stop short of expressing our spiritual gift because we do not look past out writing, but it is our spiritual gift that shapes our writing. Writing is a tool to exercise that gift so it is important to know your area of gifting because out of that gift comes what you like to write, as well as the writing you despise.

We can find writers gifted with encouragement, preaching/prophecy, shepherding, encouragement, evangelism, mercy, teaching, and faith. And to find them we wouldn’t even need to receive the results of their spiritual gift inventory or receive special revelation from God to know their gift for their writing reveals it.

The writer gifted with encouragement (exhortation) writes positive, encouraging, and uplifting pieces.

The writer gifted with evangelism seeks to win souls with everything they write.

The writer gifted with shepherding will write with people at the center of their work, while the writer gifted with prophecy focuses on doctrinal truths and tends to be harsh towards their reader.

The writer gifted with teaching is always going to have a lesson in their books.

I’m sure you get the idea by now. [bctt tweet=”Our spiritual gift is more about the message rather than method.”]

Within the biblical teaching of spiritual gifts we are told that we are all parts of one body and  have different roles within that body. Therefore, we need to fulfill our role and support others in their roles.

Knowing your spiritual gift(s) can help you focus your strengths, but the greatest value is that it shows how we fit into the body. Through understanding our gift we can see our writing in the context of other authors. Along with providing us with strengths our divine gifts also have a negative side. I feel my gift is teaching. So my focus tends to be on discipleship and spiritual growth. So when I run across a writer who is always putting out peppy uplifting devotions — I get frustrated. I condemn them for presenting everything in rose-covered glasses, but I am sure when they read my work they complain that I am discouraging and negative. The reality is that we are on the same team. That writer has the gift of encouragement which the body of Christ needs and I am writing from a teaching prospective that the body of Christ also needs. There is a place for both of our writings. I have many times been blessed by a writer spiritually gifted with the gift of encouragement when I googled “encouragement for writers” or “encouragement for pastors”.

I have had writers who are gifted with evangelism criticize me because I don’t present salvation enough in my writings. On the other hand I feel they need to focus more on making disciples not just “soul-winning”. Again we are both on the same team just gifted differently, but both providing what the body needs.

Christian writer it is important to seek out your spiritual gift and to recognize gifts in others. We are all on the same team. Some are feet, some hands, some a nose, some an eye, and I guess someone has to be a butt.

Regardless of your role in the body [bctt tweet=”improve your writing with your spiritual gift.”]

 

For more information on recognizing your spiritual gift or taking a spiritual gift inventory check out my blog…www.graytotebox.com

 

Categories
The Ministry of Writing

Accomplish This One Daily Writing Task

As a Christian writer I imagine you are like me and are driven with an overwhelming conviction and fire to accomplish the task the Lord has placed on your heart. With each moment I find to write I attack it like a mad scientist. I zone in and try to shut out everything else as I give myself to that project. I will be absolutely heaven-bent to complete the mission I have been given.

Obedience to the Spirit is a good thing, right?  We should bust our butts for the glory of God by attacking that project, but beyond whatever that project may be there is one thing we must accomplish first.

As a pastor I feel like there is not enough time in the day or a enough of myself to go around. Something is always going to get left undone, at least that is my experience. I have tried everything I can think of to get in all the study, preparation, administration, discipleship, evangelism, pastoral care, visits, counseling, funerals, weddings, vision casting, leader training, community involvement, denomination involvement, writing etc. No matter how well I follow the tips of John Maxwell or Stephen Covey I end up letting myself and others down.

This January I decided there was one thing I was going to make sure I accomplished daily. No matter what the fall-out would be or what piled up undone — each day I was going to spend adequate time with the Lord. I was going to read in His Word and pray over everything. I was going to let the Holy Spirit guide my to-do list.

I wish I can tell you that by making that decision I have gone on to accomplish more than I ever imagined each day.  I have at times, but not every day. There are things that still fall through the cracks, but I at least I know that what I do is not in my own strength rather it is in God’s strength.

As a Christian writer our tasks may seem just as impossible. There is so much that we feel called to write — so many ideas, opportunities, and revisions. It always takes longer than we plan. And everything else in life seeks to steal our writing time.

We stay in a constant squeeze.

But with all you have on your plate, with all that God has called you to write, with all the doors He is opening for you there is one thing you must accomplish first every day. Even if you’re writing goes undone. Even if you don’t accomplish all that you want to accomplish. Accomplish this one daily writing task — spend time with the Lord. Pray. Walk in the Spirit.

[bctt tweet=”Write in the Spirit.”]

Mark Batterson wrote in his Draw the Circle devotional book, “If you establish a prayer routine, your life will be anything but routine. You will go to places, do things, and meet people you have no business going to, doing, or meeting. You don’t need to seek opportunity. All you have to do is seek God. And if you seek God, opportunity will seek you.”

In an all-time bestselling book, another writer the disciple Matthew wrote and quoted Jesus saying, “seek first the kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Categories
Storyworld

Storyworld Governance: A Necessary Evil

Governance
Good Governance

The people in your world need governance. I’m sorry. I wish I could make it untrue, but a believable ruling system exists in virtually every fantastic world. The elven child in your young adult novel will eventually run into an elder or deputy. The four-man crew of an isolated space station will require a leadership structure. And even the lone hero occasionally needs to visit civilization to stock up on supplies.

So how do you craft a government? First of all, don’t get too overwhelmed, since you can craft it as you go as I wrote a few months ago. But the first principle to remember is this: Governments exist to ensure the interests of the governing bodies, not the governed. This has been true throughout all of human history.

[bctt tweet=” Governments exist to ensure the interests of the governing bodies, not the governed. #sadbuttrue #amwriting” via=”no”]

Good Governance – A rarity of the modern era

If you’re allowed to read this website and have the freedom to even consider writing a book, you may think my statement is overreaching. After all, you’ve been taught that governments exist to secure the rights of the governed, right?

Wrong.

In most western countries, we are privileged with brilliantly crafted documents called constitutions. In essence, they limit the power of politicians and hold them accountable to the people on a regular basis. Rulers continue to act in self-interest, but those interests (namely, power) rely on popularity and benevolence. In other words, good governments constrain the self-interest of the ruler to the well-being of the public.

[bctt tweet=”Good governments constrain the self-interest of the ruler to the well-being of the public #wisdom #takeitforgranted” via=”no”]

So if you want to create a realistic and stable society, or if you want a world in which the government plays little role in the daily lives of your characters, your fictitious country will need something to limit the power of those in charge. This doesn’t mean you need to go into details about the nation’s founding documents. In fact, if it isn’t relevant to the story, please don’t! But keep it in mind as you craft your world, because eventually your characters will interact with the laws of the land.

Note: A small group of people (e.g. a settlement, a space station) can sometimes get around this formalized power-limitation because the man in charge has a much more visceral threat before him. Specifically, if he doesn’t allow others to do their job well, his own living conditions worsen. Plus if he overextends his power, the populace may just kill him off, so good governance remains in his best interest.

Declining Governance – A violent transition

On a long enough timeline, even the best republic will eventually be found in the hands of a power-hungry zealot with enough popularity to bypass normal rules. You see this in Rome’s transition from republic to empire, Germany’s Third Reich, and of course, the end of the Republic in Star Wars.

The other option is complete economic collapse due to decadence and ignorance. Asimov’s famous Foundation trilogy shows this in sad detail, but it was seen earlier when the Roman Empire imploded from financial and military strains.

If your storyworld persists long enough, remember this other principle: no government lasts forever.

[bctt tweet=”No government lasts forever #whatarelief #scary” via=”no”]

Generally Speaking

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, don’t worry too much. Regardless of the setting, most western readers assume a western culture, 20th century rule of governance unless you say otherwise. Taxes are mandatory, theft and murder are prohibited, and the average citizen can expect a degree of protection from powers foreign and domestic. If this is not the case in your world, chances are likely you’ve already given governance a great deal of thought because it plays a larger role in your story. We’ll look at that more in detail next time.

 

Categories
Storyworld

Christian Fantasy and Science Fiction: Alternate Realities

Christian Fantasy
Where is God?

Last month we looked at writing fictitious, sentient creatures within our own universe. In summary, God has a plan for them, but that plan may or may not be similar to the one he has for us. But what if your fictitious world, whether a Christian fantasy novel or a sci-fi one, is governed by completely different fundamental principles?

No, I’m looking at something more fundamental than physics – God.

What if a different God rules your world …

First of all, this doesn’t make you a heretic. It could certainly present some challenges, but if done well, Christians are willing to suspend their disbelief. Plus, non-Christians may be willing to read about worshippers of a fictitious deity even if they’ve been wounded by God’s representatives in this world.

This is especially true of C.S. Lewis’s Narnia series. If you didn’t know (surprisingly, some don’t), Aslan represents our God in Lewis’s fantasy world. However, there is no Bible in the land of Narnia, and the talking animals interact with their creator is differently than us. Most of what we discussed last month still holds true –God had a purpose for his sentient animals, and they never fell from grace so a pathway to redemption wasn’t necessary. Evil does enter the world, but in a different manner and is thus dealt with according to the rules of that world.

Some allegorical books like Hannah Hunard’s Hinds Feet on High Places or John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress use different names to represent our God, but the difference is in name only – in all other respects, God is very recognizable. Generally speaking, if God is in your book under a penname, this is safe and comfortable for the Christian fantasy and sci-fi audience. And just like historical Christian fiction or any other Christian fiction, the key is representing Him correctly.

What if no God exists in your world …

Can you create a godless reality and still honor God with it?

Yes and no.

Stories communicate ideas, and even a story without religious overtones can share virtues and theological notions. R.A. Salvatore’s Icewind Dale trilogy has a character named Drizzt who overcomes prejudice against his dark elven heritage. This noble figure even risks his life to protect those who would like to see him dead. Sound like Jesus? I’m not saying Salvatore is a Christian (I don’t know either way), but if a Christian wrote a similar novel expressing righteousness, he should be proud, even if a god figure isn’t explicit.

[bctt tweet=”Even a story without religious overtones can share virtues and theological notions #storyworld #fantasy” via=”no”]

Similarly, everyone familiar with Timothy Zahn’s Star Wars trilogy (Heir to the Empire etc.) knows of Mara Jade and her conversion experience. This resonates with Christians and non-Christians alike, but only followers of Jesus understand why.

Of course, the most well-known example of Christian fantasy is J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. Even though the God we know is not present, there are countless metaphors for Christianity contained in the series, and entire books have been written to unpack them. But fans enjoy the series as a fantastic romp in a richly detailed world whether or not they recognize some of Tolkien’s deeper truths.

However, there is a caveat. Since ethics without divine authority are only a matter of opinion, a truly godless reality has no ultimate source of morality. And a world without any morality will be a very, very dark one. I immensely enjoyed reading George R.R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire and I highly recommend it to any budding fantasy writers, Christian or not (I promise it isn’t as graphic as HBO’s Game of Thrones). But I wouldn’t want to live south of the Wall, or even visit. Martin excels at portraying the complete and utter depravity of mankind, but without any source of hope, his world’s inhabitants face a bleak existence. A Christian writer should be careful not to delve too far into the dark without any guiding light.

[bctt tweet=”A Christian writer should be careful not to delve too far into the dark without any guiding light #amwriting #redemption” via=”no”]

In summary, if you are a Christian fantasy or science fiction writer, your novel will have allusions to your faith, because it is a part of who you are. This can take the form of an alternately-named version of our own God or by delivering biblical concepts and ideas in the form of righteous characters.

Categories
Truth Be Told

Planting the Seed

Devotions: Seeds to Grow Faith

I still have a copy of the first sermon I ever preached. Imagine trying to cram the entire gospel message and journey of faith into a fifteen minute talk. I did that because I thought I was supposed to. I knew nothing about the crafting of a message or the necessary research, and even less about the dynamics of preaching to people of different ages and developmental stages of faith.

The only reason the congregation tolerated my bumbling presentation was it was expected of them to put up with the kids leading one service a year.

Expectations and assumptions can be just as detrimental to the process of writing devotions.

Think about it. I’m already over 100 words and I haven’t made the point I want to make in this article. That would be half of the typically allotted words for most devotional publications.

There are many who debate the Twitter mentality of such limitations. Can anything good thing come in such a small package?

What are the advantages to a five minute—or less—devotion?

Truth be told: even in our time crunched culture, there’s a least time to plant a seed.

I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. (1 Corinthians 3:6, NIV)

Without the planting there will be no growth, no fruit, no harvest.

We’re living in a cut to the chase climate. People want sound bites and essentials.
So what are the essentials of a good devotion?

A scripture verse linked to a relatable story, finished with an application, and sealed with a prayerful thought. These are ingredients that grow great faith.

And what can be done with a seed?

Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:20b, NIV)

What seeds will you plant today?

 

 

Categories
A Lighter Look at the Writer's Life

Of Humble Pie and Closets

Navigating the publishing world can be a humbling experience. We write a piece that we think is going to take the world by storm. We edit and refine it and then submit it.

We wait. We get a rejection. Or an editor rips it to shreds.

Big slice of humble pie, anyone?

Meeting industry professionals can be an intimidating and humbling experience as well. I must say that the agents and editors I have met are nice, down-to-earth people, but I still get nervous when I meet them. That was especially the case the first time I had an appointment with an agent at a writers conference.

It was my initial visit to Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference at Ridgecrest Conference Center near Asheville, NC. If you’ve never been to BRMCWC, register NOW. It’s like Disney World for aspiring Christian writers.

If you have ever met me, you know I’m one of the most outgoing people on the planet. I love people and will talk to anyone or anything, even a tree, and I love to laugh. However, I walked into the registration area at that first BRMCWC, looked at all the people and wondered “What am I doing here?”

When it came time for that first appointment, I was fidgety and didn’t know what to do with myself. I was understandably excited and nervous about meeting a real-live, big-time agent. I prayed and felt God telling me in my spirit, “be yourself.” I sat down, handed the agent my card and introduced myself.

We had an easy rapport, and the 15-minutes seemed to fly by. He requested I send him a proposal and agreed to keep in touch. I was on Cloud Nine.

I got up and turned around to leave. That year at Blue Ridge the appointments were held in a big room near the cafeteria, and there was a wall of doors, with only one leading to the hallway. I chose a door and walked out of the meeting area . . . into a closet filled with tables.

I’m not sure how many people noticed my faux pas, because I was too embarrassed to turn around. I backed out of the closet, found the real exit door, and took off as fast as I could.

I think God allows embarrassing things like this one to remind me to not take myself too seriously. Writing and publishing are serious endeavors, but ultimately God is in control. If I keep myself humble, I’ll remember that and won’t let the rejections and the criticisms get to me.

Get yourself to BRMCWC—they have nice closets.

[bctt tweet=”Get yourself to BRMCWC—they have nice closets. #BRMCWC #authors” via=”no”]

[bctt tweet=”Big slice of humble pie, anyone? #BRMCWC #writer” via=”no”]

Categories
The Ministry of Writing

Writers are Bad to the Bone

Photo by Pierre Lognoul permitted for reuse.

If you have flown then I imagine you know the feeling. You sit down in your assigned seat and the seat next to you is empty. You then look forward at the stream of passengers working their way to you. Immediately you access their size and hygiene, then you look deep into their eyes. Somehow five to seven rows before yours their eyes will give them away. In my case I see their eyes saying “oh no I have to sit by him.”

A few weeks ago I was in that situation, I saw one of the biggest men I have ever seen and hoped he was not assigned seat 17B. His eyes told me he was.

So next to me sits this mountain of a man. Tall, bowed up, covered in tattoos. Tattoos that said this guy was bad to the bone.

He easily engaged in conversation, as a pastor I can’t let my seat neighbor sit in silence. The conversation immediately went to where he was headed. He was going to a dangerous part of the Middle East to drill for oil. When I suggested that sounded dangerous, he told me about his last job in the jungle where armed guards protected him around the clock. He said it was common to hear of a national being slaughtered by a bush knife. Then to top the machete murders he shared about his time in the Special Forces.

It was somewhere in his second Iraq tour when I began to panic. Knowing he would soon ask where I was headed. In light of his manly stories I dreaded saying I was headed to a writer’s conference. I knew my story would conjure up the intense dangers of paper cuts so I thought about making up something more exciting.

He did ask, and even as I sheepishly told him where I was headed — I knew he couldn’t hang in my world. Because writers are “B-B-B-B-Bad”.

My kids will have a bumper sticker that says, [bctt tweet=”“My Dad can beat up your Dad, because my Dad is an author.””]

Writing is hard work.

When I began working on my first book, I took a week’s vacation. I planned to finish my book in six days 5:30 am until Starbucks closed. At 9:41 pm on the fourth day while finally beginning chapter two, I said to myself, “Writing is ridiculous.” So I Googled “encouragement for authors”, and I found an article that spoke truth into me. In a different phrase not suitable for a column entitled The Ministry of Writing, it said, “Authors are bad to the bone.” It continued, “Regardless if a book gets published if someone finishes a book they are one of the Baddest (Butt) people in the world.”

I smiled and got back to work.

That was two years ago. Those two chapters would get revised over thirty times. Then they were thrown in the thrash when agents encouraged me to go in another direction, which I gladly did because [bctt tweet=”I am a writer and I am BAD TO THE BONE.”]

Categories
The Binge Writer

5 Tips on How to Write Faster (With Bonus)

Do you want to write 30K-40K+ words in a weekend? Do you want to write faster?

You can. Become a binge writer.

Binge writing is an impassioned writing session during an elongated time period. It can last from five hours to fifty hours. A binge writing session is uninterrupted—apart from limited sleep.

[bctt tweet=”Do you want to write faster? #1K1H #writer #novelist”]

Many writers spend years attempting to finish their stories, but they never do. Not for lack of desire, but for lack of follow-through. I know from firsthand experience that if I tried to write 2,000 words every day I’d fail. I already have, multiple times. But, if I set aside time to binge write, I can complete project after project.

It’s time for you to become a binge writer.

[bctt tweet=”It’s time for you to become a binge writer. #writer #writing #writingtips”]

The results will astound you. I bet an extra 40K words might help you finish the final few chapters or your novel, or help you create an entire series of chapter books. The uses are endless.

But if you never embark on your binge writing journey, you may never accomplish your writing goals in a realistic timeframe, unless you learn to write faster.

Here are some binge writing tips:

  1. Cram your brain.
    1. Fill your mind with pictures, ideas, and research on the topic you are writing about. If you are writing a novel set in Paris, inundate yourself with French music in your car, watch French foreign movies or documentaries, and visualize the world around you as Paris itself.
    2. If you are writing a non-fiction about training dogs, spend time with dogs. Train them, observe them, and watch movies with dogs as characters.
    3. Let your mind absorb the images, actions, and ideas that you want to flow effortlessly out of you and into your story or book.
  2. Schedule your binge session.
    1. Pick your time and place. Don’t let anyone infringe upon your session and don’t make plans close to the start and finish of your time. You’ll only be able to binge write, if you hold fast and firm to your timetable. So when your brother-in-law calls to invite you to dinner and board games, you say NO even though you really want to go. You make a date with yourself.
  3. Set the mood.
    1. Before your session download music that will stimulate the proper mood for your writing. Epic soundtracks for fantasy, love songs for romance, etc. Have them preloaded and ready to go.
    2. If you like the lighting low for romance or suspense. Get your candles ready.
    3. If you are writing a story in a bakery, plan to have fresh bread baking in your house. Or, if your story is set in a field of flowers have scented candles or oils to help create the right aroma and atmosphere.

    [bctt tweet=”It’s not called binge editing—It’s binge writing, so write. #write #writing #1K1H”]