cc.slim
Moderator
A world of I dunno pertaining to my time spent writing worldly literature. Maybe you can help by instilling confidence or correct my disillusion.
Is it a book?
- Thread starter cc.slim
- Start date
Neirai the Forgiven
Christian Guilds List Manager
I'm not sure what you are asking. Do you mean to ask "should I write a book?" or "should I be writing at all?" or "should I restrict myself to only writing 'Christian' stuff?"
To question #1: I personally feel that there are some things you should do while or before writing a book, such as, to be blunt, taking some time to learn some better grammatical skills so that people can more easily understand what you are trying to say in print. But I also feel that if you are feeling lead to or just feeling like writing a book, please do not let anything short of God himself stop you.
Question #2: Yes. Do write. Your voice should be heard: without it you become one of the voiceless masses, victims of culture. Even if sometimes your voice seems ignored or overlooked, or too small to move anything -- it is a voice nonetheless and has God-given power to bless, curse, and prophesy, and to encourage, critique, and discourse.
Question #3: This is actually a false notion. The real question is "can I write anything that is worldly?" Well, yes, you can, but only be denying your connection with the Spirit. Trust me, if you write stories or non-fiction or practically anything that you feel lines up with the truth, you will, by definition, be writing "Christian stuff." This Christian stuff may never show up in a Christian bookstore (try finding Flannery O'Connor or Tobias Wolfe in your local Christian bookstore,) but it will reflect Truth. All Truth, as they say, is God's Truth. I would not limit yourself to writing "Christian" books (i.e. "Christian Fiction" "Christian Psychology" "Christian Romance" "Christian Action" "Christian Fantasy" or "Christian Inspiration") unless you are specifically targetting Christian -- and only Christian -- readers.
Of course, this is all advice given by mortal man and therefore I submit it with humility and anything the Spirit says trumps me by definition.
My advice as it pertains to "Moonshine:"
It seems you have a lot of stuff there. It will definitely need polishing but that is what editors are for. I would strongly suggest getting some grammatical training for it, but don't take that to mean "your ideas and your work sucks"... I mean it seriously as "you have talent, you have a story -- but you need to get better at flowing your talent into the page." I would encourage you to keep chugging away and when you get to a point where you think the story is all the way out there, come back to the start with some friends (like TJ, dorkelf, Tek, myself, or such) and start going back through it and rework it. Good stories take many revisions. It took Tolkien a decade to write The Lord of the Rings, but boy, was it worth it!
You have enough for a decently long "short story" already and it doesn't look like you're stopping anytime soon. I'd say it's "very rough," but diamonds just look like rocks when you first find them. I'd advise you to finish the story, get it all down, then, as I said before, spend the next couple of months or even years polishing the roughness down to a brilliant and highly valued shine. Your story may be shaped by other hands in the process but this will be a great experience with a good reward.
I'd mention for you in relation to "Question #3" above, that you don't worry if your story is "Christian" or "secular." You're already telling me (through the into poem) that the story aligns with Christian truth. That Truth is from God. So don't sweat it if there's the occasional "***oops****oops****oops*** word" in it, as long as your reason for including those is God-honoring. Not all God-honoring ideas look nice on the outside -- Elijah probably wasn't a fan of being the "drought guy" and Moses certainly thought that God wanting him to go talk to Pharaoh was something akin to suicide. Stories involving nasty things can sometimes be the greatest stories of redemption. Flannery O'Connor has a story about salvation and redemption involving child abuse, drunkenness, a pedophile and a mis-taught child who drowns himself in order to get to paradise. But in all of this we see a real picture of salvation... but the Christian bookstores don't carry her stuff.
If you can't figure out how child abuse, drunkenness, a pedophile and a mis-taught child who drowns himself in order to get to paradise paints a real picture of salvation, read some Flannery O'Connor. Lol.
Anyhow, I'm voting strongly for "Absolutely" finish Moonshine.
To question #1: I personally feel that there are some things you should do while or before writing a book, such as, to be blunt, taking some time to learn some better grammatical skills so that people can more easily understand what you are trying to say in print. But I also feel that if you are feeling lead to or just feeling like writing a book, please do not let anything short of God himself stop you.
Question #2: Yes. Do write. Your voice should be heard: without it you become one of the voiceless masses, victims of culture. Even if sometimes your voice seems ignored or overlooked, or too small to move anything -- it is a voice nonetheless and has God-given power to bless, curse, and prophesy, and to encourage, critique, and discourse.
Question #3: This is actually a false notion. The real question is "can I write anything that is worldly?" Well, yes, you can, but only be denying your connection with the Spirit. Trust me, if you write stories or non-fiction or practically anything that you feel lines up with the truth, you will, by definition, be writing "Christian stuff." This Christian stuff may never show up in a Christian bookstore (try finding Flannery O'Connor or Tobias Wolfe in your local Christian bookstore,) but it will reflect Truth. All Truth, as they say, is God's Truth. I would not limit yourself to writing "Christian" books (i.e. "Christian Fiction" "Christian Psychology" "Christian Romance" "Christian Action" "Christian Fantasy" or "Christian Inspiration") unless you are specifically targetting Christian -- and only Christian -- readers.
Of course, this is all advice given by mortal man and therefore I submit it with humility and anything the Spirit says trumps me by definition.
My advice as it pertains to "Moonshine:"
It seems you have a lot of stuff there. It will definitely need polishing but that is what editors are for. I would strongly suggest getting some grammatical training for it, but don't take that to mean "your ideas and your work sucks"... I mean it seriously as "you have talent, you have a story -- but you need to get better at flowing your talent into the page." I would encourage you to keep chugging away and when you get to a point where you think the story is all the way out there, come back to the start with some friends (like TJ, dorkelf, Tek, myself, or such) and start going back through it and rework it. Good stories take many revisions. It took Tolkien a decade to write The Lord of the Rings, but boy, was it worth it!
You have enough for a decently long "short story" already and it doesn't look like you're stopping anytime soon. I'd say it's "very rough," but diamonds just look like rocks when you first find them. I'd advise you to finish the story, get it all down, then, as I said before, spend the next couple of months or even years polishing the roughness down to a brilliant and highly valued shine. Your story may be shaped by other hands in the process but this will be a great experience with a good reward.
I'd mention for you in relation to "Question #3" above, that you don't worry if your story is "Christian" or "secular." You're already telling me (through the into poem) that the story aligns with Christian truth. That Truth is from God. So don't sweat it if there's the occasional "***oops****oops****oops*** word" in it, as long as your reason for including those is God-honoring. Not all God-honoring ideas look nice on the outside -- Elijah probably wasn't a fan of being the "drought guy" and Moses certainly thought that God wanting him to go talk to Pharaoh was something akin to suicide. Stories involving nasty things can sometimes be the greatest stories of redemption. Flannery O'Connor has a story about salvation and redemption involving child abuse, drunkenness, a pedophile and a mis-taught child who drowns himself in order to get to paradise. But in all of this we see a real picture of salvation... but the Christian bookstores don't carry her stuff.
If you can't figure out how child abuse, drunkenness, a pedophile and a mis-taught child who drowns himself in order to get to paradise paints a real picture of salvation, read some Flannery O'Connor. Lol.
Anyhow, I'm voting strongly for "Absolutely" finish Moonshine.
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cc.slim
Moderator
When a God fearing person is at their lowest and their heart is genuine, God will send one to encourage. You are that to me right now! As Dorkelf was, when I started reaching within! Yes, I do ride the wave of pure, even if I fail to put it in his exact words, and even so, with my immaturity his content reigns. I edit not!
But with my attempt to write what is from him but not within witness I have the inner fear of failure. I intend to finish because of my DAD would say its farther to the end then it is from the sewer plant to home!(A Behind kicking run). I thank you oh so very much for your time and encouragement that I so felt I needed!
But with my attempt to write what is from him but not within witness I have the inner fear of failure. I intend to finish because of my DAD would say its farther to the end then it is from the sewer plant to home!(A Behind kicking run). I thank you oh so very much for your time and encouragement that I so felt I needed!
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cc.slim
Moderator
If I wrote for here for my personal gain, then to do so would be wrong! But if I wrote here so all could gain, now that would be good!
I write here for good and within this I submit the story Moonshine! Which IF the CGA and etc, saw it so, it would be great book and more! With this, the cup rattle for donations wouldn't rattle and I would have less guilt because it does rattle. Here with my pockets empty leaving me in inquiry as to where the next sack of groceries is coming from I submit a chance, tho maybe it be slim, a potential Book if the storyline has the potential! Now, if I am silly, wait wrong word, if anyone see's the potential to share what's shared, then again I inquire will it go from a story to a book?
I write here for good and within this I submit the story Moonshine! Which IF the CGA and etc, saw it so, it would be great book and more! With this, the cup rattle for donations wouldn't rattle and I would have less guilt because it does rattle. Here with my pockets empty leaving me in inquiry as to where the next sack of groceries is coming from I submit a chance, tho maybe it be slim, a potential Book if the storyline has the potential! Now, if I am silly, wait wrong word, if anyone see's the potential to share what's shared, then again I inquire will it go from a story to a book?
I haven't taken a look at Moonshine yet, but I will at some point.
I do have to say there is no problem writing for your personal gain. I write both for pleasure and with the hope that I can one day write for a living (that means making enough money to support my family). The Bible says nothing to oppose this idea.