Seven ‘Blots tonight (Justin arriving after work, so eight),
seated around my scriptorium. I began by sharing CH Spurgeon’s seven pieces of writing
advice (one of the most prolific writers of the 19th century, if not
all time). Much to consider here:
“We are very mistaken, if our work does not prove to be of the utmost value to purchasers of books…no object in view but the benefit of our brethren…it will be remuneration enough to have aided the ministers of God in the study of his word” (Sword & Trowel, March 1876).
2. Write Short
“Long visits, long stories, long essays, long exhortations, and long prayers, seldom profit those who have to do with them. Life is short. Time is short.…Moments are precious. Learn to condense, abridge, and intensify…In making a statement, lop off branches; stick to the main facts in your case. If you pray, ask for what you believe you will receive, and get through; if you speak, tell your message and hold your peace; if you write, boil down two sentences into one, and three words into two. Always when practicable avoid lengthiness — learn to be short” (Sword & Trowel, September 1871).
3. Write for God
“Courteous reader, throughout another year we have endeavored, month by month, to provide for your entertainment and edification. For both, because the first is to the most of men needful to produce the second, and also because God hath joined them together, and no man should put them asunder” (Sword & Trowel, Preface, 1875).
4. Write Clearly
“So I gathered that my sermons were clear enough to be understood by anybody who was not so conceited as to darken his own mind with pride. Now, if boys read The Sword and the Trowel it cannot be said to shoot over people’s heads, nor can it be said to be very dull and dreary” (Sword & Trowell, November 1874).
5. Write to Compel
“It was an ill day when religion became so decorous as to call dullness her companion, and mirth became so frivolous as to demand the divorce of instruction from amusement. It is not needful that magazines for Christian reading should be made up of pious platitudes, heavy discourses, and dreary biographies of nobodies: the Sabbath literature of our families might be as vivacious and attractive as the best of amusing serials, and yet as deeply earnest and profitable as the soundest of divines would desire” (Sword & Trowel, Preface, 1875). “If the writer had possessed genius and literary ability, this might have been a highly interesting work; but as the writers’ sole qualification is his honesty of purpose, the work is most reliable and dull” (Sword & Trowel, November 1882).
6. Write, Write, & Write
“Many of our hours of pain and weakness have been lightened by preparing the first volume of our book on the Psalms for the press. If we could not preach we could write, and we pray that this form of service may be accepted of the Lord” (Sword & Trowel, January 1870).
7. Read to Write
“Read good authors, that you may know what English is, you will find it to be a language very rarely written nowadays, and yet the grandest of all human tongues” (Sword & Trowel, August 1871).
“So I gathered that my sermons were clear enough to be understood by anybody who was not so conceited as to darken his own mind with pride. Now, if boys read The Sword and the Trowel it cannot be said to shoot over people’s heads, nor can it be said to be very dull and dreary” (Sword & Trowell, November 1874).
5. Write to Compel
“It was an ill day when religion became so decorous as to call dullness her companion, and mirth became so frivolous as to demand the divorce of instruction from amusement. It is not needful that magazines for Christian reading should be made up of pious platitudes, heavy discourses, and dreary biographies of nobodies: the Sabbath literature of our families might be as vivacious and attractive as the best of amusing serials, and yet as deeply earnest and profitable as the soundest of divines would desire” (Sword & Trowel, Preface, 1875). “If the writer had possessed genius and literary ability, this might have been a highly interesting work; but as the writers’ sole qualification is his honesty of purpose, the work is most reliable and dull” (Sword & Trowel, November 1882).
6. Write, Write, & Write
“Many of our hours of pain and weakness have been lightened by preparing the first volume of our book on the Psalms for the press. If we could not preach we could write, and we pray that this form of service may be accepted of the Lord” (Sword & Trowel, January 1870).
7. Read to Write
“Read good authors, that you may know what English is, you will find it to be a language very rarely written nowadays, and yet the grandest of all human tongues” (Sword & Trowel, August 1871).
 |
| Only 3 places available on the July Oxford master class--Register today! |
Doug Mac led off our Inkblot's time this evening, reading from Return to Tarawa, his intriguing WW II
Pacific Theater yarn. Cosmic epic scale, world war is big, but seen
through the eyes of ordinary young men trying to figure it all out and survive. We
discussed the challenges of the vague attribution, we, us, they, etc, and the importance
of sticking with a dominant perspective (which Doug Mac largely does
throughout), and what to do with the other men without names from the squad,
platoon, etc. There is reality at work here, because we don’t know the names of
lots of the people we rub shoulders with on a given day, but how to make the
contrivance in fiction come off as genuine. Great progress on this manuscript, given the highest rank that Writers Edge reading service gives a manuscript, and soon to be another Inkblots Press release.
Rachel Y read, with some urging, from her cheese yarn, a
fascinating, detailed, mouth-slavering story about smuggling cheese from Italy
to Russia. We are all hungry, salivating, craving cheese. And thinking about
how devastating government regulation of the economy is (especially when it
comes to good food). We discussed the use of the almost, nearly qualifiers.
John brought up how we deal with criticism. Take what is being offered, but
that doesn’t necessarily mean that the critic is right, but they have helped the writer by pointing
out an area that needs attention. Embrace the criticism, keeping in mind that
the person who just heard you read doesn’t know the larger context, what you
wrote in the last chapter, where you’re going after what you just read. But swallow pride, and welcome criticism (or hang up your pen and take up underwater basket weaving).
Josh Y puts us in context in his post-apocalyptic drama. Lodges
and outside of town. It seemed like an odd mixture of the primitive and the
civilized. Sort of shirt, is it sort of or the real deal? Blouse or tunic might
be better. Mouth sweetly shaped, could this be a more specific comparison?
Sweetly is a vague descriptor for a physical feature, rather than a character
quality or a taste. Where are you going with this story? Is it part of a larger
yarn. Josh explained that it is a series of books. The female interest in the
yarn loses her toenail. John thought that sounded odd. Josh explained that it
would come into the story later. Rachel PH and the other women present offered valuable perspective to a young male writer who would rather be writing a fight scene than a tender romantic moment in the yarn. Thanks, ladies.
 |
| INKBLOTS PRESS New Release! WW I yarn |
John S reads from Saving Grace, his contemporary fiction
work, a novel that exposes the evil of abortion. This is a moment where the
protagonist is pondering a moral dilemma. If she doesn’t have an abortion she
will lose her job, scholarship to college, pressures exerted by a manipulative
parent. Someone had to be thrown under the bus. What about clichés in
contemporary fiction? If a character is using it in dialogue then it makes
sense to use it, but in narrative, the use of clichés is off limits. Are there
other mannerisms that Grace would have when she is talking with the counselor?
Does she cross her legs and bob her leg up and down, or ring her hands, or tuck
hair behind her ear? The interaction between the counselor and the counselee
seems kind of wooden, and the prayer is good, but I think it works better to
give us only part of the prayer and then summarize the rest in narrative, how
it was heard by Grace. I think there’s some overwriting here. I promise to be
quiet, thank you Sarah. It seems to pat. Things worked out for her. Maybe there’s
hope for me. Seems too pat. Sarah’s story is profound, but seems too much. For
now. Justin commented that it seemed too fast forward, too much happening to
fast.
I finished off (no time to read from my Drama of the Reformation, audio theater project) by sharing about the final process to finished book with WAR IN THE WASTELAND, now available in print and ebook. Order a signed copy here and get free domestic shipping and a free download of the comprehensive study guide.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment