Writing IS Teaching

I have spent nearly my entire life in classrooms. From my earliest attempts at finger painting in nursery school to running a recent workshop, my time in school is like a duck paddling around in its favorite pond. I’m home.

Because I love learning and because I love teaching, I waited a long time before taking the jump to concentrate on writing instead of lesson plans.

You know what I found out?

Writing IS teaching.

It doesn’t matter if I pen an informative blog or create a scene with my characters. With both projects, I use my life’s experiences to share a topic worth learning. The manuscript becomes my lesson plan, and the best lesson plans connect with my students, in this case, my readers.

I’m giving a book talk at a local school today. As I planned for what I would say, I became more and more enthused. I’d be back on old stomping grounds. I outlined my lesson plan (the book talk). Effortlessly, I slipped on my teacher persona and came up with a great “anticipatory set,” or as writers say, a great “hook.” I raced through the rest of the outline, knowing how I would move from one concept to the next. I am teaching again. About writing!

Scene by scene, my novels teach lessons on a theme.

As I learn a little more about writing craft each year, the sense of teaching via the written word has become stronger and stronger.

My World Without Sound series teaches loyalty and family love. The first of my Cracked Quartet series teaches the consequences of misplaced guilt and shame and offers the solution for peace in a person’s soul.

Many of you in ACFW Indiana are teachers or have been teachers.

Have you made the same connection between teaching and writing? Do you get excited about a story as you see how the plot is aimed toward a specific outcome? And how your characters are going to discover the beauty of that outcome? I hope so.

Recognizing that I am still a teacher feels so good! That realization solidifies the purposes God has for me. I may not choose to be in the classroom every day, but I can see I’m at the center of His will. I am content.

 

Linda Sammaritan writes realistic fiction, mostly for kids ages ten to fourteen. She has completed a  middle grade trilogy, World Without Sound, based on her own experiences growing up with a deaf sister. Book One, Reaching Into Silence, was an ACFW Genesis Contest semi-finalist and a First Impressions Finalist.

Linda had always figured she’d teach teens and tweens until school authorities presented her with a retirement wheelchair and rolled her out the door. However, God changed those plans when He gave her a growing passion for writing fiction. In May of 2016, she blew goodbye kisses to her students and dedicated her work hours to becoming an author.

A wife, mother of three, and grandmother to eight, Linda regales the youngest grandchildren with “Nona Stories,” tales of her childhood. Maybe one day those stories will be in picture books!

Where Linda can be found on the web:

www.lindasammaritan.com

www.facebook.com/lindasammaritan

www.twitter.com/LindaSammaritan

www.instagram.com/lindasammaritan

 

A Phrase for the New Year

One day as I prayed for my adult children, my mind swirled with requests concerning their health and safety, their relationships, jobs, and finances, my daughter’s and her husband’s parenting of our grandson, their relationships with God the Father, the insulation of their hearts and minds against the world’s influence. My requests culminated in, “May they seek you above all else . . . ”

I paused pondering those last words, realizing that’s exactly what I wanted for my life.  “Oh, God, may I seek you above all else.”

Photo by Denise Karis on Unsplash

That phrase wafted about my brain the rest of the day. I’d been considering adopting a word or phrase to focus on for the year. What did I want to accomplish in the coming twelve months? A mental list of ambitious goals mixed with wishful thinking notions had bombarded my thoughts as the days of December wound down. I could think of no better focus for the year ahead than to seek GOD above the myriad of voices clamoring for both my attention and my allegiance.

As writers we can choose to seek fame and fortune. We can align ourselves with the trends that promise success. Fashion our writing content and publishing decisions around money and notoriety. Be less concerned about the opportunity to influence the world around us than on what’s in it for us. Or, we can pursue His will for our writing endeavors, above all other influences. Commit to write what, when, how, and why He desires.

As Christians, we have the opportunity to minister to others and to glorify the Lord with our writing. But that will only happen if and when we seek HIM above all else. If we try to imitate a favored author or charge ahead when His guidance says wait or fritter away time and energy that should be spent putting His words to paper, we squander opportunities to be His instrument, to bring hope and healing to a hurting world.

As the pages of a new year lay before us, waiting to be filled, I want my overall life goals and writing agenda to be aligned with the Creator’s. Will you join me in seeking HIM above all else in 2020?

Photo by Carolyn V on Unsplash

Time to write

Happy 2016!

How exciting to write my very first blog post of 2016 on Hoosier Ink!

I must admit, I wasn't sad to see 2015 go. It was a tough year. And even though 2016 threatens to be even tougher (due to some personal family issues), I'm not afraid. I'm determined not to let the devil stop me from what God has put me on this planet to do.

One of the things I was put on this planet to do is write.  But there are lots of reasons for me to give it up. Plenty of excuses. I'm sure you have them, too: working full-time to put food on the table, chronic illness, chronic pain, exhaustion, lack of inspiration, discouragement. Frankly, if I were to put a line down the middle of a page and write "reasons to write" on one side and all the "reasons not to write" on another, there'd be a lot more listed on the "reasons not to" side.

But that's not a fair way of looking at it because the one reason to keep writing outweighs all the excuses. The Master of the Universe has called me to write. That's reason enough to keep facing the blank page day after day. If He's called me to it, then without question, I must obey.

My prayer for you in 2016 is that you, too, will answer the call no matter how you feel. Feelings, quite frankly, are unreliable and fickle. God's call never is. The enemy has stepped up his army of writers. Just walk into any secular bookstore and you'll see what I mean.

In this new year, it's time for God's Writer Army to take up arms and answer the call to battle. Like King David, we have the power and confidence to enter the fray in the Name of the Lord!

Write on, Writer Warriors! Write on!
(Click to tweet)

Karla is the author of several history books for

homeschoolers including O Canada Her Story, Sacagawea and Jacques Cartier. Her first novel, The Pastor's Wife Wears Biker Boots features a homeschool mom. Her work has also been published in The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, Splickety Magazine, and she currently writes for Happy Sis Magazine. You can find more information about her life and ministry at KarlaAkins.com.