The Writing Bug

by Jean Kavich Bloom

Do you remember when the writing bug got you?

My grandchildren are victims, and I'm thrilled.

I was with three of them a couple of weeks ago while their parents were out on a date. The two boys were eager for me to read their most recent creations. The five-year-old, Benjamin, had dictated his fifty-word story about a hero and a monster as the seven-year-old, James, typed it for him. (Now, that’s writer support.) Then James typed his debut novel's chapter 1 for himself.

“What’s your book about?” I asked him.

“It’s a mystery.”

“What’s the mystery?”

“The family is going camping, but the kids don’t know where they’re going camping.”

As I read it out loud, I could see the first chapter had a lot of packing and camping paraphernalia in it. But sure enough, the kids in the family didn’t know their destination.

“What’s going to happen next?” I asked.

He shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Ah, a panster! Meanwhile, his ten-year-old sister, Connie, writes about horses, her current passion. They are all writing "what they know," but if their interest in writing continues, I imagine they will incorporate what they learn about life as they experience it. Most writers do. Or maybe they'll incorporate what they think is someone else’s experience.

“What do you think your parents do when they go on a date?” I asked the three of them as they munched popcorn.

“They go to movies and eat all the chocolate they want."

“And they kiss!”

Today I read a story my other granddaughter wrote on a tiny piece of paper and left behind in her parents' van. Ellie's imagination, it seems, had been in full play.

"I live in texas," her first-person story began. She lives in Indiana. "The texas flag looks like this." She'd inserted a drawing, which for all I know may be accurate. She finished with, "I am part of the rocking rangers. I am 13." She's seven, and I'm not sure what the rocking rangers are. But as far as I'm concerned, she's rocking with the writing bug and I love it! Meanwhile, her brother, Simon, almost five, is impressed with printed books because they "don't have scribbles" like the ones he sees in his own handwritten creations.

Scribble away, my boy. Scribble away!

When did the writing bug get you?

Jean Kavich Bloom is a freelance editor and writer for Christian publishers and ministries

(Bloom in Words Editorial Services), with nearly thirty years' experience in the book publishing world. Her personal blog is Bloom in Words too, where she sometimes posts articles about the writing life. She is also a contributor to The Glorious Table, a blog for women of all ages. Her published books are Bible Promises for God's Precious Princess and Bible Promises for God's Treasured Boy. She and her husband, Cal, have three children and five grandchildren.

photo credits: http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=147906&picture=children-on-a-hammock; http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=177876&picture=paper-and-a-pencil

A Sense of Awe

My wife Maribeth and I sat on the balcony of our hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico, sipping our morning coffee and watching waves break on the beach.  Our day’s devotional text was Psalm 27:13, “I believe I will enjoy the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living,” so the scene prompted a prayer of praise and gratitude that God had placed us in such a beautiful world.
I believe a distinguishing characteristic of Christian fiction is this sense of awe at the natural world. Not a moralizing commentary on the weather, scenery, or other physical phenomena, but an awareness that the environment of our story demonstrates the presence of a creative, compassionate God.
   Perhaps the heroine is riding in an ambulance with her husband, who’s struggling to hang onto life after a heart attack. When a paramedic tries to jolt him back into a regular cardiac rhythm, she looks away and sees the majestic Cascade Mountains illuminated by the first rays of dawn.
   A teenage boy waits for the bus that will transport him to another state where he hopes to escape the abusive scorn of his alcoholic father. A Canadian goose crosses the highway with a single adolescent gosling behind it—not a pair of parents but one, not a brood of goslings but one.
   It’s not necessary to tell a reader what conclusions to draw; in fact, spelling out conclusions would betray a distrust of the reader’s spiritual sensitivity and limit his ability to draw more transformative conclusions than you have imagined. Simply note what’s happening in the natural world and let the reader discover God in it.
   “The heavens are telling the glory of God,” the psalmist said. Like the poet, a Christian novelist doesn’t tell readers what to see in her imaginary world, but she renders such a world so faithfully that readers feel a sense of reverent wonder.

Joe Allison is a retired Christian editor living in Anderson, Indiana.

They Had Me at “Jane Eyre”—To Walk Invisible: The Brontë Sisters

by Jean Kavich Bloom

Did you see the recent PBS presentation To Walk Invisible: The Brontë Sisters? Perhaps British television is not your “cuppa” tea, but this one had me at “Jane Eyre.” If you’ve ever read that book by Charlotte Brontë or Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, for instance, you might have been drawn in too. (I confess I’ve never read Anne Brontë’s work, but now I think I must.) 

Here’s more of what I loved about the nineteenth-century Brontë family as portrayed in To Walk Invisible and how I think we, as writers, can be inspired by them:

·       In this drama, one of the sisters says something like, “I feel most alive when I write.” For twenty-first century writers who express a similar passion, her proclaim produces a stir of kinship across the centuries, doesn’t it?

·       The sisters wrote even when they thought they, especially as women, had little hope of publication. When, however, they saw an opportunity to be published (as well as to earn some much-needed funds), they went for it—although at some cost to them, and in Emily’s case, with great reticence. The lesson? If you feel led to publication, you must try if you hope to ever see it a reality.

·       In one scene, Emily, finally on board with the secret plan to pursue publication, is shopping with Anne. As they walk, she tells her sister a compelling story someone relayed to her. Then she halts at a shop and says, “If I’m going to write novels, I’ll need more paper.” I can’t quite explain all the reasons that scene inspires me, but her willingness to invest is one of them.

·       The women’s beloved brother, Branwell, destroying his life with drugs and alcohol, was central to how these sisters thought and felt and lived. Branwell never realized his artistic dreams, but his sisters were so aware of his misery that they hid their success from everyone so as not to hurt him. This, I believe, took extraordinary compassion and humility. They could have let their accomplishments come between them and their brother, but they made another choice. If and when writers are successful, sensitivity to others who might be struggling is a good choice.

·       Currer Bell, Ellis Bell, and Acton Bell were the pseudonyms the sisters chose, retaining their own initials despite their choice for absolute anonymity. They had poured their hearts and souls into those handwritten words, and I think this was one way they chose to hang on to that truth in a harsh world. This, perhaps, is one reason seeing his or her name on the cover of a book can be so meaningful to an author. There’s the heart. Right on the cover.

·       When Charlotte, Emily, and Anne at last told their father they were the authors of published books after Jane Eyre’s phenomenal success, they held the printed volumes before him as though they were an offering. He told them he was extraordinarily proud of them, and had always been. May every writer have supportive family and friends! But if not, finding someone or group of someones who will offer support can make a difference.

·       Charlotte had been afraid to tell their father about their books. As she’d told her sisters, “He’ll read them.” Most writers can relate to feeling some apprehension before letting those whose opinions they most value read their creative work. But Charlotte decided to be brave, and every writer can be too—at least eventually.

·       The sisters told their father their novels were different because they showed what the world was really like. You’d have to be the judge on whether, as some critics said at the time, their novels are “coarse” (I don’t believe they are), but truth is a worthy goal for any writer.

·       Anne and Emily died before they reached thirty, never having known public acknowledgment of their work under their own names. Charlotte died at thirty-nine. What we call early death today wasn’t uncommon then. What if they had given up on their dreams, waited too long? The lesson? It’s never too early or too late to start writing, especially if writing is a calling. The time is now.

Thank you, Charlotte, Emily, and Anne, for sharing your God-given talent with us, even here in the twenty-first century. But also for your courage, your compassion, your tenacity, your inspiration.

Jean Kavich Bloom is a freelance editor and writer for Christian publishers and ministries

(Bloom in Words Editorial Services), with nearly thirty years' experience in the book publishing world. Her personal blog is Bloom in Words too, where she sometimes posts articles about the writing life. She is also a contributor to The Glorious Table, a blog for women of all ages. Her published books are Bible Promises for God's Precious Princess and Bible Promises for God's Treasured Boy. She and her husband, Cal, have three children and five grandchildren.

ACFW-Indiana Explodes with Creativity!

On March 18, 2017, ACFW-Indiana authors gathered at Manchester University's new School of Pharmacy for a day of writing and creativity. We had a great time collaborating, discussing our works in progress, and getting to know one another better. The support we found there was priceless. So much talent in one room -- it's a wonder the walls didn't explode!

I was delighted to meet and get to know new members, Kathy Thompson and Abbey Downey! Welcome to the family, ladies!

Manchester University's facility was fantastic: comfortable and roomy, not to mention sound absorbent! (We needed that during our "Would You Rather" game!)

We did a lot of work in the area of first lines and plotting. No matter how long you write, there's always more to learn.

For those who couldn't come: you were missed. Please don't forget to save the dates for our upcoming event in Indianapolis on June 17! You won't want to miss hearing Colleen Coble and Cara Putman share their writing wisdom with us!

Karla Akins’ first novel, The Pastor’s Wife Wears Biker Boots was published in August, 2013.  A Pair of Miracles: A Story of Autism, Faith and Determined Parenting is due out in summer/fall of 2017 from Kregel.  She writes interactive, biographical narratives and content for iPad applications and has an on-going contract for her World Explorers Every Child Should Know series. Jacques Cartier hit #1 on Amazon in its category. Her hobbies are book-hoarding, swimming, and riding her motorcycle. She is represented by Linda Glaz of Hartline Literary Agency. She has a BA in Special Education and a Doctorate in Christian Education.