Touch the Spirit

“‘You are the God who sees me,’ for she said, ‘I have now seen the One who sees me.’” Genesis 16:13b (NIV)

Touching the Spirit 

Well, it seems to me I’m an odd one. Why not when I think I can touch the Spirit. What you say? We’re used to just basing our faith on things unseen but what is this touching the Spirit?

My dear friend said: “We can lay our hands on spaceships, and books, iPods and plastic bottles, and we cannot touch a Spirit. HE can touch us, but we cannot touch HIM. So there's always that point of disconnect. Always that feeling of being out of step because the God we trust on we cannot touch with our hands, see with our eyes, hear with our ears.”

Gosh, when I read that my mind went exploring! It drifted off to the time I DID touch Him. I touch Him often and I assumed everyone else did also. I know after you read what I say you’ll say, Oh that, that’s not the same. It is very real to me. It is what makes me an oddball in the crowd. It makes me the crimson in a sea of yellow. 

Just so you know, while I can physically touch an iPod, I never have, the same goes for a spaceship, but my heavenly Father, oh yes, I’ve touched Him; my fingers brushed his robe, my hand held his hand, my arms wrapped around Him in an embrace but in Spirit form, it is like hugging liquid.

Ezekiel 1:26-28 “Now above the expanse that was over their heads there was something resembling a throne, like lapis lazuli in appearance; and on that which resembled a throne, high up, was a figure with the appearance of a man. Then I noticed from the appearance of His loins and upward something like glowing metal that looked like fire all around within it, and from the appearance of His loins and downward I saw something like fire; and there was a radiance around Him. As the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD And when I saw it, I fell on my face and heard a voice speaking.”

I think maybe first you need to understand who and what He is. God is Spirit not a man, not sitting up on the puffy white clouds. God is not hiding from us in the shadows, He is in plain view for all of the world to see, hear, touch, taste, and smell. When you stop seeing Him as ‘up there' sitting on a majestic throne in the icy sky maybe then you can intimately feel that He is within, without, He IS dwelling in every living thing. 

Psalm 139:7-12

"Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me. If I say, "Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night," Even the darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day Darkness and light are alike to You."

I think what makes me an oddball is that I believe and always have known I have more than five senses. Yeah, that just makes me weird that way. I think when you’ve died twice and then came back to wander among the human species you feel just like the astronaut who has been taken into space then brought back here to live out the duration of your life on earth, except one thing, when you die, you touch the Spirit realm.

When you touch a point of light and it streams through your fingers like liquid in your hand, or when you listen to music and it vibrates through your body like an electrical current surging through you, it is at those moments that spirit is passing through you. 

Take this statement as an example, “He can touch us but we can’t touch Him.” I mean no offense but that doesn’t make sense to me because my reality tells me otherwise. What is touch? Is it a physical, material object?

Acts 17:27-28 “that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we also are His children.'”

When my mother hugs me, I feel her love wash over me like a waterfall. I live well over a thousand miles away and I can still feel her hug in her voice, I can still feel that love spray over me. It’s no longer physical but I can feel her and know she is there. God is no different in that aspect, He can seem far away but still be within me.

1 Corinthians 3:16 “Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”

As assuredly as I can touch my arm, run my fingers through my hair, softly scan my face with my fingertips, I can feel Him there. God becomes physical when I allow my very fingertips to caress any material object that He created.

1 John 2:16 ESV “For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world.”

The soil in my garden is dry and sandy. I tried many years to grow plants, veggies, food, but rarely did I get anything from my crop. I couldn’t afford to put rich soil in the ground, or fertilizers, so I had to trust the land to provide beauty for me because if the earth doesn’t provide then there is no need to plant. This year I threw my hands in the air and said I’m not planting and whatever comes up will have to be provided by God himself and I will tend the garden when it shows up. As you can see below, God showed up!

You’ll say when I tell you that my annuals come back year after year it’s because of seed drop the year before and you’d be right but still, my annuals sprouted from the ground and put on a display of beauty that I had no hand in except the watering of the garden. God touches us in the most mysterious of ways. The same can be said for us, we TOUCH Him in mysterious ways also but it is still TOUCH! 

When I stroke a leaf, I feel the swell of life surfing through my blood and I connect on levels most would never understand. The veins of a leaf are not much different than the very DNA flowing through the cells of my body. It is the sustenance of LIFE.

I think the problems with people are that they disconnect from God. They don’t see, hear and feel Him in everything. They place Him in a book, they shape Him into molds, and they form Him out of clay. He becomes a material when that was never His intention in ways to be among us. He is a spirit that dwells in us, the temple. When He looks at us, He doesn’t see us from afar, He isn’t out there in the world swirling clouds to make storms strike the earth because we were bad.

Storms form because of man's inability to restrain himself from filling the skies and land with toxins that create a mess in the atmosphere and a terrible storm is in essence, the clouds letting off backed up emissions, to put it simply, the clouds burp! 

2 Chronicles 16:9

"For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. You have acted foolishly in this. Indeed, from now on you will surely have wars."

Zephaniah 3:17

"The LORD your God is in your midst, A victorious warrior He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.

When someone says to me that I cannot touch God, there is no way to humanly kiss the Spirit, I have to digress. Contact is in different forms not just by handling. That’s like saying a man with no arms can’t paint a portrait, I’ve seen it done. I wasn’t there for the act but I’ve witnessed the fact. I challenge each of you today to look for the Spirit WITHIN and embrace what has been there all along. He has never left you for one nano second so don't ever give up on Him. Seek and you will find.

Isaiah 52:10 “The LORD has bared His holy arm In the sight of all the nations, That all the ends of the earth may see The salvation of our God.”

My Spiritual Family

Pss. 16:11 “Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”

My Spiritual Family

I’m always talking about my family back home and about my past but I think I’m going to write a little about this Spiritual Family that has taken me in for the past thirteen years, walked with me through my healing and has had a major impact on my life. 

It all started with Steven. He was the one who came on his white horse and carried me away from the hellish life I had known and lived in Baltimore. We had known each other online for ten months prior to meeting in person and he had read my writing, my poetry, understood my gift and thought that I deserved to be nurtured and taken care of. 

He got me started on the writing path with Christian Writers Guild and after I completed that course he enrolled me in a free 6-week writing course. My life did a 180-degree turn from when I left home. Like-minded people surrounded me and I was helping total strangers learn a craft I had only been new at myself. 

I always felt that I had a gift and back home it was never appreciated or explored. I was never ‘allowed’ to be a part of the internet because that was the work of the devil in my family and my ex-husband’s eyes. Little did I know it was streaming gift from God that would take me worlds away from the pain I had lived for nearly thirty years.

It was as if God placed a spiritual family around me that would nurture my soul on so many levels. These people would care for me, love me, help me when I was in need and just basically be the new family in my life, but I would never meet them face to face. I would only connect to them on a spiritual level meaning connecting through our writing and the virtual world senses.

Bob Hembree, (WVU) would introduce me to my writing family who consisted of Benning, Dixie, Debbie, Leona, Birdie, Shanna and a host of others, some of whom have since passed away, God rest their soul! This is the family that I would communicate with on a daily basis whether it was about our writing or our personal lives, we soon became a tight-knit loving writing family. 

Then the doors continued to open via Jason Elkins. I still don’t know what he saw in my writing that he befriended me, which then led to more of my God-sent spiritual family appearing almost out of nowhere. People of faith were drawn to me through either my writing, my blog, through facebook or Twitter. I felt a sense of God working in His wondrous ways spiritually to bring people whom He knew would care for me and encourage me. It was He who placed them in my life.

My spiritual family then became my fortitude of strength behind the woman you see today. Sure you can all read about my unsavory past and draw your own conclusions but I know that God set me on this path for a reason, maybe the reason is still being researched by me but I feel God wants me to change the world, one word at a time. 

While He placed me in my blood family, He also drew me away from the blood family that would hinder His purpose for my life. He had me give up everything I practically owned and as many of you have read in earlier postings, I only came to Texas with Steven, with my son and our basic necessities in tow.

I gave up my life to follow God’s grand plan and to this day I am still following wherever He may lead. If you are reading this and are a part of my journey please know, God handpicked each and every one of you to accompany me on this leg of the expedition. I don’t know if you consider that a blessing but rest assured, I most certainly do because you have all had a hand in the Master’s Plan. I feel extremely blessed to have met you on this journey. 

God Bless Everyone!

Message Received

2 Corinthians 6:14 (NIV) Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?

He spoke to me...

Have you ever heard someone say that God spoke to them or lay this on their heart? Have you ever wondered what they meant? I know of a story in the Bible where a dove and a raven were used to send messages to Noah. In later years we progressed to using a pony to relay a message, hence Pony Express? Nowadays we actually use airwaves to send a message. Years ago you would have thought people crazy if they said the future would look like it does today wrapped up in technological gadgets.

So what do we mean when we say God spoke to us? Did he use a bird, a pony or some other form of messenger? Did He mysteriously begin burning a bush right before our eyes?

Well, there are other parts of the Bible where God used an Angel to deliver a message as a matter of fact, the word angel is used well over 300 times in the bible, to me silencing the naysayers who say angels don’t exist and that God is done using them to deliver His message.

http://www.bible.ca/su-angels.htm

Do angels exist? Yes 
1Timothy 5:21 - “I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality.”

How many angels are there? Innumerable 
Genesis 2:1- “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the [host] of them.”
Psalms 68:17 – “The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even [thousands of angels]: the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place.”
Daniel 7:10 – “A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: [thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him:] the judgment was set, and the books were opened.”
Matthew 26:53 – “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than [twelve legions of angels]?”
Hebrews 12:22- “But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,”

What does "Angel" mean?
The Greek word angelos and the Hebrew malak. The term "angel" means "messenger."

How do angels not appear?

False prophets Jer 14:14 “Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart.” 
Jer 23:16 – “Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD.”
False dreams-  Jer 23:31-32 “Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that use their tongues, and say, He saith. Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD.” 
In your own heart, Prov 28:26 – “He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered.”

He made angels spirits - Psalms 104:4 “Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire:” 

Luke 20:33-36 “Therefore in the resurrection whose wife of them is she? for seven had her to wife. And Jesus answering said unto them, The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage: But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain [that world,] and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: Neither can they die any more: for they are [equal unto the angels;] and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.”

Read more here about the Supernatural Spirit

Interactive Bible

When we say God laid something on our heart, what exactly do Christians mean? Are we telekinetically linked to God? Are we talking to angels? 

John 10: 4-7 “And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers. This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them. Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.”

When Children of God [sheep] hear God, we know it is His voice that speaks to us. It isn’t our own free will that speaks to us, or our vanity causing us to hear ourselves and think we’re God, we HEAR GOD! We KNOW it is from Him.

2 Tim. 2:11-16 “It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself. Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers. Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.”

As Children of God we are able to discern God’s voice from our inner voices because we live God’s word and breathe His every sentence so we’re able to acknowledge what is being placed on our heart as from God not man. 

Heb. 5:14 “But strong meat [the Word] belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”

That’s discernment in a nutshell, we exercise our senses and God [moves] us and calls us to action, plain and simple. 

Ezra 1:5 “Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites, with all them whose spirit God had raised [moved], to go up to build the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem.”

And don’t worry, if you’re tired of hearing people claiming God placed something on their heart you’re not alone. Please read this -- > Christian Euphemisms: read the insightful comments on that page also. 

If God hasn’t called you or whispered to you or laid something on your heart it does not mean that God loves you less than all the people hearing Him, but to me personally, I listen to Him, in other words, I’m just exercising all six of my senses. You might hear Him in another way. We’re all different, He made us that way too. 

May God Bless your heart and soul!

Are You There God?

James 2: 26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

Are you there God?

I put a call out to God. Does He hear me? Does He know what’s going on down here? With all of the overused technology today, you’d think God would just answer his cell phone when I call on Him.

We’re in an era of overuse of technological gadgets. Our food cooks quicker, our phones need no land lines, our TV is much clearer and rarely do you ever get a rolling screen, we wash and dry clothes in machines and we sit on computers to spend hours of our precious time. It isn’t only the insane who have turned their back on God we sane folk are just as guilty.

Did you ever wonder why with all this technology God doesn’t use a cell phone? Like when I pray, why can’t I just dial Him up and have Him answer? Why? Because as much as WE’VE changed, God has NOT changed. He doesn’t need YouTube to reach you, He doesn’t need mechanical skills to wave His hand to have you prosper, all He needs is YOU, to turn your attention on Him. That’s it.

Since mass shootings are occurring more frequently, we tend to get the feeling God has turned His back on us and left us to dangle here without any help. It’s not true. God is here. The only way we hear Him is through SHOCK to our technological nation. You see, we’re so wrapped up in instant gratification, having everything here and now, we don’t have the patience NEEDED to wait on God, we don’t HEAR God’s calling out to us.

I asked God, “Are you here?” Ironically, He didn’t take days to answer just mere seconds. I HEARD even through all the humming coming from behind me through the computer, even with all the *dings* of notifications, the beep of the microwave, the churning of the washer; I HEARD!

I have an innate way of turning off the world. I didn’t have techno gadgets distracting me all my life so I knew what I was listening for. I had a phone with a cord that didn’t reach very far. I had a TV with a few stations, not hundreds, I hung clothes on the line and we used the stove to actually cook. Things like that is what keeps one focused on the here and now. I didn’t get my first computer and cell phone until eleven years ago, so really I have NOT allowed technology to taint me like it has so many millions of people.

There’s a video on YouTube (another idol distraction to the world). It shows kids seeing a corded phone for the first time. They only know texting and cells so this phone was so foreign they didn’t know what it was. When told, they laughed, “No way! You had to PAY to make a long distance call? No way!” They were kind of shocked. They couldn’t imagine living life this way.

Kids are so spoiled by technology they didn’t even know what dial-up was. When they were showed, they became confused. But when given their iPad, iPod, cell, laptop; they knew right away how to text and use the silly gadgets and how to easily get to the instantaneous internet.

Steven texted me one day and I didn’t even know that the odd ring on my phone MEANT a text call. What do I do? Respond? HOW? I see letters next to the numbers so I hit “k”. REPLY, wow, I did it. And suddenly I felt like throwing my phone out the window!

While Steven has been a techno freak for twenty-five years or so, I myself to this day can not fathom the fascination. I wrapped myself up so much with God, I didn’t see technology rising around me. I saw it as a distraction FROM God not a way to get CLOSER to God.

Now people can hand me the malarkey that technology, or better yet, the internet has a lot of GOOD in it, I tend to agree, to an extent. But within a good thing, there dwells evil always one step ahead ready to sway you away from the good. You CAN become addicted to the net no different than being addicted to alcohol. It will eat you alive, trust me I know, I’m still waiting for it to spit a few people I know back out.

So again, I ask, “Are you there God?” And quite quickly He responds,

“Yes, I kiss the earth every morning with the rising of the sun. I tuck it into bed with the setting of the sun. I sing to you daily in the chiming of the birds. I whisper to you softly with the breath of winds words. I wrap my arms tightly around you in your time of need. I fill you with abundance when it’s time to feed. I’m there right beside you in the simplest of tasks. I’m waiting for your response to everything I ask. Am I there in devastation, when no one thinks to care? I’m with you always, if you look, I’M RIGHT THERE!”

Wow! Who knew God was a poet? Me. How did I know? Because I use all six of my God given senses: I SEE Him. I HEAR Him. I TASTE Him. I SMELL Him. I TOUCH Him. And most importantly, I FEEL Him, because He’s been here inside, ALL ALONG!

Luke 2: 40And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.

Showing vs. Telling

Joni’s going to write a blog post today.

Joni sits at her desk, pencils, paper, stapler surrounding her. A deep sigh leaves her mouth as she sits contemplating, ready to tap on the keys preparing to write today’s blog.

Aha! I think I’ll write about SHOW vs. Tell! In the first sentence I told you what Joni was going to do. In the second sentence I SHOWED you.

I often read from beginning writers, ‘What is the difference in show vs. tell?’ I read many mentor’s critiques exclaiming, ‘You need to show more than tell’.

Showing is more specific in terms as it lays out the picture for you. General terms are good when you need to tell when something is happening that is brief in the story. Whereas, showing moves the story along from point A to point B.

To tell a story, one only needs to say,

Mary went to the store.

To help in getting the picture across to your reader, the ones who are following your every word, you need to learn how to SHOW them the story.

Mary grabbed her purse, hurried out the front door to walk down to the corner store. The screen door slammed as her mother called from behind, “Don’t forget the bread.”

You can see Mary in your mind, can’t you? You no longer are holding a non-descriptive image of Mary, you now see a woman grabbing her purse and rushing out the door, only to be halted by the voice of her mother.

Think of yourself reading a book. You don’t start at the end, you begin at the first page. You take it slowly and read one page at a time so you can grasp the entire picture.

Taken out of context, you can speed read a page here and there but do you fulfill your journey of enjoyment? Showing and telling can give you the same information. But with the showing the reader gets to savor each and every word in a visual manner.

Creating a mental picture for the reader is important if you care for them enough to read to the end. Children love fairy tales where they don’t need a lot of the weighted down imagery; they get picture books to supply the images. But novels or short stories need to tap into the mental cinema of the reader’s mind.

Telling is fine for trivial things like it was a stormy day. If the storm is essential to moving the story along or part of the immediate scene then showing should be done. Don’t over do it with the imagery so no one says you’re padding your work. Showing should come as a natural flow to you.

I was sad when my dog died.

This is telling you how I felt when my dog died.

I was miserable when my dog died. It hurt so much I could just spit. I never expected him to die and now he’s left me alone and lonely for companionship.

This is padding the telling and not really showing you how I felt. You read that my dog died, I hurt, and I felt alone.

Now let me try to SHOW you how I felt.

Today I was utterly distracted when the puppies in the park were playing Frisbee, it reminded me of my Skippy. My friend for life or so I thought, until he contracted a deadly virus that took him from my life. No longer do I look at his bowls the same way as they still sit on the floor near the door.

This statement gives more specific details, without telling how I “felt”. You can read in my words that I miss him. You can read my hurt without using the word. You can read that I miss my dog and that I’m hurting just by getting the longing feeling from, “No longer do I look at his bowls the same way.”

The point of "showing" is not to drown the reader in a sea of details. Instead, you should pick out only those instrumental details that matter.

Give your reader something to hold onto. Have them frothing at the mouth waiting to read more of your pain and anguish. Give him/her a tale of beauty with ribbons of sensory and imagery. Save the telling for the hairdresser.

Give your writing some music and it will SING!

Book bites:

Showing & Telling by Laurie Alberts

For powerful and balanced writing

E.S.P of Writing: Part II

The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say. ~Anaïs Nin
***

Have you ever heard of E.S.P.? It is short for Extra Sensory Perception. That’s not telling us a whole lot now is it? To me, I perceive it as an Extra sense. What? we have an extra sense?

Have you ever heard your mother say, “Don’t you have the sense God gave you?” Well maybe your mother didn’t but I’ve heard it a few times in my lifetime, and I always looked back and whispered, “Yes, my sixth one,” and as she would turn her back I know I had a tongue sticking out at her. I was just an ornery child like that.

We at f2k (the FREE Creative Writing Course) have a lesson that deals with the senses. We have the normal five senses: sight, smell, sound, touch, and taste, but we have also added three more to add to the effect of your writing; time, space, and the unknown.

Eerie isn’t it, the unknown? Not really: As the sky opens up and unleashes a torrential downpour this late afternoon, I wonder if the newly born kittens are dry. Look at that sentence! The sky would be SPACE, late afternoon would be TIME, and a moment of wonder would be the UNKNOWN. It is THAT simple.

And to top it off the sentence is showing not telling. You get the idea here, right? Now try this on for size.

As I walked down the street in the afternoon sun, I wondered where the aroma of coffee was coming from. I grabbed the pole to catch my balance, as my mouth watered in anticipation of finding the noisy outdoor bistro on the corner.

As I walked down the street (space) in the afternoon (time) sun, I wondered (unknown) where the aroma(smell) of coffee was coming from. I grabbed the pole (touch) to catch my balance, as my mouth watered in anticipation (taste) of finding the noisy (sound)outdoor bistro on the corner. (sight)

Notice how those two sentences, a small paragraph, used all eight senses? In our f2k lesson we ask for you to write a paragraph (READ my words, a PARAGRAPH) using the eight senses. Would you believe, it could take four and five paragraphs to use eight senses?
Keep in mind, many in the class are novice writers, but seriously?

Over six hundred people signed up for this free course, and many quit after the first lesson because they found that either, there are too many restrictions (thanks, we don’t allow porn), there are too many guidelines, (yes, when we say 500 words, we don’t mean 648)and this is my favorite, “I am a stiff shirt.” *loud laughter here*

I like kidding around with the rest of them, but really, this is a business I take quite seriously and in all of my eight senses, it tells me that this “stiff shirt” is going places, while the rest of the people continue to try and balance a ball on their nose and ride a tricycle at the same time.

Writer's on the run...

Ps. 45: 1 My heart is inditing a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the king: my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.

***

Look at them go. We’re off to a running start at f2k and the writers are eager as ever, some are running the halls, posting work in the cafe, commenting in other rooms; they’re just running rampant through the halls.

Lesson two was a tough one, had a lot of people confused and bewildered with the use of the senses, but from what I read, they seemed to nail the lesson and within word count, give or take a few from other countries who don’t quite understand our American terminology for things.

Yes we have wannabe writers from across the globe! Singapore, Australia, UK, Argentina, Finland, you name it and the writers are there. I think that is what I love most about the f2k course, I get to meet, or read, people from around the world! I feel like I travel there without leaving my home by hearing them tell their tales and talk about the cuisine, or culture.

A lot of times as the weeks progress, these writer’s lose interest because they realize something, writing is hard. They thought that just because they wrote a story in grade school they were destined to be a writer. Some are trying out to see if maybe this is what has been calling them all along. Doctors, lawyers, you’d be surprised who is taking the leap from their job and trying their hand at writing.

Along the way in our six-seven week program however, they realize that writing is work. Our next lesson being point of view, what we writers call POV, will be even more challenging as the lesson before. Some will grasp it, some will shrug and learn it, some will run like wind, in the other direction, back to their day jobs.

No one alluded to the fact that writing was this easy peasy chunky cheesy kind of work, I’ve always stated that it is hard work, not something you can just ‘do’. It takes time and learning new skills will at least send you in the right direction.

When someone says, “What is a paragraph?” I tend to wonder how they ever thought that becoming a writer meant writing words or a story without knowing the simple basic element of a paragraph. It is simple to me because I’m an American, educated in grammar where some countries have more important things to teach about, and English grammar is not one of them.

I want to see all the writers succeed and helping them get there I feel is my civic duty. Okay, so it’s not my civic duty, it is my duty as a writer, to help other writers along the way become all that they can be, even if it means to teach them what a paragraph is and the purpose in a paragraph.

Write right writer’s. Have fun and enjoy the view. Writing is hard work, but work that is well worth the journey taken. 

I smell a rat...

Ezra 10: 35) For I have seen that I knew not, and hear that I do not know.
36) Or is my sense deceived, or my soul in a dream?

***

Ahh the senses. This weeks lesson is full of the senses. 1.Sight 2. sound 3. smell 4. touch 5. taste and the 6. unknown. That is our secret sense that no one knows about and the very reason I can smell a rat, liar, or a not so great person from miles away.

But this isn’t about my intuitive nature, this is about the use of senses in your writing. By using the senses, your writing will come alive. I know from experience that this is one lesson that made my writing, even poetry, take a leap from good to va va va voom.

Now when I write, I use the senses like a footstool. I prop other words on top, see to it that there is a sense of smell, taste, sight, or other sense in each and every sentence. If  I don’t see or hear a sense, upon revision I fix the sentence so it comes alive.

Yeah alive, literally jumps out and bites your face. Look at this sentence.

The truck went down the road. (A good telling sentence wouldn’t you say?)

The blue truck hummed down the road leaving dust in the air when it came to a complete and sudden stop. (Now the sentence has come alive. I showed you almost like a picture in your mind, what the truck did. It was a blue truck, (sight) It hummed (sound) It came to a sudden stop (maybe more sound and sight?) Dust flew in the air. (maybe sight, smell and taste as the dust flies, making you cough)

You don’t need to use every sense in a sentence but by adding the senses, the structure of your sentence and impact on the reader really hits its mark. We don’t want bland sentences linked together like sausage, we want them to be linked like a freight train, moving forward with force so that your reader is right there with you, alive in the moment.

Showing your reader a full picture, is what makes a story work. When they read, the reader wants to be in the scene. They want to feel what you the writer are trying to convey. If you miss the boat, then publishers are going to sail on to higher seas, if you know what I mean.

Now even though you’re going to place the senses in there, you need to watch the over-use of your adverbs and the word AND. Sometimes as we add life to the sentence, we over do it with too many words, leaving the reader scratching their head wishing they’d used dandruff shampoo that morning.

Don’t over-do the sentence, and try your darndest to not under-do (I don’t think under-do is a word.) But whatever you do, make sure you take the reader on the ride with you.

I sense a good week...

Pss. 3:3 But thou, O LORD, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.
***

Well the senses lesson went off without a hitch. I wasn’t let down as writers across the board dabbled in bringing the senses alive.

They made clouds out of marshmallows, the sea became a frothing cup of espresso, a river was birthed, a tree swayed, a path was made and I was led down a writing frenzy. These are supposed to be amateur writers but I was quite impressed with the remaining writers at f2k.

Most of the new folk who had a dream of writing, realized all too soon that they had to actually work at it and writing wasn’t something that they could just do. Their introductions led me to believe that their heart and soul wasn’t into writing and I can usually tell if this is really what a writer wants, but we lost a few.

The few who were lost came and went like a brief spring shower. They’re out there wanting to become a writer but they are not willing to take the long hard grueling steps to becoming a writer.

Now we have a few hanger’s on. These are the ones who are wholeheartedly doing all they can to become a writer in every sense of the word. They’re studying the craft intently, they’re practicing sentence structure, they’re even flirting with new words.

These are the people who have an innate sense of what it takes to be the artist that they want to be. Artist are not just thrown into the world knowing all they can about the craft. They learn on every level, grab hold of the intimate aspect and feed off the style to bring you, the reader, into a realm that they call their own.

Have you ever wondered what Picasso was thinking when he painted his masterpieces? What Stephen King is thinking as he jots down his stories? (Oh dear, I put Stephen King next to the same sentence as Picasso! You won’t see that too often.) Well I’m here to tell you that they weren’t thinking anything. They worked to create and delivered to us some of the worlds greatest masterpieces.

The two artist are a lot alike believe it or not. They love (or loved in Picasso’s case) what they do and shower the public with pieces of themselves through their work. (No pun intended Picasso.)

So why not as a new writer, dig deep into yourself and pull out the artist that you know yourself to be. The person that longs to give society what they’re missing. Give it to them!

And whatever you do...write write write!

I'll knock some Sense into you!

Matt.17: 20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
***
Senses...the sweet sensation

When we walk through the pages of life it is our senses that bring us from one place to the other. Without the senses, life would be an empty abyss shaped as a bowl full of nothing. A senseless bowl that sits there with nothing in it. Even if it was full of mashed potatoes and gravy smothered on top, if you didn’t have your senses, it would just be a bowl.

How would you know it was a bowl if you didn’t touch it to feel the shape? How would you know the bowl held mashed potatoes with gravy without the smell? Even without sight, you can tell that it is mashed potatoes. The texture, the taste, the smell, even the sound of the plopping onto the plate would give you an idea that you are about to dive into a bowl of something.

You see what I’m getting at? Our senses will spell out a world of imagination and vibrant life. When one sense is lost, the others stand at attention waiting for direction but really they need no direction because they are there just quietly activating without you even knowing it.

This is what we need to do when writing. We need to allow our senses to guide us through the words. Don’t think about what you’re going to write, allow your senses to lead the way into a tale of glory.

I read one girls post in f2k. She said she wrote the dialog and then went back to fill in the tags. What? When you’re writing, the flow of dialog should come as natural as the flow of senses. You can’t go back and recapture what you wanted to smell or taste or say or do; writing needs a natural flow.

Your writing with the senses is a lot like faith. You either trust in it fully or you have doubts in your thoughts. There is no room for doubts where faith is concerned. Faith is diving off a bridge, arms flung wide open, and out of nowhere you are caught by a feather that places you in the water. A boat might come by to save you but faith is trusting that a boat will come by.

You have senses to carry you through life. Taste,touch, sight, smell, sound, faith is the sixth sense, the unknown, space and time. These are the senses that you will write with. These are the senses that will propel your writing to new heights. Be sure you have faith in your writing as the senses haul you from one place to the other and your reader will thank you for taking the extra time to touch them in ways no other has ever reached.

Come alive with your senses, they’re there for a reason, so use them to the very best of your ability.

Hebews 5:14 says: But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Is he telling us to exercise our senses? Darned tootin, he is! For when our senses diminish, like the morning mist, we will also.

A Sneak Peek

Detail makes the difference between boring and terrific writing. It’s the difference between a pencil sketch and a lush oil painting. As a writer, words are your paint. Use all the colors.
Rhys Alexander
***

We’re heading into another lesson and if anyone from f2k reads my blog, they might get a heads up on what the next lesson consist of. But since no one there reads my blog except maybe June and Ana, I’m ready to release.

This is yet another monster in my closet. Thanks June for that! lol I’ve been cleaning out the monsters all night and all day yesterday trying to figure out what is what. But she, June, put the fire under my butt, and now I’m burning, ready to move forward.

As in all writing, we use our senses to show a tale. We don’t tell a story, we show and without the use of the senses, our story will just be a tale of tell not show. In this lesson we’re going to learn how to write with our senses, all except sight! Can you write a piece under 500 words without using sight as a guiding sense? (that’s a bonus exercise)

Well now, use all eight! Did I say eight? Yes siree, I most certainly did. Sight,sound smell, touch and taste. Then we move to the unknown, space, and time. With these eight elements, one paragraph will take on new meaning in your writing. No longer will it be choppy. No longer will you look at the paragraph and wonder what is missing. It might take two paragraphs but still, these elements are going to last your entire writing career.

You will be a better writer and I’m betting my money that this will guide you for many years to come in growing and knowing a craft that everyone yearns for at least once in their lifetime. Sure there is so much more to learn in this art, but I know that this lesson here changed my life years ago when I first took f2k and my poetry even benefited from the use of the imagery I got from the senses lesson. My imagery took on a whole new shape as my poems were now crafted with senses and not just words with a rhythm.

Try it as you write not just a sentence but a paragraph and allow the paragraphs to form a story. Notice the SHOW and not TELL.

There the monster has been unleashed and now I’m off to do some writing. That’s using my senses, eh? ;-) *wink*

Ebb and Flow of Writing

Like waves meeting the shoreline writing comes in, washes over the granules, recedes, all the while leaving a treasure behind, a shell or lost item of the sea. It lies on the shore in wait, for the writer to expose it to the world.

The ebb and flow of writing comes and goes. Sometimes we are pulled to write our hearts out and the words lay on the page like butter and jelly on toast, just waiting for someone to enjoy the delicious taste!

Have you ever had the urge to write? I mean have you ever just been sitting in the morning rays of the sunshine and it calls to you to write something? It happens to me all the time. I’m out here with rows and rows of cornfields, enormous trees, looming barns, wildlife wandering the grounds and boy does a story come to mind.

Writing is a craft that should be honed and nurtured. Something like a new puppy. You’ve found the perfect puppy (your writing) you think it is the best (your writing rocks) then you need to take care of it like a baby. Your writing needs taking care of. The only way to do that is write on a daily basis. You can write 500 words a day, come away feeling satisfied, or walk away feeling like there is unfinished work, then you head back to the keyboard and begin writing another five-hundred words.

I would save editing for the revision stages. If we look over our writing as we write we’re losing precious seconds where a thought or idea might get washed out to sea. Like a buoy it will stay afloat and settle out there, but the words are always calling to you for you to come and find them for fine tuned navigating. Write like there is no end in sight. The sea seems to be endless doesn’t it? So why not write until you can’t write no more. Write endlessly, never to stop.

When we stop... we forget that waves will once again come rushing at us like the waves unleashed in a hurricane. Writing is in us and it calls to us, so why not give in and be led by the sights and sounds of your world.

Get some Sense!

Creating a world that is richly laced with the senses is what your reader wants. Have you ever read a story with none of the senses used? I bet it was a pretty boring story, eh? Senses bring your story to life in ways generic writing never will.

When we talk, we use our senses don’t we? When we communicate what we saw today, or heard on the radio, or ate for lunch etc. etc., we use our senses also. So why when you write wouldn't you want to leave the reader with a rich frothy taste in his mouth and weave your images into his mind like a finely crocheted afghan?

The best lesson I learned in writing was making use of the senses. It livened up my work like a fourth of July fireworks display and made my words dance to their own lively tune. This is what I want YOU to accomplish in YOUR writing.

When I was young, I remember my mother telling me to, "Act like you have some sense." If she only knew, I write like I have some sense, six of them to be exact.

Senses ~ Sight, sound, smell, touch, taste, and the unknown.

Sight ~ The light shone through the window. The rays danced on the floor. The mountains basked in the glory of the dappling sunshine.

Sound ~ The drumming of my heart was enough to keep me awake. The shrieking car peeled out of the parking lot. The church bells played a somber tune.

Smell ~ Ahh the fresh aroma of newly cut grass. The scent of grandma’s apple pie wafting through the open window has me wanting some. The tang of vinegar tickled my nose.

Touch ~ The hairbrush was rough on my scalp. The stucco wall left dimples in my hands when I fell into it. The cars hood was scorching hot!

Taste ~ The dill pickle was bitter after eating pretzels. The lemonade was sweet to my tongue’s palette. Grandma’s apple pie tasted delicious after it finally cooled down.

The Unknown ~ I wonder if the sun always does a pirouette across the waves? I’m wondering if Grandma is thinking about me up there in heaven.

The unknown is the tricky sense that we use to bring home our thoughts. The unknown can be as exciting as the rest of the senses if used wisely. Use it in your writing so the reader can touch base with you, the narrator. It gives the reader a glimpse into your thoughts.

Can you see what is in front of you right now? On your desk?

Can you smell the pans that you left on the stove from tonight’s dinner? Old coffee sitting in the coffeepot?

Can you taste the leftover spaghetti in your throat? A lit match might leave a sulfuric taste.

Can you hear your computer humming? A fire engine racing by?

Can you feel the stiffness of your chair and how it is making your butt hurt?

Do you ever wonder what it would be like if you won a million dollars? Can you imagine what life is like on other planets?

Bring it home for me. Take advantage of the six senses in your writing. Make your writing jump out and speak to me. Go ahead, I know you can do it.