Poetry Sunday - My Gift To You

John 14:10 “Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.”

My Gift To You

God asked me to use the talents

That He had blessed me with

The sharing of the Word I hear

The truth and not a myth.

I sent the Word into the world

A message delivered to me

It was a ripple on the lake

For all the world to see.

The words they entered in my ear

And out of my fingers bled

My gift of writing words to you

Is where my soul was led.

God was pleased when he saw

My talent not gone to waste

The gentle words about His Son

I fed the world a taste.

Some people sit idly by

Saving their earthly treasures

Their talents, gifts and so much more

With all their worldly pleasures.

Rise up you sleeping people

For the new world that awaits

The life that’s left behind you

As you enter heaven’s gates.

Are you using your talent?

Matt. 8: 4 And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.

Are you using your talent to glorify God? This was a question posed to us by Pastor Tim this Sunday. Yes we have three: Pastor Mike, Kevin, and Tim. This week it was Pastor Tim.

He asked us if we were using our talents to glorify God. It had me thinking about the change in my blog when I went from a writing blog, to my God given talent of a poetry blog.

This blog was focused on writing and the craft of writing and along with it the life of a writer. Was it for God or for me? Honestly, it was for me AND the writers out there. Is it what God wanted? I can once again say honestly, no, it is what I wanted!

God placed on my heart the change and it was up to me to see it through. (God does that, gives us free will so we HAVE to make a CHOICE.) I decided I was going to make the change to poetry (my God given talent) but not just ANY poetry, didactic rhyming  poetry, as my brother once called it. Didactic poetry is poetry with a message. That was me, my poetry always has a message for my reader.

Would it be received? Would my writer friends like the change or would it fall on deaf ears? Sure those thoughts crossed my mind, but I gave it up to God to let Him be the judge, not people. As of this posting, my stats are up! I went from maybe 10 –12 hits a day to 20 sometimes 40 hits or more and rising!

Maybe God was telling me something. Sure the people wanted writing knowledge but more than they knew, they also wanted God knowledge. A testimony of this God I speak of; where my devotion comes from and how do they get it.

Guess what people, It’s FREE!

God is always there, free to you and even to the non-believers, he’s there giving answers to all of your, “Why did he kill all those kids?” “Why did he take my mother/father/child grandmother away?” “Why? Why? Why?” He uses people like me who are devoted to Him to bring you a message that you might otherwise never hear, and maybe NEED to hear at the time you click on my blog.

My God given talent is poetry. Do I worry that I’m shunning my writing friends? Not at all. They’ve come to know me over the years and always saw God in my life so they probably knew at some time I’d have a God based blog.

So in answer to Pastor Tim: Are you using your God given talent? Yes sir, I am!

Prov. 17: 8 A gift is as a precious stone in the eyes of him that hath it: whithersoever it turneth, it prospereth.

A World of Words

World of Words

In this world we fight between good and evil. In this universe we have light and dark. In writing we relish the world of words.

Have you ever tried de-cluttering your writing world? I mean, taking words out of a piece of work to make it a tighter paragraph? I’m often called a drama queen and don’t worry, I don’t get offended because I know it means that I drive home a point. Whether in words verbally or written words, I drive a stake in the heart of the reader so they get the emotional gut wrenching point I’m trying to make.

I’m often telling writers to ‘tighten their work’ but by that I mean take out all the unnecessary words that I, and other writers call, fillers. I remember reading a friends work, and I told her, you have too many ‘ands’ in a single paragraph. She removed them, then showed her ‘editor’ the work and the editor told her the ‘ands’ worked.

To ME, the filler words bogged the story down, had me skipping through it like stones on water where I basically skimmed the story never really finding interest. She eventually went on to get the story published. I’ve never read the finished work, and I hope she is doing well in selling the book.

This is where I found myself less and less interested in writing. I was being asked my honest opinion, but no one really wanted it and didn’t like what I had to say. So why ask an opinion to begin with? Sure that extra set of eyes gives light to what you need to fix and work on, but if you’re going to shrug it off and think the person is wrong, then don’t ask. Find someone more trusting and stroking then I because I’m not going to stroke your ego, I’m going to be truthful and honest.

People read my work and are truthful and honest, sometimes even harsh but a lot of the times they were doing the butterfly stroke (easy) when I needed them to do a harder backstroke.

This is a world of words out here. I/we write. Let’s keep in mind that extra baggage in your writing is no different than a clutter-filled closet! It and your writing needs to be cleaned up and de-cluttered. This week’s posts was all about cleansing your spirit, cleaning up your environment and now de-cluttering your work.

Here are some tips in freeing your work so the sun can shine through the filtered words.

1. Take out a lot of the adverbs. I’m sure there is a more solid word for all those –ly words and such. If you absolutely need the word, then keep it, it might mean that it is a needed word.

2. AND makes a sentence run on and on. Use the comma, periods and semi-colons. They are there for a reason. If the word ‘and’ is a necessity, then keep the word, but don’t make run on sentences what your work is all about.

3. BUT is another overused word. I find myself using it a bit too much and am working on eliminating it from many sentences. Again, see words that are over used and eliminate them.

4. Use a thesaurus regularly! This is a must have in your writing arsenal. Most of the time an overused word can be repeated with a similar word found in the thesaurus. There is no need to repeat the same exact word over and over as long as you have a thesaurus.

5. De-clutter your writing. I can’t say it enough that cleaning up your work, tightening the paragraphs, cleaning up your workspace, cleansing your spirit all go hand in hand in the World of Words, remember that.

Writing: Talent or a Learned Skill?

And this, our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything.

~William Shakespeare

Well this turned into an interesting discussion in a writer's forum.

Is writing learned or an inherent trait (talent)?


P. said: "I suggest the answer is "yes and no". I don't accept that the skill is innate. It is an art, and like any other form of expression, has to be learned. No one can be a good writer without learning the craft, but one can have the mechanical skills and still not be a good writer. But we have to try."

How many of you agree with this?

I personally don’t feel you can force yourself to learn how to write skillfully. Sure you can learn the skills, you can learn until your face turns blue, but to carefully and skillfully pull off a tale of art? Can you learn that?

R. said: “Writing is an art and, as such, it can be improved. Practice without talent won't work, however, since you have to have a minimum of culture and preparation to write something that makes sense.”

B. wrote: “You have to want to be creative and have a love for the writen word. That's the talent part. The learned part is pracitce, practice - write, write, write, read, read, read and always invite and accept constructive criticism.”

I like B.’s response. A talent innately, but it falls on wood and not paper if you don’t practice writing itself, read a lot of books, and be strong enough (criticism) to be told your work stinks! Just like a musician. He may have the talent to play an instrument, but if he never plays, will his talent heighten or lessen?

This response was almost comical in my eyes from M.: “It would be very difficult to determine, because an infant cannot contribute in words or writing, we must assume it is a learned ability, but by that I would shy away from a person's ability to gain that skill without being prone to do that. Because the experiences in a toddler's life are not related very well, but early impressions may influence a later leaning toward writing.”

This person must not of had kids for he could not witness the intelligence that newborns exhibit! Yeah, it was ‘impressioned’ upon me to be a left-handed person. I mean really? Listen to this; All (three) of the J’s out of six kids are left handed in my family. Each one of us has excellent cursive writing, drawing abilities, and we can write very well, as writers. They didn’t pursue a writing career and only I showed an interest in becoming a writer, but it was not impressed upon me from any form of well-bred functional familial upbringing. I just knew, innately, that writing was within me, and have been writing poetry since I can remember!

I like this woman M.’s response: “Intriguing question and intriguing answers! I lean towards those who say "both," but also believe that without a spark -- elusive and wondrous -- neither talent nor training produces good writing.”

So that sums it up for us, ladies and gentlemen. It is a talent, when nurtured, can become a great tool in your path of pursuing your writing dream.

One final comment from K.: I dreamed of being a writer since the first grade. The desire to write has driven me to aquire the skills needed to achieve my dream. A person can learn new skills, but I believe we're born with the determination and passion that drives us.

Born with the determination that drives us. So all in all… if you’re choosing writing, be determined and the dirt road will become a yellow brick road that you can follow all the way to successville!

Why Write?

In today’s world, many people seek so many different things and I think this is why chaos ensues. Many of those people who cross my path (in the writing community) have had college degrees, good paying jobs, money out the gazoo, and yet here they are, coming to writing after retiring or just tiring of not being fulfilled in their dream.

They have always wanted to be a writer, felt the calling, have written since they were kids, but never really pursued a writing career. Then there are those people who like writing and dive into wanting to become a writer and try their little hearts out, studying, learning, blooming and growing, often times getting discouraged because they don’t see any results.

I write to inform, touch people,  raise awareness, or to offer something to this chaotic society. Writing isn’t all about fictional tales, horror stories, or tell-all non-fictional tales; writing is a form of release. I write to heal myself. After going to a ‘doctor’ who is really a Nurse Practitioner allowed to run a small office in a small town, I realized that sometimes we need healing that they can not offer. I was sent for x-rays, have gotten no results and it has been two weeks, not one call. Whereas I went to the dentist, got some relatively not great news, and when I got home, the dentist called to see if I was okay!

Amazing.

We live in a world where technology has made enormous advances, yet I am left in pain because the NP is not concerned with me and my health. This saddens me, but not enough to give up writing. I have to give up mentoring because at this point, I need to focus on me. I have many friends living with daily pain and now I am among the crowd who endures. No medical coverage, I too endure.

So why does one write? Why would I continue to write if I am going nowhere in my career choice? Because besides my Lord and Savior, my writing is my healer. It is my safety net, my blanket that keeps me warm on these bitter cold days. If I focus on a topic, I can belt out a good 1500 to 2500 words a day AND get my mundane chores around the house done. Although, in previous weeks, my mundane chores have taken a backseat, and just breathing is a welcome relief.

This year has been one of the strangest years I’ve lived. Miracles have taken place in my life, pain has surfaced, but also therein lies an utter joy and happiness and I find it in my writing. Whether a poem, a blog post, or encouraging another writer to be their best, the writing gift that I hold in me, is a blessing that I must share with others.

Why do I write? It is a God given talent, if I didn’t write, then my talent is empty and wasted.

Blog Blog Blog

Matt. 19:26 But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.
***

Well it has been a week or so since I’ve really blogged. I keep up on my Quotation Saturday and Poetry Sunday though so you all have something to come here and visit me for.

You might ask, “What have you been doing? How are you?” Well, let me tell you, I’ve been doing a lot of running around, getting Adam ready for his first day of school. Literally, his first day of school. He’s been home-schooled, and he wanted this, so as any good mom, we always give them what they want.

He’s gotten all of his shots, been to the dentist, been to the eye doctor (he now wears glasses) been to register for school and in between all that I’ve been mentoring at F2K Free Writing Course. And I’m on the ball, so my blog got a little left behind.

I did receive this in the mail Wednesday during all my busy-ness. I stop and check my mail and thought I’d share with you, my readers, my fans.

During the month of July, the International Blogging Recognition Council (IBRC) had the pleasure of reviewing your blog One Voice, A writers blog.  Your blog was referred to IBRC through our Refer-A-Blog program.  "Quotation Saturday" was the topic that the Council reviewed. Based on the review, the Council has recommended that your blog receive IBRC’s designation of “Recognized Blog”.  IBRC reserves this honor to those blogs that effectively connects with the audience and promotes the sharing of ideas and experiences.


Did I get a certificate of accomplishment? Did I get a Medal of Honor? A button to place on my wall to show my excellency? No, I got recognition of my hard work by someone other than Adam and Steven. I have a lot of my friends support, but sometimes this blogging business feels all in vain. “Who’s reading, Who’s commenting, What is the purpose of all this?”

I had been questioning where to go next. Get a job when Adam starts school or continue writing and pounding the streets of the Internet and submitting until my fingers bleed? Well I think this in some way helped me with my decision. God had said to “continue with the TALENT that I gifted you with.”

That’s easy for Him to say. We need money! And my writing is not paying any dividends. BUT here’s the clincher, do immediate rewards from a paying job satisfy the very soul that you live and breathe to nourish? No, it doesn’t. People will and always have said, “But it doesn’t pay the bills.”

And my response, “Are ye of little faith?” God has provided for me for well over thirty years now, am I supposed to do what ‘people’ say, now? I don’t think so. With God all things are possible and sorry to dampen your spirits ‘people’ but I TRUST God more than I trust you and your opinion.

Let go and Let God. I live God, I don’t just believe. :) godspeed to you all.