“The only book that should ever be written is one that flows up from the heart” ~ A. W. Tozer

Author BJ Hoff at Grace Notes inspires me again:

“If you want to build a strong, loyal readership who will follow you across the years, don’t be afraid to open that proverbial vein and allow yourself to bleed on the pages of your work. Build for your readers a world in which they can lose themselves, at least temporarily, with characters they can’t forget—characters with whom they will laugh and cry, characters they can care deeply about. Rather than writing to please the market or the critics or the award events, write to share your heart with the hearts of your readers.

Too many novels score high for technical excellence but lack real passion. We read ‘em, yawn, and move on to the next one. Honestly, how many times have you started a book only to shelve it later out of sheer boredom? For all its literary excellence (and glowing reviews), it just doesn’t captivate. The flip side of this frustration is the growing fear that our own stories will fall flat. In striving for prose that sings, have we forgotten the more important ingredient?

BJ Hoff read my mind. The missing ingredient is passion. Here’s some writerly advice to take to heart:

“Give them stories they’ll keep as treasures, stories they’ll take down from the shelves in another twenty years and find the same magic, the same heart they discovered the first time through. Write your heart out.”

Her entire editorial (and blog) will bless you. Check out the wisdom of Grace Notes here.

Her book defined my heart-felt need to write. Like many of you, I completely identified with Jo March in Little Women:

“I’m so fond of writing, I should go spinning on forever if motives of economy didn’t stop me.” ~ Jo March

* * *

“You can do better than this, Jo. Aim at the highest, and never mind the money.” ~ Mr. March, Jo’s father

* * *

“Why don’t you write? That always used to make you happy,” said her mother once, when the desponding fit overshadowed Jo.

“I’ve no heart to write, and if I had, nobody cares for my things.”

“We do. Write something for us, and never mind the rest of the world. Try it, dear, I’m sure it would do you good, and please us very much.”

Ah, and this part:

“I don’t understand it. What can there be in a simple little story like that to make people praise it so? she said, quite bewildered.”

“There is truth in it, Jo, that’s the secret; humor and pathos make it alive, and you have found your style at last. You wrote with no thought of fame or money, and put your heart into it, my daughter; you have had the bitter, now comes the sweet. Do your best, and grow as happy as we are in your success.”

So there you have it! The inspiration of my youth.

Some nuggets for you today from Louise DeSalvo’s Writing As a Way of Healing:

“Creative people engage in creative activities regularly. They organize their lives to enable them to practice their art or craft or skill. They safeguard their solitary time.”

“Creative people find emotional support to do their work. They cultivate creative friends.”

“Creative people give up something (often something inconsequential that contributes nothing to the quality of their lives or perhaps even detracts from it, but sometimes something significant) to enable their work to proceed.”

Have we learned to live in a way that nurtures our writing? Share what you do. One thing that helps me is to write each day, no matter how I’m feeling. I have also given up TV time in order to write more.

Okay, step up to the challenge and don’t be shy!

Announcing the Carnival of Christian Writers June Edition, so grab your cyber-ticket and enjoy the ride:

June Carnival of Christian Writers
and
Lessons Learned from Ruth Graham

“If you can honestly say that your heart is centered on God and that you are willing to work hard to perfect your skills, then you are ready to consider writing. But a word of caution: No book can tell you how much writing God wants you to do and no book can do the hard, practical work for you.” ~ Bodie & Brock Thoene, authors of Writer to Writer

Writing for publication can be fun and rewarding, but sometimes it’s neither, the Thoenes remind us. No kidding. And yet we persevere inspite of personal difficulties, unsupportive friends, low book sales, and emotional fatigue. We write because God has branded our hearts.

Don’t forget: What He calls us to do, He also enables. Let’s keep our hearts centered on Him.

“If a book comes from the heart, it will continue to reach other hearts; all art and author-craft are of small amount to that.” ~ Thomas Carlyle

“If God is calling you to be a writer, then He will lead you from this point on. And you will soon discover that He has known all along that you’d have this desire and has been building into your life a whole set of unique events from which you’ll be able to draw your own one-of-a-kind perspective.” ~ Bodie & Brock Thoene, from Writer to Writer

Some inspiration from quirky Anne Lamott:

“You wouldn’t be a writer if reading hadn’t enriched your soul more than other pursuits.”

“But so many of us can be soothed by writing: think of how many times you have opened a book, read one line, and said, “Yes!” And I want to give people that feeling, too, of connection, communion.”

“So much of writing is about sitting down and doing it every day, and so much of it is about getting into the custom of taking in everything that comes along, seeing it all as grist for the mill.”

“If you are a writer, or want to be a writer, this is how you spend your days—listening, observing, storing things away, making your isolation pay off. You take home all you’ve taken in, all that you’ve overheard, and you turn it into gold. (Or at least you try)”

* Addendum: I’ve recently discovered that much of Lamott’s writings tend to hurt the name of Christ. Not sure what her appeal could be, outside of practical writing helps and tips. She certainly does not represent my brand of faith or politics.

“I know that the life I ought to live includes books, and for me that has meant both reading and writing. It’s where I find joy. That is, it’s one of my places where I connect with God. When I read something profound or well written, it’s like a worship experience.” – Keri Wyatt Kent, Listen: Finding God in the Story of Your Life

Just a little while ago, before our household became grand central station for wedding preparations, Light for the Writer’s Soul received a sweet little honor called The Thinking Blogger Award. Thank you kindly. It’s high time I mentioned five of my own handpicked favorites, although I daresay there are many rich and wonderful blogs out there. Enjoy these, and pass the recognition along:

Amy Wallace
Peek-A-Boo ICU

Ann Voskamp
Holy Experience of Listening

Tim Challies
Challies.com

Carole McCulley - Solo Femininity
Solo Femininity