Monday Musings with Rachelle
Man’s rise or fall, success or failure, happiness or unhappiness depends on his attitude…a man’s attitude will create the situation he imagines.
–James Lane Allen
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Writing From Your Inner Truth
Article for Writers:
The talented writer, Angela Morrison, has written a guest post on a fabulous topic that I’m excited to share with you. Read on:
Jane Yolen tells writers that if their stories lack “that bit of inner truth” their fiction will be like “rags on a stick masquerading as a living thing (“Touch Magic,” in Literature of Childhood, p. 24). When I tried to take Yolen’s advice, making Leesie, a faithful LDS farm girl the heroine of TAKEN BY STORM, I found myself making huge errors that wrecked my story. I didn’t want rags on a stick, but I didn’t want to be accused of proselytizing or didacticism, either. When I tried to write about my inner truth for a broad audience that didn’t necessarily share those beliefs,
I struggled so much that I devoted my MFA critical thesis to researching how other authors created award-winning fiction from their inner truths.
I found loads and loads of great material, but I boiled it down to looking at Katherine Paterson (Bridge to Terebithia, Jacob have I Loved), who spent her formative childhood years as a missionary’s daughter in China, is married to a Presbyterian minister, and has advanced degrees in divinity. She won the Newberry twice and so many other awards I lose track. And I love her novels. If you haven’t read Of Nightingales that Weep, put it on your TBR right away. Her first publications were for Sunday School curriculum. Her example and advice proved invaluable.
She made the issue of didacticism easy to understand. Katherine explains that story has always been an effective way to teach religious doctrine. Parables–modern and ancient–are masterful tools. But, stories designed to teach a certain principle will have little to say outside a writer’s faith community. If you want to write to a broader audience, you need to approach your work differently. She says that if we start with the ANSWERS, we’re writing propaganda. Paterson doesn’t condemn propaganda–it has its place–but if you want to write fiction, you must begin what QUESTIONS. (See “The Spiritual Reading Life of Children,” US Catholic, April 2001 and Terebithia,com, “Questions” 2.)
ANSWERS equal propaganda. QUESTIONS yield fiction.
I learned to eradicate from my brain statements like,
“I’m writing this book for . . . ,”
“My novel will show . . . ,”
“The message I want this book to impart is . . . ” or
“The theme of my books is . . . ”
Sam Goldwyn quipped messages are for telegrams–and we could add, Sunday School lessons. This was a big challenge because I’ve spent my life devoted to and blessed by the ANSWERS my inner truth is built on.
I learned to replace ANSWERS with QUESTIONS.
“What if?”
“What would happen next?”
“How would he feel if that happened?”
“Then what would she do?”
Using story questions revolutionized how I write. They freed me to give Leesie flaws and allow her to make lots of mistakes. They helped me dig deep into her emotional world and follow her and Michael rather than dictate to them. They helped me balance how much religious detail and experience I needed to include to effectively illustrate Leesie’s story. They led me to writing as authentically and honestly as I could about truths that are precious, even sacred, to me.
Katherine Paterson taught me not to settle for creating effective propaganda. She inspired me to reach for fiction that functions as art. I want to leave you with one of my favorite Paterson quotes:
“Are you afraid that deep down inside you are really shallow? That when you take that dark voyage deep within yourself, you will find no treasure to share? Trust me. There is. Don’t let your fear stop you. . . . Like a child, pour out what is inside you, not listening to anything but the stream of life within you.” (“The Journey Inward,” The Writer, August 1995.)
See why I love her so much? Your inner truth–whatever form or shape it takes–is not rags on a stick. It’s a rich treasure that will invest your stories with power to move and touch people in ways propaganda can’t come close to.
For a more in depth post on inner truth, please visit “From Faith to Fiction,” on my liv2writ blog on my website.
You can find more about Angela’s books and her website here http://web.me.com/angelamorrison/Angela_Morrison/Welcome.html
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Book Review: My Fair Gentleman by Nancy Campbell Allen
Book Thoughts by Rachelle
The characters of Ivy and Jack were equally developed and entertaining. I loved reading from each of their perspectives. The Regency era had so many rules and made it so difficult for people to make “love matches” so Ivy had resigned herself to an arranged marriage of sorts. It was wonderful to see how the romance developed and how she worked so hard to keep herself from falling in love with Jack, the roguish sailor turned earl.
The surprising twists, turns, accidents, and betrayals in this story, made it a very fast read. I’m sure if you’re lucky enough to snag an afternoon of reading that you’ll devour this book!
I hope that Allen will write another story that explores more of Jack’s sister, Sophia as her character was wonderfully developed as well and I would like to see what happens with her future.
Here’s more about the book:
Jack would rather be at sea than fixing the mistakes of his grandfather, the late Earl of Stansworth. Instead, he finds that inheriting his grandfather’s wealth and title and securing the welfare of his sister and mother means joining the ranks of high society and living with the aristocracy. Luckily, Ivy Carslisle, the granddaughter of a dear friend of Jack’s late grandmother, is willing to teach him etiquette and properly introduce him into society. Jack soon learns that his challenge isn’t surviving his new lifestyle but surviving the conspiracies against him as well as keeping himself from falling madly in love with his new tutor.
Other books you may enjoy:
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Monday Musings #4
Monday Musings with Rachelle
He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love.
–Martin Luther King Jr.
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Daily Kick in the Pants
Writing Tips by Rachelle:
Today I’m giving you a writing quote from Dave Farland
In speaking about the complexity of getting your novel the right length so that it is appealing to your publisher, booksellers, AND your audience, Dave said:
“What is an author to do?
There may be a compromise. Instead of writing massive tomes, working on endless descriptions, what if you instead wrote more “deeply”? What if you spent time considering how your setting would affect your characters, changing the way that they acted, felt, thought, and spoke? Could you immerse your reader into your fictive universe more deeply by making it a goal to do so in every paragraph, every sentence?
Think of your story as a chocolate cake. One way to sate the appetite of a fan might be to make a HUGE cake. But instead of making your cake larger, could you make it richer and more delicious?
Think about that today, as you work on your latest work, whatever it may be.”
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10 Tips for Being a Successful Socialite
Rachelle’s Life Tips
We’re all different with varied interests, but no matter what our job or our interests, we use social skills every day. I hope some of these tips will help you to enjoy life even more, because nearly everything we do in life has some aspect of social abilities intertwined.
Here’s 10 tips for being a successful socialite.
1. Be a great conversationalist. Don’t just talk about yourself, ask questions about others too. When you’re bursting to share a story or news, remember not to interrupt. Americans interrupt a lot with people we’re comfortable with and generally when we’re excited about our conversation, the volume gets louder and louder. In fact, when I traveled to England for a study abroad, the teachers reminded us not to talk too loud.
2. Be an attentive listener. This means really listening to what the person is saying instead of thinking about what you are going to say next. Remember to be polite and take time to acknowledge and digest what the person has said.
3. Find common ground to discuss. Once in a while, we all have to spend a little time talking with someone who we may think we have nothing in common with or maybe the person always talks about the same thing (which might be something we have absolutely no interest in). We can either begrudge this opportunity or we can find something to discuss. I love to read and what I’ve noticed is that even if someone is not an avid reader, they can still take part in a discussion on a favorite book they have read or how a work of literature has impacted them. Try it sometime, you might be surprised and this technique can also spare you from discussing unpleasant subjects.
4. Enjoy the variety of life. Realize there is so much more to life than what you personally have experienced. Maybe I don’t know anything about golf, but I can still share a conversation with someone who is passionate about it. This is one of the ways we learn, by listening to others.
5. Have an opinion but don’t be opinionated. You’ve met people like this before, right? They might be okay to talk to, but they are so overbearing when it comes to their opinions, you’d rather steer clear of them. It’s okay to have an opinion or different point of view, but it’s not okay to force-feed your views on others.
6. Laugh. Don’t take yourself too seriously, or others for that matter. Most of the nerves that people feel which make them slip up and say silly things are because they are taking the situation too seriously. Lighten up and remember, we’re all human.
7. Let go of negative self-fulfilling prophecies. So your social experiences don’t always go as planned? Don’t talk down to yourself, saying things like: “I’m shy.” “I’m too nervous to talk to her.” “My words always get jumbled up and I sound like an idiot.” Your brain hears these statements and believes them and your sub-conscious works to make sure they’re true.
Instead, give yourself a positive dose of self-talk. “I’m confident and can carry on a conversation with ease.” “I can talk to anyone and feel comfortable.” Really believe that today is the day to change yourself and your expectations for yourself. *This works for any life situation, not just social aspects.
8. Learn more about something that someone else loves. My husband loves football and I really don’t, but I know enough about the game and the players in the NFL that I was able to attend a Green Bay Packers game with him and have an awesome time! It really was a great experience and if I’d had a different attitude or hadn’t made an effort to learn about something he loved, I would’ve missed out. It really doesn’t take that much effort to learn enough about something to carry on a conversation with someone you care about (unless it’s my rocket-scientist brother—that takes a little more studying).
9. Be Positive. What are the attributes of that person that everyone always wants to talk to? Do you want to be around someone who is always negative and constantly complains? Me neither—so make sure you’re not that person. Think of the personality traits you admire in others and develop them in yourself.
10. Smile. Every social interaction can benefit from the light of a smile.
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