Write Stuff Wednesday on Saturday

My internet was acting like a spoiled child refusing to do what it was asked to do this week. Due to it’s stubbornness, I was unable to post on Wednesday. So, instead of a book review today I’m going to post the Write Stuff Wednesday I wrote on Wednesday. I hope you enjoy it!

“Every scene should be able to answer three questions: Who wants what from whom? What happens if they don’t get it? Why now?” – David Mamet

I finally finished my first book, Faith’s Journey, and I turned it over to our local writer’s group to proof read and edit it. I wanted my story as polished as it could be before sending it out to agents and publishers. What came back was unanimous.

“You need to do something about chapters 4 and 5.” But I needed those chapters. They gave some very crucial information and helped explain the tension in Katie’s relationship with her father and mother. I made some very minor changes and sent the book out. When I received the contract for Faith’s Journey and the subsequent revisions, I was ecstatic finding relatively little that needed major rewrites.  I had a scene that, due to preferences of the publisher, needed a new setting.  But I also had two chapters that either needed cut or combined.

You guessed it. Chapters 4 and 5 came back to haunt me. I still felt the information was crucial, but I needed to honor the publisher’s revision request. The challenge would be to save the information and step up the action. How could I get the same details into the reader’s mind in less time and make all of it more active?

It made me consider more deeply the why behind the backstory. It made me consider my characters’ motivations and what events could help show them to the reader. The need to revise ended up making my writing tighter. I was able to put in more action to show the same themes the back story had originally told. In the end, it made Faith’s Journey a stronger story when I went back and analyzed those scenes with a more critical eye.  If only I’d listened when my writer’s group suggested the same thing!

I think there are times I’m guilty of doing the same thing in my daily life. I want to live the life God would have me live, but I sometimes I fail to dig deep enough into the scriptures to get to the whys. If others were to question me, my only answer would be because of my faith. That’s good enough for most things, but when someone is struggling to believe. Because God said seems a little bit like back story without getting to the real reason behind it, and backstory doesn’t help answer their doubts. 1 Peter 3:15 says, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear”.

I’m supposed to sanctify God in my heart. I’m supposed to set Him apart from everything else in my life as the One who is holy and worthy. If I’m doing that, I’m going to give Him and His word the time and attention their position deserves. I’m going to spend time getting to know Him personally. And when I’ve taken the time to really get to know God, I will be able to answer those with questions and doubts with passion, truth, and an understanding of why I’m doing what I’m doing. When I take time to understand God’s word more deeply, I live it more honestly and consistently. I move beyond telling the world about my faith and into showing them it in a life changing way.

By the Book: Do you spend more time telling your faith or showing it? Have you seen a correlation between the time you spend getting to know God through His word and your ability to fully live His truth in your life?