I love research yes I do…

I love research, how about you?

Okay, I admit it. I was a cheerleader for a while. But not because I could do the splits or do a cartwheel very well. I was just tall – for my age. And it was a small school and there were only three girls on the varsity cheerleading squad, and you get the idea.

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Anyway, I’m not writing this month about cheerleading (although I can get happy enough to cheer when I think about this). I am writing about RESEARCH. Research is awesome. I’m kind of hearing “Everything is awesome” from the LEGO movie in the back of my mind right now. Because, for me, everything is awesome when I have something to research.

When a writer researches something she is like Indiana Jones exploring ancient places seeking out a highly valuable bit of a civilization long forgotten “that belongs in a museum!” Only instead of tucking away the highly valuable bit (what she learns) in the back corner of a museum or in a stenciled box at Area 51, she shares it through “story.” And while Indy’s whip and right cross are pretty impressive, “story” has got to be one of the most powerful tools given to humankind.

And what, at least in part, makes “story” so powerful? Research! It is through proper research that readers aren’t sucked out of the world created by the writer. Everything lines up. There aren’t little discrepancies that make the reader halt and say, “Wait a minute. Is that right? I thought…” Yes, it’s all achieved through research, lovely research.

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What doesn’t help my personal obsession for research is the fact that I work in a university library. It’s a little cruel, actually. All those books about every conceivable subject, every time period known to man, from every country in the world just a few steps away. I think God’s trying to teach me something. I think it’s working, maybe, this week. But that’s not the point!

The point is that research well done is important for a believable story. I have to pray a lot while I’m researching because it’s so easy for me be lose myself in all of the information. It’s fascinating to me. Probably how a moth regards the open flame of a taper candle. With God’s help, though, I get what I need and I am safely drawn back out of the sea of facts to write the story He has placed on my heart.

If you’re reading this, you’re probably a writer. And if you’re a writer, I just imagine you have some inkling of what I’m talking about. But if you’re a writer who struggles with research and doesn’t find it as awesome as I do, be encouraged. God will equip you with everything you need to walk in the purpose He has for your life. He promised, and He doesn't lie.

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Humbly submitted by H.T. Lord

Freedom: my second favorite reason to write

My second favorite thing about writing is the freedom. 



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Maybe freedom is the wrong word. I think what I like is the control. The freedom to be in control, maybe? There is so much in my life over which I have little to no control. It’s just plain fun to dig into the adventures of someone else, even if it is someone I made up.

When it comes to my stories I have complete control. I have control of my characters’ actions, their words and what happens to them in the end. In my stories I can always have the bad guy get his or her comeuppance, as it should be.

I can even control the kind of world they live in. If I want a world with purple cows that produce green milk that tastes like cherries, I can do that. Although I don’t think I ever would. That’s very strange, even for me.

Anyway, I think I’ve made my point – writing gives the writer the freedom to do and create whatever he or she wants. And yet… there are still rules, aren’t there? Without them we wouldn’t know what freedom is or isn’t.

Strangely I don’t find rules constraining in my writing, annoying, yes, but not defeating. I find they make me more creative. Without something to overcome, there is no opportunity to become stronger. It’s in the conflict that we find the story, whether it’s ours or a character’s that we have created.

It kind of sounds like I’m confident in myself and my ability as a writer, a creator, but I’m not really. It is only in Jesus that I am truly confident, and for that matter, free. In Christ, I am free from the fears and insecurities that would prevent me from even trying to write. Without Him I can do nothing. With Him I am free to be all He made me to be, and so are you. How cool is that?

Humbly submitted by H.T. Lord

A few of my favorite things… about writing

I thought I wind down 2014 by talking about four of my favorite things about writing:

1.       Closeness

2.       Freedom

3.       Research

4.       Sharing

My absolute, number one, most favorite thing about writing is how close it brings me to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It sounds strange but in a way, writing is an act of worship for me. There are times when it almost feels like He’s sitting beside me, and in those times my writing shows it.

Being creative with THE Creator is mind blowing, isn’t it? And the idea that He also wants to be creative with me is almost too much to take in. But the fact remains that God did not withhold even His son to make a way for us to have a relationship. Don’t even think He hasn’t done that for you, too, because He has. He has given the gift of Himself to all of us, all of us who will turn away from sin and receive Him instead.

So, yeah, writing is one of the ways I connect with God. No matter how I try, I cannot separate my spiritual journey from my journey as a writer. They are so intricately woven together they can’t be considered two different things.  One feeds off the other and vice versa.

I have around nine or so stories bouncing around in my head at any given time, and half of them were inspired by scripture and/or while I was at church worshipping or listening to a sermon. Of course, my listening pretty much stops until I can find a piece of paper to write down what just popped into my head.

Once I actually caught myself shushing my pastor during service because his incessant talking was interrupting my train of thought.  I know. I’m terrible. But I get so inspired in God’s presence, and if I don’t write it down I forget. Our youngest daughter has autism and I’m constantly shushing her during service so as far as anyone around us was concerned, things were just status quo, unless, of course, they read this blog entry.

The Book of James, chapter 4, verse 8a says, “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.” It is clearly to my advantage, and to future readers of my stories, that I draw near to God when I settle down to write. It is also my preference for I am fully aware that I do nothing very well without Him. But with Him, all things are possible.

Humbly submitted by H.T. Lord
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The Initials Have It

I was so glad Joe Allison wrote about Gilbert Morris on the Hoosier Ink blog earlier this month. I really like Gilbert Morris. I read the first 12 books of his House of Winslow series. I lost count after that because I started college, moved away from home, etc.

It was Rev. Morris who introduced me to phrases like “thick slices of homemade bread” coupled with “strong coffee” and good men who had “vice-like grips.” I remember noticing how important simple, but good, food was to his characters – especially male characters. I know women authors include food in their stories, but it’s treated differently in stories written by the opposite gender. Which leads me to a couple of male authors who also featured food in key parts of their stories – J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis.

If you have read anything I’ve written for the blog so far, it will not surprise you that I favor these two gentlemen, and their stories. I love the worlds they created and truths they imparted through characters who have never been, some that could never be, but seem as real as your next door neighbor (probably more so).

So how’d they do it? As a writer, I want to know. I, too, want to produce worlds and characters that are so real to readers they may even dare to believe the truth woven through out them. THE truth. The truth that will set them free from sin and death, and give them life they didn’t know exists, a life eternal in harmony with their Creator.

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I’m sorry, but to a mind that does not know Jesus, this is fantasy. THE truth sounds like outrageous fantasy. And this is, in part, why I believe fantasy is the perfect vehicle to show the truth of the Gospel. As it turns out, I’m not alone.

I stumbled over a book in the library where I work called War of the Fantasy Worlds C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien on Art and Imagination by Martha C. Sammons. I wasn’t able to spend as much time with it as I would like. I hope I can in the future. What I did find so interesting about Sammons book is that she explores how Lewis and Tolkien met, how they worked, what their processes were as writers, their definitions of fairy tales, creativity, imagination, just to name a few things. If you would like to get to know the men as authors, this is one way.

If you didn’t already know, Tolkien was Catholic and Lewis was Anglican. Both were believers. Just as they chose different ways to worship God, they also had very different ways to express their faith in Him, as their stories attest.

As I see it, Tolkien’s “Hobbit” and “Lord of the Rings” series are rich with spiritual truths (truths I thoroughly enjoy gleaning every time I “visit” Middle-earth) while Lewis on the other hand like to write allegories, specifically the Chronicles of Narnia. If you are familiar with the Bible, you know who Aslan really is. If you’re not, you have been introduced to the lengths God has gone to to reconcile us to Himself.

I’d like to quote a small passage from Sammons’ book from the last section,

“The Great Story of the Gospels, which is both myth and fact, contains all elements of the perfect fairy tale. Each of us is also a character in the Story. In turn, our sub-creative works (a Tolkien phrase) are stories within this Story. Both Tolkien and Lewis mention stories within stories in their novels, reminding readers that they exist outside the work itself but are part of a greater narrative.”

I don’t know that I agree with everything she said, but the more I learn about “story” the more I’m convinced it is God’s favorite way to help us understand who He is and who we are in Him.

Just to set the record straight, while I really like and admire J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, their names have nothing to do with why my pen name also starts with initials. I didn’t even notice that until I started writing this month’s blog. I will say, for the record, that we three do share another favorite author – George MacDonald. I’ll save talking about him for another month.

Humbly submitted by H.T. Lord, hopeful sub-creator of new and fantastical worlds of light and truth

Premise is cool

Off the top of your head, how would you define premise? It’s the thing you hang your story on, right, or is it the heart of the story or is it what happens in your story?

I’ve made a personal breakthrough recently about “premise” that I’m pretty excited about. But before I get to what I’ve learned you should know a little of how I operate as a writer.

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I don’t know if you have read Jeff Gerke’s Plot vs Character or not, but according to that book I’m a plot-firster which means I know what’s going to happen in a story way before I know for whom the story is happening. This tendency, I think, is one of the reasons I have been confusing “premise” with “plot.”

What shed light on the difference for me is a tutorial from Writer’s Digest called “Create an engaging premise in 4 steps” by Lisa Cron. It’s not that what she says is new, per say. All I know is what she talked about clicked with me and for the first time in 25 years I am confident that I will be able to write my story the way it should be written. How about that? And by God’s grace maybe we’ll all get to see it in print someday.

Okay, so what did I learn about “premise” as it relates to a story? And please understand, this is my takeaway, what stood out to me and helped me approach story with a little more balance.

Cron spent the first two-thirds of the tutorial explaining and defining “story” before she even touched premise, but I found I needed the education to help distinguish between plot and premise. What really opened by eyes was her actual definition of “story” and her break down of the parts:

Story is "How what happens affects someone in pursuit of a difficult goal and how they change as a result."

•          The plot - the surface of the story, the events
•          The protagonist
•          The story problem - the simulation
•          This is what the story is really about

Oh, well when you say it like that…

Especially after reading Gerke’s book, I knew I needed to work on character-building and I’m sure it helped lay the foundation for me to fully embrace just how important it is to have fully developed characters – what the story is really about.

Knowing your characters also leads to “premise.” To create a premise, Cron has you answer four questions:

What?    What would happen if...?

Who?    Whose story is it?

Why?    Why will any of what happens matter?

When?    Tick, tick, tick

I’ve always known Who and When, but not really the Why and to my complete surprise I didn’t know What either. Wow! Twenty five years and I didn’t know my What! I was making the “What would happen if…” about a plot point, not my main character. I’m so thankful God doesn’t give up on us.

About “What” Cron stated, “…developing a solid premise, starting with a surprise / something out of the ordinary that implies a problem - before you begin writing, will save you months of rooting around in the plot for your story later.”

In my case, “months” should be changed to “years,” but I digress. I discovered before I could nail down What, I had to work out Why. Why will any of what happens to my girl matter? Reinforced by another good quote from Cron, “It's always the why - the internal story - that drives the plot, not the other way around.”

The last thing I’ll mention that also really helped me is her statement about two things every protagonist enters a story with:

1.         Something they already want really badly
2.         A misbelief they have to overcome to get it

These two things helped me narrow down Why, what’s motivating my girl, and how what happens will affect her.

So that’s what I learned in a nutshell. You probably already knew all this, but I’m just so excited, and thankful, I hope you don’t mind me sharing it with you today.

Humbly submitted by H.T. Lord

Hope that does not disappoint

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I came across Romans 5:1-5 (NKJV) the other day. And an excitement started bubbling inside me like a low boil when I came to the phrase, “...hope does not disappoint.” Wouldn’t that make an awesome book title?

So what kind of hope is Romans talking about? Does it pertain to achieving writing aspirations? Getting an agent? Getting on the New York Times bestsellers list? Not really.

So why am I bringing it up in a writers’ blog? Because this hope is why we can confidently say we are not just writers, but Christian writers. We don't put pen to paper just for ourselves. We create stories to tell people about a hope that does not disappoint. The story might be fiction, but not the hope and not the One who gives us that hope.

Romans 5:1-5 says "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. ³ And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; ⁴ and perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵ Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us."

For me it is a lot easier to be excited about what will be than what you have to go through to get there. And yet verses 3 & 4 say we can also rejoice through the journey, even when it's really hard.

Tribulation in the original Greek means a pressing, pressing together, pressure; metaphorically oppression, affliction, tribulation, distress, straits.

When I apply this definition to writing, it sounds a lot like how I feel when I’m under a deadline. Can anyone else relate?

Perseverance is replaced with "patience" in the KJV which means steadfastness, constancy, endurance. I can't count how many times I've heard well established writers say it's consistency that gets a book done.

Character can mean "a proof or a specimen of tried worth." I get the concept of tried worth, but not so much what a "proof" is. So I looked it up, too. Apparently, a proof, when it is in a state or quality of being tried or tested, is something that results in unyielding hardness.

I've never thought of being hard as a good quality for a Christian. I typically equate "hard" with hard-heartedness and stubbornness; negative qualities God always warned Israel about. In this context, though, I see character more as unflinching faith, immovable, difficult to destroy. In this context, developing an unyielding hardness of will, of belief, is a good thing because it comes out of a joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation which is the definition of hope.

I've always thought of hope as wishful thinking. I was wrong. Looking at the all the things that happen to produce hope, I can't help but liken it to how diamonds are formed. It is under intense pressure and high heat that bits of carbon are transformed into the hardest natural material on Earth.

Does this excite you as much as it excites me? We haven’t been dubbed by believing in God, by trusting Him. We have an unyielding, hard-as-diamonds hope that does not disappoint. How do we know this? Because of the love God has poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. He didn't give us His love by the teaspoon. He has lavished us with His love by pouring it into us by His Spirit.

We can be confident and joyful through the hard times because we know God is not a man that He would lie. He will make good on all His promises. Our Hope does not disappoint.

Dear Heavenly Father, help us remember who you are and all that you have promised. Give us the courage to believe you and live lives that reflect that belief. May our stories tell your story and fill readers with hope so they, too, will not be disappointed. May all we do and say bring glory to your name both now and forever. Amen.

Humbly submitted by H.T. Lord 

Definitions from the original Greek are from Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, other definitions were found at www.merriam-webster.com and www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/earth/rock-minerals/diamonds/diamond-properties/index.html

Destination: Deep POV

Perhaps it was needed to watch two pirate movies (The Spanish Main and The Black Swan) and a documentary on pirates on the History Channel this past week.

because I was thinking of this month’s blog or perhaps it’s simply because I love a good pirate story, I decided I

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I did learn something new. I never understood why Edward Teach, aka Blackbeard, named his ship Queen Anne’s Revenge and now I do. You see it was out of the Queen Anne’s War that pirates were born. One day more than 20,000 English men were making an “honest” living taking down Spanish and French ships with the approval of the Crown, the next day they’re outlaws for doing the exact same thing. So now it makes sense.

And I hope Deep POV is starting to make sense, as well. To sum up in my words: Deep POV is a complete immersion into a character’s mind – a limitation that affords the reader to see and hear (along with the other senses) only that character’s thoughts and impressions for a designated period of time. Let’s see how my last revision holds up to that definition.

Amara gasped and jumped, releasing the soap in her hands into the water. It  bobbed lightly as it floated on the quick current down stream. She studied the attractive young man as he attempted to run in the knee deep water to retrieve the floating bar. He dressed like a man of means and bore an almost noble disposition. Longer light brown hair peeked out from under his large brimmed hat, and he was not of slight stature to say the least. One corner of his mouth tugged constantly, as if laughing at an unspoken joke. He finally obtained his prize and strutted back over to her. His strong jaw line, narrow nose and piercing eyes stayed her breath. They may not be green with envy, but I’d say they are dark green with mischief. Is that even a saying?

“Your soap, fair maiden.”

“Who are you? Where do you come from? Why are you here?” Amara asked, snatching the soap from his hand. She felt heat in her cheeks from his heavy gaze.

“So inquisitive. My name is Thaddeus Reed, but those who love me call me Thad,” he said with a dramatic bow. Then looking back up at her, revealing near perfect teeth, he added, “And what’s your name?”

“Amara Sm… Amara is all you need know for now. You did answer my other questions, Mister Reed.” She rubbed the soap against shirt she had already cleaned, looking away from his disconcerting stare. “I have lived in this region my whole life and have never met anyone quite like you. You do not belong here. Tell me why you are here or I will leave right now,” she finished with her hands on her hips, soap and all.

At that Thaddeus crossed his arms over his chest and placed his pointing finger over pursed lips. He dropped his hand and replied, “So if you leave, what’s to stop me from following you?”

“You wouldn’t dare,” Amara said, her heart firmly in her throat until she saw the smile that flashed in his eyes.

Thaddeus removed his hat and distance between them, then speaking in an intimate voice said, “Well, you see where I come from and why I’m here is a secret.  I could tell you, it’s true, but then I would have to snatch you away and you would have to stay with me forever.”

“Oh.” Amara’s skin tingled as she watched him walk around her.

“Can I trust you, Amara? Trust you with my life?” She nodded.

“I cannot tell you my mission, but I can tell you I’m sailor on the Searching who has traversed the great Black Sea to get here.”

“The Black Sea?” Amara echoed.

“Yes, it’s due east of here on the other side of the highest point.” He lifted his chin toward the snow-capped mountains that lay far beyond Amara’s small home in the hills. “That is all I can say, for now.” She looked where he indicated then closed her eyes trying to imagine black water. She opened them to see him once again looking at her, all of her.

“Even the mysterious strangers in my dreams tell me more than that!” she snapped. Thad’s laugh was full and rich, so much so she wanted to laugh with him.

“Do they now? I must remember that the next time I wander into a young girl’s dream.”

Thank you again for letting me practice Deep POV in front of you. I hope you don’t feel my bumbling has been too much of a waste of time. While I appreciate writers like Jill Elizabeth Nelson for their insight and believe books like hers are a good starting place, I think practice will prove the best teacher in mastering this intriguing skill. And I get the impression she would agree.

I pray God’s guidance for you and your writing journey as you explore, and perfect, Deep POV in your own stories. Until next month, may the Author and Finisher of our faith rule and reign in our hearts and the stories of our lives lived out each day.

H.T. Lord

Sailing in Deep Point of View

Are you ready to sail into the murky waters of Deep Point of View (POV) seeking treasure worthy of old Black Beard himself?

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Neither am I really, but we’re going to try anyway.

Last month I promised a good example of shallow writing and I don’t think anyone can say I didn’t deliver. The following is an excerpt from a pirate story I wrote for my first creative writing class about 20 years ago. When I read through this again (it’s been a while), my initial reaction was, “Wow, where do I begin?” It’s just that good. Because the corrections are so overwhelming to me, I have decided to tackle the most obvious “tells” first – language that tells, instead of shows – which is more than enough to tackle in this blog. Believe me.

According to Jill Elizabeth Nelson, author of Rivet your readers with deep point of view, when you master Deep POV showing is automatic and telling becomes almost completely non-existent, unless you want it to exist. It is the very nature of Deep POV to show rather than tell. Deep POV exists in the “now.” So how do you do that? I am still the padawan here and not the master, please just bear with me while I muddle through this.

Nelson says Deep POV eliminates narrative distance, is always immediate, and is not italicized. Let’s see how I did.  First, read through my lovely example. I have added changes afterward. I’ve highlighted in yellow the words and phrases that I consider telling instead of showing or insert distance between the character and the reader.

 Startled, Amara dropped her soap into the water which quickly began floating down stream. Amara studied the attractive young man as he went to retrieve the floating bar from the water. He carried himself as if he were someone of great importance. The sun shone in his light brown hair and he was not of slight stature to say the least. She noticed one corner of his mouth seemed to tug constantly, as if laughing at an unspoken joke. As he walked closer to her, Amara could see his face featured a strong jaw line, a narrow nose and dark green eyes which seemingly were laughing at the same joke as his mouth.

“Your soap, fair maiden.”

“What is your name and where are you from?” Amara asked suspiciously.

“My name is Thad, and what is your name my beautiful enchantress?”

“Amara, my name is Amara. But you did not tell me where you are from.”

“I come from the other side of the highest point.” Thad replied as he pointed to the snow-capped mountains that lay far beyond Amara’s small home in the hills. “That is all you need know for now, Amara.” Amara turned her eyes away from the mountains and back to Thad.

“Even the mysterious strangers in my dreams tell me more than that!” she said rather haughtily. Thad laughed a full, rich laugh.

“Do they now? I must remember that the next time I am in a young lady’s dream,” he said.

I told you it was a great example. Now for the (what I hope to be) improvements highlighted in blue/green:

Amara jumped, dropping her soap into the water which quickly began floating down stream. She studied the attractive young man as he attempted to run in the knee deep water to retrieve the floating bar. He carried himself as if he were someone of great importance. Light brown hair peeked out from under his large brimmed hat, and he was not of slight stature to say the least. One corner of his mouth tugged constantly, as if laughing at an unspoken joke. Having obtained his prize, he  strutted back over to her. He has a strong jaw line, a narrow nose and those eyes. They may not be green with envy, but I’d say they are dark green with mischief. Is that even a saying?

“Your soap, fair maiden.”

“What is your name and where are you from?” Amara asked, snatching the soap from his hand.

“My name is Thad, and what is your name my beautiful enchantress?”

“Amara, my name is Amara. But you did not tell me where you are from.”

“I come from the other side of the highest point.” Thad replied lifting his chin toward the snow-capped mountains that lay far beyond Amara’s small home in the hills. “That is all you need know for now, Amara.” Amara turned her eyes away from the mountains and back to Thad.

“Even the mysterious strangers in my dreams tell me more than that!” she snapped. Thad laughed a full, rich laugh.

“Do they now? I must remember that the next time I am in a young girl’s dream,” he said.

So, what do you think? Am I on the right track? What did you notice that I missed?

Thank you for letting me practice with Deep POV in front of all of you. If nothing else, maybe I’ve given you your chuckle for the day. Then again, maybe we’ll learn something together. Either way, I hope you will join me next month for MUCH better dialogue.

Exploring Deep POV

I’ve only recently been confronted with the concept of Deep Point Of View – what it is, what it isn’t, and how it could help my story. Perhaps I’m showing my ignorance, but when I first saw the words “Deep POV” my brain went to must be a new carpet cleaner (if you can’t tell, cleaning the carpet in our living room has been on my mind lately).

The way some writers describe Deep POV it is this magic elixir that will cure nearly all characterization ills in a story - the kind I tend toward in my writing. A cure-all of any kind makes me suspicious. But after hearing from two writers who have no connection to each other that I should look into Deep POV because it could help me take my story to the next level, I relented that maybe I need to take another look at this.

It was recommended I pick up a copy of “Rivet your readers with deep point of view” by Jill Elizabeth Nelson. And I can see why. It’s a small, inexpensive book with only 61 pages. Not immediately intimidating. Even though I’m a little skeptical I’m also a little scared, so this helps put me at ease. Nelson’s voice is friendly and authoritative, but what makes me believe she knows what she’s talking about are her examples – the only way Deep POV loses its mysticism.

The following are two entries from Nelson’s Chapter Four Worksheet Sample Answers page:

Shallow:  Annoyed, Heidi slammed the drawer.

Deep:  Grumbling under her breath, Heidi slammed the drawer. Who took the keys?

Shallow:  Disappointment at Allan’s absence dulled my enthusiasm for the outing.

Deep:  Why bother going if Allan wasn’t coming along?

Seeing Deep POV in action really helps to “get it.” That’s another thing I like about her book, the opportunity to practice and something to compare your answer to, to see if you’re on the right track.

I’m only just getting started with the book, but I am already seeing how I can improve. That said doing it is still no easy task for me. It seems like this should be easier to apply.

Well, if you don’t mind, next month I would like to report again on my exploration of and progress with Deep POV. I’ll include my own attempts at Deep POV. I know I can nail the Shallow examples, tune in next month see how I do with the Deep ones.