50 Minutes and Counting!

I'

I'm registered! In less than fifty minutes, the Writer's Digest webinar with Cheryl Klein, senior editor with Arthur A. Levine Books, begins. The topic is "How To Plot and Structure Your Novel." Can you tell I'm excited?

I've considered participating in WD webinars before. Fellow writers who have highly recommended them. This one is especially appealing because Klein pubs my genre--middle grade. I'll report back in a few hours, Lord willing. It's down to 46--no, 45 minutes, now.

Twiddling thumbs. Getting notebook. Pencils. Looking at clock. Twiddling thumbs. Humming tuneless tune. Forty-four minutes . . .

Happy Father's Day! (Can You Help Me?)

I hope all you fathers have a day full of the Heavenly Father's blessings.

Readers, can you help me, please? As I embark on a new writing project, my third middle-grade novel, I'm gathering ideas on what makes a great dad great. What are his attributes? What things are important to him? How does he interact with his children when they're young? What about when they become teenagers? Was your father great, or do you know one?



I really would appreciate your feedback. Please click the "Comment" button. Thanks!

RESPONSE TO COMMENTS:
Linda, Blogger won't let me post a comment, so I've found that this works. Thank you so much for your comment. Would you be interested to expand a little? Any examples?  

The Cross-Eyed Writer

In Shakespeare's Hamlet, Act I, Scene 3, Polonius bids farewell to his son Laertes, who is bound for Paris. The father says: 

This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not be false to any man.

Far from the New Age self-knowledge liberal mindset that this quote would seem to support, Shakespeare had in mind a far more Elizabethan ideal when he penned the words. Polonius actually is warning Laertes against a debauched lifestyle of gambling, money borrowing and lending, carousing with women of loose reputation, and other intemperate pursuits. Such behavior would sully Laertes' reputation, proving him untrue to self.

The writer who is a follower of Jesus the Christ, while being concerned about her own reputation, is far more careful about how she reflects Christ through her writing. Whether she writes for the secular or the Christian market, she remains "Cross-eyed"; that is, she keeps her focus on the crucified and risen Savior.

I did not set out to be a Christian writer, per se. When I was in high school, I went through a phase of reading many of the Grace Livingston Hill romances. They were old even then, being set in the early twentieth century, but if one wanted to read fiction that was "wholesome," especially romances, Hill was about the only choice. Even then, however, I disliked the predictability and "preachy-ness" of her books. Nonetheless, I respect her for being one of the pioneers of Christian fiction. Janette Oke can claim credit for bringing the genre of Christian romance into its own for today's readers. Christian and non-Christian readers alike enjoy Oke's novels.

In recent years, the works of writers such as Frank Peretti, Ted Dekker, Jerry Jenkins, Tim LaHaye, Max Lucado, Liz Curtis Higgs, and others have joined the ranks of C.S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien to write fiction that appeals to both Christian and secular markets. Some of the stories are overtly Christian, while others convey the saving message of Christ as a subtext or an allegory. These days, Christians write in nearly every genre and for all age groups. While their styles may be diverse, they have one thing in common, if they are true to their calling: they are Cross-eyed. They filter everything they write through the Lord's lens.

Are you a Cross-eyed writer? How does that affect what you write? Has the Holy Spirit ever called you into check for something you've written or were about to write? What steps do you take to make sure you remain a Cross-eyed writer? Please leave a comment telling about your experience. Thank you.

The Color of Shadows

http://hoosierink.blogspot.com/

Visit the Hoosier Ink blog to read my latest post, "The Color of Shadows." Hoosier Ink is a blog written and maintained by members of  ACFW Indiana. Be sure to bookmark it and visit often.

Write on!
Because of Christ
Sharon

Two More Weeks

That's right. A ragtag remnant of this academic year is all that remains. Then I can get back to the business of writing. I can hardly wait!

If I sound eager for the school year to end, it's because I am. However, I know that I have been smack-dab in the exact place God wanted me for these seven months--immersed in the lives, minds, imaginations and hearts of middle-grade/YA readers. That's my genre of choice right now.  I've witnessed a passion for reading ignite in a few. At least one eighth-grader proved herself to be a gifted writer. A reluctant sophomore discovered a love for reading plays and acting. Several others demonstrated that they are accomplished  documentary producers.

God was with me through every circumstance, and I pray that He will continue to guide me as I shift back into high gear as a writer and raconteur. I'll try not to inundate this blog with multiple entries all at once. Please check back in June to see what I've been mentally incubating over the past seven months.



Soon. Very soon. Meanwhile . . .

Write on!


Because of Christ,
Sharon

Writers Learn to Navigate the Digital World

ACFW Indiana Chapter Spring Meeting

More than 40 Hoosier writers and a sprinkling of Buckeye scribes gathered Saturday, 9 April, to hear Amanda Luedeke (pronounced LEE duh kee) speak on "Navigating the Digital World."Luedeke is an agent with MacGregor Literary

How is it that we can eagerly anticipate an event for weeks, but when it actually arrives, it is ephemeral. A few brief seconds in time, and it becomes history, preserved in the memories of those who were there, in meeting minutes, and on a smattering of blogs.

We had only a few moments to greet old friends and meet a couple new ones. No sooner had we asked, "What do you write?" than we found ourselves moving along the serving line of Jonathan Byrd's Cafeteria in Greenwood. (Why do they place the salads at the beginning of the line and follow them immediately with a huge spread of desserts: cakes, pies of all kinds, puddings, ooey-gooey brownies . . .? Come to think of it, half the salads could pass for desserts, too. Why is that?)

A few seconds later, after we got refills on drinks, stashed leftover tidbits in little white Styrofoam to-go boxes, and exchanged business cards with those at our end of the table, our special speaker began.

Amanda Luedeke admits she looks twelve. Though she's slightly older than that, her credentials and experience would lead one to think she must be 40-something at least. She isn't. It's just that she began writing at age five. Her first ms, The Cat, never quite made it to the shelves of Barnes & Noble, but it did distill in her a passion for things literary. You can read more about her career on the MacGregor Literary website.

Speaking on "Navigating the Digital World," Luedeke said a writer should determine his identity, a.k.a., his brand.Writers who pursue several genres end up confusing their readers. "Pursue what you're best at," she said. The writer's website or blog should reflect that brand. To prove her point, she cited a few websites, including that of Jenny B. Jones. (One glance, and you know Jones doesn't write dark, Gothic mysteries or westerns. IF she does, she uses nom de plumes and has separate websites for each genre.)

Luedeke also took her audience sailing among the various social networking sites, including Twitter, Facebook, stumbleupon.com, and Digg.com, giving the pros and cons of each and demonstrating how they can help the writer. "Be selective," she adjured, since it's unnecessary to use them all.

Finally, she spoke in great detail about blogging, offering five rules for the blogger:

• Never talk about blogging. (Just do it.)
• Don't make promises you can't keep. (If you say you're going to write daily, you're committed.)
• Find a way to make each post worthwhile. (Don't fill it with meaningless fluff.)
• Never apologize. (See "Don't make promises" above.)
• Never talk about your day. (Who really cares that you had toast for breakfast, unless it's a food blog and you have an amazing way to prepare toast. Which I do, by the way. Use orange juice instead of milk when making French toast. Delicious!)

Luedeke presented us with much useful information, inspiring me to revamp my strategies.

And then too soon it was over.

L to R: Rick Barry, ACFW Indiana Pres.; Amanda Luedeke, and Crystal Laine Miller, V.P.

At the Cross

I huddle at the foot of the Cross,

My arms stretched to encompass it around,

My head bowed,

My eyes pinched so tightly they hurt.

Silent sobs wrack my being.

The men are gone.

The Brotherhood, save one, has forsaken the Master.

Other women stand,

Bow,

Lie prostrate nearby,

Each alone,

Forsaken,

Desperate,

Desolate.

I hear their weeping off in the distance,

At the perimeter of my own sorrow.

Roman soldiers stand silent,

Trying to understand,

Yet bound merely to a duty.

Scribes, Pharisees, Sadduccees

Cluster together and mutter into their self-righteous beards,

Rehearsing their excuses.

Their mumbling blends, segues into the rumbling of a gathering storm.

Messiah, on the Cross, lifts His head to Heaven.

With one last lingering remnant of strength,

He pushes against the spike that holds His feet,

Pulls up on the nails that pierce His wrists,

Draws in a gurgling breath,

Licks His lips to moisten them, to make speech possible,

And cries out to the Father Whose Face is turned away.

"It is finished!"

A pronouncement that will echo throughout Eternity.

I look up as His weary, abused head

Sinks

To His bosom,

Where so many children had rested their heads

And received His blessing.

A drop of His vermilion Blood

Rolls down one of the thorns

That comprises a crude crown.

In one interminable moment,

I watch it

Fall;

I tip my face downward in shame,

Knowing my own unworthiness,

Yet yearning for His anointing.

That Sacred Drop

Splashes on my head and covers me over.

The Earth begins to tremble.

~Copyright 2007 by Sharon Kirk Clifton

Writing à la Stanislavski: There's Method to My Madness

In the mid-1970s, I wrote for a small-town weekly newspaper run by three newly-graduated Indiana University journalism alumni. I was in my mid-30s at the time, making me the old lady of the group. Nonetheless, I shared their enthusiasm--reveled in it, in fact. Together we were going to change the world. Our small part of it, at any rate. That was when I met author and literary patron George Plimpton.

Okay. I didn't literally meet him. But I learned of his work. His style influenced me then and continues to do so. 

In the 1960s, Plimpton became known for his "participatory journalism." When he died in September 2003, NPR's Mike Pesca summarized Plimpton's life saying, "He boxed with Archie Moore, pitched to baseball legend Willie Mays, played in pro-am golf tournaments and even performed in the circus. His best-selling book Paper Lion chronicled the time he spent in training camp with the Detroit Lions football team, posing as a slender, awkward quarterback candidate from Harvard."  

That's what I liked about Plimpton. He didn't simply interview people or read about a subject; he got down and dirty. He did the thing, whatever it was, and I wanted to do that. Physically, I couldn't always participate in some stories to the degree he did, but I came as close as I could, and I still do.

When I decided to do a story about a young black blacksmith, I researched smithing, learning the difference between cold-shoeing and hot-shoeing. Then I met with him in his barn. To this day, I can describe the sickening smell of a hot shoe coming in contact with a horse's hoof.

When a former professional boxer decided to attempt a comeback, I went to the gym with him, photographed his routine, and punched the bag a few times to get the feel of it. From that experience I can tell you that it is not easy to get control of the teardrop-shaped "speed bag." As for the cylindrical "heavy bag," it's practically immovable. And well I recall the smell of that old gym.

When I wanted to do a story about the work of an interpretive reenactor at a nearby living history museum, I spent the day dressed in period attire, traveling from cabin to school to blacksmith shop, etc. I was the first journalist to do that at Conner Prairie. I stirred the stew, spun the wool, swept the floor, and sampled the food. (That day, pork chops, sauerkraut, and coarse cornbread were on the menu at one cabin while another had just pulled a pan of rhubarb bread from the coals. Have mercy! It all was so delicious!)

George Plimpton also was an actor, playing himself in Reds and Good Will Hunting. (Is it really acting if one plays oneself? Perhaps. If you play yourself not as you really are but as others perceive you to be.)

Which brings me to Konstantin Stanislovski, whom I met (figuratively, again) when I minored in speech and theater in college. Stanislovski advocated a style of performance called "method acting." The method departs from classical forms by asking the actor to internally experience the scene. A method actor will not simply pretend to be sad, angry, or jubilant; he will recall events in his own life when he felt those emotions--the death of a beloved grandparent, the unfair termination of a job, the birth of a child, for example. Inasmuch as is possible, he will mentally relive those times so that his expression of the actions and emotions will be truthful, not contrived. I've often wondered if Plimpton was influenced by Stanislavski, applying some of the actor's ideas to writing. 

Though I'm sure I don't take it as far as method actors do, I try to experience as much of what my characters do as I can, stepping out of my own Born oxfords and into their tennies, high-tops, or whatever. (For that reason, you'll never see an MC of mine wearing stilettos.) 

Do you do anything similar toward understanding your characters and experiencing their lives? Do you know of a writer who goes to extraordinary lengths to know her characters and settings? I'd love to read about it on the "Comments" page, as would my readers, so please share.

Write on!
Because of Christ,
Sharon

WooHOO! The February 2011 Issue is Out!

It's always a good day when word comes that ACFW's premier ezine, Afictionado, is up for viewing. The latest issue features articles by ACFW president, Margaret Daley; Randy Ingermanson (the Snowflake Man), who writes "Writer's Toolbox: Selling Your Novel in 25 Words or Less"; and many others. Write fiction? Click over to read some informative articles.

Stay cozy and. . . 

Write on!

Because of Christ,

Sharon

Leave Our Mark Twain Alone! STET!

Dear Gentle Readers,

I cannot say it better than Lauren Lise Baratz-Logsted does in this article, so I respectfully submit to you a link.

Ironically, I began reading Our Town with my ninth-grade English students today. While I knew that our books looked different, I had no idea that the volume I was reading was a white-washed PC version. In the midst of our discussion about how appalling that was, one student noticed that on my large Huckleberry Finn poster was a warning, stating that the book was on many "banned" lists. One discussion led to the other. Then I came home to this article. Shocking!