Jan 8, 2017 |
Frankly, on Faith: God Is Always
by Molly Jo Realy @RealMojo68
Frankly, On Faith.
There are a lot of uncertains in the world. A lot of maybe’s, a lot of I-don’t-knows. A lot of wishes, and dreams, and breath-holding.
A lot of negatives, too. Did y’all know you need to be hugged at least seven times a day to stay healthy? And each hug should last at least five seconds long?
One sincere smile counteracts five negative glances.
So think about it: Less than one minute of your entire day is all it takes for your body to register joy, acceptance, and strength.
Less than sixty seconds.
And that’s with everybody hugging you. If you’re the hugger ~ just one out of seven ~ your time commitment is even less.
So why is so hard to think God needs so much more of our time just to show up in our lives? In the time it’s taken you to read this far, He’s already working on whatever it is you need Him to work on.
How do you like them apples?
Here’s an exercise for you this week: Consider the affirmations of God. Not what you want Him to be. Not what others tell you He could do. But what the Bible says, and what He has proven (or is proving) to you.
Make a list. Write it out. Tell it to yourself. Post notes in your day planner, on your mirror, in your car. Remind yourself of who He is.
New and unsteady in your faith? Not sure you can trust Him? Ask Him to show you.
Beat down, exhausted, tired, worn out, and giving up on personal miracles? Tell Him about it. He already knows anyway. The cool thing with God is, He’ll never turn His back on you. Never.
I know. Sometimes it feels like it. But honestly. He won’t.
For me, God is always
- Faithful. He sticks around even when I try to push Him away.
- Unwavering. His promises don’t change just because my emotions do.
- Caring. He clothes the fields and the animals; of course He’ll clothe me, too.
- Here. He promises over and over to never leave nor forsake me. And He hasn’t.
CLICK TO TWEET: Frankly, On Faith: How is God always for you?
With a little sweet tea and a lot of heavenly honey,
~Molly Jo
Frankly, On Faith: God Is Always
And Frankly, My Dear . . . That’s all she wrote!
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Jan 7, 2017 |
Frankly, My Dear . . . : Where is My Creativity?
by Jacqueline Patterson @jacpatterson
From Molly Jo:
I met Jacqueline last year at the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference. Since then, she’s been highly active in the Firsts in Fiction podcast audience, and on social media. If you follow either of us (more her) on Twitter or Instagram, you’ll see what I mean. She’s my kind of person! Snarky, social, and steady. When asked what three things define our friendship, she responded, “Love of the written word/writing, laughter, and fun ideas/plans. Plus, we both like to cook!” I told her I was just thinking writing, faith and coffee, but I liked her answer better. So now we’re in a bit of competition to see who can come up with a better answer. Typical us. You’ll find us (hopefully) at this year’s BRMCWC, eating chili and keeping the neighbors awake with our caffeine-induced laughter.
Whether you’re a writer, a reader, or family member obligated to read this blog, we know you’re going to love her new monthly column on writing.
~#~
Jacqueline Patterson – Where is My Creativity?
I growled at my laptop screen and [I swear it’s true] the laptop growled back. I had been laboring over my WIP [work in progress] for hours. Literal back-wrenching, misery-inflicting hours.
The characters I once loved were now dead . . . and bordering on stupid. Although [I’m going for complete honesty here] nothing could be more moronic than the storyline itself.
Somewhere in the process, I had lost touch with my creativity, and the story was suffering from my stubborn dedication to a plotline I knew in my heart of hearts was wrong.
I know, I know, we’re writers. We live writing and we breathe writing and there is no such thing as a break. But sometimes [Okay, a collective deep breath here], we need to step away. Give ourselves a chance to view our stories through fresh eyes.
Here are a few self-discoveries I found for reclaiming my creativity.
First of all, step out of your comfort zone.
Yes. You heard me right.
If you’re like me [it’s okay to admit it], there’s nothing scarier than shaking up your routine. You have your specific writing spot, your fixed writing time, your bossy writing quirks or whatever you’re holding on to.
Let it go.
- Shake things up. Is your story dead? Maybe you’ve settled for the wrong protagonist, and your characters are trying to let you know. Play around with POVs [Point of View], names and scenarios. I find when I try this that sometimes a new story is born out of the hodgepodge of ideas and I’m eager to get back to writing again.
- Try a new writing spot. Confession: I fought this for so long. But once I tried it, I found that it sharpened my senses and forced me to concentrate. Now I try a new writing spot every week, even if it’s simply a different seat in the same coffee shop.
- Start something new. Yes, you read that correctly. It’s okay to set your story aside and work on that project that’s been gnawing at the back of your mind. You’ll return to your WIP with fresh energy.
- Go back over your WIP. Is there a chance you mis-stepped and forced a scene that doesn’t belong in your story? Ask yourself if you’ve taken a wrong turn. Often, writer’s block is caused by something as simple as a misplaced sentence, or an unneeded character.
- Seek out what first inspired you to write this story. When did the idea for your WIP originally generate? Rewatch that movie, reread that book, revisit that spot. Reach back into the emotions of discovery. After all, you were the one chosen to write this story.
- Brainstorm with fellow writers. You’ll come away with the creative juices flowing, and a collision of ideas that will drive you back to the laptop.
- Take time to simply relax. You are not a writing robot. You can’t spend your entire life in front of a screen, churning out novels with mindless predictability. Go out and live this thing called life. Explore. Challenge yourself to new adventure.
This is not a game.
This is not a hobby.
This is your story . . . and your gift to the world. Allow yourself a moment to breathe and to find your story again. Step away so that you can return to your writing with open eyes and renewed creativity.
After all, we are creating stories that we hope will last forever.
CLICK TO TWEET: Frankly, My Dear . . . : Where is My Creativity?
Jacqueline Patterson
Jacqueline Patterson wrote her first book at the age of five: the tale of an assassin hen on the trail of a crafty fox. (OK, so the story wasn’t that epic, but the hen was mean.) That first story hooked her, and she hasn’t stopped since. She is currently editing Primate, the first book in her Forever in Time series, in the hope of publication . . . If she can ever convince herself that she’s found the perfect draft. Talk to Jacqueline about books, and she will be your friend forever. You can connect with her on Twitter and Instagram.
And Frankly, My Dear . . . That’s all she wrote!
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Jan 4, 2017 |
William Kendall: Photoblogger
by William Kendall @WilliamKendall1
From Molly Jo:
I met William online. If you’ve followed Frankly, My Dear . . . for the last few years, you’ll know he’s a regular commenter. His photo posts have always drawn me in, making him one of my Top Ten choices for guest blogging.
~#~
Photo by William Kendall
They say a picture’s worth a thousand words.
Well, maybe not when you’re just carrying your camera along on your walk and inadvertently click, getting a blurry image or the side of your pants. That just qualifies as a “delete immediately” picture.
I’ve been doing a writing blog for several years now, called Speak Of The Devil. Over there I usually post three times a week. It’s a realistic pace- any more than that, it’s too much work, too much of a chance of annoying your readers with too many posts. Over there I tend to specialize in humour and irreverence and being disreputable.
And then there’s the photoblog.
I started following a handful of photoblogs before I started my own, beginning with St. Louis Daily Photo. Others gradually followed, and I decided to have a go at it myself. And so in the fall of 2013, Ottawa Daily Photo came into being. My city, the capital city of Canada, didn’t seem to be well represented in that field. I have seen older blogs come and go from around here, but at the time, nobody seemed all that active in documenting the city. And so I decided to dive on in.
I’ve recently moved into my fourth year of daily photoblogging, and unlike the writing blog, keeping up with daily posts isn’t that much of a problem- as long as you give yourself a head start and set posts up in advance, because you never know when real life might make demands on your time. Early on in the blog, I was just feeling my way through things, finding my proverbial feet. Over time, I got more and more followers, particularly after joining City Daily Photo.
What’s that, you ask? Well, City Daily Photo is an online group of like-minded photographers from every corner of the world, publishing either daily or most days of the week. It’s been going on for years now, with cities and regions represented from across the globe. Many of the blogs I follow belong to the group, and I’ve come to follow other photo bloggers who might not be part of that group, but in one way or another express themselves through photography. And I sometimes see writers who will on occasion do a post just featuring photography, if there’s an event in their area, or if they took a particularly pleasant hike somewhere.
So how does one keep finding new things to photograph, years later? Lots of different ways. As a member of CDP, I can tell you that at the start of each month, there’s a theme day chosen by one of the members for others to have their take on. The list is released early in the year, so you can be looking for something months in advance. That’s eleven posts right there, with the January post always being a best of the year theme.
At the moment one of the things I’m doing is keeping track of a major project, typically once a month. Our National Arts Centre, a cultural complex that’s home to a major national symphony orchestra, as well as English and French theatre, is undergoing a large addition, a glass structure that’ll be offsetting some of the harsh 1960s era architecture, open in time for next year. I thought it was a good idea to start documenting the process from time to time, and it does give one a regular subject to post about, aside from everything else I will post on.
Then there’s thinking like a tourist. When you live in a place, odds are you don’t really do the things tourists do- growing up west of Toronto here in Ontario, the family rarely went up the CN Tower, or out to Niagara Falls. As a photoblogger, you show the things tourists do come to see. In my case that might include a tour of our Parliament Buildings. The city has a tremendous wealth of statues and monuments all over; photographing them certainly provides plenty of material for photography.
Photo by William Kendall
Events are also a huge source for photobloggers to work from. In February we have Winterlude, a celebration of winter centered around the frozen ice surface of the Rideau Canal, with snow sculptures and ice sculptures at locations in Ottawa and Gatineau. In May we have a Tulip Festival that starts off what for me is a very busy summer- Doors Open follows that, Canada Day after that, and Buskerfest pretty much give me enough material to last through summer. Other times of the year, I might photograph in the National Gallery or a museum- either the various national museums or any of the local history museums. And architecture is another photo subject- we have a lot of Gothic architecture here, in churches especially, but also the Parliament buildings themselves, a set of buildings that evoke castles- or Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry.
Photo by William Kendall
I’ve always got a camera on hand; you never know when a day might bring a particularly lovely sunset, or foggy conditions that evoke a sense of mystery. You might come across an adorable dog or a divine cat. You might find yourself looking up at a ghost sign or mural you haven’t noticed before, or at a building that looks different in late afternoon sun. You might see a fresh angle on a building you’ve photographed before. You might notice a cluster of trees, for instance, that you might make a mental note to capture them when the fall colours are at their height.
And then again, you might just end up mistakenly clicking on your camera and capturing a severe close up of that ice cream stain on your shirt.
What are some of your favorite photoblogs?
CLICK TO TWEET: Frankly, My Dear…: William Kendall: Photoblogger.
And Frankly, My Dear . . . That’s all she wrote!
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