CREATIVE WRITING INSIGHTS: “Freedom of Chaos,” by Lorilyn Roberts

We want freedom in writing within a framework of orderliness. A house can have many different looks, but without a solid foundation, it won’t stand. I homeschool my younger daughter Joy and the first chapter in her English book is about how to construct a sentence. The topic is covered in detail, beginning with the definition of a subject and a predicate.

The foundation of a good story must have good sentence structure. The sentences need to be woven together to form a well-written paragraph with a main idea. The paragraphs build over a page, and eventually, the pages come together to make chapters. An entire book emerges from one sentence. But if you don’t have structure, usually built from the skeleton of good grammar and an outline, you will end up with chaos.

God is a God of order. But we don’t need to be legalistic or rigid. Once we understand the idea of structure, we have the freedom to build on that structure and create fabulous stories.

CREATIVE WRITING INSIGHTS: “The Art of Conflict in Writing Conflict,” by Lorilyn Roberts

 

I should be an expert in writing conflict. After all, I was on the debate team in high school, and a seventh grade boy wrote in my yearbook, "You would argue with a sign post if you could." I've had my share of personal conflict--family problems, ex-husband, relationship disappointments, and yes, my own report card of failures.

As if that wasn't enough, I've had a first-class seat to some of the most spectacular conflicts on the planet. I worked for twenty years as a court reporter. The adversarial nature of the job left me exhausted. I would sit at my stenograph machine for long hours each day, between attorneys and hostile witnesses, recording the barrage of questions about lost reputations, cheating husbands, financial ruin, and hearts broken--high-powered lawyers bent on winning at all cost.

Conflict raged within me as I hated being at the center of it all. The louder they argued, the more nervous I became. Please don't ask me to read this back. It's hard to write well when everyone is yelling at each other. If I could count the number of strokes hit on my stenograph machine, the amount would not be measurable. Conflict abounds and sometimes borders on murder in a courtroom, where truth isn't always the ultimate goal. Because experience and memories shape our worldview, to this day I cringe at the thought of going back to that life--please God, never again. I don't want that conflict.

Today I work as a broadcast captioner for television and write as little news as possible. Very few upbeat stories get reported and I have grown weary of captioning sensational beats about kidnapped children, victims of abuse, Washington bureaucracy, and a world at war--at the gas pump, in the Middle East, and a host of ideologies that scare me. I cherish my freedom and don't want it taken from me. (Yes, I do feel much of what I love about my country is eroding). But most of all, I hate captioning tragedies that could have been avoided. Life can be very depressing and steeped in conflict.

As much as I hate conflict, as an author, how do I use it in fiction? Or do I even want to create painful conflict for my protagonist? Do I shy away from building a story that needs high-stakes conflict to create a fabulous, climatic ending? Or can I use conflict to remind me of a nobler purpose in God's eternal plan?

Put into the context of life, is there a reason behind the conflict which we encounter every single waking moment of our lives? Is it not the result of the stinking sin in myself and others? How do I resolve this paradox in my writing?

Fortunately, as writers, we have the freedom to go where our heart and art takes us. Unless I write poetry, however, I won't have a story without conflict. Acknowledging that the dénouement is what makes a story remarkable, I can set the scene for redemption before I begin the first page.

In the 1990's, Hollywood released a lot of box-office films that had downer endings; the bad guy won, the problem wasn't resolved the way I wanted, or the main character died. I quit going to the movies.

My mantra now is I refuse to write, read, or see movies where there is no redemption. If I feel stuck without a good moral choice in life, I will search for it. God can bring redemption out of the worst possible circumstance. There is good in the world if we look for it.

In writing a great book, there should be something in the dénouement that causes the reader to grapple with the story's action-idea. The unraveling of the conflict must result in a satisfying conclusion.  I don't want the reader to feel as though he has been cheated by mediocre creativity or immorality that wins.

While our stories imitate life, the climax needs to reach a higher level of "being." When I read a story, give me more. Give me excitement worth remembering, knowledge extraordinaire, and thought-provoking ideas. I want to relate to a protagonist that overcomes incredible odds and wins. Beauty, love, peace--we are not sufficiently redeemed to appreciate this trilogy of goodness in all its meaning, but because writing imitates life, we can catch glimpses of it in a redemptive ending.

As an author, my passion is to bring a "taste of heaven" to this earthly kingdom inhabited by kings and peasants, and all of us in between. That means what I write must linger. I must create meaningful connections in the reader's mind after his eyes have read the last page. I wield incredible power--to bless or curse. As a Christian, I want to captivate the reader with words that are uplifting, powerful, thought-provoking, and life-changing. That might seem impossible, but the greatest stories ever written have those qualities; unique characters engaged in mortal conflict, either internal, physical, or both.

I write where my heart takes me, digging into my past, and seeing what God stirs up from within. I write for myself first and then for others. It's up to each of us to decide how we use the "rules of writing," acknowledging that those words will live on long after we are gone--for good or evil. History is replete with both.

I can't dilute the plot to avoid conflict. I want redemption to reign supreme in the last chapter. I must weave the nature of fallen man into the story through conflict, knowing that I have the answers that a sinful world craves. I can do it subtly or not so subtly, but if I compromise on either, I will weaken the story that God has given me. Great conflict deserves great redemption.

How does conflict work in writing? The conflict must propel the story forward and relate in some way to the protagonist's nearly unreachable goal. There must be clear turning points (three-act structure works well), and there should be a main goal and at least one minor goal. Often the minor goal relates to character development (so the protagonist can reach his main goal).

With "up" endings, the protagonist wildly succeeds and goes through a metamorphosis in the process. He is not the same at the end as he was in the beginning. Despite his character flaws and numerous obstacles, he overcomes the odds and achieves his dream or even something better. Surprise endings are always the best

I have wondered if there is a higher standard for writing novels than the Aristotle tradition of dealing with conflict, but for a different reason. I want to write great stories in heaven, and in heaven, there is no conflict. What shall I write? Maybe I will become a poet. If you are one of those saints, pursue your calling with passion; keep writing those beautiful sonnets and songs. When my world becomes steeped in shadows, I turn to the Psalms and relish those soothing words of comfort and security.

In the Bible, Jesus knew the evil tentacles of life would strangle his listeners if they succumbed to their base nature, so he told amazing, redemptive stories, steeped in conflict, to reveal profound truths. If I follow that example, perhaps I can conquer my inner conflict of wanting to avoid conflict and write a great redemptive story--which must abound in conflict to end in perfect redemption

CREATIVE WRITING INSIGHTS: “Love Your Characters,” by Lorilyn Roberts: Based on Ken Kuhlken’s Book “Writing and the Spirit”

Love Your Characters

A recent event popped into my head where I misjudged somebody’s comment. Fortunately, it bugged me enough that I said something about it to my daughter, who promptly straightened out my misunderstanding. I was thankful she did and later wondered how many times I’ve misjudged someone and never knew.


As a fictional writer, it’s important to understand the inner workings of even the most bastard character. The psychology of being is at the core of every living thing and crucial to what makes each individual unique. If we want to make believable characters, we better know what makes them itch, do something stupid, or surprise the reader; but to love them? I am not sure I can do that. Perhaps I can love getting to know them better as I create them, but I don’t know if I have the power of Dickens to love my antagonistic characters the way he did.

CREATIVE WRITING INSIGHTS: “Be Perfect,” by Lorilyn Roberts: Based on Ken Kuhlken’s Book “Writing and the Spirit”

The context here of “be perfect” should be considered active, not passive. We can never be perfect in the passive sense, but with God’s help, we look forward to what we can become. We can try to write the perfect story, the perfect book, the perfect whatever, knowing humanly-speaking we won’t achieve it, but also knowing we are a work in progress. If we walk with God, the more we learn about Him, the greater the possibility of achieving perfection.


I believe some saints of the arts have come close. I think about the perfection of Handel’s Messiah and Pachelbel’s Canon. When I was in Italy I visited The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci. I stared at the painting for about thirty minutes all alone (a gift in itself) admiring its beauty. Even in its compromised condition, the artwork was perfect for me. The amazing masterpiece brought me into a sweet communion with God which I had not experienced for a long time.

As far as the art of writing, we have the greatest story ever told in the Bible. While there may be copying mistakes, do we really see them? I get so “in the spirit” with the beauty that comes close to perfection that I forget it was written by imperfect human beings.

Why would God not continue to dole out creativity like that today? I believe He does. We don’t strive, but we do give God our all, knowing that when we create, we become most like Him, the Creator. As a child of God, we know He seeks to give us more than we could ever ask. When we think of art and developing the talents He’s given us, we can come close to perfection.

Otherwise, why would demons waste so much time destroying creative minds? Look around and see the beauty; it is all around us—in nature, in museums, in music, and in books. God’s creative spirit indwells and woos us to believe in miracles, redemption, love, and hope in art. The world needs us and God blesses us with our creativity for His good pleasure.

CREATIVE WRITING INSIGHTS: “Get Real,” by Lorilyn Roberts: Based on Ken Kuhlken’s Book “Writing and the Spirit”

Becoming the person God created me to be has been fraught with unbelievable obstacles. I don’t know whether it is so with others, but from the time I was a child, I have struggled with being “me.” 

A broken home at an early age, unrealistic expectations, lack of spiritual truth, insecurity, and a failure to recognize me as “created in God’s image” kept me on dead-end roads for years.

The gumption never to give up in search of truth was God’s gift. His unconditional love has enabled me to overcome the demons from the past, the lies I believed, and the grace to let go of the hurt. Redemption is the reward in this world for a life well-finished in spite of perilous beginnings. And for that I am thankful.

CREATIVE WRITING INSIGHTS: “Creative Writing Killers,” by Lorilyn Roberts: Based on Ken Kuhlken’s Book “Writing and the Spirit”

I have discovered the greatest killer of creative writing is lack of sleep. The second greatest obstacle is worry—about the future, my family, my career, or not being in control.

In recent years, I have made sleep a priority, but I haven’t conquered this dragon. On some days he roars out and I’m beat completely. I tell myself, this, too, shall pass. Tonight I will get a good night’s rest and tomorrow I will begin again. The first step, though, is recognizing the need and then pursuing the need with commitment. I have found that commitment is attainable, though not without sacrifice. Sometimes other things don’t get done. But to be creative, I must get sufficient sleep; no ifs, ands, or buts.

The second obstacle presents a more slippery slope. I call this the battle of emotions. My human nature is to worry; my spiritual nature is to trust God. As pointed out in the chapter, I must begin with the “spirit” to even have a chance of winning this battle. Without God, I can’t do anything. My writing is stale and I don’t even have a desire to write. All my energy is consumed with whatever I am besieged with, and the result is depression.

I have come to realize there is something circuitous about this; I write not to become depressed, but I can’t write if I am depressed. So it begins with the Bible, focusing on God, and prayer. These tenets of the faith help me to be in the right mindset to overcome evil, and I believe it is evil that prevents me from writing. It is a battle of the mind for control—worry versus trust, belief versus unbelief. These battles, though, can be woven into wonderful stories with redemption. That is why I write.

CREATIVE WRITING INSIGHTS: “The Gumption Factor In Writing And Getting Published,” by Lorilyn Roberts

In my advanced writing class at Perelandra College, Professor Ken Kuhlken wrote, “When we have preconceptions, we need to let go of them if we hope to find new answers.”

Preconceptions can set us up for failure if we are rigid. But what if we use our preconceptions to catapult us to a level of excellence not limited by our finite vision?

A couple of years ago, I wrote my memoir about the adoption of my two daughters as creative nonfiction. I meticulously researched facts and details I had forgotten. I scoured the Internet to verify locations, names, dates, and chronological order of events. I pulled out every document I had saved from both adoptions and poured my heart and soul into my writing.

I asked many friends, professional acquaintances, and editor-journalism-communication types to read Children of Dreams and offer suggestions on how I could make it better. I listened and made revisions that created an almost unbelievable story.

Two weeks before the Florida Christian Writer’s Conference in 2009, I sent off my completed manuscript to be reviewed by an editor attending the conference. I spent $50 and downloaded a file to prepare myself for the right attitude while at the conference. I had attended this conference twice before and came away both times disillusioned. This time I was determined not to let that happened.

I couldn’t think of anything that an editor could say to me for which I would not have an answer. I launched my website before the conference and signed up for the marketing class with Randy Ingermanson. I was ready to dive in and market my book if an editor or agent offered me a contract on Children of Dreams. I did not feel like I was setting myself up for failure. I always set lofty goals and then leave the outcome in God’s hands.

The conference arrived and I was excited to be there. I couldn’t wait to share the joy of my book with others. But when I showed my manuscript around, I was surprised by the comments.

“No one is publishing memoirs right now,” one person said. “Oh, a memoir,” another stated. People stepped back from me like I had bad breath. Nobody would read one line and acted like I had written something C-rated at best. But I remained positive. I was certain when I received my manuscript back from the reviewing editor the next day, he would be interested.

The moment arrived when all the reviews were handed out to the attendees. When mine wasn’t, I went up and inquired. Despite the volunteers looking everywhere, they didn’t have mine. While my book was “lost,” all the remaining slots to meet with other editors filled up. Nobody knew where my book was. If the editor who had received my manuscript didn’t like it, I would have no opportunity to present my book to someone else.

To say I was disillusioned is an understatement, but it didn’t come close to what I felt when my manuscript was found. I read the note the editor wrote. “You might consider submitting this to a magazine.”

If the editor had read one paragraph of that 235-page manuscript, he would have known the story couldn’t be condensed into an article. I had presented part of it to a “Focus on the Family” editor a year earlier, and her comment was, “It’s too long. If you can shorten it, we would love to take another look.” I was unwilling to cut it down more, and it was that comment that made me realize I needed to write the whole story. It took 235 pages to do the story justice.

I did meet later with a couple of editors at the conference and was told by them—as well as an agent, “When you have one thousand people on an opt-in list, come back and talk to us.” While I was nice to them, I thought to myself, if I had one thousand people on an opt-in list, why would I need you?

As a result of that experience, my “gumption” kicked in. I reassessed what I really wanted. What was important to me? Sometimes “no’s” become wonderful opportunities to think “outside the box.” We are free to pursue goals we never would have considered if we had been given what our preconceived ideas told us we wanted.

The key is to be open to change, to give up something to receive something better. Since God controls the outcome, we should focus on the process and what we can do to enhance our chance to achieve our goal.

I have never met an author who didn’t have a lot of gumption to become published. Good writing and successful marketing are key, and money helps the process to go faster as far as exposure, but without the seed within us never to give up, the chances are we won’t go anywhere with our writing.

Today I have forty-three reviews with five stars on Amazon. I thank all my friends and professional contacts every time a new five-star review goes up, knowing without their honest input—and yes, some of it hurt—Children of Dreams wouldn’t have all those wonderful reviews.

My gumption not to give up is still intact, and I am more determined than ever to share my writing with others. Preconceived ideas have long gone out the window. I am setting a new path into the unknown with the John 3:16 Marketing Network, writing a new young adult fantasy novel, obtaining my Master’s in Creative Writing, and hopefully someday will teach at the university level in China when I finish my education.

God gives us a cup overflowing with opportunity when we commit our way to Him. Gumption is the human quality He endears us with to get us started. If God is for us, who can be against us?

You can read more about Lorilyn on her website at LorilynRoberts.com

CREATIVE WRITING INSIGHTS: “The Fictional Dream,” by Lorilyn Roberts

Those who are deep thinkers about fiction writing, enjoy these thoughts about the fictional dream, based on famed author Jon Gardner's philosophy.

I am thankful the writing of the fictional dream has no rules. This allows our fictional dream to explore “where no man [or woman] has gone before.” Jon Gardner admonishes in The Art of Fiction: Notes on Craft for Young Writers, don’t write what you know; write what you don’t know. Is there enough creative artistry within me to pour out my soul—and write my fictional dream? I cherish the freedom to risk. As someone who becomes bored easily, I cannot write only what I know.

As I think about Gardner’s words and the fictional dream, I have come to realize seeking a Masters in Creative Writing can be risky for an artist. The creative process can be killed as one takes captive every tidbit of advice. With the earnestness of a perfectionist, zealous corrections may creep in which destroy the fictional dream. The broken threads threaten to braid themselves into a twisted nightmare which may be technically sound but artistically wanting.

But there must be limitations unless we are God. When I wrote my memoir Children of Dreams, I sat down at my computer on a Sunday morning and started writing. I didn’t study any “how-to” books or even question if I knew what I was doing. I just started writing. The more I wrote, the easier the task seemed. But this “fictional” dream was rooted in reality. Once I had tasted the sweet victory of finishing a book, I wanted to write another one. I also realized at that point I had attained the highest level of writing I could achieve. Raw, God-given talent can take you only so far.

What happens when you want to go to the next level? The reality of ignorance raises its head. Like when you study the Bible for the first time seriously, you soon realize how little you know. 

A writer is much like an artist. I studied creative writing and books by Jon Gardner, Linda Seger, James Scott Bell, Charles Dickens, Linda Pastan, Edward Hirsch, Carolyn Wheat, William Zinsser, Jon Franklin, Mark Jarman, Jack Bickham, Graham Greene, Michael Tierno, Robert McKee, and Ken Kuhlken. My mind became overwhelmed with rules of do’s and don’ts, plot and structure, complication and denouement, point of view, scene, style, arc, and creating believable characters.

On the marketing side, voluminous sites on the Internet promise shortcuts to success. One even claimed, “Pay me X dollars and write a book in a weekend!” Would I even want to read my own book written in a weekend?

But anything worth achieving has no shortcuts. Gardner points out you must learn the rudiments or you will never become a Master. I felt my fictional dream floating away from me. Derisive voices shouted at me convincing me I couldn’t write anything anybody would want to read. My fictional dream became filled with demons disguising themselves as truth. “You can’t do this. You are no good.”

Pain and doubt plagued me, “Am I going forward or backward?” I questioned. I slammed the book down and screamed back, “Shut up!” But as one continues on this journey into the unknown of the fictional dream, slowly, but painfully, mastery sets in. We come to the realization, “I can do this, and now I can do it better.”

If we are human, we will never quit dreaming. Our job as writers is to take that dream and put it on paper. Fiction gives us the freedom to state it more real and dreamlike if we use the tools in the right way. We can escape into another world that we create through the use of verisimilitude. Verisimilitude allows us to tell our story in a convincing way through the proper use of voice and devices. We must persuade the reader that what we are telling is true. Details should paint a setting that’s real. Characters need to be lifelike. Problems must appear unsolvable, and the protagonist must beat overwhelming odds. We may move the reader to tears of hilarity, to disgust or anger. But we must move him emotionally. 

Otherwise, he will stop reading and say, “This is not believable. I am bored,” and put the book on the shelf. Not only have we failed to achieve success with the fictional dream, but we have also lost an opportunity to change a life (and will probably lose the reader for future books).

My most recent example of a fictional dream that failed is The Shack. The beginning of the book was surreal. I had to put it down. I was terrified that one of my daughters would be kidnapped and murdered. I still have a hard time looking at ladybugs the same way, deliberately not counting the number of spots on them. The detail in the writing drew me into the fictional dream and I was terrified.

I eventually picked the book back up and started reading again. I was too hooked to not finish it. But then something happened. I read the scene where the Trinity was split into three life-like people. The God part of the Trinity was called “Papa.” Immediately the fictional dream was no longer real. While the writing was creative and the rudiments were in place for a great story, the fictional dream in this case interfered too much with what I know as truth. I couldn’t turn off my unbelief. The fictional dream deviated too far from my core values, much as Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof could not bless his daughter marrying a non-Jew. His acceptance of her marriage would have broken him. I put The Shack down in disappointment several months ago. I retrieved it from my bookshelf as I thought about the fictional dream and attempted to read it once again. But I couldn’t.

From The Shack experience, I believe Gardner left out one important point about the fictional dream: If the core beliefs of a person are too violated, the fictional dream cannot become real. The fictional dream has limits of believability that for me, at least, can’t contradict the Bible. But recognizing the limits of the fictional dream shouldn’t dissuade us from pursuing it. In the process, we will elevate our writing to a higher level than we would have achieved otherwise.

I see the Bible as the greatest story ever told, and the proof-texts in the New Testament are well documented in the Old Testament. It was the proof-texts that validated the Old Testament that convinced me that the New Testament was true. Jesus was born into the world to save mankind from his sins. As I think about that, I am struck with the importance of building the proof-texts into the story We must authenticate every detail, provide a colorful history, present the vividness of our world in 3-D, create characters that are striking, and a story that the reader will care enough about to forego going to the bathroom until he can no longer bear the pain. The fictional dream becomes his world now, leaving him in suspense. He worries about the characters as if they were his friends, his family, or himself.

As another example, the fictional dream should be like our dreaminess when we sleep—where we absorb everything into it like a vacuum. The thunderstorm outside the bedroom window becomes part of the reality of our dream. The characters who pop into our dream out of nowhere are people we know in that other world. Some of those people are found in the real world. Some aren’t, just like in the fictional dream. In the dream state, I have places I have visited time and again, places that do not exist in reality. I have friends, jobs, and crazy things I do that seem perfectly normal in that other place. I recently woke up one morning and wondered who that man was I married during the night. Our dreams take us to places we have never been consciously, but unconsciously, have touched us in ways we may not be aware of. We work out our fears, our hopes, our drudgeries, our unsolvable issues, and wonder the next morning, “Why did I dream that?”

The fictional dream may reveal the answers to some of these perplexing questions. Are not most of our stories borne out of the frailness of our human nature, our fall from grace, our sinful condition, and our hope for resolution? Like stardust from a star, even a child knows fear, worry, pain, sadness, and death, and the fictional dream can promise insightful answers. We write as a lover woos his mistress, convincing the reader to discard his logical thinking and embrace our creativity. We ask him to risk embarking on this fabulous journey that has become our fictional dream. Can we offer hope of escape from reality, even redemption? The choice is ours. If I was possessed, I could present a terrifying world of despair and hopelessness. 

As Gardner points out, however, be careful. The written word can’t be erased easily from a sensate individual’s memory. Our words will live on in books long past our existence on this rock suspended in space. We possess the power of demigods from hell or messengers from God. How we touch the lives of those around us, even many years into the future, for good or evil, comes from deep within us.

Let us not disappoint. May we give the reader the roller coaster ride of a lifetime, with all the thrills he hoped for; and then surprise him with more. Let’s not waste the opportunity or gift of writing God has shared with us. As an author hoping to emulate the Greatest, let us begin our journey with one word, and then another, and then another, as an artist draws on a canvas until the fictional dream becomes a masterpiece. And hopefully, the reader will say, “That was good. I wish I had more to read,” close the book and relive the fictional dream.

CREATIVE WRITING INSIGHTS: “How to Write a Memoir in Twelve Easy Steps,” by Lorilyn Roberts

All of us have lived through dramatic times of ecstasy and pain. For the sensitive and sensate person, memories of these events are etched in the psyche and have molded us into who we are. A memoir is a way to touch at the heart of those feelings and allow them to be shared with others.

A memoir is different from an autobiography because it takes a “snapshot” of certain events in a person’s life. A memoir tends to read more like a novel. Usually, a memoir is written in more colorful language than an autobiography and only relevant information is included—not everything about a person’s life should be shared.

So how do I get started, you may ask? Here are twelve steps I followed in writing my adoption memoir in Children of Dreams.

1. A memoir should have a beginning, a middle, and an end. There should be a problem, a conflict, and a resolution.

2. It might be helpful to pull out old pictures, diaries, and objects to bring to memory the experiences you are writing about. If possible, go to the scene and relive the events in your mind.

3. Allow your feelings to flow freely from your mind and heart—they may be painful, terrifying, hurtful, crazy, or not understood, but to write a good memoir, you must bring the buried nemeses to the surface and write with passion.

4. Listen to music that will transport you from your surroundings to the time and place of the memoir. I like classical music, but anything that stirs your emotions and allows your mind to be absorbed back into that moment will work.

5. Don’t do any major editing until you’ve written all that you can remember. Worry later about clean-up. If you edit too soon, you may change something that is important.

6. Expect to feel like you are going crazy. Your feelings may create powerful emotions that are buried deep, but when you write those hidden passions and distorted thoughts on paper, it can be cathartic. The story may even write itself and come to a resolution you never thought possible.

7. Make sure you validate facts. A memoir is based on truth, so dates, times, names, people, and sequence of events are important. Otherwise, your credibility may come into question if something you have written is shown not to be true. It may be necessary to change names or locations, and this is acceptable provided you put a disclaimer at the beginning.

8. A good memoir is rich in color—metaphors, similes, descriptions, dialogue, and feelings will make your memoir come alive.

9. After you’ve written around one hundred pages, take some time to reflect on what you have said. Then put it aside for a few days, don’t look at it, and come back and re-read it. It will be easier to spot things that need to be revised or rewritten. Save deletions for later.

10. Be kind to yourself. Writing a memoir is a very personal, gut-wrenching journey.

11. After you have written the rough draft and edited it as much as you can, including deletions, give your memoir to some trusted friends for feedback. You may see a pattern in their comments, and that’s a good indication of what needs further revision. Don’t be shy and seek a professional editor if needed.

12. Never give up. Never, never give up. Need I say it again? Never, never, never give up.

Why write a memoir, you may ask?

First, the memories are important to you. The intimate details will soon be forgotten if they are not written down. The memoir validates your experience and gives meaning to your life. Your memories become a treasured journey for others to learn from and enjoy.

A memoir can be a gift to your children, your parents, your friends, your country, and the world. Only you can tell the story that you’ve been given, and other people’s lives will be enriched. Most of all, if you’re like me, you will be set free from the past and empowered to write your next story.

You will be changed and healed in ways that would not have been possible without writing your story. Having gone through the journey twice, you will be wiser. Perhaps you will touch others in a way you couldn’t have imagined because the “gestalt” of your experience is universal. Most importantly, you will have accomplished what you set out to do, and that is to write your memoir.

I say it again, never give up. It will be worth it when you have finished.

BEAUTY AND WRITING: Devotional by Lorilyn Roberts

It’s interesting to me that Jesus never said in the Beatitudes, blessed are the beautiful, blessed are the popular, blessed are the smartest, or blessed are those who are the best—whether it be as a teacher, artist, carpenter, or writer. But He did say (Matthew 6:33), “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you”      

I have sensed in my spirit that when I am creating I am most like God than at any other moment. There is a subconscious link between the creative aspect of who we are and God. When we choose to glorify Him in that endeavor, the beauty is far greater than we could have created (or written) on our own. When our motives are tainted, we lose part of that beauty. By tainted, I mean by fame, money, popularity, or acceptance.

One thing that has struck me is I have scuba-dived all over the world, and there is a good possibility I have seen things that no one else on earth has seen—beauty that surpasses anything that I could describe here. I wonder why God would create beauty that would only be seen by me, or create beauty that would never be seen by even one person. New species are being discovered every day in science, and if I were a betting woman, I would say there are hundreds if not thousands of things out there that are still not seen or known. If we ask ourselves that same question, it can lead to some profound answers. Why create beauty if no one else will see it, believe in it, appreciate it, pay us for it, or give us accolades?

It’s because that is the way God is. We will always have the Audience of One, and if that Audience of One chooses to bring us recognition here, then we can be grateful for that. But I believe our rewards will be far greater in heaven if the beauty we create here is for Him, and maybe even more so if never appreciated by anyone, because the rewards we receive in heaven from our heavenly Father will dwarf anything that we could receive from man.