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chestnutcurlsJessica asked about ministries and what God has given us a desire to do. After I thought for a minute, my "ministry" seemed pretty clear to me.
All my life, I thought I would be a writer someday. I wrote a (very short and silly) novel when I was nine years old. I read it to my class at school, chapter by chapter, and they loved it. My teacher, Mrs. Sweeney, also loved it and started researching children's publishers for me, but nothing ever came of it.
I wrote five or six more "books" over the next few years, and started many others that I never finished. My next-door neighbor and I spent many Saturday afternoons writing chapters and reading them aloud to each other. :) I didn't write quite as much in high school, but I was always thinking about it. I started several times on a Great American Band Novel. (Sadly, I still want to write this. :))
When I got to college, I just stopped. I had more than enough to do for my classes, so I know that was part of it. But I was also frustrated that I could never get a solid idea, or finish anything. In my last semester of school, I took a creative writing class in an attempt to get the juices flowing again. I wrote two short stories which were not that good, but were received well by the class (and Kathy and Em). :) But then I graduated, and went on to other things.
Every couple of months, I can count on my mother to say, "You need to try to write something. You were always such a good writer." I was a good writer, for my age, when I was young. But a talent that was amazing in a nine-year-old is average, at best, in a twenty-three-year-old.
I think the main thing in my way is my own perfectionism. Every time I think about writing something, Lord of the Rings jumps immediately to mind, and I think, "I could never write anything that good." Which is kind of like an artist refusing to paint because he could never do the Sistine Chapel. But I don't want to be mediocre. And I couldn't stand for the smart, well-read people I love to read my stuff and say, "It's not that good."
In closing (as everyone breathes a sigh of relief :)), I really pray that someday I will be able to write again. I find inspiration in some of my favorite authors. Jan Karon, the author of the Mitford books, was like me, a frustrated writer who had given up on herself. Then, when she was in her fifties, she had this vision of a man walking down a street with a big black dog, and the whole story of Mitford came to her. Another example is J.K. Rowling, who was on a train when she suddenly pictured this boy with black hair and glasses, and knew that he was Harry Potter and knew what was going to happen to him. It sounds cheesy, but I hope that someday an idea comes to me this way. :)
And that is all I will say about that.
All my life, I thought I would be a writer someday. I wrote a (very short and silly) novel when I was nine years old. I read it to my class at school, chapter by chapter, and they loved it. My teacher, Mrs. Sweeney, also loved it and started researching children's publishers for me, but nothing ever came of it.
I wrote five or six more "books" over the next few years, and started many others that I never finished. My next-door neighbor and I spent many Saturday afternoons writing chapters and reading them aloud to each other. :) I didn't write quite as much in high school, but I was always thinking about it. I started several times on a Great American Band Novel. (Sadly, I still want to write this. :))
When I got to college, I just stopped. I had more than enough to do for my classes, so I know that was part of it. But I was also frustrated that I could never get a solid idea, or finish anything. In my last semester of school, I took a creative writing class in an attempt to get the juices flowing again. I wrote two short stories which were not that good, but were received well by the class (and Kathy and Em). :) But then I graduated, and went on to other things.
Every couple of months, I can count on my mother to say, "You need to try to write something. You were always such a good writer." I was a good writer, for my age, when I was young. But a talent that was amazing in a nine-year-old is average, at best, in a twenty-three-year-old.
I think the main thing in my way is my own perfectionism. Every time I think about writing something, Lord of the Rings jumps immediately to mind, and I think, "I could never write anything that good." Which is kind of like an artist refusing to paint because he could never do the Sistine Chapel. But I don't want to be mediocre. And I couldn't stand for the smart, well-read people I love to read my stuff and say, "It's not that good."
In closing (as everyone breathes a sigh of relief :)), I really pray that someday I will be able to write again. I find inspiration in some of my favorite authors. Jan Karon, the author of the Mitford books, was like me, a frustrated writer who had given up on herself. Then, when she was in her fifties, she had this vision of a man walking down a street with a big black dog, and the whole story of Mitford came to her. Another example is J.K. Rowling, who was on a train when she suddenly pictured this boy with black hair and glasses, and knew that he was Harry Potter and knew what was going to happen to him. It sounds cheesy, but I hope that someday an idea comes to me this way. :)
And that is all I will say about that.
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Date: 2002-08-28 01:09 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2002-08-28 01:19 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2002-08-28 01:29 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2002-08-28 01:39 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2002-08-28 01:40 pm (UTC)I constantly think about how mediocre I am with writing, singing, etc....but then I remember that if this truly is something God has given me the desire for, then He must have a reason for it, and He must realize that people look at our work WAY differently than we look at our own. Sort of like how you can be attracted to one guy but not another.
This was an interesting entry because I never knew all of that about you. I'd love to see a story you've written...do you have something posted that I just didn't know about? I think you should definitely get back into that, even if slowly at first. My sister is pretty passionate about writing so I grew up reading her stories and hearing her ideas for books. I don't know why I just said that...just to relate, I guess.
But I also want to say that you have a quality about your writing (in your journals and poems) that is so real and understandable. That's what you have going for you. It's simple, classic, down to earth, and just nice.
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No, I don't have anything posted, but I've been thinking about putting one of my stories from my class online. Maybe I will do that tomorrow. :)
I would like to see some of the stuff your sister has written! :)
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Date: 2002-08-29 06:02 am (UTC)I'll pray. :)
Just write
Date: 2002-08-29 10:59 pm (UTC)Re: Just write
Date: 2002-08-30 11:04 am (UTC)I love novels that are based on the Bible, or are modern retellings of Biblical stories. They really give you a new perspective.