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Awe

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

I finished the rough draft for my 5th novel, A Broken Kind of Beautiful. Although they say not to get too attached to a title, since they’re prone to change, I can’t help myself with this one. I’m very attached. It fits perfectly with the story.

I pounded out eight thousand words on Saturday (thanks to my hubby who hung out with the B-man!) and ended up typing The End two weeks sooner than planned. I sat there awhile, blinking at my computer screen, sort of in awe. Not with myself. I’m hardly ever in awe with myself. But with this thing. This beautiful, insane, exhilarating, fear-inducing, tear-out-my-hair-but-I-wouldn’t-trade-it-for-the-world thing called writing. The art of pouring words onto a page and letting those words tell a story.

It’s such a gift. For the reader who loses herself in the pages, yes. But mostly, for the writer.

Every morning I wake up and spend time with God. I read His word. I write in my prayer journal. I listen. I always pray about my writing. That my stories would captivate and encourage. Speak truth. Inspire faith. But even more than that, I pray God would draw me closer to Him through my writing.

A couple weeks ago, while my mom and I drove to the mall, we started talking about my new story. I said something that surprised her. I told her how hard it was for me. To sit at my computer desk and pound out the words. I told her how the whole daunting task fills me with angst. I have no idea what I’m going to write. My words are lousy and dull and lifeless. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat, elbows straddling my laptop, fingers digging into my hair, blinking at my computer screen because I. Can’t. Make. The. Story. Work.

This is my 5th novel. So far, God has showed up every time. Maybe not as quick as I want Him to or when I want Him to. But He shows up. He draws me near and uses my weakness to magnify His strength. And when He does, I can’t help but feel awe. In awe that He gave me something I enjoy so much it burns all the way down into my toes. I finished another rough draft. Now it’s time to revise. Oh dear.

If you’re interested, here’s the back cover blurb for A Broken Kind of Beautiful.

Question to Ponder: How do you feel when you finish a rough draft? Or if you’re not a writer, how do you feel when you finish a big task?removetweetmeme

Cast Your Net

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

Whether you’re a writer or a pastor or an agent or an artist or a student or a mom or a (insert job here), most of us have a vision in our head – some marker we can hold up or point to and say, “See, I’m successful. This proves it.”

Basically, we have something we aspire to accomplish. Something we’ve set out to do, because it’s a passion or a calling or an itch we must scratch. Call it what you will.

For me, it’s writing. I aspire to be a published author. That’s my big goal. That’s the vision I’ve painted in my head. Someday, I hope I can pluck my books off a shelf in Borders or see them posted on Amazon. Even crazier – I hope people read them. That’s my aspiration.

There’s only one problem.

I can’t control it. Or maybe, I should say, getting published isn’t under my control. Sure, there are things I can do. Like write, for one. Write well, for another. Study the craft. Come up with a killer plot and gripping characters. Go to conferences. Take classes. Network with industry professionals. Learn from rejection. Listen to critique. Pray. These are all things I can do. But doing them, even doing every single one of them well, will not guarantee my books make it on a shelf someday.

All I can do is write. And when it gets hard, keep writing. Persevere. Because I’m a writer and that’s what writers do. Maybe the book my agent submitted will sell. Maybe it won’t. Maybe the book I’m working on now will sell. But maybe not. I can’t control what sells and what doesn’t. I can’t control the ebb and flow of the market or timing or the economy. I can only keep writing. That’s my job. That’s what I have control over.

Reminds me of this story from the Bible. A story about a few fishermen who also happened to be disciples. All night, they fished. They cast out their nets again and again and came back empty every time. The next morning, I can imagine they were tired. Discouraged. Worn out. But Jesus comes to them and tells Simon to cast his net again. To put it out into deep water and let it down.

Simon says, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

The Bible tells us that when they did so, they caught a huge number of fish. So huge that their nets started to break. They needed another boat to come help them and the fish filled both boats so full that they started to sink. Talk about a catch! Talk about the epitome of success! Talk about reaching their goals!

Here’s the thing.

They worked all night with no results. But even so, they did the work. Not just a few times, but all night long, despite reeling in empty net after empty net. They couldn’t control the catch, but they could keep casting their net. So they did. They showed up and did the work. Because that’s all they could do. The catch didn’t come until Jesus showed up.

So I’ll keep writing. For as long as this passion burns my in heart, I’ll write. I’ll keep casting my net, and hope one day, Jesus shows up and blesses me with a catch.

The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but victory belongs to the Lord. Proverbs 21:31

Questions to Ponder: What net are you casting these days? And since I didn’t do 3 C’s, feel free to share those too! (Nothing much new going on in my life…God is good, adding words to my WIP, and enjoying the summer with my son)

*Thanks to Cory for inspiring this post with his message at our camp service last Sunday.
*I’m taking a blogging break next week. Happy Fourth!

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Dialogue Tips

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

Your best friend. Your worst enemy. However you see dialogue, every writer must concede to its importance.

As a reader, nothing turns me off more than shoddy, unrealistic, poorly-written dialogue. On the flip side, nothing pulls me in more than snappy, intriguing, conflict-ridden dialogue.

Love it or hate, let’s admit we all need to learn how to write it.

In A Novel Idea, a book for writers, James Scott Bell has a few things to say in the area of dialogue that I found helpful.

Agendas:
Before writing dialogue, know your characters’ agendas and put them in conflict. No matter if its a comedic scene or a tragic scene. Find a way to put conflicting agendas in the hearts of the conversing characters and watch your dialogue explode off the page. It can be something as simple as Character A wants to unload about her day but Character B is late for work. Voila. Agendas in conflict.

Personal Equilibrium
Every character, most especially the protagonist, needs to be in a state of disequilibrium. The characters are striving for peace, and dialogue can be the means to which they reach for it. Bell suggests that before writing the dialogue in a scene, we should ask ourselves: Why are the characters in a state of discomfort? What is really going on beneath the surface? Once we figure out those answers, we write from that deep place and watch our dialogue fill with depth and hidden currents (every heard of subtexting? If not, you can read about it here.)

Dialogue as Weapon
Think of dialogue as a battle, and the characters’ words as bullets, a weapon the characters fire at one another in an attempt to win the figurative (or literal) war. This is most applicable during those intense scenes.

So there you have it. Three ways to liven up the dialogue in your writing.

Questions to Ponder: Do you have any dialogue pet peeves? Or perhaps some dialogue quick tips to share?removetweetmeme