Plowing Together: Persecuted Christians – Please Comment
All over the world, Christians are being persecuted. This weekend, 21 Coptic Christians were beheaded. What can you, as a writer, do for your brothers and sisters?
Please comment. You play an important role. You may inspire others.
Friday Fun Facts: Vonnegut and Saab
Before Kurt Vonnegut was a writer, he owned the first Saab dealership in the United States. Within a year, it failed.
For people who love his books, that’s a good thing.
Random Trails: Writing Tips – Write What You Know | Writing Forward
These are great tips. I hope they inspire you.
Seeds of Truth: Psalm 28:7
The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart.
Psalm 28:7, NLT
What does it mean to you to trust God with all your heart? How do you live that out? How is He your strength and shield? What does that mean in your everyday life?
How can you use this verse in your writing?
- Let this verse inspire a devotion.
- Tell a story of how this verse impacted your life and write a personal experience article.
- Give your readers step-by-step tips in a how-to article.
- Write fiction around this verse.
- Write poetry around this verse.
- Tell someone else’s story. How have they learned to trust God with all their heart?
- Explain this verse to children in an article or story.
- How does this verse inspire your writing on marriage? Parenting? Health issues? Work? Finances? Emotional struggles? Relationships? Spiritual growth? Prayer?
Plowing Together: Being a Writer with Integrity – Please Comment
How do you ensure that you’re writing with integrity? How do you keep your ideas truthful?
Please comment. This is an important discussion to have.
Ideas with Integrity
This past week, the top-rated TV news anchor came under fire for embellishing—lying about—news stories. Witnesses have come forward to say that his version of events in Iraq and during Hurricane Katrina did not happen.
These stories would’ve made great fiction. But as news stories, they lack integrity.
Several years ago, I attended a conference held by a Christian press association. One of the speakers was a well-known and award-winning journalist. He enthralled us with stories of life in war zones. He told us amazing tales of miracles. You could hear a pin drop in the room.
I remember one of those stories. He claimed that he needed to escape a frightening situation. God opened up an alley where none had existed so that he could get away.
A few months later, he was fired from his job for lying in his stories. He was so well-known and so many people had trusted him for so many years that it made the news. I felt foolish. Here I was, a professional editor, believing spectacular stories with no proof or corroboration.
As Christian writers, we need to make sure that we use our ideas with integrity. Is it true? Are we claiming it’s true? Are we “embellishing” our ideas? Would it work better as fiction?
On the other hand, we also need to be wise when contemplating the idea of telling someone else’s story. We can’t believe something just because someone tells us it’s true. God does work miracles. But as writers, we need to do our research. Can we verify the details? Who else witnessed it? What is their perspective? How trustworthy is the person telling us the story?
We need to write with integrity. Embellishing our ideas might make us look more spiritual or blessed in a special way. However, it brings dishonor to the Kingdom of God.
Accepting someone else’s embellished story also dishonors God. If we naively write a story of a miracle without checking the facts, we look foolish and we perpetuate the stereotype that Christians just look for the sensational.
God works in powerful ways. We don’t need to enhance the story. We need to tell the truth.
© Deborah Christensen
Random Trails: From 101 Creative Writing Exercises – Freewriting | Writing Forward
This link is from a while ago but I think it’s a great way to get writing ideas. It will be fun for you and stretch you a little.
