Monthly Archives: October 2018

Abruptions

Funny how certain things stay with you.

My grandson recently brought home a test he’d taken in school, one where they had to use spelling words in sentences. His mom noticed several smiley faces drawn on the paper by his teacher, and how one sentence in particular had garnered two smiley faces.

“I hope Hawaii won’t have any more abruptions.”

We laughed, teased about the cuteness of his answer, wondered how he knew about Hawaii’s volcanos, and even considered whether he’d coined a new word. It kind of made sense to us.

Definitions are Innocuous things, but sometimes they can be quite troubling. I mean, you know the meaning of the words you use, right? Or at least what you want it to mean.

Have you ever noticed how a song, a melody, a face, an insult or a compliment rattle around in your mind forever? For me it was abruptions, enough so I found myself searching Dictionary.com. By definition, abrupt means sudden or unexpected, while erupt means to break out of a pent-up state, usually in a sudden and violent manner.

As I pondered these meanings, it wasn’t difficult to see how a child might confuse the two words. That’s when I realized the Lord has sent many abruptions into my life over the years, and almost always when I’d grown complacent. (Complacent means pleased, especially with your own merits, advantages, situation, etc., and most often without awareness of some danger or defect; self-satisfied.)

Yikes! Convicted.

It’s time to rouse from my comfort zone. Again. At least this time, the Lord sent me a gentle abruption.

James 1:22 (ESV) says, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

What Do You Read?

Writers, have you ever read your own work just for the sheer pleasure of reading a good book?

I’m a writer. I’m also an avid reader. I love getting lost in a good book that takes me to a different place. There, life’s distractions cease to exist for a little while. When I started The Imperfect Series, I pledged to give my readers a similar haven, somewhere they too could escape. Recently, I realized how imperfect was the promise I’d made.

While working on the fifth and final book of the series, I revisited the first book for information. I wanted to use a phrase, one I thought I might have already used. Since repetition is one of the many sins the writing authorities abhor, I picked up my paperback copy and thumbed through the first chapter. Hours and hours later, after reading Imperfect Wings cover-to-cover, imagine my surprise when I closed the book and marveled, “Did I really write this?”

I liked it. No, I loved it!

That was my latest epiphany moment. I had never read any of my own stories for the sheer pleasure of enjoying a good book. I had gotten so wrapped up in the mechanics of writing (outline, structure, plot, characters, edits, polishing, marketing that I couldn’t see the story for the chapters, scenes, paragraphs, and words. I’d depended on outside influences—critique partners, resources, beta readers, editors, and publisher—to validate my work. No wonder I battled doubts with every new release. I hadn’t read my own stories as a reader to see if I would like them!

Advice to authors: Take time to enjoy your work.

Give yourself time and space away from your story, and then sit down and read your story as a connoisseur of good books, not with a critical eye—because any writer will tell you the “fixing” never ends.