Thursday Evening Recap...Reflections on fear...

What an awesome evening, thank you to ladies in attendance!
We started with a brief free write prompt of "What did you have for lunch?" It was fun to see how one simple direct question can take us all off in so many different directions...
The theme for the evening was reflecting on fear and how we let it stop us from creating.
I read some passages from the book "Creative Call" by Janice Elsheimer. "One reason artists become blocked is by using inertia to avoid feeling like losers. This behavior is all about self protection.... I'm afraid that if I finish the book or the poem or the musical composition, I'll have to put it out there where others will judge it."
Another quote by Franky Schaeffer from "Addicted to Mediocrity: 20th Century Christians and the Arts" is "Remember that as a creative person, the important thing to do is to create. Who sees what you make, where it goes and what it does is a secondary consideration: the first is to exercise the talent God has given you."
We then took some time to process these quotes and look at how these fears affect us personally. What are you afraid of? Is it failure? Judgement? Rejection? What happens to you when you are not creating? Do you start to feel tense? Angry? Sad? Frustrated?
To read some of the writing responses check out these blogs:
http://carol-fromheretothere.blogspot.com/ and http://atravellersinsights.blogspot.com/

We ended the evening with some thoughts on what it would look like to live without fear and live fully into God's desires for us as artists. We closed listening to the song by Casting Crowns entitled "Who Am I?" and hopefully, prayerfully, and fearlessly walked out in to the night ready to create in honor of the greatest Creator of all...

Today's Writer's Gathering

Our gathering this evening will be led by the amazing Carol Shafer. I've had something come up suddenly and asked her to fill in, she graciously said "yes!" on the very short notice I gave her. (Thanks Carol, you are the best!).

The topic that I was going to cover, Part 2 of the 4 part series, "Freeing Your Voice," will not be on the agenda tonight. I'll pick that up in October. I talked with Carol this evening and she's planning a fabulous evening of reflection and writing, you will not want to miss it!

I pray you all continue to trust your voice and will allow it to speak. Enjoy the gathering!
grace & peace, deAnn

Literary Agent

I saw this blog site and thought I'd pass it on as it has lots of neat links regarding how to be published, do you need an agent, how to prepare a manuscript, etc. Nathan Bransford is a Literary Agent himself. Check out his blog, it's full of information.



Grace & peace ~ deAnn

Freeing Your Voice

Our next gathering will be Thursday, 9/25 at 7pm. We'll be on part two of our four part series of Discovering Your Voice. This week we'll be talking about "Freeing Your Voice" and, of course, there will be many opportunities to free your voice through writing. So bring your notepad and favorite writing utensil!

Grace & Peace ~ deAnn

Local Writing Opportunites

There are some interesting articles in the York Daily Record about local writing opportunities. I'd like to share them with you in case you missed them.

YDR is looking for people to submit stories based on what they wish someone would have told them about classes before they started. For instance: That school lunchrooms are scary places. The that your college roommate might not become your best friend. Or that all-nighters were a possibility if you procrastinated too long. So go a head and dive into your memory bank and dig out a goodie to submit by September 30. Here are the details: Submissions can be sent to nlefever@ydr.com or the York Daily Record/Sunday News, c/o Nicki Lefever, 1891 Loucks Road, York PA 17408. Include your name, age, the municipality where you live and a daytime phone number.

Seminar: "How to Get Published in the York Daily Record/Sunday News" will be held on Tuesday, October 14 at 3:00 PM. The seminar is free and is 90 minutes long. However, it's limited to only 50 people and is designed for those responsible for publicity at area clubs, teams, organizations, businesses and agencies. To make your reservation for this seminar, contact Donna Mandl at 771-2065 or at dmandl@ydr.com by October 10.

Tuesday's Notes

RS Gathering ~ Tuesday, September 09, 2008

“Anyone who survived childhood has enough material to write for the rest of his or her life.” Flannery O’Connor

Free Write 10 mins word prompt: “peanuts”

Life = Story. When we write, we reveal parts of our story; the messiness and the beauty. We each have a life, so we each have a story. Give voice to your story…a bunch of stuff comes out through the writing process. We can discover so much about who we are if we are really real in our writing. Meaning, don’t write from your mind (what you think others will want to read.) Write what lingers in your soul. In other words, write your heart out.
It’s a journey with an unknown destination…

Write 20 mins a birthday memory

My story: I didn’t grow up in a Christian house, but when I write the historic scenes of my story, I can see where God was with me. Albeit, not in everything right away, but His beauty will be revealed in His time and as I grow to see Him clearer. I invite Jesus to sit with me amidst my messy segments of my story. We sit there together as I pick through all the broken pieces, examining each item closely and sometimes I get cut by a shard and a past wound is opened up again. It hurts. It’s when I can feel it deeply that I can surrender it over to Him and He gladly places it in His hand. The mess is still there, but it has less gravity. Over time, through continued surrender, I can begin to see more than just the mess; I begin to see the beauty of Jesus amidst the mess. I must write through the mess in order to be on the other side of it.

“Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.” ~William Wordsworth

Write 10 mins a response to the above quote.

I usually have a tendency to write when I’m struggling, when life is messy and confusing. Writing about difficult memories is ouchie, but I feel a sense of God’s peace with me NOW as I write about what happened THEN.

Write 20 mins Why do you write?

Enjoy developing and practicing your writing voice.
Grace & peace, deAnn

Tuesday Gathering

Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.

~William Wordsworth

Tomorrow evening, Tuesday, 9/9, I'll be leading the reflective souls gathering. The theme of the evening will be based on the above quote by William Wordsworth (great last name, huh?)

Quietly sit with that quote, it's powerful. See you tomorrow evening at 7pm.

grace & peace,
deAnn

Trusting Your Voice

August 28, 2008 RS Gathering ~ Notes

TRUSTING YOUR VOICE:: Part 1 of a 4 Part Series of "...Your Voice"

A Warm Up:
Labor Day weekend is approaching. Summer is coming to an end. Write for 10 minutes about the autumn season and what it means to you.

I want to talk a little about “voice.” Discussion driven ~ 10 mins
“Every woman’s life has a voice, allow it to speak.”

Write for 20 minutes:
Write about the worst meal you ever had…

The last Reflective Souls Carol talked about the inner critic…that voice inside that taunts us and has us question our voice. The writing assignment was to write a letter to your Inner Critic.

This week we are focusing on Trusting Your Voice. Have you ever watched a chipmunk? Our (creativity) voice is much like that little critter. The chipmunk is skitzy and timid and needs a safe environment to peep out. If it is startled it quickly retreats back into its hole. Maybe you know exactly what I’m talking about. Why is our creativity (voice) so shy? Maybe it has been diminished as we grew into life – nasty teachers, laughing peers, being told we can’t make a living as an artist, comparing our work with that of historical artistic greats. We give up and say, “I don’t have a creative bone in my body.” Which is not true, it just needs a lot of encouragement to creep out. We must be patient with our voice as well. Remember, it’s a bit skitzy, like the chipmunk.

You have a Voice, trust it…
Like a fingerprint; your voice makes the story/art uniquely yours. You don’t need to learn your voice; you just need to discover it. It’s already in you. But it's the hardest to achieve, because it involves trusting yourself. Even if you have all the building blocks of a story in place, if it lacks your voice, the piece will be flat and somewhat lifeless. If you are writing nonfiction or a reflection, bring your passion, your own way of looking at the world, and your excitement for the topic because this will give your work a soul. And you can trust that.

Imagine what you could do if you fully trusted your (creativity) voice!

Write for 20 minutes:
Sit quietly before God; listen for His voice, then write an encouraging letter to your (creative) voice. And read that letter every time your (creativity) voice seems skitzy or if your inner critic is speaking loud and clear.

Go and create! Trust your voice and write your heart out!

grace & peace, deAnn

Quick Recap

Our last gathering was Thursday, 8/28. As I prayed and pondered what we'd cover that evening, it became clear that I ought to share what I feel God's been saying to me about my "voice." So I decided that for the next 4 Thursday gatherings, our focus would be just that, "our voice."

• Trusting Your Voice
• Freeing Your Voice
• Surrendering Your Voice
• Nurturing Your Voice

Right now I have to get back to our bathroom renovations (I can hear my hubby calling me, I'm his "assistant.") But I will post a complete overview of this past gathering's topic: Trusting Your Voice with suggested writing prompts and all.

Back to the skill saws and power nail guns! Grace & peace ~ deAnn