A
Step in the Write
Direction
August
3, 2015
Update:
Enjoying the coolness inside our mobile home with the new air conditioner
installed Monday. He said it should help with the utility bills too as the other
one was 17 years old. This Thursday men will come and remove the mold from our
house. I have to be out of here for 3 days so thought it would be a good time to
visit my brother and wife near Nashville. Haven’t seen them in several
years….Good news on the new Step in the
Write Direction Book. The
publisher has lowered the price from $24.95 to $19.95. With the assignments
throughout, this will be good for home schoolers, Christian schools, and
writers’ groups….Note from this morning’s sermon: The preacher was asked where
his church was. “I can give you the address where it is on Sunday,” he told his
friend, “but I don’t know where the church is the rest of the week.” This
reminds me of one of my nephew’s songs, when someone asked the minister when the
service began, he replied, “When you go out the door and turn out the lights,
that’s when the service begins.” I hope we all do our part in serving the Lord
this week!
Thought
for Today:
“I am who I am” God said in Exodus 3. Some Jewish scholars translate this phrase
as “I shall be as I shall be.” This gives us hope for the present and the
future. What God was yesterday He is today. What God is today He will be
tomorrow. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. So be encouraged. God
was, God is, and God shall be (Ed Dobson, Prayers and Promises,111,112).
(Wesley Tracy’s “Manna Morsels,” 7/26/15).
Song
for Today:
Yesterday,
today, forever, Jesus is the same.
All
may change, but Jesus never! Glory to His name!
Glory
to His name! Glory to His name!
All
may change, but Jesus never! Glory to His name!
“Yesterday, Today, Forever,” Albert
B. Simpson, 1943–1919
Laugh
for Today:
A distraught senior citizen phoned her doctor’s office. “Is it true,” she asked,
“that the medication you prescribed me has to be taken for the rest of my life.”
“Yes, I’m afraid so,” the doctor said. There was a moment of silence before the
senior lady replied, “I’m wondering then just how serious my condition is as
this prescription is marked NO REFILLS.”
Good
Description:
I want to share this descriptive line from a book I just read: “The woman had a
perpetually puckered mouth, looking like she’d sucked on a lemon for too long”
(Debby Mayne, Deck the Halls [from
the series Love Finds You on Christmas
Morning, Minneapolis, MN: Summerside Press, 2011, p.
45]).
Writer’s
Tips: Developing Characters
(continued)
Make
a list of all the characters in your book. Draw a family tree. Give the ages of
the characters when you begin writing and keep track so they won’t age three
years in a two-year span.
Develop
character sketches. What color is their hair? Their eyes? What is their height
and weight? What are some of their personality traits? Their faults? Their
strengths and weaknesses? Their likes and dislikes?
Get
to know your characters well enough that you would recognize them if you met
them walking down the street.
The
following assignment was given in a fiction workshop taught by Mabeth Clem of
the Nazarene Publishing House.
1.
What does my character most sincerely believe in? (example:
honesty)
2. Noticeable mannerism? (faltering
step)
3. Music? (old gospel
hymns)
4. Attitude toward person closest to him?
(17-year-old grandson, protective)
5. Comment made habitually or favorite saying?
(“Honesty is the best policy.”)
6. Favorite entertainment?
(fishing)
7. Fear? (to be left
alone)
8. Pet peeve? (loud
music)
9. Attitude toward opposite sex?
(old-fashioned)
10.
Favorite foods? (meat and potatoes)
11.
Greatest psychological need? (to be loved and needed)
12.
How does this affect his actions? (He does what others think he should, rather
than what he really wants to do.)
13.
Present problem?
Have a good week spreading
the
gospel
through the printed page.
Donna
Clark Goodrich
·
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·
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·
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·
The
Freedom of Letting Go (new
one coming out will have discussion questions; can be used in S.S. class or
small group); original copies without questions now on sale for
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·
BIGGER
SALE: Healing in God’s Time (story of Dave Clark, composer of 25 songs
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The
Little Book of Big Laughs—105
purse/pocket-size book of clean jokes—$5; up to 4 for same
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·
Preparing
Your Heart for Christmas (31 Advent Devotions)
half-price—$5
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