If by some chance you've had your head under a rock and didn't realize it, Inseparable by Ashley Linne released this week. Ashley has been my BFF since before that was a thing. We met in first grade and have been best friends ever since. We were even roommates for a year in college, before I ditched her to get married. Over the years we've had ups and downs and disagreements, like friends do, but if I'm being perfectly honest I have to admit that the vast majority of those were my fault. But the beauty of this friendship that has lasted for over twenty-five years (Crazy!) is that it is based on the fact that we both have very deep beliefs about God and His word that are very similar. And because of that, I can wholeheartedly endorse this book that she has written. In fact, as I read through it I kept thinking, wow, that's exactly how I would have said that.
In college, Ashley and I shared a mentor who took us through a study on our identity in Christ. I know that made a profound impact on both of us. Based on concepts found in the book of Romans, Inseparable really dives into the truth of who God has declared his children to be. Walking the path of the Christian life from the moment of being made right in Christ through eternity, Ashley draws on her experience in studying theology (she has a Bachelor's degree in Religion and has master's level work on the subject) and her studies in human behavior (her Master's degree is in Family Life Education), as well as her deeply personal struggles with questioning God's love for her, to craft a book that is deeply theological, very practical, and intensely emotional. She doesn't pull punches, and she doesn't hide her pain. If you embark on this study with her, you will find much more than a "how to" manual on the Christian life. You will look deep into God's truth and contemplate what it means in your own life. You might even find yourself changed by the experience.
This is an undeniably girly book. From the purple cover to the butterflies that adorn every page, the language, and the approach, it definitely fits the "by women, for women" image of the InScribed Studies. But it does contain scriptural truth that is applicable for everyone, and I'd guess that any brave guys out there who can get past the girly presentation would be encouraged by the message, as well. I like how the InScribed books are put together (I also have Dive Deeper by Jenifer Jernigan), with the end flaps that conveniently help keep your place, and the personal notes written on the front flap. Ashley is not only an author in the series, but she had a pivotal role in bringing it all together, and I couldn't be more proud of all that she has accomplished. Definitely check out this study, for yourself or a woman in your life. You'll be glad you did.
Keep up with Ashley by following her blog: ashleylinne.com
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
Saturday, October 4, 2014
On Writing: 100,000 words
This week my novel tipped the word count at over 100,000 words. I've found that while writers tend to think in terms of word count and automatically have an idea of what 100,000 means, readers often want to know how many pages that is. Word count is a solid, tangible number, while page count is rather ambiguous in an unpublished work. The number of pages in a book depends on several factors, including format (paperback or hardcover), font, print size, front matter, back matter, chapters, sections... That being said, not that anyone is counting, but if my book were published in its current state, it would be somewhere around 300 pages, give or take 50 or so. But let's not talk about my book being published in its current state. I'm already breaking out in hives.
Honestly, I never thought I could write a book that was 100,000 words long. Don't get me wrong, I know I can be pretty wordy. I decided when I was ten years old that I would never be a short story writer. Novels are my thing. I love action and drama and fast-paced, quick-moving stories... in movies. In a book, I like to take my time to get to know characters and love them before things happen in their lives, while things are happening, and after the things happen. That's what I love, so that's what I write.
Characters take time to develop. Just like first impressions in real life, where you can make a snap judgment in five minutes and decide whether or not you're going to like a person, very often you can tell within five pages of a book if you're going to like a character enough to invest in them for the next 300 pages or so. But then there's the fun of really diving in to what makes this person tick, watching relationships unfold and stretch and change, seeing how they respond in various situations and wondering if you would react the same way. That's what's fun about stories, isn't it? Escaping your own life and immersing yourself in someone else's, just for pure entertainment. Sometimes you even learn something along the way. Again, that's what I love, so that's what I write.
Still, when your novel is limping along at 55,000 words (barely a novella by most standards), which is where mine was a year and a half ago, 100,000 seems like an impossible target. When I embarked on this major rewrite, adding important things like a plot to my story, I set 80,000 as my target goal. Surely I couldn't add 45,000 additional words to what I thought was already a fairly complete story, but 25,000 seemed reasonable. Then as I kept writing, and the plot and the characters kept developing, and one minor character kept demanding more of a role, I looked at my outline (yes, I do look at it sometimes) and thought, "This thing could go massive. Like, I'm not sure if it will be less than 130,000 words." But I kept writing because I figured, hey, if I can add that many words, I can just as easily cut out that many when it's time to get it into shape to try to submit it for publication. Then a few weeks ago, out of nowhere, I wrote a short piece of a scene that just popped into my head and thought, "Hey, you know what? This sounds like an ending." So now I've been writing toward that, and I'm only a chapter or two away, so 110,000 is sounding like a really good total number of words for this draft. And let me be clear: it's a draft. The kind of thing that only a few patient people who really love me would be willing to read through. It needs lots of work, still. But I'm much, much happier with it now than I was a year and a half ago. Who knows, maybe in another year and a half (or less!) I might have something that I'd be ready to let the whole world read. We'll see. For now, I'm going to enjoy this moment, knowing that I've written more words in a single story than I ever have before, and focus on writing on to that ending!
(In case you're wondering, this entire post is about 730 words)
Honestly, I never thought I could write a book that was 100,000 words long. Don't get me wrong, I know I can be pretty wordy. I decided when I was ten years old that I would never be a short story writer. Novels are my thing. I love action and drama and fast-paced, quick-moving stories... in movies. In a book, I like to take my time to get to know characters and love them before things happen in their lives, while things are happening, and after the things happen. That's what I love, so that's what I write.
Characters take time to develop. Just like first impressions in real life, where you can make a snap judgment in five minutes and decide whether or not you're going to like a person, very often you can tell within five pages of a book if you're going to like a character enough to invest in them for the next 300 pages or so. But then there's the fun of really diving in to what makes this person tick, watching relationships unfold and stretch and change, seeing how they respond in various situations and wondering if you would react the same way. That's what's fun about stories, isn't it? Escaping your own life and immersing yourself in someone else's, just for pure entertainment. Sometimes you even learn something along the way. Again, that's what I love, so that's what I write.
Still, when your novel is limping along at 55,000 words (barely a novella by most standards), which is where mine was a year and a half ago, 100,000 seems like an impossible target. When I embarked on this major rewrite, adding important things like a plot to my story, I set 80,000 as my target goal. Surely I couldn't add 45,000 additional words to what I thought was already a fairly complete story, but 25,000 seemed reasonable. Then as I kept writing, and the plot and the characters kept developing, and one minor character kept demanding more of a role, I looked at my outline (yes, I do look at it sometimes) and thought, "This thing could go massive. Like, I'm not sure if it will be less than 130,000 words." But I kept writing because I figured, hey, if I can add that many words, I can just as easily cut out that many when it's time to get it into shape to try to submit it for publication. Then a few weeks ago, out of nowhere, I wrote a short piece of a scene that just popped into my head and thought, "Hey, you know what? This sounds like an ending." So now I've been writing toward that, and I'm only a chapter or two away, so 110,000 is sounding like a really good total number of words for this draft. And let me be clear: it's a draft. The kind of thing that only a few patient people who really love me would be willing to read through. It needs lots of work, still. But I'm much, much happier with it now than I was a year and a half ago. Who knows, maybe in another year and a half (or less!) I might have something that I'd be ready to let the whole world read. We'll see. For now, I'm going to enjoy this moment, knowing that I've written more words in a single story than I ever have before, and focus on writing on to that ending!
(In case you're wondering, this entire post is about 730 words)
Friday, September 12, 2014
On GOSPEL by J.D. Greear (and why everyone should read it)
I admit, I don't often read nonfiction, and when I do, it's usually because Greg recommended that I read it. Sometimes after I've read several novels, I feel like I need to read something real and true, just to get myself grounded in reality before diving back into fiction again. As usual, I asked Greg what I should read, and as usual, he suggested a winner.
I honestly think everyone should read this book. No joke. If you only read one book this year, read the Bible. If you read two, read the Bible and Gospel: Recovering the Power that Made Christianity Revolutionary. (And if you read three, add my BFF's upcoming book, Inseparable: Who I Am, Was, and Will Be In Christ.) In Gospel, J.D. Greear says a lot of things I've heard and read in the last few years, but I love the way he says it. He's a smart guy, he's got degrees and he pastors a big church, but he talks and writes like a dude that I could be friends with if I knew him.
If you've read this blog at all (other than my silly posts about movies and stuff) you'll probably understand why this book spoke to my heart. It makes the claim, very simply, that everything we do as Christians is inspired by the gospel, motivated by the gospel, and empowered by the gospel. Put simply: it's all about Jesus. Not about following a bunch of rules to check off all the boxes to make sure that we're saved and that God loves us. Not about being a good example to the rest of the world about how we ought to live. Not about living in fear that God will strike us down if we obey. Because of Christ's completed work on the cross, we can live in freedom to do the good things that God actually created us to do, because He loves us and we love Him, and because Christ made all of that possible. Greg just started a sermon series on Romans and one of the verses that keeps sticking in my mind is Romans 1:16, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek." The gospel is the power that saves us and makes us new. The gospel. Not our own lame efforts.
Greear's theology is definitely what people would call "Reformed," that is, among other things, he has a very high view of God and His sovereignty. He believes that everything God does is for His own good, that He is in control of all circumstances, and that He has a plan and purpose in every event that unfolds. Some people have issues with the Reformed crowd, but if I'm being honest I count myself as one of them in most points. This perspective that God is big enough to handle my issues, my inconsistencies, and my circumstances, whether or not I understand what He is doing, is okay with me. I don't expect to understand God, so it doesn't bother me that sometimes I don't. I like things to make sense, to have a logical order to them, to be scientific and formulaic, so I can explain them. But some things defy explanation. My faith tells me that even when things don't make sense to me, they make sense to God. If I could see things the way He does, I would understand why they are the way they are. I can't always see them that way, but I have faith that He does, and sometimes that just has to be enough. The gospel is God's plan for the world, the central theme of His story, and an incredible picture of who He is and why He is so great and unfathomable that we simply must call Him God.
The book is arranged in three parts: A basic introduction into the gospel and what Greear calls "The Gospel Prayer," a detailed look at the parts of The Gospel Prayer, and ways that the gospel answers some of the questions we often have about life and Christianity. It also addresses how we often come at the gospel from a backward perspective, focusing on actions and behavior rather than on God's work in Christ. It suggests caution toward many of the ideas we have been taught in churches about "doing things for God," noting that while it is good to do good things, the reason why we do them should be motivated on our love for God which flows from our belief in the work He has done, not because we want God to love us for what we do.
In the chapter on gospel-centered churches, Greear does a masterful job of breaking down many of the "types" of churches that exist today, while ignoring confusing denominational labels. With each type of church, he points out the areas those churches often focus on instead of the gospel. While most of those areas of emphasis are not bad, and Greear actually agrees with and applauds many of them, the problem happens when churches replace the gospel with their favorite sacred cow, whether it be prosperity theology, the filling of the Holy Spirit, Calvinism, or anything else. The chapter on the church is, in my opinion, one of the most important chapters in the book. But if you skip the other chapters and read it first, or alone, I think you'll miss the point.
Now for the part where I tell you why everyone should read this book. It's not because it's brilliantly written. The writing is good but I'm rather particular about such things and I found several problem spots (also I read it on Kindle and the formatting isn't spectacular). It's not because I agree with everything Greear says, although throughout most of the book, he says what I would like to say, only he says it better. A few times I thought, "Well, I'm not quite sure about that ..." but I believe he's right on in his presentation of the gospel and its vital importance in the lives of both believers and unbelievers. This book lays out, relatively simply, what the gospel is, how it changes our hearts and lives, and what that change can look like when it's lived out in our homes and job and communities. Whether you consider yourself a Christian or not, if you've ever wondered what Christians believe or why they do the things they do, read this book. I think (and I pray) that if you read it all the way through with an open mind and a humble heart, it might just change your life. It might just change mine.
What about you? Have you read this book? What did you think? Any recommendations for what I should read next?
I honestly think everyone should read this book. No joke. If you only read one book this year, read the Bible. If you read two, read the Bible and Gospel: Recovering the Power that Made Christianity Revolutionary. (And if you read three, add my BFF's upcoming book, Inseparable: Who I Am, Was, and Will Be In Christ.) In Gospel, J.D. Greear says a lot of things I've heard and read in the last few years, but I love the way he says it. He's a smart guy, he's got degrees and he pastors a big church, but he talks and writes like a dude that I could be friends with if I knew him.
If you've read this blog at all (other than my silly posts about movies and stuff) you'll probably understand why this book spoke to my heart. It makes the claim, very simply, that everything we do as Christians is inspired by the gospel, motivated by the gospel, and empowered by the gospel. Put simply: it's all about Jesus. Not about following a bunch of rules to check off all the boxes to make sure that we're saved and that God loves us. Not about being a good example to the rest of the world about how we ought to live. Not about living in fear that God will strike us down if we obey. Because of Christ's completed work on the cross, we can live in freedom to do the good things that God actually created us to do, because He loves us and we love Him, and because Christ made all of that possible. Greg just started a sermon series on Romans and one of the verses that keeps sticking in my mind is Romans 1:16, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek." The gospel is the power that saves us and makes us new. The gospel. Not our own lame efforts.
Greear's theology is definitely what people would call "Reformed," that is, among other things, he has a very high view of God and His sovereignty. He believes that everything God does is for His own good, that He is in control of all circumstances, and that He has a plan and purpose in every event that unfolds. Some people have issues with the Reformed crowd, but if I'm being honest I count myself as one of them in most points. This perspective that God is big enough to handle my issues, my inconsistencies, and my circumstances, whether or not I understand what He is doing, is okay with me. I don't expect to understand God, so it doesn't bother me that sometimes I don't. I like things to make sense, to have a logical order to them, to be scientific and formulaic, so I can explain them. But some things defy explanation. My faith tells me that even when things don't make sense to me, they make sense to God. If I could see things the way He does, I would understand why they are the way they are. I can't always see them that way, but I have faith that He does, and sometimes that just has to be enough. The gospel is God's plan for the world, the central theme of His story, and an incredible picture of who He is and why He is so great and unfathomable that we simply must call Him God.
The book is arranged in three parts: A basic introduction into the gospel and what Greear calls "The Gospel Prayer," a detailed look at the parts of The Gospel Prayer, and ways that the gospel answers some of the questions we often have about life and Christianity. It also addresses how we often come at the gospel from a backward perspective, focusing on actions and behavior rather than on God's work in Christ. It suggests caution toward many of the ideas we have been taught in churches about "doing things for God," noting that while it is good to do good things, the reason why we do them should be motivated on our love for God which flows from our belief in the work He has done, not because we want God to love us for what we do.
In the chapter on gospel-centered churches, Greear does a masterful job of breaking down many of the "types" of churches that exist today, while ignoring confusing denominational labels. With each type of church, he points out the areas those churches often focus on instead of the gospel. While most of those areas of emphasis are not bad, and Greear actually agrees with and applauds many of them, the problem happens when churches replace the gospel with their favorite sacred cow, whether it be prosperity theology, the filling of the Holy Spirit, Calvinism, or anything else. The chapter on the church is, in my opinion, one of the most important chapters in the book. But if you skip the other chapters and read it first, or alone, I think you'll miss the point.
Now for the part where I tell you why everyone should read this book. It's not because it's brilliantly written. The writing is good but I'm rather particular about such things and I found several problem spots (also I read it on Kindle and the formatting isn't spectacular). It's not because I agree with everything Greear says, although throughout most of the book, he says what I would like to say, only he says it better. A few times I thought, "Well, I'm not quite sure about that ..." but I believe he's right on in his presentation of the gospel and its vital importance in the lives of both believers and unbelievers. This book lays out, relatively simply, what the gospel is, how it changes our hearts and lives, and what that change can look like when it's lived out in our homes and job and communities. Whether you consider yourself a Christian or not, if you've ever wondered what Christians believe or why they do the things they do, read this book. I think (and I pray) that if you read it all the way through with an open mind and a humble heart, it might just change your life. It might just change mine.
What about you? Have you read this book? What did you think? Any recommendations for what I should read next?
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