Life goes on, things happen, goals are unmet - we must accept the truth and move on. I've been unable to spend the time at my computer as I had hoped, falling short of my personal goal to finish the trilogy by the first of this month. I'm not stressed, neither am I condemning myself out of sheer personal disappointment. Would I have liked to complete that personal challenge? Yes! Do I know one cannot force a round peg into a square hole? Also, yes! Sadly, body and mind don't always cooperate with one another.
Having had a personal connection with the previous two stories, Benny and Billy, writing them from a place of understanding allowed the stories to very nearly write themselves. Yet, if the third in the trilogy is to be of the same nature as the first two, out of a trial for myself or someone else, then I'm in no hurry. I'm hoping for inspiration without the accompanying trial.
So, here I sit, thoughts and ideas swirling around in my head, occasionally colliding forming a larger concept, yet never going further. According to the information I've received from the writers group I attend, I'm approaching this all wrong, but for now this is how I operate. I don't pretend to be a "writer". I just want to be a vessel out of which stories are written for the edification and enlightenment of others.
To understand why my desire is to edify and enlighten, let me address, for a moment, my genre of writing. If you have read Benny and Billy then you know where I'm coming from. I enjoy writing spiritual fiction, and of course, where this blog began, devotionals. I believe we live in a time where there is much going on in the unseen world - great spiritual battles being waged all around us. Writing to encourage faith and enlighten understanding about how spiritual events become interwoven into our lives is my goal.
I write from the foundation of human nature and the belief and understanding that there is a whole other dimension of reality out there impacting our lives in profound ways. This spiritual dimension, the dark side, that is, plays upon our natural bent to fall short - to sin, and indulge self above others. For example, in writing Billy, it was freakishly easy to imagine shedding all restraints and sinking to the depths of human nature at it's worst and most self-indulgent.
Mainly because I know we emerge from the womb self consumed. Those of us who have had the immense pleasure/pain of raising children know we must teach them to be selfless. The nature of the beast (using this term most lightly) desires everything to be "mine".
The good news is there is a winning side in this spiritual battle - the perspective from which I write. Having read and studied the Bible for many years now, and more recently, delved into the book of Revelation, I have a greater appreciation for the battle being waged around us on a daily basis. Clearly there is good and evil in this world. I don't think anyone would dispute that. My writing perspective comes from what's behind the good and evil. The war being waged for our very souls.
So, stay tuned. Lord willing, there will be more to come.
