Many of us are facing challenges not only in our writing journey but also in our personal lives. Take heart! Author Lorri Dudley encourages us to remember that what we’re dealing with today is only a part of our story. ~ Dawn
Focusing on
the Full Story
In my latest release, The Sugar Baron’s Ring, the hero, Bradlee, must return to England with his research in time to face the dons and pass his final exams because his father is under the presumption Bradlee has already graduated. However, a drunken captain runs the passenger ship aground on a reef. When Bradlee stops to help a man, he loses his spot in the lifeboat. The vessel, then, breaks apart, and before he plummets into the dark, swirling water, a man yells, “Shark!” And that’s just the first chapter.
If writers aren’t spiteful, ruthless people, why do we need to torture our heroes and heroines? Holding a reader’s interest isn’t the only reason. We torment our main characters because, through their struggles, readers fall in love with the redemptive story. When the black moment hits and all is lost, readers experience how hope prevails.
We see similar suffering-to-redemption examples from the Bible. Naomi, in the book of Ruth, relocates to a foreign land due to a famine, her sons marry outside of their religion, and then Naomi’s husband dies. When it seems it can’t get worse, Naomi’s sons die. Let’s look at Joseph. His jealous brothers throw him into a pit and then sell him as a slave to passing traders. Joseph works hard and tries to make the best of a bad situation, but then he’s accused of a crime he didn’t commit, thrown into jail, and forgotten. And then, there was the Apostle Paul, he was arrested for being a Christ-follower, but during his transportation to Rome to stand trial, a storm sinks the ship. He helps the crew and captives swim to the island of Malta and build a fire, wherein another almost comical stroke of bad luck, a snake bites Paul’s hand as he’s warming them.
If we didn’t know the ending, we’d think God had it out for Naomi, Joseph, and Paul. In our own lives, when things take a turn for the worst, we may wonder if God is punishing us. However, we must remember the full story. Because of those trials, Naomi’s joy was redeemed through her daughter-in-law, Ruth, and she became a grandmother in the lineage of Jesus. Joseph became Pharaoh’s righthand man and saved his family from starving to death. Paul had an opportunity to heal and witness to many of the Malta islanders.
In our black moments, we may cry out to God and feel like it falls on deaf ears, but don’t give up hope, because hope hasn’t given up on you. In those bleak times, we must remember the redemption story, not the ones from fiction novels, but from history, where Jesus faced his darkest moment on the cross and took our sins upon him so that we may have life and live it to the full.
Or as I call it, happily-ever-after.
If writers aren’t spiteful, ruthless people, why do we need to torture our heroes and heroines? seriouslywrite #encouragementforwriters
Writers torment our main characters because, through their struggles, readers fall in love with the redemptive story. #seriouslywrite #encouragementforwriters
In our black moments, we may cry out to God and feel like it falls on deaf ears, but don’t give up hope, because hope hasn’t given up on you. #seriouslywrite #encouragementforwriters
Hannah Rose Barrington is the island misfit. Orphaned at a young age, Hannah struggles to provide for her future, while her guardian, a weak-hearted island drunk, bleeds Hannah of her father’s inheritance. Caught between the classes of elite planters and white beggars, Hannah yearns to find a place to belong.
University life has never been Bradlee Granville’s forte. His only hope to graduate is to impress his professors by documenting his travels. After claiming unforeseeable circumstances, he delays his final exams and sets out early on his Grand Tour. However, when his ship wrecks off the coast of the Leeward Islands, Bradlee is left without means to return to England, a mounting deadline, and ruined journals.
When Hannah rescues passengers from a ship breaking apart in the bay, she’s unexpectedly drawn to the witty charm of one of the men. Helping him settle into island life will be a pleasure. However, as creditors, like sharks, begin to circle and her guardian’s desperation becomes life-threatening, Hannah finds herself in need of rescue. Will Bradlee look past her pitiful situation to see who she truly is—the sugar baron’s daughter?
Lorri started writing romance novels as a “girlie” outlet from her testosterone-filled household. She has a wonderfully supportive husband and three very active boys who love to wrestle, catch bugs, and play in the mud. Writing romance is her way of escaping back into the softer, feminine side of life.
Lorri is also a devoted follower of Jesus, and whose goal is to glorify Him and further His kingdom through her writing. She enjoys creating suspenseful tension and vibrant characters and desires for readers to live through her heroines, experience their devastating lows and euphoric joys, and grow in the process.
When Lorri’s not working on her next book, she’s assisting her entrepreneurial husband, leading small groups within her church, and carting her boys from one sport to another.
Connect with Lorri and learn more about her books here:
www.lorridudley.com
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