Who Keeps Your Time? by Heidi Chiavaroli

Heidi Chiavaroli

Two hours, one minute, and sixteen seconds.

I stared at my time in the Jamestown Half Marathon, the black type shouting up failure against a white backdrop.

One minute and sixteen seconds away from my objective. If I’d gone six seconds faster per mile, I’d have reached my goal.

I wondered if I could have done better. The race was torture, but I’d been prepared. I’d trained. I’d done the work.

I only neglected to wear a stopwatch. A stopwatch would have revealed how close I was to reaching my goal. It might have been the push I needed to close the seventy-six second gap.

As I often do, I thought about my writing and the goal I’ve had for years (and years!) of getting one of my books published. I trained with classes, books, conferences, and a critique group. I worked hard writing until I reached “The End,” taking comments from judges and my critique partners and editing for countless hours, letting my skin thicken and my writing improve.

And still, I have not reached my goal.

Only on the writing journey, there’s no option of a stopwatch. I don’t know if I am months away from selling one of my books, or years. I don’t even know if it will ever happen.

But I do know that I can’t give up now. I put too many hours of work and too much of my spirit into this work I believed God has called me to do. And maybe that’s why I don’t need a stopwatch. If He’s called me to do this writing thing, I only need to trust Him for the timing He’s laid out.

For me, the easiest way to practice that trust is to offer up my writing to God each time I sit down at my laptop. It’s His. He can do with it what He wants—either to mold me in some way or one day give readers enjoyment, and hopefully growth, through the telling of my stories. I don’t perform this spiritual release often enough. I hold too tightly to my work, my plans. And that’s likely why I often feel anxious over my writing career. But when I release it to the One who knows best, I experience the freedom He’s called me to.

So whether it’s running or writing, a bad race time or a rejection email, I don’t need to beat myself up about it. I don’t need to think of it as failure, but rather as a step in the right direction.

After all, there will be another race next year. Another book, and another chance to sell it.

I only need to run the race, and let God keep the time.

What do you do when you’re anxious about your writing? 

Do you find it helps to realize you’re not ultimately in charge?

****

Heidi Chiavaroli writes History Woven in Grace. She is a wife, mother, disciple, and grace-clinger. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and has finaled in the Genesis contest and My Book Therapy’s Frasier contest.

Immersion by Peter Leavell

Peter Leavell

Hey writers, what was the most interesting thing you've done as part of research for a book? I know a friend who went skydiving. She has pictures to prove it. How about you? Peter Leavell is back to conclude his visits this month by discussing the topic of research. Enjoy! ~ Annette

Immersion or sprinkle? My goodness, a touchy subject. And religious, as well.

But when it comes to researching your subject, you must immerse.

In fact, let’s forget immersion. Hold yourself under water until the congregation is sure someone is about to drown—and the elders or deacons come running to save a life.

Because if a writer wants to add literary value to the book, it’s going to take some research. Research adds depth.

An Example

Ernest Hemingway studied his work by living it. His book, For Whom the Bell Tolls, is about an event called the Spanish Civil War. How well did he research his subject? Hemingway was in the Spanish Civil War. Hard to get much closer to your subject.

So, if you’re writing a modern romance that contains a character whose interactions are insane, unreal, and unhealthy, it’s a wonderful excuse to enjoy a relationship you only read about. You have just cause. But, there may be a better way.

A Better Way

Instead of destroying your life, hit the books.

There’s nothing more amazing than learning about the depths of depravity through someone else’s life. That way you don’t have to destroy your own. Biographies are perfect for this. A great memoire not only talks about the personal problems of a real character, it also gives insight on the people around them. Analyze as you read. Why did the person make decisions the way they did? Did they want to fit in with the culture? Go against it? Create it?

My wife claims she sleeps next to a different character every night—John Adams, Napoleon Bonaparte, Julius Caesar, Leonardo de Vinci, and the list goes on. I go as far as ordering a Roman sword to get the feel for the weapon, or firing a Civil War cannon, just to feel what it was like. It adds depth. And depth makes your work more worthy of literary value.

Do your research. Don’t just sprinkle, immerse yourself in it. You’ll be happy that you did.

Thanks for visiting, Peter!

~~~~

Gideon's Call

Author Peter Leavell forges an unprecedented tale of tragedy and triumph amid the backdrop of the Civil War through the story of Tad, a very clever slave boy who comes of age as America’s war reaches the sea islands of South Carolina. Tad’s desire to better himself is obstructed by the color of his skin, until Northern soldiers force the evacuation of white plantation owners, setting 10,000 slaves free in a single day. These circumstances seem like a dream, except that the newly freed slaves have no money, no education, and little hope for the future—unless someone rises up to lead them. Based on true events, Gideon’s Callis the dramatic tale of a young man who battles the shame of his past and faces the horrors of war and unimaginable prejudice to become the deliverer of thousands of freed slaves.

Peter Leavell, a 2007 graduate of Boise State University with a degree in history, was the 2011 winner of Christian Writers Guild's Operation First Novel contest. Peter and his family live in Boise, Idaho. For entertainment, he reads historical books, where he finds ideas for new novels. Whenever he has a chance, he takes his wife and two homeschooled children on crazy but fun research trips. Learn more about Peter's books, research, and family adventures at www.peterleavell.com and on his Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/PeterLeavell.

(print)         (e-book)