The Book

A few years ago, I felt that part of what I am on the planet to do includes to write a book. One evening as I was walking home, I said to the universe, “If I’m supposed to write a book, open the way for me to do so. Reveal to me that I am supposed to do it. ” Within two weeks I received a positive answer, but I had no idea what the book would be about. After a while I dismissed the idea all together and now here I am revisiting the idea once more, but this time knowing the answer to my question. I am writing about my world and what I learned while changing my entire life when I could no longer continue the life I was living. How does a woman go about changing her entire life at the age of 45? And what lessons did she learn? The title is “The Bigger Picture” which required 46 years of experience before I could write it  because it took me that long to take a leap of faith and commit to change.

If there’s a book you really want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it. – Toni Morrison

Below is some writing advice from C. S. Lewis, my favorite writer and story teller.

In 1959, the following eight rules for good writing were sent to an American schoolgirl who appealed to C. S. Lewis for writing advice:

1. Turn off the radio [and television].
2. Read good books and avoid most magazines.
3. Write with the ear, not the eye. Make every sentence sound good.
4. Write only about things that interest you. If you have no interests, you won’t ever be a writer.
5. Be clear. Remember that readers can’t know your mind. Don’t forget to tell them exactly what they need to know to understand you.
6. Save odds and ends of writing attempts, because you may be able to use them later.
7. You need a well-trained sense of word-rhythm, and the noise of a typewriter will interfere.
8. Know the meaning of every word you use.

Source: C. S. Lewis. Collected Letters. New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, 1966, 291-292. Quoted in Kathryn Lindskoog, Creative Writing for People Who Can’t Not Write. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1989, 253.