Tim Speer's Blog - Posts Tagged "writing"

I mentioned in the post on why I decided to write, that a lot of the religious content for Return To Paradise was inspired by the Holy Spirit. The truth is, I feel most of the book was inspired by the Holy Spirit, and it was only through the Holy Spirit that I was able to write the book.

One of the reasons I didn't start writing the book earlier, even after having developed most of the story line, was that I was pretty sure that I didn't have the ability to. And I am not a pessimistic type person, or one who easily gives up on things. I have often learned to do things, or accomplished things, simply because I took the attitude that if I set my mind to it, I could do it. At the same time, I'm a pretty good judge of my own abilities. There are things I do well, and am confident of myself in. And there are things I know I simply can't do. For instance know I can't throw a baseball ninety miles an hour. Nor, with any amount of work or practice, would I ever be able to. I also know I can't sing. If you doubt me on this, I'd be happy to give you a demonstration - ear plugs are recommended.

When it came to my assessment of me not being able to write a book, it was not made groundlessly. I read a lot, and I have read a lot of fiction. I was thus well aware that it takes more than a simple story to create a novel. There's plot structure and development, character development, and dialogue among other things. Although I can't say when, because it wasn't a conscious thought, I know at some point in time I started thinking in the back of my mind about writing a book. That's because when I'd read a novel, I would find myself analyzing these elements and how the author developed them. And my conclusion was that I could not do what they did.

So ultimately, in the end, here I was feeling called to do something I didn't think I was able to do. How did I deal with it. The first thing, was not to tell anyone. Not even my wife. Only after she heard me in my office pecking away at the computer keyboard for a couple of nights, was I forced to fess up. And then only after making her promise not to tell anyone. The reason for this was simple. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to write it, and I didn't want to have to explain that to people when they started wondering why I hadn't finished it.

I have been told that God will not ask you to do any task without giving you the ability to accomplish it. And so it has proved true with Return To Paradise. God took the idea I had developed for a story, and through the Holy Spirit, gave me the inspiration, motivation, and ability to turn it into a novel.

How do I know this, and how do I know I'm not just deceiving myself. I told my wife early on that there would be one simple test. If very few people read it, and those that did said it was stupid, then I would know I had deceived myself and this was just another (yes I have had a few) dumb idea of mine. On the other hand, if more than a dozen or so read it, and more than one or two said they liked it, then it was in fact God and the Holy Spirit who had guided me, for I would have accomplished something I was previously incapable of. As I write this, about two months after the initial release of Return To Paradise, somewhere around 700 copies have been distributed (the majority through a free promotion I ran). That's a long way from the New York Times best seller list, but it's a lot more than a dozen. And all of the feedback I've received so far has been very positive.

So where do I go from here. I know that if I am called to write, and I follow what the Holy Spirit leads me to write about, it will be something people find worth reading. If I decide purely on my own to write something for my own benefit, it will probably be something noone wants to read. Will there be another book? Right now the answer is probably yes. What will it be about? Will it be a sequel, or something new? Right now all I can say is that it will have a Christian theme. Beyond that, God only knows.

I have been working on an idea for a new novel. Like I did with my last novel, Return To Paradise, I have been developing it purely in my head - nothing on paper. Yet I have managed to develop some parts of the novel in fairly good detail, including some of the dialogue. The only problem is there is one major piece of the plot that I simply had not been able to put together. I had a general idea of what I wanted, but nothing I thought of for it satisfied me. Then last night, I was at Adoration praying when the idea came to me, and I was at once fully satisfied and at peace with it. And the funny thing is, I wasn't even praying about the novel, I was praying about something that was completely unrelated. Or at least it was completely unrelated. I won't disclose it at this time, but it turns out the subject of my prayer is now the missing piece of my plot.

I have mentioned in my earlier posts that a lot of my inspirations seem to come to me around three in the morning. I have often wondered why the Holy Spirit couldn't pick a more convenient time to inspire me. Last night's inspiration came around seven in the evening. Perhaps I just need to go to Him occasionally.

I woke up this morning, not really any differently than a lot of mornings. My alarm was set early, so that I could get up and go swimming before work. Let me just say here that I swim to keep in shape, not because I really enjoy it. I look at swimming as somewhat of a drudgery, and this morning I was not particularly enthusiastic with either the prospect of getting up early, or swimming. Just the same, my wife and I said our morning prayers, and then I forced myself out of bed. I dressed, grabbed my duffel bag, and headed off to the pool.

Once I hit the water, I tend to feel relaxed and at peace. I wear a waterproof MP3 player, loaded with my Chistian music play list, clipped to my goggles. The music helps to break the monotony of swimming laps.

In the water, I am closed off from the outside world, hearing only my music, and seeing only the bottom of the pool. My thoughts turn inward. Sometimes I start out thinking about what I have planned for the day, or perhaps something I did the day before. Lately these thoughts have been short lived, and I soon start to think about my writing. Sometimes I'll get an inspiration for a blog post. But lately, it's been more often that I'll receive inspiration for my second book. One that I have only been thinking about writing, but now one that it appears more and more likely that I will in fact write. That was the case this morning.

So what was the subject matter of my inspirations this morning? They dealt primarily with the Eucharist, the intercession of Mary, and forgiveness (a major theme of the story). I swim not alone.

This is the official announcement that I have started my new book, "Seventy Times Seven". You should by now have some idea about what one of the major themes will be.

The decision to write this book is not one I made lightly. It is ultimately the result of considerable prayer. There are several reasons for this. First and foremost, as I said in one of my earliest posts, I write because I feel called to do so by the Holy Spirit. I absolutely do believe this. I also absolutely believe that if I ever write for my own reasons, I will fail. Thus, I wanted to be sure it was a true calling of the Holy Spirit. I might add that the Holy Spirit not only leads me to write, it inspires a lot of the content. Another reason I waited a while to start writing "Seventy Times Seven", is that I had a major hole in the plot that I was unable to fill in. I believe that it was no accident that the idea I needed to fill this hole in came to me during Adoration.

Another reason I was a little hesitant, is that this book will suggest that you do something that I myself would have a hard time doing. Yes I know we are called to forgive, and I do. But like many, there are limits to what I would easily be able to forgive. So it's my sincere hope that I am never called to forgive to the degree that the main character in Seventy Times Seven is called upon to.

And, as I discovered with "Return To Paradise", writing a book is no small commitment. And, as I have also discovered, it doesn't end when finish writing the book.

So the good news is that I have not only decided to start writing "Seventy Times Seven", I have actually started writing. Timing wise, I hope to have it published by mid-2016, which means you will still have to wait a while for it.

Now, at least for some of you, the bad news. It is not a sequel to "Return To Paradise". I say this because a number of the people who have read "Return To Paradise", have expressed their desire for me to write a sequel to it. This does not mean that I will never write a sequel to it. We'll just have to wait until after I finish "Seventy Times Seven" and see what the boss says.

For those of you who "gots to know", I have written a short epilogue to "Return To Paradise". Since it is an obvious spoiler, I will not post it here. It is available for download on my website: http://timspeer.net

For those of you who would like to know a little more about "Seventy Times Seven", I have posted a synopsis of it on my website.

The other day I read a blog post about how to deal with a lack of success as a Christian author. Among other things, it noted that, having put a lot of time and effort into our work, we have a natural desire to be rewarded for that work. Most people have one dream or another about being wildly successful at something. As the author of the blog post mentions, for an author, that usually translates into being on the New York Times Best Seller list, or winning a major book award; or even just seeing thousands and thousands of your books sell, and seeing those big royalty checks come in.

The reality is, that most will never see that kind of success. But perhaps the problem isn't ones lack of success, as much as the way they define that success. If we are truly writing for God, then success must be defined by God, on his terms, not by us, on our terms.

Before proceeding, I will qualify myself a little. Unlike some, I do not write as a full time profession, and I do not count on my writing for income. Also, although I am nowhere near making any type of New York Times list, the reality is that for a new author with only one published book, I am not doing that bad.

So how do I define success? First I have to look at the reason I chose to write a book to begin with. The answer to that is simple, I felt that God was calling me to write it. So if God was calling me to write, that means he has a purpose for my writing. By definition then, success is achieved when God's purpose for my writing is fulfilled.

I also have to realize that it's quite possible that God may only have a limited number of people for whom he wants to use my writing. And, I have to remember that when he called me to write, he never said I was going to make a lot of money off of it. So, since God's pupose may not be for me to make the New York Times Best Seller list, or to make a lot of money on my books, how do I know if God's pupose is being fulfilled? How do I know if I am being successful on God's terms? The bottom line is faith. I have faith that if God has a purpose for my writing, then God will make sure that it is read by those he wants to read it, and that it will serve the purpose he wants it to serve. I start by constantly praying that what I write will be what God wants me to write, and that it will be used for his purpose.
Do I have a basis for my faith? Absolutely. As I have said, I am a new writer. This is not something I have ever done before. Nor have I ever taken any courses, or had any training. And, while I realize that just because I wrote a novel doesn't mean it's any good, I have had overwhelming feedback from people telling me how much they liked it. Some even going out of their way to do so. So if God can take me, an untrained writer, and use me to write a book that people actually like, then why should I not have faith that God will see that it accomplishes his purpose? And I have faith that, to that end, I will be wildly successful.