Acceptable Words: Prayers for the Writer

by Gary D. Schmidt (editor), Elizabeth Stickney (Editor)

Acceptable Words offers prayers that correspond with each stage of the writer's work -- from finding inspiration to penning the first words to "offering it to God" at completion. Gary Schmidt and Elizabeth Stickney, experienced writers themselves, introduce each chapter of prayers with pithy pastoral reflections that will encourage writers in their craft.

This welcome spiritual resource for writers includes both ancient and contemporary poems and prayers -- some of which were written especially for this volume. A thoughtful gift for any writer, Acceptable Words will accompany writers on their spiritual journey, lending words of praise and petition specifically crafted to suit their unique vocation.

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Genres: Nonfiction, Poetry, Writing, Christian, Religion, Faith

218 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 31, 2012

About the author

Gary D. Schmidt is an American children's writer of nonfiction books and young adult novels, including two Newbery Honor books. He lives on a farm in Alto, Michigan,with his wife and six children, where he splits wood, plants gardens, writes, feeds the wild cats that drop by and wishes that sometimes the sea breeze came that far inland. He is a Professor of English at Calvin College.

Reviews

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

There’s a misleading subtitle on a wonderful new book, “Acceptable Words: Prayers for the Writer”; although writers are certainly the target audience, the collection isn’t just for writers, it’s for anyone.
Prayers come from a wide-ranging list, names you know and names you’ve more than likely never heard. There’s Thomas Merton and G.K. Chesterton, e.e. cummings and Bernard of Cluny, Thomas Aquinas, Jane Austen, John Donne, T.S. Eliot, Henri Nouwen, John Henry Newman, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and so many more.
But there’s also American poet Otto Selles and novelist Sandy Tritt, South African political activist Joe Seremane, Luci Shaw, Macrina Wiederkehr, Frank Topping, William J. Vande Kopple and Scott Hoezee.

Though they pray from different eras and in many different styles, a base of belief undergirds them all. As editors Gary D. Schmidt and Elizabeth Stickney note, “These are the prayers of those who love words and who love God’s world and who love the ways in which the words and the world may come together. These prayers are acts of devotion, are expressions of frustration, are pleas for hope and understanding.”
Hoezee, a minister and theologian, penned a few of those that spoke to me. In one, for example, he asks the Lord:
"Help me listen to the ordinary things people tell me. Make me attend to how they speak and to the yearnings of their hearts that emerge in such daily conversations. If I need fresh language and new metaphors, let them emerge from the ordinary as well as from the extraordinary so that the words I wrote may, must so, speak strength and grace into the commonplace of people’s lives."
Topping, a Methodist minister and playwright, prayed one of those that non-writers will find of value:
"Lord Jesus, write your truth in my mind, your joy in my heart, and your love in my life, that filled with truth, possessed by joy, and living in love, your integrity, your humor, and your compassion might be born in me again."
Artists of all kinds will appreciate these lines from Dag Hammarskjold, the late United Nations’ general secretary:
"Thou takest the pen — and the lines dance. Thou takest the flute‚ and the notes shimmer. Thou takest the brush and the colors sing. So all things have meaning and beauty in that space beyond time where Thou art. How, then, can I hold back anything from Thee?"

There are dozens just as meaningful and touching as these, prayers by Dom Helder Camara, by Rainer Maria Rilke, by the ancient composers of the psalms.
Schmidt and Stickney have organized them into eight categories with teasing introductions to each that will whet your appetite to dive into the batch of prayers that follow.
The writers’ way with words glistens in nearly every single one. Some are more formal and pietistic, some more earth-bound and in everyday language. You’ll find many you’ll want to pray over and over, but let me share just one more example from this Eerdmans paperback. It’s credited to the Conference of European Churches:
"Lord God, we have given more weight to our successes and our happiness than to your will.
We have eaten without a thought for the hungry.
We have spoken without an effort to understand others.
We have kept silence instead of telling the truth.
We have judged others, forgetful that you alone are the judge.
We have acted rather in accordance with our opinions than according to your commands.
Within your church we have been slow to practice love of our neighbors.
And in the world we have not been your faithful servants.
Forgive us and help us to live as disciples of Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Savior. Amen."

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection contains poems, prayers, quotes, etc. from dozens of sources. When you work in a field that is almost completely solitary it can be disheartening to hit a wall with your work. This book’s goal is to support writers with words. The book is broken down into chapters with different themes, allowing readers to flip between sections depending on whatever their struggling with at the moment. Though the book is geared towards Christians, I think that many of the pieces would be applicable regardless of your faith. Some are just words of encouragement, which would be helpful to any writer.

It's a collection that makes for a wonderful reference tool. Read back to back the words might become repetitive, but as a reference tool it's priceless. Having such a wide variety of encouraging words corralled into a single location is incredibly helpful.

[Becky Avella · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with all anthologies, some portions of this spoke to me deeply while others didn't sink in at all, but I love it as a resource for getting my heart and mind in the right place before I write. I read it straight through this first time, and did not linger long on some passages that probably needed more than one pass to fully appreciate. I imagine I will return to this book often and will find new gems each time I open it. It feels like the type of book you love more with each re-read.

[Matthew Connolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

The concept of a book of prayers focused on writers and the writing process struck me as a novel and useful one. The selection is a fine one, including authors both ancient and new, authors and scholars and saints. I struggled a bit with the organization, though: often I had difficulty distinguishing one category from another, and the connection between a given work and the stage in the writing process that it supposedly addressed was sometimes tenuous — or so it seemed to me. Perhaps it would have been better to present the whole collection as a set of prayers addressed to writing in general, without the subdivisions. Many of the selections are pieces that I would tend to call religious poetry rather than actual prayer, although I realize that it's a rather blurry line that separates the two types.

Overall, though, the works included here are worth some reflection, even if the way they're arranged is a bit weak.

[Margie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't prepared to appreciate this book. But I found many thoughtful pieces from many sources. Some of them will stick and will encourage me to move in a good direction as I attend to the call to write.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me read poetry once again. Those thoughts of many old and new authors gave me enlightenment and courage. The book will not be hidden behind any other books on the shelf, but in easy reach for the next read.

[Bethany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable, if not memorable, because it was an anthology. I don't necessarily think of it as prayers for the writer, as only perhaps 10% of the book was writer specific. If you love old hymns and common prayers and couplets, especially of a spiritual nature, this book is for you.

[Jonathan Hiskes · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of prayers on the creative process from far-reaching, surprising, and well-chosen sources.

[Christian]

Skimmed this. I love the idea; without context, the selections were hit or miss. I would love to see more of this kind of book.