Page 24 – Lovely County Citizen – August 29, 2013
Village View
Alison By Sandra TaylorSynar Brown
My guest columnist this week is Linda Apple, who will be teaching Inspire!! Writing from the Soul on September 7.
Every Life is Inspirational
W
h a t comes to your mind when you read the following terms: Inspirational Writing, Devotional Writing, and Religious Writing? Most interpret all three as religious, particularly ChrisLinda Apple tian, pieces. But that isn’t always the case. Let’s take a look at each: Inspirational Writing Inspire comes from the Latin word, Inspirare, and it means to breathe upon or into. Merriam-Webster’s definition is: To infuse with breath, with life; to produce or arouse a feeling or a thought; to influence or impel; to communicate or suggest by a
Village Writing School coming workshops • September 7–INSPIRE! Writing from the Soul Linda Apple www.lindaapple.com • September 21–CHARACTER Jan Morrill, author or The Red Kimono, U of A Press www.janmorrill.com • October 5–The Golden Trilogy Point of View, Sense of Place, & Internalization Pam Foster http://pamelafosterspeakerwriter. wordpress.com/ October 19 – MINDFUL Writing Find your deep writing voice Elizabeth Diane Newell-Mack MindfulWriters.org.
divine or supernatural influence. Think about all the things you have heard or read that made you breath in, that raised the hair along your arms that made you want to jump up and yell, “Yeah!” Those things inspired you. Every time I read John F. Kennedy’s Ask Not . . . speech, I get goose bumps. To inspire is not always for good things. Hitler inspired through his speeches. Terrorists have a magazine titled, Inspire. Both aroused feelings and influenced thought. Both impelled the listeners to destructive action. Every election year politicians inspire us to vote for them. Commercials inspire us to buy their products. Songs inspire us, as do movies. For me, however, the motivation to inspire is to help others believe in themselves and impact their lives in a positive way. Mark Twain once penned, “A drop of ink may make a million think.” How true. That is why I like writing life-experience stories. I write about mistakes I’ve made and how I overcame them, epiphanies I’ve had, observations I’ve made, things I’ve learned, and humorous things that’s happened. Never forget, humor is the best medicine for the soul. Inspirational writing is used in all kinds of writing: fiction, nonfiction, books, poems, essays. You name it. Chicken Soup for the Soul has published my stories in 16 of their books. Only two of those have a Christian reference and that is because they are devotionals, which brings me to the next topic. Devotional Writing Many people of faith begin their day or end their day in a moment of prayer, quiet reflection and meditation. During these times, some like to use a devotional piece to guide them. A good devotion is authentic and connects real events of our daily lives with our relationship with God. It is the sharing of insight or struggle, encouragement and hope. When writing devotion we choose a scrip-
ture and illustrate it with an anecdote from Religious Writing our lives. Then we end with a short prayer. One kind of religious writing has an acThey key to a good devotion is to keep it ademic focus and its purpose is to educate short, focused, making one point in 500 and inform. It can be written from an acor less words. Another important thing to ademic approach or a more personal apremember when writing this type of piece proach based on the author’s life experience is to avoid being preachy. No one wants a and studies. It can even include sermons. finger wagged in his or her face. The topics have a wide range but all perSome devotions are not spiritually based. tain to religion. There are books, articles, They are for what I call the General Market. periodicals, reports, journals and essays In other words, these devotions fit everyone about different faiths, religious history, docand their purpose is to present a life-truth to trines, apologetics, theology, biographies help the reader focus on the positive aspects and autobiographies about spiritual leaders of life. They are written in much the same and saints. Bible stories, legends, Greek way as a spiritual devotion except instead myths and deities also fit in this category as of a scripture they may have a quote. Many well as cultural, sociological, and anthropoare themed. I’ve seen devotions for cat lov- logical studies of different religious groups. ers, golfers, gardeners, quilters, executives, Another form in this category is written hunters, you name an interest and I’m sure for the purpose of extoling and/or worshipa devotion has probably been written for ing a deity. This is done through poetry and it. They are also very focused, 500 or less song lyrics. words. I’ve seen some that are only a few On Saturday, September 7th, I will conlines, but those few lines are powerful. See Village, page 33 ••• Alison Taylor-Brown has an MFA in Fiction and a lifetime of teaching experience from preschool to university levels. She directs The Village Writing School, whose mission is to foster the development of area writers through workshops, writers’ circles, and coaching. Her column, Notes from the Village, appears weekly. To talk to Alison about your writing goals and dreams, contact her at alisontaylorbrown@me.com or 479 292-3665.