What is Truth? (A Seriously Write Blog Post)

 What is Truth?

Over the last year or so, as we watch our nation literally burn, both physically and figuratively, I’ve been wrestling with an ideal. The ideal of “truth.”

My personal dialogue comes from the conversation between Jesus and Pontius Pilate in John 18. By this time in the narrative, Jesus has been:

• arrested
• taken before Annas
• sent to Caiaphas
• presented to the Sanhedrin
• accused of blasphemy
• sentenced to death
• sent to Pontius Pilate for execution
• found not guilty by Pilate
• sent to Herod Antipas for adjudication
• sent back to Pilate for execution

Pilate still disagrees with the sentence, and decides to question Jesus privately in his palace, thus creating a very intricate conversation in John 18.

Pilate asks Jesus if He is the “King of the Jews.” Jesus responds, “Is that your own idea, or did others talk to you about me (v. 34)?” In other words, Jesus was saying, “What do you think, Pilate? And don’t listen to the crowds. Decide for yourself.”

Pilate’s response was one of confusion in verse 35. “Am I a Jew? It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me.” Translation: “I’m not Jewish, so I don’t really care whether you are what they say you are or not. Besides, it was your fellow Jews who arrested you. Not me. Not Rome. Not even Herod Antipas. So, if you are not the king of these people, then I understand why they might be upset. However, if you are the king of the Jews, then none of this makes sense. For why would they want their king dead? By my hand, no less?”

So, in an attempt to gain understanding, Pilate asks a very interesting question. “What is it you have done?” Why does Pilate ask this? By this time in the narrative, the chief priests and ranking officials have stated twice what the indictment is. Apparently, Pilate doesn’t understand the nuances and meanings of Jewish Law. He knows the procedures, as evidenced in verse 39 when he references a Jewish custom. But he doesn’t seem to understand the concept of blasphemy, a theological term.

Jesus answers in verse 36, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.” Did you catch all that? Jesus was saying, “If I was the kind of king you all are thinking of, my servants would wage a war, because that’s how earthly kingdoms operate. But my kingdom is different. It’s not like all the others you have known throughout the centuries. Hence, my kingship is also different.”

Pilate, still not understanding, asks, “You are a king then?” Well, yes and no, Pilate. Yes, Jesus is a king. He’s “The King, the One and Only” (John 1:1; 3:16; 14:6). Yet, the answer is also no. He’s not like Herod. Nor Rome’s Emperor. Nor the king of Persia. Or any other earthly king.

So, Jesus qualifies things for Pilate: “You are right in saying I’m a king. In fact, for this reason, I was born, and for this reason, I came into the world to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

Pilate’s answer is more than telling in verse 38: “What is truth?”

You see, because of sin, the world has a hard time with the truth. We all do, if we’re completely honest. It was so bad in the eyes of Pilate, he was questioning if such an ideal even existed. I don’t believe he was making some metaphysical statement here, advocating an ancient form of situational ethics. He was confused. A group of people who claimed to be God’s People were trying to kill a man named Jesus. Pilate was wrestling with their decision. He felt an innocent man was being accused of wrongdoing. At this moment in time, in his mind, to crucify Jesus was to make wrong right and right wrong. He really needed more time to investigate these claims, but the crowds were not affording him that opportunity.

However, instead of taking a stand against wrong, investigating for himself the claims of both the crowds and Jesus, and arriving at a proper decision, Pilate figuratively throws up his hands in disgust with his response in verse 38. Unwittingly, Pilate answers Jesus inquiry in verse 34 by sheepishly washing his hands of what he is now deeming a crime against an innocent man. And to add more grief to Pilate’s plate, he must now release a known murderer by the name of Barabbas.

An innocent man is to be sentenced to death. A guilty man is to be set free. Right is wrong. Wrong is right. In this kind of world, truth only exists when it benefits the deceitful and their agendas.

I believe Pilate understood this, but he took the easy road out instead of seeking a truly truthful decision. Why? Because he believes truth doesn’t exist. Otherwise, I don’t believe he would have made the decisions he did.

Ironically, The Truth was standing right in front of him, but all Pilate saw was the physical world around him, with all its troubles. And all the troubles to come, if he didn’t give in to the crowds demands.

As a writer, poignant dialogue, transfixed within a scene which captures the human condition juxtaposed against the truth is (or should be) our goal. This path may, and probably will, take us down roads we may not wish to go because they are too troubling to write. Why? One reason is because it forces us to slide our most secretive parts under the microscope of God’s Word. Then, the Word, doing its work, magnifies what we’ve rationalized in our minds to be miniscule and unpretentious into something so detailed and contradictory to our gracious facade that we want to simply write it a different way, or just wash our hands of it altogether.

Another reason is that we’re afraid the crowds will “shout us down” and threaten our livelihood. Easier to write entertaining fluff than sin-challenging stuff in a world without truth.

But I’m reminded of the simple fact that the Bible is one of a few, if not the only, historical record of kings and rulers wherein battles depict both wins and losses. The stories tell us of the good characteristics of the kings and rulers and the not-so-pleasant sides of their personalities. The accounts are even-handed. Why? Because Truth exposes the warts of sin. And truth also exposes the mercy of God. Both of which are exposed in John 18, as they are in all of scripture.

How do you show truth in your writing? How deep does it go? Does the dialogue challenge and inspire right living? Do the questions engage our spiritual side as well as our intellectual side? Do you do it justice when creating a scene in your work of fiction? Do you give the reader “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God” when you write those non-fiction books?

How do you answer Pilate’s question with your writing?

To see this article on the Seriously Write website, click on the following link: "What is Truth?"

*Photo used courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

Am I the Only One Who Struggles? (An ACFW Blog Post)

Watch this video, then we’ll talk.

Do you feel a little small after watching that video? Insignificant, perhaps? Hopefully awestruck, though, right?

Now, read this article, then come back for the finale.

I watched this video and read this article within a couple of weeks of one another. Although the article was not quite so factual, as Dan Balow notes at the end, it still caused me to do some thinking.

When we got into this business, regardless of our place in it (i.e., unpublished author, icon status, or anywhere in between), we would be exceptions rather than the rule if we didn’t think, even for a few seconds, how nice it would be to be a bestselling author. Most authors I know had dreams (have dreams?) of writing full-time, seeing their books on the store shelves of every brick and mortar store across the fruited plain, that sort of thing. I think you know what I’m talking about, or am I the only one who struggles with this issue?

When you take the statistics of Balow’s piece, factor in numbers like present world population, the population of people to have existed between the years of publication of each book, something amazing–and humbling–happens.

Take Heaven Is for Real by Todd Burpo, for example. If the estimates of ten million copies sold are accurate since its publication date of 2010, there have been well over eight billion people in existence since that time. If you consider 60% of those to be of reading age, then 4,800,000,000 possible readers existed between 2010 and now (I know they all don’t read books in English, but just go with the flow for a moment because we do have international rights, and they could have picked up the book in their primary language ?).

When you divide the number of copies sold by the number of possible readers, you end up with 0.0020833333 or 0.20833333%. Not even one percent. If you consider the Book of Common Prayer or The Imitation of Christ with their top notch numbers of 300 million-plus and do the math, the percentage would be even lower because billions and billions of people have lived and died since 1418 and the mid-16th century, respectively.

Now, bring in the facet of us living on a planet so very small in this massive universe we call the cosmos, with billions of galaxies swirling in the inky blackness of space, and those sales numbers become even more miniscule by comparison.

What’s the point? We serve a mighty God. We may accomplish great things with our writing, but it’s all dross and rubbish compared to His infinite greatness.

To think that anyone would want to buy a book I wrote when there is so much good reading out there to be had is humbling. To think our God would even wish to use my feeble attempts at crafting a sentence to possibly reach a soul for His kingdom is awe-inspiring. To think He rules this vast cosmos yet has time to be concerned about my whether or not my manuscript gets published is wondrous.

This fills me with awe because I know how great God is in comparison to me.

When I hear students at my school parrot the chants of the masses, “The struggle is real,” I think to myself now, “Yes, it is. Because of sin. That is why we all struggle. Against God. Against each other. Even with ourselves.” But it wasn’t meant to be that way.

This fills me with humility. And sadness. Because as I contemplate the Lord’s glory, I know how much of me still needs to be transformed into the likeness of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Hence, the struggle. A heart of joy for salvation’s gift hindered by a heart of pride because of a generous gift from God we call writing.

“Heavenly Father, the pen is yours. The paper is yours. The computer is yours. The words are yours. The books are yours. I am yours. Now, help me avoid the struggle and keep it that way. Everyday. “I am not the Creator, but a scribe with a pen. I’m recreating visions through a cracked and broken lens. And only One has ever seen the hope for which we long, and I am just a beggar who gives alms. Amen.”

To see this blog on the ACFW website, click on the following link: "Am I the Only One Who Struggles?"

The Birth of a Serpent (A Seriously Write Blog Post)

Ever wonder how other novelists get their ideas?

We were strolling out of Islands of Adventure years ago. It had been a good day. Our family had enjoyed a sun-soaked, July afternoon in the Orlando-based theme park, but it was late. It was still hot. We were tired and on a quest—for A/C.

The park has a central corridor leading into (and out of) the complex designed to mimic storefronts one might find nestled in a fairy tale land. It’s a quaint section—one I’d like to pattern my backyard after someday. However, air conditioning beckoned us inside a long string of shops instead of enjoying the scenery.

Our tribe slowly traipsed through the aisles of wares. No one wanted to buy anything material. We just wanted to get cool before we made the long trek to the parking lot.

           

During the slow walk through the displays or merchandise, I was drawn to the far end of the store. Hanging from the ceiling, suspended by wires, was a replica of a dinosaur. A fossil of a marine reptile, to be precise. The placard on the wall told the story of the real fossil, found in Ulianova, Russia. Now possessed by the Iwaki Museum of Coal and Fossils in Tokyo, Japan, the real fossil was supposed to look just like the one overhead.

I don’t know where Ulianova, Russia is exactly. Google can’t find a city by that name, but it does find “Ulyanovsk.” If that city is the correct location of the find, then finding any marine reptile, dinosaur-like or not, in that specific location is quite a feat. Just click on the link above and see for yourself. Yes, it’s near a water source, but there are only cold waters around there. Too cold for any marine reptiles to exist and a long way from the nearest warm water sea or ocean. Thus the importance of the find.

And thus the pique of my curiosity.

The replica was classified in the pliosaur family due to its alligator-like body and flipper-like appendages. The thing looked like an obese, 25-foot long crocodile with flippers. And here’s the kicker. Paleontologists, scientists, archeologists, and the like had never seen a fossil like this one before. Hence, they called it pliosaur sp. It was a “new” species. Well, new to scientists, that is.

I stood there studying the fossil, imagining what it would be like to meet that bad boy in the ocean. Then, it hit me. It was a species of animal never before known to exist. Now, suddenly, here it was in fossilized form, telling us we don’t know as much as we think we do.

Then, I remembered reading back in middle school of an extinct species caught off the coast of Africa in 1938. They were thought to be long gone. Fossils to be dug up in some bank of dirt or rock from eons long past. But there they were, alive and well, swimming around in the Indian Ocean.

I grabbed a map of the theme park, jotted down the information on the placard, and tucked the information away in my files when I got home.

Some months later on vacation, sitting on a balcony of a condo in Cocoa Beach, Florida, I overlooked the ocean, watching the boats move across the horizon. People were swimming and surfing in the breakers. Others were strolling on the beach. Still others rode bicycles or jogged. The roar of the surf, mixed with a steady breeze off the water, easily relaxed me as I stretched out on the little love seat. With my feet propped, my imagination began to race ahead again. Remembering the fossil hanging from the ceiling along with the rest of the background knowledge I had accumulated over the years, a question began to percolate. What if there was a species still out there…one that still existed…yet was still unknown to modern science? And not only unknown, but prehistoric? And a deep diver? How would that impact scientific belief?

Snatching a legal pad and pen from my belongings, a scene began to emerge in the movie screen of my mind. I started scribbling words. Those words became Chapter 1 and 2 of the soon-to-be-reprinted version of my book.

Over the next several months, as I wrote in my spare time, often in the wee hours of the morning or burning that last inch of midnight oil, I spent hours researching in an attempt to make the book as believable as possible while at the same time giving the reader appealing facts to hold their interest. It was in several of those research forays where I came across articles and books pertaining to incidents occurring in my book. It was like the news was checking to see what I needed at the time. Articles about monkeys, rodents, and other species being found by scientists for the first time…stories telling about new prehistoric fossils being discovered…remarkable tales of scientific discoveries by reputable scientists and organizations were steadily quantifying, verifying, and solidifying my beliefs. What was portrayed in the book by the characters was becoming increasingly exhilarating, to say the least. 

The answering of those questions referenced above, coupled with the Atlantic Ocean on the horizon acting as a sudden, yet apropos, source of inspiration, is how The Serpent’s Grasp was born.

To see this article on the Seriously Write website, click on the following link:  "The Birth of a Serpent."

*Photo used courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

A Reason for Being (A Seriously Write Blog Post)

Lajos Egri, in his book The Art of Dramatic Writing: Its Basis in the Creative Interpretation of Human Emotions, calls it premise. He says that without a premise, a writer doesn’t know where he or she is going. The writer is wandering through a self-made, literary desert, looking for a reason to continue and having no earthly idea which direction to go.

Rick Warren, in his book The Purpose-Driven Church: Growth Without Compromising Your Message and Mission, believes if a church doesn’t know it’s purpose, then it can easily get sidetracked or bogged down in earthly matters which have no heavenly relevance.

Robert Marzano, in his book The Art and Science of Teaching: A Comprehensive Framework for Effective Instruction, gives the basis for his growth model which focuses on the Learning Goals in a classroom. If the goals are not the focus, then much of what is taught in the classroom denigrates into simple but boring busywork, or it shapes up into well-intended but misguided assignments which leave the students wondering how their work is relevant to life and worth their time to complete.

It seems that no matter what profession you enter, you can find a book, read an article, or hear an expert say virtually the same thing. I find this interesting and opportunistic. To me, it proves our world is searching for answers to the eternal. People inside and outside the church long for meaning to this life. The “Why am I here?” question arises within all souls, I believe. And Heaven knows they try to find the answer in everything but God, it seems. Nevertheless, the fact they are looking for it is good news for us as writers.

Within the realm of writing, Egri states other writers have used different words to describe this concept: theme, thesis, root idea, central idea, goal, aim, driving force, subject, plan, plot, and basic emotion.[1]  Of course, he believes the term “premise” encapsulates all of these ideas, including the term “purpose.” I believe arguing over which word best describes what an author is to do is a bit of a “potatoe-pototoe” squabble, personally.

The point is, if a writer starts a fiction manuscript, a poem, a non-fiction article, or whatever floats her boat, and she doesn’t know where it will start, doesn’t know how it will end, and really doesn’t understand why the piece needs to be written in the first place, then the writing will show it. It will wander aimlessly, filling page after page with helpless details and hopeless dialogue. The reader—if she gets very far into it—will plow through these meandering sentences searching, even hoping, for anything meaningful. Why? Because there was a purpose in their purchasing of the book.

They spent money making a decision to buy your book over the 10,000,000+ books out there from which to choose (Wow! Chew on that for a minute.). They also made a conscious decision to set aside valuable time from their busy schedule to read your work. So, why would an author sit down and start plucking away at the keyboard if he or she doesn’t have a clue what they are ultimately writing? Egri would say you need to be very specific. Writing about love isn’t good enough. What kind of love are you targeting? How deep does that love go? What direction? And is it engaging? Does it have a goal? A purpose? A reason for being?

We would call a family who jumps into their car and takes off for the family vacation with no destination in mind a bunch of buffoons, right? Who does that? Not only do they need all those things decided BEFORE they start the engine, they also need to ask some deeper questions, like did they want to stay busy? Or do they want to relax? Did they want to sightsee? Or do they want to “get away from it all”? City or country? Hotels or camping? With no specificity—i.e., a reason for being—vacations, like writing forays, become beyond silly.

When I write, I have overarching themes which drive the tenor of the book or series. There might be underlying themes—subplots which carry their own reason for being—but they are subservient to the overarching purpose of the story. For example, in The Serpent’s Grasp, the purpose/overarching theme is, “What is truth in light of scientific discovery?” In other words, science isn’t going away, nor should it. But how do we as Christians take scientific discoveries—viewing them through the lens of scripture—and help explain it all to a world searching for its own reason for being?

In my Blake Meyer series, the purpose/overarching theme is: “What is true peace in light of patriotism and nationalism?” In other words, where does being a patriot and protecting your country—while trying to bring about peace to your country—cross paths with what true peace is and is not? Can they coexist? And if so, how?

These bedrock questions help keep me grounded when I want to write my way off the grid or into a corner.

If you want your writing to be money and time well spent in the mind of your reader, then before you type the first word of the first line of the first chapter, figure it out. What is the premise to your story? Why are you writing it in the first place? What is your story’s reason for being? If your answer is, I just want the reader to feel good or be entertained, that’s not good enough. There are too many other things clamoring for people’s time and money that can bring about the same end result.

How do you determine your story’s reason for being? How do your novels’ premises differ from one story to the next?

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[1] Egri, Lajos. The Art of Dramatic Writing: Its Basis in the Creative Interpretation of Human Emotions. Touchstone; New York, NY. 2004 ed. p. 2.

To see this article on the Seriously Write website, click on the following link:  "A Reason for Being"





*Photo used courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

My Story - Part 6: The Not-So-Final Chapter (A Seriously Write Blog Post)

After my incident with the unscrupulous agent (Part 1 of my story) and my aversion to Christian writers conferences and fledgling, self-publishing houses (Part 2 of my story), I realized I still had to keep writing (Part 3 of my story). I also decided to give one of those “Christian Writers Conferences” a try (Part 4), and that turned out not so bad (Part 5).

You get an idea. Feel the urge to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard). You forge a story out of the block of marble that is your imagination, and voilà, you have a novel, short story, or whatever.

You methodically trod the steps given to you at those writers conferences, and Wham!

You land a contract!

With a traditional publisher!!!!

Now, you’re on Cloud Eleven because Cloud Nine is too low. However, there should be warning labels on contracts for first-time authors much like what appears on cigarette cartons:

WARNING: When taking Contract, patient may become unrealistically euphoric. Patient may not be able to live with normal people due to excessive giddiness. Please consult your doctor before taking Contract. Some patients who took Contract experienced many days of angst waiting for Contract to deliver on its promise. XYZ Publishing Company is not responsible for hair loss, increased cholesterol levels, blood pressure spikes, wrinkles, sleepless nights, sudden changes in dietary needs, changes in relationship statuses, deterioration in marital bliss, eyesight strain due to monitoritis, back pain due to extended internet surfing of analytics, bouts with mild depression, bouts with despair at various depths, and feelings of general malaise associated with the use of literary narcotics. Some patients have even experienced death while using Contract. Please use responsibly.

Had that warning been written on my contract, it may have saved me some hair.

Now, before I make this whole ordeal sound like a real downer, understand something. In multiple venues and from myriad angles, I was already forewarned. In books on writing, I had read chapters on how the industry works; especially on turnaround times from contract to publication. One year and up to two can be the norm. Less than a year is doable, but more unlikely the larger the publishing house is. I had also heard similar instruction at writer’s conferences.

It’s a favorite question among newbie authors who have never driven down the road to publication before. “Are we there yet?” I know. I was one of the badgers, I’m afraid. I tried not to be pesky. I really did.

Obviously, just sitting and waiting, not hearing back for months on end is not the way to go, either. Publishers will even admit that a courtesy contact (preferably via email) asking for an update is not looked upon as detrimental. Sometimes, things happen and communication gets garbled.

I remember sending my completed manuscript the first time. I waited about two months for a response. After two months, I felt it was sufficient time to “inquire” as to the status of my submission. The Christian Writers Conference people told me, by industry standards, it was well-within my right and privilege to do so. I was expecting to hear something like, “Yours is next in the queue. We should have an answer within the week.” Instead, the reply was, “We never received it.”

I was, uh, horrified! Two months of my writing life…lost in cyberspace. And I’m not getting any younger. I checked.

So, I resubmitted the manuscript and checked back with a “read receipt” email of sorts. Once I had confirmation the submission was not sitting at the Siberian Cyberspace Depot again, I moved on with writing.

It was approximately three months before I heard back with a glowing review and offer of a contract. So, this is how it went:

Time table from Conference meal (see Part 5) to glowing review and contract offer: 6 months.

Time table from contract offer to signing of contract: almost 1 month.

Time table from Contract to Release Date: 15 months.

Total time table: 22 months.

See how handy a warning label would have been?

In those last few months, things picked up. Interior proofs, book cover designs, and back cover copy proofs all had to be edited for final approval. I was told to “get ready.” This was the flurry. Soon, there would be a squall.

But after the first flurry, there was a lull. No. Actually? It was “crickets.”

I would later learn something profound. Publishers and editors are real people, too. Real people have lives. Real people get sick. Real people have family members who need care. The list goes on, as you well know. It was one of these “real people” moments that postponed the squall. Like meteorologists trying to supply us with an accurate 10-day forecast, so too, the publisher/editor cannot always predict the weather of life.

Once “life” stepped aside, the process began again until the final product sat on my kitchen table, in a box, revealing to me that dreams do come true after all. Even on Contract.

Moral of the story: Don’t fret. Just keep writing. My prayer has always been for God to use my work for His glory and honor. That prayer has never changed, although I had to go back to it often to steer myself back onto the pavement of righteousness and keep myself from careening off the guardrail or sailing over the cliff of self-absorption. We wish there was a step-by-step guide handed out by the publisher so we could always look to it and see the “You are here” arrow. However, there is no such guide because real people have lives, the industry changes overnight, and what sold two years ago (vampires, anyone?) morphs into the newest bobble in the window (dystopian, anyone?).

Little did I know my family would have a medical setback during those 22 months. Had the book come out during that period, I would probably have no hair by now, but God knew.

So, don’t fret. Write. Write some more. Check periodically, if needed, with your editor, agent, whoever. Then, write some more. Because you know, once the book is out, and if it does well enough, the next question to arise will be, “Do you have another submission ready to look at?”

That’s when it’s time for another dose of Contract.

To see this article on the Seriously Write website, click on the following link: Part 6 of "My Story."