Why the double up post? Well, I have to admit, it’s only Monday, and already the week is moving and grooving. 🙂
ADVENT REFLECTION
My faith is the foundation of my life. As I noted in my first post for Advent, this does not mean my faith is perfect, or that I am either. I rely on God’s grace and peace to help me stand firm in faith
For the second week and candle of Advent, the theme can be hope or faith.
Yesterday at church, my pastor asked us to consider what the opposite of faith is.
I think we often think the opposite of faith is doubt, but he discussed how he thinks the opposite of faith is fear.
And I agree.
Like courage, faith is not the absence of fear, but it is about having faith in God despite fearful circumstances or struggles we can’t seem to win on our own.
Faith isn’t a guarantee that God will lift us out of those circumstances, but it is a focus on how God is with us in every moment of our lives; the easy and the hard, the good and the bad.
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God is with us always. That’s what faith is about.
Faith is not a get rich quick scheme, or even a get perfect quick scheme – it’s a living relationship with God that includes trusting God to be with us every moment of every day, and that having faith in Him is worthwhile even when we can’t see/feel/touch how He’s working with us
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Faith is a trust that the promised land is coming, even if we aren’t there yet, and won’t be in our lifetime on Earth.
Faith is trust in Immanuel – God with us.
SECOND PART OF THE POST: A REVIEW OF A WRITING BUSINESS BOOK
Review of PAPER HEARTS, VOL. 1: SOME WRITING ADVICE BY BETH REVIS
Paper Hearts, Vol 1: Some Writing Advice by Beth Revis (science fiction author) starts out with encouragement, sprinkles encouragement throughout the pages, and ends with encouragement. The writing style is easy to read, and the chapters vary between light, short chapters and dense, information-packed chapters that had me taking notes. At first, I wasn’t sure about the super short chapters, but I grew to find them as meaningful as the densely packed writing advice chapters.
One of the chapters I love is Chapter Four, which consists of three sentences and ends with this: “There is no one way to write a novel.”
It took a year for me to read this book because I was savoring the encouragement, taking notes on all of the information she has included on character arcs, plot development, dialogue, and more, and enjoying it as a non-fiction read I know I will reread. While I believe she wrote this for new to newer writers, I think it’s a great read for writers of all experience levels.
This book is fun, a kick in the pants, and an encouragement wrapped up with information any writer needs to learn or be reminded of for their writing craft and ongoing writing career health.
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The blurb from Amazon:
Bird by Bird meets Save the Cat in this new writing advice book by NY Times bestselling author Beth Revis. With more than 100000 reads on Wattpad, this newly expanded and rewritten edition features 350 pages of content, including charts and a detailed appendix.
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Fight the blank page.
When it comes to writing, there’s no wrong way to get words on paper. But it’s not always easy to make the ink flow. Paper Hearts: Some Writing Advice won’t make writing any simpler, but it may help spark your imagination and get your hands back on the keyboard.
Practical Advice Meets Real Experience.
What’s your favorite writing craft book?
Interested in my writing life? Sign up for my newsletter. I just sent one out last week, so you can see a sample.
I have two upcoming events, if you are interrested!
- The 2023 New Year’s Youtube Kickoff Blitz – more details coming soon!
- Writing Short Stories Weekly, a class with Tacoma Community College’s Continuing Education program at the Gig Harbor Campus. Registration is live!
Tyrean's Tales 