Tuesday, May 22, 2012

"Letting Go" with Staci Stallings - Part 1


Staci Stallings, the author of this article, is a Contemporary Christian author and the founder of Grace & Faith Author Connection. Check out Staci's brand new release...




Although there are a lot of careers in this life that could teach someone to let go, I think that writing has to be near the top of that list. Maybe that’s because I write, or maybe that’s because it really is. Whatever the case, this understanding was made clear recently when a writer friend of mine asked the question, “How could I not see the holes in my manuscript that my critique partners caught and pointed out? They were so glaring.”
As a writer, I completely understand the frustration in this statement. If you are a high school writer only, you may not. While teaching I saw plenty of high school writers. They wait until the last conceivable moment to start, write down everything they can think of on the topic at hand in no particular order, then race to the teacher’s desk to fling the paper at her, hoping it’s good enough for passing. These people are not the writers of which I speak.
I’m speaking about the writers who think all the way through every word they put down, who cross out, delete, rewrite, re-think, edit, re-edit, and hone every inch of a manuscript before they let anyone else so much as hear the idea presented in it. These are the writers who research until their eyes bleed, think until their brain hurts, and generally torture themselves over every single word because it doesn’t just need to be “good,” it needs to be “perfect.”
Then after they can see no other place in the entire work of oh, say 80,000 words, they heave a sigh of relief and acquiescence and place it into the hands of someone else to read. In high school, these are the kids who have been finished with the first draft of their 250-word essay 40 minutes before the bell rings, but who are still crossing things out and rewriting them even as they slide toward the teacher who’s saying, “That’s it. Turn in your papers.”
It’s painful for them to turn their work over to someone else. It’s like a mother leaving her first baby with a sitter for the very first time. They hope and pray the reader will be gentle. They hope that when the paper is returned, there are very few red marks if any at all. And above all, they hope they haven’t made any grievous errors that will make the reader think they are a complete imbecile who should never have been given a pen and paper in the first place.
This is the kind of writer my friend was and then came the shocker. She had missed something, and not just something but a huge gaping hole in the story and how she told it. When that happens to a writer of this ilk, devastation sets in like a hurricane across a soul. Even the mildest criticism is like a knife to the gut. Immediately after the devastation blows through, the rains of doubt begin to pour. “Maybe I’m not supposed to be a writer. Maybe I just don’t have what it takes to do this.”

Haven't we all felt that way? Like we don't have what it takes to do what God is calling us to do? What happens next...come back Thursday to find out. In the meantime, check out Staci's book...

Houston firefighter, Jeff Taylor is a fireman's fireman. No situation is too dangerous to keep him sidelined if lives are on the line. However, when control freak Lisa Matheson falls for him, she quickly realizes she can't control Jeff or the death wish he seems to have...

To Protect & Serve
The Courage Series, Book 1:   To save other's lives, they will risk their own


Buy it on Barnes & Noble Nook:

"To Protect and Serve will hold you prisoner to its pages until the final one is turned. Prepare to cry, laugh, wish, love and maybe even cry again as you become enveloped in the hopes and feelings of Lisa and Jeff."
-Cindy Reiger


Staci we're looking forward to part 2. Thanks for visiting with us today. 



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