by Jan Meeus My mother dispensed a number of axioms that I adhere to. “Dress appropriately for the occasion. First impressions are lasting impressions. ” “Start 0ut the way you want to end up. People aren’t too keen on changing in midstream.” “Do a good job at whatever the task, even if it’s just sweeping the […]
Of Axioms, Doubt and Similarities … Read More »
We are ruled by uncertainty. The need to know shapes our motives, what we ask for, desire, fear and seek to claim.
And so it is in writing that we encounter a somewhat safe haven.
The writer has a general idea of the destination of her or his story if not, how it shall end.
But this is an illusion too.
Uncertainty, Destination, and the Need to Know… Read More »
The Bishop in chess moves diagonally along the squares of the chessboard until it encounters another playing piece.
The various directions in which the Bishop can move create a cross upon the chess board. Less powerful than the Queen or Rook, one Bishop equals the strength of a Knight or 3 Pawns. Like the Rook, Queen, Knight and Pawns of the same color or player, the Bishop seeks to protect the King from capture.
Each player has two Bishops.
While one Bishop stands between the Knight and the Queen the second Bishop stands on the other side of the Queen and beside the King.
In this way the Bishop is the piece or character after the Queen to hold close proximity to the King.
Of Bishops, Kindreds Spirits and the Dawning of Awareness… Read More »
The Rook, Tower or Castle in the game of chess speaks to boundaries.
Towers and Castles of the medieval era served not simply as homes, but also places of protection, that place to which rulers, those of their court, and the soldiers guarding them retreated and from which they waged battle.
The Tower provided a place from which the sentry or guardsmen could look out and view those coming to do battle or offend–those who sought to defeat the monarch and occupy her or his home.
Each time we set out to write a story or novel, we wage a war.
Of Towers, Castles and the Battles Writers Wage… Read More »
Climax follows a time a crisis.
As the story heads for resolution the protagonist must decide how she or he will evidence not only their survival and triumph of the great battle she or he has fought, but how they will manifest those that shift in consciousness, that change of heart, in a way that will allow the experience to remain alive within them.
Then, and only then, can she, or he truly know the victory over death whose roots lie in fear, doubt and disbelief.
So many times we sabotage ourselves into thinking that we less than what we are.
Likewise we ground our identity of who we are and our purpose in life on the erroneous belief that we do not matter, and that what we have to offer means little if anything.
This is often the case for writers and artists of many kinds.
Of Dimensions of Experience, Mystery and Feet of Practicality… Read More »
Following crisis, the protagonist must choose, decide and act. Will she or he return to business as usual, keeping secret what they have learned, or will they share it with others?
Will they share the healing they have undergone with others, or will she or he choose the safe path of saying little or nothing about the internal changes that have reshaped them?
Risks come with sharing the good news of our survival of any upheaval or time of broad sweeping changes. We face the possibility of those we tell refusing to believe us.
Those who do may grow envious, and then exploit the doubts still others hold and turn who groups of people against us.
Of Envy, Doubt, and Still More Risks… Read More »
Connecting with the godhead, that part of the divine that lives within all, the Imago Dei, coalesces the disparate parts of the soul, mind and brokenness of heart and spirit.
Writing or revising and editing this part of a story or novel can and often dispenses healing to the writer whose words later transmit this to the reader.
The writer undergoes a trial or test of sorts each time she or he sets out to craft a work.
Of Blogs, The Umbilical Cord, and the Internet…, Read More »