FOOTNOTES

I just wrote one of my other blogs on Footnotes in the Bible. And it made me think of footnotes in general. Do you use footnotes when you write? I like footnotes. But before I say anything more, need to admit that footnotes are not popular in these days for a number of reasons. Maybe foremost among those reasons is that editors don't like them. That may not be a strong enough statement. Many editors hate them. And what writer wants to offend an editor? Magazines don't use them at all. If you are writing for a magazine, don't bother. Or rather, find a way to say what you need to without using a footnote. Having said all that, I still like to use them for several reasons.

First, I use them to maintain a little subtlety. I occasionally think of something to say that requires a certain amount of wit or background knowledge to understand. As a reader, I like to figure those things out. Years ago I wrote a magazine article entitled, Filling The Unforgiving Minute. This comes from Kipling's poem, IF. The magazine needed me to tell readers where this came from in the text. But I am now including that article in a book I am writing on hope. Here I would like to give readers the opportunity to remember where the line comes from. But I also want to write a note to those who don't remember.

We also need footnotes to record Sources for what we write. This is crucial for technical writing, or for arguments that make a point. I once heard a joke on preachers who rattle off a lot of statistics in their sermons.

"87% of all quoted statistics are made up on the spot."

If someone wants to quote me in a speech or in writing, I want them to know where I got what I have written.

And footnotes are great for Clarification. In a note I can say, "I meant this." or "I didn't mean that."

I also like to make side Comments in some of what I write. You might call these wisecracks. In my book, JOY, I quoted something from The Magician's Nephew, by C.S.Lewis. I said in the text that this book was the sixth in the Narnia Chronicles and a prequel to the other books. But in a footnote I commented on a publication of the Narnia books that listed The Magician's Nephew as the first book in the series because it would have been first chronologically. I said those who listed the book so were "Philistines."

For whatever reason, footnotes are a means of adding depth to what we write. And even though most readers are in too much of a hurry to bother with them, there is pleasure in such notes for those who take the trouble to read them.

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A WRITING SABBATH

Do you take a Sabbath from your writing. I recommend it, if you can. I say, if you can, because many of you write while maintaining a real job. And you won't write much if don't write in every free moment you can muster.

But after retiring from active pastoring, I began trying to write full-time. At that point, God was convicting me of not taking days off, or taking time for spiritual and physical renewal in my 45 or so years as a pastor. So I begin full-time writing with a Sabbath. I don't write or work on my writing from Friday evening to Saturday evening. And I have found it rewarding in a number of ways.

First, I have not had to deal with burn-out. Most of the time I chaffe when I quit at 6:00 on Fridays, because the juices are flowing. Frankly, this keeps me motivated. The break always refreshes my passion for what I am writing.

I also gain inspiration in a Sabbath. I do not necessarily recommend that you stop thinking about your writing on a Sabbath, whenever you try to take it. But some of my best ideas come when I am not thinking about writing at all. If I didn't discipline myself a little, I would hardly ever have a time I was not thinking about my writing. And I discipline myself not to write down ideas that come to me in my rest. I will not argue with you who are shocked by that. But I feel like great ideas will continue to nag at me after the Sabbath. In a question and answer time at a Writers' Conference, Steven King was asked about keeping a Writer's notebook. He said "I think a Writer's notebook is a great way of immortalizing bad ideas." And if the Holy Spirit is my muse, I can trust Him to bring good ideas back to me.

Finally, and most closely related to Biblical observance of the Sabbath, by taking a break I acknowledge that God is the source of all writing. I show that I am trusting Him to help me think. I am asking God's help in finishing what I working on. A Sabbath declares that everything I am and have and do comes from God. I give it to Him much like I worship with a tithe of our income.

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CARVING OUT WHAT I NEED TO SAY

A friend recently noticed a cane carved for me by my brother-in-law. And he wondered what kind of power tools he used. I told him I thought he didn’t use much more than a pocket knife and sandpaper. He said, "That would be a lot of work!" I too have hand carved several walking sticks, although not as beautiful as my brother-in-law’s. And I find that, though painstaking, the work can be very satisfying.

I feel the same about the process of editing something I have written. I used to fear editing because I am not especially good at it. But I am in the process of editing a novel after completing the rough draft. And I find honing and polishing rewarding. I have no doubt that I am improving my work.

And while I try to saturate and punctuate all my writing with prayer, I actually pray more while editing. Especially with fiction, I try to get words down as rapidly as I can. At that point I do not pray or even think about how to say something. I admit that editing can be exhausting. But it is no less exciting or satisfying than writing a story in the first place.

In Letters and Life, on being a writer, on being a Christian, Brett Lott has a quote from John Berryman that I often put up where I can read it.

“You should always be trying to write a poem you are unable to write, a poem you lack the technique, the language, the courage to achieve.”

I like this quotation. I wish I had it on a coffee cup. But it does not depict the best way to improve my writing. In fact, I often find it intimidating. I improve by polishing what I write. When I write a poem, I put it with my daily prayer lists, and pray over it everyday. I change a word or a line every few days for several months. This method produces better poems than I thought I could write. My writing only becomes readable as I polish it day after day.

Of course, I do not ruminate for months on my blog posts. But I never post one without waiting until the next day after completing it. And I always find ways to make them better.

http://thinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/

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http://writingprayerfully.blogspot.com/


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