Category Archives: real life

Writerly Thoughts on Predestination, Conflict, & Rescue

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I.

It’s an old debate: do humans have free will, or are “choices” predestined by God?

I have a friend who thinks the former while I lean more toward the latter (honestly, I most prefer to live in the gray area between the two), and we were talking briefly about this.  The Big Question, of course, is If there’s no free will, then why would God predestine the sinful fall of man?

My response was that I think that rescue and redemption are more valuable to God than there being no need for them, that somehow God gets more glory from saving a fallen world than from not needing to save a perfect one.

My friend didn’t buy it, didn’t think it made sense.

II.

My writing critique group met recently, and it was a great evening.  We didn’t actually critique anything, only shared about our current projects (and a couple people shed some tears, it’s true).  One of my friends is writing a young adult novel for her MFA program, and the problem she keeps running into is that she loves her characters so much that she doesn’t want to hurt them.

“It’s what I always used to yell at you for, Jackie!” she said to me.  “And now I’m doing it myself!”

If you’re not a writer, you probably can’t understand, but trust me– it can be hard to create characters you adore and then force them through hell.

But we have to.

Why?

If there’s no conflict, it’s not a good story.

Reaching_by_fotomachineIII.

I started to think about that in terms of the story of the world.  God is the ultimate creator, the supreme artist, and the universe and its inhabitants are his masterpiece.

Is the same principle at work here?  Did God as an Artist determine that the great Story of the world would not be good without conflict?  Every good writer knows that a story needs a conflict and a climax.  Could that be the very simplest of explanations for the fall of man and the cross of Christ?  God was writing a story, and he wanted it to be great.

You’re welcome to chime in in the comments!

 

Image credit: fotomachine

3 Sites that Keep Me Sane

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saneI organize my life with Wunderlist.

Do you love lists?  Better yet, do you love crossing things off your lists?  If so, you’ll find Wunderlist deeply satisfying.

I use the free version, and there I keep a whole series of lists.  I have one for each book, one for calendar events, one for OCD Twin Cities, etc., etc.  Here’s a list of my lists.

sane2I love the simplicity of this site, love how easy it is to organize everything, and I love the delightful sound it makes when I electronically cross something off one of my lists!

sane7

In addition, there is a Wunderlist app that is just as clear and simple and easy to use as the web version.

You should definitely try it.

FutureMe keeps me calm.

I can’t tell you how much I love this site.  I tend to use it frequently when I am most stressed out or when I have learned a lesson that I want to remember later.  The point of the site is simple: send an email off to yourself in the future.  You can set the date that you’d like to receive it (it must be at least one month away).  It’s so delightful, and it’s so much fun to receive an email from the past.

sane4

 

See how easy it is?  During my past six-week revision that was so intense, I sent myself a note into the future almost every day.  It was a way for my stressed-out, burning-the-candle-at-both-ends self to reach out to a time where I believed I’d be calm again.  It was a way to tap into hope, the hope that life would not always be so overwhelming.

sane5I ask and answer questions on Quora.

Obviously, the internet is an amazing tool for research.  I use it every single day.  But the internet as a whole is also huge and overwhelming and sometimes impersonal.  Sometimes you want to ask questions of real people.  Quora is great for that.

On this site, you can ask questions. Anonymously, if you want.Then, you can send your question directly to people who might know answers.  Some people are “free” to ask, and some people require “points.”  You accumulate points by being active in the Quora community– and you get an allowance from Quora as well.

I love it.  I absolutely love it. And the people on Quora are amazing: highly intellectual, people who love to think, people who are capable, articulate, and interesting. The answers you get are so solid.

Truest was set in small-town Minnesota, and since that’s where I grew up, I didn’t have many questions about that way of life.  However, my next novel is set in the Pacific Northwest.  On an island.  I have no experience with these things, and it’s been so good to reach out to people who live on small islands, people who live in the Pacific Northwest, people who know details about Seattle neighborhoods and foods, etc.

Plus, you can also answer other people’s questions!  It’s so fun to be the “expert” for once!

sane6

What websites make your life easier?  I’d love to hear your favorites!

 

Defining My Roles

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Recently I sat down and defined my values and leadership principles, and it was a great exercise for me.

I decided to make a list of some of my primary roles and my corresponding principles too.

definitionsMay I be a courageous and humble leader who remembers that rule-keeping does not bring life. May I be a sister who loves, listens, laughs, and leads. May I be a daughter who celebrates her parents, along with the roots and wings they have given me. May I be a selfless friend who honors those whose lives are mixed with mine. May I be a gutsy and generous writer who cherishes story in all its forms. May I be a Christian who delights in her Savior, eagerly receiving and giving grace.

 

Image credit: Grace Easton

Oceans & Revisions

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I went to praise chapel at Northwestern the other day. Though UNW has worship chapel every week, this was a special one for the semester since the entire orchestra was on stage, a powerful treat.

They played Hillsong’s “Oceans.”

wanderSpirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Savior

When I sang, “Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander,” I immediately thought of Truest and all its many rounds of revisions.

Here is the truth: on my own, Truest would have been finished a long time ago.  And it wouldn’t have been nearly as good. But so many people have been put into my life to press me further down that path than my feet could ever wander on their own.

And the result?

A better novel.  Also, my faith was made stronger: my faith in the creative process and my faith in God.

 

Image credit: if you know the owner of this image, please let me know.

Major & minor themes in the Christian worldview [and what that means for my writing]

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art and the bibleMy dear friend Elyse recently loaned me a book called Art and the Bible, written by Francis Schaeffer.  It was less a book and more an essay, and I read it in one sitting.  Let me tell you, it was refreshing to have someone explore so many ideas related to the Christian worldview and the value of art.

The idea that stood out to me the most was this: the Christian world view has both a major and minor theme.  The minor theme is that the world has revolted and is revolting against God, that Christians will never be perfect this side of heaven.  The major theme is that God is at work redeeming the world.

What does that mean for the Christian artist? It’s okay for your art to show both themes too.

Why does this matter to me? Because, as a Christian artist who has suffered from OCD, I’ve sometimes wondered if my responsibility to my faith meant that I needed to focus only on the positive.  The answer is no.  It should be emphasized over the minor theme, but the minor theme has its place in my writing too.

I wish that all Christian artists realized this. We need more gritty, raw Christian art and fewer poems about rainbows and puppies.  If you have art like this– especially written work– you should submit your work to Crux Literary Journal.  We’d be thrilled to take a look.

Surprises on the Journey to Publication

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First, some truths as the groundwork:

* I love being a writer.  Sometimes I feel that I have no choice– I simply must write– but even if I did have the choice, I’d want to be a writer.

* I have an amazing agent and the sweetest, loveliest, most brilliant editor ever, and I feel like I won the jackpot.

* My contract is with HarperCollins, the publishing house of my dreams, the publishing home of C.S. Lewis and Melina Marchetta.  I am utterly humbled and full of deep gratitude.

writerAnd now, some things that are surprising me on my journey toward publication:

* It’s still really hard.  I think I’ve been laboring under the idea that the hard part was getting the book deal, and after that, smooth sailing.  Nope.  My edits come fast and furious, and I don’t think I’ve ever been stretched as much as a writer as I have been since I got my book deal.

* My skin is not as thick as I thought it was.  I’ve prided myself on being a writer with a pretty thick skin– I welcome criticism and can (usually) take it in stride.  I’m learning that maybe I’m more tender than I imagined.

* I have a lot of self-doubt. I once thought that getting a book deal would be like an eternal validation stamp: OFFICIAL WRITER.  I would be someone who Knows What I Am Doing.  Nope.  If anything, I feel even more doubt than ever.

* It’s a true partnership.  I was ready to take orders from my editor– aye, aye, captain, that sort of thing– but she asks more questions than she gives answers.  She raises the questions and then lets me answer them in my own way in what I write.  There’s more freedom than I imagined, and she is a great listener.

* One last thing: it took a long time to finalize the deal. It was offered in November, and I signed my contract in February.

I know that some of you blog readers are on your own writing journeys and are interested to hear how mine goes, so I thought I’d share these things with you.  Now I want to hear from you: what expectations do you have for after you get that first book contract?  Were any of my surprises also surprises to you?

 

Image credit: Laura Makabresku

The Invisible Fight

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There’s a scene in C.S. Lewis’s Voyage of the Dawn Treader where Lucy, Edmund, Eustace, and Caspian land on an island inhabited by invisible people who seem to be enemies.  The group talked over their best options for escape and realized they would likely need to fight:

“Surely,” said Lucy, “if Rhince and the others on the Dawn Treader see us fighting on the shore they’ll be able to do something.”

“But they won’t see us fighting if they can’t see any enemy,” said Eustace miserably. “They’ll think we’re just swinging our swords in the air for fun.”

Couldn't find the owner of this awesome pic, but I love how many stories it tells.

Couldn’t find the owner of this awesome pic, but I love how many stories it tells.

It makes me think of OCD. Not only of OCD but other mental illnesses too.

People often cannot see the evidence of a mental illness, and so they think we’re just “swinging our swords in the air for fun.”  It’s difficult– because the enemy is so very, very real, and the stakes are high (sometimes it’s literally life-or-death), but since mental illness is invisible, the fight doesn’t always warrant the respect it’s due.

For some of us, we look perfectly “normal.” We go to work, we smile often, laugh at our friends or co-workers.  And for some of us, the battle against intrusive thoughts is almost entirely internal (especially for those of us with Pure-O, whose compulsions are usually also invisible).

I am not at all trying to pit visible illnesses against invisible ones; every individual struggle matters.  My point is just to say this: you don’t know what the person next to you is fighting. Be kind to all people.

 

For (lots!) more about OCD and ERP, go to jackieleasommers.com/OCD.

The Small Mountain I Call the TBR List

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I have a problem.

I cannot stop buying books.

TBR SHELFRight now, nearly all new books get relegated to the TBR shelves, and when I finish one, it moves off of these shelves and onto one of four other bookcases.  How do I decide what to read?  To be honest, I’ve been using a random number generator. It’s come to that point.

Of course, sometimes a sequel comes out that I simply MUST READ RIGHT NOW. Or there’s a book by a favorite author that gets bumped to the top of the list.  But most of the new books make their way first to this purgatorial shelf for months (sometimes years) before they are read.

I probably order a new book or two every week. I buy them faster than I can read them.

Why not wait till I get caught up?

I’m not sure I’ll ever get caught up.

I’m smart about my purchases (usually). I use coupon codes a lot, and my credit card rewards program is centered around Barnes & Noble gift cards (got one in the mail just today actually … I will probably spend it today too). I get books for gifts from people. I enter contests to win books (I was so excited to recently win Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith).

I’ve tried to use the library.  I do love the library.  But I love owning books even more.

Last year I spent about $1000 on books (well, through B&N; I also bought a much lesser amount on Amazon), and I feel like that is reasonable for someone who is building a career as a writer.  I feel like, so long as I am also giving money to my church, supporting my compassion kids, giving money to missions and ministries, then I can justify buying lots of books.

Thoughts?  Do you buy books or rely on your library?  How do you choose what your next read will be?

My Hunger Mountain Story

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Hunger Mountain 18 is finally out, and it includes my short story “Covered Up Our Names.”

HMcollage

 

(You may recall that I had this crazy idea about teenaged wards of the state living in hospice care, wrote the story and submitted it to Hunger Mountain with no expectations, and then won the 2013 Katherine Paterson Prize for it!)

Now that it’s been published, the rights have reverted back to me, so I have posted it over at Crux Literary Journal, the online arts project I curate.  I hope you’ll take ten minutes or so to read it and tell me what you think!