PRAISE FOR WRITING FOR THE SOUL Man, this is a good book! So full of anecdote and so deeply felt… —Stephen King Few can write about writing like Jerry Jenkins. Even fewer can do better urging us to write for the soul. He has done so for decades. Any person interested in the high privilege of writing for the soul will delight in and profit from reading this valued work. —Max Lucado Jerry Jenkins is perhaps the ultimate authority on writing for the soul! A careful, easy-to-follow look at every aspect of the Christian story-telling process. A must-read for anyone wanting to write the deeper story. —Karen Kingsbury Have you ever wanted to sit with a famous, successful author for hours on end and pick his brain, get advice, drink in his sagely wisdom and experience? Well, now you can. Reading Jerry’s book is like sitting and having coffee with him. Here, in a friendly, informal style, are answers, insights, anecdotes and challenges from a guy who has been there and knows. I loved it! —Frank Peretti Writing for the Soul is a generous gift from one of the most successful writers of our time. This look into the mind, heart, and soul of a consummate professional will absolutely inspire, instruct, and guide you on your own writing journey. Don’t fail to add this one to your bookshelf. —James Scott Bell I’ve read numerous books written by Jerry B. Jenkins. He’s good. I’ve heard many talks about the craft of writing pre- sented by Jerry B. Jenkins. He’s good at that, too. Now, I’ve read a book about writing by Jerry B. Jenkins. It’s the combi- nation of both good options. It’s all here: the discipline, the craftsmanship, and the marketing aspects of professional writing; and it’s told in story fashion. Enjoy, and learn! —Dr. Dennis E. Hensley In Writing for the Soul , Jerry Jenkins offers a wealth of infor- mation gained through experience and education. New and veteran writers will benefit from reading this collection of philosophies and practical pointers from one of the most suc- cessful and down to earth writers of our time. —Angela Hunt Writing for the Soul. Copyright © 2010 by Jerry B. Jenkins. Manufactured in the United States of America. All rights reserved. No other part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including informa- tion storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review. Publishing by CWG publishing, 5525 N. Union Boulevard, Colorado Springs CO 80918. Originally published by Writer’s Digest Books. Editor: Jane Friedman Cover: Ragont Design Contents Acknowledgments xi Foreword xv Introduction : Big Door on a Small Hinge 1 Chapter 1. Early Breaks 10 Chapter 2. Change of Course 16 My Family Policy 29 Chapter 3. Why Write? 34 Chapter 4. Keeping Your Soul Intact 54 Chapter 5. What to Write 71 Chapter 6. Equipping Your Writing Space 84 Chapter 7. Writers Are Readers 97 Chapter 8. Realism Through Research 111 Chapter 9. Pace, Conflict, and Plot 125 Chapter 10. Your Own Little World of Characters 146 Chapter 11. Your Perspective Party 161 Chapter 12. Thickening the Stew 172 Advice for Thick-Skinned Writers 188 Chapter 13. Pursuing Publication 192 Afterword: Keeping the Goal in Sight 211 Hitting Home 215 Index 227 About the Author 240 CHAPTER 4 Keeping Your Soul Intact Can you still be moved? If you’re a person of faith and believe you have been called to a sacred profession, that alone should move you. With a single phrase you can heal a wound or tear it open. Even today, choice words in precise order bear power unmatched by amplified images and sound and technical magic. The following thought is not original with me, but I believe it with all that is in me: If there are no tears in the writer, there will be no tears in the reader. The emotion conjured in you as you write will be multiplied in the reader. That’s good and bad. If you are breathless, he may gasp. If your lip quivers, he may weep. But if you are bored or distracted, the reader will stop turning pages. But I’m a beginner , you say. I don’t have the confidence to write so boldly that I evoke emotion . At least you’ve put it well. Don’t just show emotion. Don’t write of sobbing and crying and shrieking and shaking. Show what happens and let the emotion come from the reader. 54 Keeping Your Soul Intact I call writing a sacred profession because I believe God chose the written word to communicate with man. In John 1, Jesus is referred to as the Word. Ephesians 4:11-12 talks about a Christian’s call- ing, saying that Jesus Christ gave some of us to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints; a Christian believer’s work is to edify of the body of Christ. Each of these roles might include writing skills. I’m no apostle or prophet, but if the definition of an evangelist is one who shares the news of Christ, I certainly want to fall into that category. And though I am not a pastor, I do teach—in classrooms and through my writing—and I hope I am, in that way, “equipping the saints.” Even if you’re not of the Christian faith, consider the beauty of the words of the Bible. Psalm 91 says: He who dwells in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in Him I will trust.” Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence. He shall cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruc- tion that lays waste at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not come near you. We live in an age of natural disasters, terrorism, broken homes, abuse, and war. Either we’re overwhelmed or we’re stoics who rise above every problem. We don’t like to be seen as vulnerable, but isn’t vulnerability far better than cynicism? The writer still capable of being moved can live a life of lasting significance. When people of the future 55 Writing for the Soul run across your byline or some evidence of the work you left behind, your prayer should be that someone will say “Ah, yes, this was a per- son who could be moved, and the writing proves it.” Allow yourself to be moved, and write what moves you. Are you moved by painful memories? I am. When our kids were little and I was maintaining my policy of giving them huge blocks of time every day, they began to take that for granted (flattering, if you think about it). They were, however, fascinated by a neighbor whose family celebrated when he got home. He would emerge from the car and be mobbed by his wife and kids. My boys thought he must really be something special. Dianna and I knew the truth, because his wife had confided her despair. He was an alcoholic, a sex addict, and a compulsive spender. His good job was in jeopardy because he would sometimes disappear for days. The reason his family celebrated him when he got home was that they never knew when those days might be. When my six-year-old son said, “I wish he was my dad,” I had to bite my tongue. Obviously I couldn’t tell him the truth. But that night, Dianna and I discussed how we had to become better friends of that couple, earn the right to be heard, try to share something with the man that would put him back on the right track. He needed an anchor in the universe. It was already too late. The next morning I was called out of a meeting at work for a phone call from Dianna. She reported that the woman had just run to our house in hysterics, having discov- ered her husband in his car in the closed garage with the engine running, a suicide note on the seat. All I could think was, Why do we always wait ? It’s been nearly a quarter of a century since that happened, yet it affects how I live, how I treat my neighbors, what I write, how I write. 56 Keeping Your Soul Intact If such events don’t move you, don’t change you, you may not be cut out for writing. If real life reaches your core, however, you must write. Allow yourself to be deeply moved, then write out of the depth of your emotion. Before you merely gush onto the page, however, remem- ber that if you are a beginner, you’re likely not ready to publish. I never cease to be amazed at the unprofessional writing samples, emails, and letters that come my way. Every day I hear from people who claim they want advice and input, but they don’t want to hear that they haven’t a chance with an editor unless they make major revisions.