Riffs, doodles & odes
A celebration of words & writing & possibilities
-
About God’s words & our words #3
Today I’m continuing a series of posts. About transitive verbs. Last January, I began daydreaming about words – a strange habit, I know. But as my mind wandered and meandered, I noticed how many transitive verbs begin with the prefix en-: verbs like ‘enter’ and ‘enjoy’, even ‘ensconce’ and ‘enkindle’. A verb-al series Later, I realised how many of these transitive verbs describe how God works in the lives of his people. This was too good a discovery to ignore! So I scoured the dictionary for more beginning with en-. Altogether, I collected thirty transitive verbs. And this is another post in the series. (You can read the first post…
-
About God’s words & our words #2
Today I’m continuing a new series of posts. About transitive verbs. Last January, I began daydreaming about words – a strange habit, I know. But as my mind wandered and meandered, I noticed how many transitive verbs begin with the prefix en-: verbs like ‘enter’ and ‘enjoy’, even ‘ensconce’ and ‘enkindle’. Later, I realised how many of these transitive verbs describe how God works in the lives of his people. This was too good a discovery to ignore! So I scoured the dictionary for more beginning with en-. Altogether, I collected thirty, and this is another post in the series. (You can read the first post in the series HERE.)…
-
About God’s words & our words #1
Okay, so today I’m starting a new series of posts. About transitive verbs. I know, it’s a little weird – a bit odd, a tad strange, a smidgen curious. But won’t you join me anyway? Daydreaming Last January I was daydreaming about words, as I sometimes do. In my head, I began collecting transitive verbs beginning with the prefix en-. I thought of common ones, like enter and enjoy, and less common ones, like ensconce and enkindle. For a moment, I imagined casually dropping ensconce or enkindle into my everyday conversation, but I decided I’m weird enough already. Instead, I began to write a list and scour the dictionary for…
-
Of predicaments and mysteries in time
About six months ago, I shared with you my plans for this year. Back then, I planned to blog more often, preferably weekly, and to tell you more about my everyday writing life and my latest book project exploring the topic of Time. I also planned to be more active on social media, sharing work in progress and thinking out loud about life. Making progress, kinda, sorta Let’s just say that the results so far have been patchy, with short bursts of activity but not a lot of consistency. There’s a long way to go yet. Sigh. But I guess that’s what plans are for. One thing that keeps tripping me…
-
Generous words and other warm fuzzies
I believe it was Mark Twain, master of the literary one-liner and the quotable quote, who said that he could live for a whole month on one compliment. My friends, I know exactly what he means! Your interest in my new Time project and your generous words have boosted my energy and lifted my morale. Thank you! A generous audience When I’m alone at my desk day after day, following the trail of an idea, refining my craft or concocting a plan, I simply cannot forget how important it is to have an audience. Especially one as generous as you are! Over the last two weeks you’ve shared your enthusiasm…
-
An unexpected year
Looking back One of the things I love about this time of year is the unstructured days and spontaneous possibilities. I know it’s not everyone’s idea of fun, but I revel in it. Besides, it means I have time to look back over the year that’s just ended. Maybe you’ve done that too and given 2017 a rating. How well did it measure up to your hopes and expectations? Was it a good year, maybe even a great year, or was it discouraging and difficult? For me, 2017 was all of those things, but mostly I’d say it was unexpected. Things have been pretty quiet lately on Write What You See.…
-
Letters to Emma now a book!
PLEASE NOTE: This website now has a page with more information about my book, Letters to Emma: a memoir of grief and God’s love—just click here or on the BOOK menu option above. Exciting news After months of editing, designing, proofreading and printing, my book, Letters to Emma: a memoir of grief and God’s love is now in stock at the publisher, Matthias Media! Find out more here If you’re keen to find out more about the book, click on this link. It will take you straight to Matthias Media’s Australian website. No searching required. And once you’re there, you can: read a preview watch a short author video or order the book!…
-
New things for a new-ish year
Friends, in God’s great kindness, I have had time with my family this summer, a much-needed rest, and the luxury of head space which has helped me to think prayerfully about priorities for the coming year. So I’m making some changes, planning new things and tweaking others along the way. Write What You See By the end of February, I will phase out Facebook and Twitter status updates for Write What You See whenever I publish the latest post. It’s not the most effective way of keeping my readers up-to-date. I’ll still post regularly and you’ll still be able to visit the site at any time, but only subscribers to…
-
Truth or fiction?
As a child I loved to lose myself in the imaginary worlds created by my favourite authors of children’s fiction. I didn’t need to travel anywhere. Just by picking up a book and reading, turning the pages one by one, I discovered exotic places and long-ago eras, And I found distinctive characters who had adventures, dilemmas and abilities I sometimes wished were my own. No matter how new, how foreign or how outside my experience they might have been, these stories taught me true things that went deep into my bones and my soul. They shaped me for a life that was yet to happen. And the power of words…
