A Reader or a writer, which would you rather be?
When I first started writing, I went to a weekend writing retreat that was held on the prairies up in the Cypress Hills of Alberta, Canada. This workshop was led by a Canadian cowboy writer by the name of Guy Vanderhaeghe. He wrote a book called The Englishman’s Boy (which was later turned into a mini-series). One of the first questions he asked us all was, “Tell me now, how many books have you read this year?” (To which I internally responded, One! Don’t judge me!) The thing is, even though I wanted to be a writer, I hadn’t yet even become a reader. Guy told us, his little herd of wanna-be writers, what we desperately needed to hear, that we simply could not become writers without first being readers. (So I bought his book.) Anyway, this was the year I became a reader. I think I read fifty books that year. (Which is pretty good, considering I had only read short gothic romances up until this point.)
After reading Guy’s book, The Englishman’s Boy, I exclaimed: “Holy-moly, this guy is a talented author!” (I mean he is super great—Margaret Atwood kind of great, except he writes cowboy-type historical fiction.) I was over the moon. How did this rather shy guy compose this amazing book!? I mean, just listen to his voice and syntax: “The other horses trickled down the slope after them, filling the coulee as water fills the bed of a river. One by one they dropped from sight, tails switching, heads bobbing, ghostly gleaming horses running back into the earth like shining, strengthening water.”
I was convinced. I couldn’t be a writer without being a reader. So I read and read and read. I read all kinds of books—every type of genre. And then the inevitable happened. After all, when you’re a reader eventually you start to not just think, but believe, “I really could write something like this!” And when I hit the genre of memoir I knew this was it, this was the type of book I wanted to create. I wanted to whisper out a story using the voice of a kid and the voice of a teenager. In fact, I could hear their murmuring voices in my head spinning out the story before I ever sat down to write.
So in regards to who I would rather be—writer or reader, my answer is both. Reading is great…escaping into someone’s life, learning about abstract ideas all while being entertained, seeing yourself in a fictional character, learning how to handle tragedy or how to find courage through someone else’s world and words. All this comes from reading. But writing is great too…pushing yourself to finish a manuscript, editing until you wanna puke, reworking structure, learning to control voice, dreaming up characters, or crafting a real person into a character, studying a topic until you really understand and appreciate the material, and helping others to learn through your words. This is writing. And it’s downright fantastic.
We testify in accordance with what we know and have experienced.
…It’s time to learn and experience more!
The first book in this thought-provoking series explained how testimony relates to the Bible; this book will help you understand how testimony relates to living. Living…The Testimony will not only encourage Christians to reflect on who they believe Jesus to be (and why they choose to believe this), but it will also correct current misconstrued ideas as to what the Christian testimony is all about.
- a testimony is not about church;
- a testimony is not about God;
- a testimony is not about faith in general terms;
- this book contains numerous testimonies that will strengthen your faith in Jesus.
A strong Christian testimony is one that continually grows in the knowledge of Jesus, continually shares that knowledge boldly, while at the same time performs good works based on Jesus’ teaching of love—all while abstaining from works of darkness.
Because a biblical testimony deals not only with our belief system, but also with the way we conduct our whole lives, our Christian testimony becomes our most valuable asset. It is life itself.
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Genre – Christian Living
Rating – G
More details about the author
Connect with Deidre Havrelock on Twitter
Website www.deidrehavrelock.com
This book will be on sale for $0.99 during the tour
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