A Book for Writers to Challenge & Inspire

by Lynn Blackburn @LynnHBlackburn

I’m not sure where I first heard about Light the Dark - Writers on Creativity, Inspiration, and the Artistic Process. I do know that I thought it sounded great and I popped it into my Amazon cart without much more thought.

Light the Dark is a collection of essays from 46 authors. As the editor, Joe Fassler, explains in his introduction, “at the core of each of these pieces is a moment of transformative reading—an encounter with a short, artful sequence of words that hits with life-altering force.”

Each piece begins with a quote from a book or poem. The essays that follow all touch on that one piece of writing that spoke to them, and cover a broad range of subjects—everything from the way a particular author structures their stories to the way another author believes stories have informed their belief systems.

I will admit that after a handful of essays, I seriously considered abandoning this collection. My reasons were varied: some of the essays contain language I generally try to avoid, several of the essays espouse points of view with which I strongly disagree, and most of the essays were written by and about authors with whom I had no previous familiarity.

But then the strangest thing happened: In the middle of a story which was not resonating with me at all, there was a sentence that jumped off the page and I found myself scrambling for a little flag to mark it. I decided to keep reading. And that same thing happened. Again and again.

My copy is now filled with pastel flags, all of which point to a sentence or paragraph that resonated with me in a way that made me know I would want to revisit it.

Some of the passages I noted speak to the experience of writing. To what the writer feels, how the writer sees the world, and how the writer takes those feelings and observations and distills them into stories. Some of the pastel flags highlight a particular piece of writing advice that I felt was unique and valid. Some of the passages earned a flag, frankly, because I found them to be the exact opposite of what I believe.

And that is at the heart of why I’m glad I read the entire book.

I often find myself insulated in a small world where the vast majority of the people I come into contact with are people that I, by and large, already agree with. And because I am not, by nature, a confrontational person, my tendency is to be okay with that. But I recently came across this quote:

"If everything you read affirms your own personal beliefs you are doing yourself a tragic disservice. A challenged mind is a sharp mind." - Daniel Blackaby

Please understand, I’m not recommending or endorsing the reading of anything, fiction or nonfiction, that is going to have a negative impact on your spirit. But I do believe we need to read things written by those with views that differ from our own so we can understand what’s going on in the world, and so we are forced to think about why we believe what we believe.

Also because very often, even when at first glance we may think we have little in common, and even less to learn, from an author who doesn’t share our views . . . we may be surprised to discover just how much we do have in common, particularly when it comes to writing.

The frustration when the story won’t cooperate. The fear that no one will like it. The way social media and marketing and the need to have a public persona can negatively influence your writing. The importance of memorization and poetry. The thrill of the perfect sentence. The joy of a good writing day. The importance of the first line and the ending. The fun of playing with words. The way one line . . . one sentence . . . one paragraph can capture the heart.

That’s what my goal is. Always. To truly Light the Dark. To write in a way that someone will feel that spark of hope, that they’ll get a glimpse of what could be, that one line . . . one sentence . . . one paragraph, will capture their heart.

So how about you? Is there a line or paragraph from a book or poem that has stuck with you? One that has inspired you? Share it with us in the comments.

And be sure to stop by tomorrow when Cathy Baker is going to show us how to apply the writing wisdom we find in this, or any other anthology, and put it into practice in our own lives. You don’t want to miss it!

Don’t forget to join the conversation!

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A Book for Writers to Challenge & Inspire - a review from @LynnHBlackburn on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

Lynn H. Blackburn believes in the power of stories, especially those that remind us that true love exists, a gift from the Truest Love. She’s passionate about CrossFit, coffee, and chocolate (don’t make her choose) and experimenting with recipes that feed both body and soul. She lives in South Carolina with her true love, Brian, and their three children. Her first book, Covert Justice, won the 2016 Selah Award for Mystery and Suspense and the 2016 Carol Award for Short Novel. Her second book, Hidden Legacy, released in June 2017 and her new Dive Team Investigations series kicks off in March of 2018 with Beneath the Surface. The second book in the series, In Too Deep, releases in November of 2018. You can follow her real life happily ever after at www.LynnHBlackburn.com and on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.