by Martin Wiles @LinesFromGod
“We need to go into another room for this.”
I didn’t like the sound of those words. The dermatologist had already frozen a couple of places on my arms, but suddenly, the present room wouldn’t work. I followed him to another room, where he instructed me to lie on the table. Something else a little strange.
The next thing I knew, he gave me a shot that numbed the area he planned to work on. Soon, I couldn’t feel a thing—which, by the way, was a good thing. By this time, I was getting quite nervous. Then came the sound. I almost thought I was in a dentist’s office, where the sound is the worst thing.
After what seemed like an eternity, he finished. I now had an impressive bandage on the back of my ear. The place had to remain covered for a certain period. Once I removed the bandage, I had to lather the area with Vaseline until it healed.
I remember my wife removing the bandage and the surprise on her face. The area was the size of a quarter. Another surprise came when the test results returned: basil cell carcinoma. This diagnosis required two years of rechecks to ensure the doctor had removed it all. Thankfully, he got it all the first time—no further cancer.
I read the Bible through each year, but I cringe when I come to the book of Leviticus. “The Lord called to Moses from the Tabernacle and said to him, ‘Give the following instructions to the people of Israel’” (Leviticus 1:1-2 NLT).
The instructions seem never to end—instructions after instructions about sacrifices, offerings, and relationships. Few of these have any bearing for today, but they held great importance for God’s people at the time. The bottom line of God’s instructions concerned cutting out any sin cancer from their lives that hindered their service to Him.
Sin resembles cancer in that it grows and will eventually kill us if not dealt with. Thankfully, Jesus dealt with it on our behalf. All we must do is believe He paid for our sins and then live as if He has removed the cancer from our lives, which He has.
Christ sends His Spirit to dwell in us and empower us to live above the cancer-infested life. No longer must we live with the cancer of sinful actions controlling us. We won’t be perfect, but God’s forgiveness is always available. God also clothes us in Christ’s righteousness when we trust in Christ, and this covers all our sins—now and forever.
But some cancers aren’t physical or spiritual. These cancers will kill—well, perhaps maim—our writing. They are cured not by a knife but by remembering the writing pyramid. Specific nouns always trump plain nouns. German Shepherd presents a better picture than dog. And vivid verbs? They paint pictures and sounds that forms of the verb be (am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been) never can. “He slumped down the hall” is better than “He walked down the hall.”
Once we’ve mastered the specific nouns and vivid verbs, we can move on to using the best adjectives and eliminating unnecessary adverbs—which some argue are most adverbs, at least the ly ones. When describing a house that has existed for a while, ancient is better than old. Adverbs that tell when are essential. If little Tommy’s dad plans to take him fishing, little Tommy needs to know when. Otherwise, he might get ready on the wrong day or at the wrong time on the right day.
While plot elements are essential to any good work of fiction—some of which we can use in nonfiction—and while books-a-plenty exist on the subject, let’s not forget to incorporate the elements of the simple writing pyramid into whatever we write. When we do, we’ll eliminate the cancers that make our writing less than excellent.
TWEETABLE
Martin, I know this is a writing blog, but I'm thankful to hear your doctor dealt with your skin cancer the first time -- no further cancer.
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