One Writer's Love Affair with the Keyboard

by Bruce Brady @BDBrady007

I’ve failed miserably. And I’m not ashamed to admit it.

Some of you know that I struggle with a health challenge that kept me from writing anything for several months. 

 was in such pain that I couldn’t sit long enough to write. And when I tried a standing desk, I discovered I couldn’t remain in one place without those annoying pains forcing me to move. And just to add to my woes, I suffered the emotional pain of not being able to express myself through the written word.

Life Lessons for Writers—Releasing Ourselves from the Writing Comparison Trap

by Vonda Skelton @VondaSkelton

No matter where we are on this writing
journey, we tend to compare.

Beginning in 2003 and continuing through 2011, Edie and I led yearly NCompass Writing Retreats. The goal of each retreat was to offer a time of refreshing, refueling, and of course, writing and rewriting. But in our last year of retreats, we realized that year’s focus was on another re: releasing.

Let’s face it, no matter where we are on this writing journey, we tend to compare. We compare our words to other writers and determine our worth. We compare their publications to our rejections. We long for their successes and see ourselves as failures.

Life Lessons for Writers—Remember to Nurture the Child Within

by Bruce Brady @BDBrady007

I like to begin each new year by reflecting on my past. I do this hoping to learn how I can make life better for myself, my loved ones, and for everyone I influence in some way.

This year, with the help of Mark Twain and Great Danes, it became clear that one of the most important things I can do—that we can do—is nurture our inner child.

As Writers We Must Remember to Give ‘Em Hope

by Bruce Brady @BDBrady007

I love December. Although it’s the end of a year, we become excited, anticipating family gatherings, gift exchanges and better days to come. And as writers, we have the opportunity to give the gift of hope to a lot of folks.

The chilled air is filled with the hint of pine. Every night, homes and city streets come alive with twinkling lights and wintery scenes in store windows. Nearly every neighborhood has at least one home where Santa, his reindeer, and snowmen take up residency. 

Many of us uproot trees, plant them indoors, then adorn them with tinsel, ornaments, and candy canes. We hang stockings for Santa to fill and mistletoe in doorways so that we might express our love through pecks on cheeks or long passionate kisses. And it’s the time of year when most of us are just a little nicer to each other.

Life Lessons for Writers—To Solve or Not to Solve?

by Bruce Brady @BDBrady007

My wife and I attended a play last Sunday and we’re blown away by the subject matter. It dealt with Biblical view versus world view, including singles living together, homosexuality, church marriage versus civil ceremony, and others. This was surprising as we were not in a Christian venue.

Like me, most of the audience became uneasy when we realized where the storyline was going. I could see some bracing themselves to fight what they were sure would be the writer’s take on the subject. When the show ended however, we were all surprised by the fact that the playwright didn’t provide any solution.

Life Lessons for Writers—Live Like Joni

by Bruce Brady @BDBrady007

Recently I found myself encouraged in an unexpected way when my wife and I drove to the Billy Graham Library to meet and listen to an amazing woman. Her name is Joni (pronounced Johnny) Eareckson Tada.

If you’ve not heard of her, she’s an author of over 50 books, a blogger, and an excellent artist whose paintings and drawings are in high demand. But that’s not all, Joni is a public speaker, and an international advocate for disabled people. She’s served on the National Council on Disability and the Disability Advisory Committee to the U.S. State Department. She’s the founder of “Joni and Friends,” an organization that encourages physically handicapped people all over the world, and supplies them with free wheelchairs.

She’s also recorded a song for a that was nominated for an Academy Award. This recording tested her physical limitations. While singing, her husband had to press on her diaphragm so she could hit and hold the high notes.

But these aren’t the reasons I’m so impressed by her. What amazes me is that she has done all this for forty-seven years as a quadriplegic with fifty percent of normal adult lung capacity.