Labor Pains

She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth ~ Revelation 12:2

This second trimester of preparation for my first book is filled with labor pains.  Last night, I dropped off some copies of my work to be critiqued for the first time.  Critique groups are a two-way street, you analyze their work and they do the same for your writing.

As I walked out of the meeting, Byron offered me some really good advice.  I gave him some background on the characters that are in God's Black Sheep Squadron.  "There needs to be some kind of common thread that is present throughout the book", he said.  While pondering this, I realized that the common thread is the Holy Spirit.  He was there in the first chapter and again in the final chapter.  The chapters that still need to be written are all spirit-filled.  "Once you determine the common thread, your book will be easier to lay out", he said.  "Have you considered fictionalizing it to make it flow better?"  I answered, "no, and even though it may make writing the book easier for me, I need to stick to the facts so that others may be inspired by events that actually happened or that will happen just as Jesus promises."

Am I headed for one of those difficult labors, like the one my wife endured for our first-born son?  My belief is that every book is meant to be born.  The writer must go through a step-by-step process.  Since this book is part of God's plan for me, I will continue to rely on the people he is placing in my life while learning all the modern tools available to writers of this generation.

Are you going through some labor pains right now?  One of my tennis buddies told me, "pain is weakness leaving the body."  I must push through the discomfort while stitching each chapter together, relying on the Holy Spirit to be my "Thread".  Endurance, my friends...it's all about endurance.  Stay on your course.  Every baby must be born no matter what the pain or the struggle...