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Welcome to the new and improved
Connecting! We've got a fresh new look,
which matches the new website. Please come
on over and visit at
www.keriwyattkent.com.
Stop by often, we're going to be updating
more frequently with fresh content, and
giving away books every month. And please,
forward Connecting to anyone you think
might enjoy it.
Just as you
receive this newsletter from me, I also
receive a few newsletters from other writers
and ministries.
This week, I received my friend Karen Mains’
newsletter, Soulish Food. (You can read it
below as our guest column.) As usual,
Karen’s musings were thought-provoking. One
paragraph especially struck me. She talked
about “the writing life.” Like a lost pair
of gloves, Karen felt this life was
something she once had, but had lost
somewhere along the way. She’s done ministry
with her husband David for decades (they did
Chapel of the Air radio ministry, and now
run MainStay ministries). The demands of
ministry edged out that “writing life” she
wanted.
While I have to say that Karen’s notion of
the writing life may be a bit romanticized,
her description of it twanged something in
my soul.
Because I am a
few years younger than Karen, and look to
her as a mentor and wise woman, I felt a
sense of warning in her words. Don’t lose
this, she seemed to be saying to me. This
writer’s life. Because at the moment, the
writer’s life is one I am living, or trying
to live. If I listen to my life, I will hear
very clearly the call to write.
In order to listen to my life, and to obey
God’s call on it, I must say no to certain
things, and yes to others. And the same is
true for you. You may not be a writer (or
perhaps you are), but you are called to some
kind of life: being a teacher, an engineer,
a mom, a doctor, a minister, or something
else. Answering that call means considering
very carefully when you will say yes, and
when you will say no.
During certain seasons of the year, I say
yes to requests to be a speaker or retreat
leader. Most writers, once published, get
these kind of requests. It’s ironic to me,
because I believe speaking and writing are
two very different skills. They’re both
communication, but then again, so are
Swahili and English. And I suppose you can
become relatively fluent in both. But one
will likely remain your native tongue.
There are speakers who write, and writers
who speak. I’m the latter, and the written
word will always be my first language and my
deepest love. I enjoy speaking, it’s a way
to connect with readers and also provides me
some income, which is something the writing
life doesn’t always give you a lot of.
So what does a writing life look like?
In order to live this life, I have to write.
That takes discipline. You do not write only
when you feel like it. It’s just after 7
a.m. I’ve been up for an hour, seeing my
kids off to school. They make their own
lunches while I sit and make a shopping
list, drink coffee. I remind my 12-year-old
to comb his hair, I remind my 14-year-old
about her dentist appointment later this
week.
Because my writing life is juxtaposed with a
mothering life, those things must be
combined. But from the time the kids walk
out the door, I get my butt in the chair,
and I put words onto a page. It’s one of the
most important yeses of the writing life. So
many people tell me that they would like to
be a writer. But when I ask, do you write?
They say, well, not at the moment. Wanting
to write and actually writing are two very
different things.
The writing life requires discipline. I make
time to write five days a week—and I give my
best, most alert time (usually from 7 a.m.
until noon) to that task. I set goals of
1000 words per day, or more. I read books on
writing, read good books in general, to
study my craft. The writing life seems
solitary, and it is, but it also requires me
to be in community—to ask other writers to
read my work, to offer feedback so that I
can improve it. And to provide that kind of
feedback and encouragement to other writers.
So, within carefully set boundaries, I do
some of that as well.
This weekend, I drove to another state where
I led a retreat. This is part of the writing
life, too, because the retreat was based on
one of my books. Speaking, especially when
you do a retreat and really talk to people,
seems more hands-on ministry than writing.
But really, speaking before a large group
creates a sort of distance. In contrast, if
you share your soul in the pages of a book,
you provide an opportunity for one-on-one
ministry, soul to soul connection with your
reader.
A writer’s life isn’t just poring over the
dictionary or even just writing. As most of
you know, I have a new website. Many of my
working hours over the last two months have
been poured into communicating with the
designer, or trying to communicate with her,
via e-mail. I only know what I think looks
pretty. She taught me a whole new language
as we figured out what the website needed to
be able to do, how it would function. And
we’re still working out a few last glitches
with the site.
Karen’s lament of losing the writing life
made me more determined to hang onto it
myself. Because I don’t travel to speak
during the summer, I can spend the next four
months living the writer’s life. Which is
important not just because I love writing,
but because I have a book due September 1.
In your life, you may often wrestle with
what to say yes and no to. But often, we
don’t feel we have a guide for making those
decisions. The question is, what does your
life intend to do with you? What is God
calling you to? What sort of life do you
have, that you don’t want to lose? Or what
life have you lost, that you want to find
again?
Guest Column: Losing it! (Again
and Again)
The first clue last January that I was
succumbing to getting-ready-to-go stress was
when I returned home after the movies
without the new brown leather gloves I had
bought on sale to go with the new, warm coat
I'd also bought on sale. Well, I
thought.
You'll just have to go without or wear your
old ones. This will teach you to be careless
with new things!
Losing a pair of gloves might not seem like
such a big deal, but I had also …
Read the entire article here:
http://www.hungrysouls.org/newsletter/issue-07-06.html
Book Reviews
 She
Got Up Off the Couch
by Haven Kimmel
Free Press
$13.95
Amazon Price: $5.49
One of the ways I try to develop my writing
skill is to read well-written books. Haven
Kimmel, one of my favorite writers, has
taught me so much, even though I have never
met her. I learn about how to write better,
by simply reading her work.
Her newest book, She Got Up Off the Couch,
is a follow-up to her best-selling memoir,
A Girl Named Zippy. I loved that
first memoir, it was amazing. Her new book
is the story of her mother, who did, despite
many obstacles, finally did get up off the
couch and go back to school, pursuing the
life she was meant to live.
Kimmel’s writing is beautiful, and this book
was no exception. But it was also sadder
than her previous memoir, and perhaps not
quite as good. Kimmel has written some
novels, which are excellent, but her memoir
style is truly amazing. She’s able to tell
difficult truth in a way that is not overly
sentimental, nor harsh. She shows you her
life, and lets you draw your own
conclusions.
It’s the story of her family’s life as
Kimmel was growing up in a small Indiana
town of just 300 people. But it is also the
story of every woman in the early 1970s who
chose to life her own life, instead of the
life given to her by society. It’s about
daring to follow your dreams, about the
empowerment of women, and the cost of that,
really.
I’d recommend this book, though if you have
not read A Girl Named Zippy, read
that first, since She Got Up Off the
Couch really is a sequel to it.
For reviews of the latest books in Christian
Publishing visit
www.bookbargainsandpreviews.com
Quotable Quote
“Before you tell your life what you intend
to do with it, listen for what it intends to
do with you.” ---Parker Palmer, Let Your
Life Speak.
Deeper Connection
What sort of life do you want to live? What
will you have to say yes and no to in order
to live that life? What is one change you
can make in the next month or two, in order
to move closer to having that life?
Connecting with Keri: Speaking
Keri will lead a retreat for the Women’s
Christian Conference of Northwest
Pennsylvania Sept. 12-13 in Saegertown, PA.
If you are interested
in having Keri speak at an event or retreat,
or to check all of her schedule, you can go
to
www.keriwyattkent.com
and click on the link to speaking. Keri is
currently accepting speaking engagements for
November 2008 and beyond.
Connecting with Keri: Web
Check out Keri’s blog,
Deep Breathing for the Soul, at
www.keriwyattkent.blogspot.com
You can read Keri’s latest musings on the
connection between faith and real life, you
can post a question about any of her books
or other writings.
Keri posts each
Thursday on
www.boomerbabesrock.com/blog.
She writes about faith, family and fun on
this site dedicated to women of the baby
boom generation.
If you are a parent or work with kids, and
feel like you are always pouring out, click
over to Keri’s “For Your Soul” column
http://www.christianitytoday.com/childrensministry/articles/
and get filled up. This column, written
for those who minister to children, will
give you encouragement and practical help
with nurturing your own soul.
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