Jan Cline

lover of relics and history

It’s Where You Belong

by Jan Cline
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You belong there. Pick up where you left off. Begin again. Start over. Get back to doing what you were doing when you quit doing what you were doing.

I hear these words so often in my head, and sometimes I blow them off as meaningless. I have done all the above so many times, what’s the use? You may have asked yourself the same thing a time or two.

But if my brain is continuing that driving drone, there must be a reason.

The reason, I’ve come to know, is that trying to deny your purpose in life, trying to avoid what you have been given to do, isn’t worth the struggle. Your brain, and most likely your heart, have figured it out. It’s your bruised ego that has yet to surrender.

I have no ego, you may say. Yeah, I used to say that a lot too. Yes you do, just as I do.

The reality of life is that we don’t like to fail, stumble, waver, be a fool, or sit at the bottom of the success ladder when it comes to our talents and gifts. It’s hard to keep plugging away, standing below those who are near the top rung of that ladder you love so much.

Our egos take many hits when we are striving to achieve a place in a field where there is so much competition. I have learned that the writing/publishing world is highly competitive and therefore has the potential to become my source of discouragement instead of my favorite place to be. I know in my head that comparing myself to others in the field is only going to hold me back. It’s the beckoning crook of my ego’s finger that gets me every time.

What’s the cure for this common disease?

How do you get back to where you belong?

Tell your ego to take a hike – a back seat to the truth. The truth is that if you keep going back to it, you are probably doing what you were designed to do. Can’t stop picking up that paint brush? Keep pulling out that computer to jot down a story idea? Is the five lines on that blank music paper still calling you? Putting up with some discomfort, discouragement, disillusionment, and fear is the price for being on the chosen list. I’d rather be chosen to be or do something than spend my life being or doing something I’m not supposed to do at all.

Time to get back to doing what you were doing when you stopped doing what you were designed to do.

Keep reaching,

Jan

The Power of the Pen

by Jan Cline
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When was the last time you received a hand-written letter or note in the mail?

Once in a while I get a thank you note or invitation. But I think for the most part the world is all about emails and texts. They don’t even teach or encourage cursive in schools anymore. How sad.

I miss the art of using pen and paper and I appreciate when someone takes the time to use them. I received a wonderful hand-written note the other day from an unexpected source. It meant more than any email or text could.

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(Dear Mr & Mrs Cline, My name is Jane Ellen, an RN with WAMC. This past week I had the honor of serving your daughter, Laura. Know that she has a knowledgeable compassionate physician, and a loving nursing staff. She has been prayed for and will continue to be throughout her treatment.)

What a blessing it was to know this cancer care nurse took the time to do this for us as Laura’s parents.

Makes me want to go out and buy some stationery and see if my hand will be able to hold up for a whole letter!

I hope you will make a point to get out your address book and jot someone a line or two this week.

A more intimate encouragement is just a few words away with the power of the pen.

 

Keep reaching,

Jan

Pain…the good it can do

by Jan Cline
4 Comments

 

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Been thinking a lot about pain the last few weeks. I recently finished a wonderful book by Jamie Ford titled Songs of Willow Frost. At the end of the book he said this:

“I was an aspiring writer, fumbling for years with this thing called fiction, but too often I had nothing of substance to write about. It was only after I’d collected enough scars that I found the expository canvas on which to paint my stories…”

Considering my recent, and ongoing, pain of my daughter’s cancer diagnosis, this quote hit home for me as a writer.

Some people seem to go through life with very little strife, or tragedy, or pain. I have had people in my life who appeared to have avoided a lot of the pain I have experienced. I often wondered why some are “spared” while some are apparently “doomed” to excruciating difficulties with health, family, finances, friends, or other things from the long list of earthly troubles.

It doesn’t really make sense in the short-sightedness of our humanity. It’s so easy to ask why, why me, and look to God and exclaim, can we not do this again?! But when we step back and see the bigger picture of life here and then eternity, it’s clear pain has less to do with selection than is does with direction.

Where do we direct our reaction to pain? Pull it inward? Lash out at others? Be angry at God? Or could we possibly turn it into good?

A good author will help the reader connect on a personal level, sometimes reaching deep into their hearts. It’s a good use of pain. As a fiction writer, I hope I will capture the essence of my character’s pain more clearly because of what I have gone through. I hope my readers will find solace, comfort, insight, inspiration, and encouragement in what I write. After all, I want to glean all those things when I read a book.

So we can be changed by our pain, and in turn change others – for the better.

Once we get over the sting of it all, and the gaping wounds begin to heal, we would miss the best part of the process if we neglected to use it for a higher purpose. My friend Mick Silva wrote this:

“With a little pain God brings relief. With a little darkness eventually he brings light. He ordains the contrasts of life to make it rich and meaningful.”

 

Relief is something we all long for, and I would imagine it comes more readily when we resist the urge to contain our pain in a jar to be taken out in doses when we have a need for pity, justification, or attention.

 

Are you able to see your pain as a tool of prosperity for someone else?

 

Keep reaching!

Jan

May 19, 2016

Do You Work Without A Net?

by Jan Cline
2 Comments

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April 14, 2016

Even trapeze artists occasionally fly without a net. They risk their lives, trusting their skills and training to keep them from falling. I’ve often wondered at what point did they roll up the net and fly free without something to catch them if they miss the bar.

How good do they have to be before they trust their instincts and talents?

I’ve been learning some news things through my recent book launch and subsequent planning of another book. One is that I learned more about writing than I thought I had. All I have absorbed during the studying of the craft, the coaching, and the workshops and classes, is finally starting to show in my writing.

The foundation has been laid, and the house of prose I’m building is on pretty steady ground. But I also stand ready to add another strengthening layer to it when I can.

Sure, I will still make mistakes, and I have a way to go before I write a GREAT book. But I’m ready to take down the net.

What is my net? It’s a tightly woven fabric made of several things.

Rules of structure and method.

While plotting, structuring, and planning are good things, trying to conform too much to them only kept me constrained and a bit frustrated. I had to find a happy medium of joy riding and sticking to the map of novel writing. My nature is to write by the seat of my pants. Tempering that with some structure allows me to fly free.

Fear of never being good enough.

Repeat after me: I will get better.

I’m a work in progress and so is my writing. It’s okay to not be a best-selling author. I do the best I can, knowing I will improve with practice – just like anything else I do. What is important is that I am NOT afraid to learn something about myself in my stories and then pass that along to my readers. Then it doesn’t matter if my writing is perfect, it’s usable, and I am usable.

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Self-imposed unrealistic writing schedules.

I have a busy life. Yeah, yeah, so does everyone. I’m no spring chicken (sorry for the cliche) and I have an auto-immune disease that cuts into my productivity. I have to give myself permission to be less productive than the prolific writer I really want to be like. It is what it is, and by expecting too much of myself, my creativity takes a hit.

 

So, while I know that I need to rely on a safety net from time to time, I am hoping to drop it often enough to discover my best voice, hone my natural talents, and feel the freedom of the breeze in my hair as I fly through the air of writing my next novel.

What is your safety net? Do you feel you’re ready to let go of it?

Like the trapeze flyer….

Keep reaching!

Jan

Writing contests..it’s the season!

by Jan Cline
9 Comments

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Feb. 3, 2016

I’ve entered several writing contests over the course of my writing journey. Sometimes the experience was rewarding (not always in an award sort of way), and sometimes it was frustrating and downright unfair.

So do I recommend contests? Mostly.

Will I keep entering them? Probably.

Will I have as high of expectations as I did when I first started entering contests? Absolutely not.

My first experience at a writing contest (fiction) was the ACFW Genesis contest way back when I wrote my very first novel, which is now resting in peace in the dark confines of my file cabinet. Yes, it was horrible, but I got great feedback and learned a lot from the experience.

This is the best reason to enter a contest – to get free or low-cost feedback from published authors and/or industry professionals.

Chances are, if you have 3 judges, you will get 3 very different scores. It seems that I usually get one low score, one high score, and one in the middle.

I have had a few “placings” in contests, most recently, I made the finals in the 2015 My Book Therapy contest, a big honor. I did receive good feedback, and can add that to my short list of accolades. You have to remember, there are usually a large number of entries, and competition can be stiff. There are so many great writers out there – even those yet to be published. Enter with the priority of learning. But finaling in a noteworthy contest can be a boost when writing your book proposal and talking to agents and editors.

I have also had one especially frustrating experience at a well-known Christian writer’s conference contest I will not name. I did not place, which is okay, I can handle that. But the feedback I got from a couple of the judges was very confusing. More than confusing, some of it was rude and sarcastic. I later discovered that one of the judges for my Historical fiction category was a children’s book author. Not exactly my genre, and not exactly what a judge is supposed to do. I also found out at the awards ceremony at the conference, that the judges were also contestants. And some of them won!! AGH!

Anyway, I say all that to lead up to some important points:

  • Read the guidelines, rules, judge’s names, category list, etc. If there is no specific information on all that, you might consider emailing the organization for it, or skip that competition.
  • I recommend not paying a lot for contests. The ones that charge more than $40 or $50 could be out to make money, and not designed to benefit the writer. Just beware.
  • Contests that are not associated with a known conference, writer’s group, or Christian organization (if you are writing for the Christian genre) should be investigated carefully. There are lots of scams out there that may want you, as a “winner”, to invest in a compilation book of winning entries. Don’t do it. As I said, beware.

Don’t let a low or non-placement discourage you. Even though I appreciate how hard they work, judges are not always the most qualified, or they may just not like your genre (a judge actually told me that in her feedback)…or, you might just have needed the constructive criticism you received. It’s a learning process – use it to your advantage.

I will add that at the disappointing contest I mentioned above, one of the judges clearly was not qualified, nor appropriate for my genre. The story I entered, which is my novel to be released next month, is about a family living in a Japanese American internment camp during WWII. I had researched extensively about life in the camps. One of the several inappropriate comments from this judge stemmed from a line in the story about a character doing her laundry in the latrine, which is indeed where they had to do their laundry. The judge’s comment was “Oops! A latrine is a bathroom! Use your thesaurus!” There were other comments by this judge that made it clear to me I would have to dismiss her score. You may have to do that with some judges – just be willing to receive what is good and set aside what does not help you be a better writer. Even negative feedback can be profitable if it’s from someone who knows what they are talking about.

So go forth and enter. Keep your perspective, have an open mind, guard your pocketbook, do your research, and have fun with it.

Keep reaching,

Jan