April Meeting

Our April meeting is this Saturday,

April 2, 10 a.m. til noon

Member Katie Sweeting will present the importance and methods of Research, drawing from her personal and professional experience.

Location and critique guidelines can be found at njcwg.blogspot.com

The following is the Focus Point of our March meeting (which was actually February 27).

Clarity

Pitch is a concise, nutshell description of a writing project. The benefit of a pitch is that it clarifies our project so others can understand what it's about, but there is a personal benefit as well - pitch clarifies our purpose.

Take a look at the word clarity. It is defined as the quality of being easily understood, of being clear. Synonyms include: apparent, understandable, comprehensible, plain.

I usually have a swirl of thoughts, feelings, ideas and plans spiraling through my heart and head. I need to calm myself and look deeply so I can clarify my purpose and focus. Just what are my goals, aspirations, intentions, dreams and objectives in this project? Most importantly, what is God’s purpose in inspiring me to write this piece?

Proverbs 20:5 reads, “The purposes of a man's heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out.” While this is speaking of someone drawing out the purposes of someone else’s heart, the same can be true of understanding what is in our own hearts. If we want clarity of direction and purpose we need to draw them out so we can chart a clear course.

Most Christian writers are familiar with Habakkuk 2:2: "Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it.” Before a herald runs with it, it needs to be plain enough for me to run with it. According to Proverbs 14:8, “The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways….” Prudence to seek God's purpose and wisdom and draw out my thoughts and bring them into focus, frees me to run with my words.

Take away thought: I will seek clarity by taking time for reflection to understand God’s heart and my own heart in the piece I’m writing and in the life I’m living.