creative writing

Creativity Spawns Hope

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Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about creativity. Partly because I’ve started a new group called Creative Connections. Partly because I learned more about creativity through the books and presentation of Julia Cameron. And partly because I like the topic.

After pondering about creativity, I’ve come up with two definitions:

  • To make something out of nothing
  • To repurpose something for another use

Writers understand the whole making-something-out-of-nothing every time they face a blank page. When creativity thrives, that blank page soon fills with words, paragraphs, and chapters. Or it becomes a blog post such as this one.

Repurposing plays a major role in my life. I’m always repurposing something for another use. Why buy something new when you can nurture your creativity and repurpose?

Such as redesigning the décor on my living room mantel. Or creating a gluten free recipe from the usual wheat-filled and processed foods. Finding a treasure at a flea market.

But isn’t our personal creativity something more? Can our souls fill with hope when we realize more of our creative design?

Each of us became real living and breathing human beings because God took a bunch of dirt and created a man. Then he repurposed a rib to create a woman.

But beyond the physical, the Divine Three also placed within us special giftings:

  • Intuition that notices when something is out-of-sync
  • A caring spirit that recognizes when another human is hurting
  • Inner sensors that discern a wrong direction leading to destruction or despair
  • A reproductive spirit that helps plants thrive and grow
  • An ability to understand animals and become a whisperer that causes them to trust

These are just some of the creative giftings that move beyond the usual gifts of the Spirit. The beautiful thing about creativity is that it can be different in every human being. And it can develop over time.

Many of us facing the last act may notice we have a bit more intuition these days. The wisdom we have grown into helps us discern what is important and what can be ignored. These creative giftings help us do life safely and find more security in how we grow and thrive during our last years.

It also gives us the ability to help youngers on their journey. One of the saddest things in our world is when the elders no longer believe in themselves or in their creativity — when they give in to the “You’re just too old” mentality, sit back, take their medicines, and rock away their final years.

But as the youngers listen and observe our creativity, they can also spur us toward hope. As I observe my son and daughter-in-love working and thriving, I see a new generation of hope-filled creatives. They will have to redesign our broken political system.

They must be responsible for how we will use the internet and the AI configurations. They will be forced to figure out better ways to stay healthy as the medical systems face more conflict. And to survive, they must find creative ways to save the planet.

And these amazing young ones will need to move us toward peace.

Why has God given us creative gifts? Because we are made in his image, and he is the first Creator. Because he tasked us with the job of taking care of the earth. Because we are made to love the Trinity and love others.

Creativity can lead us toward more ways to love.

My definitions of creativity lead me to ask myself a question, and also to share it with you. What is your creative role in God’s love story?

And how can you use your role to make a difference this year?

©2023 RJ Thesman – All Rights Reserved

My newest e-book addresses a difficult topic from a different point of view. Check it out: To Be Alive: The Hidden Story of Abortion.

Hope Arrives in a Book

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When creativity nudges a book idea, strange things can happen.

Writers usually begin with the germ of an idea, maybe a “What if” question such as: “What if a young girl from Kansas ends up in the land of Oz?”

Sometimes these creative nudges become a puff of wind. They fly away, and the writer forgets about them.

But as we learn to nurture our creativity and pay closer attention to ideas, the nudging sprouts and begins to take root. Then we water it with more ideas, nurture it with the fertilizer of brainstorming and honor it with structure.

After some time of thinking, planning, or wondering through various tunnels of ideas — we begin to actually write.

All this setup can take from days to years, sometimes even decades.

My novel No Visible Scars was 15 years in the making. A long time before I held that book in my hand.

My latest book began as an idea in 2017. I knew a novel was begging to be born, but I had only the scarcest of ideas.

Then I remembered the maxim so many of us follow, “Write what you know.” So I made a list of what I knew at that time:

  • Loss
  • Ministry
  • Kansas, specifically Johnson County
  • Church politics
  • Old houses and DIY projects
  • Gardening
  • Eating gluten free

Then I found my “What if” question. What if a woman who lives in an old house loses a child and seeks help from a minister? What if the minister in Johnson County has also suffered a loss?

From that point, my idea thread wound all over the place and ended up in several knots. Brainstorming sessions with my critique group helped eliminate the unnecessary and solidify the important. And I took long walks where I talked myself through the kinks.

So when I took my creative writing retreat in Santa Fe, circa September, 2018 — I had my skeleton of ideas and a basic structure. I knew the names of my characters and was ready to begin.

I also had a Bible verse that haunted me. “The year of my redemption has come” (Isaiah 63:4). That verse would become my title.

But when I flipped open my new writing pad to begin the first chapter, something entirely different happened. A quirky change. Instead of telling the story from the female protagonist’s viewpoint, the minister jumped out and said, “Let me tell it.”

I have learned not to argue with my characters — or with the God who inspires them.

Pastor Tanner told his story about a tragic loss that led him to his year of redemption. In the process, he learned to care about the woman in my notes who had also suffered a loss. Together these two hurting characters lived out the story and became the book that is now published.

So that is how The Year of my Redemption happened. One of the fun things about books is when we find a surprise waiting in the words.

When writers are also surprised, it germinates hope that the next project will be just as much fun.

©2021 RJ Thesman – All Rights Reserved

Check out The Year of My Redemption, available on Amazon. And follow me on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Goodreads and YouTube.

When Writing Becomes a Hope-filled Surprise

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In our world of virus warnings and political mayhem, it’s nice when life offers a surprise.

A few months ago, my creative brain noodled with an idea. What about writing another Christmas book, but not one related to Alzheimers or caregiving?

Why not consider the women of Christmas and the roles they played in the greatest story of all time?

So I sat at the keyboard and within one week composed a small book titled “The Women of Christmas.” Using fiction techniques, I told the story from each woman’s viewpoint, including the usual characters we know about: Mary, Elizabeth and Anna.

Then I inserted other women who have been invisible for ages: the innkeeper’s wife, Mary’s mother and Rahab from the Old Testament.

The final chapter kept the book contemporary and personal as it invited readers to find themselves in the Christmas story.

That sweet little book sold so well, I decided to follow it up with a sequel for the next religious holiday. Thus “The Women of Passion Week” was composed and released.

It follows the same format with some of the women who were present in biblical accounts, but also includes the invisible women who helped Jesus and supported his ministry.

These women of great courage became leaders in the early church. In fact, the news of the resurrection came first through women. The reason why could be another book.

Neither of these books were planned in my goals list, yet they have each provided a pleasant surprise — a reminder that the Great Creator writes with me.

How can a writer know when an idea comes from God?

Ultimately, all creativity spring from the Creator. He designed our hearts and the passion to create art.

We shouldn’t be surprised when something completely unusual springs to mind. After all, God made butterflies and dodo birds, osprey and copperheads, little children who play in mud and puffy clouds that scamper across the sky.

He is not the God of the ordinary idea.

When an idea is obviously from God, I don’t have to think about it. The thought just comes, then springs into action with my fingers on the keyboard. Often, I type his words faster than my own because I’m not thinking. I’m just doing it.

Crafting the paragraphs and chapters becomes an easy flow, from his heart to my energy and eventually to the printed page.

Creative ideas from God feel like fun. No grinding out a structure to merge plotlines into character sketches. No research at the library or clicks on the internet. No questions for my critique group.

It just happens. As it develops, I know it’s like all God’s other creations — very good.

Results aren’t pre-determined. Although both my “Women Of …” books were financially successful, that is not the aim of God’s creative surprises.

Other books from his creative genius have not fared so well. The goal is not to make money. It is only to listen to his heart, respond and make my fingers move. And as I do the typing and the editing, I feel the joy of completing a project God himself designed.

So far, I’ve experienced these creative surprises five times. The three books of the Reverend G trilogy worked the same way. Just listen to God, sit down and let him write through me. And now I can add these two “Women Of … “ books.

I have numerous ideas for other books, goals to meet this year and in the coming years — a five-year plan. Maybe those ideas are directly from God or maybe just from the creative juices he has poured into me.

I’ll know when I sit down to write.

©2020 RJ Thesman – All Rights Reserved

In case you haven’t read it yet, check out “The Women of Passion Week.”