Hands and Feet

Disclaimer: To those of you who live north of Florida, I apologize. I know this is going to sound wimpy to you. But since I live one nautical mile from the Gulf of Mexico, maybe you'll forgive me.

The mornings are getting colder, now that it's Fall. When it's colder than sixty degrees outside, I can hardly convince myself to get out of bed when the alarm goes off. I'm tempted to snuggle up under the warm covers and let my phone app read my daily Bible passage to me.

The trouble is, I really do have to get up and make good use of my early morning hours. Otherwise, I'll hibernate until I have to jump up to go to my day job. And that is simply not how novels get written!

So, I found a "forcing function" to help me beat the cold mornings: (I should blog about "forcing functions" sometime.)

I set my phone alarm to play Audio Adrenaline 🔗!

This morning, I awoke to these lyrics:

I want to be Your hands
I want to be Your feet
I'll go where You send me
I'll go where You send me

And I'll try, yeah I'll try
To touch this world like You've touched my life
And I'll find my way
To be Your hands

Read the Full Lyrics 🔗

I captured this image from the middle of the video, because it resonates with me right now. I've often wondered if perhaps my desire to write could be a part of God's plan.

Well, here are my hands, Lord. Hands that type, that write long-hand, and that shuffle papers--the hands of a writer. Use these hands to proclaim freedom to a world that needs a Savior. If my writing could touch one person like You've touched my life, wow!

That's my heart.

🔗

Side-note: I find it serendipitous that the video starts with a stereoscopic sequence: Two videos from different perspectives, whereas I'm exploring two different perspectives in my current short story project.

Writing on Two Worlds

A couple weeks ago, I mentioned a short story idea about two telescopes. Last week, I captured the big-picture plot arc and let the idea simmer on my brain. Yesterday, I dove into drafting the introductory scenes.

When I came back up for air, I realized: I've been writing from the perspective of characters on entirely different worlds. My hero stands in a spacesuit, boots planted on a stark black-and-white Lunar landscape. My heroine (on Earth) huddles barefoot atop the roof outside her bedroom after dark.

As I write, I mentally put myself in their shoes (or lack thereof). I try to see what they see, smell what they smell, feel the grit of roofing shingles under her feet, and hear his breath inside his space helmet. All the while, I try to delve into their thoughts and emotions. It's their common humanity that ties this story together for me, as I bounce from one extreme environment to something more familiar and back again.

It's thrilling! I just hope I can write it so. (And edit.) Wish me luck!