trippingdifferently

July 16, 2013

What is a MDQ?

Do you know what a MDQ is?

Well, i didn’t know until today. i was reading about creating moments in a story on LiveWriteThrive and saw that she mentioned MDQ. What is that?

i clicked on it and read this.

MDQ – Major Dramatic Query (Question).

Now it is clear and it has made me re-think the opening scene of my WIP (Work-In-Progress). So i have decided that for the next few weeks i will try to work on that.

i like how she explains the difference between the “visible” goal (or plot goal) MDQ and the spiritual one.

The MDQ or major dramatic query is a yes-or-no question you ask at the start of the book. Very simply, it’s a question that MUST be addressed in the first scene, as it sets the stage for the entire novel. It is also called (by Michael Hague) the “visible goal” or plot goal …

…But . . . it’s not the heart…

…When I say “spiritual” question, I am not talking about faith or faith-based stories. Every good story has one. A question that involves the character’s spirit—her heart—is what we’re concerned with…

…Now, what it crucial to realize is that BOTH questions get answered AT THE SAME TIME AND IN THE SAME SCENE at the end of the book! This is amazing, and when done well, makes your book a winner. Dorothy gets home (plot MDQ) but at the same time she realizes she’s always been home; that here, with Aunty Em, is where her heart truly lives (spiritual MDQ)…

That is quite a lot to think about.

So i’m off to think and, hopefully, write 😉 Maybe i’ll have a new opening scene to share soon?

syc

July 13, 2013

This Hits Home…

i’m on holiday so i’m going to borrow someone else’s words and picture to spill something which God has been putting in my heart for some time now…

i read this:

A Holy Experience – When You’re Done with Pundits, Soul Wrestling & Looking at the Sky: {25 Things I learned from staying with Katie Davis}.

And it rings in my heart of hearts, it shakes my soul, it lights my thoughts…

Please do read it!

These are the words which hit home the most for me:

How in the world do you keep on living everyday in middle North America when you’re mildly wild to go live something as radical like Katie?

Every day, especially so since the beginning of this year, i have been more and more grateful for the absolute luxury i live in, the amazing comforts i have, the burden-less life i lead. i’m not saying that my life is smooth and without bumps or stress. What i’m saying is God has made me so much more aware of how much i do indeed have and how little so many in this world have.

“Slowly but surely I began to realize the truth,” Katie gives words to all generations: “I had loved and admired and worshiped Jesus without doing what He said … I wanted to actually do what Jesus said to do.”

i need to do something – but what Lord?

We want clarity; God wants us to come closer. Life is always clear when you press closer and see it through the sheer love of God.

So i plan to try my best, with the Lord’s help, with the Holy Spirit’s guidance, to draw closer to God and hear; know what His Heartbeat is.

We could write it on a million kitchen chalkboards: You are doing something great with your life – when you’re doing all the small things with His Great love.

You are changing the world – when you are changing one person’s world.

You aren’t missing your best life – when you aren’t missing opportunities to love like Christ.

This is so true – you don’t have to do big things to show the people around you God’s great love, you just have to move to do little things to love them.

Living radical isn’t about where you live — it’s about how you love.

It’s about realizing– Love doesn’t happen when you arrive in a certain place. It happens when your heart arrives in a certain place – wherever you are, right where you are, dirt road Africa or side street America.

Because it isn’t where we love. It’s how we love. It’s who we love. The reward of loving is in the loving; loving is itself the great outcome of loving. The success of loving is in how we change because we kept on loving – regardless of any thing else changing. The value of loving is in the value of being like Christ.

The How and the Who! Loving and loving and more loving; what a wonderful cycle!

Radical isn’t as much about where you move – but about looking into the face of Jesus – and letting Him move you where you are. He may move you to Africa – or across the street. But if the love of Christ moves you – it will move you out into the world. He will move you to tear down gates.

i want God to move me but yet i fear. Dear Lord, help me overcome these fears and be moved by you.

Hospitality is Life with no Gates.

Hospitality means if there is room in the heart —

there is always room in the house.

Amen!

One of Katie’s daughters had whispered it:

“Mommy, if Jesus comes to live inside my heart, will I explode?”

And Katie had said —“No!” and then —

“Yes, if Jesus comes to live in your heart, you will explode… That is exactly what we should do if Jesus comes to live inside our hearts.

We will explode with love, with compassion, with hurt for those who are hurting, and with joy for those who rejoice. We will explode with a desire to be more, to be better, to be close to the One who made us.”

Let’s all explode with the Love of the Lord!

My small step is in continuing to help/advocate for special needs orphans. And to that end, i hope to start a small craft business.

Would you pray for me and this tiny venture i intend to take? Thank you.

syc

July 8, 2013

Writing On Holiday???

We are off on our annual holiday, which means food, family, friends, food, fun, sun, food and did i mention food?

Yep, that’s what going home for a visit is mostly about for us; it’s the people we miss and the food we crave. And of course i was all ready to leave my normal routine here behind, and just simply be and go with the flow, and not stress and just let things happen as they will.

BUT… then i read this on The Write Practice…

And it has me thinking… should i? Should i not? Really? Do i want to add that to my non-existent list of to-dos?

This was the line which pushed me over the fence:

Don’t save the overwhelming emotions of experience for later. Write about it there and then and capture the explosion. You can modify it in the future, but you’ll never be able to seize that initial excitement.

So i will bring my notebook and pen with me.

Will i schedule exact times to write? Probably not. But i will at least make an effort to write a couple of times a week while we are away.

So here’s to capturing the explosion of excitement in the moment it happens!

syc