I should be writing. I’m actually sitting at my desk with the full intention of getting words onto the screen. Not these words…words for my work-in-progress. And I will write them. It’s just been a difficult journey to find them.
I’ve probably said this of every new story, but this one, this current one, is truly the hardest I’ve ever done. Why is this one different? I’m not sure other than the fact that it is set in a time of which I was not familiar.
I’ve spent years in 1000 BC and earlier, even to the dawn of time. I’ve spent more years between 1000 BC and 2000 BC following the judges and the wives of David and Solomon. You would think that by now I understood Torah and the Law of Moses. Yes and no.
This time, my focus is on the priesthood, the laws, the Tempe, and the traditions that may or may not have evolved over time. And the whole book is set between the testaments, Old and New. It is a period of history that gave us the Maccabees, the beginning of the Roman occupation, the Parthians and Herodians and all that this meant for the people living in Jerusalem and Judea.
What I didn’t know is that what I think might be true, upon checking, I discover wasn’t true then. For instance, sitting shiva had different traditions attached to it in say 40 BC than it does today. Feasts that God gave the people of Israel to observe weren’t as easy to keep under threat of war or invasions.
I can begin a scene and think I’ve made word count progress, but the next day I realize that it couldn’t have happened that way, so the words I gained become the words I lose.
That’s why I’m writing a blog post and watching it rain. The new baby cranes just visited, a welcome distraction.
Ah well…
Writing a novel is…a challenge. It’s stress and fears and angst and tears. And later it’s aha and hmm and well then and yay! And when it’s all said and done, it’s worth the frustrations.
In the meantime, I covet your prayers. I have friends who encourage me and the Word that sustains me, but I also need the prayers of my readers to mingle with my own. God always shows me that there is a story to tell.
This time it is just taking a very long time to get there!
~Selah
