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| John DeSimone, Conference Director |
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I
believe as writers we need to be exposed to the best writing if we are
to grow in our craft. Writing is one of the least sure callings a person
can undertake. Writers grow up with this compulsion to write that nags
at them, and then they have to endure times of rejection, of
frustration, and of wondering what to do. This can be a time of honing
our craft or a time of God honing us for something better. Life
on the potter’s wheel is not always comprehensible. But because writing
is mastery of craft as much as it is intuitive art, learning from the
best is critical to our growth and to our path to publication. So I
challenged myself this year to bring in the most comprehensive faculty,
one that could challenge all of us in our craft, in our commitment to
write what God has placed on our hearts and in our minds.
I’ve
tried to acknowledge in my task of assembling a faculty that all of us
are different—pursuing different visions within what I believe is a
larger one— writing to the glory of God. One of
the ways we might see the variety of expressions of his grace in the
world is the variety of ways writers use to tell the same story. We
don’t all see the needs of this world the same. We all have different
takes on the same problems, offering different solutions. That’s okay.
That’s what writers do and have done since the invention of the
alphabet. While we work our solitary craft, I believe the larger
question is Are we making a difference? I think it’s an honest question,
one that at times can feed into our natural self-doubts, which is part
of the terrain of our lives. It’s a tree we camp under too often. Some of us fall asleep there.
Conferences,
especially local ones where bonds of friendship can be nurtured, can
help us with the big questions we all ask ourselves, with the questions
of craft, and the badgering questions of self-doubt and discouragement.
And they offer refreshment of the all important visionary self, the
person inside that wants to serve God by writing words of grace and
hope, words that can make a difference in someone’s life. Maybe those
words for you are yet unwritten. It may take years to learn how to say
those words, for others they come quickly. Maybe you’ve written many of
them and are pleased. We are not to envy or compare ourselves. We are
not each other’s potters. But we are part of the same body. So in
helping others learn we experience growth, and in growing our
understanding of the writing craft, I believe, eventually we’ll
experience publication. When the clay pot is ready and fired hard, it
will hold water. And when it holds water the world can drink from it.
And live.
I hope to see you at the next conference.
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