Delia Latham: A Devotion for Writers

                                            

Making Something Out of Nothing

Genesis 1:1—In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

God put His “Seal of Approval” on creativity from the start.

He brought forth the earth and seas and sky and everything above, below and in between…out of “thin air,” as the saying goes. But it wasn’t magic. It was creation (the act of producing or causing to exist, according to Dictionary.com).

And it wasn’t easy. God needed rest after he’d finished His work. The first verse in the Bible is most likely the ultimate understatement of all time. I’m convinced those six days of

intense creation entailed far more thought and planning than scripture reveals. Is it possible there might even have been a “do-over” or two?

We’re allowed to see only the finished product of God’s original creative process. He kept specific details—the “making of” the making of the world—to Himself. Just handed us the complete, finished work to enjoy.

Isn’t that what we do as writers?

Our Father taught us by example, and we’d do well to follow the Leader:

·         Start with a blank canvas. Nothing there. Just an empty page and the desire to turn it into something magnificent.

·         Let there be light. Come up with a bright idea and shine it into some kind of outline, plan, synopsis, scribbled overview…whatever works best for each individual.

·         Bring in the atmosphere. God placed the sky between the heavens and the earth. We create a mood…a blue sky or a dark one. The atmosphere that will have a bearing on every page of our creation.

·         Fill the pages with life.

o   God put plants and trees in the land He’d created. We insert situations that make readers want to know what happens next.

o   He overhung all those growing things with the sun, moon and stars. (Aha! Our Father knew we would need a bit of spark in our lives.) Writers must also set off some fireworks that liven the atmosphere and make hearts pound a little harder.

o   He then filled the land, sea and sky with life—sea creatures, birds, animals…and man. Yep, characters, human and otherwise.

Writers are a far cry from being God…but we are made in His image, and our writing should reflect that image, as well. What better role model could we possibly have than our heavenly Father, the God who made something (read that “everything) out of nothing at all?

Reflection:  As you “create” new worlds, people it with characters and plant it with gripping situations, do you make a conscious effort to follow the Leader’s example every step of the way, every word of the day?

Father, You’ve called me to write, and I will. But please give me the anointing to turn the written word into an anointed creation, to make something out of nothing, just as You did. I ask it in the name of Jesus Christ, the Name above all names. Amen.

Delia Latham

© 2012