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The Steve Laube Agency

Helping to Change the World Word by Word

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Home » Writing Craft » Page 7

Writing Craft

A Writer’s Lorica

By Bob Hostetleron March 14, 2024
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Today is St. Patrick’s Day, which tradition marks as the day of his death. Some mark the day with parades, drinking, and other festivities. I think it’s a great day for prayer, especially for writers, since the famous prayer known as “St. Patrick’s Lorica” (or “breastplate”) is attributed to him. I’ve adapted the prayer numerous times (for my children, grandchildren, etc.), so here is “A Writer’s Lorica,” based on the Breastplate of St. Patrick:

I bind to myself today
The strong Name of the Trinity,
Invoking the same,
The Three in One
and One in Three.

I plead for my thinking and writing today
The power of love, the power of faith,
Christ’s incarnate immanence,
The passion of his holy death,
Awareness of His imminence,
His power bursting from the spiced tomb,
His exaltation up the heavenly way,
His princely coming at the day of doom
I plead for them all today.

I invoke for my words the power
Of angels’ shout,
The sweet ‘Well done’ in judgment hour,
The voice of the seraphim,
The certainty of the Apostles,
The backbone of patriarchs,
The certainty of prophets,
And all good work done
as to the Lord and not for men.

I ask for my work today
The virtues of the starlit heaven,
The glorious sun’s lifegiving ray,
The whiteness of the moon at even,
The flashing of the lightning free,
The whirling wind’s tempestuous shocks,
The stable earth, the deep salt sea
Around the old eternal rocks.

I beseech for my sentences, paragraphs, and pages,
My grammar, style, usage, and punctuation,
My concepts and conceits, advances and retreats,
The power of God to inspire and lead,
His eye to watch, His might to stay,
His ear to hearken to my need.
The wisdom of my God to teach,
His hand to guide, His shield to ward;
The word of God to give them speech,
His heavenly host to be their guard.

Against the demon snares of sin,
The lie of judgment, lack of grace,
The haunting doubts that war within,
The lazy word, the easy phrase,
Such fatal flaws as these in me,
In every place and in all hours,
Against all unChristlike tendencies
I ask, in Jesus’ name, these powers.

Against all Satan’s spells and wiles,
Against false words of heresy,
Against the knowledge that defiles,
Against the heart’s idolatry,
Against the world’s deceitful thrills,
Against the lure of pleasing men,
Against dependence on my own skills,
Protect me, Christ, as You alone can.

Christ be with me, be all to me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ flow through me,
Christ to empty and restore me.
Christ my waking, Christ my sleeping,
Christ my thinking, Christ my feeling,
Christ my laughing, Christ my weeping,
Christ concealing and revealing.

I ask all this in the Name,
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.
By Whom all nature has creation,
Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
Praise to the Lord of my salvation,
Salvation is of Christ the Lord.

Amen.

[Posted three years ago, so we left the comments untouched. Hope it blesses you all.]

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Category: Creativity, The Writing Life, Theology

Story Structure Part #8

By Lynette Easonon March 13, 2024
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Welcome back to Story Structure. We’re still using our story we’re creating with Oliver and Sophia; and we’ve come to the beginning of Act 3, which includes the climax, falling action, and resolution. Let’s talk about the climax of the story. The climax is the moment of greatest emotional intensity, conflict, or suspense in the story. It’s a pivotal point where the main conflict reaches its …

Read moreStory Structure Part #8
Category: Writing Craft

Story Structure Part #7

By Lynette Easonon February 27, 2024
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Welcome back to Story Structure. We’re still using the story we’re creating with Oliver and Sophia, and we’ve come to Plot Point #2. Plot Point #2 comes after the dark moment (that I talked about last time) and just before the climax. Plot Point #2, according to Larry Brooks, is defined as “the final injection of new information into the story, after which no new expository information may …

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Category: Writing Craft

Only the Rich Get Published (?)

By Steve Laubeon February 26, 2024
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The title of today’s blog came in a question that was much less confrontational but significant nonetheless. In the context of describing the extremely limited amount of money they could spend on writers conferences, online classes, training materials, etc., the writer summarized by asking, “How can an unknown writer with very limited resources expect to get their writing published?” This is a …

Read moreOnly the Rich Get Published (?)
Category: Career, Conferences, Get Published, The Writing LifeTag: Get Published

Presidential Quotes on President’s Day

By Steve Laubeon February 19, 2024
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Today is President’s Day in the U.S. Originally established in 1885 as a recognition of George Washington’s birthday (February 22), it was later expanded to include Abraham Lincoln and all other U.S. presidents. Some of the words of these leaders have stood the test of time. For example, from Abraham Lincoln: “Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” “And in …

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Category: Craft, Historical, Inspiration, TheologyTag: Inspiration, Writing Craft

Defusing Contract Landmines

By Steve Laubeon February 12, 2024
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It is crucial that every author knows that if they sign a contract, they are legally bound by the terms within that contract. Even if it is to their disadvantage. Our agency is often approached with a phrase like “I signed a bad book contract and want out of it. Can you help?” Usually, the answer is “Unfortunately, no.” After so many years of running into landmines buried …

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Category: Book Business, Contracts, Legal IssuesTag: Book Business, Contracts, Legal

Story Structure Part #6: The Dark Moment/Black Moment

By Lynette Easonon February 8, 2024
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Hey, everyone, welcome back. If this is your first time here on the blog, I encourage you to go back to the first post in this series and work your way to this one. Otherwise, you might find yourself a little confused. And now, onto the next part. In our story structure series, we’ve arrived at our Dark Moment, also known as the Black Moment. This is where everything seems to be lost. Everything …

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Category: Writing Craft

For Authors With an LLC

By Steve Laubeon February 5, 2024
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If you have ever read Franz Kafka’s novel The Castle, you know the frustration of the main character trying to cut through the endless bureaucracy of the local village. There are times when we, in America, feel the same about our government’s endless need to generate new laws and paperwork. I have recommended that authors who are generating income and also need to write off expenses …

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Category: Book Business, The Writing Life

The First Lines of Your Novel

By Steve Laubeon January 29, 2024
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The opening lines of a novel are like an introduction to the rest of the story. Some have become famous. “It was a dark and stormy night” is the well-known beginning of that struggling novelist Snoopy in the cartoon Peanuts. It is also the first line of Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s novel Paul Clifford (1830), as well as the first line in Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time. (L’Engle admitted she …

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Category: Craft, Creativity, Writing CraftTag: Craft, Creativity, first lines, Writing Craft

Story Structure Part #5

By Lynette Easonon January 24, 2024
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Welcome back to Story Structure. Using our story we’re creating with Oliver and Sophia, we come to Pinch Point #2. Pinch Point #2 comes after the midpoint of your story, where the main conflict and stakes have been clearly established or escalated. This is about ¾ of the way through. In our story, this is after the revelation that the face reconstructed by Oliver is not Cassidy but her friend …

Read moreStory Structure Part #5
Category: Writing Craft
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