Every day I learn something new. Today’s 3-minute video talks about strange concrete arrows in the ground in remote places throughout Utah. Who knew?
So, you are all creative people. What metaphor does this make you think of for writers?
Or what about the stories of the workers who built them? Is there something fun you could create from that?
Could You Translate Please?
Write to your targeted audience, which could be multi-faceted.
Books are the arrows or signpost to direct others to the truth. Books can be memorial signposts remembering how God has worked in our life.
If only we heeded the stories and history we learn from books, perhaps history would not repeat itself.
We need to offer our readers signposts to navigate our stories. We don’t want to lead them as astray; our writing needs to point them to the Savior.
Reading my Bible every evening at a silver mine to seek God’s guidance for my life resulted in an arrow for life, to serve the Lord to the maximum of my ability on a worldwide basis. God honored that audacious commitment.
As an author navigating the publishing industry, I feel like a pilot trying to fly at night. It’s hard to get my bearings and know which way to go. I can trust my gut, but sometimes that steers me wrong.
Agents are like the arrows and illuminating towers. They provide context and direction so we can get where we want to go.
You and I are on the same page.
When you’re struggling with writing—the first word won’t come or you’re indecisive about the direction to take your story—maybe you’re too “close” to it. Take a 30,000 foot view of the characters, plot, theme, etc., in context with one another, and you may clearly see which way to go.
That is fascinating! What a smart solution to the problem. The ingenuity of people of history is quite remarkable. Great problem solvers for sure.
These arrows were particular and were used to show pilots where to go when they couldn’t specifically be told. That’s my metaphor and I’m sticking to it! LOL!
The same path to success may become obsolete. Keep the same endpoint but be open to new ways to get there.
New writers, sometimes in the dark, can follow the writing patterns laid down by authors, like pilots used to follow the Utah directional arrows on the ground to safely guide them.
That is so cool! How innovative and can you imagine the trust those pilots had to put in the people keeping the arrows lit as they took to the skies each night, wow! This reminds me of a story my grandmother told us about a man who was arrested when she was a young woman because he made an arrow out of burning brush that pointed toward Seattle during the WWII blackouts. A less-than-helpful arrow for sure.
I’m not reading the earlier posts so I won’t be influenced. My first thought was the PWA during the Great Depression. They often did work just to do work and get paid so they could feed their families…most of the work was useful, but some…
Thank you! Love history!!!
Great story thanks for sharing it!
Writing my first biblical novel, I’ve had inspirational angels pop into my life to guide me and, like the pilots, I went with faith on a long journey. When I flew through clouds of self doubt, plot uncertainties, and POV dilemmas, angels, e.g. a rabbi, my critique group, and established author mentors offered clarity and encouragement. I hope I can be a light for others.
What an intriguing and intelligent engineering feat. As for writers, our ideas may come in fits and starts for a manuscript, or in a linear pattern. Whatever path they may take, it heads in the correct story direction, the one Jesus guides us to walk.
I began to try and write a metaphor and instead came to the beginning that I have been steadily failing to write for a little story I’ve been working around. And then I thought, maybe that’s what these arrows could represent: inspiration.
The arrows brought light for travelling long darkened distances just as inspiration sheds light on ideas lost in the depths of our imaginations. Once the light is shown, of course, it’s up to the pilot to make use of what is seen–travel the distance, take the message where they intend to take it. Inspired writers are like this: inspiration is wonderful, but without direction, the result is lost and empty.
So, thank you for the inspiration! I hope to go the distance with the little tale I have begun as a blinking cursor on the page.
I’ll be back for more “Fun Fridays”–this was a helpful beacon.
I like how this story demonstrates how a simple idea can have a profound effect.