Write with Excellence

I find it almost impossible to read my Bible without getting caught up in possibilities. Such unique settings! Fascinating characters! So many complex themes! Idea after idea tumbles through my mind…. A mystery novel retelling the story of Cain and Abel with a modern setting. A Bible study  or devotional where you can share what you've learned. A poem similar to those in Psalms.A drama about Joseph. And on and on….

My guess is that simply by reading the Bible every day, most writers would get enough ideas to keep them busy for years. 

So why not simply use the Bible for ideas all the time?

Well, the possibility is that other people have had the same idea that strikes us. Let's face it, there are only so many ways you can rewrite the "love"' passage in I Corinthians 12 into modern language. Or are there? Whether you're writing fiction, non-fiction, poetry, a play…you need to be fresh, and that means real and honest. Don't write what you think you ought to say—write what's in your heart.

A few ways to use an idea from the Bible:

1. Retell a story.

The key is to do it from a new angle, in a "fresh" way.

Let me give you an example:

The one play I've had published is a Christmas play, retelling the story of the birth of Christ, but in a rather unique way. Starting with the death of the children by Herod's soldiers—the event I thought would be the most newsworthy—I had a North American TV news team tracking down the reason for the slaughter and interviewing people who had been involved, including a couple of shepherds, Mary's neighbours and the innkeeper and his wife. You can see it here.

2.Take the story as a starting point and come up with something brand new, something totally yours. 

Let me give you an example.

Years ago, I was reading Samuel and I was struck by the fact that King David had a son named Nathan  That seemed totally amazing to me. Why name a son after the one person in your entire Kingdom who called you out when you sinned? I felt this showed me something about David's character that helped me understand why God called him a man after his own heart.

I simply had to write about it. I chose teens as my audience, and I chose to write an article. I've since rewritten it for adults as well.

"Show of Strength"

3. Use the story or verses from the Bible as your example, proof, etc.

This is essentially the opposite of the article above, which is focused on the story from the Bible as the central point..In this type of writing, you are writing about a specific topic and then you go to the Bible to find examples or proof for what you believe, or to make a clinching point.

The biggest problem with this type of writing is that it's very easy for us to become preachy. At all cost, we need to avoid the "you" mentality where you are at the least talking down to the reader and at worst yelling at the reader.

Let me give you an example.

In my article, "But What About Those Gates of Hell?", which is a combination of inspirational article and memoir, I started with the fact that I was very frustrated with the church. I wrote about my investigation to see if there was something I was missing, beginning with looking up the meaning of the word "church" in a concordance, and from there wove together various verses and facts with my feelings of first confusion and then determination to make a difference.

"But What About Those Gates of Hell"

A Writing Exercise:

Take out a Bible and leaf through it, remembering stories, people and themes that have caught your attention in the past. Write them down.

Read a few verses or chapter of your Bible each day and write down the ideas that come to you.