This blog is always a bit of a potpourri—writing, spirituality, travel, chit-chat, whatnot—but more this week than most. One day, I wrote about Lent; the very next about romantic love. Can I help it if Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day fell on the same week this year?
As a result, this Great Stuff for Writers Friday will include a bit from each of these two oh-so-different topics. First, the serious one.
Lent, as I wrote earlier this week, is an observance that meant a great deal to me growing up as a Roman Catholic girl, and one that still resonates though I’m now more of a spiritual/Buddhist/ eclectic/agnostic. As I researched Lent for my blog this week, I came across two posts that I felt captured quite beautifully what Lent means to Christians, and would be enlightening to anyone interested in exploring Lent.
The first is from the BBC website. It explains the etymology of the word “lent” (from “lengthen,” it turns out), the significance of 40 days in the Judeo-Christian tradition, the symbolism of the Lenten color, purple, and the differences between Eastern and Western observances of Lent. It also discusses Shrove Tuesday—the day before Ash Wednesday—and its role in the observance of Lent, including the origin of the Shrove Tuesday ritual of pancake races, something I didn’t even know existed.
A second post, originally published in the Catholic magazine Our Sunday Visitor, is a reflection on the biblical story of Christ and the Samaritan woman at the well. If you find religions of all sorts as fascinating as I do, this article will give you some insight into Christian thinking, whether you’re a believer or not.
Now on to the very different topic of romantic love. There is a lot of information about there on the blogosphere about this topic, which seems to be on every writer’s mind. Here are three of the most useful.
Interested in hearing five accomplished novelists talk about how they write about love? Listen to the audio recording of this interview with Christopher Beha (What Happened to Sophie Wilder), Jami Attenberg (The Middlesteins), Nina Revoyr (Wingshooters), Robert Goolrick (Heading Out to Wonderful) and Scott Hutchin (A Working Theory of Love) on thetakeaway.org for some excellent insights from people who know what they’re talking about.
Elin Hilderbrand (The Castaways) discusses writing about middle-aged romance in this short article on more.com, and what makes older love such a compelling topic.
And, if you’re looking for a straightforward how-to on writing about romance, Writing World offers “Twenty Steps to Writing Great Love Scenes” by Karen Wiesner. Enjoy!