Don't Just Learn It

Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive

 yourselves. Do what it says. James 1:22 NIV

I've learned a lot about writing over the last few months. But at the moment, it isn't doing me a bit of good.

Those of you who follow my blog know that I've dedicated 2012 to learning more about the craft of writing. To that end, in just the first three months of the year, I've taken four online classes and read one and a half writing craft books. I've also read writing craft blogs, two monthly writing magazines, a quarterly writing magazine, and likely other things I'm not recalling.

I know more about character arc, novice mistakes, ways to make a character's emotional expressions more powerful, and rhetorical devices than I did at the end of 2011. A LOT more. And all this knowledge could help me greatly in making my current (or future) work in process a better, more compelling read.

But just because I have the knowledge doesn't mean I'll actually use it.

I remember vividly learning at least some of these things before. But did I apply them to my writing? Not necessarily. Having the knowledge is not enough - I must actually apply it to what I am working on (in this case, Handmaiden to a Princess)

This isn't only true in writing. James speaks of people who do the very same thing with God's Word.

Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do. James 1:23-35 NIV

Do you not only read your Bible, but do what it says? Do you listen to, AND put into practice, the message your pastor preaches? Do you listen for God, then act on what you hear? If not, you may not be any better off than if you hadn't heard at all.

I'm planning to spend April going through my current manuscript, finding places to apply the lessons I've learned from Mary O'Gara, Kathy Ide, Margie Lawson and others during the first quarter of 2012. I will purposefully use what I have learned to improve my story.

I'll do the same with what I read in my Bible, learn in Sunday School, and hear in our pastor's messages. For acting on those truths will do more than bring me closer to a publishing contract: it will draw me closer to my Savior.

**
 How often do you "go through the motions" with your Bible reading? Do you take the lessons you learn from the Lord and apply them to your life, or is the Bible just another book to you? What stops you from doing what the Word says?

Comment below, and/ or stop by Living by Grace and we can chat a bit!

Traveling Rough Roads With God's Strength