Many friends already know that I have been
“pregnant” with another new book this year—so, does that
surprise them? Not at all. They know that I usually have another idea
waiting in the wings even as my latest book is coming off the press.
I thank all my friends who have been praying for this new book-child. When I'm asked which of the books I've written is my personal
favorite, I truthfully reply, “The next one....”
At what point in the "literary
gestation" process am I? I've just had a "literary sonogram" on
7/17/17—surely an auspicious and lucky date with all those sevens!
I suppose I should have written 7 chapters to make it fit, but I wrote 9, perhaps for the decades of my life. My
sonogram was the completion of my first draft. Now I've seen my “baby” in
formation.
I know this much about my “child”—she is
non-fiction and autobiographical. She has a name already. Her parts (chapters) are all there. She is now
in the finishing stage requiring much nourishment (multiple editings for
enrichment) as I press on toward completing the manuscript. Only God
knows the “due date.” I continually submit my editings to my
Supreme Editor with much prayer seeking His approval. I want
to be sure that I have said all and only what He wanted me to say.
Writing For the Supreme Editor
My Wordsmithing Life
Leona Choy
From my INTRODUCTION
How long have I been writing? For a
lifetime. I expressed myself in writing ever since I learned to
write in childhood. I always write with the flow of whatever is
happening in my life. Much of my mid-life writing was in the context
of the ministry in which my late husband Ted and I were engaged. It
has primarily been since the traditional age of retirement that I
have become more free to pursue my writing and publishing calling.
Most of my several dozen books have been published after I became a
cancer survivor and a widow. God generously stretched out those years
into longevity The calling of God is for a lifetime and He has not
rescinded it in my nonagenarian years.
This book is not just another
autobiography. I already wrote my life story to the point of my
eightieth year in 2002 and followed it with a spiritual
autobiographical Trilogy of books since then. This book is
autobiographically specific for the writing aspect of
my life—not a “how to do it” book on writing, however. I
certainly haven't achieved some public pinnacle in writing or
publishing. I have never written a “best seller” in the world's
eyes or been at the top of any publisher's charts. In the chapters
that follow, I have traced my writing life from childhood to the
present into my nineties. Why? To give God all the glory.
This book is a very personal leisurely
walk-through the memory lane of my writing life. It has been a
reflective fun book to write without a deadline or pressure to please
or target any particular readers beyond my family which now extends
to more than a dozen great-grandchildren. That younger generation may
not remember me in person when they grow to maturity, but they will
be able to know me to some degree through my writings and follow the
threads of God's calling upon my life. Perchance some of my progeny
may inherit the “writers' ink” in our bloodline which I might
have inherited from some unknown literary ancestor on the European
Continent or elsewhere.
Why do I emphasize a “leisurely
walk-through” to trace my wordsmithing life? By temperament, I am
accustomed to writing and doing everything else in the fast lane. I
wouldn't like to be known as being self-driven, however. Some people
have incorrectly labeled me an “Energizer Bunny,” as if I were
super-energetic and depend on my own capability with my writing foot
on the accelerator. I want it known that I try to write by the
energizing of the Holy Spirit, that I am inspired and enabled by the
promptings or impressions or nudges of God, my Supreme Editor. It may seem like a self-contradiction but I have
to work hard on walking and working more leisurely!
At my advanced calendar age, my mortal
flesh “earth suit” has an ever-longer roster of disorders and
ills and limitations and weaknesses not uncommon to the aging
package. If I appear to be running the race at the same speed as I
did in years past, it may be true but deceiving. It takes more energy
for me to press on now. As I decrease in physical and mental
stamina, so I must increase in dependence on the strength and
enabling of God in my growing weakness.
It was my intention and desire for this
writing project and for this season of my joyful wordsmithing life to
adopt the translation of Deuteronomy 33:25 in the NASB version,
“According to your days, so shall your leisurely walk be.” Other
translations are, “Your strength will equal your days;
your strength lasts all your days, the rest of your days.” “Your
old age will be like the days of your youth.” Taking it as my verse
for this year, I have found much gold to mine and exciting promises
to reflect
on as I applied it to the writing of this book on writing. I have
coupled it with Psalm 103:5. “[God] satisfies your mouth [your
life, your years, your necessity and desire at your personal age]
with good so that your youth is renewed
like the eagle's.”
I have tried to take it easy, to
walk, not race with God's strong hand on my shoulder to keep me from running ahead. I trust
Him to see me through.
In this modest saga about my writing
life, I have traced God's guidance in the rear view mirror as I
reflected upon His faithfulness. He patiently taught me to listen for
His voice and then obey it as a writer who is a Christian.
(Stay tuned and pray for me as I
spend hours on end to tweak and prune and snip, clip and trim while I
edit this new literary book-child to the point of delivery.)
