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Facing the Critic Within

We’ve never seen him (or, her – for me it’s a him) but we’ve all heard his voice. Call him the voice of doubt, the inner critic or, heck, call him the natural thief of confidence and productivity. It all means the same thing. It’s that nagging voice that comes from within. I hear it all the time. After all, I believe that I am my harshest critic.

Self-criticizing can be very detrimental. It can stifle creativity. It can cause you to doubt your abilities and the work you’re doing to the point where it slows you down or even leaves you completely unproductive. It can cause image issues, relationship fears, and often leads to full-blown depression.

All this to say that the critic within needs to be taken seriously and managed appropriately. To avoid the downward spiral that leads to self-destructive behavior, it is my humble opinion that the critic needs to be listened to and responded to because it can’t be all-together avoided. If, instead, we can harness the criticism and re-direct it into self-improvement, we will become happier and more successful people. So, how do we do that?

First, we must accept the fact that no one is perfect. We aren’t, never will be, and expec

tations of perfection are both ludicrous and harmful. Goals are great but keeping them realistic is critical so that we set ourselves up for success.

Next, we need to identify the motivational source of the voice. Is this coming from a place deep inside where we know we have room for improvement in a certain area? Or, is this coming from a place of pain? A place of deception? For some, the critic within comes from a place where they have been hurt in the past.

For example, a boy that was teased as a child for being overweight can grow up to be a man who feels fat no matter how much time he spends in the gym or how many times he passes on the French fries, opting instead for the kale salad. That’s when you know the voice is a liar and needs to be kicked out of your life. Choosing the gym and the kale salad made the man a better version of himself than accepting his “fate” as a fat man and eating French fries while watching The Biggest Loser in tears would have. But, he already made that improvement so, continuing to listen to that voice would only mean inevitable self-destruction. Time to move on.

As a Christian, I also believe that the voice within me can be the Holy Spirit shining a light on dark spots in my life that need to be exposed so that I can improve. So that I can become the man I was created to be and live the life I was created to live. That’s a voice I want to listen to because it makes me a better person and, ultimately, a happier one.

As a writer, the critic within can make my work better. Again, I just need to learn to harness it and use it for good rather than let it overwhelm me and take me down the path of self-destruction. Like me while I’m on this side of heaven, my work will never be perfect. And, also like me, there’s always room for improvement. We are all works in progress. And, until my books are in print, I’m trying to improve every little detail until I have to let go.

The bottom line is that the critic within can be a good thing. Or, it can be your worst enemy. The choice is up to you. One thing that’s for sure, we all face that voice from time to time. The trick is in how we decide to handle that standoff.

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7 (of the many) Authors Who Have Influenced Me As A Writer

by C.S. Elston

 

C.S. Lewis

While the list is in no particular order, I thought I’d start with C.S. Lewis and his fantastic Chronicles of Narnia series because of both comparisons to my series, “The Four Corners,” and the fact that we share the same first two initials (although, I’m Christopher Scott – not Clive Staples.) The Narnia books were staples (pun absolutely intended) in my house when I grew up. “The Screwtape Letters” also blew me away in high school and books like “Mere Christianity” and “A Grief Observed” are works I recommend to everyone. C.S. Lewis has had as big of an impact on me as a writer and a person as anyone else on the planet. Absolute genius.

 

Dean Koontz

The “Odd Thomas” series is very popular and very fun. Koontz is another prolific writer with great commercial success. One of the more underrated books he’s written is called “Relentless” and may be a compilation of every author’s worst nightmares.

 

J.R.R. Tolkien

The entire Middle Earth saga (The Hobbit,” “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, and “The Silmarillion”) is a breathtaking masterpiece. The Peter Jackson films are awesome, too. But, the books the movies come from were a revelation when they were written in the 1950’s. Tolkien made me realize that both the devil and God can be found in the details.

 

H.G. Wells

Novels like “The Time Machine, “The Island of Doctor Moreau,” and “War of the Worlds” captivated my imagination when I was growing up. Wells had a brilliant mind and he made me realize the importance of romance in stories that, on the surface, seem to have nothing to do with love but the deeper you dig the more you realize that’s what they’re all about. That’s not just a lesson on writing, but on life.

 

Richard Matheson – “Somewhere In Time”

Richard Matheson is another excellent writer who has had a lot of his books turned into movies (“Stir Of Echoes”, “I Am Legend”, etc.) including the well thought of “What Dreams May Come” which was both enjoyable and disturbing for me due to it’s distorted view of heaven. But, I first discovered Matheson when I saw the movie “Somewhere In Time” and loved it.  starring Christopher Reeve, Jane Seymour and Christopher Plummer. It was captivating to me. So, I read the book (originally called “Bid Time Return” but changed for marketing reasons to match the film title) and liked it even better.

 

The Stephen King & Frank Darabont collaboration

Stephen King is a brilliant and prolific writer. No question. But, I would argue that some of his best work is after it has been polished into a screenplay by Frank Darabont. This is how we got the movies The Green Mile (adapted from King’s serial novel of the same name) and The Shawshank Redemption (adapted from King’s novella “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption”). The latter is a particularly wonderful screenplay to read and my favorite movie of all time.

 

Harper Lee – “To Kill A Mockingbird”

This book (as well asthe 1962 movie starring Gregory Peck) made me want to write about real people and real problems. It also cemented, in both my writing and me as a person, themes of justice, redemption and truth. This is not only the greatest novel of the 20th century, it’s one of the greatest, if not the greatest, novels of all time. I have to admit though, I wish they had left “Go Set A Watchman” in the drawer where it was kept for 55 years.

 

Of course, I could easily go on and make this list a lot longer.  How could I not include the likes of J.K. Rowling, Madeleine L’Engle, Arthur Miller, Richard Adams, Tennessee Williams, William Goldman, Chaim Potok, Diane Kinman, Shel Silverstein, Dante Alighieri, Richard Connell, Horton Foote, Nora Ephron, John Grisham, Michael Morris, John Steinbeck…? See how long this list could get? Too much for one post. Perhaps “Part Two” will be in order at some point. Until then, I appreciate the opportunity to share my thoughts and reflections on some of the superb writers who have influenced me over the years. Happy reading…

 

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The Inspiration Behind “The Blue Phoenix and the Silver Foxx”

by Elaine Beth Doebereiner

Readers have expressed a curiosity about where I discovered the inspiration for my first novel. The truth is that the story was born from a dream I had at age 16. I was an aspiring writer in junior high and high school. The only thing I found time for was my poetry, however. I never forgot that dream even into adulthood. I tried several times to sit down and write the story that had been born in my mind. I would get 10 chapters written and then scrap it. Then, a year later, I would write 12 chapters and throw those out, too. The story was not good enough in my eyes. So, I took a long break from it but never stopped thinking about the characters that I had not been able to do justice. Created and birthed in my mind, I watched as they grew up and developed. Soon I was losing sleep thinking about them and their story. The characters had become like children to me and I believed it was my duty to give them life. So, I took the sleepless nights as a sign from God that it was time to finally write this story for real.

The initial dream that I had at 16 was basically just one short incident with one character. A young girl falling from a mountain top with the mission of saving earth. The scenery was vivid, and the girl was so real to me. I constructed the other characters and plot around this singular point of origin. Other constructs came to life as I realized, I have always wanted to make a difference in the world. I have always had this burning desire to help others. What better way to reach an audience then through a story where they can see themselves in the characters and experience what the characters feel? So, I set out to write a book that could be a beacon of hope and inspiration to the world.

I added in the bible verses because I saw them as favorites of the characters writing the journal entries. They serve to make the characters feel more connected to God as they find comfort in His Word and I wanted the readers to feel that same comfort. My desire is that my readers will know that they are not alone. God’s not dead. There is hope. Your prayers are indeed answered even if you don’t realize it at the time. They may be not answered in the way or the timeframe you think they should be but God knows better than we do. Be patient and trust Him. We all make mistakes and those mistakes do not define us, you just have to learn from them and move on. Its healthy to experience sadness, failure and all the bad feels. You cannot grow as a person, or in faith, or in spirituality without facing fear, going out of your comfort zone, and learning from life’s experiences.  If you need guidance or counsel, open the bible, the answers are there.

I also made the characters a hodge podge of people. Different genders, races, ethnicities, angels, humans, demons. . . a total mixture. This was purposefully executed in the hopes that I could convey the fact that it does not matter who you are or where you’re from, you can do the work of God and we can all do it together. We are all His children. We should love one another no matter who or what we are and regardless of the color of our skin. You can choose your own path no matter the manner of your birth or where you came from. You do not have to be perfect to do good things in this world. When you think that God is not doing anything to help the world, stop and think about how much he loves us, His creations, His children. He gave his only son to die on the cross so that we could live. He wouldn’t do something phenomenal like that and then just turn His back on those He sacrificed for. He places special people in our lives on purpose, events happen that shape us, and I believe that angels do walk among us, strategically placed to keep the balance and to help mankind. All you have to do is keep an open mind, be observant, be patient, and have faith.

What started out as just a dream evolved into hopeful inspirational ideals. I pray the world loves the characters and this story as much as I do and I hope it touches the hearts of many around the world. It would be such an honor to know that it helped people and made a difference in their lives.

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The Inspiration Behind “The Four Corners” Trilogy

by C.S. Elston

Admittedly, I’ve told this story before. But it answers a question I get asked a lot and, with the recent release of “The Four Corners of Darkness,” I thought it would be appropriate to, once again, share the inspiration behind the series.

I was driving down the 101 freeway just north of Los Angeles, California, somewhere between Studio City and Sherman Oaks about fifteen or sixteen years ago. Looking out the side window of my Jeep Wrangler as I passed by a sea of houses and apartment complexes, I don’t know why I was thinking about this but, all of the unhappy home environments that exist all around us entered my mind. I thought about the fact that a lot of people who feel unloved, really are in fact loved. They are just in an environment where the people who love them either don’t know how to say it or show it, or they’re too wrapped up in their own problems to recognize the ones they’re causing in the lives of the people they love by simply not expressing the love they really do have deep down. Sometimes, we just overcrowd that love with so much self-created, negative clutter, that no one can see it because it’s like a wonderful gift hidden in the back of the closet where no one will ever have the opportunity to enjoy it.

That got me thinking about how quickly someone’s attitude could change if they were faced with losing the person or people they love. Somehow, that translated into this fantasy world called Kadosh, which is a Hebrew word that means “set apart for a Holy purpose.” In the books, people are being yanked out of the real world and separated onto islands, presumably, for eternity. So, while God intends for these people to love one another, the fact that they are not doing that in the real world gives the demon ruler of this fantasy world the ability to pull them into his realm where he can keep them apart from one another.

Absence truly does make the heart grow fonder. And, in an extreme situation like that, the aforementioned gift is going to find itself through the clutter in a hurry. Then what do you do? When love and regret overwhelm you like that, you can’t keep it inside. You must let the people you have those feelings for know about it. In the case of the Snyder family in “The Four Corners,” that means an incredible journey lies ahead. Ultimately, the risk is worth the potential reward.

The sequel, “The Four Corners of Darkness” is inspired, at least in part, by a one-act play I acted in while attending college at George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon. I think it was called “Doors” but, I can’t remember for sure and, I have no idea who wrote it. But the play was about a bunch of people who seemed permanently trapped in a house. The doors were locked and couldn’t be opened, and the windows had bars on them. It was an allegory about sin and salvation. Ultimately, someone from the outside, who had been there before and been shown the way out, had to go back inside and pay it forward. In the same way, while the Snyders and a bunch of others find their way back home at the end of the first book, their youngest child, Kinsey, recognized the responsibility that came with that accomplishment. He knew they would have to go back and show those who didn’t take the journey with them the first time, that there is, indeed, a way to get out and go back home. Now that the second book is out, I guess I’d better get to work wrapping this story up with the final installment of “The Four Corners” trilogy. . .