{"id":84,"date":"2018-07-14T20:52:30","date_gmt":"2018-07-14T20:52:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/?p=84"},"modified":"2024-08-23T10:19:29","modified_gmt":"2024-08-23T14:19:29","slug":"welcome-to-my-writings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/2018\/07\/14\/welcome-to-my-writings\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcome to My Writings"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Oh goody, another blog! Said no one ever.<\/h3>\n

A couple years ago, a good friend said to me, \u201cYou should really start a blog.\u201d I responded with an extravagant eye roll and: \u201cThe world needs another white lady blog like it needs a hole in the head.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

This exchange tells you 2 things about me:<\/span><\/p>\n

1 – I should really be nicer to my friends. Didn\u2019t need to bite her head off, Steph!\u00a0 She\u00a0<\/span>was trying to compliment and encourage you. A simple \u201cthank you\u201d would have sufficed.<\/span><\/p>\n

2 – I\u2019m under no delusion that my voice or my writing is crucial to society.<\/span><\/p>\n

So why am I starting a blog when it\u2019s at best a completely unnecessary hobby and at worst a vain exercise in self-glorification?<\/span><\/p>\n

Short answer: Because I want to. I like writing.<\/b><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Slightly less-short answer: Over the past couple years I\u2019ve encountered numerous messages, books, articles, and conversations that in some variation ask, <\/span>\u201cWhat do you want to be doing that you\u2019re not doing?\u201d <\/span><\/i>My immediate, secret mental answer is always: <\/span>Writing. <\/span><\/i>(I mean, my immediate answer to that question is, and always will be, <\/span>sleeping<\/span><\/i>. But, you know, I don\u2019t think that\u2019s what they mean.)<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"I\u2019ve enjoyed writing for most of my life. In 4th grade I wrote a short story for a school assignment, and my teacher gave me huge praise for the creativity and language I used. From then on, I\u2019ve gotten a thrill from using my imagination to create with words. [The only thing I can remember about that particular 4th grade story is that it was about a foreign planet made up entirely of water where everyone wore swimsuits all the time. I\u2019m sure it was Pulitzer-worthy.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Lately the sense that writing is one of my passions and something I should do more regularly has grown stronger, and I think about writing more and more. I\u2019m definitely the kind of person who could overthink this, self-talk myself out of it, wait and wait and wait until I\u2019m more \u201cready\u201d to begin.<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead I decided to just start.<\/b><\/p>\n

So here I am. And here you are. Hi! I\u2019m glad you\u2019re here, and would love for you to join me as often as you like. I\u2019m not going to act like I have a groundswell following to satisfy with my amazing writing. I\u2019m writing because I want to, and I\u2019ll post when I have something to write. I will be happy if people want to read it. And if they don\u2019t, that\u2019s OK too. I\u2019ll try not to let my lack of instant blogging fame make me feel bad about myself.<\/span><\/p>\n

Faith, Fiction, and Feminism<\/h2>\n

My blog title actually came to me over a year ago. When I think of the things I am most passionate about, and therefore would likely write about, they largely fall into the categories of Faith, Fiction, or Feminism. Here at the outset of my blogging journey, I\u2019ll briefly discuss what each of these topics means to me.<\/span><\/p>\n

Faith<\/h4>\n

\"\"I\u2019m a Christian. That word is loaded with so much historical, political, and social angst that I\u2019m wary to use it. But let\u2019s push aside current events and controversy and the ugliness that some \u201cChristians\u201d put into the world. I am not for those people, and <\/span>they don\u2019t get to make me feel bad about being a Christian<\/span><\/i>. I follow Christ. I practice the orthodox religion of Christianity. That is what I mean when I refer to my Christian faith. Jesus actually makes a difference in my life and defines a lot of who I am, so I\u2019ll be writing about that. <\/span><\/p>\n

Fiction<\/h4>\n

I love storytelling. Be it in books, television, movies, Hallmark commercials – a good story is one of my favorite things in life. Author John Granger wrote: \u201cFiction serves a religious function in a secular culture. Moderns are immunized against sacramental experience, prayer, and worship, yet still long for the transcendent, something beyond the ego. We find it… especially in novels in which the heart recognizes its reflection in a character.\u201d Honestly, I tend to encounter more truth in the \u201cuntrue\u201d world of fiction than in nonfiction. Stories speak to my soul, so I\u2019ll be writing about the fiction that I love in all its forms.<\/span><\/p>\n

Feminism<\/h4>\n

Hoo boy. If Christian is a loaded word, feminist is a nuclear word. I\u2019m not shying away from it, though. Feminism is defined by Merriam-Webster as \u201cthe theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes; organized activity on behalf of women’s rights and interests.\u201d If you\u2019re not on board with those two things, you probably don\u2019t need to stick around. I doubt you\u2019ll like what you see here. <\/span>But feminism is more to me than a theory or activity<\/span><\/i>. When I refer to feminism here I mean all aspects of being female. My role as a mom and a wife fall under feminism just as much as my role as a working woman, a voter, or an advocate for female church leadership. I\u2019ll be writing about all sorts of feminine topics, and to me, that\u2019s all feminist.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"My writing style<\/h2>\n

Before I sign off, a few notes about the way I write\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

Disclaimers <\/b>– I have come to realize that I compulsively use disclaimers, especially in writing when the \u201cconversation\u201d is void of personal context and nonverbal cues. I desperately want to be understood and not to cause unnecessary offense. And I think the deeper reason is to preemptively judge myself in order to undercut others\u2019 (often hypothetical) judgment. I\u2019m usually saying, \u201cSee? I\u2019m totally aware of my flaws. I\u2019m pointing them out in a jocular manner before you can point them out and make me feel small.\u201d So be prepared for compulsive disclaimers. (And, yes, the savvy reader will recognize this paragraph, really this whole section, as one large disclaimer. I did warn you.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Grammar <\/b>– I like long, complex sentences, parenthetical interjections (because sometimes you have a thought within a thought), and Oxford commas. I strongly believe in using adverbs generously. In college I took a class called \u201cAdvanced Grammar and Syntax,\u201d and I LOVED it. I have a pretty strong grip on proper English grammar, but I don\u2019t always follow the rules. For instance, I tend to often split infinitives, but I\u2019ve come to just not care about that very much. There is absolutely no rhyme or reason for when I spell out a number or use its symbol, or for when I use the word \u201cand\u201d or an ampersand. And occasionally I like to use incomplete sentences and fragments. For emphasis. <\/span><\/p>\n

(If none of those words made any sense to you, don\u2019t worry. I\u2019m only judging you a tiny bit in my head.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Hyperbole <\/b>– Sometimes I might slightly over- or under-exaggerate for humor\u2019s effect. Maybe don\u2019t take everything I say too seriously.<\/span><\/p>\n

Foul language<\/b> – I once described my fluency in profanity:\u00a0\u201cI swear with the alacrity of an especially hedonistic sailor.\u201d This might surprise people who know me only on a professional or superficial level, but I assure you that my close friends and peers will find this description accurate AF.\u00a0However, I will endeavor to use foul language sparingly in my writing, especially since my mom might be the only person who reads this. Or maybe she won\u2019t even read it. Which is fine. No pressure, Mom!<\/span><\/p>\n

Endings <\/b>– I\u2019m not great at them.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Oh goody, another blog! Said no one ever. A couple years ago, a good friend said to me, \u201cYou should really start a blog.\u201d I responded with an extravagant eye roll and: \u201cThe world needs another white lady blog like it needs a hole in the head.\u201d This exchange tells you 2 things about me: … Continue reading Welcome to My Writings<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,6,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faith","category-feminism","category-fiction","without-featured-image"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa85Nh-1m","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":148,"href":"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84\/revisions\/148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}