Writing my most recent book was a process. In the beginning the content focused on descriptions and facts. As a history major in college, I find these details interesting, and most of the books I read look attempt to provide lots of information. My early models for the work include travel guides such as Lonely Planet, Frommer’s, Fodor’s, AAA and DK books. I have also read several guides produced by other ministers and travelers. I sought to provide information in my own words along with some of my own experiences.
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| Available on Amazon.com |
After completing the first section of my most recent book I joined a new writing group meeting in the public library. I shared a couple of pages on Tel Aviv during a reading session. The group told me that my work was, for the most part, boring. But then someone said, “There is one thing, however, which does interest me about your writing: I can tell you were there.” The others agreed, and asked, “Do you have personal stories?”
I thought about the question the group asked, and my writing took a turn. I began to rework the section I began to add personal memoirs. I shared this with people who told me the work was still missing the mark of being interesting. They said, “People who know you might be interested in your stories, but the general public will lose interest quickly because the things you share are not of interest to them.”
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| An interesting sight in Yafo |
I was stunned at the comments. Then I read what I wrote, and for the most part, had to agree. (The memoir of how a plastic bag created a flat spot on a wheel of my suitcase while walking through the streets of Tel Aviv is still interesting to me, but, I had to agree a book full of content like this would soon become as flat as the wheel on my suitcase.) I made a trip to my bookshelf and to the library to find how other authors created narrative which piqued interest.
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| Western Wall in Jerusalem |
After much reading I began to write once again. I wrote anecdote about people, descriptions containing odd facts, legends with action, and fables with drama. I found books with old tales of Palestine, which became sources and models for the short articles of my new book. I began to share the new tales I had written, some rehashed from Bible stories and others entirely new, and the library group gave glowing reviews.
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| Shepherds with goats in Israel |
The more I shared my work, the more comments went from negative to positive. In the process of creating narratives for Israel: Stories for Your Journey, I found something within myself. Not only did others enjoy the woven words and stories I was creating, but as I researched each episode for accuracy, I saw new details about the land and the Bible which I had missed. My writing became an experience through which I learned some amazing things!
If you read my new book, I think the land and its stories will created for you new insights, understandings, and love for a land that is timeless.
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