 Spiritual: July 03, 2013 Issue [#5757] |
  Spiritual
This week: Through the Eyes of Someone Else Edited by: Dawn Embers  
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As a fiction writer, one of the many useful experiences in writing is found in taking the chance to learn about different beliefs and aspects to spirituality through the eyes of a character. With each different one, we can learn something about ourselves and others. It's an advantage that I think many should consider when looking for writing inspiration because sometimes it takes looking beyond ourselves in order to see others.
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Amazon's Price: $ 15.99
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Hello, ye readers of many spirits, and welcome to my first and probably rare "Spiritual" newsletter. While I am not the most spiritual person you'll find in general, let alone here on WDC, I decided to offer my services for this newsletter because, even though I'm not "religious" by any means, I often can find a topic to discuss that relates to fiction. And today, I am talking about the spirituality of characters.
Because, while I might not be very spiritual, I am a writer and I experience many new things through the eyes of my characters. First, I must confess: most of my writing has no spirituality in it. I have fantasy novels that span 5 books or have 165,000 words written and not a single reference to religions or many other types of beliefs. Part of the 'write by the seat of my pants' approach means I often don't worldbuild and will have to fix those areas in revision. However, on the rare occasion I get a character like Kanwal and it throws me through a loop.
Kanwal is not like me or any of my usual fictional characters. She is a teenage girl, popular, beach loving, adores pink, and is Muslim. Her battles with the world around her, family and even within herself to find her place in life is different but in a great way.
I get to learn through her story, which is the main point of this newsletter. Thanks to this character, I have images to inspire me of children, different versions of the Qur'an/Koran, and girls similar in concept to Kanwal. I even have songs on my playlist performed by musicians such as Nancy Ajram, Haifa Wehbe, and Samira Said. I still have a long ways to go in my research but I look forward to the path of learning more about Kanwal, and through her many others.
It's okay to write about ourselves and to stay within a comfort zone some of the time. But what I would recommend for many of the writers here on this site is to test the waters through writing and experience some things you may have not understood before creating the character. Try to write a story through the eyes of a character who is very different in you and take the time to learn about their beliefs a little before you write their story. You may even learn a little more about yourself and your own spirituality in the process.
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To go with my theme of learning through characters, I found a variety of items by searching for different religions and beliefs just to see what I'd find to read.
Starting off with an image when I searched for faith. I like the approach to the image took to showing belief, though it's one of many ways to look at the topic.
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This first story caught my attention in my searches through it's use of dialogue and the little image on top of the story (yeah, images tend to catch my attention). I don't often read stories with characters who reference Muhammad, but more due to the contests I run than any other reason, as I would read more and may in the future.
An older story, I chose it because it showed how some characters can have strange beliefs, such as the women in this one looking for Mormon husbands. Granted there are some things I notice since I went to college in Utah, but in general, it's a good character showcase (or set of characters since it's two sisters, biological not through the Church).
With so many choices to look up, I wanted to find more than just fiction or poetry to maybe showcase. This one is good because it's someone who is trying to give information to others, and I found the approach interesting. Not only does the author provide information but also a bit about himself in relation to the topic.
Another story, I picked this in part because of the first person approach and working with the topic I'd chosen for this newsletter. There are many beliefs including the non-belief, though I can't showcase them all, this is one of the few I managed to find to provide variety.
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Here is one contest I found that is for poetry. I have never entered and don't know if there will be a July round, but different beliefs can make for great poetry so I can see why this one received focus.
This is a fun activity because it's a word search based on pagan terms. Yeah, not a "story" but kind of fun and a type of item on WDC that I don't deal with often but might look into more in the future. Plus, who doesn't like a good word search?
Closing with another image. It's simple but shows one set of beliefs and their rede: common known principles laid out on a scroll image.
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Have an opinion on what you've read here today? Then send the Editor feedback! Find an item that you think would be perfect for showcasing here? Submit it for consideration in the newsletter!
https://www.Writing.Com/go/nl_form
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Since this is my second newsletter in my short career as a Moderator and my first time with the Spiritual one, I don't have feedback to share and any to this newsletter may take a long time to get used unless another editor is willing to share what anyone has to say. But I will leave a question anyways and one final comment.
Question:
Have you ever written from the point of view of a person whose beliefs differed from your own?
Comment:
In fiction (and real life perhaps), the villain is the hero of their own story.
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