  Spiritual
This week: Sharing Items of Faith Edited by: Kit  
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Sharing items can be daunting, and sharing faith-based items especially so. Not only can your work receive criticism, but your views and your faith as well. So, how do you deal with it?
This week's Spiritual Newsletter is all about the courage to share.
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Writing about one’s faith is not always easy. It can be difficult to express what your faith means to you, and how it makes you feel. And when exposing your work to others, you know that there is a chance that you’ve just opened the door to critique that goes beyond spelling, grammar and a general assessment of whether or not it is a good read. You may well find yourself reviewed by someone with an inclination to use terms like “sky fairy” and “delusion”. You may be asked if you believe in unicorns and leprechauns, too.
Of course, on a website like Writing.Com, there is protection against abusive reviews, but where does one draw the line? If someone writes “nice poem, but I think having faith in God is a bit silly”, it feels petty to complain about it. A comment of that nature is easy to shrug off. However, if you receive another comment like it, and another, and another, and it continues every time you post an item about your faith, it can become disheartening. The temptation can set in to not post any faith-based items in your portfolio, or to only share them with like-minded authors. It is one thing to develop the thick skin any writer needs to accept and use constructive criticism and to progress in their art, it is another to accept unconstructive and, frankly, rather personal comments that poke and prod at who you are and how you live your life.
Quite a few authors of faith-based items write these items because they feel the urge to share the joy they have found in their faith, and to honour their God/Goddess/Higher Being. Some feel it is their duty to share and spread the word. Some want to share the solace they have found in the hope that it will help the reader. Whatever the reason is behind your items, you should not feel daunted to share them. As writing communities go, Writing.Com is quite safe for authors of spiritual pieces – there are places out there where the mere mention of God or spirituality will send others into a frenzy. Ridicule, vicious attacks, questions about the sanity of the person of faith and accusations of heinous crimes are rather common. That kind of behaviour in not tolerated here. In many respects, Writing.Com is a sanctuary for writers of all different backgrounds, cultures and beliefs (and long may it remain that way).
It is a fact of life that faith and politics tend to inspire a wide variety of reactions in people. Some are accepting of different beliefs and viewpoints. Some are curious. Some love a good debate. Others are not as accepting. It is heartening, though, that on the whole, those with an open mind tend to be in the majority, at least in this community.
In my time on this website I have made friends with those of a wide variety of beliefs, with agnostics, and with those of no religious faith or spiritual inclination at all. I have reviewed faith-based items of those who have a different faith than I do, and received lovely, constructive reviews in turn. I have had some really good debates that remained warm and respectful throughout, and have appreciated those times when I had questions and someone took the time to answer them.
It can be argued that the readers of your items have not been forced to read them. Once they discover that it is a faith-related piece, they are quite welcome to stop reading, close it and move on to something else. The same goes for any other genre – if, for example, someone does not like horror stories, there is plenty of other material out there. If the person continues to read, writes a review and tells the author that they do not like horror stories, what is the author supposed to do with it? Shrug and move on...
Of course, there is a difference between someone not liking your horror story because they don’t like the horror genre, and someone not liking your faith-based item because they don’t like your faith – one isn’t personal, the other sure feels like it – but this is where a person of faith has to be strong. I’ve found that the best way around it is to post an item and expect that not everyone will like it. Not everyone will agree with my views. Some might express that and so long as they are respectful and don’t resort to a personal attack, that’s okay. I write because I feel the urge to write. I share my work because I love to share it and because maybe someone out there will read it and smile, or be able to relate, or feel heartened by it.
I am far from an excellent writer, but my work has improved by being brave and sharing. I have learned to accept constructive criticism and as for unconstructive criticism, it is indeed a case of shrug and move on. I have not written a faith-based piece in a long while – nor any kind of piece, really – but I will again, and I will place it in my portfolio, even if it may be a bit daunting. And I hope you will, too.
Someone out there is bound to love it. You may even make someone’s day. And you will have written from the heart. For a writer, there are few things better than that.
kittiara
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Here are some of the latest offerings in the Spiritual Genre. I hope that you will enjoy them  .
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The Spiritual Newsletter Team welcomes any and all questions, suggestions, thoughts and feedback, so please don't hesitate to write in!
ANN Counselor, Lesbian & Happy  What about you? What did you learn, and where do you want to go next?
It took years of soul searching, counseling, writing about life's hurtful events...mine were all 'family caused' also. Writing about them here at WDC so that others might be helped through their own critical pain, has been helpful. Last May I found my writing genre (lesbian romance) and NOW, I am planning on Ebooks of Collections during 2013 with hopes that new readers will find help on their life's path; and "God Willing and the creek don't rise" one of my novels will be published. Healing and success do come for "time does heal". ANN, now 74
Thank you for sharing. You sound like someone with a lot of courage and determination . I really hope that you will achieve your goal and get published. Can't see a reason why not! So best of luck and keep on writing and healing.
~~~
Wishing you a week filled with inspiration,
The Spiritual Newsletter Team
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Spiritual: February 26, 2013 Issue [#5542]
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