So today was crazy! I took a half day tomorrow to try sleeping in (but I will probably be working on details for the book launch / parties instead). For now, I promised you an excerpt and here I am. See how much I love y’all?
So what is this book even about? Writing Your Story With God is a Bible study that uses the Gospel of John to examine plot structure. My original intention was to craft a Bible study that would help authors stay focused on God while writing a novel in 30 days. This is why I am launching it a month before National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo).
But God expanded my vision as the study came together. My purpose in life is to help others identify, clarify, and act on their purpose. 80% of Americans claim to want to write a book. While some of those are probably future authors, I believe many are reaching for a way to make their life matter.
Today’s except is from the introduction, explaining how the study is structured. My passion is all about Perspective 3… but I walk readers through 1 and 2 so they will follow me to 3. I hope you come along!
Daily Structure
Each day we will discuss a plot point (e.g., the Catalyst) from three different perspectives. Because it most closely aligns with John’s Gospel, I used the fifteen beats of the Blake Snyder Beat Sheet (BS2) to outline this study. Whenever appropriate, I included terms from other story structures.
Perspective 1: Writing Your Story
In this section, we will break down one of the fifteen beats and discuss how it could work in your story. This guide focuses on the basics; it is not a comprehensive study of plot structure. It is also important to remember there is no one right way to structure your story. Story structures exist to provide guidelines that help you tell a more interesting story.
Books rarely follow any of these structures exactly, and yours probably won’t either. Story structure provides guardrails; you must decide when your story needs to leave the highway. Use the questions in this section to explore your story as a starting place. Then let your characters, world-building, and the needs of your unique story dictate where to go from there.
As humans, we like to label things, especially each other. Two labels you will hear often in writing circles are Pantsers, people who sit down and write whatever comes to them (flying by the seat of their pants), and Plotters, who plot out every detail of their story before writing the first word. However, few people write entirely in either of these two extremes.
The impetus for this guide grew out of my failure. I “won” my first NaNoWriMo, blowing past 50k words to write more than 140k… but the manuscript lacked structure and became an unwieldy mess that I have yet to untangle into a cohesive story. This failure sent me on a journey to understand plot structure and eventually led to the creation of this guide.
Because of its origin, this guide began as a tool to help Pantsers complete the NaNoWriMo challenge with a more cohesive narrative. Thus, there are comments in many lessons about what we are “writing today.” But completing each lesson before sitting down to write isn’t the only, or even the best, way to use this guide. Depending on your personality and writing style, you may find more value by using this study to plan and outline your story, instead of while writing it. This is especially true if you connect more with the Plotter process.
Perspective 2: John’s Story
This section is both a case study and a Bible study. Focusing on the same story beat as before, we will examine how John used story structure in his Gospel. Before the plot analysis, there is space to record what stands out most to you in the scripture reading. This is because the lens of plot structure does not leave space to explore everything in this amazing Gospel. Don’t rush through this. Give the Holy Spirit space to speak uniquely to you.
If you complete all the reading in this study, you will read the entire Gospel of John! Whether you have never studied an entire book of the Bible, or this is your 10th time through John, I hope that this study draws you closer to God, gives you new insights into the character of Jesus, and helps you experience more closely the Spirit working in your life.
Perspective 3: God’s Story in Your Life
Anyone still breathing still has a purpose. If you aren’t dead, God isn’t done with you. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done. It doesn’t matter what’s happened to you. It doesn’t matter how educated you are, how articulate you are, how much money you have, or where you live. If you are still breathing, you still have a purpose. I am passionate about helping people uncover the unique purpose God has for their life.
Our third perspective on plot structure each day will examine the story God is writing with your life. You are God’s “Story Worthy Hero” sent on a quest to change the world! These reflection questions provide space for you to discover your purpose and cooperate with God in living it out.
My life purpose is to encourage, empower, and equip the sleepwalking children of God to break free of strongholds and pursue their dreams. This study is part of that bigger purpose. Maybe your purpose is to write a book, but, like me, that could also be only a small part of the bigger picture God is painting with your life. Scripture says you are His masterpiece! Don’t settle for being a bargain bin story of someone who lived and died doing nothing that matters.
Imperfect Progress Titles 
Thoughts?