The write stuff

After a lifetime career as a travel editor, I was prepared to enjoy semi-retirement as a freelance travel writer (how else?). My upcoming cruise from Brooklyn to Southampton, England, sailing around the British Isles and returning to Brooklyn, seemed worthy of an article, so I wrote a proposal to the editor of a popular travel magazine and got a quick response.

“Thanks for writing,” he said. “Your transatlantic British Isles circumnavigation sounds like a wonderful opportunity. I’d be interested in a story . . . but that’s a lot of days to condense into some 2,400 words max. What do you think?” 

Of course that was just what I wanted to hear, and when I returned from the cruise last October, I set to work to write the story he had commissioned—although 2,400 words seemed a bit overwhelming! I was used to relying on Christian Science, and I recognized that I reflect divine intelligence, and ideas are limitless. On the very first page of the first chapter of Science and Health, Mary Baker Eddy says: “Thoughts unspoken are not unknown to the divine Mind. Desire is prayer; and no loss can occur from trusting God with our desires, that they may be moulded and exalted before they take form in words and in deeds.” 

As I prayed along these lines, I found my thoughts were already taking form in the words that would inspire travelers. Keeping these spiritual ideas in mind, I began to write the story of our harmonious cruise across the Atlantic and back. And although there were certainly times when I struggled with the words, knowing that I reflected God and His infinite ideas, I rode over the rough spots. By the end of November I had completed my manuscript, and it was ready to send to the editor along with this note: “I took you at your word and here are 2,400 words about our trip.” Thankfully I got it in the mail by December 1—because I was already scheduled to write another article for someone else about sailing on a Christmas cruise through the Caribbean.

To my dismay, the editor wrote back: “Couldn’t find any e-mail with 2,400 words mentioned—that number sticks out at me as one I wouldn’t use intentionally. We need to trim some 500 words at least. Can do in two months, perhaps? I’ll probably use the story in May/June.”

I resisted the fear that I wouldn’t be able to creatively express God’s idea a day from now or a month from now.

Of course I wrote, “Can do!” but I was disheartened to say the least. I was sure he had asked for 2,400 words, and to cut 500 words or more would require rewriting a tightly knit story. With the holidays fast approaching and another cruise pending, I knew I would have to set the project aside for the time being and tackle it again after my working holiday. But by then the trip would no longer be fresh in my mind—could I still make the story enticing a month later? Could I approach it with the same enthusiasm? And which 500 words were dispensable?

“Man’s extremity is God’s opportunity,” I reminded myself (John Flavel, quoted on page 266 of Science and Health). I resisted the fear that I wouldn’t be able to creatively express God’s idea a day from now or a month from now, because God’s ideas are eternal and everlasting. I knew that when I returned to my story, it would be fresh and appealing because, as Mrs. Eddy says, “Ideas are tangible and real to immortal consciousness, and they have the advantage of being eternal” (Science and Health, p. 279 ). I set the story aside and went about my preparations for my next trip, holding to these inspired ideas.

Two days before I sailed on our holiday cruise, I received an e-mail from the magazine editor: “Just lost a story from the March/April issue, opening a big hole—big enough for a somewhat lengthy feature. Is it possible for you to rather quickly redo the Grand Voyage, not necessarily cutting back on the word length very much? If so, it would really bail me out. Please let me know ASAP.”

As it turned out, it was not necessary to cut or revise my story after all. It was perfectly acceptable as I had written it originally! Gratefully I acknowledged his request—and realized that, of course, God’s plan had been in effect from the very first word. Gratefully, I echoed the words from Mrs. Eddy’s hymn, “ ‘Feed My Sheep’ ”:

I will listen for Thy voice,
Lest my footsteps stray;
I will follow and rejoice
All the rugged way. (Christian Science Hymnal, No. 304 ).

By listening for God’s voice, I couldn’t be led to make a false move. Divine Love had guided me to write the right story in the first place. I had plenty of reason to rejoice, all the rugged way.