As a person of faith, I fully believe that our world and existence is built upon Words. Words, positive or negative, or the source of life.

As speaking spirits–especially as writers–whether we are published or private practitioners, we have a great power to influence those who give us the gift of their time and attention by reading the words that we share.

For the last few years, my fuel for writing has come from the words of four writers I’ve had the pleasure of calling muses. From the words of these writers, and a fifth from a Pastor’s wife, I created ‘writing guidelines’ that have helped me to maintain creative focus and peace.

1. “Let peace be your umpire.” ~Vicotria Osteen
2. “Geez, I can write a better story than that.” So I got busy writing what I thought of as Science Fiction.”” ~Octavia E. Butler
3. “I am the audience and I try and write a book that I would like now as a mature adult and that I would have enjoyed at thirteen or fourteen and upwards.” ~Garth Nix
4. “The best way to convey a spiritual truth is by telling a story because stories work.” ~Frank Peretti“Don’t try to find truth by looking within yourself; you’re the one who’s confused.” ~Frank Peretti
5. “Some, I stumble across watching in nature programs…watching my mother and sister produce blankets from balls of yarn and crochet hooks. I thought of it as a kind of magic and wondered what all could be done with thread and magic.” ~Tamora Peirce

These are the quotes that have created my word-world of focus. These are the ‘muscles’ that have strengthened my belief in my craft.

As a visitor to this guestbook I ask that you share the words that have inspired you the most, be they words that have sharpened your creativity or words that have blessed you to get up every morning and face a new day with hope.

I look forward to greeting you in the comments below!

Thanks for sharing your heart.

~Candice Coates

*To read the full blog post of my writing guidelines and what they are, you can do so by visiting my sister site www.icameforthesoup.com. An updated version of the post is coming soon.