Remember When . . . The Spirit Moved?

One of the most challenging–and amazing–aspects of writing is digging deep into issues that the author knows nothing about firsthand. That’s what research is for, and when it comes to facts, it’s pretty simple. You look things up. Read. Watch documentaries, maybe. Voila. Knowledge.

But some parts of books aren’t about knowledge so much as wisdom–how our characters would react to things, how faith grows and fades. There are ways to research that too. More books, interviews… But I’ll be honest. I don’t do that. When it comes to internal aspects of my characters, I go from the gut. Which can be a challenge, because I’ve led a beautifully boring life, LOL. I’ve never suffered even the slightest abuse, never gone without.

I love, though. And I’ve lost. I’ve fought. I’ve prayed, I’ve cried, I’ve laughed. And though losing a grandfather to cancer is far different from, say, losing a child in a lot of ways, in other ways, grief is grief. I take what I know and put a magnifying glass on it when it comes to these things–prayerfully. And thus far, the feedback I’ve gotten from people who have suffered the things my characters have suffered is that my methods work. =)

But in A Soft Breath of Wind, I’m dealing with aspects of the faith that go beyond imagination. And while I have some experience to go on, and have spoken with some people (not when researching, I’m just blessed to have met folks with an amazing awareness of the spiritual world), I’m keenly aware that the Holy Spirit’s movement can feel different to us all.

So today, as I’m five chapters into this new biblical, I wanted to take the time to talk to you. Would you be willing to share with me your experiences with the moving of the Spirit? How and when you’ve most strongly felt Him? What other senses came alive? Have you ever seen-with-your-eyes into the spirit world? Heard His whisper? Felt His touch? Dreamed His dream? Have you ever followed a nudge and seen so clearly why He did the nudging? Felt a call to pray at a time you thought random, but which was anything but?

You’re welcome to share in the comments if you don’t mind it being public. Or if you want to share but not publicly, you can email me at Roseanna at RoseannaWhite dot com — because this is me, I sincerely doubt I would use anything you share exactly. But I’m quite likely to take bits and pieces and aspects and weave the understanding of them into my character’s world.

On an unrelated note, it’s my day at Colonial Quills–and the blog has a new look! It’s a revision of my post about espionage in early America that I posted in July, but if you missed that one, check it out here.