Amber Ravatsaas, Writer

Christian Fiction for Young Adults

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What’s in my Backpack?

I’ve seen people doing videos regarding what’s in their backpack, so I thought I would do a blog post instead. These are the essential items I bring with me when I go out to write:

  1. My backpack! I got this off of Amazon for around $30 it has enough space for my needs, and then some. The thing that drew me to it (besides the roominess) was probably the USB port where I could charge my phone on the go. Not totally sure if it’s TSA approved…
  2. Most of the time I will use my iPad just because it’s more compact. With my iPad, I use my Bluetooth keyboard from Logitech; I absolutely love this thing. The case for the keyboard doubles as a stand so you’ll never forget to bring it. One of the main things that drew me in though was that it takes batteries instead of having to be charged.

  3. I have to have some sort of music going while I am writing so that’s where my phone and Bluetooth headphones come in handy. I found some good stations on Amazon Prime Music that are my go to for when I write.
  4. I always have a notebook and pens with me wherever I am going, but the Rocketbook Everlast Smart Notebook I found is unlike any other; it’s reusable! You use a page, mark one of the seven symbols on the bottom of the page, take a picture of your work, and it sends it to whatever website you correlated the symbol you marked. So, for example, if I put an X on the diamond and take a picture it will automatically send it to my Dropbox folder titled, “sermon notes.” When you’re all done take a paper towel with a little water on it and wipe off the page!

  5. And last, but certainly not least, my Scrivner app. I couldn’t write without this app it helps me keep my story, characters, and outline organized and I can set word count goals for each scene, chapter, and whole novel. When I set a word count for my whole novel I am then able to set a date that I would like to complete my novel on, and it will calculate how many words I need to write daily to achieve that goal. The other thing I like about it is that it I can write on my iPad and then sync it, and continue writing over on my computer. I did buy it for both my iPad ($19.99) and Mac ($45), so it will set you back about $64.99, BUT it is a one-time price, so you won’t be charged ever again. If you’re interested in more information on Scrivener check out their website: https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.php

What’s in YOUR backpack?

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Our Art Gallery

We have had an influx of art going on at our house over the last few years, and I am constantly running out of room to put their beautiful drawings. The fridge was getting full and I had to resort to throwing out pieces that had been there for weeks, but, of course, they found them in the garbage and couldn’t believe that I threw away their precious art. We had to find some sort of compromise because hanging pictures on the wall with tape was not an option for me, nor would it even stick to our walls in the first place (we have such odd walls.)

I was able to purchase everything (except the buckets) off of amazon. It was nice to have everything delivered to the house instead of running store to store to get items; especially in the winter! You can buy the buckets off of amazon, but I found them $10 cheaper at oriental trading. The wire and clips that the pictures are hanging off of came from Ikea but I was able to find them on amazon. We are also using the wire and clips in the homeschool room for our alphabet cards!

Our chalkboards took a little time to find because we had a certain amount of space and I needed exact measurements to be able to fit three of them. My original plan was to get a big piece of plywood and a can of chalkboard paint and make it a “fun” DIY project. Well, if there is one thing you should know about me it’s that I am the least crafty person ever. In all honesty, though I am really happy with how it turned out!

The kids love to pull up a chair and draw during the day and it is also beneficial for homeschooling. Somehow making shapes and letters on the chalkboard is WAY more fun to them than on paper; I’ll take it! I love that it’s right by the kitchen so they can draw while I am making dinner in the evenings 🙂

(This picture was before we put the hooks and buckets up the kids were REALLY excited)

Here is a list of exactly what we bought for this project:

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What Does It Mean To Fear The Lord?

My word this year is brave, I want to be brave and courageous not be fearful of what man can do to me. I want to only fear the Lord. Martin Luther described two different types of fear;  FILIAL fear of the Lord means to have respect and reverence to the Lord and have a healthy fear of the consequences of disobeying Him. Think of the respect that a child has for his/her parents. That child fears disobeying their parents, not just because they are scared of punishment, but because they have such respect for them and the thought of hurting them by disobedience is disheartening. SERVILE fear is the fear that martyrs have or those who are tortured and jailed. It’s the fear and anxiety of the harm that they are going to thrust upon you.

Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
    and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.”

The Gospel message should be the most beautiful and terrifying message. It is beautiful the undeserved grace and mercy that the Lord shown upon us, but terrifying in the sense of the depth of our sins and the punishment that we deserve for them. Our faith in the Lord will show if we do, or do not, have a healthy relationship with the Lord. How do we respond when things go wrong? Do we whine and complain, or do we turn to the Lord? I struggle with anxiety and know that it is worse when I am not diving into the Word and surrounding myself with the Truth of God’s Word. I worry the most when I listen to the world!

George Muller said The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith, and the beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety.

Obedience will be another evidence of a healthy fear of the Lord. When we are obedient and following the Lord instead of the ways of the world we show our fear of the Lord through that. How do we respond when we sin? Do we go directly to the one who forgives us of our sins or try and hide hoping that we can get away with it? We are silly and foolish to think that God doesn’t see our sins… That alone should strike some sort of fear in us!

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Encouragement For When You Want To Quit Writing

I have been told many times that I give up too quickly, and while that is true, I don’t like to admit it. So when I realized that my novella was not making any sense, I gave up. I called it quits and decided that I was no good at this writing thing anymore. So many writers are where they are because they keep pressing forward and not giving up, and I have to realize that I cannot compare my beginning to their middle.

So tonight, after a small break away from my novella, I am looking at it once again with fresh eyes and a new vision. Writing is my passion; something that I love to do. For some, writing comes easy; and for others, like me, it takes some time to develop and conquer those hurdles of self-doubt, frustration, and being overtly cynical. I was so angry at myself for wasting all that time on this completely useless novel when I should have been proud of the accomplishment of actually sticking with it and writing from start to finish!

If you have been following me for any amount of time you would know that I like to change things often (i.e., domain names, and interests). I will stick with something for maybe a year or two and then change it. But, one thing has remained consistent through all those changes… writing. My love of writing has never once dwindled! Once you find that thing that you are passionate about, stick with it and work on improving and polishing your skill. I started taking courses about writing, listening to audio books, and reading blog posts. This is something I enjoy doing and I want to see where I can go with it, but I need to stop telling myself I can’t do it.

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What if?

Do you feel like your plot has been way overdone and people are sick and tired of reading the same storyline over and over again? That’s exactly how I was feeling the first time around. But, if you take any TV show, movie or book and look at the bare bones of the plot you will realize that most of them are the same they just executed the scheme differently. Think of TV shows that take place in New York with 20-30 something-year-olds, movies where the nerdy girl gets a makeover or the one that I absolutely cannot stand… when they make the father an incompetent moron.

The difference between the story lines in these various plots is a simple question, What if? Let’s look at The Princess Diaries. What if an average girl finds out she’s a princess? Or in My Fair Lady, what if a pompous phonetics professor transforms a Cockney working-class girl into someone who can pass for an experienced member of high society. See how they both are the same, but very different?

What if a husband vanishes and leaves his wife and children behind. This is one example that I have been mulling over the last few days. What if he didn’t leave on purpose? What if he was forced to leave but couldn’t tell his family? What if she gave up hope for ever finding him? What if he did leave on purpose?

Asking myself those what if questions got me thinking, and pondering what would happen if this happened? How would I react in this situation? I even threw questions by Ruben to see how he would respond in a similar situation. I so appreciate my husband’s willingness to listen to my ideas and help me out. He’s given me some great ideas for plots, told me when something seemed not realistic, and helped me out with different conversations between characters.

I have a much clearer picture this time around of how I want this to end up and I am excited to start working on it again. Just need to get over the hurdles of criticism and self-doubt that I face and I am certain many others face. It’s scary to put yourself out there because you are going to get judged once you do. Everyone has an opinion, some good, others not so good.

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Finding Writing Inspiration in Everyday Life

Finding Writing Inspiration in Everyday Life

There is a guy on our street who likes to walk his dog in a nice dress shirt and pants. Why doesn’t he change before he walks his dog? I find it oddly fascinating. Or the guy that I stood behind today who had a tattoo on his arm that said, “Reward.” Even the quirky ladies that I talked to in the long line at Walmart. Those people are my inspiration! I pull characters, emotions, settings and appearance from them.

I like to keep a small notebook in my purse at all times so whenever I see something, hear something, or just need to make a quick note I can jot it down so I won’t forget. Other places to look for inspiration would be quotes, music, books, and movies. Trust me, I am not saying that I never get writers block, or that I never get low on inspiration, but during those times I don’t give up. Something on a commercial even gave me an idea once!

So, if you’re struggling for inspiration, look up. Look up from the glow of your cell phone to the world around you. There is tons of inspiration right there in front of your face. Everyone has a backstory!

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10 Writing Resources

Here are some of my favorite resources I use when I am writing:

1. I bought a Bluetooth keyboard off of Amazon for my iPad and had been using it to write when I am on the go. It’s a lot easier to haul my iPad around than it is my computer. If I use the Pages app on my iPad, I can sync it through the icloud drive and continue writing right where I left off on my computer! My phone also has the pages app, so if I get an idea I can scribble it down on there as well 🙂

2. Scrivener: If you follow me on Instagram you will see me post screenshots from a program called Scrivener every so often. I bought this program for $40 and use it almost every day to write. I love that you can organize and personalize it however you want to suit your needs. I am more of a pantser when it comes to writing, but I have slowly developed into a planner. I need to write a post about Scrivener at some point…

3. Grammarly! I wrote a post about this one already, but it’s so good that I just needed to mention it again to you. I love that it helps me correct my grammar mistakes and tells me exactly why I shouldn’t write something the way I did.

4. One stop for writers– this resource has helped me enhance my writing. It costs $9 a month, but I think it’s totally worth it. When I am stuck writing a scene, I can quickly head to the setting thesaurus and find sights, sounds, smells, tastes & textures, and possible sources of conflict for that particular environment.

5. Evernote– I use this one to jot down a note when I am on the go since it syncs to my computer so I can easily access it. I will save my whole manuscript to it as well just to have another place to store it.

6. My iPhone– It works as an excellent voice recorder for the time being, but I am looking at getting an actual voice recorder. My phone runs out of space quickly!

7. Facebook groups- I have a few groups that pertain to writing that I am part of, but for the most part, I am in Christian homemaking groups. Sometimes I get sparks of inspiration from posts from others!

8. Pinterest– LOVE this resource! I have a few boards about writing that I find useful when writing, or if I get stuck. It’s nice to have resources about writing, character development and grammar all in one place.

9. Thesaurus and Dictionary– Pretty self-explanatory, I think 😉

10. Jerry Jenkin’s Writers Guild– At this moment the guild isn’t open to new members, but if you are interested I would highly suggest that you sign up to be notified when it begins. If you do join, send me a message I would love to connect with you!

**BONUS: Music- but, I think, that’s also a given 😉 I love to listen to Pandora or Spotify when I am writing and sometimes, sometimes I will get inspiration from a song.

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A Mismatched Marriage

When someone says that something is “mismatched” what words come to your mind? The first words that I thought of was wrong, or incompatible, but you know what? That isn’t necessarily true, though. What about when it comes to marriage?

So, on Saturday Ruben and I will celebrate our six-year anniversary. I am astounded at how fast time has gone by already. Our marriage was one of those that you hear about on tv, but hardly ever see or meet the couple in real life. When we tell people we met on the internet we are usually faced with the typical oh? or hmm…

These past six years have taught me much about myself and made me even more thankful for my Ruben. He completes me! I am the more free-spirited one, and he is the nerd, he needs help loosening up, and I need help reigning in. We have different tastes in music, movies, and tv shows, but we still find common ground, and sometimes, sometimes I like the things he listens to,  but don’t tell him I said that 😉

Marriage is not a fifty-fifty relationship it is one hundred percent from both of you. You have to give it your all to make it work! The Lord knew the areas in my life that I needed to be molded and made more into the likeness of Him and my spouse had helped challenge me. Here are Six things that Six years of marriage has taught me:

  1. Life is not about me it’s about the Lord and how we can Glorify and serve Him together through our marriage and family.
  2. Contentment When things don’t go my way I need to accept that and not get mad. This is still a painful lesson for me!
  3. Listen more I love when we get a moment to sit down together and listen to each others hearts and what our days entailed. I know that I can take over a conversation sometimes, and I am learning to sit and listen to my husband when he pours his heart out to me.
  4. Patience is a virtue and one that I am always working on. I am a go-getter, when I want to do something, I do it. Ruben is not, he thinks through things before he acts on them. I am thankful for his patience and have learned much from him.
  5. Be in the Word daily! When I study the Word, my responses toward my husband and children are more patient and understanding. I am a better wife and mother when I am immersed in God’s Word.
  6. Respect- How do we talk to our husbands in public and private? Do we build him up, or tear him down? Our words are so powerful! Be careful with how you use them.

When I was single, I had a dream of what the perfect life would be like when I got married. My dream is nothing like reality; it’s better! I am thankful for the Lord and how He intervened in my dreams and made them better than I ever could have imagined. I wouldn’t trade any of it, ever!

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120 One-Word Writing Prompts

 
Ever get stuck with what to write about? Me too! I love using one-word writing prompts to inspire and challenge me to write more. I made a list of 120 words that you can use to help you write more. The fun part with one-word writing prompts is that everyone has a different interpretation for each one. What will you write about next?
 
1. Sometimes
2. Believe
3. Gratitude
4. Love
5. Music
6. Trust
7. Tradition
8. Snow
9. Hope
10. White
11. Adorable
12. Pattern
13. Red
14. Dance
15. Captive
16. Watch
17. Flee
18. Alarm
19. Dying
20. Fan
21. Seek
22. Past
23. Short
24. Reflection
25. Coffee
26. Sun
27. Breathtaking
28. Movie
29. Hands
30. Laugh
31. Honesty
32. Home
33. Travel
34. Water
35. Two
36. Wonderful
37. Beauty
38. Blessing
39. Warm
40. Chocolate
41. Blanket
42. Stars
43. Darkness
44. Light
45. Simple
46. Past
47. Fall
48. Blue
49. Eyes
50. Sadness
51. Brick
52. Style
53. Fault
54. Forgiveness
55. Suitcase
56. Dreams
57. Ocean
58. Purple
59. Grace
60. Fire
61. Toys
62. Riddle
63. Open
64. World
65. Yearn
66. Year
67. New
68. Hunger
69. Formula
70. Willpower
71. Genetic
72. Mother
73. Father
74. Heartache
75. Thirsty
76. Milk
77. Smelly
78. Ice
79. Crying
80. Sleep
81. Friendship
82. Book
83. Dare
84. Fruit
85. Owl
86. Scream
87. Yellow
88. Disobedience
89. Path
90. River
91. Stand
92. Horizon
93. Energy
94. Hero
95. Vision
96. Collect
97. Story
98. Leaves
99. Target
100. Photograph
101. Write
102. Listen
103. Swim
104. Simple
105. Blue
106. Terminal
107. Fly
108. Wind
109. Bird
110. Nest
111. Eye
112. Eavesdrop
113. Flood
114. Growl
115. Rain
116. Sugar
117. Shadow
118. Monster
119. Angry
120. Number

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Theology and Anxiety

**These were my notes from Todd Friels DVD titled: Anxiety- The Biblical Cure**

What do the two of these have to do with each other? Actually, a lot! If you are not sound in your theology, then you won’t have a correct view of God, which will lead you to be anxious. Theology is the study of God, and when we study God’s Word and really get to know Him and his love, goodness, and grace then we will understand and be able to trust more. How can we put our faith and trust in someone we don’t even know?
When we are engulfed in the things of this world, then our mind will be overtaken by those things rather than the Word of God. Our thoughts drive our emotions, and when we think about worldly things, then we have worldly emotions. But because I know the Truth of God’s Word it has changed my thinking and focus on Him instead of myself.

When we have a correct and sound understanding of the one true God our thoughts will not be on things of this world, but things above. Churches have traded in sound doctrine for entertainment and pleasure, instead of preaching God’s Word we decided that we would rather focus on pleasing each other. The Lord must be in FULL control of our lives He must be the engine that is running us, not the world.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

-Psalm 119:105

Which path are you on?

  1. Jesus, Bible, Truth> Faith> Thinking> Emotions> Actions> Emotions
  2. World, Devil, Lies, Self> Faith (self)> Emotions> Thinking> Actions > Emotions

Let me leave you with a final thought from Todd Friel:

Knowing that the Bible is the word of God and not man should give someone great confidence when they read about who God is and, in this particular context, what He says about anxiety and worry. These are not just helpful thoughts based upon mans ideas but are God’s divine revelation to us. Because of that, everything God says is completely reliable. It is absolute truth. This should bring great encouragement to the anxious heart and peace to the worrier.