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Have you ever made the mistake of asking an eight-year-old what a movie was about? I have—and the results were brutal.

Nearly an hour later, as he finally wrapped up his nonstop, blow-by-blow report with “And that’s what it was about,” my eyes were glazed over and I was bordering on comatose. All I could think of was, I just asked what time it was; I didn’t want to know how to make the clock! Honestly, a simple “It was a story about a dog named Snickers” would have sufficed.

Eight-year-olds, however, have not yet learned to focus. Their attention span is still somewhat akin to that of a housefly, so I knew it was pointless to try to explain to him that I simply wanted a one-line synopsis of the movie. Better to cut my losses and make a run for it before he started telling me about the sequel.

But are adults that much different? To be more specific, are writers that much different? We should be. In fact, we must be if we are to be effective communicators. But are we?

One of the most frequent problems I see in working with writers is a desire to “eat the entire elephant.” I’m sure you’ve heard the saying that the only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time, and that’s a great way to approach writing. For instance, if you want to write a story about your family vacation to the Redwoods, you need to stick to what actually happened on that trip. You should, of course, include enough information about your family, the scenery, the weather, and the magnificent trees to bring your story to life, but you don’t have to write an encyclopedia on trees in general. Or, if you’re thinking of writing about a particular spiritual experience you once had, you don’t write an apologetic on the entire Bible. In other words, successful writing is about finding and keeping your focus, unlike the eight-year-old with the limited attention span who rambled on about the movie because he wasn’t able to formulate and express one clear thought. In essence, he was trying to eat the entire elephant in one big bite. Writers often attempt the same thing, and it simply doesn’t work.

In My Son, John, my focus was this: God’s love is strong enough to bring healing to any situation, regardless of how traumatic or ugly or seemingly hopeless. Maintaining that focus, I was able to transition from the original story about a woman who discovers her 23-year-old son has AIDS, which is her first realization that he is involved in a homosexual lifestyle, to a woman whose mother is savagely murdered and then her 23-year-old son is arrested for the crime.

A drastic change? Not really because I knew what my story was really about, as captured in my focus statement about God’s love. Whether you want to write fiction or nonfiction, short stories or articles, children’s books or study guides, the bottom line is still the same: Identify your focus, and then—unlike the little boy and his never-ending rendition of the movie—stay true to that focus.

Your readers will thank you, and will come back for more!

Happy elephant eating!

*Adapted from THE TRAIN-OF-THOUGHT WRITING METHOD: Practical, User-Friendly Help for Beginning Writers by Kathi Macias (AuthorHouse, 2005).

My Son, John
Synopsis

Murder. Could there be a more chilling word? Could it be any more horrible than to have a loved one killed, brutally and heartlessly, without obvious reason or motive? When Liz Peterson’s elderly mother is found viciously beaten to death in her home, Liz and her husband, Charles, along with their grown son, John, and teenage daughter, Sarah, are horrified beyond words. Their previously predictable, respectable lives seem to have vanished without a trace, as they struggle to make sense of a senseless act.


And then a second blow—more devastating, if possible, than the first—rocks them to their core. John is arrested for his grandmother’s murder. As what’s left of the Peterson family begins to crumble under the weight of loss and accusation, the Petersons’ longstanding Christian faith is put to the test in a way they could never have imagined, and unconditional love is stretched to its limits. Will family ties and relationships withstand such a crushing blow, or will evil succeed in dividing and conquering this once close and inseparable family?

About the author
Kathi Macias is a multi-award winning writer who has authored nearly 30 books and ghostwritten several others. A former newspaper columnist and string reporter, Kathi is a teacher of creative and business writing and frequent guest on broadcast programs. She won the prestigious 2008 member of the year award from the Advanced Writers and Speakers Association. Her book, My Son, John, is also available on Kindle.

Visit Kathi’s website athttp://www.kathimacias.com”> http://www.kathimacias.com and her blog at http://kathieasywritermacias.blogspot.com/.  Stay tuned to Kathi’s website for news of her upcoming Blog Talk Radio show.