I don’t watch much TV. When I do, I prefer to have it on the DVR so I can skip past the commercials. I saw a few this evening which got me thinking about some great scriptural phrases which I have always been impressed with. Nephi is one of my author heroes.

” . . . my soul delighteth in plainness . . .”

” . . . the things which were written were plain and pure . . .”

” . . . even as plain as word can be . . .”

” . . . I have spoken plainly unto you . . . “

So are you like me? Do you prefer for people to speak plainly so that you might have a clear understanding? Do you wish people would just give it to you straight without all of the distracting fluff?

I just about gag every time I hear carefully worded speech or read cunningly crafted writing intentionally masking or hiding truth (words which are intentionally deceitful). Others which are just poorly worded and therefore unclear don’t bother me as much. Some marketing-speak just makes me laugh. I have to ask outloud as I nearly shout at the TV: Are you kidding me? Surely you are not serious! What a joke!

Here is a fun one: Our formula “reduces the appearance of wrinkles”.

Reduces: How much? Does one percent count?
Appearance: Does this mean you begin to THINK you can’t see them as much anymore? How more subjective could you possibly get?

Perhaps when you put the two words together it really does mean something (and I am just too dumb to figure it out). When you take the number 2 and square it, you get 4, right? The number 4 squared is 16, right?. Can you do the same with words which are non-specific, non-committal, non-meaningful?

Here is my word math: Reduces * Appearance = Fills the wrinkles with just enough gunk to smooth them out so they seemingly avoid detection by your less than perfect critical gaze in poor lighting conditions.

That is exactly what goes through my head when I hear the commercial. It makes me laugh.

It is really sad that other things are not quite so benign.

*sigh*

I would rather not turn this into a rant, so I will stop right there. Well, maybe one more question to get you thinking: Don’t you just love the words of Nephi? Can there be any misunderstanding?

Here is what he said: ” . . . I have spoken plainly unto you, that ye cannot misunderstand.”

I just love it. Plain and simple. Powerful words!

Tags: My Writing Life, Scripture Study

I am so very grateful for the scriptures. In Gospel Doctrine class we are right in the middle of some of the best chapters of the Book of Mormon. The Savior’s visit to the Americas, or rather the record of it, it absolutely wonderful. It is simple, inspiring, and life changing. I know the Book of Mormon is true . . . with all of my heart.

On another note, I am feeling better about the editing of my manuscript. As I have gotten further into the story, I have found fewer and fewer problems with it. Perhaps I will get this thing done yet.

Thanks to all of you wonderful authors and publishers who have blogsites. I just could not imagine trying to figure out this whole writing/publishing thing without them. What in the world did we ever do without Google and Blogs?

I am getting closer to the end of my manuscript cleanup. Danyelle Ferguson did a great job with her editing of it. She made so many suggestions, however, that it has taken me two months to fix all of the things she found. I have about 2 more weeks to go, I am guessing. It is not as if the manuscript was terrible. I blame the clumsy first drafts on the fact that I have not been in an english writing class for over 22 years. This has been a great experience. I look forward to the next one being so much easier.

Another thing I thought I would do: I want to post my first stab at a “teaser” for the book. I will be tweaking this a little bit for my query letters, but the general idea of it will probably remain. Let me know what you think.

To be honest with you, I have actually struggled with “genre” on this. After much research, I think it would land in the “Christian Fantasy” section in on-line bookstores, and perhaps just the “Fantasy” section of brick-and-mortar stores. I may be wrong though.

What is the book about? Think Old-Testament on a distant planet.
Here is the teaser:

***
Under the twin blue suns, Azure and Aqua, war rages between the tribes of Gideon, Daniel, and Uzzah. Jonathan son of Samuel, the last living Heir to the Throne of Daniel, finds himself staging an opportunistic rescue of his childhood friend Eli, Uzzahite Warrior and a Temple Priest, from a small band of Gideonite soldiers. After the swift skirmish has ended, a young Gideonite soldier by the name of Pekah joins Jonathan in the cause of the Tribe of Daniel, and discovers the truth about the true motives of the Gideonite Emperor. Pekah’s eyes are opened, and he becomes the instrument by which the Three Brothers are united once again. Jonathan, Eli, and Pekah, with the help of some very wise Gideonite soldiers, work together to keep General Rezon of Gideon from accomplishing his evil designs — the total annihilation of the other two tribes. As peace returns to their lands, Pekah finds himself a changed man, and with a new found love by his side, they watch together as the promised sign of a special birth appears in the heavens above Gan. Worlds away, “The One Who Would Suffer” has been born.

***

One last item . . . I think I need to get involved in a writer’s group, but I don’t want to wait until the LDSStorymaker’s conference next spring to meet people. If you have any suggestions, please let me know!

Tags: Manuscript, My Writing Life, Scripture Study

I love studying scripture. I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and over the years I have read nearly every page of “The Standard Works” (Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price), multiple times. I say nearly every page, because it is possible that I have not read every page of the entire Old Testament more than once.

I marvel at the common threads I see between the books, and thrill within when I find phrases quoted or re-used by one author or another that seem to tie the whole message together.

I have been a Gospel Doctrine instructor several times, and have also taught Gospel Essentials, and Youth Sunday School Classes. I also taught French at the Mission Training Center in Provo, Utah in 1988, right after my missionary service in the Geneva, Switzerland Mission.

My favorite teaching opportunity came about 6 1/2 years ago, when I taught Early Morning Seminary for one year in the Brownsburg, Indiana Ward. The curriculum that year was “The Book of Mormon”, and I loved it, even though it was very difficult for me physically. I have a few health issues, and the early hours combined with nightly study, deprived sleep, and a full-time job, nearly killed me. However, it was worth every minute!

During these various teaching opportunities, I have created various teaching helps that I used for my own lessons. I am a visual learner, and so placing these things in a graphics format has helped me to learn as I made them.

I have created a “Links List” here in the blog, and have uploaded some of the files I have made. I titled the section: “Scripture Study Aids by Daron D. Fraley”.

If you like them, feel free to download them and use them in your own classes. For copyright reasons, please do not edit the files, or remove the date or my name from the printed material, but you may copy and distribute the study aids as much as you would like. Tell your friends about my blog… Send them the link http://lachish-letters.blogspot.com

One last note…. If you find any “doctrinal inconsistencies”, please tell me about them. If I can verify the suggestions as being accurate, I am certainly willing to fix the errors.

May your journey through the Scriptures be as marvelous as mine has been.

Tags: Scripture Study