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IWW Practice-W Exercise Archives
Exercise: Faith

These exercises were written by IWW members and administrators to provide structured practice opportunities for its members. You are welcome to use them for practice as well. Please mention that you found them at the Internet Writers Workshop (http://www.internetwritingwor kshop.org/).

Prepared by: Florence Cardinal
Posted on: December 22, 2002

Our Thanks to Lisa Johnson for this exercise. Because of the Christmas season, this exercise will run for two weeks, until Friday January 3, 2003.

FAITH

This time of year is special to people from all cultures. From the ancient Winter Solstice through to Christmas, Hanukkah, Rammadan, and Kwanza, this is a time of year for many to celebrate and reflect. People have different faiths to give meaning to their lives, and to help them through the rough times. (Even atheists have beliefs: they may believe in people, in love, in philosophies, using these to guide their lives.)

I'm sure, though, no matter what your beliefs are, that everyone has experienced faith at some point in their lives. This exercise is one of our "Remembering" exercises. This time, look back to a time in your life when you have experienced or benefited from faith. It could be something that shows faith in action, an incident that demonstrates true faith, or an example of how faith helped you . It can be faith in a person, faith in God or a higher power, faith in the system, or even faith in yourself.

Write your submission honestly and remember what you experienced, how you felt. Don't make things up, just be honest. Sometimes you can gain faith from bad things that happen.

So the exercise: in 400 words or less, describe a moment in your life when you've experienced faith.


Florence Cardinal's wrap-up
Posted on: January 6, 2003

I was pleased to see so many submissions and such a variety. Topics ranged from faith in God to faith in self to faith in justice. Some even touched on the misery of a lack of faith.

Faith, it seems, is something that leaves a deep impression on the person experiencing it. Use this in your writing. If you're writing fiction, make sure that your characters all believe in, have faith in something. If a character is lacking in faith, then have him/her achieve faith by the end of your story.

Just like all your experiences, all the deep emotions you experience in your life, your own faith is great fodder for your creativity.

Florence




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