How to Show Love Through Writing

Valentine's Day has passed. And both Husband and I forgot to get a card or flowers for it! Thankfully, all is not lost. I have lists upon lists of ideas for ways in which you can show your love, for whomever you love, through whatever you write.

What is love? (Reframing the question.)

Why do I need to ask this right off the bat? Because defining terms is essential to being understood and making a point. For a long time, since the first time I read The Four Loves by C. S. Lewis, I realized that love is less of a noun ("person, place, or thing/feeling") and more of a verb ("action").

Lewis talks about love in terms of the four Greek terms for it:

• Storge, or family love. This can be described as affection between family members, biological or nonbiological.
• Phileo, or friendship love. This is a closer, deeper kind of affection that generally involves kind actions taken toward another person.
• Eros, or romantic love. Most people would probably think of this kind of affection around Valentine's Day. This kind is associated with specific (generally sexual) actions between someone and the significant other.
• Agape, or self-sacrificial/divine love. God initiates this kind toward us; the most powerful manifestation of this sort of love is the substitutionary death of Jesus for the sin and sins of each person throughout history.

Because the topic of love has been so fraught with pugnacious arguments these days, I want to talk about another book that informs the Christian's understanding of love, written for the non-Christian. Sam Alberry's 128-page read, Why does God care who I sleep with?, walks through the biblical and rational and historical basis for why Christians see love and specifically marriage the way they do, as a life-long union between one man and one woman, not grounded in feelings but in commitment to supporting each other and procreating.

With that context, let's think about whom we might love, through writing.

Who is my audience?

I can think of at least five potential audiences to whom one can show love, through writing and other means. 

Perhaps the most obvious audience to come to mind is one's significant other, or a close friend if there is no significant other. Any of the 4 types of love can and should be expressed to the significant other, and (in the Christian moral system) 3 types for a close friend.

Another somewhat natural audience one can love through writing is children, whether one's own or children of friends one knows well. Phileo and agape love are appropriate to express in these situations.

A third audience is God. According to Martin Luther, everyone has a god as defined as "that from which we are to expect all good and to which we are to take refuge in all distress" (Large Catechism, First Commandment, 2). So, even if you identify as a None, you have a god . . . think about it. For those in faith traditions who have a god outside of themselves, the way of communicating with this entity is through prayer. Most people speak or read their prayers, and some also write them down. A prayer journal is an excellent way to write your love for God. Agape love is the love which we strive to have toward God.

A fourth audience, perhaps outside the box, is one's known readers. For teachers, the known readers are their students, colleagues, and supervisors, depending on the publication (lecture notes, scholarly articles, self-reflections, etc.). For celebrities, known readers are their fans. Authors, teachers, and celebrities have various purposes in writing, in which love can be shown through intentional clarity, humor, and truth-telling.

Similarly, a fifth outside-the-box audience is one's unknown readers. My main example for this is a book author who does not know who will actually pick up a copy of the book, and so much envision a "target" reader. As with audience #4, authors can show love through specific aspects of their writing.

What kinds of writing might I use?

Although I had known before that all of these types of writing exist, I hadn't thought to put them together until now. Main source is Oxford-Royale. Hopefully, this list will spark some ideas for you as well.

1. Academic essay: a structured work of varying length, striving to be straightforward for respect for the reader's time and intellect.
2. Business article or brief: a structured work of very short length, striving to be straightforward and brief (if without charm) for respecting the reader's time.
3. Diary: a personal, often-anonymous, reflective record of one's thoughts and life, "for my eyes only."
4. Eulogy: a speech or poem written as a tribute to one who has died, to show honor to their memory.
5. Journalism: an article of varied length written to be informative and engaging, to show respect for readers' time and interest.
6. Letter to the editor: shorter than a journalist's article; must be interesting, humorous, polite, and to the point.
7. Marketing copy: extremely brief, used in advertising as a call to action or to create and reinforce a brand.
8. Memoir: similar to a diary, but intended a priori for publication.
9. Poetry: a very loose category of ideas or concepts expressed with atypical grammar and style.
10. Prose: another large category of non-poetic writing that varies by length and genre (see below).
11. Script: a story told exclusively through dialogue and stage directions. Love through clarity and metaphor.
12. Speech: a timed script to be persuasive and entertaining; prioritizes knowing one's audience immediately.

What forms of prose can I use?

Because prose has so many genres, I want to spell out a list of those a little more deeply. If prose is the medium you want to use to express love to your intended audience, consider one of these genres:

1. Bildungsroman: a type of prose I had not heard of, but when I break apart the German etymology of the word into "education" + "novel", it makes sense that this type of book follows a single character from birth through adulthood, focusing on psychological and moral development.
2. Dystopian: a subtype of speculative fiction that looks at the world from a worst-case "what-if" point of view.
3. Fantasy: a subtype of speculative fiction that can be set in present, past, or future, with less-than-realistic elements prevalent.
4. Historical: either fictional or nonfictional--so it's important to discern the actual history at the outset!
5. Horror: not something I dive into on this blog or in my TBR list.
6. Literary fiction: specifically driven more by character development than by plot.
7. Magical realism: similar to fantasy, but the emphasis is on a mostly-realistic setting with a few fantastical or magical elements.
8. Mystery: some of my favorites are by Agatha Christie, though it's been a number of years since I read one of her novels.
9. Realism: in setting, characters, and plot, the opposite of fantasy or magical.
10. Romance: also not something I dive into on this blog or in my TBR list.
11. Science fiction: either realistic or magical, emphasizing potential achievements of science that may or may not work in the real world.
12. Speculative fiction: a larger subgenre addressing "what if" by science fiction, dystopian, and fantasy genres.
13. Thriller: similar to horror, not something I get into.
14. Western: set in the U.S. West, usually in the past.

So . . . how do I show love through writing?

My short answer to this question is that you think about your audience and what would best serve them, in whatever type of writing you choose. (Notice how writing can combine words of affirmation and acts of service!) If that is by entertaining, then be supremely entertaining. If that is by informing, write truthfully, accurately, and clearly. And so on!

What are your favorite ways to show someone (child, significant other, friend, or other) you love them?

My Favorite Late-Winter Reads

In most parts of the Midwest, February can be a dreary and tiresome month. There have been snowfalls, maybe an ice storm, and a long string of days that are cloudy, cold, windy, or all of the above. During the last half/third of winter, before it's possible to get outside for long stretches of time and enjoy the spring, one activity to bolster our spirits is--you guessed it--reading!

But are there any particular books to read that will be the most helpful in getting us through the un-romantic portion of winter? Yes . . . and they're not just novels. Come along for a tour of my favorite recommendations for the working mom of (a) young child(ren), gathered from the last couple of years. I'll wrap up with some tips on how to actually get through the books, when things get difficult.

BOOKS ABOUT WINTER

During winter, sometimes we need a little authorial sympathy, in the form of wintry scenes that the book is either centered around or appreciates in passing. There's a lot of beauty in winter. However, depending on where you live, by the halfway point you may feel like telling winter to take a hike! As a matter of fact, we got our third or fourth snowstorm yesterday, which looks lovely but also cold and presently un-drivable as I write this paragraph.

I feel like Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol hits both sides of the appreciation-fatigue coin. The very title romanticizes the (early) winter holiday of Christmas. As the book progresses, though, we see the conscience and memory of Scrooge reminding him of human suffering that comes from a combination of cold, poverty, and illness. For historical context, Dickens wrote in the Victorian era, immediately after the Enlightenment--when a massive shift had occurred in human thinking about morality.

If you've read my blog for more than a few weeks, you know that Louisa May Alcott's Little Women is a favorite book of mine for all seasons, but especially winter. Alcott and Dickens were contemporaries. Like Dickens, Alcott struck a balance between the beauty of winter (ice skating, setting up a wartime homemade Christmas) and its challenges (a hungry family headed by a widow). Overall, the book comes across as more level-headed than the feel-good storyline of A Christmas Carol.

You may be in a place where both of those picks are too hard for your brain. That's okay! If that's the case, consider Dr. Seuss's (Theodore Geisel) How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Seuss's picture book is fun to read aloud or silently. It's centered on Christmas, and contains illustrations that can be glanced at or pored over, depending on how long your available reading times are in a given day. With a toddler, that can be a minute at a time, or less.

Side comment: Why is the song "In the Deep Midwinter" written to refer to Christmas (the 5th day of the 3-month season)?

BOOKS FOR YOUR BRAIN

In this category--because winter is no time to allow the brain to get mushy--I've also put 3 picks for reading, in descending order of difficulty. Disclaimer: I haven't yet read the first pick yet. I do hope to start it before winter ends, but am ramping up to it due to a more active child these days combined with a semester that is ramping up: Plato's Dialogues. At the recommendation of my Bibliovore, I am reading a selection of 12-13 of the dialogues, in a logical (not chronological) order. I anticipate there will be a couple of posts about the material, so stay tuned!

For a more contemporary, but still theological and relatively challenging, big book, consider Horton's The Portable Seminary. I found this one surprisingly accessible, with the page layout and use of white space being particularly helpful. This book purports to provide a master's level education in just under 800 pages.

If your interest is more in the history and theory of how people learn in cultural context, check out Neil Postman's The End of Education. "End" in this case does not mean "termination," but "goal" (Greek telos, the root word of teleology). Not surprisingly, there's a lot more philosophy in this book than I expected when first reading it in 2018. As a 200-page paperback, it's much easier to get through during a single winter than either of my previous reading picks in this section.

FICTION PICKS

Ever since I was a child, I had the desire to read the very longest classic books. While I did not succeed until after adolescence, one winter-related novel that attracted my attention (which I ended up finally reading in 2010) was Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. Set in Victorian-era Russia, this novel deals with topics not for the faint of heart. While I don't recall details of the plot, I do recall immense satisfaction at finishing it, and I hope you will too.

My second fiction recommendation is actually a series of seven books. Not surprisingly, it is C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia (link to a summary of only the first book to whet your appetite). Thinking back, I think I have read this series at least once every 3-5 years, because it's just that good. And the appreciation for Lewis's style of writing, his integration of various philosophical ideas, and the quality of his storyline increase with each successive read. I have it on record that these books can be enjoyed by people over 75 years old, down to under 5 years old. If you haven't read any of the books, you're missing out. Here they are in order of the events described, with publication order in parentheses.

• The Magician's Nephew (#6, 1955)
• The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (#1, 1950)
• The Horse and His Boy (#5, 1954)
• Prince Caspian (#2, 1951)
• The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (#3, 1952)
• The Silver Chair (#4, 1953)
• The Last Battle (#7, 1956)

Finally, my third fiction pick-in-progress is Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. When I first read this in college, I didn't appreciate the writing style and characteristic sarcasm, and mainly read it because several friends in my friend group were (and still are) avid Austen fans. This time around, I read chapter 22 out loud to Child yesterday and gave myself a stitch from trying not to laugh out loud throughout. Austen's other novels also provide moral and historical commentary on post-Enlightenment England, so reading this "fun" novel doubles as learning about philosophy, morality, and history, if you so desire.

NONFICTION PICKS

For a long time, in this realm of nonfiction books I have harbored a desire to get more into history. As of right now, sadly, I haven't achieved that goal. So, my 3 winter reading recommendations for nonfiction are of a theological/philosophical/theoretical bent.

First up is one I read a number of years ago and would like to reread at some point. Harry Blamires' The Christian Mind and perhaps its sequel The Post-Christian Mind. Blamires wrote both books during a relatively recent (late 1900s) time of anti-intellectualism within the church, which is unfortunately alive and well in many places. In both books, he describes the orientation each Christian, lay or pastoral, should have toward knowledge, reason, and their implications for faith and morality.

Second is a longer textbook of sorts, Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview by Christian apologist-philosophers J. P. Moreland and William Lane Craig. I read through some chapters much more easily than others. Like Blamires' books, but at a deeper level, this text expands on the various ways in which it is reasonable for Christians to think coherently about science, history, logic, mathematics, and other areas.

Finally, Susan Cain's Quiet. While my Myers-Briggs personality type has changed over the years, my introversion has not. I thrive on a lot of solitary or one-on-one time to recharge. Cain's book helped me understand the science and sociology behind introversion, including strengths, weaknesses, and the fact that one out of every three people you know is probably an introvert.

READ-ALOUDS

At last, I'm at the part of the post where moms of very-littles (think birth-6 years) can most relate. In the spirit of Charlotte Mason, I've picked my favorite read-aloud books that combine good-quality illustrations, simple text for younger ears, and a "living book" quality that won't drive you nuts from ceaseless re-reading. As a side note, if you have a baby in the house right now, don't feel that you *have* to read only board ("bored" 😁) books. Littles' auditory comprehension is almost always far ahead of their verbal expression.

From longest to shortest, here are my top three read-aloud book ideas. Kenneth Grahame's 1908 children's novel The Wind in the Willows has long been one of my favorites. Similar to Brian Jacques' 22-book Redwall series, which came later, this book follows talking animals' ordinary yet extraordinary adventures. As children grow to be able to read these books for themselves, there is plenty of food for the imagination.

Next is another series, Stan and Jan Berenstain's The Berenstain Bears (the original 1970s series). If you haven't read them, go find one and do so! That's all I will say about this one.

Third is Child's current favorite. Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar. In this whole post, this one is the only board book. The biggest draw for me is the combination of natural language and realistic pictures. For Child, pages are fun to turn and holes are fun to poke fingers into. So far, the greatest number of times I've read this in one sitting is 7. Haven't gotten sick of it yet.

FOR THE MAMA

This last section, mama, is for you especially, to nurture your spirit. 

An expected book in this section, for me, is Larry Christensen's The Christian Family. Given the plethora of books written around the same topic around the same time, it is worth your time to read this book slowly, with a grain of salt. As Lewis advised, take a teacher-about-God with you when you read biblical material, whether Scripture itself or someone writing about Scripture.

An even more expected book, here, is C. S. Lewis's Mere Christianity. Similar to Blamires' books on how Christians ought to think, this book's subject material is the core set of Christian beliefs. Lewis does write from an Anglican (Church of England) perspective. I placed Mere Christianity in this section because the writing style is more accessible and chapters a little shorter, for those mothering days when fewer brain cells are functioning.

An unexpected treasure, which I think I may have picked up in a college library discard pile, is Tim Hansel's When I relax, I feel guilty. If you know me in real life, you can appreciate with a giggle (or snicker, it's okay!) how precisely this book applies to me. Everyone needs rest; this book is a fresh take on the feelings related to necessary rest.

HOW TO READ WHEN READING IS HARD

Now that I've whetted your appetite for late-winter reads, how on earth do you get through them? Here are some tips from Modern Mrs. Darcy and The Art of Manliness.

• Read according to the mood you're in--this is one of the biggest reasons I keep a pile of books in progress. I'm not always going to feel like reading only Wheelock's Latin, every night, until it's done. (On that front, I am languishing at the end of chapter 1.)
• Arrange your physical environment, including mood lighting and a favorite beverage--I'm putting some finishing touches on my new reading corner and will show you what it looks like in action when it's ready!
• Put the phone elsewhere. Working on this one...
• Get some physical activity first--this has been shown to enhance neuroplasticity (the brain's ability to change in response to stimuli) and other aspects of cognition.
• Try something completely different than what you're used to reading. The brain likes novelty and pays more attention to it.
• Use goal-setting theory to make a non-time-bound plan ("just finish the book" without setting a specific time limit).
• Appreciate and use the short fragments of time throughout your day. Do you only have time to read 3 paragraphs? Do at least that much!
• Take notes, doodle, diagram, and otherwise interact with the text.
• If possible, use (1) a visually appealing book edition and (2) handy reference materials for unfamiliar vocabulary.
• If you're on a roll, remind yourself of that to preserve the momentum.

I hope you've found some inspiration in this post, for encouraging yourself through your personal reading, this winter. What favorites do you have in each category? Feel free to share them below in the comments!

A Few of "My Favorite Things": A Reading Area Without a Reading Room

As a lifelong bibliophile, I've always loved the idea of a special room or nook devoted to reading. However, in my adult life, I have not been able to yet make this dream a reality. I grew up in an open-concept house with a library room. Currently, I live in an open-concept house, albeit with a *lot* of bookshelves. Our "library" consists of tall shelves in the living area, by the laundry room, and next to the kitchen table. So, there is not one dedicated, single-function space for my reading nook.

This has bothered me for a while. So, through researching for this post, I hope to get myself on the road toward transforming a corner of the very multi-functional space into a mental and physical "hideaway" for a reading mama. Come along with me on this journey!

What the Internet Says a Reading Room Should Be Like

According to almost every source, a reading room should be dedicated, more or less, to reading. One institutional example of this is the Library of Congress reading room. The Library itself contains over 56,000 volumes with various topics and years of publication. This room accommodates adults (16+ years) who are there to research, and has spaces to read, access to a selection of the books each day, and reference librarians. People are allowed to bring only items pertinent to their own research into the room (related books, note-taking materials, a warm sweater).

What about a personal example? I would guess that none of us have a room in our homes quite as large as the LoC reading room. However, we may have one room that contains some or all of the books we own and/or have checked out from the library. That room becomes our reading room. Most ideas for setting up your own reading room in this post came from here and here.

What items should we have in a reading room? Ideally, this should not be a cluttered place. Each item should support the purpose of the room - attentive, calm reading. Some ideas are:

• Books to read.
• A comfortable, yet sturdy, seating surface. I prefer an armchair with an ottoman available for when the knees need to be straight (plus, having one's feet up allows cats to cuddle!). Others might prefer a thick rug by the fireplace. Or (like my brother) an adult-size bean bag.
• A small table one can sit at. This is especially helpful if you are going between books (as when researching or cross-referencing) or taking notes on what you're reading.
• An empty corner of a room, if an entire room is not available for reading.
• Pets (depending on your pet). If your companion animal is willing to actually stretch out on your lap or cuddle on your shoulder, without getting the zoomies, scratching your face/neck, or otherwise needing a lot of attention, s/he can be an excellent reading companion.

How can we set up the atmosphere of our reading room? Overall, the atmosphere should be cozy yet studious - we (maybe) don't want to fall asleep in the middle of a good chapter when we have more to get through! Some ideas include:

• Plenty of natural light, which is kinder on the eyes and helps us stay alert by suppressing the production of melatonin. 
• Good-quality artificial light, whether from candles, lamps (movable or upright), or other source.
• Textiles with textures and colors you like and associated with reading. I like having an afghan, too, but it's very easy to get sleepy!
• If you're a plant person, and the other inhabitants of your house (I'm looking at you, Merlin and Maybelle) aren't prone to eating whatever they come across, a vase of flowers or a houseplant or two can bring additional pleasure to the reading experience.
• Time to read. This is very often in short snippets for me.
• Quiet, with non-distracting ambient noise (like a crackling fire in the fireplace).
• Lack of distractions, including your phone, TV, and other source of internet.

The Physical Setup of My Reading Room

I'll say this here: I am not a Pinterest person (though I do have a business account there), and my house is most certainly not a Pinterest house. If you've looked over any of the ideas for setting up your reading room that I've linked to, you may be wondering what my present reading area looks like. Here it is!

Surrounding this multifunctional space (also used for nursing a very active Baby) is our kitchen table behind the sofa, my husband's book piles at the other arm of the sofa, a fireplace and plushy rug in front, kitchen to the left, and 7 tall bookshelves holding the majority of our home library. On the TV table that houses the immediate portion of my TBR, I have space for a water bottle or giant mug of tea, pen(s), some gently used index cards for bookmarks/shopping lists, and my devotional stack including Bibles, journal, and prayer notebook. Quite often, Maybelle will also be sitting in the sunny spot.

This is currently the only spot in the house where I can really read - the basement doesn't have a proper chair or good lighting, upstairs is relegated to office and nursery, and my back isn't a huge fan of the sofa even with pillows. So, what can I do to improve my reading space?

The back problem can be addressed by moving to an orange easy chair with another ottoman (you can see it from this sofa seat) and putting my reading "helps" into a basket or shoebox on a high part of the shelf by the chair. The attention problem can be helped by putting my phone into the bedroom right after Baby goes down for the night, and lying down for a few minutes during the day to help me be more alert for post-baby-bedtime reading.

The Mental Pieces for My Reading Room

While many websites describing a reading room include thorough descriptions of the physical setup, I find that the mental setup can make or break a consistent reading experience. Eight skills recommended for an effective reader or re-reader (student, leisure, or other) are:

1. Cultivating an overall attitude that one needs to perform "before," "during," and "after" tasks to get the most out of reading. (This is consistent with a blended learning and flipped classroom approach.)
2. Creating questions before and during reading, and seeing how the text answers them. To deepen one's level of understanding farther and farther, Socratic questions are a good set to use.
3. Activating past knowledge and experiences beforehand - which vary depending on the reader - to guide interpretation of the text. This unfortunately includes conscious and unconscious biases that may shift the reader from an authorial-intent standpoint to a reader-response standpoint, but one does also need a level of background knowledge to understand a text within its historical context.
4. During the reading process, self-monitoring. This ensures that the reader is always aware (metacognition) of his or her level of attention to and understanding of the text. If something is unclear, go back and re-read the sentence or paragraph with more attention and less speed.
5. During, creating a visual in one's head or on paper. Graphic organizers like concept maps or Venn diagrams (first example in previous link) can give visual structure to an otherwise meandering piece of prose or poetry.
6. During, searching for information and selecting the most pertinent bits. This may require outside sources (dictionary, handbook, etc.)
7. During and after, summarizing the text. These can be interim (after every paragraph or section) and after the entire quantity one has read.
8. During and after, making inferences toward logical conclusions or implications of the text. This is particularly important for philosophical books, and any other material that contains arguments with and without logical fallacies and other reasoning errors.

Given these skills, and where I'd like to be as a reader, where am I right now in this department? A few things: fairly consistent motivation, knowledge that the skills above are helpful for reading, some (sporadic) use of said skills, bits of time throughout the day plus about an hour in the evening, and a massive TBR list.

What do I need to get to where I'd like to be? I need more alertness and brainpower during the times available to me for reading, a note-taking system (since I love to learn/remember by writing) to help maintain my focus on more difficult material, and removal of my principal distraction (phone).

How am I going to get there? Stay tuned . . .

Reading, Writing, and Loving with Lewis

 . . . C. S. Lewis, that is. This may be one my longest posts, because there's a lot that can be said about Clive Staples Lewis, a man of many hats. Feel free to skip around by topic headings, or read the entire post straight through!

Why am I writing this post?

Lewis has long been one of my favorite writers, and is becoming even more of a favorite currently. If you know me in person, you know that it's almost impossible for me to decide on a favorite for anything, so Lewis is pretty significant. Because I've been easing my way into more philosophical and theological reading over the past year, plus listening to the Space Trilogy with my husband in 2023, I wanted to learn more about Clive.

Also, my friend Kristina suggested a theme of love for February posts, specifically referencing The Four Loves. Said book happened to be written by you-know-who, and as I had read it back in college my interest was piqued. Whether you've read 0 or 30 Lewis books, I believe he is well worth your time to peruse.

Why is Lewis in my top 3 favorite authors? Five characteristics come to mind:

• He has a clear writing style that I can understand and imitate. I love writing inside and outside of my day job, so this is a high priority for writers I read.
• He was a devout Christian, specifically an Anglican, so that is near to my heart since I am a new Anglican (different denomination . . . more on that in a later post.)
• His works integrate topics my husband and I are both interested in, including philosophy, languages, theology, and science.
• He is unpretentious. Intellectual humility is a must!
• He and J. R. R. Tolkien were good friends, actually co-founders of The Inklings.

What did Lewis say about reading?

According to the official C. S. Lewis website, he had a lot to say. His advice relates to (1) characteristics of good reading material, (2) one's mindset in reading, and (3) the process of reading.

Good-quality reading material, according to Lewis, is real, authentic, and generally older. The choice of "real" books, written by a single author who was personally invested in and experienced with the subject matter, is wholly compatible with Charlotte Mason's educational philosophy advising the choice of "living" books over "twaddle." The two authors were contemporaneous (Lewis 1898-1963, Mason 1842-1923). 

His rationale for advising us to choose older books, including Christian classics from authors such as Augustine, Aquinas, and Hooker, was that the longer ago a book was written, the more likely it was to be a primary source and less likely it was to need many other books for context. The Great Conversation started when thinkers started talking and writing, and continues to this day.

What about one's mindset during reading? Lewis, a committed Christian, speaks primarily to other Christians (including via thousands of pages of letters to various people), but I will sort out the pieces of advice he had for everybody versus only Christians. To everyone, he advised (1) humility, (2) positivity, and (3) curiosity. 

Humility toward the subject matter, especially as one gets more knowledgeable about it, is critically important but notoriously difficult to keep, as seen in the common Dunning-Kruger effect. A positive attitude can be restated as treating reading not as a chore but as a tasty treat. Finally, by curiosity he means that readers should have the goal of expanding themselves. He said that truly literary readers re-read carefully selected books. For Christian readers, Lewis adds that one's mindset during reading should be the same as in other parts of life - that of a converted Christian. In other words, don't compartmentalize your worldview.

Finally, what does a healthy reading process look like, according to Lewis? First, pay attention to the language the writer uses, and analyze it as you're able. Words matter! Second, if a chapter is clearly irrelevant to you, skip it without feeling guilty. (Note to self . . .) Third, when reading original sources, especially the Bible, read commentary alongside. This is because the books of Scripture were written not primarily to convert the uninitiated (although they've been used for that ever since) but mainly to instruct those who had already learned something about the faith and had converted to the faith without fully understanding.

On this last point, I couldn't help but think of Old Testament scholar John Walton's often-used phrase describing Scripture as written "for us, but not to us." All this means is that we, living now, are not the primary intended audience of any part of Scripture, so in order to discern how the text may apply to our situations today, we must consider the historical context of the human authors inspired by God.

What did Lewis say about writing?

C. S. Lewis had almost as much valuable advice for would-be writers as for would-be readers (information is from The Gospel Coalition). These relate, as well, to characteristics of writing material, one's mindset, and the process of writing.

What should one write about? Ideally, what one is interested in. Sometimes, though, uninteresting topics can't be avoided. Lewis also recommends saving old fragments of your own writing for potential later use, unless they're hopelessly horrible. For me, this brings to mind a paper I wrote in freshman or sophomore year of college, that the professor told me to publish but I never did. Maybe someday . . . although it has no relationship to my current day job. We'll see.

On mindset, not surprisingly, Lewis says to prepare to write by reading a lot, specifically good books. See the previous section for what he classifies as "good" reading. Christians writing should make their writing reflect Christian teachings, implicitly if not explicitly.

On process, he has many different tips that work together toward the common goal of clarity for the reader. Throughout, he advises a minimal-distraction environment and the choice of handwriting over typing (this is backed by ongoing research).

When you are choosing words, use a word only if you know its meaning. Prefer simple, appropriate words to complex ones. Instead of relying on adjectives, use nouns and verbs to describe so that the reader's mind thinks of the adjectives you were trying to convey. Use words and sentences with only one possible meaning.

When you are crafting sentences, make sure the language sounds good (versus just looking good). Imagine that someone is reading it aloud. (On an educational note, check out the oral-language chapter in Your Child's Growing Mind by psychologist Jane Healy.) Also, be as clear to the reader as humanly possible. This often means revisions upon revisions, and pilot testing (beta readers). Written language is the only means available to your mind to communicate to the reader's mind. Lewis's analogy is to think of one's writing as closing off all doors except the one the reader should go through.

How was Lewis inspired to write?

The Lion's Call blog lists several people who had a marked influence on getting Lewis to start writing, keep writing, and write about what he did.

1. Edith Nesbit - Lewis imitated her style in a fictional trilogy.
2. John Ronald Reuel Tolkien - influential not only in Lewis's conversion from atheism to Christianity, but also as a co-founder of The Inklings, a literary discussion group at Oxford.
3. George MacDonald - Lewis quoted frequently from his writings.
4. Florence Lewis - Lewis's mother, who died from cancer when he was 10 years old.
5. Robert Capron - an abusive schoolmaster at a boarding school Lewis went to (and who served as the likely inspiration for one of the characters in The Chronicles of Narnia).
6. Maud Barfield - the wife of a close friend.

What did Lewis write about love?

Information for this section comes from the C. S. Lewis official site and the C. S. Lewis Institute for apologetics. The "things" he actually wrote on this topic were one radio show (the only surviving audio we have of him), his book The Four Loves, and a letter he wrote in 1954.

In The Four Loves, Lewis expands on the concept of love based on the existence of four commonly used Greek words for "love." These are storge (familial affection), philia (friendship), eros (erotic, between romantic partners), and agape (literally "charity"). In all types of love, the concept of action is communicated--rather than just feelings--and this action involves taking a risk to make oneself vulnerable to the possibility of the other person rejecting or injuring us.

On agape love specifically, he writes that it is first commanded and exemplified by God. Therefore, loving God is a prerequisite for loving others, and it's impossible to love God "too much" or more than He loves us. According to Augustine, agape is a proper, never-inappropriate, kind of love. It sacrifices itself for someone else. The most natural context for this kind of love, besides between each Christian and God, is marriage.

Hopefully, by now your interest in "Jack" Lewis has increased. So . . .

What should I read by C. S. Lewis?

This author truly has something for (almost) everybody. I thought I knew, before writing this post, that I had a good handle on what he wrote. As it turns out, I was missing a good chunk of his works (books in order listed here, and an analysis of his letter writing here).

• Letters? He wrote around 3,700 pages in total, mostly answering questions that Christians wrote to him. He wrote most of the letters in the 1940s, increasing the length and number of letters as the years went by, particularly when he was associated with Oxford University.
• Poetry? We have 3 collections published to date.
• Novels? Besides The Chronicles of Narnia and The Space Trilogy, he wrote at least 5-10 additional fiction novels that convey a distinctively Christian worldview in a literary way.
• Nonfiction? There are at least 20 books in this arena, including The Four Loves and God in the Dock (an essay collection that fits together as well as a typical book).
• Academic works? There are 8 that I know of. I haven't read any yet, so can't offer an opinion.

Based on this, I have unofficial recommendations for the best Lewis works for all ages.

• Read aloud to elementary school-aged children: Chronicles of Narnia and World of Narnia
• Have older children read independently those same books
• High school age: nonfiction books
• Adult: academic books, Cosmic Trilogy (I think I read Perelandra too early, because I remember it scaring me as a high schooler or thereabouts)

I hope you've enjoyed reading this post as much as I've enjoyed writing it! Now go and enjoy a good book.