Report of 2006 Montrose, PA Christian Writers Conference: Hosted by Freelance Writer Kathy Ide

The written word is perhaps one of the most powerful elements in all of society. When words are put onto paper with pen, (or—in today’s society—laptop and inkjet printer), it lasts much longer than speech and can transform society, perpetuate ideas, and touch people’s lives long after they have been ushered into being by their authors. While movies and television shows are bound by budgets and time constraints, graphic artists limited by computer capability and hardware restrictions, writers are limited only by the breadth of their imaginations and how long they can stave off “writer’s cramp” in their hands.

Thus, because of writing’s profound effect on the world around us, an examination of why we write in the first place was an excellent opening topic for the Montrose Bible’s 2006 Summer Writer’s Conference, held in Montrose, Pennsylvania. Given by Kathy Ide, freelance editor, published author and founder of The Christian Pen: Proofreaders and Editors Network, Monday’s Conference began with a focus on the four potential motivations for writing: fame, fortune, Glory, and Grace (yes - the last words are capitalized purposely!).

Ide began her presentation by contrasting the phenomenal success of Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy with the recent sensation caused by Dan Brown’s The DaVinci Code (which I am currently reading and will soon be reviewing from the Christian perspective).

She highlighted how the wide-spread popularity, notoriety and controversy generated by The DaVinci Code is inherently different than the love readers have for Tolkien’s tales because of the intent behind them. Brown weaves an interesting tale with highly volatile themes based on research that has largely come under fire - in essence he’s zeroed in on what he recognized as a “hot topic”, and has attempted to pass what Ide called “fiction as if it were truth”.