I was pleasantly surprised by "Acceptable Prayers" by Gary Schmidt and Elizabeth Stickney. The book is divided into 8 sections defining different steps in the writing process. There are also brif essays by the authors followed by a multitude of prayers and poems. What delights is that many of the prayers and poems are by well-known and well-loved authors.
This is a book that can be enjoyed by reading it, and used as a sort of reference when faced with writer's block, a tool that should be kept handy by writers for those times when they face writer's block or a thorny problem preventing the work from progressing. It is a comfort to be in the company of other writers who have run into the same problems writing, and have established reputations in the literary world, such as C.S. Lewis, Jane Austen and the Brontes.
Aside from its usefulness to writers, the prayers and poems can be enjoyed and appreciated by any reader. I recommend this book highly ( )

First, a confession: I'm not a writer. I don't even pretend to be one. But I do help lead worship services at my church and at two retirement communities in our town. I think this book will be a great resource. The prayers are excellent selections. I especially enjoyed the sections about noticing the beauty in the world around us.

I believe my favorite part of the book was the epitaph from Benjamin Franklin in the afterword. And, though they were often similar, I enjoyed the prayers of William Barclay. ( )

Acceptable Words
Prayers for the Writer
edited by Gary D. Schmidt and Elizabeth Stickney

I was drawn to this 198 page tribute to faith because as a struggling writer I could relate to it so much. Sometimes the words don't come no matter how much I want them to or how much I prepare to write them, so this great find was right up my alley. Each offering touched me in a different and profound place.

What it is speaks so much louder than what it isn't. It is not a how to on writing styles or a step by step on getting the job done, it is an amazing collection of prose, prayers, and passion that as I read them got me excited and stirred in such a confident way it got me right over the hump and the words just came tumbling out. I would recommend this blessed light to anyone who needs that little nudge in just the right places. Thanks you two, for this inspiring approach.

Love & Light,

Riki Frahmann ( )

Acceptable Words by Gary Schmidt and Elizabeth Stickney is a well thought-out and reassuring book. When I requested it, I did not know what to expect, but when I recieved it, I was pleasantly surprised by what I found inside. It is not a book that you sit down and read. It is, rather, a book that you keep near your bedside and close to your computer. It is a book that you turn to when you need reassurance that other - better - writers have been where you are and have felt what you feel. Others have approached their work with the same helplessness, hopefulness, joy and despair that caused them to turn to God in prayers that they, thankfully, wrote down.
Acceptable Words is made up of eight sections, each dedicated to a different step in the writing process. It begins with the moment a writer sees something in the world and feels the urge to put it down on paper for others to understand, continues through the writing and editing, and ends when a writer completes a work and either puts it away or sends it out into the world. Each section begins with a brief essay by the authors and then come dozens of prayers and poems by a wide variety of sources. From the Book of Psalms to Robert Frost, from Jane Austen to e. e. cummings every variety of author is referenced.
Schmidt and Stickney do a lovely job of drawing together such a variety of experiences that turn out, in the end, to be universal. Every author should have this book, if only for the reassurance that we are not alone. ( )

The concept of a book of prayers focused on writers and the writing process struck me as a novel and useful one. The selection is a fine one, including authors both ancient and new, authors and scholars and saints. I struggled a bit with the organization, though: often I had difficulty distinguishing one category from another, and the connection between a given work and the stage in the writing process that it supposedly addressed was sometimes tenuous — or so it seemed to me. Perhaps it would have been better to present the whole collection as a set of prayers addressed to writing in general, without the subdivisions. Many of the selections are pieces that I would tend to call religious poetry rather than actual prayer, although I realize that it's a rather blurry line that separates the two types.

Overall, though, the works included here are worth some reflection, even if the way they're arranged is a bit weak. ( )