Assumptions in the Writing Life

We bring our own baggage to the table with everything we approach in life.

This week, I told my literature students that we all walk around with assumptions, many times without even realizing it, and these things influence the way we look at stories. These assumptions come from many places: past experiences, beliefs, values, and preferences, to name a few. I told them to visualize a dog when I said the word, "dog," and then we compared the kinds of dogs they thought of. As you may have guessed, there was quite a difference, depending on their own experiences.

Maybe your "baggage" isn't heavy--maybe it's sparkly pink or has a Hawaiian print. On the other hand, maybe your baggage looks like it should've been retired fifty years ago and is threadbare, barely able to keep everything in.

But wherever you're going, you bring these things with you to the next stop. That's why it's so important we examine the assumptions we are making about our writing lives. These assumptions, in a way, are our baggage. If they're possible assumptions, we may be well-prepared with what we'll need to face the challenges of our writing lives. But if they're the wrong kind of assumptions . . . well, that can do a lot of harm.

Jim Rubart and Allen Arnold led a workshop at the ACFW called "Live Free, Write Free," on a similar topic. Personally I wasn't able to attend this session, but from what I've read about it online, their main point was that the heart of an author is going to affect the heart of her story. You can't help it. Engaging stories--even fiction--have to be honest. That's why, they say, examining your own heart can help you find a way past writer's block. If you want to read the full Afictionado article about this session, it comes highly recommended by me. You can find it at http://www.acfw.com/ezine/article/workshop_10_live_free_write_free/

Today I want to break down three main areas wherein our assumptions affect our lives: assumptions about God, assumptions about ourselves, and assumptions about writing.

Assumptions about God

I accepted Christ when I was five years old. And yet, it never ceases to amaze me how easily and quickly my focus wanders away from the character of God. I don't care if you've been a Christian since you were a child, or if you just accepted faith five minutes ago. We all struggle with having, and maintaining, a proper view of God. But a proper view of God is this:

• God loves you. (John 3:16)
• God has put these dreams on your heart. (Eph. 3:20)
• God has gifted you with a gift that is unique to YOU and a calling only you can fill. (Rom. 12:6-8)
• God desires for you to use those gifts for His kingdom. (Rom. 12)
• God is not waiting to condemn you, but wants for you to live in freedom. (John 3:17)
• God desires for your life to be full and abundant. (John 10:10)
• God waits for you and never gives up. (Isaiah 30:18)
• God desires for you to be confident in His purpose for your life and in His love. (Hebrews 10:35-36)

Thoughts of failure, insufficiency, confusion, and fear, are simply not God-given (2 Timothy 1:7). We have to take back our minds from the control these things have over us. Am I afraid of being rejected by my dream publishing houses? Well, yeah. We all are. But that fear can't keep us from going after our dreams. We need to hold our fear back, rather than the other way around. That takes a lot of will power, and requires us to be conscious of our assumptions in the first place. If you believe somewhere deep down that God doesn't really love you, nor does He care about your story or your dreams, lie can hold you back from your potential and purpose as an author.

Ask God to show you His thoughts toward you and your writing. If you're anything like me, you have a head-knowledge of that, but having it translated to your heart makes for one of those "wow" moments. At the conference this year, I caught a glimmer of what God wants to do in my life and realized it is so, so much more than anything I could plan or dream up. Don't limit God. 

Assumptions about Ourselves

Part of you assumes you can make it as a writer. Otherwise, you wouldn't be reading this blog. But how strong is that part of you? How strong is the inner voice pushing you on?

When you're around writing circles long enough and put yourself out there enough times, you have a choice what you're going to believe. Some feedback will make you think you're about to rocket to the NYT list, and other feedback will make you want to go crawl inside a hole.

Now, I'm not suggesting you only take the positive feedback and ignore anything negative. Definitely not a good idea. What I am suggesting is that you make a very critical break between yourself as a write-r and your story as writ-ing. I had do to this very early on in my English program, or I never would've made it out of there. The fact is, to be a writer, you must be very brave.

People are going to shoot you down. At the end of the day, you have to be able to realize that negative feedback has no bearing on your calling. Of course it's okay to get bummed out and eat one too many brownies afterwards. But don't quit over it. Don't let it go from your heat to that critical place... your heart.

We have to believe we can do it. We have to believe we have a call upon our lives, and that ministry is important. Not to sound overly spiritual, but I really believe the enemy wants us to think we don't have what it takes and we might as well give up trying. That nothing we do will ever make a difference in anyone else's lives, so we shouldn't waste time developing plots and character arcs. But don't we most often find success when we least expect it? You never know what might be just behind that hill you're facing. Don't turn back now.

Assumptions about Our Writing

What do you really believe about your ability to write? About your story?

Dream with me for a second. Can you see yourself on a bestseller's list someday? Signing books at a bookstore? Writing a story that someone will read on an airplane and find a greater since of purpose from?

Why do we sell ourselves short of these things? I'm not just talking about commercial success. I'm talking about effective writing. Somewhere along the line, after getting a certain number of rejections and/or harsh criticism, we learn to be cautious. But the writing life is so not a safe career. Don't let these kinds of commends leak over into your perspective about your ability to write. Protect your writing voice.

If you knew that one year from now, your book would be a bestseller, what would you be doing differently today to prepare for that? Start doing it. Whether it's reading more books on the craft, learning the mechanics of grammar, networking with industry professionals, or spending more time in prayer--take your writing seriously. Serious goals take serious output on our part to achieve, but they can be done.


How might assumptions affect the way we write? What sorts of assumptions do you have about your own writing life?

*Photos from http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1397457,

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Ashley Clark writes romance with southern grace. She's dreamed of being a writer ever since the thumbprint-cookie-days of library story hour. Ashley has an M.A. in English and enjoys teaching literature courses at her local university. She's an active member of ACFW and runs their newcomer's loop. When she's not writing, Ashley's usually busy rescuing stray animals and finding charming new towns. You can find Ashley on her personal blog, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. She is represented by Karen Solem.

Is Your Dream Big Enough?

Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. -- Proverbs 4:23

Does your dream scare you? If it doesn't, maybe it's not big enough.

I remember the moment my dream of being a novelist took wings.

Sure, I'd always believed God was behind my desire to write, and I know nothing is too difficult for Him to achieve. But there's a difference between believing something in your mind and in your heart.

My entire life, I've loved books and stories. A part of me always wanted to see my name on a book jacket. But who actually believes that will happen to them? I think if we're not careful, we can get weighed down by realities, and we stop seeing the goal of the dream God has purposely laid on our hearts. We forget He is the one behind our desires, and we start trying to get there on our own--meanwhile, always preparing ourselves for the possibility we might fail. But the cool thing about God's purposes is they never fail. If God has called you to something, He has a reason, and He is going to see you through.

At the 2011 ACFW Conference, I met one of my heroes: Allen Arnold, the then-VP of Thomas Nelson. I wasn't even planning to talk to him that year. I didn't think I was ready. But he graciously asked me about my book, and throughout that conference, affirmed my dream. I remember vividly going back to my room at one point and just crying because I was so overwhelmed by what God was doing. So overwhelmed that God would use a person I had so much respect for to encourage me.

There are dream speakers in this world, and there are dream killers. I want to talk first about dream killers because I think many of these are things we can silence on our own accord.


Dream Killers

• Distractions

Imagine you're walking on a nature trail to this beautiful waterfall. You've heard all this hype about how incredible it is, how it's worth the journey, but the trail is tough. You start getting bitten by mosquitoes and thinking about West Nile Virus. You start wishing you would've worn your old tennis shoes instead of your new Coach flip flops. Bees are buzzing around everywhere, and you find yourself darting away from them (--I'm not the only one who does this, am I?--).

Before you know it, you begin to wonder if you should just turn around.

If we aren't careful, we become distracted from our calling. I believe this is one of the most effective methods the enemy has for keeping us from God's plans: he convinces us to put our own armor down.

If you're too busy looking at the ground, you're going to start feeling weighed down, and you aren't going to be able to see the staircase God is building on a higher level in your life. I actually wrote a blog about this yesterday if this is a concept that speaks to you and you want to read more. Bottom line is, we are all prone to getting distracted by things big and small, positive and negative, that call attention away from where we should be spending our time, energy, and heart.

• Assumptions

When it really comes down to it, what do you believe about God? What do you believe about yourself? If you don't really believe you can be a published novelist, why not? Does a part of you fear you've heard God wrong, that He's playing a trick on you? That maybe, worse yet, you've been forgotten by God? Let's be honest. We all feel like this from time to time. I think it's so important to be constantly aware of the assumptions that lurk behind our image of God and ourselves because they shape the attitudes of our hearts. If you doubt your ability to fulfill your calling, you are officially a writer. But we don't have to stay in that place. Lord, we ask you for faith to fulfill the wonderful purposes You have set forth in our lives, to glimpse the reality of the dreams You have set in our hearts.

• Anxiety/Disbelief

How many times have you looked at a draft of your novel and thought, "This is really terrible. What am I thinking? I could never be an author. No one would want to read this stuff"? How many times have you read feedback from others, maybe even contest judges or people you respect, and come away feeling like a failure? After a while, we pick up messages of insufficiency, one by one like little rocks, until our calling becomes a backpack that's too heavy to carry on our own. God wants to empty that out. He said His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. Criticism is necessary and often hard, but the important thing is that we do not carry that disbelief with us. For when we allow it entrance through the doors of our heart, we have welcomed company that seeks to hunt down and kill our dreams.

Thankfully, we have a choice. We can tire of fighting these dream killers and give in to them, or we can instead press on and give ear to dream speakers instead.

Dream Speakers

• Community

This is where my illustration about Allen comes in. When he spoke to my heart for writing, he had no idea he was also affirming my calling and helping me find the courage to speak with my now-agent. He didn't know how I would replay his words in my mind throughout the next year every time I grew frustrated with my WIP. My critique partner, my family, and the Alley Cats have also done this time and again in my life. I can't emphasize enough the power of community. If you're not plugged in with a group of writers and mentors, you need to find one. You need to find people who believe in you and in your desire to write, who will help hold you up when you are falling and who will knock you down if need be if you're ever flying a little too high. We just can't do it alone.

• God's Word

I know, I know. You've heard this a million times. I sound like a 7th grade Sunday School teacher. But I am telling you, if you give God a chance, He will speak to you right where you are. We just have to let Him. If we're not reading the Bible and spending time in prayer, why do we expect Him to speak to us? And yet we all are guilty of this, aren't we?

When I came home from the ACFW Conference this year, reality started setting in, and the confidence I'd felt in Dallas began giving way to nervousness. Then I read this verse on BibleGateway's verse of the day e-mail:

So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. -- Hebrews 10:35-36

Wow. What an incredible message from the heart of God.

• Our Thoughts

I think that as Christians, we often neglect our thought life. We associate meditation and positive thinking with quacky theology. And please don't misunderstand. I'm not suggesting you do a few deep breathing exercises and declare yourself the god of the universe. But... so often we underestimate the power of what happens in our minds. The Bible says we have the mind of Christ. The mind of Christ. How often do we take God up one? If we spent more time rehearsing the promises of God in our thoughts rather than rehearsing our failures over and over again, what sort of closed doors would be opened to us?

I want to encourage you to be a dream speaker in the lives of those around you, and to be a good steward and keeper of the dream God has trusted to your heart. It's so easy to allow discouragement to burden us, and to then become a burden to others. Dream killers are contagious. Run from them. Choose to instead affirm your calling.

How do you handle the distractions and discouragement that come your way in life? Do you have strategies for reviving those dreams that seem to have fallen to the wayside? How do you protect your heart?

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Ashley Clark writes romance with southern grace. She's dreamed of being a writer ever since the thumbprint-cookie-days of library story hour. Ashley has an M.A. in English and enjoys teaching literature courses at her local university. She's an active member of ACFW and runs their newcomer's loop. When she's not writing, Ashley's usually busy rescuing stray animals and finding charming new towns. You can find Ashley on her personal blog, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. She is represented by Karen Solem.