Writing For Him...or With Him?

It's been a long journey through a valley. At least, long to me. I know that we have a whole Biblical heritage of those before us who journeyed days, months, and years in deep valleys and over rocky terrain. But when one is in the thick of it, with the agony heightened and the pain overwhelming, it's hard to not beg for it to end. It is hard to not hope for a sudden stairway to appear that will take you up and out...or better yet, a giant hand to appear that you can climb up into as it lifts you away from the rocky path. Sometimes, I catch myself waiting for something better, wanting the end to come quickly, and in the mean time I make myself miserable in the here and now.

www.freedigitalphotos.net by Evgini Dinev

If you are anything like me, you may have taken this perspective on your calling to write stories. You may have decided that God gave you a story and sent you out to write it down, and once you've fleshed it out, you try to hurry up and present Him with a job well done. That's when you hope for the blessing, right? To be published, to be noticed, to climb out of the valley of learning and critiques, and into the world of awards and reviews. The tricky road of story-crafting is your part in the deal, and God acts as the agent/publisher role of getting your story to where it must be read. 

www.freedigitalphotos.net by Evgini Dinev

For several years I thought this way--that I was writing for God and would see His fruit at the end of it. But just like when I am going through a valley in life, the writing becomes taxing and strenuous when I try and do that part in my own effort. I can only look to the end of it and beg for God to come. Why do I forget that, actually, He is with me all along?

Does God want me to write FOR Him, or WITH Him? We are so blessed to be in this part of God's plan history-wise, where He has gifted us with the Holy Spirit and the knowledge that He is truly with us everywhere we go...even in the writing, the creating, the telling. 

I am still in a valley in life. And just now, I am finally giving myself permission to enjoy life regardless of the circumstance. I thought I would just hold my breath and survive until it was all over. But since I don't see a way up anywhere along these cliffs that surround me, I am about sick of holding all that air within me. I need to breathe in the Holy Spirit who is with me all this time, and I need to know there is everything good beside me in the valley. God's not waiting at the end of the trial. He's walking it with me.

When I sit down to write, I am not doing anything FOR God... But even better, I am privileged with the chance to write WITH God. To allow His Holy Spirit to direct my words and imagination and heart is just as rewarding as reaching the destination. I learn to abide that way, and take pleasure in the God who created me for His pleasure. I get to "do life" with the God of the Universe, instead of meeting Him down the road.

www.freedigitalphotos.net by tirverylucky

What journey is not worth that? Even in the valleys, even in the hidden corners of your writing cave, meet God in each moment, and He will walk with you to the higher ground.

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Angie Dicken is a full-time mom and lives in the Midwest with her Texas Aggie sweetheart. An ACFW member since 2010, she has written five Historical Romance novels, has a Historical underway, and is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of The Steve Laube Agency. Angie also spends her time designing one sheets, selling Jamberry Nail Wraps, and drinking good coffee with great friends. Check out her author page at www.facebook.com/dicken.angie and her personal blog at angiedicken.blogspot.com 

The Not-For-Sale Story

Casey's post on Friday (click here to read it) was pretty timely as I have been contemplating a post on working your way out of such burnout.

In the same vein of honesty as our dear Case, I will admit that it wasn't very long ago when the

on freedigitalphotos.net by pakorn

rejections and silence overwhelmed me so much that I pulled away from all my "writerly" habits. I didn't want to write, or catch up on social media, or read one more blog, or try and hone my craft. The often spoken advice "to write every day", stabbed a very sharp guilt dagger in my side and had me wonder if I should really identify myself as a writer at all.

After a lot of reflection, I realized that it wasn't writing that had me burned out, but my perspective. With my eyes focused on progressing forward in the industry, my heart was shrinking back as I had walked away from my love---to write.

Let's face it, writing and publishing are connected, BUT... the writing is not dependent on the publishing. Actually, it's the other way around.

Getting these mixed up had me resent my writing when my pursuit became a bit sluggish. It's like turning against my own heart when I let outward circumstance frustrate me. How can I cast off my love because my journey was not loving me back? Would I turn against God's gift because his creation had not provided the satisfaction I desire?

on freedigitalphotos.net by jesadaphorn

So what's my resolution? First, I had to ask myself what do I long for when I am burned out.
Hmmm...lately, it's not necessarily publication. It goes deeper.
I want to rekindle that flame.

WRITE FOR THE LOVE OF WRITING! 

There are great suggestions out there, but the one I just recently took up, is to write a story without any expectation to sell it. Write a story in my heart and not worry about hook, grammar, industry do's and don'ts. Create without ulterior motives. Create for my heart's sake and nothing else.
 Time is always a constraint, but after writing five novels, having two in the works, and no contracts yet, I'll make the time.
And the great thing is, the time is not a stressor because there is no impending pitch, proposal, or contest deadline for this story ahead.
But the time is essential, because it gives me room to breathe and remember why I began writing in the first place.

Do you write without publishing in mind? Do you have a story you know might never sell? Are you going to write it anyway?

Remember, don't leave behind your love...and if it's way back there, turn around, rekindle the love, and give yourself time to create again!

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Angie Dicken first began writing fiction as a creative outlet during the monotonous, mothering days of diapers and temper tantrums. She is passionate to impress God's love on women regardless of their background or belief. This desire serves as a catalyst for Angie's fiction, which weaves salvation and grace themes across historical cultures and social boundaries. Angie is an ACFW member and is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of the Steve Laube Agency.

Waiting on God with an Impatient Heart

I first posted this blog in July 2012, but felt today was an appropriate time for a reminder about God's grace for waiting (as well as impatient) hearts. He is always faithful. He is always good. Whatever you are waiting for, take heart: our God is good.

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Picture this.

There's an old man sitting on a park bench with $10, 000 cash in a bag and a signed, first edition copy of your favorite book in his hand. And maybe some donuts. He owns a publishing house, and he's ready to make you a great offer on your work in progress.

The catch? He'll only be sitting here five minutes. And once he's gone, that's it. He's gone for good.

What lengths would you go to to get to that man on time? Too early or too late, and you will have missed the opportunity. It seems obvious, doesn't it? We would do anything it took to get there at the right time.

And yet it hit me the other day that metaphorically speaking, this is exactly the situation we are in every day as writers. We have a story inside our hearts. We have faith in God's call upon our lives. The man is sitting on the bench, so to speak. So why do we struggle so much to believe it's all going to work out?

We operate with such a limited perspective. Remember the kaleidoscopes you played with as a kid? When we look at just this one moment in our lives, it's like we're viewing the world through a kaleidoscope. We color the limited landscape in all different ways with just a turn of our hands. The thing is, God's got so much more planned. He has a purpose for your whole life. He sees it all.

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Have you ever looked at a book you've written and felt anxiety about it? Maybe you feel that way now. I think most writers operate with a certain level of worry existent all the time. Is my book going to be good enough? Will I ever find the right agent? How long before a publishing house buys it? And then, what about the reviews that roll in?

But these worries come because we allow ourselves to get out of sync with God's timing. We believe in His promises, but we try to get ahead or behind the pace He's set. Doing so causes all sorts of trouble for whatever season we're facing in our writing lives.

Imagine yourself running with a crowd of people. Yes, I know that for some of you, the image of yourself running is difficult to picture, as, if you're anything like me, it hasn't happened since high school. But bear with me here. The race starts, and you all start running together. Before long, you fall into a rhythm. Some people rush ahead of you, and others fall behind. Some are running right alongside you and help you find your own groove. (We call these critique partners, and they rock.)

Before long, you become very observant of everyone else. Those in front of you are getting all these opportunities, and those behind are learning from your mistakes.

How much easier is it to look at everyone around us rather than to see the opportunities right in front of ourselves?

The thing is, God has equipped you with a particular pace, and operating outside of that is going to throw you off. If you rush ahead, you're going to get tired, and if you lag behind, you're going to miss the opportunities He's set in your path.

I want to encourage you today that God knows right where you are in this season of your life and your writing journey, and He has you there for a reason. Resist the urge to look ahead or behind. Instead, look around. You don't want to miss the opportunities He has placed before you because, like the man on the park bench, once those are gone, they're gone for good.

We can avoid so many of the things we worry about if we just press on. If we stop telling God we need to be faster, or things need to slow down. Forcing something that's the wrong timing will never make the timing right.

And when the timing's right, we will have peace in that. Imagine what would've happened had you never gone to the place you met your spouse, had you never met your best friend, had you never decided to write. A few moments, a few choices different, and your life wouldn't have been the same.

So whether you're waiting to hear from an agent, a publishing house, or even to hear God's next step for your life, be of good heart. God has not forgotten you or let go of His plans for your life. He is holding them, carefully tending to them, as He has been doing all along. Every day, every moment, is just another step toward the next chapter of His plan.

Your moment will come.

Psalm 27:14 "Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord." 


Can you think of a time in your life where you waited and you're glad you did?

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Ashley Clark writes romantic comedy 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.

The reasons you write

Have you ever struggled with the daily commitment to writing?

Image by m_bartosch, freedigitalphotos.net

Perhaps you started out strong, but the middle has become a hard slog, and you feel like you’ve lost your way. Perhaps you’ve received negative feedback from people whose opinions you value, and you wonder if the whole thing is a waste of time. Maybe your characters have fallen down a plot hole and you can’t see any way for them to climb out. Perhaps your life circumstances have changed (new job? New baby? Elderly parent to care for? Fill in the blank) and your writing routine has been thrown so badly out of kilter that you’re scrambling to make any time to write at all.

I could put my hand up for all of these things. I’ll be honest: the book I’m working on right now has become a struggle. A mental, emotional, physical, spiritual struggle.

 

Recently I’ve been reading “Platform” by Michael Hyatt. Great book. Hyatt suggests writing down seven reasons for why you write, and reviewing these daily.

I did this. I actually came up with eight. Today I’d like to be completely transparent, and share them with you. These are very personal, very intimate reasons, and while it makes me feel quite vulnerable to share them, I hope my honesty might help someone else who may be struggling just as I am.

Eight reasons why I need to finish my novel.

1. To finish what I started. “I want to suggest that you finish what you started to do… Let your enthusiastic idea at the start be equalled by your realistic action now.” (2 Cor 8:10-11, TLB) Finishing when it’s tough takes character. I CHOOSE to be a woman of character, no matter how I feel.

2. To experience pride in my accomplishment. The results of not writing? I feel defeated, useless, inadequate. The results of writing? I feel energised, completed, purposeful. This state of mind flows out to every other area of my life.

3. God wants me to finish this book. A pastor once stopped me after a service and spoke this word over me: “You’ve sometimes thought that writing is your dream and your desire. But God wants you to know, it’s His desire.” I love him so much, and writing for God is my expression of love to him. It’s my daily sacrifice of praise.

4. Writing is my purpose in life. If I want to live a life that’s purpose-driven and meaningful, I need to walk within my purpose. To walk outside my purpose is to live a half-life, an incomplete life that doesn’t fulfil my potential.

5. I want to impact others. My biggest prayer has always been that I might produce fruit for God’s kingdom. God has given me a voice, and writing is my platform. Through the power of the written word, my sphere of influence will expand to reach countless more people than I could ever reach alone. My greatest privilege and joy in life would be to impact many others for God. 

6. I am a better mother when I follow my dreams. Following my dreams feeds my spirit. Do I want to feel begrudging and resentful that I don’t have time for myself, or do I want to make that time, and then mother with generosity and joy, out of an overflowingly abundant heart?

7. I believe in this book. I love my story. I love my characters. Those who’ve read it so far have found it gripping and compelling. I believe this story has the potential to be a success.

8. I choose to live my dream. Writing is what I’ve always wanted to do, ever since I was a little girl. The dream will not happen on its own. I alone have the power to make it happen through my daily choices.

The power of a reason

I’ve begun a practice of reading over my eight reasons at the start of every writing session. It centers me on the purpose behind the task. Gives me a bigger perspective. Inspires me to continue when it’s tough.

What are the reasons YOU write?

28-Day Challenge check-in:

For those participating, how is your new habit coming along? Don’t forget – double entries for the Amazon gift card in two weeks’ time if you’ve stuck with your habit every day!

Karen Schravemade lives Downunder and likes to confuse her American friends by using weird Australian figures of speech. When she's not chasing after two small boys or cuddling her baby girl, she spends her spare minutes daydreaming about the intricate lives of characters who don't actually exist. Find her on her website and Twitter.

The Plank, Pimple-picking, and Preachin’ to the Choir

Now, I know you are wondering how on earth I can make these title topics cohesive. You’ll have to read on and see….

The Plank

Arrgh! I spend my day with little boys so inevitably my mind goes to something like this. My apologies.

So a plank is something people walk before they jump, or are pushed off of into the shark infested waters below, right? Pirates, and whatnot. When we—as writers, professionals, doctors, singers, musicians, pretty much anything—put ourselves “out there,” our dreams essentially become damsels clinging to a flimsy board over open seas.

Sometimes someone says something, rejects you, fires you, and it is enough of a poke to send you over the edge in to the crushing waves below. Swimming in rejection is not at all fun. And sometimes, we are tossed, wave after wave, struggling to keep our head above water. Clinging to a life-raft like hope, maybe stubbornness, or perhaps even delusions of grandeur, in wait of a slice of land, or a passing yacht that might bring about some shift of fortune.

Whether you are on the plank or in the water, you are in a vulnerable place, my friend.

But I got to thinking about that wooden board. What if instead of a plank, it’s a diving board? -And why are all the metaphors about water always about drowning and struggling to find the surface? I like swimming. I find it refreshing.

What if we view those failures as some super sweet exercise? And we think about that dark sea writhing beneath you like a clear blue lap lane…

So often, we can learn, tone, and refocus when we hit that water and tool around long enough to get pruney. It’s great cardio, by the way!

Now, hold on to those thoughts about your plank for a few moments while we move on to the next glamorous point.

Pimple-picking

 

I never had that crazy combination skin, thank you Jesus! But there were, and still are, those occasions when my inner Venus manifests as a sort of pubescent boy. Zits! Ick!

I banished that mega-magnifying makeup mirror years ago because I honestly don’t like to scare myself with that much microscopic truth.

I don’t know about you but when I’m feeling great, or I’ve had a good day, I wash my face, brush my teeth and crawl into bed without a second glance.

BUT… when I’m feeling particularly worn-out, stressed, vulnerable, or maybe rejected, I pick. Yes, I’m a picker. I lean in, scan my clean pasty complexion until I can find someway to squeeze out my frustration. Anyone else do this?

I create problems for myself this way. There might be a tiny clogged pore that that no one would ever see, and yet, when I’m at my worst, I pick at it, I inflame the situation. I take one tiny speck and turn it into the giant red blob.

Now I’m gonna bring these points home by Preachin’ to the Choir…

How many times have you felt this way when someone tells you that “God’s got a plan.” “All in God’s time.” Or even “Well, God’s in control.”

Yeah, yeah. We know that. I’m pretty sure that was ingrained in Sunday school rhyme-time or song-circle.

But the point of all this is for you to see how YOUR perspective changes everything!

Sometimes when those rejection letters come back, it’s difficult to see God’s perspective—His plan for your time in the pit.

Yes, we can rationalize that His timing is perfect. His plans are to prosper and never harm. But sometimes God’s plans feel painful. They push us out on that scary ledge. They expose some microscopic insecurity and turn it into a mountain that you walk around with on your face for all to see.

Now, I don’t want to preach at y’all but the Word is a pretty good defense against our perceptions…

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5

And…

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2

You see, our minds and emotions can be frail when allowed to swim in the deep end all alone. It’s like flailing around like tasty shark-bait for the enemy.

 

But YOU have the power to change your perspective.

To see that plank as your spring board.

To view those waters of rejection as a way to firm up those muscles for the long road ahead.

To refuse to let those little snags in your reflection rise up and define who you are and what you can become.

In the wake of some bad news God showed me that I could spin my perception of that rejection into something empowering and truly encouraging.

Give it a try. The view from the other side is great and the water is quite nice. 

Talk to me: When was the last time you turned lemons into lemonade? How do you defend against those planks and pimples in life that tend to skew our perspective? Or what scripture encourages you the most when things look bleak?

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Amy Leigh Simpson writes Romantic Suspense that is heavy on the romance, unapologetically honest, laced with sass and humor, and full of the unfathomable Grace of God. She is the completely sleep deprived mama to two little mischief makers and would challenge anyone to a cutest family contest. Represented by Chip MacGregor of MacGregor Literary Inc.

Perspective

My book officially "releases" in two days.

I won't lie. I'm completely, totally, on-top-of-the-world excited!

But....

It isn't the coolest thing ever. There are MUCH cooler things in this world.

Like seeing a newborn baby born into this world.

Or witnessing a person come to know Jesus for the first time, especially your own child.

Or getting a phone call letting you know that your dying child is going to have a second chance at life.

Yup. There are a lot more amazing things in this world than being published.

A few years ago, I might have argued that being published was one of the biggest things that could happen to me. Now I'll be happy to argue the opposite to anyone who cares to listen.

It all has to do with perspective.

God taught me perspective through my publishing journey.

In 2010, the day I found out that my manuscript did NOT final in a contest, I also found out that my unborn daughter had a malformed heart and only had a 70% chance to live past the age of 5... and only an 80% chance to live past the first week of life.

Perspective: Bad contest news... who really cares?

In January 2011, I spoke with my now editor on the phone when she requested me to send her a proposal for a book. My FIRST editor request! An hour later, doctors told me my 6-month-old daughter was dying and would only have a chance to live if we put her on the heart transplant list.

Perspective: Sending the proposal was now just busy work to get my mind off the scary stuff. Nothing more.

In April 2011, I found out my manuscript semi-finaled in that same contest it hadn't the year before. The next day, I got a phone call from my daughter's cardiologist. There was a life-saving heart available. About 15 hours later, my daughter's heart was being cut out of her chest and a heart from a deceased 2 year old was being put in it's place.

Perspective: Semi-final? What Semi-final? My baby is going to LIVE!!!

In June 2011, just days after going home for the first time, my daughter was admitted back into the hospital with a failing heart. She failed fast, and emergency, exploratory surgery was performed to try and fix it. It worked, and she came home! The next week, my editor called, offering me a book contract. Two days later, I signed with amazing agent, Rachelle Gardner.

Perspective Contract was AMAZING. An Agent was AMAZING. I won't lie. Both dreams come true. But it was just the final, decorative touches on the beautiful present God had given me, my daughter home, and well.

In July 2011, we finalized the contract and I officially signed it on Annabelle's birthday, 7/20/11. Two days later, she almost died at home. Unresponsive, barely breathing, she was given CPR, intubated in the ambulance and life-lighted to the hospital.

Perspective: What contract? I just want my baby better.

September 2012. Annabelle is doing great at 2 years of age. She's newly walking, trying to start to talk, still working on learning to eat. We are so very thankful for all God has brought us through and for EVERY SINGLE DAY we have with our sweet baby girl.

And my book releases.

Perspective:  Both are very, very, very cool.

But I think you can guess which one is the coolest.

Discussion: What is cooler than YOUR writing journey?