Hello, all! Happy last-weekend-in-January. We made it! This winter has been spotty and pretty mild up here so far (which I won’t complain about). How do you like to spend your winter days? When the weather outside is frightful, what delightful things do you do inside?
Over the past couple of weeks I have been dipping my toes back into my manuscript—at long last! I’ve noticed a recurring pattern these last few summers, wherein I drop writing almost altogether for whatever else and can’t seem to pick it back up again until about this time, once the holidays are over. It feels so good to get back at it!
For past several months I’ve felt like a real poser—talking the talk of a writer without actually walking the walk, without working on any story in almost any capacity whatsoever. Have you ever been in that place? Where you feel so disconnected from something that clinging to it sounds like a lie?
Friends, it is not a lie.
Breaks are necessary, blocks are natural, and bumps happen. Just because you haven’t played an instrument in a while doesn’t mean you’re no longer a musician. Just because you haven’t finished an art piece in a while doesn’t mean you’re no longer an artist. Just because you haven’t picked up a pen in a while doesn’t mean you’re not a writer. And the list goes on. Life has its seasons. Some last longer than others, and that’s okay.
In my own experience, the hands-on season of writing has waned considerably during the height of summer and on through the end of the year. It wasn’t always so, but my life changed over the past couple of years with new responsibilities and opportunities that switched up the routine, requiring a new one (which is still forthcoming😅). Which means more time is spent in the latter half of the year on craft and development (going through Realm Makers replays, mostly!) Then I take all of that insight and information and try to apply it to my current project. It’s not a perfect system, but I’ve learned so much and am so excited to use these techniques to deepen my stories and elevate their impact.
Because y’all, I just love writing. It’s hard, messy, and frustrating sometimes, but it’s also so much fun! Not only fun, but fulfilling, informative, and therapeutic. Again, I can only speak from my own experience, but writing—stories in particular—has helped me to look at things a little closer. To see the world and people from a different perspective. To step outside of myself and into someone else’s shoes.
I’m not saying that makes me better or more knowledgeable or more spiritual than anyone else—not hardly! But what it has made me is awestruck at the power and majesty and creativity and love of our God. He is so infinitely amazing that he can not only make everything and everyone in this world, but keep track of it all! That just blows my mind.
When I write a story and think about all the characters, their individual personalities, needs, desires, motivations, and arcs, and how they all intertwine with each others’, and the plot and how it influences each of the characters and what devices need to go where and when, and the worldbuilding—you get the idea? There’s so much! It ties my brain in knots. (Wonderful knots, but knots all the same.)
But God, from before there was ever a beginning, knew every minute detail about everything. Everything! From Adam to the person born minutes ago, all over the world, throughout history.
🤯
So when I think about writing, and how it’s like a child walking in her father’s footsteps, I want to do the best that I can! And while learning about the craft is well and good, the only way to get better is to get your hands in it—to actually write. Which is why I’m so glad to be back in the Writing Corner. It’s a bit intimidating, but also super exciting, and I can hardly wait to see how it all unfolds.
Let me encourage you, friends, if you’re in a season of breaks, blocks and bumps—it is only a season! Live and learn what you can where you are, feed your soul with things that give you life, and don’t let the lies strip you of who you are and what you have. You are still creative. You are still beautiful. You are still loved.
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