Revisiting the Writer's Call

It has taken me two weeks to regain the balance and find my way back to this page reflecting on quiet things.  I've done a lot of writing about work.  I've scratched the surface of snippets of thoughts and drawing board ideas of what I would like to muse about.  But I haven't gotten back to this page to write about what I would like to believe in.  

Today this writer encourages me to take a look into it again.  Mary DeMuth's article stopped me on my tracks.  I'm supposed to watch my favorite TV series as of the moment but I decided to put it off and think about her words.  

You're probably called to write if:

• People tell you they are changed or challenged by reading your words. Professionals in the writing industry (agents, editors, publishers) have commented on your writing in a very positive way. 

• You weather criticism about your work with grace and are determined to always write better. You are passionate about the writing craft. 

• You have heard from God that this is what He wants you to do. Even if you never made a dime at writing, you’d do it anyway. 

•  You take your writing seriously. You set goals and meet them. You pursue publication in a systematic, informed way. 

• You are not afraid to learn about every aspect of the publishing industry: writing, editing, contracts, marketing, speaking, PR, publisher relations. 

• You can’t help but mentor other writers early in their publishing path. 

• You’ve settled the ego issue–that getting published doesn’t validate who you are as a person. You are wildly loved by God right now, unpublished or published.

I've been engrossed trying to catch up with all the new things I need learn in this new job post.  I've managed to find some time to do ministry work as well.  For the most part, I am still struggling to integrate all the things that I'm doing now into an anchor of one.  There is so much information to digest and I think the only way I can digest them all is if I look at them in one perspective.  Right now, that perspective is writing.  

I've leafed through all my books about writing in rhythms spanning months and maybe even years.  Books that have accumulated dust and cover page corners curled through the passage of time and  lack of attention.  Moisture trapped on paper and yellow white no longer restrains a sure sign that these books have aged in neglect.

But I realize over and over again, if I don't write, I find a lot of things impossible to overcome.  I find it impossible to sift through the things I need to do at work.  I find it impossible to calm down.  I find it impossible to pray.  I find it impossible to empathize with another human being.  I find it impossible to absorb anothers' words.  If it impossible to appreciate life and endure the variety of circumstances it brings my way.

If I don't write, I'm lifeless.

So yes, it's true.  Mary's got it right.  I need to write.  I need to keep up with this page and perhaps all the lose leaves of paper and words I've scattered everywhere.   And perhaps one day, when God finds it enough, He'll take me out of this Egpytian wilderness of idle prose and bring me somewhere nearer the land of promise.

Everything you do, everywhere you go, you can gather ideas.  Train yourself to keep your eyes and ears open at all times.  Tune in your sense of smell, your sense of taste.  Keep all your senses acute and listening.  Write all the time.  As artists, you must train yourseles.  The more you write, the more you paint, the more you practice your instrument, the more you live constantly this double way.  You keep asking yourself: How do I write it?  How do I paint it?  How do I put it into music?  You are constantly, in small ways, getting ideas. [ Madeleine L'Engle]