“Do you (and authors you know) always seem to have a lot of inspired ideas?”
I wish. While there are thoughts and snippets popping into my head at any given time, I doubt most people would think of them as inspired. That’s because they aren’t complete. I don’t receive full-blown ideas or plots. They are little clues I follow on my way to completing a book. The more one writes, the more one recognizes those small glimpses and knows how to put them to use.
The “ease” of writing is no indication that one is meant to be a writer. For most of us, it is hard work. Most writers have to slave over every word, every character, to make a story come together in a cohesive and readable way. That doesn’t indicate they are outside of God’s will. I certainly believe I was “called” to write, but I have had to work hard to improve my craft. Some parts of the writing process come more easily to me than others, but overall, the process is hard work.
Think of a farmer who has to labor over his land and the planting, growing, and harvesting of his crops. It is hard labor. No matter how many new machines that come along, farming is still hard work. A farmer can’t tell in advance if there will be too much or too little rain to nurture his crops or if there will be a freak summer hail storm that will flatten them. He sweats and he worries through each month of the growing season. Some years, crops are better than others, but the bad years and the hard labor don’t mean he is not meant to be a farmer.
My advice to this young woman is, first, to pray and ask God if writing is what she is to do with her life. When we seek Him, we will find Him. He will answer. And until He tells her not to write, if He tells her not to write, then I suggest she write every day. Write a letter/email. Write in a journal or a blog. Write in an “idea notebook.” Write a short story. Begin a novel. Write. Writing may be for the individual or it may be for publication. Not all people with the desire to write will be published. Not all artists with the desire to paint will see their paintings hanging in an art gallery either. It doesn’t mean they shouldn’t paint.
When the Israelites were building the tabernacle in the wilderness, the Bible says about the craftsmen (both men and women) who worked on it:
“The LORD has given them special skills as jewelers, designers, weavers, and embroiderers in blue, purple, and scarlet yarn on fine linen cloth. They excel in all the crafts needed for the work.”
(Exodus 35:35)
I’m sure none of those craftsmen made beautiful jewelry, for instance, when they were three or four years old. They had to practice. They had to fail and try again. They had to serve as an apprentice. They had to create some mediocre pieces. But eventually, they honed their God-given skills and learned to excel in the craft needed for the work that God called them to do at the appointed time.
And so it is today.
-rlh-
