Blog

by Cindy Sproles @CindyDevoted

Like everything else in the world, our writing career can push us to the last limit. Deadlines, story plots and critique groups, book launches. Writing can be filled with busyness, not productive work. The busyness is not what we set out to do. It happens when we least expect it.

When friends and family find out you are a writer, especially if you have published books, they suddenly see a real value in your talent. They’ll ask you to speak, to write blogs, and the all-time favorite, “I’m writing a book. Well, I’ve always wanted to write a book. Could you take a look and see what you think? Maybe give me a few lessons.” We hate to say no because writers remember what it was like to be at the starting gate.

Still, in order to produce good work, a writer has to find that quiet time to retreat into themselves and ignite imagination. It’s hard to do when so much other stuff hangs over our heads. I used to say, “Learn to say no.” Now I say, pray for discernment for when to say yes. There is a huge difference between the two.

Discernment requires thought, weighing out what is necessary from what is busyness. Saying no can be an excuse to avoid doing something you don’t want to do. Sometimes those things are exactly how God intends you to use your gifts. Now you can see why discernment is important.

I can speak to this truthfully because I’m in the thick of this very thing. My novel releases June 23, and that demands my attention now. There’s a launch team leader and a publicist provided by the publisher. There are blog posts to be written, a book signing, and a plethora of other things that accompany a launch. And then, there is a book contract waiting for me to fullfill. I can’t seem to write on the book for all the other things. Deadlines seem to come like a pack of hungry animals. On top of all this, we have a new Corgie puppy—and I thought hurricanes were rough! Our house is now filled with corgie-tude.

My internal clock wakes me up at 4:30 a.m. Why, I ask. Why can’t I rest just another hour? Still, I rise, take in the morning and its early a.m. darkness, and practice what has taken me 40 years to learn. Stillness. I don’t turn on any lights. Instead, I use my phone app to read my scripture for the day and to type out my morning prayers. During this time, nothing interrupts me. It’s simply quiet time. Time to breathe in the name of Holy Spirit and exhale the name of God. This is when I learn to discern what is required of me.

My point is, writers really don’t take much time to be silent. I know this because, as I sit across the table from conferees in appointments and ask when they write. Most (not all, but most) will say, “I just don’t have the time I want.” Funny thing. I’ve suggested rising an hour earlier in the morning, and you’d think I had shot them through the heart with an arrow. There’s just no way under the sun the person with no time can rise a little earlier.

In the early infancy of my career, I wanted to write a devotional. It didn’t have to be something I published. It was for me. I’d get up an hour earlier and write one devotion. This became my quiet time with God and a time to learn the craft. This was the time He taught me. Getting up earlier was hard. I had four sons at home and a husband who worked shift work. Not to mention my own 8-5 job. But I committed to the task. In the beginning, it was terribly hard to drag my feet over the edge of the bed and stumble into the office, but I did. Before long, I was waking up early without my alarm clock, and that hour I used to write the devotion felt shorter and shorter. Before I knew it, I’d written 365 devotions, and that hour became something I could not live without. You see, God fills the voids in our lives, and we hunger for more of Him.

In that one hour of uninterrupted writing, I could accomplish what I tried to do all day long, and I felt joyful about it, not tired.

If you plan to write for God, or if you want to write with inspiration, then you must find rest in Him. You must learn and practice discernment so that the daily scoop of “stuff” doesn’t force your eye off the goal.

We have authors who teach self-care, and I do believe our personal time is valuable, but when we shift the time into our spiritual relationship with the Father, we come out with a home run. We have time with the Father, and we have practiced discernment to understand what we need to do today. In that, we are not overwhelmed or stressed. Our schedule is manageable, and our work and our writing all fall into place.

I know you’d rather read a post about plotting or character development, but this is a topic that is and always will be one of the best tools you carry in your writer’s toolbox.

Rest. Control the noise in your life with that one hour in the morning that will shake out the bad seed and leave the viable. Your day will go better, your writing production will increase, and the things you accomplish will grow.

Find the rest in your writing and take advantage. The Father knows what is most important for your day. Trust Him to guide it. And by the way, I know what some of you are thinking. Trust it to Him. Shesh if they only knew. I don’t have time to sit and “ponder.”

But you do. Loosen your white knuckles on what YOU think and take my advice. When you rest in Him, the skills and gifts you have are heightened. Your creativity ramps up, and your imagination becomes so much more accessible, but you must be rested to see and take advantage. Trust me on this one. Experience speaks good words.

Cindy K. Sproles is an author, speaker, and conference teacher. Having served for a number of years as a managing editor for Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas and Ironstream Media, Cindy now works as a mentor, coach, and freelance editor. She is the co-founder of Writing Right Author Mentoring Services with Lori Marett and the director of the Asheville Christian Writers Conference. Cindy is also the co-founder of Christian Devotions Ministries and www.christiandevotions.us, as well as www.inspireafire.com. Her devotions are in newspapers and magazines nationwide, and her novels have become award-winning, best-selling works. She is a popular speaker at conferences and a natural encourager. Cindy is a mountain girl, born and raised in the Appalachian mountains, where she and her husband still reside. She has raised four sons and now resorts to raising chickens where the pecking order is easier to manage. You can visit Cindy at www.cindysproles.com or www.wramsforwriters.com.