by Cindy Sproles @CindyDevoted
It’s common to hear teachers during conference classes say, “Keep writing.” If you hit a dry spot – keep writing. Writer’s block – keep writing even if it doesn’t make sense. Finish a work – don’t stop writing. Serious loss, sadness, hardship – by all means, keep writing.
As much as these words are well-meaning and definitely have merit, it’s like attending a funeral and people reminding you that your loved one is probably happier now. My point is, the words “keep writing” do have merit, but like any advice, they require the right placement in your life.
When teachers say this phrase at conferences, it’s meant to be an encouragement. They have their pom-poms in their hands, encouraging you to keep up the good race. Often, we see writers grow frustrated and quit. That’s a sad day for that person and for us as teachers. When writers walk away, good words are lost forever. Sometimes writers throw their hands up and quit because the work is hard. As a mentor and writing coach, I’ve stopped mid-session to discuss how difficult the work can be. I’ve even suggested writers step away for a week. Clear their minds. Reset. But I’ve never said, quit! Teachers don’t want to see you give up, so we urge you to push forward. Don’t give yourself permission to quit. You’re called to this writing with a burning passion as a part of the plan God has set in place for you. Don’t quit.
Well, duh. I could leave it right here, but I won’t. There’s a mountain phrase – “Where there’s a will, there’s a way. It might be a ways to go, but there’s a way.” I knew a young woman who wanted to sing. She’d stand in choir and belt out notes that only God could comprehend. She came to me with a song she wanted to sing as a solo for Sunday morning and asked if I’d help her prepare. My own singing ability is low on the totem pole, but I agreed. The girl tried. Oh, how she tried, but with each practice her singing only grew worse. “I’m just not good enough. I’m not worth the effort,” she said. As I listened to her stomp in self-pity, I remembered a wonderful piece she’d written for her high school English class. It was beautiful, heartfelt, and touching. That’s when it came to me. Play the song in the background and read your beautiful story. She raised a brow but pulled her notebook from her backpack. I started the CD and cued her to read. Her words and phrasing fell into the music, and it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever heard. Was she good enough? You bet. Sometimes we get stuck on one thing in our writing that continues to fall flat, when all it takes is the willingness to pivot and find the perfect spot. There are times we may be writing in the wrong pigeonhole, and all we have to do is take one step to the left or right to find the perfect place where we write our best. Are you good enough? You certainly are! God doesn’t make junk, but sometimes He wants us to step to the other side of the sidewalk to discover exactly where we fit. Keep writing has a whole new meaning.
Keep Writing by @CindyDevoted on @BRMCWC #Writing #Writinglife #BRMCWC Share on XMaybe not, but are you willing to figure it out? We all pass through seasons in our lives when one thing after the other just keeps slamming down on us. Our family experienced this over a three-year period. I didn’t think we’d ever see the light of day, but we did. I talked with my good friend, Billy, and told him, “I’m spent. I don’t think I can walk in my office and sit down at my computer.” His response: “Then rest, but don’t stop. Rest, pray, and rest some more. Your body needs renewal.” It was the permission I needed to take a break from my writing. Quitting was never on the table, but the guilt of feeling drained and unable to perform was. I couldn’t do my best, and the more I tried to force words onto the page, the more of a failure I felt. There are times when your body simply needs to decompress. The stresses of severe illness, overwork, or financial hardships just weigh too heavily. These are the times you give yourself permission to retreat. Now, retreat doesn’t mean tuck tail and run. Here, it means to take a retreat. Remove yourself from the stress. Take a weekend, a week, go someplace quiet—someplace you can find solitude to rest your mind, to pray, to seek God’s healing for you. But it’s important you do not entertain the option of quitting. Quitting is the easy way out. My son has mental retardation and Tourette’s. At 46, he reads on a first-grade level, so managing the world has been difficult for him. But we raised him to get up after a fall and try again. Try a second and third time, and if you still fail, rest. Then try again. Eventually, in his persistence, he finds a way around the obstacle. He’s in the process of trying to get his motorcycle license. He’s taken the written test twice and failed. After that last failure, he looked the examiner in the eye, grinned, and said, “I’ll be back. I can do this. Just gotta rest.” The point is, you recognize you need to refuel. God rested on the seventh day to give us an example of how to do that. But when you rest, cover it in prayer. Dig into the Word and seek out the living water that is there for you. Pray for renewal and for God to abide in you. He loves for His children to invite Him in, and He will fill you. When you’re filled, keep writing.
We can all find reasons to stop writing. Just listen to what the world whispers in your ear and you’ll quickly see. Don’t give into what the world wants you to do. Lean into the Father for the right reason to rest, to take a break. Remember, you are a writer, filled with stories and words that can change lives. It’s hard work, but then nothing good comes without hard work. If you’re frustrated because you’ve not published yet, back up. Focus your eyes on the work and the Father who gifted you, and take your eyes off the prize. Get things in perspective and keep writing. Your time will come. It will.
Write because you love it. Write because you are called. Write because you can’t help but write, but never quit.
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.
The Conversation
this is good, Cindy, and so true. If we’re called, we’re called. Of course it’s going to be hard. My husband is a retired elder in our denomination, and when he was starting out his mentor told him, “Hang on to your call. There will be times when it’s all you’ve got.” But it’s enough.