It’s a common malady: at times, we want to have written, but we don’t want to write. We just don’t feel that inspired. We’re like young Johnny with a writing assignment. He couldn’t think of anything to say, even though the neighbor’s house had burned to the ground a week earlier.
Write something every day.
You can start without finishing, but you can never finish without starting. Don’t tell yourself, “I’ll get to it tomorrow,” because that day will bring its own reasons why you can’t. Set a time and place for writing each day, even it’s for only five minutes.
Let your heart be your guide.
Something happened yesterday.
Or nothing happened.
Either way, how did you feel about that?
Johnny remembered the fire, but that event didn’t seem important, because he’d forgotten how he felt. First, he was glad it wasn’t his own house. Then he cried because the loss of Sally’s poodle was like losing his own best friend. After that, he had something to write about.
Begin with the end in mind.
Sounds like great advice, doesn’t it? If we want to reach our destination, we need the address. But writing is an adventure where at the start we don’t always know where we’re going.
Or we seldom know.
Or maybe never.
We go anyway.
Start first. The end comes later.
The sooner you can recognize the point that comes at the end, the better. You want that change in character, the lesson learned, the problem solved. This is what we call the reader’s takeaway.
But don’t lose any sleep when the answer escapes you.
Keep writing.
The Promised Land comes after the wandering.
The Israelites followed a cloud by day and fire by night, but they didn’t have enough faith to face the giants on the other side of the river. Don’t let yourself wander forever. Go ahead and write that blog, submit that article, and self-publish that book.
Like young David tending sheep, keep practicing, throwing stones with your writing and missing the target. Never quit, because the more you write, the closer you are to that day when God will guide your aim.
Anticipate the victorious day after you’ve wandered so long.
You read your work and say, “I can hardly believe I wrote this.”
And your readers will say, “This is really good.”
