Activity

I think this definitely depends on the individual, and the circumstances.

In general, yes, definitely write everyday regardless of whether or not you feel like it. Often just getting started can flip that switch, and at the very least it is good practice. Writing as a profession requires the same commitment as any other job – and any time off can mean it is even more difficult to return to writing. This means even doing writing on vacations. Not necessarily hours of work, and not necessarily even on a big project/ current WIP, but perhaps keep a journal and run a few exercises each day just to keep in shape and in practice. That’s one of the benefits of writing, it travels well and can be done in short segments while still being beneficial.

However, there are times when one just *can’t* write. There’s a seemingly physical blockade to the activity. That’s happened to me, and no matter how long I try to force the words, they don’t come. It’s like something has disconnected my mind and my hands. And for a while I even wondered if I had lost my desire to be a writer, completely. What I’ve come to realize is that I had to step back. Forcing it only lead to frustration, and feelings of failure. Instead, I began reading more and daydreaming more and allowed myself to not worry about writing or not writing. I also soon realized that I did still love the idea of writing my own stories – the dream was still there. It just wasn’t ready to happen yet – I needed to grow in other ways first. And by not writing, and not wasting time trying to force myself to write, I’ve been able to work on other things that I know will make me better and stronger when I do get back to writing.

There can come a time when one’s passion for writing has gone, but they keep pressuring themselves to write. That’s another time when pushing on is probably not a good idea. It’s painful and scary, especially if one has invested not only a lot of time into pursuing writing but also has spent a lot on instructional books, classes, conferences and other items that may now feel to be wasted if one doesn’t write. But if the love and desire isn’t there anymore, then quite likely stopping is best. Because not only is it painful to force something that isn’t enjoyable – but there is probably something else that needs to become the focus. That could mean God wants you to use different talents, to serve in a different way; or even that writing has become too much of a distraction from God and He wants you to sacrifice that dream in favor of following Him. Also, remember that God has perfect timing and it isn’t necessarily the timing we think is right.

Sometimes we rush ahead to fulfill our dreams and forget to surrender them to God. Even when we believe our dream is what God wants us to do, we still need to remember to seek His will and blessing throughout the process. Jan Karon, best-selling author of The Mitford Series, has described how she felt God’s calling throughout her life – believed as a child that God wanted her to write. But she pursued other things, and even after finally surrendering her life to Christ as an adult (she grew up in a home that outwardly seemed to be Christian, but didn’t actually have a personal relationship – it was more of a distant awareness of God) it took her two years of praying before she felt ready to quit her job and pursue writing. And then, she couldn’t write anything well. She tried, but her ideas weren’t working out. She came to realize that while she’d surrendered her life to God and had stepped out in faith to leave her job to pursue what she felt God wanted her to do (write a novel) – she hadn’t surrendered that work to Him. She was trying to do it on her own, instead. Just kind of assumed the hard part (stepping out on faith; leaving her job to write) was over and the rest would be wonderful. When she did surrender the writing to God, she began to envision what would become a highly successful and much loved series. It wasn’t something she’d have chosen on her own; God gave her the vision and together they wrote the books. If she had trouble with something, she’d pray about it and wait for God’s answer. That meant going a while without a name for her main character, for example. The books have touched many peoples’ hearts for God, and she readily admits that writing them has had a deep impact on her relationship with Him, too. I get the sense that she’s in awe as she relates this information at the beginning of Bathed in Prayer, which is a companion book to the series and contains a collection of Father Tim’s (the protagonist of the series) prayers, sermons and reflections.

I love to read her series, because it’s so warm and loving and soothing, gentle and uplifting – even though there are plenty of tough topics covered. But being a writer myself, I’m very interested to learn how she came to write these books and have been even more encouraged and inspired to learn how much she relied on God. I’ve heard before that it’s important to surrender one’s life and one’s work, but haven’t been around many people who actually do so. This has given me insight into what that looks like, for a writer. She was fifty when she began writing the series; ten when she first felt God wanted her to write.