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@kylie-wingfeather

Hello Kylie!

You are not alone.  We have all been there.  Totally understand. Don’t be hard on yourself.  Feeling guilty about it, tends to frustrate creative thought, so let it go.  You are God’s gifted girl. Don’t let the enemy steal that truth from you. Tell him and his sniveling whispery suggests to take a hike and find a cliff somewhere and take a flying leap. God says you are an Overcomer, and you will overcome this too!  Put him in his place. Imagine that you put a metal bucket over his head and beat on it with a spoon until his ears ring.  [That’s what I do to my sarcastic and whiny “inner editor” when I am writing my first drafts. 😜 I don’t let him out from under that bucket until I have finished, and THEN he can “critique” me all he likes.  But I keep that spoon in my hand, just to remind “him” not to be too critical. It’s funny to watch “him” blink rapidly when I raise the spoon as a warning and point back to the metal bucket.]
I am rambling, I know.  My “inner editor” is in the other room making a sandwich, so what “he” doesn’t know, won’t affect him.
But seriously, what you think about writing again, don’t just try to jump right it.  Re-read the last scene and record it.  Listen to it back.  Think about, if you were not the author of it, what questions you might have about what is going on in that one scene.  What questions does it lead you to?  What questions are answered by the scene, and what questions arise that are not answered there.  These questions are the best way I know of to get back into writing. Keep the mystery of it, even from yourself. Don’t over-plan, because you will take the discoveries away from your moments of actually writing out what comes to you.  Always keep some questions unanswered until you are ready to reach the climax or finish the book.  Keep yourself hungry to find out what will come next. Raise the stakes and any danger that might threaten your protagonist or their mission.  Allow yourself to write your characters into a desperate situation, that threatens everything.  You have to be cruel to be kind, as an author.  Tension is necessary, either physical, emotional, or relational, depending on the scene you are writing. Always focus on the questions, because those draw you into the stories and keep you engaged with it.  Take any scene and ask yourself: “What do I want to know going into this scene?”  List as many questions as you can think of.  Then decide which of those questions the scene itself will provide the answers for, and which will come later.  Then look at the scene and see if it evokes enough new questions, that will make you want to find out what comes next.  You are the first barometer of those potential readers who will resonate with your writing, so make sure the scene interests and engages you.  Writing is a series of rewarding promises made and raising questions that will eventually have the full answers for the most part revealed.  Don’t serve gluttons, but put out little snacks and hors d’oeuvers to whet the appetite for the later, larger meal to be served.

This method has been a big help to me in staying engaged, and hopefully, it might help you too.

Remember, God Himself does not reveal to us everything in the moment. He wants us to walk by faith and learn to trust Him as we yield our gifts and who we are to Him.

9 But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” [1 Corinthians 2:9 NKJV]

Keep the mystery.  Pursue it. Faithful is He that calls you, who will also do it through you.  There are many who need to see what God will do through you.  You are His light to your world; His torch-bearer.

Go light’em up!

Have a very blessed day.

Thank you for tagging me, @joelle-stone !