As writers, we have a lot on our plates. We must know our craft well. We sometimes pore over our words to the point of obsession, struggling to release them into world for fear of being misunderstood, judged, or even just known.
Now, we must also become authorpreneurs—the managers of our own careers, masters of marketing, social media, and even publishing.
For writers, the work is hard and the competition fierce.
So how can you strengthen the impact of your message on our readers?
Become your most authentic self, the truest and best version of you: forgiven, loved, free, courageous.
As important as grammar and spinning a good yarn are, I’m convinced the key to becoming an influential writer is becoming who God envisioned you to be when He created you.
We can get a lot of the other things wrong, but if we get this right, we will shine like stars, lighting up dark places and helping others to become who God imagined they could be.
As Christians, we emphasize the importance of believing God. It’s also important to understand what He believes about us— who He says we are and what He says we are capable of.
When God commissioned Gideon to deliver Israel from the hand of their oppressors (Midianites), He said, “The LORD is with you, O valiant warrior.” But Gideon was full of doubt—about God’s faithfulness and his own capacity to lead, saying, “…now the LORD has abandoned us..” and “O Lord, how shall I deliver Israel? Behold my family is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house (Judges 6, NASB).
God calls forth in us the things He knows are there, even when we can’t see them.
He calls us, even when we feel unqualified. Surely, there is someone better positioned and equipped than me to do this?
When we don’t believe what God believes about us, in essence we are calling Him a liar.
That may seem harsh (I’m preaching to myself here, and needed this kick in the pants). But if we think about it, we may inadvertently be declaring what God says is true about us to be untrue by the way we live and the risks we’re not willing to take.
The good news is that we can turn our minds around. By steeping our minds in God’s Word — meditating on what He says is true about Him and us — we can call up the faith we need to believe it and live it out.
Writing takes courage. It requires risk — of failure, rejection, embarrassment, and loss.
But we have courage. “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind (I Tim 1:7, NKJV).” If God’s Spirit dwells in us and we are communing with him, we can expect a constant flow of creativity and enlightenment.
We can be confident we have something of great value to say to the world. How many people it impacts or when it impacts them is God’s business. Our business is to believe Him and be faithful to write.
It is a battle that we must fight again and again, even daily, as we force ourselves to sit down in our writer’s chairs and do the next thing: outline a book, write a chapter or a proposal, draft a blog post, or submit something for publication. Maybe the next thing for you is doing what’s necessary to carve out space in your life to write.
For me, it’s writing my first novel which means putting my bottom in my office chair each day, asking family for a couple of hours of uninterrupted quiet, and muting the voices that say: you don’t know what you’re doing, your novel may end up like so many others, selling only a few copies, people won’t like your protagonist, etc. etc.
In another post, I’ll cover, “Knowing Your Why: The Power to Persist.”
Maresa DePuy says
Eva,
This post was a breath of holy encouragement for me. The step that takes the most courage for me is the follow through and being diligent in the daily work of writing when the demands of life seem overwhelming. God is showing me that the lie is I don’t have time to write. The truth is I have time but must steward it well. The more I obey the truth, the more effectively I walk out this sacred calling.
Eva Priest says
Your encouragement is so precious. Your life encourages me!
Rebecca Snow says
Becoming who God envisioned you to be when he created you.
This is line you wrote I will keep on my mind all day. I will hold it not just to make it through today but to shine.
Thank you for shining in my life.
Rebecca
Eva Priest says
Thank you, Rebecca! You do shine! I’m glad you’re in my life.
Eva Priest says
I love you and miss you, Rebecca!