Check Your Writer’s Pulse!

It’s time for a check-up. Take a deep breath and consider this:

What do you love most about writing?

Answer A – Where do I begin? Losing myself in a story? The feeling of my fingers on the keyboard, the cursor flying across the screen? Disappearing for hours in imaginary worlds, knowing that God and I are on this incredible adventure together? Realizing I’ve been called to write for His glory and that my words will make a difference? Conquering the blank page? Brainstorming new ideas? Learning and growing with other writers? (Stop me, I’m on a roll…)

Answer B – Seriously? Do you know how many rejections I received this month? Do you have any idea the deadlines I’m under? Have you seen my blog numbers? If my mom didn’t check in once in a while, I wouldn’t have any consistent followers. My writer friends are getting published and building their platforms. I haven’t hammered the first nail in the first sheet of plywood. (Stop me, I’m on a roll…)

Maybe your answer falls somewhere between the two. You have days of I-really-love-this and days of what-in-the-world-am-I-doing?

We have highs and lows in any career field, but have we lost our joy in writing? If we’re filled with anxiety and dread at the thought of putting pen to paper, it’s time to pause for a reality check.

In our writing lives, do we:

Watch the numbers?

Do we check our “likes” and “shares” every few minutes after we send a post into the world? Do we measure success by the digits? Have our readers become faceless statistics? Have we forgotten that God measures victory by obedience and changed lives?

Play the comparison game?

Are we excited or frustrated when others succeed? Do we share the work of other writers or just our own? Do we feel resentment when another writer enjoys the spotlight? Do we regularly pray for our writer friends?

Focus on the climb?

Is our goal to suffer through writing the free stuff so we can get to the “real” paying jobs? Have we become too “talented” to help an aspiring writer? Are we being still before the Lord, seeking His heart and purpose for our work?

 

The stakes are too high to trudge through a mediocre writing life. Taking the time to check our writing pulse will identify areas of concern and breathe new life into our work.

We are writers on a mission.

Let’s get busy!

 

How do you keep your writer’s pulse strong and healthy?

 

The stakes are too high to trudge through a mediocre writing life Click To Tweet What do you love most about writing? Click To Tweet