NaNoWriMo Week 1

Write His Answer: Encouragement for Christian Writers

When I am weak, then I am strong--the less I have, the more I depend on Him." (2 Corinthians 10:10)

I'm reading Write His Answer by Marlene Bagnull, the "Crisis of Confidence" chapter.

Marlene discovered that "suddenly everything seemed to be getting in the way of my writing. Other things, good things, were demanding time and energy." She felt she couldn't say "no" to these things and these people. She couldn't let down the people who were depending on her.

Sometimes, the best choice could be to take care of the problem, or help that person (like the one who may be lowered down from the rafters in front of you, as one man's friends lowered him down from a roof in front of Jesus while He was speaking to a crowd). Perhaps, just as Jesus was showing in His situation, it could be a "divine interruption."

But I'm pretty sure those "divine interruptions" are not the everyday demands on our time that we experience, such as the one Marlene Bagnull described, and like the interruptions I have been experiencing this week.

Margaret Bagnull was fortunate to have a writing mentor who saw what was happening and spoke to Margaret about it. "You're running from the very thing you most want to do," she said. "You're running from your writing....New writing opportunities are stretching before you and, to put it bluntly, you're scared. You're protecting yourself from the possibility of failure by becoming so involved with other things that you have an excuse not to write." She encouraged Margaret to "move on--to make a commitment to being successful even though success is a lonely and risky thing."

Margaret says that everyone who is serious about writing will face similar choices. "Turning points--to either move ahead or turn back." She encourages us to move ahead in God-confidence, not self-confidence.

Not to sound cheesy, but today is the first day of the rest of NaNoWriMo. So, I encourage all of you (myself included): Move ahead, confident that God has called you to succeed in the ministry He has placed you in--as a Christian and a writer.

Colossians 1:29: This is my work, and I can do it only because Christ's mighty energy is at work within me."