The mind of a writer

I’m around writers all the time and it’s made me realize that I lack the mind of a writer. I do not have a constant stream of story ideas. I do not understand what it means when writers talk about their characters doing things as if they actually have agency over their own made up lives. Sentences do not flow out of me easily.

I may not have the mind of a writer, yet I still like to write. I’ve been blogging for the past 15 years, ever since Brad and I set off on a cross country journey in a Chevy Cavalier.

Until a couple of years ago I never imagined myself a “writer” and I absolutely never believed that I could write a novel. But as we started The Company and I began to hear snippets of Brad’s novel writing classes I started to wonder if I really could do it. According to him, you just follow this path and you end up with a novel. Could it really be that simple?

A few years I tried to write the chapters of novel but they just never came together. I threw in the towel and thought “Maybe someday in the future when life is less busy I’ll try again.”

Then one night in May as I was laying down to sleep I had the most random story idea run through my head. I jotted it down in my phone notes and have been thinking about it ever since.

It’s barely an idea, and definitely not a plan. I could brush it off and say, “Oh, what a good idea, but I could never write a novel”, but I believe God came in the proverbial gentle whisper to me before bed that evening and deposited the seed of a story.

If I don’t say yes, will He find someone else to write his story? And if I don’t say yes, how likely is it that I will ever write a novel when my life has “slowed down” someday?

I want to be faithful with the seed he planted in my mind and heart that evening, and I am currently practicing my writing. I’m going to watch the videos of my husband teaching on novel writing and learn how to plan my writing. I’m going to take the steps because I want to be faithful, even if I’m unsure of how I’m going to accomplish it. If it’s truly God, He will be with me, right?

I’ve noticed that God’s whispers often come at inconvenient times, but sometimes the whisper is just what we need to fully step into the next season.

The other day a giant fireball (OK, maybe that’s an exaggeration) came out of the back of our stove with a pop. Thankfully the stove still works, but the oven is fried. Part of me is bummed because as a family of 8 we use our oven all the time, but deep down I’m excited because that means it is time to switch to a gas stove. We knew someday we would run a gas line and get a new stove, I just didn’t think it was now. We’re knee deep in other projects, but if I want to bake bread again this is the time.

Rarely do things happen when we’re sitting around ready for them.

I have 6 children that I homeschool. The youngest just turned one and is in a pretty crazy stage right now. I can’t even strap him into his high chair and get a few minutes of peace while he eats, he literally jimmies himself out of it every time and ends up dumping stuff out on the table. I don’t have time to write a book, I don’t have the brain space to write a book, but I don’t think that matters to God. I imagine him like, “Hey, do you wanna do this?!” in the most fun friend way ever.

He’s inviting me along on an adventure, and who am I to say no to a God adventure?

Are there gentle whispers that he has given you? Are there seeds of ideas that you’ve been asked to write about, whether it be a facebook post or a full length novel?

The world needs you to take the steps of faith with what God has placed inside of you. They need to words that He has asked you to write, even if you don’t feel like a “writer” and even if it’s bad timing.