Hello, Visionaries! Today the post is a question for y'all, I hope you will read it and pray about your response. It's so important that we, as Christian creatives especially, know the answer to this question.
I hope you enjoy this post and glean something meaningful from the words.
Why do you write?
Sometimes it’s hard to answer certain questions, but for this question, the answer isn’t really that hard. I’ve always loved imagining the impossible and believing it's real, and since writing is just that, I quickly fell in love. I love the concept of taking the most outrageous things you can think of, putting them into words, and convincing people they are real! I’m not sure I’m good at any of that, but let’s look a little deeper into my love of writing.
Growing up, I did a lot of reading, though our kid-friendly book selections were limited. My dad had tons of books, most of which were theology or flower guides because my dad is a pastor and an avid wild orchid hunter. But we did have two shelves that were full of books like Little House, Narnia, The Hobbit, Banner in the Sky, Little Women, Anne of Green Gables, and other such classic kids' stories. I read them all and then my dad made me a bookshelf and started picking up books at thrift stores or finding them on Amazon for a penny as he helped me grow my own collection.
How does that have anything to do with writing? Well, those books I read inspired me to write my own. At the ripe age of seven and a half, I plagiarized a Roy Rogers film and turned it into a book (if you don’t know who Roy Rogers is… wow, but his movies are family-friendly Westerns). That turned out horrible, so I put my pen aside. But occasionally, I’d get that itch to write a story and would start one.
It wasn’t until I was fourteen and my dad seriously encouraged my sisters and me to write our stories down that I really started writing. My sisters and I wrote several books together, and I enjoyed it so much I started writing books of my own two years later.
Since then, I’ve not looked back. Okay, I did once, and then after a few months had to write because I thought my brain would explode with all the stories and characters in it. But the thing that really keeps me writing, because as much as I love it, it’s hard, is the reason I write. My why behind writing.
What is my why, you ask?
Writing awakens the imagination inside me. I love building my own worlds, creating characters that can do and be anything I want them to do or be. Writing makes me feel closer to my Creator. Maybe it’s because I’m creating a story, a world, characters and creatures; I’m doing something similar to what He did when He first spoke us all into existence. When writing, I feel closer to my Lord, connected to Him in a beautiful, unexplainable way. He has given me a love for the unbelievable, a love of writing, and I hope always to use it for His glory!
I write because I want people to know they are never too far gone for God to save them. I write because I want everyone to know they have a purpose, that they are here for a reason, and that the world would not be the same without them. I write to awaken hope in the despairing hearts of our nation! Writing to Awaken Hope has become my anthem.
I write for the Light of lights, for the Hope of all hopes, I write for my Savior. Because I want His hope to touch as many hearts as possible, I want His light to shine into the darkness and cause it to flee. I want to serve Him in all I write.
But what is your why? Why do you write? If you are going to pursue this as a career, this is a question you need to sit down and ponder. Why do you write? What is the reason behind it? Because when it gets hard, you need that why. When you feel as if you aren’t cut out for this, you need to be able to look at the reason you write, because that will be your reason to keep going!
Money and fame won’t cut it for whys; it has to be deeper than surface value. It has to be something you truly want and are willing to fight for. So, what is your why?
What is your why? Please, pray about it, search it out, and let me know in the comments! I'd love to hear from you! Also, if you have any questions, feel free to reach out through the comments, messaging, or even email me at ourwritersvision@gmail.com.