Are You Called? And Other Tips for Christian Writers

Two years ago I attended a local writers' conference. I walked into the door thinking "I like to blog and I want to be a writer." I walked back out at the end of the conference thinking "I am a writer." And then I wrote a book.

The week following the conference, I wrote a blog post summarizing a lot of what I'd learned. I thought I'd repost it here today:

Last weekend Mike and I had intended to go out of town, and when our plans changed last minute, I told him that I really wanted to attend the writer’s conference that our church was hosting. He agreed and off I went! I have always thought of myself as a writer, and deep in my heart lives a dream to write more. Throughout the weekend I found myself wishing that I had invited several of my writing friends from other states. Since they were not able to attend, I want to share some highlights of the teachings:

Speakers came from various backgrounds: two of my favorite were Mark Batterson, author of The Circle Maker, and Stephen Roach, a musician/writer/speaker from North Carolina.
Here are 7 tips that stuck with me after this conference:

1) Ask yourself: am I called? Mark Batterson posed the question: Are you called to write? “If you’re called,” he said, “Then you should write as an act of obedience to God. When I sit down at my keyboard, I don’t type. I obey. I worship. I sometimes sacrifice.” Stephen Roach expressed it as: “When God gives us something to write, the writing becomes stewardship.”

2) Ask God for powerful words. “When I write, I pray for the Holy Spirit’s anointing,” is another statement that Mark Batterson made. How often do I do that? The Holy Spirit can direct our writing whether we’re writing something about faith or whether we’re writing a blog post about a favorite recipe. Words are more than just mere words: they hold power. The things we write (or say) can have the power to change people’s lives.

3) Read as much as you can. Mark Batterson also talked about how good writers are also readers. He reads an average of about 3 books a week! He said that he estimates that about 2 years of the author’s life experience goes into a book, so by reading one book, he gains 2 years of wisdom.

4) Work from a place of order, habit, and scheduled blocks of time. Stephen Roach shared a lot of practical wisdom with us in how to cultivate daily rhythms to bear fruit in our writing. Journal regularly. Dedicate time to write (don’t just do it when you feel like it). “Spontaneity should be the reward of preparation, not the result of disorganization.”

5) Let your desire motivate your discipline. Another statement from Stephen Roach that I have been pondering is “The key to discipline is desire.” I have recently become more disciplined with my eating and exercise, driven by the desire for better health and a trimmer body. I want to write something great, and that desire drives the discipline to sit down and work on it.

6) Be creative, be free! Stephen Roach also recommended that as writers we don’t write and edit at the same time, that we allow ourselves to write bad first drafts and just write out all our thoughts and then come back to edit and prune it later on.

7) Remember where it comes from and where it’s going. A worship song we sang during a session of praise and worship echoed in my head for days after the conference: “From You are all things and to You are all things – You deserve the glory.” When it comes to my writing, I want to be inspired by God, I want to write for God, and I want to give Him the glory, regardless of whether I am writing something sacred or secular.

I am grateful that I invested the time and money to learn more about writing – especially from people who are led by the Holy Spirit. Who could better inspire writing than God Himself? After all, he is the ultimate author of the best-selling book of all time. If you desire to write or feel called to write, then ask God for His direction, make a time to write, and go for it!

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Hi, I’m Betsy, and I live in the Washington, D.C. area with my husband, Mike. We have been married since 2008. We enjoy exploring new cities together on foot, eating at our favorite Italian restaurants, and doing life as a team. I published my first book Embracing Hope During Infertility in January 2015. You can learn more about me here. I invite you to connect with me by following my Hope During Infertility Facebook page or my Betsy Herman, Writer Facebook page. Thanks so much for reading my posts!