In order to write about writing you have to actually write.
This may seem like a bit of an obvious statement, but one that I’m reminded of as I’m working through a slightly drier period of working on my books. I’m not speaking specifically of the act of creating (though creating does have its own special joy), but simply of doing anything productive toward the writing goal, whether it is looking up literary agents, writing query letters, revising drafts, or even reading.
Put another way, in order to gain insight on something, especially insight worth sharing, you need to get around to laborious doing of that thing once and a while.
I think this applies to all apsects of life, but another area where I feel challenged by this idea is my faith.
I don’t read the Bible every day, nor do I do some other sort of quiet study on a regular basis. I pray a few times a week, usually in life group or form prayers before meals. I believe, but when asked the question “how is God working in your life right now?”, I’m really not sure how to answer it. I call myself a Christian much like someone who starts the first chapter of a novel and then puts it aside for months calls himself a writer. Technically it’s true, the writer did write something, but there’s a substantial difference between someone who practices the writing or the Chrisitan life, and someone who dabbles.
I do feel God challenging me in different ways in my life (writing this blog post is part of that), as well as giving me a passion for various causes, like labor conditions in China. These are good things, but they require a good grounding as well. Just as the writer reads other authors to gain insight on the writing craft, so should I as a Christian read the Bible, and make myself aware of Christian thought throughout the centuries, not just my own perceptions in the now.
This blog is a good challenge as well. I want this to be a blog about writing, and on the way faith impacts my writing and other things I care about. If I let the blog lay stagnant, if I don’t post new ideas or new thoughts for a couple of weeks, then readership begins to taper off. Having a group to whom I speak 4-5 times a week requires that I have something to say.
I’m not sure if today is the day I’ll get into better regular habits with the Bible or with writing, but it is something I’m praying for.
[BTW] : Ben Trube, Writer 