I started writing a devotion this past week called “God is…” It focuses on all the different aspects of God and who he is, not just what he can do for us.
When I started out, I had planned to write every day. Yet on Friday, I found myself stuck, looking at the screen with no words. I dug into researching a specific aspect of God and came back to the screen. Still, no words came. So I walked away.
I didn’t write on Saturday, because we traveled and spent the entire day with family. But this morning, I got up and before I even took two steps from the bed, the words began forming sentences in my head. I headed to the office and began writing.
This is how I work. I know other writers will make themselves sit down and just write something, but I don’t work that way. I can’t work that way. My stream of consciousness must flow before I sit down to creatively write; otherwise it is forced and nasty and painful. When it’s like that, I do not enjoy it. Forcing words is torture.
Now, when I have a feature story due, I make myself sit down to write. But that’s different. The writing is not as creative. With feature writing, I am telling facts, and quoting people and statistics, and creating a story based on interviews. The process is completely different. I don’t always enjoy it as much as I do the creative writing process, but I love seeing the finished product and submitting it for publication. Sharing someone’s story with readers makes me feel proud at its completion.
Writing is not glamorous and it’s not always fun. But I love weaving words together into sentences, and sentences into paragraphs, and paragraphs into stories more than I love doing anything else. It is a gift from the one who created me. In creating, I feel a deeper connection to God the Creator, Writer, Author, and ultimate Story Teller. This is why I create. This is why I write.
Amanda Jewel Warren 