... and Thanks for All the Fish, by Ben Jeapes

Image by Alexa from Pixabay 

Two amazing things happened to me ten years ago. The first had its anniversary last month, when out of the blue I was approached by an agent with an offer that, if it worked, would let me chuck in the job I had come to loathe and become a full-time freelancer.

It did work out, but it took a few months to kick in; I didn’t get to leave my job until September.

Meanwhile, I had taken up another offer: would I like to write a monthly piece for More Than Writers? It sounded fun. My first piece, about the use of (ahem) Language in writing, appeared in July: Sweary sweary bleep bleep. And I’ve had something appear at 00.30 on the tenth of the month ever since.

But everything has a season, and a season that lasts ten years seems quite long enough. Which is why this is my last piece for More Than Writers.

It has been a wonderful, and valuable, and humbling experience. Very often I start with a few vague ideas of what I think I know, and the act of putting them down immediately drives me to pursue them and analyse them and realise maybe I didn’t know it after all. It’s been ten years of listening to what God might be saying. That can’t be a bad thing. Maybe sometimes he was only saying it to me, or I misheard it anyway. But I hope you found whatever it was useful. God does have a habit of using anything he likes to further his own purposes, however flawed our own intentions.

Keep writing, keep listening, and I’ll see you around …

Ben Jeapes (www.benjeapes.com) took up writing in the mistaken belief that it would be easier than a real job (it isn’t). Hence, as well as being the author of eight novels and co-author of many more, he has also been a journal editor, book publisher, and technical writer. His most recent title is Ghostwriting Novels: A Guide for Ghostwriters and the Ghostwritten.