The Joys of Journalling

 

‘How long have you been a writer?’

Have you ever been asked that question? I have. And I have found myself fumbling for an answer. If the person asking is enquiring as to how long I have been a published author, that is easy. ‘Not long!’ If they are asking how long have I been writing with the aim to being published, again the answer is, ‘not long'.  I came to writing fiction late in life, and having had my work published came as a real shock. An unexpected blessing.

I know my story is not typical, and for many reading this you have been writing and looking to publish for a very long time. Or you have had your writing published for many years. I must admit I still feel a bit of a fraud calling myself a writer. And yet here I am – writing this! Words that you and many others are reading. And I have had the joy of having two and a half books published.

The truth is that I have been a writer for almost all my life. Since I discovered story writing at school. I loved English so much – both literature and language, as they were then. But then my life path veered into a profession where writing was limited to care notes and report writing. And writing as a creative outlet took second place to parenting, work, church, and other such demands.

Even so it was a joy to discover that I could still express myself with the written word. Being actually quite self-conscious and shy, I found that I could say in writing what I struggled to say out loud. And greeting cards and letters gave me an outlet to do so. I also began to find that I loved writing bible studies and resources for our local church use, and themed blogs and devotionals when asked for.

And then I discovered journalling. In the same way as I could express my feelings better in written word to friends and loved ones, so I discovered journalling my thoughts and prayers in my time with God so transformational in my devotional life.

I am a writer, and I write every day – and horror of horrors – not on my ‘Work In Progress’, but in my journal! Even on days when I do work on my novel, I do so only after I have written in my prayer journal. I’m sure many of you also write as part of your devotional life, but if you don’t, this is what mine looks like:

 ·         I start by recalling the blessings of the day before and thanking God for them, so in that way it acts as a record of the things that have happened in my life.

·       ·       Then I turn my thoughts to the things I want to tell God about and ask Him for. I write these down, and sometimes I hear a response from God and write that down too.

·          I read scripture and write down the things that have stood out for me, making them into a prayer or a moment of praise. Sometimes I even rewrite a passage of scripture in my own words. Always, in my journal writing, God meets with me. It is my place of connection.

I have been journalling for years now, through some really tough times, and through joyous times. As a consequence I have piles of journals in boxes upstairs, full of scribbles that might never see the light of day again. But that writing is a rich depository of my life with Jesus, that I suspect that I will never get rid of them.

It was because journalling has become such a lifeline to me, I jumped at the opportunity to produce my own journal, based on my novel, The Healing. I have to thank our own Liz Carter for first inspiring this idea when she produced her own journal ‘Create’, which is stunning. She was also kind enough to show me how to create the images and text I wanted to include using Canva. I then approached my publisher, Instant Apostle, who gave me permission to use some of the wording from The Healing, and the original cover design. I was not sure what to do next, when along came Joy Velykorodnyy who offered me her help in formatting, cover design, and actually publishing it as a hardback book. (If I could do it, with a little collaboration from more gifted friends, then so can you!)

Now the journal is out there and I could not be happier. My hope and prayer is that it will become a book full of people’s prayers and God’s healing responses. A place of encounter. For people who express themselves most naturally through the written word. For writers like me.