More than Writers

 I am a writer. I guess if you are reading this, you can say the same. I love writing. I communicate best, and express myself best, through writing. My writing serves both as a creative release and a way of processing my thoughts and often my prayers. It is only in the last couple of years that I have found joy in writing historical fiction, and the blessing of writing for publication. But for as long as I can remember I have been a writer – long before I was an author. I still prefer to refer to myself as a writer, and I am not alone. We are an Association of Christian Writers, not an Association of Christian Authors! This last week I have been writing all week. It wasn’t fiction, even though the ideas for Book #4 are buzzing and I am desperate to find the time and space to put them into words on the screen. No, the last week has been taken up with rewriting our church Safeguarding Policy. And actually there was enjoyment in it. In doing it to the best of my ability, and using s...

  Whitish sand dampening along the coastal edge stretched for two kilometres and I just had to walk along it. Combining pleasure and exercise, motivated me to go right to the end and touch the 1km marker stone. It’s the Fish Hoek tradition anyway. That’s what got me to thinking about the milestones of writing. Rather naively, when I finished my first novel, I thought all the hard work had been completed. Little did I realise this was only a fraction of the writing process. While trying to stay positive and motivated during the 80,000 words, I hadn’t given a thought to the weaknesses both of myself as the writer and of the ‘completed’ work. I had given a passing glance to Google’s seven stages: planning, drafting, sharing, evaluating, revising, editing, publishing, without even considering these seven stages also contained a minefield of subtitles. Pitting my current WIP against these headings, I am forced to recognise that I am weak in several areas, the most prominent being ‘s...

Today is the deadline for me delivering my manuscript to the publisher. I began this week full of enthusiasm after the brilliant ACW Writers’ Day in Birmingham. However, I also knew I had an almost insurmountable amount of work still to do to meet the deadline so there was some trepidation mixed in with the enthusiasm. I began the week by reading the Bible and in prayer, seeking God’s inspiration and anointing to help me finish off my book. I was bowled over by the verses for Monday in the devotional I am working through, particularly this one: ‘I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.’ (Psalm 32:8) I immediately had a vivid picture of God watching over me in love as I write, helping to give me direction. Yes writing is a struggle. It is difficult and takes so much out of us. And yet God loves to see us being creative, using the talents he has given us. In the last few weeks leading up to t...