Do The Work: Answering the call of writing

                                    Writing is Hard Work: DO IT!

Some days I question, “Why am I doing this?”

Why do I sit in front of my computer for most of the day during most of the week writing blog posts? Is anything actually accomplished? Does anybody read them? Is anybody blessed? Will I ever be published in print? 
                                                             This is HARD WORK.

What started me on this journey? It was not grammar school.

Many writers have been encouraged by teachers who saw their potential. The closest thing I received as writing encouragement, was an A+ on my last college English Lit paper with the words written in red ink: “At times I thought you plagiarized.”

I took that as a compliment.

                                                                    Photo courtesy of Wikimedia

I’ve always loved words. I’ve always loved writing, but the urgency to make thoughts permanent didn’t come to me until five years ago when I knew beyond knowing that I had to write a book.

I quickly learned that writing the book is the easy part. If I knew then, what I know now, I might not have begun that project. Ignorance can be a good thing. I find I’m gutsier when I’m clueless. So, I wrote the book, and then I wanted to publish it.

It’s hard work.

          It takes t-i-m-e.

We all want to be that one unknown writer whose first book sells a million copies. But though that happens once in awhile, most of us must work hard for that contract.

It’s easy to become discouraged. The market is ever-changing and publishers want a big name that will assure revenue.

Rejections by editors and the insistence on large platform numbers make me doubt what I’m doing, but those doubts cause pause. Those doubts spark deeper searching…eternal longing…and eventually joy knowing that God’s plan isn’t always easy nor is it quick, but it’s always good.

Why am I doing this?

I’m writing because I know it is what I’ve been called to do today. I’m called to share my faith in Jesus through the written word. I’m called to encourage, instruct, and love with my words.  It is the work God has for me. God has not called me to be a secretary, artist, or nurse—He has called me to write. 

Why do you write? Does the hard work make you question what you’re doing?

“….acknowledge the God of your father, and serve Him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek Him He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.”…David also said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous, and DO THE WORK. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you.” (1 Chronicles 28:9,20).

Andy Lee is an Oklahoma native and has lived in Wilmington for five years. She's a wife, mother, and the author of A Mary Like Me. She currently serves as a Word Weavers Mentor and blogs about life and faith in several online publications. You can read more of her work at www.wordsbyandylee.com.