Unleash Your Writing Dreams by Sandi Somers

Image by rawpixel in Unsplash

Do you have a dream of what your writing/published works could be? Lynn Simpson inspired this month’s theme with an earlier blog post:

I challenge myself and all of us,

to take a chance to unleash our writing

beyond the boundaries that may be tying up our creativity. 

And in celebration,

live out our lives as the masterpiece we are created to be.

Visioning Our Best Writing Selves

My most recent reset to unleash writing goals came this winter and spring. Our local writing group has been studying Julia Cameron’s Right to Write. In one exercise, she asked us to list things we wished we could do. I wanted my writers to take that exercise to the next levels, and so we spent a few minutes listing our writing wishes. 

To emphasize how imagination spurs us to accomplish our dreams, I read a blog post by Jack Popjes, part of which I've included here:

"We have the amazing God-given talent to picture in our mind

something that doesn't yet exist,

to mentally create situations that have not happened.

 Over time, we tend to accomplish the things we think about imaginatively.

The stronger and more emotionally we respond to our focused thinking and visualizing,

the surer the eventual outcome will match our mental picture."

 Knowing also that “a goal without a plan is just a wish,” I introduced the concept of “Visioning Our Best Writing Selves.” I asked each writer to list her wishes as accomplishments using this prompt: "By December of this year, I will have..." We were planning for specific success.

This was a powerful exercise and I recognized the amazing potential in each of our writers. It also put feet to my own desires and anchored me in working towards more concrete, achievable goals.

I continued writing wishes, journalling “dialogues” with God. I wanted to submit more articles, some on new topics and for new publications—and a number of ideas came to mind. Doing so meant I needed to be more consistent in my output. The author Mark Buchanan suggested completing 1,000 words of finished copy a week, something I have often accomplished since then.

Another major area that came into focus was clearer planning on a daily, weekly, short-term, and long-term basis. Both the book The 12 Week Year and our own Ellen Hooge’s Writer’s Planit have given me strategies to better organize my time and keep track of my progress. It's a step-by-step process.

One morning after I had written these and other dreams, I awoke to the Spirit’s voice: “Now give your desires to Me.” He will accomplish what I cannot do on my own. I just need to be faithful to His calling.

Now more than ever, God continues to encourage me with insight, wisdom, and strategies for my next steps. He promises to release my potential and the potential of my group of writers. And that promise is one I pray He will do for all of us:

Is there yet any seed left in the barn?

Until now, the vine and the fig tree, the pomegranate and the olive tree

have not borne fruit. "From this day on I will bless you."

~Haggai 2:19~

~ ~ ~

How is God nudging you (or has nudged you)

to make your writing dreams a reality?

What are small or large steps you can take now?

This week? This month?

What advice would you give to those struggling to accomplish their dreams?