Forrest Gump and My Writing Path by Bob Jones

"I just felt like running." Forrest Gump 

Writing was to me like running was to Forrest Gump. Early in my formative years I started to write. That day I wrote for no particular reason. I wrote a limerick and later a song and not long after a short story. I just felt like writing. Along the way I discovered that building a reputation for writing can provide unexpected opportunities to form a writing career. You are following a path that took you to where you are today. If you reflect on it, you'll see God's nudges along the way.

 

Whatever talent I had as a kid was raw and remained unrefined. I liked the creative writing portions of high school English classes. The grammar portions were endured, much to my regret. A project in English 11 class was a defining experience. I wrote the story of the Vietnam War through the eyes of a fictional US Marine. I created a journal of his experiences based on a composite of news reports in Life magazine and newspapers. The last page of the journal was an unfinished sentence, on a page stained by what looked like blood. The teacher’s A+ was encouragement enough to contine.

 

In English 12, I crafted what I imagined a reporter’s journal from 1864 would look like. I wrote the story of the Army of Southern Virginia during the American Civil War. Pictures with handwritten notations were pasted into a scrapbook. I singed the edges of the scrapbook endeavouring to make it look authentic. Another A+.

 

During my first job as a pastor in 1980, I wrote articles for a Canadian youth magazine, sharing real life stories of teens who came to know Jesus as their Saviour. Over time I got up the nerve to submit articles to a national religious magazine. The editor favoured me by publishing everything I sent and asking for more. More fuel for the fire. Editors are opportunity managers.

 

God opened doors for me by opening hearts to me. My first published book was the biography of a mom of three very young boys who died of cancer a few weeks after her 30^th birthday. Her husband allowed me to include family photos and gave me access to her journals. The last chapter of the book was her husband’s reflections on his grief and his life raising three boys as a single parent. The book, Ornament, won the Word Guild Inspiring Story of the Year in 2015. More fuel for the fire. Two additional books followed.

 

In 2020 I was asked to ghost write a woman’s story of childhood sexual abuse; her journey of recovery and building a world class treatment centre for victims of childhood sexual abuse. Her story became a Canadian bestseller in 2021.

 

Are all writers their own worst critic? I am. My best attempts at prose fall short in my own eyes but I see that God can take what I write to benefit others in unexpected ways. In May 2022 I was seated at a conference luncheon next to a stranger who introduced himself by saying he was inspired to pursue his own writing path by reading what I write at REVwords.

 

And so, I just feel like writing.

How about you?

 

 

I write to grow hope, inspire people to be real, forge an authentic faith in Jesus, and discover their life purpose.

Please follow my writing at REVwords.com

I would love to hear from you.