“Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on." Louis L’Amour
"You can always edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank page." Jodi Picoult
Years ago I was influenced by the observation that great writers don’t wait for inspiration to strike, they sit down and go to work every day whether they feel inspired or not.
My days begin with the Youversion Bible app, an open journal, and a fountain pen. Did you know that writing with a fountain pen is a sensual experience? I love the feel of black ink flowing onto a white page. My 11-year-old granddaughter discovered the joy of a fountain pen this summer. She watched me writing one morning at our lakeside cabin and asked if she could use my “special” pen. The light in her eyes as she saw the ink from the pen settle onto the page told me she was hooked for life. If you haven’t tried writing with a fountain pen, I encourage you to give it a go. My favourite is a red, Lamy pen with ink cartridges. You can order a Lamy on Amazon like I did for my granddaughter.
The bulk of my writing is dictated because I’m a two-fingered typist. My thoughts come faster than my ability to capture them using a keyboard. And this old dog can’t seem to master the trick of typing with ten fingers. So, I rely on getting my writing started in an efficient way by using my computer’s dictate function. When inspiration strikes and I’m away from my computer, I voice record an email and send it to myself.
Up until this month, dictating felt like cheating. Every
writer I know writes or types. And then Sandi Somers made me feel better. In her September post Sandi revealed
that she dictates into her cell phone as part of her writing ritual. Thank God
for Sandi.
The way I write is like playing with a Rubic’s cube. I’ll compile a few paragraphs or sentences. Then I’m inspired by a thought and record a few more lines, followed by another two or three paragraphs based on additional ideas. I park what I’ve written and when I come back, sometimes days later, I usually have another three or four pieces to add. Then I arrange the paragraphs in various ways to see which order flows best. The process feels like twisting the rows of a Rubic’s cube to align all the colours. I twisted the order of the paragraphs in this post multiple times. For instance, the intro to this post was in the middle at one point in the process. Do the colours of this post line up for you?
Although I write a lot, I’m not a writer by occupation. I am employed in a fulltime role that often eats up 12-hour days. So, I squeeze in writing when I can and often when the time is best for others. Sometimes as writers we choose a time to write that is most convenient for everyone else in our lives. But that can be seen as a sacrifice of love. Are you married to a morning person so you write later at night so you can be with the one you love in the morning? Got kids? Do you write before they get up or after they go to bed? Are you required to do shift work, work weekends, or work more than one job, so you write in the cracks of work?
You may be tempted to feel your circumstances cast your writing in weakness, but weakness is God’s favourite place to show his strength. When you make sacrifices out of love, don’t be surprised how God makes your output flourish.
Perspiration
is underrated. Writing is its own inspiration. Doing the work of getting words down
on a page is inspiring if for nothing else than you did it. I run four K every
other day. Did I say that I don’t like running? I don’t look forward to
running. I look forward to finishing. When I get home from a run my wife always
asks me, “How was your run?” And I answer most every time, “I did it.” There is
accomplishment and inspiration in just doing something you know you should do.
I’m happy I didn’t wait on inspiration for this post. How about you?
You can follow his writing at REVwords.com
He would love to hear from you.
