On Goodreads and Inspiration

Goodreads is perhaps my favorite website, and now Family Reunion is listed and I’m on there as an author! So exciting! Here’s my profile.

Now, that wasn’t quite enough to fill up a blog post, was it? So I think I’ll have to expound on something … well, how about the *deep thoughts* I’ve been pondering lately? I’m going to be a bit transparent here with advice to myself that maybe you’ll find meaningful as well.

Inspiration. Every writer is different. “No, really? You don’t say!” But, I make that statement because sometimes we writers don’t take that to heart. Am I the only one who occasionally wishes she had certain other writers’ gifts? Maybe they’re very prolific and their stories generate effortlessly like rabbits. Maybe their writing style is as lyrical and inviting as a song. Maybe they’re so well-informed, intelligent, and profound that their books are life-changing. If only you could write like any or all of the above …!

But every writer is different. God has different plans for each one and has gifted them accordingly. Maybe you’re meant to write just a few long and weighty tomes in your lifetime. Harper Lee published only one book, To Kill a Mockingbird, but look at its legacy. Maybe you’re meant to write down-to-earth stories that resonate with practical people more than a poetic style of writing ever could. Maybe your books are meant to entertain and cheer readers up rather than stretch their minds.

And then there’s the realization that writing isn’t all there is in this world, even for writers. If you’re like me, you get depressed on a weekly basis over how little time you have to write. How will I ever get anything written if I never write? But God doesn’t just give writers one gift – oftentimes there are a multiple number of things that any one writer is valuable for. Maybe it’s mother- or fatherhood, or a day job, or a special talent in music or art … there are lots of important things to be done in this world. Writing is only one of them.

So, the next time you feel discouraged, remember that writing is profitable in many, many different ways and on many levels … even something written for your eyes alone is worthwhile if it helps you. Our desperate aim is always to get everything in our heads onto paper or into type and to as many readers as possible, but if we managed to accomplish that, our writing days would be done, and we wouldn’t want that, now would we?!

My conclusion, to myself and to anyone else, is to remember that the essential thing is to work hard and write for God’s glory, and the results are up to Him.