To New Writers, With Love

After a fourteen-month break and a gracious God willing, I’m about to duck my head back under a stack of books and commentaries and drain a heap of ink cartridges dry as I peck, type, and tap my fingernails on my desk toward another Bible study. When I was 30 years old, the thought of the first one never occurred to me. After that one was finished and originally placed on a shelf, I didn’t imagine a second one.

It’s not that writing had never crossed my mind. I’ve been obsessed with the feel of a pencil sliding across a page since my earliest memories. My young childhood years were spent on a hill in Arkadelphia, Arkansas in a small house splitting at the seams with eight people and tickled in the ribs by pine needles. I must have swung a thousand miles on the stuffed burlap bag my dad hung by a rope from an oak’s flexing bicep. I’d twist the rope as tightly as I could then hop on the bag and twirl around in dizzying circles with my head reared back, rope unwinding, and hair flying. And life has gone by pretty much like that ever since.

Because my maternal grandmother lived with us, my mom wasn’t obliged to stuff all of us kids in the station wagon every time she went to the grocery store. On occasion, however, I’d beg to go with her and she’d let me. There was a little gray plastic horse with a red saddle and loose brown rein that I’d befriended at the auspicious entrance to the Piggly Wiggly. Most of the time, I’d stay perched right there on his rigid back until the checker dug herself out from under an avalanche of groceries, can by can. A child was safer to let go of her mother’s skirt in those days. While she was inside fetching buttermilk, pork ‘n beans, and light bread, I was outside hugging that plastic horse so fiercely that sometimes flecks of chipped paint would stick to my arms and legs until my next scrubbing.  That would occur the next Saturday night.

We, of course, were forced to bathe or shower every day and we often did so two by two, rather like a reverse Noah’s Ark. The youngest of five girls in the house, I might get thrown in with anyone from six years old to seventy-five. A disembodied voice would yell, Can I throw Bethy in there? Then the next thing I knew, a hand would appear ex nihilo and snatch me through the heavy veil. But there was a fearsome thing in our household called “the Saturday bath.” You didn’t come out of that one unscathed.

What skin you had left when it was over was usually exfoliated by the brisk drying off. It was something akin to the flaps in a car wash. The other six days a week I don’t even recall dry-before-dressed being a top priority but, come Saturday night, cleaning was a near killing. The water, however, was only phase one of the ritual. We girls then sat in a row at my mother’s feet while she pin-curled our hair so tight our eyes would turn to slits. All this was so that we’d look fancy for church the next morning. She also pin curled Nanny’s hair and had done so for years. That Nanny only had about 73 hairs left on her whole head was no wonder to me. I often pictured waking up on Sunday morning, crawling out of bed, and the pin curls remaining right there on the pillowcase completely intact, broken off at the roots.

Years passed before I realized that the horse outside the Piggly Wiggly would have rocked back and forth for the better part of a minute if somebody rolled a nickel into it. My mom could still laugh herself into a coughing fit about that very thing till the year she died. That old stiff beast wasn’t my only motivation anyway. I also hitched a ride for the Big Chief Tablet. If my four siblings and I hadn’t frazzled Mom down to her last nerve and pitched her into an absolutely not, I could usually harass one out of her with incessant incantations of pretty-pretty-please. There could also be measurable success if we kids had managed to break her will.  You had to play it just right since she was like most moms. Sometimes you didn’t know if it was resignation or rage until you were decidedly sorry you’d asked.  However I attained it, as soon as I had that tablet in hand and back home on the hill, I’d snatch a pencil from the kitchen drawer, sharpen it, and scribble for hours until every single line was filled on every last page.

Five and six years old, I wrote fastidiously in my own brand of cursive. Mind you, I hardly knew how to spell a word with basic print, let alone write in cursive but how could any literature be taken seriously in disjointed characters? So, I made up my own script, big on curlicues, loop de loops, ocean waves and dolphin fins. This was not the stuff of Christian books penned with a fury there in the dark red shadow of the Big Chief. My books were more inclined toward elementary romance novels. They involved characters like Little Joe Cartwright on Bonanza and probably me, and Barbie’s dark-plastic-brown-headed Ken and probably me, and a host of doll babies or trolls and probably me. I would stare off into space a little while, mutter and ponder, then throw my head down dramatically and scribble for all I was worth.

Writing came easier back then.

As I grew up, my interests widened. I loved English and social studies and student government. I eventually got my undergraduate degree in political science with thoughts of going on to law school and threw in a teacher’s certificate to boot but, with any musing time at all, I still scribbled and doodled on every bare inch of paper. My official writing days were now long behind me, leaving soirees with Big Chiefs in a smattering of dust. I’m not sure when it first hit me that I might write a Christian book but, even then, those pages were scribbled out of a romance – the most enduring one I’ve ever had – and not without copious curlicues and loop de loops.

I’ve never mastered writing. I read the works of others and say with much admiration, now that’s a real writer.  But this many excursions in, I am no longer naïve about what these many months ahead are going to take. So, I’m steadying myself, taking a deep breath, and whispering underneath it, “Well, here we go again” and all with that inseparable mixture of stomach-churning dread and it’s-great-to-be-back hope. This is what I love. And this is what I sometimes hate. Well, that’s not true. Hate is too strong a word but on occasion it does occur to me that there are work-lives that could be substantially less stressful and less dependent on an endless list of variables like mood, atmosphere, weather, relative-quietness-versus-too-much-quietness where you can hear the clock ticking louder and louder until it sounds like an ear-splitting gong in a torture chamber. Under most circumstances, you need just the right inspiration for just the right amount of time, not to mention exactly enough pain to stir up some passion but not so much that you consider killing yourself. Or at least seriously.  And that’s another thing. You have to read and reread any whimsical sentence you write for fear that someone will take what you said too seriously and pass a kidney stone over it.

Writing can be a hard, grueling profession. It has moments of beauty, mystery, and emotion so strong that you can’t see the screen but, nipping at their very heels are harassing fears that you might not have another. That you’ve started a book you can’t finish. And worse yet, you told someone you’re writing a book and now it appears that the devil could die of frostbite before you can construct another intelligible sentence.

I feel this strange sensation of dread and hope every time I start to write something of any length but only in the last few journeys have I thought intently about you.  About you new writers, you lovers of words, stirred of heart and mind to lasso your swirling thoughts onto a page, let them be still, and wonder if anyone on earth will care to actually read them. And, if they do, will they ridicule them? I think of you now because of the groundswell of obstacles that have emerged out of a giant social earthquake. A dazzling mountain range has jumped in the path between the first word of every decent book and its last. Its lung-searing climb, its slippery summit, and harrowing descent are woefully beyond the muscle of the weak-willed.

Many of you are young enough to know no other writing world but this one. Others of us have been around long enough to recognize the glaring climate changes. A dyed-in-the-wool sanguine, I feed off a social frenzy with all the patience of a crackhead just like other people-persons do. I love it. I crave it. I’m just saying it’s next to impossible to actually eek out a decent book in the batting eye of it.  Long-term writing has always been difficult but these present winds, they are a-blowin’, and those of us who insist on keeping every window wide open will have our pens whipped into knots and our floors swept by swooshes of blank pages.

Because one thing will never change.

A decent piece of writing demands concentration.

It’s hard – not impossible but hard – to bring it to completion with a semblance of originality and, Lord, help us, anointing amid the constant cacophony. Amid unhindered choruses of…

Oh, for a thousand texts to ping.

Or

There’s a tweet, tweet spirit in this place.

Others are more qualified to speak to this than I. Obviously, I’m just putting off the first sentence of a project with one last rabbit-chase. I have no great word on lasting penmanship in a frenetic climate. My take on the subject comes from my own subjective experience and perspective. For that handful of you who have hung on this long, however, I’m going to throw a few things on the counter that I have learned along the way (true to frustrating form, the hard way). This is why: because I believe in you young writers and in you not-so-young-but-new writers. I see great men and women of God out there with things to say that need to be documented into a format with a shelf life longer than an iPhone upgrade. So, here goes.

Writing a book will be harder than you think and take longer than you want.

You very often will lose passion for the project somewhere in the middle of it and even sprint mentally in a mad blaze toward a new direction and new title. Expect it. It’s completely normal and, on occasion, projects really do need to be abandoned. Maybe God’s just not in it. Maybe it was better off as a blog post or a thought-worthy entry on Tumblr. Maybe we didn’t think it through and mistook it for a long-term project. It just wasn’t the right direction. We miss it sometimes. But, more often, the maddening ebb is part of the writing process that you must work and pray and cry and press through until the fire returns because, if you don’t? Well, if you don’t, you will start fifteen books and finish none of them. And, if you do, your blaze for the project will often boomerang with a satisfaction that plunges all the deeper because you fought the demon and won. In the immutable words of Hebrews 10:36, you need to persevere.

You have to factor in more than writing time. Decent writing requires much more time than it takes to actually type the sentences. Decent writing requires thinking and spinning and mulling and living and watching and listening and experiencing and reaching. These bring the strokes to the page that turn the transfer of information into true connection.

Limitless opportunities have come with the global blast of information and communication. What believer couldn’t entertain the notion that God may have foreordained all this access for the purpose of Gospel wall-leaping? It’s a gorgeous thing. But omnipresence is a burden only God can bear. Insisting on being ten places at once for twenty hours a day for weeks on end will ultimately make aloneness almost intolerable. Thankfully, that doesn’t mean we’ll never hear from God since He can well reveal Himself in corporate contexts. It just means that we will less likely sense what He’s trying to communicate to us personally and use us to communicate to someone else. The Biblical art of meditating can turn a parched cistern into a fountainhead.

I meditate on all You have done; I ponder the work of Your hands. I stretch out my hands to You; my soul thirsts for You like a parched land. Psalm 143:5-6

Turn to the psalmists and trace with your fingertips the times they talk about meditating on God and His precepts, His ways, His acts, and the human condition with and without Him.  Study the contexts. See the results. The loss of such an art may be gradual but make no mistake. It will also be incalculable.

The NIV translates Jesus’ words in John 12:49 in terms that stand up on the page like a pop-up book for any believer hoping to communicate.

For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it.

Only Jesus is capable of speaking solely what the Father has commanded but a concept dripping from it like honey is enough to wet the tongue of the driest human mouth: Communicating is not only about what to say. It’s about how to say it.

That takes pondering. And pondering takes time. The word “Godspeed” may be the most overlooked oxymoron in the English language. He rarely does. Speed, I mean.

Panic only exacerbates inevitable waves of writer’s block. I don’t care how elementary and predictable this piece of advice is going to sound. When it happens – and it will – get up from your desk, down on the floor, tell God your struggle and pray for Him to move you past the block. Then, as you get up from the floor, thank Him for His kindness and mercy and complete dependability. The block may pass right away. It may not pass until the next day. Or week. Or month. But, if the project is from God, the boulder will most definitely tumble from the path and, when it does, you’ll know who kicked it. Appropriately, God wants us to credit Him with every victory. Hasten to it.

Do the work. Study. Prepare. Don’t have all of your research done by someone else. The discovery itself is often the gift.

God will most often take the message we’re writing and prove us genuine by hammering the themes relentlessly on the anvil of our souls. Does it say anything that I had to type the word “anvil” very slowly to keep from writing “advil”?  Knowing how much time to allow on the manuscript due-date for a holy hammering is hard to navigate but, whenever it’s finished, it will be ten times the untested version. Oh, I know, I know. We all hope we’ve already lived the process in advance which is why we feel qualified to speak to it in book form but, from my experience, that’s a sweet dream.  If we sow to our flesh we’ll reap the flesh. Only if we go to the extra trouble to sow to the Spirit will we reap something of authentic, eternal spiritual value.

Submit to the angst of decent editing. That means we have to let our works and ourselves be critiqued. Criticized. Questioned. Challenged. A good editor can be a solid gold pain in the neck that we oughtn’t to want to trade for all the e-book space in the universe. Think of all we’ve gotten in trouble for saying, then think of all we could have said. Lord, help me. An editorial cut can sometimes swerve you right out of the path of a flatbed trailer full of fertilizer. If we don’t trust our editor enough to give us some pretty solid advice, we really do need to seek a new one. Some statements are well worth fighting for and it can come down to finding a different way to say them. Other times authors might get their way with an editorial disclaimer we shouldn’t take lightly: “Ok, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.” A number of statements along the way have been worth some controversy to me but some of the things that have hurled me into the hottest water weren’t even important to me. Many words, much folly.

Perfectionism will snuff the flame. Period. Give it up. It’s cheating us out of hearing your genuine voice.

These are a few reasons why we may never read books by some of the greatest writers on the planet. Some are too narcissistic to take the criticism, too undisciplined to see it through the dry spells, or too committed to greatness to settle for publishing something good.

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works. We don’t have to strive for fabulous. Purely doing some good can be really great.

Just one more.

Don’t just think twice before you sign a multi-book contract. Think fifty times. Resist it at all costs (see below) unless God writes a go across the sky. As tempting as the sight may be, God may not spell go like this:

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

 
God can lead His children any way He pleases. You could flourish under conditions that I find crushing. But, for me, there’s nothing like the pressure to write that leaves me with fewer things to say. God is all-powerful, compassionate, mysterious, and sometimes almost humorous. He freely admits to the enjoyment of showing the wise foolish and the foolish wise. He can do anything He wants any way He wants but, as a general rule, holy passion is a better guide than human pressure. It is dangerous to sign contracts for unwritten books. And taking money for them can burn a hole right through the lining of your stomach.

So. I guess I’ve put off the process long enough and will go get to it. Maybe all this rambling was just a reminder to me. Thanks for giving me the space to hash it out.

 

Ecclesiastes 12:12 says, Of making many books there is no end.

 

And I – more reader than writer – for one am glad.

Write on, sister or brother. Don’t wait for a publisher or a book deal. A true writer has to write even with no one to read. Scribble down rogue phrases and incomplete sentences as they come whether or not they seem strung together. Write on the backs of sales receipts or the palm of your other hand. Just write! That book is in there somewhere.

If it seems slow, wait for it. (Habakkuk 2:3)

And when it comes, may God speak.

 

 

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306 Responses to “To New Writers, With Love”

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Comments:

  1. 1
    Michele says:

    AMEN, AMEN, AMEN, and AMEN!!

    Oh, thank you so much for this post, especially today, as I just finished the last big chapter on my book. Just a few clean-up things left.

    When I started this, my first book, I honestly think that at the time I thought I could knock it out in a few weeks. It has been 3 1/2 months. Hopefully we will finish tomorrow.

    I so appreciate the affirmation of the struggles, time delays, and the fact that it only moves forward if and when God wants it to.

    So thankful to God for allowing me to tag along on this project. Praying hard for your new writing journey. 🙂

  2. 2
    Joan says:

    My daughter is a writer. Thank you for helping me better understand her.

  3. 3
    Kerry says:

    This post was right on time for me today, and confirmation of what has already been confirmed a few times already! God still keeps giving me chances to do what He’s calling. Thank you Father that you never give up on me! and thank you, Beth, for sharing your experience and words of wisdom. Oh if I would just die to self so that these chains of perfectionism and lack of discipline can drop off! Bless you Beth.

  4. 4
    Leah Adams says:

    Mercy! You must have been strolling through my mind! This post is awesome!! When I wrote my first Bible study, the words flowed easily and freely because I was literally writing the messages I had been speaking for a couple of years on the topic of creating a godly legacy. It held a lot of my testimony and life and the published version has been a blessing to others…or so they said.

    The study I now am working on…and have been for over a year…is not nearly so easy a write. It has required extended periods of prayer and seeking God for the words. It has seen weeks of inactivity because ‘life’ got in the way. I am in the final stretch and am finding many distractions to writing…not the least of which is that I’m pretty certain it will not be published. At least not self published like the Legacy study. So, I feel no pressure to finish it. I am writing because I sense that is God’s direction to me. Anyway, this post has been a wealth of knowledge and wisdom. Thank you so much!!

  5. 5
    Melissa says:

    Only God knew how much I needed each word you typed here. Thank you for your obedience, transparency and encouragement!

  6. 6

    So timely Sweet Mama. Many lines spoke to my heart. Love you much.

  7. 7
    Laurie says:

    Beth,

    Your post spoke to my heart. There was a time when I had much different literary aspirations. I, like yourself, was a political science major in college and recall the joy, yep, crazy but true, of researching subjects like Perestroika and Glasnost and writing what seemed to be neverending term papers chock full of what I believed were interesting ideas and thoughtful impressions. I thought I would graduate and perhaps, work within the confines of government and write books regarding public policy, social values and who knows what else. However, I quickly learned that this was my plan, rather than God’s calling. Rather than view the end of my certain type of literary dream as having fallen short, however, God blessed me with a calling equally if not better suited for my tenacious spirit and “wear my heart on my sleeve” demeanor, when he called me to the field of social work. It’s been 20 years and I can’t imagine anything better. These days I get to write 50, 60 and 70 page reports about children and their families. Some of the information may seem mundane to some, but portions of these reports require me to ponder and ruminate about why individuals do the things they do; what causes individuals to act up and act out; how does one try to put families back together? I find myself in almost constant conversation with God as I write, desiring to protray people fairly, through His eyes and with His love, but also realistically so that they, like each of us who is imperfect, can change and become the person God intends for them to be. Judges, case managers and therapists may be the only people to read my “little books,” but I am so thankful that my heavenly Father has provided me the opportunity to get to write them. It’s a blessing, and an opportunity as Lindsee might say, to “bloom where I’m planted.”

    I know that this post is probably about short story length by now (I feel bad – sort of!) but I guess it goes to show that I like to share my thoughts. LOL! I am somewhat new to Siestaville and have been inspired by this blog and the beautiful and thoughtful notations by members of this community, to start a blog of my own, as obviously, I seem to have some things to say. So a thank you to all who make this blog possible, as it is a blessing to be part of such a neat group of sisters! And a thank you to Beth, for being a vessel used by God to bring his word, via blog, Bible studies and books, to those of us who desperately want more of Him! Hugs and Blessings!!

  8. 8
    Holly Smith says:

    God’s been prompting me to write lately–so much so, I am considering changing some of my priorities around a bit…I have no idea what it will be, but I am listening–and writing what I hear. If anything, it is something for our kids. At best, it will touch one heart and draw one woman closer to Jesus. That is payment enough. Love you and praying over your trip.
    holly

  9. 9
    kathy white says:

    We are so grateful for you to hear from HIs Spirit and get your head back under the books and computer…….wondered what the study will be on….Walked out of our study last nite and commented to my mom…gee, I wonder if Beth will ever do Jeremiah….with all that is transpiring in “these day”……Just wondered : ) We will be praying for you as He guides you…I remarked to my Wm Minister Director that I not only love Beth, but I love that she diligently seeks the Holy Spirit for all her events, and there is ALWAYS A FRESH ANOINTING….proving again and again , your dependence on God’s lead…bless you sister

  10. 10
    Pat Westmoreland says:

    I can’t wait for the finished product!! I will be praying for God to guide every thought you have as you work.

  11. 11
    debbie says:

    This just cheered my heart. What inspiration. Thank you for all of it

  12. 12

    Beth, thank you so much for these words. You may never know how timely they are for me today! This sentence really grabbed me: God will most often take the message we’re writing and prove us genuine by hammering the themes relentlessly on the anvil of our souls. It is a great reminder that God uses everything and that He will prove Himself faithful through the current fire just as He was through previous ones.

  13. 13
    Beth Wayland says:

    You gave words to my fears. Exhortation
    in areas where I have felt stuck and
    questioned if I could even sense God’s
    direction with writing…and what do I
    do with such a love for the written
    word?? I’ll keep writing and waiting
    and listening. Thanks, Beth.

  14. 14

    In. Tears. Yes. This.
    Thank you for loving on those of us who write if only to be read by Jesus. Oh how I thank you Beth Moore. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

  15. 15
    Jamie says:

    Thank you for this post. Yesterday in prayer I asked the Lord to confirm that it was Him that said to write the book. I felt Him say I use the foolish things to confound the wise. You posted those very words. I don’t know what I am doing but I trust that He does. Praying for you as you begin another book. Your words were very encouraging.

  16. 16
    Kelli says:

    So excited to find out more about this new study! Don’t leave us hanging too long! :). Pray for you often as the Lord brings you to mind. Have a feeling He will be bringing you to mind quite often in these days to come. Love you Ms Beth

  17. 17
    Cindy says:

    Oh, Beth, I’m stunned. You were speaking right to me. I have had a book in my heart and head for the last 5 years or so. I know it has to be written. I’ve taken notes, started chapters, had the general theme, but I didn’t see where it was going. I knew it was something that I was supposed to write, but it wasn’t jelling. Simply continuing to live my life these last few years and allowing God to work in my life, has given me what was missing, it finally took shape. “Aha, so this is what it’s about…..” And, I recommitted to working on it, getting it done. I spent the morning reliving parts of my life that I hadn’t allowed myself to fully focus on in a long time. And I see the connections to where I am now that I had never seen before. I see what God has been doing. And, I am in awe.

    What you’ve written is exactly what I needed. Thank you so much. I have goose bumps. I’m ready to work.

  18. 18
    Anna says:

    Writing the middle of my first book was the hardest, I thought I was never going to get to the end! Good luck to you as you start the process all over. If you did it once, you can do it again!

  19. 19
    Linda says:

    I needed this Beth – Oh how I needed it. I’m going to read it till it is imprinted on my little brain. I’m in the middle of writing a book and I just sit her wondering at my audacity. But He put this big dream in my heart, and I’m chasing hard after it.
    I’ll be praying for you. Please pray for me too!

  20. 20
    Mary Joy says:

    Beth,

    Thank you SO much for sharing your heart, your wisdom gained from so many travels down the road of writing books. I am a new writer. I feel the message God is giving growing in my heart and soul and some days I can’t sleep till I type it out and some days I still wonder why He wants me to share it…but it is there. I wasn’t sure what to do with it, but your words are whispering to my heart to never give up and keep listening and stumbling over the words as they pour through my finger tips on the keys on my lap top. I will be pondering your message over the coming days and hold onto this article to remind me when I question if I can do this.

    God bless you as you begin your new writing project. I will keep you in prayer, dear lady, and I will look forward to seeing what God births in you.

    Unwrapping His Grace,

    Mary Joy

  21. 21

    Thank you. Just… thank you.

  22. 22
    Angie says:

    One of my favorite posts of all time. Thanks for the encouragement!

  23. 23

    This is just hitting me in all the right places, twisting me up inside and making me all convicted and empowered and inspired to march forward! and hunker down! all at once, if that even makes sense. I am a “young” writer (sort of?). Thank-you for this wisdom, I feel that I’ve been given an unparalleled gift as I set sail on a dream of calling myself a “real writer” someday. It’s in me, down deep in my bones, and I breathe deep in this hope. Thank-you. So much love, from – another Beth, xo.

  24. 24
    Judy Webb says:

    Beth, Thank you so much for posting this blog. I am at a place where I believe God is leading me to write a book and it is both intimidating and exciting. I have been blogging and in the telling of God’s story I find such joy. God is teaching me so much through writing, as if I need to type on the screen for God to speak his message to me, not just through me.
    I am quite sure I will be visiting this blog post often. You have unknowlingly been discipling me for over 12 years. Thank you. You are dear to me.
    Judy Webb

  25. 25
    Tammy Bellinger says:

    Ok, that is just teasing me! So, what are you working on for next? We just finished James, and our first thought was what’s next? It seems like you said that in the ending lessons, and yes I am contemplating that for myself, but now we want to know! What’s next for you?

    But, also thank you for the encouragement on writing. I teach writing to fourth graders (9 and 10 years old). Helping them understand the process of writing and that it doesn’t just happen instantly is very challenging. I may well be quoting you at school now! Thank you!

  26. 26
    Kris says:

    Beth, this is so breathtakingly beautiful. Wow. I just emailed a copy of this to myself, as I know I will come back to these words again and again. Bless you, sister. God moves through you like wildfire. Thanks so much for this.

  27. 27
    Sarah Bessey says:

    Amen. Nothing to say here but “selah.” Bless you, Beth. Merci beaucoup.

  28. 28
    Amy Hogan says:

    I’m on my computer tonight doing some very preliminary research on Bible Studies to consider for our 2013-2014 season of women’s Bible study at the church I work at. I clicked on your site just to check in as I do every few days and read this post! I have to say…I am thrilled to hear of a new study brewing in your heart and mind! We are finishing James next week …and we have loved every minute of it. Everyone is already asking if you are working on a new study…so I have to ask… what is your subject? You can’t leave us hanging!!!

  29. 29

    As a young writer, a student, and a new mom, this was what I needed to hear. I’ve been struggling to find the time to write between nursing, changing diapers, and studying. I have somehow found it, which has been a great encouragement, but this timely message uplifts me even more. Thank you for taking the time to put it down!

  30. 30
    lynda rickey says:

    My sweet Beth, Write on girlfriend! I know that you can do it. Thanks so much for the encouragement. I really needed it and I feel better about the completed manuscript on my desk and the half-written one in my head. I love you so much. Lynda

  31. 31
    Bonnie says:

    Beautifully written, Beth. Thank you for your wisdom shared to all of us wannabe writers but we….fill in the blank…is hindering us. Is it too cliche now to say that your post was a prayer answered just for me : ) #writerinsecuritystinks

  32. 32
    Kari says:

    Wow! Do I totally understand each word you just breathed out onto paper!!! I have been thinking about a 2nd book that would follow one that I wrote in a tablet about my parents childhood, etc made from stories that they told and my Grandpa told me over and over while we strolled through his flower garden and I hopped from each big stone around the edge…and kept saying, yep! that’s good Gramps….as he repeated his same flower stories, of where the flowers came from or where the seeds were found and then brought to explode under his wonderful green thumb. I have another book in my heart that takes up where the last book left my parents, dating, swinging on my Mom’s back porch giving Dad her hankie and he gave her his watch…..a true story….I want to start the next one in early 1940’s with the war planes gathering and Mom enjoying her marriage and her first baby of 8. Thanks! Beth……maybe after I get upteen quilts done I will write that book. I can’t tell you how much your audio book of Praying Gods’ Word has blessed me and my husband and now my niece….God Bless You and NEVER givt up!! Quilted Hugs! Kari

  33. 33
    Casey says:

    My word you can write…but you already knew that 😉
    I write on everything, notebooks, journals, receipts, wal-greens bags,napkins. After everything I have been through with my daughter I know God is working on a book there. I don’t feel like He has given me the entire book yet. It almost seems as if he gives me the first sentence and says go. It is so important to me to have something out their for other mom’s of sick kids.I have loved your writing for years and when you said it had been 14 monthsI had to go back and count how long it had been since I had finished James. I can’t wait to see what flows from that pen…and on the social media link. I have shut it down for a while…HUGE distraction!
    Love you Momma Beth and praying you enjoy your time with A21

  34. 34
    Jane McEwen says:

    Thank you.
    Been hearing those writing whispers in my head.

  35. 35
    Laura Jungeblut says:

    Oh Beth, I loved every word of this. Thank you for not only sharing with us, but for persevering in your God given talent. You and I must be the same age….I grew up in north Louisiana jumping from that big tree branch into space on my rope swing, loving light bread from the Piggly Wiggly, and coveting my Big Chief tablets. Sweet memories. You are on my prayers!

  36. 36
    Tracy says:

    Oh my goodness! You have no idea how you have spoken to me. I wrote a letter to you a few weeks ago sharing how much you had touched me with the Bible study on Deuteronomy and about how one day I would love to write and teach and speak like you. 🙂 Today I have been fasting and praying about what direction God wants me to go when I received some disappointing news in regards to continuing my education. I was lost again unsure of my next step and then God sent me your blog. It’s as if it was written just for me although I know there must be others. Thank You!

  37. 37
    FloridaLizzie says:

    Thanks so much for writing this post, whatever made you write it! Beth, from the first time I did one of your Bible studies, I was amazed and surprised by how good your writing is, so don’t sell yourself short. God truly has given you a voice and style that resonates well, and you have been faithful to put your talent to use. Your writing just gets better and better as the years go by. That just adds to the message.

    Your post was also very timely, because I have a complete book moldering on my computer, without the faintest clue how to move it to the next step. In “Believing God” you said to write down a story to tell your kids and grandkids about God’s faithfulness, and after about 15 chapters, someone said to me, “It sounds like you are writing a book.” So over the next 4 years, I finished it.

    And then life utterly surprised me, kind of like that movie, “A Beautiful Mind.” After some mind-boggling surprises and revelations, I realized how much my perception of my life and my story was different from my reality. God was writing a deeper story than I knew, and I do believe it’s not quite over yet. I still believe one day God may have my book published, but I’m not sure quite where this story is going. But I sure am thankful for the pep talk, and am committed to obeying God about what to do with my book. I will be praying for you as you write.

  38. 38
    Tatia Cook says:

    There’s some good advice in that ramblin’ writin’, girlfriend! There’s some Laugh Out Loud stuff, too 🙂

    In our James study this am, I got to hear the story of the bears and the hummingbirds. Tonight, I got to hear from you again. You are loved by so many (including me!), not just because God speaks through you, but also because you speak to us as if we are sittin’ across from you…honestly, messily, lovingly, sometimes with moist eyes and often with a big grin 🙂

    Celebrating you for being who God made you to be. I can’t wait to hug your neck some day!!

  39. 39
    maryanne says:

    Beth Moore…you are the real deal and the way GOD has blessed your use of words is nothing short of amazing.
    Please continue to delight, inform and light a fire in every listening heart. We just finished James and will never be the same…praise GOD for that!

    You make all of us feel loved and validated by the grace you offer and your honesty which is most refreshing. How you bless us in your faithfulness. Write on dear one.

  40. 40
    Gindi says:

    Ah, all so true. Thank you for sharing. It’s so good to hear this from someone who’s been through the process over and over. And panic DOES exacerbate writer’s block! As I sit here panicked with my December deadline looming and the three middle chapters not even in my head, I wonder what I signed up for, and how it will ever get done……maybe I’ll just factor in the non writing time tonight. Can’t wait to see your next project.

  41. 41
    Sharon says:

    Oh Beth, thank you for writing this. I wish I could hug you! What words of encouragement to me. Why would I ever think this would be easy? Even if I am just writing a book for my precious granddaughter! 🙂

  42. 42
    Dick Sisk says:

    Well said Wanda Beth. I needed that. Miss seeing you and Keith.

  43. 43
    Amy says:

    Mama Beth, I am sure this message was meant to hit many square between the eyes, and I don’t presume to think that my seat is really dead front and center in your audience tonight, but it sure feels like it. Thank you for this post. Out of all the people I’ve never met in person, you are probably the one I’d most like to hug for the encouragement you’ve been and have actively given. Please be on your guard when you get Home and are walking blithely unaware down the streets of gold.

  44. 44
    Kelli Redfearn says:

    Thank you for sharing this! As an aspiring writer, I fully understand the ebb and flow that is needed to finish a work, however, I still get so aggravated in the inevitable pause that comes while writing. In fact, this happened today!

  45. 45
    Avayd Ann Lacy says:

    So do we get to know the subject of your next book, in advance? I, for one, can’t wait!!

  46. 46
    Christy Powers says:

    Beth,
    I am excited to hear that another study is coming our way in the future. I will pray for you as God reveals what he needs you to say. My family and I have recently moved from Arlington, TX to Beijing, China to serve at an International Church here in the city. Getting here was a two year process where God not only transformed my heart to be willing to go, but I left my home with excitment. God used two of your past Bible studies to complete the total transformation in my heart. Words that you had written so many years before spoke diretly to what I needed to hear from God. Thank you for persevering through the writing process!

  47. 47
    Patricia says:

    Oh, Beth. I laughed, I cried.
    Your encouragement is a good God thing to me tonight. Thanks.

  48. 48

    Wow. I’m grateful that you shared all of this. I needed it SO much. I have books waiting, simmering inside me. But, I feel frozen, a bit stuck. What if I go through all the sacrifice and tears for naught? I want to get unstuck. I want to simply trust my Lord for His words and just go. “Jesus, please, thaw me out. May I be set free to obey You and write.” Love, Melissa

  49. 49
    Jennifer Wennekamp says:

    Beth, Thank you so much for posting this! It is a word in due season for me. You are such a blessing.
    Jennifer

  50. 50
    Cindy Jones says:

    My mouth is hanging wide open, I am dumb-founded, absolutely dumb-founded. Did God call or text you today? He must have, because I just had a long conversation with him about this writing thing, almost to the letter of what you touched on. In fact, I made myself a poster this week. It reads, “I don’t have to be perfect, just good enough. I don’t have to know everything, just enough. I don’t have to feel great about what I’m writing, just good enough. I don’t have to stress about all the details, that’s God’s job, and He’s good enough.”
    I have made myself several of these posters to hang around my writing desk when things get tough. Writing is hard and so many times I’ve wanted to throw in the towel, but I can’t. Writing is as much of who I am as what I do. I’ll be praying for you Beth, and I’ll send you some of my posters!

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