“You are here.”
I like seeing those words on a physical map. It grounds me. I orient to the present moment. This is vital for if I don’t know where I am, it’s hard to know where I’m going.
Once we know where we are, it’s easier to decipher next steps. Yet it’s also vital to know how we are showing up in the place we are.
When writers show up for a book coach, writing coach, or editorial session with me, we start with two questions:
-
- Where are you?
- Where do you want to go?
Another standard question of mine inquires: “How are you coming to this space today?” By this, I mean the full scope of all possible answers. What’s happening:
-
- In your physical body?
- In your soul?
- In your emotions?
- In your relationship with God?
- In your connection with others?
- In your approach to your writing life?
- In your hopes, loves, and dreams?
Where we are and how we are impacts what we are up to in all facets of this creative world we inhabit as writers.
Orientation
Let’s begin by orienting ourselves to where we are in the endeavors surrounding our writing world.
-
- How are you coming as you participate with your gifting of creativity, your unique writing life?
- What thoughts snag you, causing you to stop before you ever start?
- What thoughts delight you, bringing joy to your body and a smile to your face?
Our mindset sets the tone for our emotions which opens the door to our actions or reactions.
As creatives, the care of our soul matters to the soul of our creative life. All of us are creative. I focus particularly on writers as I’m a book coach, writing coach, and editor. Yet creativity comes in all shapes and sizes, in all sorts of ways. If our soul isn’t healthy, our creative endeavors will suffer. If we have disordered thinking about who we are, what our call is, what our gifting is, or who God is, then that disordered thinking will open us up to places that become barriers for our writing.
For instance, if I find I am comparing myself to another person’s writing life, their talent, or their publications, I’m being triggered by something that needs some healing in me. Do you remember the place in the Bible where Christ stood up and read the scroll in the tabernacle, quoting Isaiah 61? He announced He came to set the captive free. Where we are shackled by disordered thoughts—myths, mottoes, lies, wounds, or warfare from the enemy of our soul—we are not full alive or alert or awake to the goodness of God alive in us as His own beloved child.
When I pick up my pen to journal or clickety-clack on the keys to type up a blog, a poem, a devotional, or a novel, soul practices matter even more than writing practices. Right from the start, I consider where I am. I know from trial and error, from triumph and failure, several best practices for my soul help my writing life. With these three things in mind, I set myself up, right from the start, to be a writer who writes wise and well from a wise and well heart.
Write from the Start: Three Places to Start
#1 – Start From Belovedness
Getting clear on Who God is, how He lavishly loves me, and how He crafted me before the world began, places me in an atmosphere of delight. I’m loved. I’m chosen. I’m desired and delightful to God. In that space, I walk with my heart aligned with the Kingdom of God. Joy. Joy. Joy.
#2 – Start From Rest
Getting clear on what matters matters. If I start believing that it’s all up to me to produce and succeed, then I’m already under pressure, already running and striving before I’ve even left the starting line. When I am at home in the arms of God, I can rest. To start rested gives me the delight of energy. I’m available to be present to God and to the words on the page, rather than frantically trying to churn out a certain number of words or a particular goal which I think I must achieve to be deemed worthy to call myself a writer.
#3 – Start From No Fear of Missing Out, Rather Starting From Freedom of Missing Out
If I start with fear as my motivator, I’ll always be looking over my shoulder for what’s about to catch me. If I start from freedom that allows me to not grab for every shiny object along the way, I have spaciousness to expend on the ideas. I partner with God for His people.
Mapping Your Writing Life
Consider. Stop. Notice. Now, look a bit deeper. Imagine, or create, the current map of your writing life.
-
- Where are you today?
- How do you come to this space of your writing life?
- What would change how you approach the wonder of being a writer?
Enjoy where you are, for from here, new adventures unfold ahead, a place for your soul to write for the King and His Kingdom.
