The Struggle of A Novice Writer

Have you ever literally sat there staring at a blank screen for over an hour? Okay, perhaps that’s a little excessive. But it feels like an hour. Or maybe it really is…

You have all these ideas and thoughts rolling around inside of your brain but you can’t seem to put them into words. If that’s you…you’re not alone! We all know what it’s like having your project not coming together like you imagined or hoped and your frustration grows and grows.

How do you decide what you’re going to write about? That was my first struggle. Two years ago I started my first short story that turned out to be not such a “short” story. It was as if the story didn’t want to stop. Then, as I continued writing, I began to get discouraged because I thought, “no one is going to find this interesting”. That was my first struggle – creating a story that people would want to read.

I began talking to other writers. I found some authors online that I reached out to. Their advice to me was simple: write something that YOU would want to read. Do not focus so much on writing for others. Create a story that speaks to YOU. Write a book that would grab YOUR attention. Because you’re never going to write a book that everyone loves. You just have to love it.

Where do you start? I remember staring at a blank screen for an hour at one point (or so it felt like). I was so lost. I had so many ideas in my head, so many visions. But I just had to get started somehow. There was one person in particular who helped me with that. Someone who had just written their first novel. Someone who understood the struggle.

That was my mother.

She too had dealt with this, as every beginning writer does. She advised me to just start writing. Don’t worry about knowing how the story will end, or what is going to happen in the next five chapters, just write. Write and allow the story to guide you. My mother said, “the characters will tell you where they want to go.” She is now a published author of two books and on to her third. I just didn’t get how she was doing it!

I would criticize myself, and be so hard on myself. Anytime I would write on the blog or even essays for school (which I loved writing, by the way) I would get so intimidated to share with anyone else. With this mindset, how was I to publish a whole book? I’ve asked myself this so many times, and (trust me) I have asked others. the advise is always the same, keep writing and keep sharing it. By doing so, I’m allowing myself room to grow as a writer.

So, if you’re going to put yourself out there as any type of writer – do it. As I encourage myself, I also encourage you -never give up on your dreams. Take your vision and fly with it. In all you do, give glory to God. It’s okay to be passionate about things. In fact, some of the most successful people are driven by passion. But make sure that living for God is your strongest and most burning passion first and foremost, all else comes after! Writing is a beautiful thing, and some people have a real God given talent for it. You can create a beautiful masterpiece with words, I just hope that I can write in a way that will move people, even a little, towards God.