30 Days of Thankfulness in Writing – Day 5: Improvising

It’s easy to focus on the negative in the world around us. In observation of a month many dedicate to counting their blessings, I’ve started a 30-day challenge in which I’ll focus on one aspect of my writing life for which I am thankful. I’d love to have you join by sharing about something that has blessed your own writing life in the comments section below. - Jen

Technically it’s the 8th day of the month, but between traveling for a few days and then forgetting my laptop power adapter, it makes it a little difficult to post. So rather than combining days I’ll stick with my original 30-day plan. What does it matter if I go into December? November doesn’t hold the license on Thankfulness any more than February holds the patent on Love, right? Which brings me to another aspect of my writing life I am thankful for: improvising.

Let’s face it — the best-laid plans always have an Achilles Heel, especially when technology is involved. Aside from losing my power cord, my car decided to go on the fritz even though I’d just gotten the all clear from my mechanic. And when visiting with family to celebrate a major milestone it is often frowned upon to hole oneself up to reach a daily word count. (Not to mention you also miss out on creating memories.)

Not writing wasn’t so big a deal. I had ideas and I’d jot them down in my notebook for later, but when it came to handling the car problems I wondered more than once, “What would one of my characters do in this situation?” I ask myself that question a lot when I find myself in a sticky situation. Would they panic? Would they cross their arms, sit down, and quit all together? Or would they come up with something entirely unexpected?

The answer was unequivocally, the latter. My characters would improvise. When a goal is blocked in fiction our characters don’t just give up. We’d stop writing (or reading) if they did. Instead they find a way AROUND the obstacle and then get back on track as quickly as possible. No matter what happens, what delays they face, they never take their eyes off their final goal or destination.

I recently started re-reading The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. It’s about a shepherd boy looking for his personal legend — a treasure he kept dreaming about. In one leg of his journey he joins a caravan to reach the Great Pyramids. There are plenty of obstacles to face along the way but as one of the camel drivers tells him, “Once you get into the desert, there is no going back. And when you can’t go back, you have to worry only about the best way of moving forward.”

Life is a lot like the desert. Especially the writing life. The way forward is rarely straight and direct. There are plenty of rocks to go around, pitfalls to be avoided, and thieves in the night to watch for (I’m looking at you, Facebook!). Sometimes life forces us to improvise. Like our characters, we can’t sit still. There’s no story to tell in that.  So I’m taking a cue from my favorite literary friends and will find a new way around these funky little obstacles. I’ll continue moving forward.

The Honest Writer

“Hey, Jen! How are you doing?”

Would it be okay to say I’m overwhelmed, exhausted, lonely, and ready to cry?

“Pretty good. Just taking it a day at a time. You?”

It’s easy to fudge the truth when you know the person asking the question is doing so more out of courtesy than curiosity; in their mind they’ve already moved on to the next item on their to-do list. As writers, however, we don’t have that luxury. Our readers are investing one of their most precious commodities in us — time. When they read our words a kinship is formed that is like a real relationship, and when we take advantage of that we don’t just disappoint them, we break their trust in us. It’s no wonder there’s so much outrage when it’s revealed that a best-selling author has fabricated his memoir or lifted a large section of her book from another writer and claimed it as her own.

When I started this blog, the goal was to create a place to encourage other writers, and I’ve found it’s quite easy to put a big smile on a bad day and act as if all is well in my little world. Though there is nothing wrong with looking for the silver lining (in fact, I encourage it!), if I’m not honest with myself how can I be honest in my writing? Now I’m not advocating posting dark, depressing odes in a blog or moaning in status updates, some things are better left unsaid in public, but there is an ancient saying that has been one of my mottos since college: Homo sum. Humani ni a me allenum puto!

I am human. Nothing human can be alien to me. It was written by a slave centuries ago, but it’s as true today as it was then. We’re human. We experience the same emotions, we live through similar experiences.  Writers have good days and bad days the same as everyone else on this swirling dust mote. If I’m fake in my writing, it’s eventually going to catch up to me, and my readers being as smart as they are will call me (or in the case of my fiction, my character’s) bluff.

So, yes, lately it seems I have a little more on my plate than I can handle at times and there are moments I feel like I’m going to buckle under the pressure, but it’s teaching me to see things a bit differently. As I was driving home from work last night I started thinking about what is truly important to me; what it is I want to spend my time doing, and when it’s more than okay to say that dreaded little word “NO.”

I love writing. It’s something I want to spend the rest of my life doing in some form or another. I enjoy updating this blog as often as possible. I hope to have my book published someday soon, and after that, another. I love working in Youth Ministries. It’s something that fuels, challenges, and stretches me as an individual. But I don’t need to be a part of another committee or take on that extra editing project. The truth is, the more I weigh myself down with the “extra” stuff, the less time I have to enjoy the things that make me smile.

A wise friend recently told me that, while I’m doing better at it then days past, I need to stop trying to please everyone and start enjoying the life I want for myself. And that, friends, is exactly what I plan to do.

How about you? Do you ever feel like you take on too much and then feel guilty for putting your writing on the back burner (or worse, for making it your top priority)? What have you done, or are in the process of doing, to change that? I’d love to hear your thoughts. –Jen

Disturb us, Lord...

God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. Phil 1:8

While walking this morning, my brother and I spoke about goals. Specifically about where he is currently in life versus where he’d hoped to be at this point. The subject came up because of something his pastor talked about during Wednesday night’s Bible study.

His pastor shared that each morning he asks God to guide his steps for the day because his plan may not always be what God had in mind. For example he used the Apostle Paul. Paul was active. He wanted to be in the trenches working alongside the young churches, but between shipwrecks, imprisonment, and various other roadblocks, that wasn’t always possible. So instead he wrote letters. Not a single one of those early churches remain, but his letters have served as a beacon of light and a tool of instruction for countless generations.

Paul had a vision. God’s was even bigger.

Our conversation reminded me of a poem attributed to Sir Francis Drake:

Disturb us, Lord, when


We are too well pleased with ourselves,

When our dreams have come true

Because we have dreamed too little,

When we arrived safely

Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when

With the abundance of things we possess

We have lost our thirst

For the waters of life;

Having fallen in love with life,

We have ceased to dream of eternity

And in our efforts to build a new earth,

We have allowed our vision

Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,

To venture on wider seas

Where storms will show your mastery;

 Where losing sight of land,

 We shall find the stars.

We ask You to push back

The horizons of our hopes;


And to push into the future

In strength, courage, hope, and love.

To that I would add:

Disturb us, Lord, when

We feel that the work You’ve call us to serves little purpose,

When we content ourselves with mediocrity

Rather than boldly seeking

The path You’ve set before us,

Fully realizing the gifts You have bestowed upon us,

And instead blindly attempt to find our way alone.

The Writer’s Dream

Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. Prov. 16:2

I can’t speak for everyone, but sometimes I think we tend to view God like one the gods of Olympus — as a self-important man sitting on his throne watching, waiting for us to slip up so he can laugh at our folly and drive us further into the mud. We question our every action, wrestle with each decision, terrified we’re going to choose poorly.

Shouldn’t it be the opposite? Ours is a God of creation. Not destruction. Though He offers us guidelines in how we should live, when it comes to certain decisions, such as which opportunities we should pursue, he simply leaves it up to us.

I have to be honest. I tend to overly obsess about whether a project I’m about to embark on is God’s will or mine. Will I use the right words? Will my point get across? Will anyone even like it? I get so worried about making a mistake I become too terrified to step out. I use that fear as a crutch, as an excuse to stay in one place. Better to stand still and be miserable than try, fail, and disappoint others or — more specifically — myself. Somehow I doubt that’s what God has in mind for me. In fact, I believe I’ve been looking at things all wrong for far too long now.

If I’m truly passionate about something could it be because it’s already been “approved”? Could it be that I have these dreams because God placed them in my heart the day He spoke me into existence? A friend of mine recently shared that our dreams aren’t just ours — they’re God’s. They aren’t meant solely for our pleasure, but for the blessing of others as well. Taking that to its logical conclusion, if I refuse to pursue a dream because of fear I could very well be depriving someone else of a blessing.

So when Solomon says to commit to the Lord whatever I do, he’s not saying I need to approach God like a broken beggar asking for permission to move forward; he’s saying I need to give back to the Lord what is already his. To take the focus off of me and my expectations. To trust that what God has promised to do through me will be done. And then go to work. The dream won’t be realized overnight. It may take years of hard work, patience, and perseverance, but if there’s one thing that I can be sure of it’s this: God’s plans never fail and I am in good hands.