Work Through The Five Phases To Owning Your Desire To Write
Do you have a deep desire to be a writer?
Maybe you’ve never told anyone about your deep desire to write.
Or maybe you told your spouse or a friend and they scoffed. So you backed off and buried your desire.
Or maybe you wrote a poem or article and let someone read it. Maybe that someone said it wasn’t good. Or worse, laughed at your attempt.
Whatever your story is, you must be reading this article because you have the desire to craft your authentic story with courage. You want to write.
Whenever your desire began, desire alone won’t make you a writer. Through my writing journey and helping countless other students, I’ve realized there are five phases to owning your desire to write. Don’t stay stuck wishing you were a writer. Move through the five phases today. Let’s get started!
Not sure you can write a nonfiction book? We can help with that. This checklist will confirm five reasons you CAN write a nonfiction book right now!
Five Steps To Owning Your Desire To Write
Every author’s journey begins with the desire to write. In my bio, I share my successes as an author including my twenty years of teaching different forms of writing. And then, my reluctance to say the words, “I am a writer.” If someone asked me what I did, I hemmed and fumbled around. Instead of saying I’m a writer, you can find my books here at these sellers.
What’s your “desire to write” story look like?
My desire to write began at a young age. I wrote my first song on the swing set on the Fitzsimons Army Base in Denver, CO when I was 8 years old. What about you? When did you first decide you wanted to be a writer? Was it in your childhood? Your teens? Or maybe just recently, you have felt the desire to write a book, start a blog, or write a nonfiction book or novel. But you can’t seem to get the writing habit going or stop listening to the limiting belief that tells you – you can’t write. Do you feel as if you are missing your purpose? Do you have this nagging feeling deep inside that you are called to write?
1. The Desire To Tell Your Story
The first pit spot on the roadmap to crafting your authentic story begins with a desire to tell your story. It sounds so simple and basic like you want to bake a cake. Get out the cookbook or look up a recipe on Pinterest and get started, right? If only it were that easy.
“The world, it seems, is full of people like this. Closet artists and aspiring authors -people longing to do meaningful, inspiring work. There’s just one problem. They’re not doing it.” Jeff Goins
Years after I wrote my first song, life got busy. In high school, I did some writing that was published in the newspaper. I wound up majoring in math and education in college. After that, the desire to write got buried in day-to-day living. If there is no desire, there is no compelling reason to write. Did you once have a strong desire to write? Did it get buried in your daily living? Or maybe you wanted, like me, to major in something in college related to writing, but there was too much pressure to choose something else. Or maybe the desire to write is new and fresh and you’re not sure what to do with it.
2. Your Writing Is A Calling And/Or Gift
Maybe you have a stirring within your soul and you feel called to write. Or you people have told you you have a gift. It wasn’t until later in my life that I heard the terms calling and spiritual gifts. By that time, I was a mother homeschooling and raising seven children. Even though I had a short stint as a columnist for a Christian newspaper and wrote more newsletters than I can count for jobs and organizations, I didn’t feel as if writing were my calling or gift. It was something I loved to do and did when given the opportunity. Not because I wanted to promote myself or what I was doing. I just loved the act of writing.
How about you? Do you have writing in your history? If you do, do you call yourself a writer?
3. You have a story to tell that will help others.
Maybe you are at a stage in your life right now where you have a desire to write. You have a story to tell that you feel strongly will help others.
- You’ve lived through trauma or tragedy
- You overcame an addiction
- You walked through a difficult season of depression
- You adopted or fostered kids
- You want to tell your story to encourage others to do the same or fill in the blank
- You’ve lived with chronic illness
- You had a difficult relationship with your mother
We often think the desire to write is self-serving, a hobby that doesn’t deserve our time or something we can put off for another time in our lives. May I give you a piece of advice? If you are reading this and you have the desire to craft your authentic story with courage -now is the time.
God gives us the desires of our hearts.
Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart
Psalm 37:4
God gives us the desires of our hearts. When I was super immature in my faith, I thought that meant God gave us what we wanted. It doesn’t. God gives us gifts and a purpose and a desire to walk those out. He redeems our stories. He makes all things work together for good for those who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).
- Maybe you have a desire to tell your story for the benefit and growth of others.
- You desire to take pen to paper or hands to keyboard and craft an article, a series of articles, and maybe a memoir.
- What if your desire is part of your purpose? What if you are called to write?
“Write my answer on a billboard, large and clear, so that anyone can read it at a glance and tell the others.”
Habakkuk 2:2
The first time I read this scripture in the Message translation in Marlene Bagnull’s Write His Answer, it leaped off the page. What if part of your purpose is to write God’s answer on a billboard- which can be in the form of a blog or a book so that anyone can read it? That anyone could be the very person who needs to read exactly what you have to tell.
Don’t stop and park at desire
You know what’s truly amazing about your story -only you can tell it. You know what else – there are people who need to read your specific “billboard.”
Marlene says of her writing – “I sense the most difficult things for me to share could be the very words someone else needed to hear.” That’s true for you too. That’s why the words “authentic” and “courage” are in the tagline of this website. They are also a huge part of the roadmap to telling your story. Your being authentic and courageous must follow your desire to tell your story.
If writing difficult aspects of your story trigger you, check out Three Tips For Writing A Scene/Article That Triggers You.
4. Have an Impact
We often worry about our lives, am I having an impact? Am I living my purpose? Am I being obedient to the calling God has given me?
“But for some of us, maybe for you, this question sticks. It haunts you. And the answer taunts you. It whispers from afar. Keeps you wondering and waiting. All the while, deep inside your heart, something dangerous stirs. Something you’re afraid to admit. Something I was afraid to admit….”
–Jeff Goins
If you’re a Christian, you may wonder if you’ve been obedient and done all that God has given you to do on this earth. You may wonder if you will leave a legacy. In Matthew (25:14-30), Jesus shares the parable of the talents. We’ve each been given a measure of talent and our responsibility is to use it.
Whether you think you have a small amount of writing talent, or medium amount, or a huge amount, we are to invest it, not bury it. When you use your talent the Master says – “Good work! You did your job well. From now on be my partner.” Talent is an investment in us. When we invest it in others by crafting our authentic stories, God will partner with us and change lives.
What God asks us to do, He will enable us to do. The desire to write, the call to write, the talent to write, are all pieces of the puzzle we need to move forward. What must follow desire is discipline, but there’s one more stop/hurdle on our road map we will encounter – Denial.
5. Owning It – I am a Writer.
Try saying that out loud every day or more than once a day. We often bury our desires and don’t nourish them so they can grow. The first step to owning your desire or calling is saying it. I’m a writer. Those are powerful words.
At the beginning of this article, I confessed I didn’t often tell people “I’m a writer.” I’m a published author. I am. Maybe you can’t say you’re a published author yet, and that’s okay. But you can own your desire and speak it – I am a writer. Write it on a sticky note and put it on your notes app. Write it where you can see it. It’s important to do this and keep telling yourself -even if you haven’t written a word in months, or ever. Trust me. You’ll need this affirmation as we move further down the road map for Crafting your Authentic story. It’s a bumpy curvy road and the next hurdle can become a complete roadblock to moving forward if you don’t own – I am a writer.
Journal it Out
As You Cycle through the five phases –
- The Desire To Tell Your Story
- Your Writing Is A Calling And/Or Gift
- You have a story to tell that will help others.
- Am I having an impact?
- Owning It – I am a Writer.
Grab a journal and answer these questions:
- Which of these steps has become a stumbling block for you?
- Have you gotten stuck in any one of these? Explain.
- Do you have any limiting beliefs that are keeping you from writing?
- Are you struggling with fear, imposter syndrome, or comparison?
- Can you write an affirmation for yourself? Own you are a writer?
If you’re struggling with fear, check out: Three Fears That Keep Us From Writing And How To Conquer Them.
If you can’t write your own affirmation, feel free to use mine:
God has given me the desire to write. I am a writer because God has called me, equipped me, and chosen me. He has given me a redeemed story to tell – a combination of my experiences, trials, hardships, and victories. By His grace, strength, and power I’m crafting my authentic story with courage.
Not sure you can write a nonfiction book? We can help with that. This checklist will confirm five reasons you CAN write a nonfiction book right now!
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