I have a confession.
One of my favorite authors of all time is Stephen King. I still shudder when I think of the first sentence from one of his short stories that had me tying the doors of my closets closed for a span of several years,
“‘I came to you because I want to tell my story’”
I know. Probably a surprising choice of hero for a Christian writer. And you’re probably wondering how young I was when I actually read that short story. That’s a whole ‘nother blog post, friend.
But here’s the “so what.” King crushes the art of writing. Clear, concise, and insanely descriptive, his works pull the reader into his often-terrifying (and sometimes terrifyingly relatable) imagination. In fact, one of the best books I've read about being a writer is his, On Writing.
He reminds me of the magic of writing, which is, as he so frankly states it, “[t]elepathy, of course” (King, 103).
"Telepathy! Balderdash!" you mind-shout at the screen. Think about it though. I’m sitting here at my computer and you are sitting in your own space with your phone or tablet or computer, and I can use description to show you exactly what I see:
• My desk is pushed up against the radiator next to a clean, white framed window showing a backyard with one tall pine tree, bright green freshly mowed grass, and a six-foot cedar fence surrounding the whole thing. It’s a late afternoon light, with the sun starting to cast longer and deeper shadows.
• My little black dachshund lays on the windowsill/radiator keeping one eye open for squirrels.
• I have a pale green and turquoise shelf liner on top of this old white desk to give it some personality.
• At my feet lies a textured woven rug and a black-and-tan Chihuahua in a dog bed.
This isn’t an exact science. Your dog bed might be pink whereas mine is brown. Your pine tree might be a bit fuller and your desk may be a little older or a little nicer. But across time and space and medium you can envision what I’m seeing in my home in New York. If that’s not magic, I don’t know what is.
And I think if we stop worrying so much about whether or not the sentence is perfect, or the grammatical errors are fixed, we might be able to reconsider writing itself. Refocus on the reader. What is it you want to tell them? Have you described what you need to describe so that they envision what you are trying to tell them? Have you communicated with them through telepathic writing? I heard a Christian speaker once say that in order to get past the overwhelming how of your passion you have to envision the why. And for us as Christian writers, our why is spreading His kingdom across the globe. If writing is how he wants you to do it, then that’s what you must do. Focus on the audience.
I have some suggestions on how to do that as we move along. I want us to rethink this whole writing thing and stop sitting at the computer and torturing ourselves. God told me I need to write, and so write I will.
And finally listen friend, no one is perfect. Seriously. God is not waiting for you to master the English language before you can be useful. Let’s take a look at one of the big patriarchs in the Bible family.
“Moses said to the Lord, “Lord, I am not a man of words. I have never been. Even now since You spoke to Your servant, I still am not. For I am slow in talking and it is difficult for me to speak.” Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes a man not able to speak or hear? Who makes one blind or able to see? Is it not I, the Lord? So go now. And I will be with your mouth. I will teach you what to say.”
But Moses said, “O Lord, I ask of You, send some other person.”
Then the anger of the Lord burned against Moses. He said, “Is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know he can speak well. Also, he is coming to meet you. And when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. You must speak to him and put the words in his mouth. I will be with your mouth and his mouth. I will teach you what you are to do. He will speak to the people for you. He will be a mouth for you. And you will be as God to him. You will take this special stick in your hand. And you will use it to make the special things happen for the people to see.””
Awkward.
Seriously, I always feel so uncomfortable when Biblical characters start questioning God. Of course, that’s because I already know what’s going to happen. In that moment, Moses was worried enough to question The Almighty because his past reminded him that he was not a communicator. He was more of a, “go out and tend the sheep” kind-of-guy.
But, if God has called you to write, and you start giving Him a list of excuses why you can’t—I don’t have a formal degree, I don’t understand grammar, it’s all been written already—aren’t you doing the same thing? Friend, you have the internet at your fingertips where you can look up all manner of grammatical stuff. You have books upon books written by those who’ve mastered the insecurity we are all plagued with to create a novel. And now you have this community where we will write our little hearts out so that maybe, just maybe, our stories will connect with someone who needs it. Someone who is looking for that one example of success. Someone who is hoping they aren’t alone in what they are facing. Your audience. If God has called you to write, it is for His glory, not yours, so take all the pressure off yourself and join me in rethinking writing from torturous keystrokes punctuated with self-doubt and loathing into an art form that speaks with the power of His word.
“Praise be to the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.”
We got this. Let’s go to battle fingers.
Recommended Grammatical Resources
Recommended Books about Writing
Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
Ray Bradbury, Zen in the Art of Writing
Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
Graff, Birkenstein, Durst, They Say/I Say