BLOGWORDS
HOW IT ALL BEGAN
Guest post by Robin E. Mason
In the beginning God created… Okay, not that beginning. Then again, in that beginning God created, and isn’t that what we are? As writers? Creators? (not to dis any other form of art, of course)
And when God created… ME, He instilled creativity in me. In mega doses, it seems. Fast forward a bit, and skipping over the why’s, for years I [attempted to] shoved that creativity into a nice little box—or cage. It didn’t stay.
And when I dove headlong into writing my debut novel, Tessa, in the fall of 2013, I realized I
was swimming in the pond I should have been in all along. The water was
perfect, there were—are—others like
me here but not too crowded; we each have our own little eddy of space. And
when those eddies coincide it’s a beautiful thing.
I tried for years to be something I’m not—a conformist. I
tried to fit somebody else’s ideal for me. It didn’t fit. It didn’t work. And I
was miserable. Then again, that very experience (years of that miserable
experience) has given me the very thing I write about—identity. In discovering
who I am and more importantly, who I am in
Him, I discovered my purpose. And that is to write.
Interesting thing though. The more I discovered my identity
as a writer, the more I discovered who I am in Him—which feeds my identity as a
writer, which feeds who I am… Holy Spirit showed me something years ago about
Psalm 37 verse 4.
Because they are tied together. The desires that are in our
heart are there because Father put them
there.
He made us that way. Whether it’s writing or singing or
engineering or teaching—the thing we yearn for, that stirs within us is His to
begin with. Therefore, when we pursue
that very thing, we also are pursuing the One who put it there. Or perhaps,
more accurately, we are fulfilling the purpose of the One who put it there.
I read a statement on another blog today, and I paraphrase
here, “If my dream is not His dream, and if my dream does not bring honor and
glory to Father, then I don’t want it.”
I’ve deviated from my journey as a writer. But maybe not.
When I dove into that pond back in 2013, I truly had | no | clue. I wrote. And
that was it. A friend hooked me up with Kindle (otherwise I was going to pay
for vanity publishing! AACK!!) and even uploaded my doc for me. I started
blogging, “I’ve been thrown into the deep end. Of a deep ocean. In a tidal
wave.” That was my first blog. I floundered for several months, and published
my book baby in print. After a few queries about a sequel (which I hadn’t
considered before) I looked, and what to my wondering eyes did I see? Two
distinct places, right there in Tessa,
that point straight to Clara Bess.
And even Cissy, the third and final
book.
I’m still winging it, but I’ve learned more of the “air
currents” of this crazy industry. With each book a read or blog I share, there’s
something new to learn, something to apply in my writing or or networking or
the dreaded marketing. With each word I write, I’m more selective, I’m writing
sharper and tighter—and better. I’ve even ventured to write a couple of
lovey-dovey scenes, something I’d not done before… reading plenty of them. (courtesy of Pepper Basham, and others)
Yeah, I’m in a new pond. And it’s my pond. And I’m swimming
bolder and stronger and more confident every day. And I’m here to stay.
PS (and this is for Lisa) apparently I work better with a
deadline… ;-)
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