Wow, I had a great writing day yesterday. I sat in the coffee shop and typed out two new chapters for Shaken. And they’re good chapters, too. Ever since two agents at Mount Hermon told me that I needed to lengthen the book by nearly 30,000 words (doubling it, essentially), I’ve been stressing out. How can I possibly do that in a few months? Especially considering that I felt like the book was essentially done; the plot-line finished. Not polished, of course, but written from beginning to end.
I figured I would need to put in long hours to punch out that many quality words. No more free time and little extra time for family fun or volunteering on field trips and such. So, when my son forgot his backpack yesterday morning, I about blew a gasket.
“I don’t have TIME for this!” I fumed. “This is YOUR responsibility, not mine!”
Poor kid. No one likes stressball Mom.
But it was a teachable moment — for me. God grabbed me by the collar and said (essentially), “Look here, who is writing this book, anyway? Is it you? Or is it Me? If it’s Me, then don’t you think I can get it done in MY time? Not yours? If it is you, then we need to have a long talk.”
I felt like crawling under my bed.
So, I’m (we’re) back to writing a few hours a day. But they are good hours. Amazing hours. The story is going places I never dreamed of. It’s going to be so much better than I imagined. As usual, God is blowing my socks off. I just have to trust Him.
I read this today in “The Message.” It’s a paraphrase of Galatians 6:4-5. “Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don’t be impressed with yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life.”
Go do your creative best today! Just make sure you’re not doing it alone.
After reading this post, I have a HUGE, round, smiley face! How good is God to grab our collar just when we need it! Keep pouring yourself into this book; others will be filled! Blessings on you, Dear Author!