How to Get Away from Discouragement

A peaceful balcony, Aruba 2012

At this moment I would guess that there are writers experiencing emotions from high to somewhere in the neighborhood of blah. or worse.

The best emotions are like those I overheard at London's Gatwick Airport, as a woman whispered breathlessly, "My first book has just been accepted by a publisher!"

I wish all of us writers could have that kind of excitement every day. But we do not, and neither does that thrilled author at Gatwick. We go through ups and downs in life and work. We need rest and a change of scene, if we can get it. The scene above is one place I was privileged to relax and rest. Maybe the aqua water and palm tree view can please your eye and focus for a moment.

I can only share what Jesus Christ has done for me. He has also taught me about battling discouragement of any kind. Some of His unmatchable riches that I cherish appear below. Most are inspired by or directly from scriptures. If you are a discouraged Christian or writer today, I hope you will reflect and take comfort and also affirm the truth of these words for yourself.  

I have learned to dig deeply into who Jesus is and the good company of believers I am in, as a believer, for they have borne witness through generations of tumult, fire, and sword. 

You are beloved of God at this moment whether or not you are aware of it.

By faith in Jesus Christ, you have been saved, made whole, with the assurance of eternal life with God. 

You have Peace of Mind, and Christ is your Joy. 

Christ in you is the hope of glory.

He is the One against the discouragement that tries to Overtake  you.

Put on the whole Armor of Christ.

Wear it from Head to Feet, and Never give up putting it on daily.

Pray without ceasing.  

Be in Quietness with God, Trusting Him. In quietness and confidence (trust) is your strength.

God Helps and Upholds you by His Righteous right arm.

He Loves you with the Everlasting Love through Jesus the Savior of the World.

Christ has died -- on the cross for the sins of the world.
Christ is risen -- raised by God bodily, on the third day.  
Christ will come again -- as He has promised. 

A Cross stands over the world. Cling to the Crucified Lord by faith. Think on these things.

Lord, I believe. Help thou my unbelief.
.
Amen.

Meditation for the coming night

Into this earthly place of life 

Intense and stressful times rush in.
They heap upon you their surprise and 
Crash with disarming urgency.

Believer, dig deeply into

who you are

in Christ Jesus.

Here is your

Peace of Mind and your Joy.

Do not despair.

Christ in you is the

hope of glory, and the Spirit of God 

works within you.

You have ways to resist the

Discouragement that 

threatens to Overtake the world.

Remember the night will turn into

another day of sun or shadow.  

Put on your Armor

from Head to Feet.

Do not fear
the dark or any pestilence.  

Breathe in the holy life in the day, and 

Pray unceasingly in light and
in the night's long hours.

Listen for the Quietness within you, and rest there. 

In spite of aberrations, noise, and clamor, affirm your trust in God.

Rely upon God who

strengthens and who Loves you. 

His Everlasting Love

expressed in the Beloved Son

invites souls now in this wearying world,
Guarding them for a Brighter day.

This is cause for the release of "Halleluia!" praise 
that honors 
this Wonderful Savior and God.

Amen. 

Photo by JPP. Butte, Montana open mine.

Let yourself change for new writing paths

In times past I wrote bureaucratic reports, funding proposals, and research papers. I felt comfortable doing that kind of writing because I wrote at a distance, objectively reporting, analyzing, or info-gathering.

Then I began to write a book, a highly personal story. Events of change in my life had been so dramatic and had brought such joy and peace that I wanted to describe going from relationship pain to healing, and to tell some of what I learned along the way. My story walked a path of biographical, emotional, and spiritual discoveries.

Writing a personal narrative book required letting go of certain habits, including perspective. Writing from a distance had to change to writing close at hand. I needed reporting and analyzing skills in a different way, and I had to let my guard down and use "I" and "we." The transition was and still is one of the most difficult of my life as a developing writer.

I came to writing late, being 40 years old before I realized that I had been writing all of my life. It was a bit like breathing, a feeling many writers have. A few of my articles had been published, but I was not serious about reaching publication. I kept that part of my life private, for whatever reasons.

Only in recent years have I realized that I do have writing ambitions, for myself. I have mentored other writers, and increasingly I know that I want to pay more attention to my writing. I want to get it right, better, and yes, more popular: more than ever I want to connect well with readers, and I have to work hard to move out from my distanced mode. I long to show the meanings I find and to connect with others' desires for change. There are ways to write about relationships while guarding others' privacy. 

One of my blog posts that gets recent reading was posted in 2011. I reread it today and saw the same sort of reporting I enjoy doing, yet I had let my guard down a bit to share from biblical resources. I have dreaded being labeled a "religious writer." There is nothing wrong or odd, I tell myself, about having read from Genesis to Malachi as much as from Matthew to Revelation. I thought of Habakuk and Jeremiah for the nuclear story about a storm that damaged a Japanese reactor, threatened a population, and inspired strangers to rush to their aid.  

I have always admired the essays of C.S. Lewis. Yet, as much as I admire and reread his works, I need to keep developing my form of probing expression. That has become very important to me, although I do not entirely understand this longing.

I also want to write a novel, a coming of age story about a girl in the South, where I grew up. Traditional wisdom says every first novel is largely personal. Lyly's (pronounced Lily's) story involves a Ku Klux Klan incident, being in the middle, grandparents, old ways, mistaken assumptions close to home, target practice, and discoveries to push a young girl forward in her less-certain life. I had none of Lyly's exact experiences, yet the themes of her story affected me while I was growing up in North Carolina.

How do you or I transition our writing to fit what change will require? The same old answer, I guess, which is to read really good writers, to know our chosen genres, to keep working hard at it, alone and with help. I still struggle with the idea of making writing more personal, yet I want to do that. And I want to find ways that will somehow be distinctively my own.

If you have made a big writing transition, if you are making one, or if you want to make such a transition, I hope you will not give up on it, and I hope you will share with other writers what you learn.