Aug 11 2008
Have You Been “Called” to Write?
A few nights ago I went to a wedding dinner for my wife’s niece. The groom’s sister, a very nice, attractive young woman who had heard that I am a professional writer introduced herself to me, announcing that she, too, loves to write.
I hear this frequently. But as we talked I realized that for her this was more than just an armchair infatuation. She felt a gut- and soul-level need to write. She had always been that way, she explained, even as a child.
She told me she has two books going – one fiction, one non-fiction – both unfinished. She explained that she is single, works two jobs, and holds a position in her church that absorbs most of any spare time she has.
We spoke for a long time and the more we spoke, the more I realized how serious she is about writing. For her, I realized, writing is not an optional pastime. It is part of her core and she needs to do it or live an incomplete life and be an incomplete person. (This is something I’ve known about myself for years.) So we talked about how she could find the time and energy to write and I told her how important it was for her to do it and that she had to bend her world around her writing and make it happen or it never would. I pulled my little Moleskine notebook out of my pocket and told her it goes with me just about everywhere but the shower and that I frequently take it out and spend a minute or an hour with it.
She said she often feels guilty when she takes time to write because there is so much to do and so many responsibilities to fulfill. She told me she has been accused of being selfish for writing when she could be doing other “more important” things.
All that hit too close to home. I told her what has taken me years to figure out: some people are meant to write. It is their calling in life (at least one of their callings) and they turn their back on it at their own risk. In the apocryphal Gospel of Thomas, there is a verse that states, “Jesus said, ‘If you bring forth what is within you, what you have will save you.’”
I like to think this statement has special application for writers or any creative people who have something “within” them that needs to burst out. By facilitating the birthing process of writing, we quite literally save ourselves. Writers feel good when we have written and written well because we have done something that we are meant to do. By doing so, we free ourselves to give more of ourselves to those around us and to the other responsibilities in our lives.
When we repress and stifle the creative need within us, we suffer not only artistically but emotionally, spiritually and even physically. We close up and what we give to others and to other aspects of our lives is only a shadow of what it could and should be.
Can writing be one of your missions in life? It certainly can be, but only you can know whether or not it is. If it is, are you being selfish by taking the time and giving the energy to write? Absolutely not! For some people, “bringing forth what is within you” is the best way you can serve the world and those around you … and the only way to save yourself.
PS. This is the 100th article I have written for TheWritersBag.com. I look forward to writing the next 100 and hope they will be valuable to you. I invite you to stay tuned by signing up for free, weekly e-mail updates at the top left of this page.
I can relate to all you say in this article. As a child I loved to write stories world war three could be raging in the classroom, but I would be lost in writing my story.
It’s fatal to stop that which is a natural part of you I believed my mission in life was to write, that something in my words would reach out and touch the hearts and souls of those that read them, but I held back for too long and now I stutter and stumble even writing this short piece has taken an age.
Don’t get me wrong I’m still not giving up, there are times when that inner voice whispers to me and the words flow like a river over all the boulders, and I marvel over the finished piece.
Patricia.
Congrats on the 100th post! Love the blog, and look forward to more.
Congratulations on 100! Did you ever think you’d hit 100? Did you think about when or what it would be about - writing from within seems like an appropriate 100th post. Keep it up; I love your writing.
Great read Steve, I really enjoy reading this blog. Writing is perhaps one of my missions in life, and I am glad to have found your site. It will be of great help for my writing style.
Thank you,
Josh.
Congratulations Steve - great post, great site. I’m currently trying to weigh up in my mind whether to make good on what I’ve always felt was an nascent desire to write by quitting my job and doing it properly. The Writer’s Bag has been a good companion to me while I’ve been making that decision!
Wow Steve! That was totally inspiring. I can definitely relate to this post. I have often found it difficult to keep a good balance between what I’m passionate about and my incredibly boring, yet necessary, duties. I receive guilt trips (via myself or concerned citizens) if I neglect the duty side. But really in the long run I will be more appreciative if I put my creativity to good use instead of using it to clean dishes.
Thanks for an informative and inspiring blog. (Who knew the two could be combined?!)
Congratulations. I know the feeling. I have just crossed my 50th and feel quite elated.
Normal life to make a living buries one’s natural inclinations. It is after my retirement from the rat race that I have seriously started writing. I am now beginning to make some money too.
I have not monetized my blog but it gives me an outlet to write what comes to my mind rather than what I have to write to make some money.
I visit your blog for inspiration and this post certainly has given me that.
[...] For her, I realized, writing is not an optional pastime. It is part of her core and she needs to do … [...]
Good article! I can relate to this article. I’ve always loved to write and often feel guilty about the time I put into it–which is a lot most days…I love to write Christian and mysteries.
I think that I will always write, for like most writers, I’ve always got something on my mind that might help others.
Good going on the writings!
Toni
My sister-in-law has a food blog (yes, this is a big thing in the blogging world) and she mentioned, essentially, how she didn’t realize until now how much she like to cook/ bake. But with children, a husband and house and all that entails, there is no time now for culinary school. It made me think about writing and how I felt the same way. I only wish I realized how much I like to write a long time ago. Maybe I would have done things differently. I just express myself so much better in the written word than vocally.
Oh well, at least there are blogs, and journals, and great sites like this one to be a part of.
Great article.
I’ve had to add you to my blog because I too like inspiring people to write and find within themselves the true artist that is buried in there.
I can’t tell them enough THAT if it is a true passion, it will always surface. A hobby pops up now and again, but a passion is a fire inside!
Well done Steve! Thanks for your enlightening words.
Joni
This obviously strikes a cord for many of us - as the numerous posts indicate. Its important to be passionate about what you do, and most of us creative folk are that - passionate. Acknowledging the role art/writing plays in our lives, and rolling with it, invariably effects us as human beings and, hopefully, that filters out into the world.
ay, this girl’s story is so much like mine… i’ll take your words to heart then
thanks so much for sharing!
Hi Steve,
I find your articles userfriendly and straight to the nbone ,which is what i need.
Thank You
Herman Eksteen South Africa
Hi Steve,
I find your articles userfriendly and straight to the bone ,which is what i need.
Thank You
Herman Eksteen South Africa