Enjoyment

Dear Friend,

I write for enjoyment.

Publishing is a bonus, and people liking it is the icing on the cake. There are times I wonder why I'm even doing it.

Writing helps me.

Yes, I want others to read it but you know what? I am reading it and that's enough for me. When I read my stories, I finally get to read exactly the sort of book I LOVE to read.

I read excerpts to my sisters. They like it. They don't have to read the whole story to enjoy it. It's encouraging to know they like the snippets I've shared.

My writers group on Discord is awesome. We share our brain-dumped gnarly first drafts and fangirl over them. It's encouraging.

I also look for ways to be encouraged. If I go around life beating my chest and saying "woe is me" and ignore all the things in life that are precious and amazing and straight from God, all I'll find are things that confirm my negative view toward my writing.

Writing has no timeline for me. I can stop and smell the roses along the way, enjoy the scenery, cry in the rain, and still keep plugging away.

During a difficult season of life, I compared life to a mosaic or stained glass - every single thing that happens in my life is a tiny piece of colored stone or glass. All I see are the piles of colors that are being made into a picture. I don't know what the picture is going to be. I don't know why I needed the black parts of my life or the struggles, but they're there.

Sometimes I stop and reflect and see how those things have shaped who I am and what I write. That's encouraging. That's why I won't give up writing. I remember a story of a traveling pastor who was discouraged that only one person showed up to hear him preach - young boy who grew up to be a revivalist. Don't discredit how God can use you and your writing, either in your lifetime or in someone else's.

Thoughtfully yours,
Heather