Should I Pursue My Writing???

Should I Pursue My Writing?

I spent every spare minute between ages 10 and 17 writing. It was my favorite pastime, though one of my many hobbies. Then one day it seemed that “real life” hit me and it was time to set my writing hobby aside. Move on. Bury it. Sayonara storyland.

Trouble is, I couldn’t move on. I came back to my writing. Time and time again. But I had a job. Write, write, write; all the writing between shifts. Considered becoming a professional actress. (didn’t happen, and I still found myself writing). Took a few other life adventures and still came back to my little Attic desk to write some more.

Finally I came face to face with the choice I’d been avoiding for years. Time is a precious gift. I would either have to kiss my writing goodbye or… start investing the time of day to pursue the thing that had literally taken over my life anyway. 😛

How’d I decide, you ask? “This is it,” you may think, “Rolena’s going to reveal how to know what to do with your life.”

Although I wish things were that easy to explain, all y’alls stories are gonna be different than my unique experience and may I add each of your stories are special. I can’t tell ya exactly how you’ll know what God wants to do especially in your life. 🙂 But I can share some things that kinda stuck out as stepping stones in my decision to, yes, pursue my writing.

Why You Do Whatcha Do

For me to to able to pursue writing, it had to be worth it.

I’m not referring to the satisfaction, totally-worth-it-feel of finally knowing your precious book is going to be published (not there yet, but someday!). Taking all those ideas, writer’s blocks, late nights, rebellious characters, publishing pains to finally get a great story of hope and truth into a reader’s hands should be totally worth it though, right?! But for some reason, I couldn’t see it as enough. A really great thing to do, but not enough to really be worth it. And I wasn’t sure why.

About then I attended my first ever writer’s conference, *excitedshrieks* and met the lovely author, Nadine Brandes. She helped connect the dots for me. That great story of hope and truth is just the starting ground, the opening line between reader and author. Writing was worth it to her, because her books connect her with people she’d otherwise never be able to reach out to. And I totally wanted to use my writing in that way too!
My books, blog, short stories, FB and Instagram posts are just a platform to set up that relationship between reader and authoress.
Our writing can connect us with people to serve, laugh with, grow with and who sometimes just need a friend they look up to :). (How a Photographer Helped My Writing)

Big Hint: Passion

I have two things I remember loving since I was a wee lass.

Books.

And People.

I was really surprised that when some of my writing friends set their writing aside, (God’s done some awesome other things in their lives!) I was still the one who had an undying passion to write. Even though I thought it would just be a seasonal passion, it hasn’t been. That desire to write is stronger than ever 🙂

Of course that passion was inspired and flamed by many things along the way; Kingdom Pen, writing friends, authors, and the support of family. It’s been like puzzle pieces coming together until I knew I could pursue this passion with all of me. But the fact that there’s always been a passion to write in me, made it easy to take steps toward pursuing it.

Cover It In Prayer

I’ve been praying about being a writer for years.

There was a space of time when I stopped asking for it because I thought it was a dream God was going to ask me to let go of.

“God never denies us our hearts desire, except to give us something better.” – Elisabeth Elliot

But as these puzzle pieces of a writer’s journey have been falling into place over the past two years, I’m ever so grateful (and excited) to find myself on the path of an author in the making. God is always good to tell us what we should do. (It’s Not Our Time Part 1)

Where To Go From Here

What about you friend? Do you have a passion for writing? Are you still waiting and watching for the puzzle pieces to fall into place? Praying if the writer’s path is the one God wants you to pursue? And if so, where should you start looking for those puzzle pieces?

Great questions! Look for the next blog post where I’d love to share some vital puzzle pieces in my writer’s journey that helped me take those first steps in knowing whether writing was a passing hobby, or a passion worth pursuing.

What makes writing worth it to you? 🙂