You can't write if you aren't inspired.
“For me, inspiration comes in different forms. Listening to stories, visiting new places, trying new foods and ultimately experiencing new adventures.”
When I was writing, Things That They Don't Tell New Christians, I often found myself becoming exhausted. I was locked in my room for hours, researching and writing. Between the "Aha!" moments and the occasional writer's blocks, I would feel like there was something more that had to be done. Eventually, I realized that I needed to take a different approach. I needed a
different kind of inspiration in addition to the one that had me writing in the first place.
Inspiration that's all around...... Comes from above.
The reason I had started writing was because I had witnessed both the highs and the lows of ministry. At that point, I was still trying to come to terms with a couple of my friends who had walked away from Christ. As a Christian, I often wondered why people left the church. I would say, "If Christ is the answer then why are people walking away?"
My motive was driven by God's Grace and the hope of educating young Christians in a way that the church may have failed to so do. Though God's love had inspired me, I felt like maybe I didn't show my friends enough love. Maybe the church didn't help them enough. Maybe that's why they choose to move on. As my thoughts raced, I began to think, am I even Christian enough to write this book? Am I even qualified to do this?
I thought that maybe I needed a break from writing. I decided to travel to the countryside and relax a bit with my family. I could gather my thoughts and really sort out what I wanted to do. I only had my experiences as a young Christian, I didn't even have a job or a degree yet I was venturing in the realm of literature. Christian literature at that. I was terrified.
It was there that I realized even when I wasn't even looking for inspiration. Inspiration was already around me. It found me in the way that the wind blew, the way that the birds chirped, the way that the trees shook. Everything I could see, hear and feel was indescribable and God had made it. And God had made me. The God who qualifies the unqualified, made me. He was the reason I was doing this in the first place. When I least expected it, inspiration had found me and I decided to get back to writing.
What's the point?
“Take a breath and use it to say a prayer.”
I wrote all that to say:
For me as a writer, it's easy to get involved in the what ifs and the alternative paths that may arise from decisions we encounter. It's easy to over-analyze and get lost in what we are doing (and lose some pounds at it). We just need to take a breath and use it to say a prayer. We need to go on an adventure once in a while and use it to gain new experiences and new perspectives. We need to stop blaming ourselves and others and just go for what we set out to do. Push pass the fears, push past the stress and just allow ourselves to be inspired.
So Get Inspired
It is a process and it doesn't happen overnight but if writing is your passion, then do what you love! Vacationing helps! The change in scenery is a good thing. Sometimes vacationing allows us to get past our fears and comfort zones. Experience is a great teacher especially if you got God carrying you through it. So go for it! ~Celine Elizabeth~