I’ve been writing stories and many other things since I learned how to write words. Book publishing was always a dream, but I could never figure it out when I was younger. I have plenty of stories in notebooks, printouts, and digitally. Why spend all this time to write stories that may never be read? Practice.
You’re probably wondering where I’m going with this. Well, most of what I wrote has been practice. It hasn’t been seen by anyone but me and maybe a family member. The core of the stories weren’t bad, but mistakes we learn to fix early in story writing outside of school litter them. That includes the story I’m spinning weekly right now over on Tales of Karnum and Beyond. That sci-fi was drafted 24 years ago. If I just slapped that up there, people would run off laughing. Even with all the self-editing, I consider it at beta reader level. So why am putting all this effort into something I’m offering for free? Practice and to showcase my style of storytelling, which will always have a Christian worldview, sometimes more obvious than others.
I share tales on Substack just like this weekly post for An Abundant Life. I love this platform for the ease of using it. However, there is one thing that drives me nuts. The push for numbers or how to make money. I have a paid subscriber option on Tales of Karnum and Beyond, but not a lot created yet to inspire many paid subs. However, that is not the point of why I write here on An Abundant Life and on Tales of Karnum and Beyond. Sure, creators should be paid for their work, but some of that payment comes in intangibles that money can never buy.
It took accepting Christ and getting to know Him, to understand why I write. For one, He created me and planted the desires of my heart. That desire was there from the beginning, but I had no idea what to truly do with it until I met Jesus. So one of the main reasons I write so much is that I need practice in order to share what God wants me to in the proper way. I’m still learning and know what writing craft book I’ll dive into next. I have some fun videos from a fantasy and sci-fi writing summit to dig through. With Jesus as my pilot in this writing business, I will get to where He wants me to be.
There are quite a few people that read my words, but I have no idea what they think. It sounds like crickets some days, but God gives me tiny glimpses of what seeds I planted in that quiet. I know I can make people see Jesus even in my fiction writing. That is the main reason I write. People are out there looking for answers and I aim my story at the one person who will need it. When I obediently write and do my part to share it with the world, God will make sure the people who need it find it.
Not all choices I have taken with my writing business have succeeded. The results feel disappointing at first, but as I kept going with God and waiting to see what would happen, opportunities I only dreamed of came about with the space for me to fit them in my life because of the failure. Maybe some opportunities would have never shown up if a choice hadn’t failed. Many things I expected at first have morphed into something different entirely, especially this year. I haven’t had a real failure, but more than one thing did not go as expected. Maybe if they had, I wouldn’t have wound up with the greater things to do this spring and summer. I might not have had the better option with more clarity available, since I was already too far down another path. Sometimes we are meant to keep doing what God told us to do with patience, so we jump ahead to grab the dream He gave us the wrong way.
God created us all to have a unique story to share for someone out there that may not get it any other way. Now, this does not mean you have to learn how to write like I did. No, you must do what God laid on your heart to do, whether or not it is glamorous, whether it takes days or years for fruit, or if you never see the results at all. You can share about Jesus anywhere God leads you. You can be an example of who He is, no matter where you are. It can be done at our job, in the park, babysitting, sharing a chat over coffee, walking the dog, etc. Each of us has our part in the mosaic layout of life that God continues to create.
Talk to God about what is in your heart. Listen for His answers. If in a period of quiet from Him, keep doing what He last told you to do. The answer will come because He set a wonderful purpose over your life. If you turn to Him, He will accept you as you are, then teach you how to go on the intended path. It won’t be easy, but it will put a joy deep inside which you can’t find anywhere else. Don’t wait.
The Bible is full of verses about how much He loves us, how He created us, how He wants to reconcile the world, and set a purpose for each one of us. If you want to study further, search the Bible for verses that talk about purpose, plans, direction, and creating. Those verses will lead to understanding how much He loves and understands us without even diving into the many ways the Bible shares directly about love.