Yesterday we talked about finding 3 words to describe your writing. Or, more broadly, your passion, project, or calling.

Today I want you to take it a little further. Take each of those words and write about the what and why of them.

Why does it call out to you? What does it invoke in you?

If you lived-wrote-sang-played like this, what would it look like?

There’s two ways I’d approach this:

1. Write 3 sentences to a paragraph on your word. Keep it short. Make every word count. Choose words and descriptions that speak to your core.

2. Just write. If you’ve picked your words, but aren’t quite sure why or aren’t yet able to articulate keep writing. Write until you see what you mean. 

So often I feel something, but don’t know how to translate it into clarity until I’ve rambled for a few pages. That’s okay. Sometimes we need to ramble to see. We’re clearing cobwebs and working out kinks. In the end we’ll better know our self and our purposes.

Once you’re done, read over it and meld it into one sentence. Maybe two. Go for brevity.

Think of it as your vision statement. Type it up. Make it pretty and keep it somewhere you’ll see to remind you why you’re doing what you’re doing.

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I feel like I’m cutting you short and there really is more to say, but today’s one of those days where the kids are quietly going crazy and my to do lists need to be put on paper and anyone want to make my grocery list? Anyone? 

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Looking for more encouragement in your writing journey? Check out the Find Your Voice series page. You can stay in touch by subscribing. 

I’m five days behind on 31 Days to Find Your Voice, which isn’t all that bad. With Allume last week, a Halloween party for the kiddos yesterday, and my littlest turning one on Friday (which I’m in denial of), I’m okay with getting behind here. Real life first. 

But I do like finishing things, so instead of inundating your inbox with 5 posts in one day we’ll just roll over into November. Sound good? Okay.

(On the technical side: Let me know if things are showing up in your inbox twice or anything else strange like that. I’m still pretty new to Mail Chimp.)

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Today is pretty simple. Probably the shortest word count you will ever see. Three words.

Truly. Only tree words. But here’s where we get to the uncomfortable introspection that requires a bit of bravery.

Remember when we talked about calling yourself a writer and owning it? Well, this is kind of like that. It’s a bit  nerve-racking to put words out there about yourself. To say, “This is me.” This is who I want to be, what I want to do. We send words out and they can’t be taken back.

But I think, even though we may be afraid (and this weekend at Allume showed me just how much fear I still have) just saying the words–that which we desire, is powerful.

Fear keeps us silent—fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of others opinions. Fear keeps us from being who we truly are. Even if God is the one pushing us into the great, wide somewhere—we hesitate in fear.

So here it is,

What three words resonate in your heart to your writing, your calling, your project, your purpose?

Three words. That’s it. No editing. What calls out to you in your dreams and the quiet places of your hear where freedom reigns? 

Maybe it’s more than 3 words. Maybe you need to start there and just keep writing until that spark in your eye spills onto your page.

Mine? Freedom. Beauty. Story. 

Truly there’s much behind 3 words—yours and mine—but for now, start there.

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Looking for more encouragement in your writing journey? Check out the Find Your Voice series page. You can stay in touch by subscribing. 

When you come to the table to write, do you struggle with what to write? Ever feel like life is too mundane, too simple? But isn’t it the mundane, the ordinary simple that the real life is lived—those struggles and pulls and simple joys. Aren’t those writable?

We magnify the beauty in the ordinary when we allow ourselves to sit contemplate, reflect on the intricacies, the intimate insides, that is every day life.

The days may go in and out like a flooding tide, washing over the steps in the sand, leaving us to wonder which way is which. It can feel meaningless and we throw our hands up in ecclesiastical exasperation. Our muddied memory melds with self-doubt and we all too easily drink the lie our life isn’t worth writing, we swallow down the burning disdain of our lack of creative productivity.

But when we move into the chaos, when we move into the quiet recesses of our soul, the time between the seconds, and allow ourselves to feel—not to numb, not to race past the beauty or the crazy, the disappointments or joys—but if we linger long enough to taste each moment as it is and not shine undue glory, not add more than there actually is–there  we find the every day life is writable.

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Looking for more encouragement in your writing journey? Check out the Find Your Voice series page. You can stay in touch by subscribing. 

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Tomorrow I’m headed to Allume. It’ll be a weekend full of friends new and old, encouragement, inspiration, and, honestly, no dishes or diapers!!

If you’ll be there too let me know!

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There’s a temptation when it comes to writing to be who your audience wants you to be, or rather who you think your audience wants you to be. It comes from the center of who you are, the place where the little child sits waiting to be chosen for the best team.

You want people to like you and these words you write, they’re you’re offering. They’re the most vulnerable part of you—to have someone ridicule them, to say they’re worthless, pointless, or don’t make sense…well, they might as well have put a millstone around your dreams and dropped them in a raging river.

When we write for others we lose the freedom and beauty of the craft. When we sit and revise before we even put it on paper for fear of “What will they think?” we neglect that we have something worthwhile to say, to share. We diminish our experiences and influence.

We must continually fight this lie. For there is one Maker, one Creator over all and he did not impart purpose to a select elite. Heavens, no!

You have a purpose, a passion for a reason. That is no mistake, there is no waiting for your platform to be larger or your numbers higher. You have a purpose because God made you and God called you to be his own. If he’s given you a passion, a desire to write, then do it. Ask him to cultivate and reveal his purpose to you.

But don’t you sit there thinking someone else is more capable, more qualified, more called than you—understand me? We’re all clay vessels chosen to be a royal priesthood. All is grace.

We all have a voice. We all are capable communicators, but the more we hide who we really are, the more we’ll struggle.

When you pick up your pen, be authentic. Don’t try to be someone you’re not. Don’t try to write like someone else. Just be you.

Open your mouth and let ink flow. Your quirkiness, your way with words, the lens by which you see might be just the thing we need. Don’t steal that from yourself or us by turning off your unique perspective in order to be who you think we want you to be.

Be you.

We’ll keep it short and simple today. Here’ s a story prompt:

“One day, as I was walking home from the coffee shop, a little girl caught my eye. She was sitting by herself on a bench, feet dangling above the ground. It reminded me of…”

I’ll come back to add mine later in the day.

Looking for more encouragement in your writing journey? Check out the Find Your Voice series page. You can stay in touch by subscribing. 

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