The Writer's Dilemma: Jesus, Not the Publish Button, is My Guide.



I relate with this substack so much, The Writer's Calling. As I was commenting my number of words had surpassed the comment phase and entered blogpost territory.  So here I am, sharing my own writing process.

A few months ago, after much prayer and prompting, I revived a blog that had been dormant for 16 years.

 No, that is not a typo.

I am always writing, but have not been blogging.  Because my blog has not been an active space, I also decided to start pushing it out there again. Just last week I decided to move my blog to Substack. Those three steps, publishing, pushing out and moving to Substack,  have added different layers of pressure in the writing process. I write and it sits, sometimes for days, as I am praying and often reworking, just as the substack above described. Please take the time to read it, by-the-way. It is very good! However, I don't have a time limit. I can post whenever I want because no one is really watching. I find ideas need to simmer and brew. During that time, I am seeking the Holy Spirit. 

There is a tension between discipline and inspiration. From dictinary.com, the origin of the word inspiration: "... of inspīrātiō literally “a breathing in,” from inspīrāt(us) “breathed in”. This is  almost an exact description of how I feel when I am writing. I am breathing in and out the Holy Spirit. Breathing in when I am at rest and ruminating, breathing out when I am typing and making changes. At some point, my writing almost speaks to me and says, "I'm done." I find myself, now that I am writing more publicly, being tempted to publish before that final release. To the Writer's Calling, thank you for the reminder, that Jesus, not the publish button, is my guide. 

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