Inspirations on “Writing” (Part 4)
by Candice Cardenas
“…ultimately implies the passage of time. Anything that involves time requires patience. Anything that requires patience requires hope.” ULTIMATELY
A blank page is both a writer’s best friend and worst enemy. It can be so daunting, yet exhilarating to know you can create something out of nothing. To know that you can share a story that has been in your mind with others is a thrilling prospect. Just as the word “ultimately” suggests, writing requires both time, patience, and hope. Writing is done, word by word. Think about that! What ends up being hundreds of pages starts out with one word. If you really want to boil it down, you could also say writing is accomplished letter by letter. It takes so much patience to write, especially when you feel like your fingers can’t keep up with your thoughts. But I believe God made the creative process like this for a reason.
If writing didn’t take patience, if it didn’t cause me to slow down, I truly believe my stories wouldn’t be as intriguing. God reveals so many new ideas to me when I get stuck staring at the white page. I am forced to unlock new levels of creativity because I am forced to slow down. This is also true when I’m in the “drafting process”. The first draft is never the final one. Having to write different drafts of the same story and make changes requires even more patience that before because it deals with change.
“It’s how we face these moments, or even seasons, of change - the attitude of our heart and mind - that gives us the opportunity to learn and grow.”
Change is uncomfortable, but necessary, especially when it comes to the writing process. Whether it’s on a Draft 1, or Draft 5, it’s hard to let go of certain elements of the story I may be attached to. This is where faith comes in. When sharing my work with people I trust, they usually have suggestions on how to make the story better. This requires a letting go, as change often does, and grabbing hold of faith knowing that the overall outcome will be better than what I had before. This is true of my life as well. How often do I hold onto something because I lack the faith to realize that, just because I can’t see it now, God has something better. I can honestly say that, anytime God asks me to let go of something, He is faithful to fill my hands with something even better that I would have never seen otherwise.
Blog Photo by Raphael Schaller