Writers, Do You Have Any Idea What You’re Doing?

laptop on porchDon’t say “I work with words.”Rather say, “I handle hazardous material so combustible it has destroyed careers and incited revolutions.”

Don’t say, “All I can do is write.”

Rather say, “All I can do is  create life-infused dispatches from behind enemy lines using the same compound that sparked what the uninformed refer to as the Big-Bang. ”

Don’t say “I write.”

Rather say, “I apprentice in my Father’s business, following in His footsteps and modeling His every move as He is the Master Craftsman.

His words produced entire solar systems, the greatest thinkers of our time, and the curve of a woman’s thigh. There is this potential, also, in what I scribble. It may not be evident today but I have endless days to perfect my craft, to create new worlds, to breathe life into the souls I dream.”

Don’t say, “I hope my words are read.”

Rather say, “My desire is that through my art, you will hear the cylinders click into position and know I have unlocked the priceless potential of words.

That you will stand and tremble realizing I have unleashed the junkyard dogs of the building blocks of existence containing a force beyond that of a thousand nuclear warheads and that you will not be able to outrun the snarling revelation overtaking you like a truth unchained.”

Don’t say, “I hope to be published.”

Rather say, “I hope the blast effects that occur when I combine words in my laptop laboratory will illuminate the heavens so that they cannot be ignored or denied. I hope the radiance of the detonation will inspire the illiterate to learn to read just so they can enter deeper into the experience of the Glorious God my words seek to describe.

I hope the masses fall silent as they stare, open-mouthed and weeping, at the realization that what they thought was only possible in their private dreams is accessible to all and that they grasp my dangling participles to rise above their own shattered stories, their feet lifting from the unforgiving earth, their lungs emptied of the noxious gas of deception, and their victorious laughter fired by the helium of freedom as my words carry them closer to the great God-heart they now know beats also for them. ”

Don’t say, “I am a writer.”

Rather say, “I am my Father’s child.”


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38 Comments

    The Conversation

  1. This is great Lori. I just posted something I wrote last year about me being a writer and actually titled it “I am a writer.” Guess I need to go back and change not only the title, but the post. 🙂 Was sooooooooo thinking about his writing life all wrong! 🙂

    Hope all is well. Praying for you, your husband and family 🙂
    Beth

  2. Bethany, Alycia, and Dina – nice editing!

  3. WWO-HOO! Love this! Thank you!

  4. Kay Chandler says:

    This comment has been removed by the author.

  5. tina hunt says:

    Thank you. I needed this perspective today more than I can express. Pain has been overwhelming companion lately and inspiration has been elusive. You are so right on time with these thoughts–as usual.

  6. No doubt you ARE a writer Ms. Lori !

  7. I am stunned! I look at my fingers, poised over the keyboard and wonder at the power of God behind them. I’ve been stuck in a writing rut for far too long, but I think your post just jolted me out of it! Printing this out to put above my desk! Thank you

  8. Anonymous says:

    Once again you’ve taken a simple idea and made it a spiritual bomb! I’m so proud of you. MOMMA

  9. The BearPair says:

    Whew! Right on, Lori!

  10. Betty Jo says:

    Oh my! Lori what incredible power and beauty all rolled into one post. “I am my Father’s child!” Thank you!!

  11. Yes, yes, yes! This is exactly what I want from my words; I already know the gates of hell are trembling at the very thought of the impact. The only thing I’d forgotten (even though the concept is in my manuscript) is that I’m copying my Father.
    Thank you

  12. Mary says:

    Wow. This makes me excited to write.

    And Lori, you have a wonderful grasp of the English language!

  13. Chelsey says:

    Wow Lori. A whole new perspective. If even one heart is changed…. wow. Thank you.

  14. Love this and shared it with a blogging/writing group I’m a part of. Thanks so much for the great perspective, and reminder of the power of words!

  15. Voni says:

    Yes, Without the power of truth and life and faith and calling, words are just squiggles on paper. Thanks, Lori!

  16. Becky Melby says:

    Oh my. Yes. I think I will print this out and hang it over my desk. Thank you. Sharing this with my writers group.

    • Linda Mowles says:

      Thanks so much for this post — you have readjusted my focus so that my writing is not just an exercise that I believe I should do for my Lord, but that I can see it as His Words through me. Beautiful post and writing that is soul lifting. Thank you.

  17. This is incredible. Thank you so much.

  18. Thank you SO MUCH for this! I knew I was doing His Will, and I knew He was all that, but I hadn’t made the connection between the two.

  19. Lori Hatcher says:

    May it be so, Lord.

  20. Nancy K Sullivan says:

    Oh, to be in the company of a true writer!

  21. Carolyn M. says:

    I love that, “I handle hazardous material!”

  22. Sharlyn DeHaven Gates says:

    I want more! I am my Fathers child, fulfilling His vision for me.

  23. Debora Coty says:

    Just. WOW. Nailed it, Lori. And then some.