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The question I most often am asked to answer in my coaching sessions is, “How do I know if I’m called to write a book?”
According to John Ortberg, “A calling is something you discover not something you choose.”
I am a testimony to this because I didn’t choose writing. I choose other things like wanting to be a high school math teacher.
My legacy of writing and publishing ten books comes from the biggest failure and tragedies in my life related to my health. Writing has forced me to acknowledge my limitations.
You may not like my answer.
Maybe you aren’t called to write a book right away.
If you’re in it for the fame or money instead of for the love of words—you WILL NOT LAST in this industry (Christian or otherwise).
It’s scary as hell to expose yourself in the form of words in the shape of a book. You have to wait on God to empower you and gift you with His words. I have found I cannot make it through the book writing and publishing process without them.
If waiting on the Lord weren’t hard enough, I have had to endure many things throughout the book writing process.
Gossip.
Slander.
Betrayal.
Isolation.
Keep your tent making business ladies.
Be fearless to go where you’re celebrated. It’s for the love of words that you know the isolation period will be worth it. You will find your tribe. The Lord will help you grow your platform if it’s founded on Him.
If you’re constantly thinking about how a certain piece of your writing can be marketed or how much you can sell it or include it in your next book—you will never become a true artist who creates.
Who creates because she can.
Write because you can. Not because you have too.
Know for certain that God’s called you to get out of the boat and walk on water.
Like Peter.
Like me.
The next right step is to write down your missions statement.
Here’s mine.
Here’s how you can write yours.
Do you know what your mission statement is?
This is very important because will need to hold onto your faith and God’s promises when you’re in the midst of writing and marketing when life and self-doubt slams into you like a car crash (and it will happen. Sometimes literally).
I love that I can go back to my mission statement that I wrote in 2003 when I first started to get serious about writing my first book. I am proud to say that I’ve kept the faith.
“Agony the beautiful agony of faith” (1 Timothy 6:12).
Don’t take a free pass or become a spectator.
Get back up.
Grab that pen again and start writing.
Don’t let life beat you down.
Learn what your limits really mean and how to use them to truly minister to others. This is without a doubt the most impactful part of your writing ministry. The part that makes you want to cover up and hide in shame.
Don’t.
Uncover.
Expose.
Confess.
To sinful patterns of behavior that never get confronted and changed,
Abilities and gifts that never get cultivated and deployed—
Until weeks become months
And months turn into years,
And one day you’re looking back on a life of
Deep intimate gut-wrenchingly honest conversations you never had;
Great bold prayers you never prayed,
Exhilarating risks never took,
Sacrificial gifts never offered
Lives you never touched,
And you’re sitting in a recliner with a shriveled soul,
And forgotten dreams,
And you realize there was a world of desperate need,
And a great God calling you to be part of something bigger than yourself—
You see the person you could have become but did not;
You never followed your calling.
You never got out of the boat.
(“The common cold of the soul” by Gregg Levoy).
Tend to your soul and your health will catch up to your calling.
Tighten the gap of integrity so that your outer life matches your inner life. This is the most important thing.
While you’re waiting on the gifting that God has entrusted you with—be faithful with the gospel (the gospel and the gifting as Beth Moore would say).
Don’t go looking for easy advice.
Everyone has a plan for your life.
You need people in your corner who are willing to ask the tough questions.
Questions like, “How do I know if I’m called to write a book?”
Women like that who are willing to help you listen and wait on God for the answer can make or break your calling before it even starts.
Trust me I know.
Your calling is difficult to discover but it’s a priceless treasure.
Don’t squander your talent.
Learn how to develop it.
Work on your craft.
If you’re not willing to put in the effort then you might never hear God say, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master” (Matthew 25:23, ESV).
The post How do I know if I’m called to write a book? appeared first on Renee Fisher & Co. LLC.
