Who are you writing for?

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“It’s in the struggle that the story is written.”

Yes, yes, I said as I read those words from a fellow author just before I sat down to draft this post.

Golly gosh, I’ve struggled writing the sequel to Angelguard. The basic story of Angelguard fell out of me. I was a complete novice (well, I still am really) but the story just kept coming. I’d turn up to the blank page and out it would come.

Nine months later it was done. The first draft. Not to be read by any one, oh, except, Fiona my wife who egged me on and kept giving me new ideas and lots of names for my supernatural beings.

Many years later it was finally published. Even though there had been many many changes to that first draft the essence of the original story of that first draft remained.

Second time around I’ve found to be a completely different experience. I started out with an outline for a story that I loved. Then I started writing it.

But it just didn’t grab me.

So I shifted gears and worked on another angle, which I’ve enjoyed writing. But it’s come out so much slower. Like waiting for a file to download when there was only dial up internet. Remember those days? In fact it wasn’t that long again. Most of my research for Angelguard was done using dial up.

Doubt, discouragement and procrastination became part of my daily diet. As they do for every writer. The successful ones (those who finish) manage to ride those bullies and put them in their proper place most days.

“… most writers spend their lives in the shadows and do their best work there.” (Richard Flanagan)

And then there are those of us who allow the bullies to beat us each day. So much so they become over-bearing giants. Where’s the David in us when we need him?

Nowhere to be found. We find it easier to stay in the background with the sheep.

“But what about us, Ian?”

The nudges never leave us. Someone wants us to go on an adventure. With them. One that involves risk with no certainty of how it will end. But we’ll be doing it together.

In the struggle.

I was explaining a little of this struggle to a good friend of mine and he encouraged me with the thought that it must be special knowing that we writers share our struggle with an audience of one and He’s the one that really matters.

Even if no one else gets to see the end product sharing this writing experience with Jesus is pretty incredible.

Don’t you think?

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by those giant bullies and making little progress, step aside for a moment and take your eyes off them. Remind yourself of what David said to his brothers when he first saw Goliath: “For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” (1 Samuel 17:26 ESV) David had his eyes on the audience that mattered: God.

May I encourage you to switch your focus onto the Lord and He will equip you with a new slingshot and some extra stones so you can get back in the game.

Ian Acheson is an author and strategy consultant based in Northern Sydney. Ian's first novel of speculative fiction, Angelguard, is now available in the US, UK, Canada and Australia. You can find more about Angelguard at Ian's website, on his author Facebook page and Twitter

DEVOTION ~ How to Slay a Giant

"He reached into his bag and took out a stone, which he slung at Goliath. It hit him on the forehead and broke his skull, and Goliath fell face downward on the ground." 1 Samuel 17:49 GNB

Over a thousand years before the birth of Christ, a young boy by the name of David volunteered to fight a nine-foot giant. He tried on King Saul's suit of armor and then rejected it. He looked at the monarch's massive sword and shield. They were too big, too heavy, and he wasn't used to them. So he tackled the problem with the only tools he knew.

He selected five smooth stones from the riverbed and put them in his pouch. He placed one in his sling. The pebbles were only small, yet the chosen one became a mighty weapon. I’m sure David took careful aim with his sling. He knew it was a matter of life and death that he hit his target.

David didn't do anything unusual. He used his sling frequently to protect his sheep. He just did what he was used to doing. He used the tools he was used to. He did the very best he could. And he left the outcome up to God.

Some years ago, I read an article in the magazine, and I decided to offer my opinion. I had never written to an editor in that way before, but I do send off emails many times each day. So I used the tools I knew well. I selected my words with care. I polished the letter until it was the best I could do, taking careful aim at the market. Then I hit "Send".

It wasn’t a novel. It wasn’t even an article. It was just a short e-mail. But a few months later I received a phone call from a lady who lived on the other side of S.Africa. My short email had impacted the lives of at least one couple. I'd hit my target, and it felt good.

As writers, after we've chosen our market and have something to aim for, we need to use our tools, i.e. our words and our computers, in the way we're used to doing. Once we've done the very best we can, we  must take careful aim at a specific market and then let our words fly. As long as we've done the best we can, the results are in the Lord’s hands.

The pen is mightier than the sword. Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Richelieu

OVER TO YOU: What giant can you see ahead of you that you want to overcome this year? How are you going to go about it? 

SHIRLEY CORDER lives on the coast in South Africa with her husband, Rob. Her book, Strength Renewed: Meditations for your Journey through Breast Cancer contains 90 meditations based on her time in the cancer valley.

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Please visit Shirley through ShirleyCorder.com, where she encourages writers, or at  RiseAndSoar.com, where she encourages those in the cancer valley. You can also meet with her on Twitter or FaceBook.