The WHY and WHERE of Writing. (And I'm not talking about laptops, coffee shops and bank deposits)

We all write for different reasons. I write mostly because I want my words to shift things inside of my readers. I want them to think differently after reading my books. I have a deep desire to see people made whole, restored and reconnected to the God who loves them.

The longer I spend time churning out work, the more I realize that my puny words alone can never accomplish any of this. Like a cake with no baking powder, my words minus Holy Spirit will fall flat every time. It may be edible, but it won't bring anyone back for seconds and it most certainly won't affect them for eternity.

With this in mind, I have discovered my new favourite writing spot... close to Father with my ear glued to His chest. I want to hear what moves His heart and I want to write those things. It is the only way to produce words that will make a difference.

So what does this mean practically? If I could go crawl up onto God's lap and plaster myself to Him, I would. But I'm stuck in an earth-suit, so for now I'll wallow in Word and Spirit. Listen and write and listen again. I'll co-author, not try write solo. And in all of this, if my readers get a glimpse of His heart towards them, I will have nailed it.

I'd love to hear from you. Why do you write? How do you listen and hear from God?

Dianne J. Wilson writes novels from her hometown in East London, South Africa, where she lives with her husband and three daughters. She has just signed a three book contract for a YA series, Spirit Walker, with Pelican / Watershed.

Finding Mia is available from Amazon, Pelican / Harbourlight, Barnes & Noble and other bookstores.

Shackles is available as a free ebook from Amazon & Smashwords.

Find her on Facebook, Twitter and her sporadic blog Doodles.

Devotion: Severely Flawed, or just a Writer?

I've been becoming increasingly concerned about myself. There are some character traits that I cannot shake, no matter how hard I try or pray.  For one thing, I am a complete night owl. If I didn't know better, I'd be concerned that I was harbouring latent vampire genes. If real life didn't demand that I put in an appearance while the sun was up, I could probably go for weeks productively busy between sundown and sunrise.

I'm also obsessive over details. I get caught up like a burr in woolen socks over whatever my mind hooks onto. If there are no current WIP's to take centrestage, then my brain will look for something to chew on - a conversation, a look, a feeling. Analyze analyze analyze... process... allow the resultant emotion to take hold of me and dictate. This is not always a good thing and I'm working on it.

I'm also somewhat anti-social. It's not that I don't like people, I just like being by myself. School holidays are a real challenge as the days often start with a bed full of sprogs before I'm actually ready to open my eyes and continues in a flurry of mom-demanding activities until way past the time I would like to be closing them.  By the time peace and quiet arrives, I'm way beyond tired to do anything but surrender to the soft cooing of the duvet.

I was chatting to God this morning, and He gently flicked a switch in my brain. It all became obvious - I'm not odd, weird or degenerate... well, maybe just a little... Truth is, all the stuff above are good ingredients for a life given to churning out words. To write an article, story ... novel - one needs to be consumed with details, labour alone for long hours and the best time for this is when the world is asleep.

So I'm not bizarre, just built for a purpose.

That's a really good thing to know!

So now it's your turn. Are there things about yourself that bug you? If you step back and look at the big picture, can you see how those niggles actually fit? Let's chat.

"For we are his workmanship, 

created in Christ Jesus to do good works, 

which God prepared in advance for us to do." 

Ephesians 2:10

(reposted from Di's blog Doodles)

Dianne J. Wilson writes novels from her hometown in East London, South Africa, where she lives with her husband and three daughters. She has just signed a three book contract for a YA series, Spirit Walker, with Pelican / Watershed.

Finding Mia is available from Amazon, Pelican / Harbourlight, Barnes & Noble and other bookstores.

Shackles is available as a free ebook from Amazon & Smashwords.

Find her on Facebook, Twitter and her sporadic blog Doodles.

Dream Seeds & Vision

Do you have a dream inside of you that you want so badly that it hurts? A vision for your life that will not let up? Maybe you've tried letting it die after yet another disappointment, but all it takes is a piece of music or words falling into place, and the desire rises Phoenix-like - consuming you in its fresh flames.

I've tried to give up writing sometimes. The emotional rollercoaster - yay! they like me... despair! they hate me - seemed like too much to put up with. Ha! Might as well try to saw off my right hand with a butter knife - it can't be done.

I've come to realize that the dream inside of me has been planted there for a purpose and I've been carefully created to achieve that purpose.

Here's a thought:

Seeds are amazing little things. They are the product of intimacy and a re-mixing of genetic material.

So when God built us, He took a tiny part of His dream - carefully packaged it inside of each one of us, tucked away together with all the right giftings and talents to see that dream fulfilled.  God's dream inside of us is a remix of genetic material - part Him, part you. Only you can do that bit of what is on His heart. Be it writing, making movies, baking cookies, growing lillies...

The mind-blowing thing is that the dream seed inside you carries God's DNA too. His Life, His creative power, His freedom, His enabling - amazing stuff.

Talk to me. What are your dreams?

Dianne J. Wilson writes novels from her hometown in East London, South Africa, where she lives with her husband and three daughters. She has just signed a three book contract for a YA series, Spirit Walker, with Pelican / Watershed.

Finding Mia is available from Amazon, Pelican / Harbourlight, Barnes & Noble and other bookstores.

Shackles is available as a free ebook from Amazon& Smashwords.

Find her on Facebook, Twitter and her sporadic blog Doodles.

DEVOTION: What do you see for tomorrow?

I’ve been reflecting on my life over the last few days, as people are sometimes wont to do at the start of a new the year. There were so many things that I started last year: a Personal Performance Coaching diploma, learning how to swim and how to ride a bike. I realise that I am very good at starting projects but not that good at finishing what I start. I want to be a published author (obviously); I need to lose weight (at the time of writing I am on Day 11 of a 28 day juice fast and I can tell you some days I really crave a hot meal especially as winter is here with a vengeance and I’m focusing my all on reaching the finish line)! I realise that a lot of the struggles I have has to do with my mind-set. Anyway last night I read a Chinese proverb sentence on a website that really spoke to me.

The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, the second best time is now.

I confess I do have a tendency to procrastinate but I have reached a point in my life, where I realise that if I am going to achieve what I want out of life; what I believe the Lord has placed in my heart to do, I have to take action. So I went to Him about it and the Holy Spirit gave me this scripture:

Without a divinely inspired mental picture, the people cast of all restraint. Proverbs 29:18

Jesus is our example. He came to reveal the Father to man and to destroy the works of the devil. His earthly life teaches us how we are supposed to live and what we should aspire to. Thank God that everything we need is provided to us on the basis of the cross. And thank God that we are saved by His grace and not by any works that we can do, but we are expected to use the gifts He has given us to further His purposes on the earth and to bring Him glory.

So I thought about Jesus in light of Proverbs 29:18 and realised that everything He did had purpose. He knew who He was and what He came to earth to do so all His choices were deliberate. He made choices, went places and did things that moved Him in a specific direction. I will probably meditate on this for the next month or so. I am looking at my life and choices with a very critical eye and noticing that while I do work long hours and don’t feel like doing much at the end of the day, I do find the time to do the things that I like to do. Time is fleeting and as we get older we may not be presented with as many opportunities or have the strength to do the things we may now take for granted. As January draws to a close, let’s take stock of our lives and how we spend our time, and maybe ask ourselves some difficult questions.

Almighty Father, give me a divinely inspired mental picture for my life. Give me the wisdom and grace to make the right choices that will move me closer each day to fulfilling Your purpose for my life. In Jesus Name. Amen.

Is your passion your passion?

What drives you? What is your passion? Are you living that passion? Or are working towards achieving it?

For a good number of people on this blog, the dream of being a published author has been achieved. For others, steps are hopefully being taken to achieve those goals. But what happens when you are pursuing a dream that you come to realise is not your passion?

Coming from an African background I remember that as a little girl growing up, and into my early university years my Dad wanted me to be a lawyer. Professions like Medicine and Law are extremely well respected in Nigeria and having a daughter as a lawyer or doctor would have made him puff out his chest and probably be the envy of his friends.

That wasn’t to be though. And even now many, many years later when my Dad complains about the fact that I don’t yet have children, I remind him that everyone has different journeys. Some things happen sooner for some and later for others. Hey, maybe I’m just a late bloomer.

So anyway, back to dreams and passions. I’ve always loved books and I’ve always had a vivid imagination, so the desire to write is only natural. I had an idea for a novel. I developed the characters and began to write. I had so much fun crafting the story and interacting with the characters. I couldn’t wait to finish my day job and rush to my ‘people’. You know what I mean.

I went to my first writers conference a few years ago and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting other writers and aspiring writers. What came as a shock to me was the critique of my work. Not so much for the content, but for some technicalities, like POV, showing and not telling, etc. I was shocked. I was so busy having fun in my relationship with my characters that I totally forgot about the technical side of creative writing! All good though, but what happened a short time later has sometimes made me wonder about this dream of mine.

I got seriously distracted from writing immediately after the conference. I was still writing, but as this was the editing phase, it wasn’t as much fun. Then I relocated to another country for a few months and was involved in a ‘strange’ relationship that sapped my creativity. It took a while to recover, but despite all that, I learnt a lot from the experience and it has worked towards making me the person I am today.

So as I said, it’s taken a while and a lot of that ‘while’ meant forcing myself to develop the discipline to continue writing and editing my work. I thank God that I am back to enjoying writing again.

I have learnt that while I am passionate about writing, it is not my only passion. During the ‘dry’ season I can’t tell you how many people came up to me to ask when I was getting published. If only it was that easy. After trying to explain the process of getting an agent first and then God willing, getting your manuscript sold, I just didn’t bother.

I love writing, and I also love helping people ‘get it.’ Getting it could be learning a new skill or realising their potential, or understanding how something works.

I write, I train, I coach. I know my passions. I am a lot clearer about my purpose. Thank God.

Ufuoma Daniella Ojo is a Senior Technical Author and Software Trainer. She is working on some new stories about relationships and is trusting God for connections leading to publication.