Write2Ignite

The writing life can be unpredictable. Times of joy interspersed with times of discouragement. Mountains and valleys. Successes and failures.

Problem is, all too often, the discouragement and failures seem to outnumber the joys and mountaintop experiences. So what do we do when our visits to the valleys seem to morph into extended stays? When sunny vistas are hidden by cloudy skies?

That’s when it’s time to be thankful for silver linings…

• Thankful despite rejections

Rejections are not always God’s “no.” Often they are God’s “wait.”

Rejections offer the opportunity to refine our work to be the best it can be for when it finally is accepted for publication.

How are you using this time of waiting to improve your writing skills?

• Thankful despite low sales

Checking sales stats can be addictive…and discouraging if the numbers aren’t what we hoped for.

But what if God didn’t intend for your book to reach millions? What if He had you write it to change one life for all eternity?

Will you be thankful that He used you to change even one life?

• Thankful despite not being understood

Our family members don’t always understand us. They may view our writing as a hobby or a lark.

But while they may not get us, we have an entire community of other writers to be thankful for. Writers who come alongside to encourage and sharpen us, as iron sharpens iron (Prov. 27:17).

How might God use you to encourage another writer this week?

• Thankful despite a limited platform

These days it seems as if growing our platform is Mission Impossible. Social media rules are constantly changing. We blog, but wonder how many people actually read what we write. We collect Twitter followers, then wonder how many followers are enough to impress an agent or publisher.

Still, developing our platform helps us identify who our true audience is. So if one method isn’t growing our platform as we’d hoped, it might motivate us to reevaluate who we’re trying to reach.

Are you trying to reach the world…or the audience that’s the best fit for your writing?

God is sovereign over His creation and over our writing. So when things aren’t going the way we want, let’s practice being thankful for those silver linings!

What additional silver linings are you thankful for?