Write2Ignite

Your proposal is rejected—again—and your head swirls with doubt, disappointment, and confusion.

You pour your heart out in a blog post, take hours to format it just right, click Post, and wait. The only buzz you hear is from the ceiling fan above your head, and the only comments you receive are from your mother and Aunt Fran.

Every writing conference you attend seems populated by successful, profound writers and brings new battles with jealousy and insecurity. You compare your blog, book, or platform with that of your superstar colleague and wonder whether you’re deluded in thinking that God could ever use you or your story to influence someone else.

I felt this way at my very first writers’ conference. I sat there as a new writer, the ink still wet on my fingers. I’d written quite a few articles for our homeschool newsletter, had two published in a local magazine, and had no clue what a blog was.

To my left was a two-time Christy Award winner. To my right was an author of fifty (not fifteen) books.

And then there was me.

Stuck in the middle like the ketchup in a ketchup sandwich. Colorful, but not much substance.

They talked about POV—first person, second person, and third person. And third person limited, third person multiple, and third person omniscient. I didn’t know whether I was in a theology class or in a psychology class, studying schizophrenia.

“What am I doing here?” I thought to myself. “I’ve never wanted to write a novel. I don’t even understand half the words they’re tossing out, and Google Translate is no help! What if they find out I’m a poser? They’re going to sit me in a corner and put a dunce cap on me . . . or worse—write about me in their next novel: The Girl Who Thought She Was a Writer.”

I wondered how quickly I could excuse myself to go to the bathroom and never come back. That was the first day I wanted to quit.

Have you ever felt this way? Perhaps you’re feeling this way right now.

In my 2018 Write2Ignite workshop, “The Day I Wanted to Quit: Tackling the Mind Games That Discourage and Defeat Writers,” we’re going to talk about comparison, insecurity, and competitiveness. We’ll examine the biblical roots of each issue, walk through a three-step personal evaluation, and craft a unique mission statement designed to silence the voices that imprison our writing potential. After attending this workshop at another conference, one attendee confided, “I didn’t just identify my writing mission, I identified my life mission!”

Most writers leave a conference pumped up and empowered. Then they go home. The doubts, fears, and insecurities they left behind begin to whisper in their ears again. Head games—writers play them every day. Is winning the battle in our minds really just a matter of positive thinking, or does God have something to say about it? I look forward to examining these thoughts with you at the 2018 Write2Ignite conference.

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Lori Hatcher is the editor of Reach Out, Columbia magazine and the author of two devotional books: Hungry for God . . . Starving for Time, Five-Minute Devotions for Busy Women (the 2016 Christian Small Publisher Book of the Year) and Joy in the Journey: Encouragement for Homeschooling Moms. A blogger, writing instructor, and women’s ministry speaker, Lori seeks to help women connect with God in the craziness of life.

You’ll find her pondering the marvelous and the mundane on her blog, Hungry for God . . . Starving for Time. Connect with her on Facebook, Twitter (@LoriHatcher2), or Pinterest (Hungry for God).