Marbles and Pebbles

Ultima Thule may not be your first thought for a blog post on becoming the writer God created you to be, marbles by marbles and pebbles by pebbles, but it sure was one of the first things I thought of when I heard about the 21-mile-long planetary object that lies about 1 billion miles beyond Pluto.

Scientist believe this bowling pin, or snowman, shaped object was created not as a complete object at its beginning, but one piece at a time. Different marbles here. And different pebbles there. All joined together to create the mass it is today. 

Isn’t that what we writers do when we create a manuscript?

We write marble by marble and pebble by pebble. When we’re finished, all those many parts and pieces join together to form our masterpiece.

There’s Always a Beginning

Ultima Thule did not just arrive on the scene in its present state. Hardly. It took many years to create, until all the bits and pieces, marbles and pebbles, came together.

In the same way, our writing does not arrive polished and perfect, prime-time-ready, the instant we start out with an idea. Or put pen to paper. Fingers to keyboards. Speech to text.

Each of the marbles and pebbles that go into our manuscripts are important. Not just for our work, but for our growth as writers.

Some of those marbles are hard won. Others come easier. At times marbles of rejection get added. We may not appreciate that addition, but if we learn something from it that improves our overall work, it can be counted as a win, right?

Any time we add marbles and pebbles of accepted manuscripts to our Ultima Thule, we’re over the moon. We’re encouraged to keep pressing on toward that which God has called us.

Keep Adding Marbles and Pebbles

All those writing craft books, webinars, workshops, drafts and revisions? Marbles and pebbles. 

Appointments with writing professionals, contest submissions, queries? Marbles and pebbles.

Submissions, acceptances, sorry-not-for-us? Marbles and pebbles.

Each of those experiences add to our overall work. On their own, they may not amount to much, but taken together, piece by piece, marble by marble, pebble by pebble, they create a formidable object.

Your Turn

As far as we know, Ultima Thule hasn’t finished growing. The next pictures seen of the planetary object may show it grew because it continued to add more marbles and pebbles.

No matter where we are on our writing journey, we aren’t finished growing, either. We continue to learn, study, and work hard at the craft. First drafts become, second, third, fourth, and fifth drafts until done. After we edit, polish, and submit, we wait. And we wait. And we wait some more. 

We push through the hard and difficult disappointments and discouragements. It may take us a while, but we do it. In the meantime, we keep adding more marbles and pebbles.. 

Why? 

Because like that bowling pin shaped 21-mile-long planetary object that is about 1 billion miles beyond Pluto, we aren’t ready to stop growing. We might be one day, but this is not that day. Until God tells us to put down our pens, take our hands off the keyboard, or stop speaking into the software, we press on. 

Never forget, my friends; whether our work is read by many or it is just between us and our Creator, whether our work wins accolades or is panned, we keep adding those marbles and pebbles. Because, as Aragorn said in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, Deeds will not be less valiant because they are unpraised.

I wish you well.

Sandy

Here’s what you can expect from me. In my posts, you’ll find words of encouragement for writers, book reviews, and discussions on the craft of writing. I am a former elementary school teacher, regular contributor to Guideposts devotional books, and a conference speaker. I write articles, devotions, and stories for adult and children’s publications. You can find me every Tuesday and Thursday at www.sandykirbyquandt.com. Please stop by.