Writers often hear the admonition to “write what you know,” which
means if you grew up in the rural south, it’s probably not a good idea to write
a coming of age story set in Manhattan. Of course, given our access to
information these days, via the worldwide web, our ability to reach outside our
usual parameters has been greatly expanded.
That is not the kind of “write what you know” I’m talking
about.
I write organically. This means I don’t sit down and plot out a 300 page novel before I write it. I may have an idea before I start about a few things, but I take to heart the advice of novelist, Terry Kay, who says, “We don’t write to tell a story; we write to discover a story.
When I’m writing, I may not know what’s going to happen next
in Chapter One, but I may already see what’s going to happen somewhere near the
end of the book, maybe Chapter Twenty-Seven, so I write that. I write what I
know.
I write the next thing I’m thinking about, the very next
thing that’s coming to me.
I hear writers say they don’t know what to write, that they’re
stuck. But, you writers know something. It may be a small, a seemingly inconsequential
thing―write that. And you will find that when you do, a door may open to an
entirely different thought. I believe writers get stuck, because they don’t
write what they know.
In fact, we sometimes push those thoughts out of our mind, determined
to get the next step in what we’ve determined should be a linear progression.
Forget linear. Piece it together like a giant jigsaw puzzle. You don’t put a
puzzle together in a linear way, you work with the pieces that fit, and then
you find more that fit. Approach your writing like that. Work with the pieces
that fit. Again, I say it. Write what you know.
The life of faith is very similar isn’t it? We take one step
in the light that we have. We don’t get the whole story. God doesn’t give us
an outline for our entire life, but He does give us a Guidebook (Bible), and a Guide (Holy Spirit).
Sometimes that next step can feel like a detour and appear to have nothing to do with where we think we should be going, but God knows how the pieces fit together, and He knows what the story of our lives should be about.
With Him, we may prayerfully find the next step in this great adventure of life.
“Direct my footsteps according to your word
. . .” (Psalm 119:133).