Writing has been quite the journey over the past few years. The first thing that sparked my love for writing stories was a book series called Survivors, which followed the lives of dogs surviving in the wild together. However, there was always something off about why I was writing, and I hate to admit that it took me much longer to realize what it was.
At this point, I wasn’t worried about where writing would take me. I wasn’t thinking of being a published author yet––I was simply writing because it was a hobby I enjoyed. But after I got out of my phase of writing animal stories, I started writing a book with one of my friends. I wanted to experiment with different genres and writing styles. After trying and trying, I felt hopeless, so I took a break from writing.
When I started writing again, I began to take it seriously. I suppose you could call this my “turning point” in my writing career. However, taking my writing seriously was only an advancement that put me in the right direction. It still took me two or three years to meet my actual turning point.
The idea of writing Christian fiction crossed my mind a few times, but I never knew how to write it. I tried researching and looking for other Christian novels, but nothing interested me. So, I completely ignored the thought and went on with writing whatever I wanted. I kept writing what entertained me and possible future readers. For school, I had to read The Hobbit and in the study guide, I read that J.R.R. Tolkien says writers are ‘sub-creators’ and that our stories don’t need to be considered “Christian fiction” to glorify God. I didn’t entirely get the meaning of what he said, but it’s always been in the back of my mind.
Over the past year, I came to the realization that I’ve been writing with the intention of gaining worldly validation. I never took a step back to think that God gave me the gift of creative writing for a purpose. Everything He does is intentional. He grants us gifts that we are supposed to use for His purpose. I tried to write themes that would entertain most secular readers, but I never tried to incorporate biblical themes into my stories. I also realized that being open about my Christianity as a writer could be a great encouragement to other Christian writers!
God has gifts for everyone, whether that is being a missionary or simply helping out in Sunday school. He has given that gift for a reason. It is up to us to choose what we do with those skills. Through prayer and devotion, I realized that I should be writing for God and not the world. I still regret taking so long to figure that out. Now, I do my best to continue in prayer and ask Him for guidance while I write. I want to give God the glory because He gave me the gift to write. This is my turning point. From now on, I want to devote my writing to be a reflection of Biblical truths.
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