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What You Must Do Before You Can Write

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What You Must Do Before You Write

When I started writing online, I didn’t call myself a writer. I wrote when I had time, and when I felt so inspired. I didn’t feel pressure to create, writing has always been a release for me.

That season lasted for a good while until things shifted. I wrote a book. In the months leading up to the books release, writing became a job. I elbowed things out of my way to sit down to write. I no longer waited for inspiration, I sat down and pursued it with a feverish desire to write words that mattered. This kind of passion isn’t all bad–Madeline L’Engle had it right when she said  “Inspiration comes during the work, rather than before it”.

After the book came out, I lost my balance. I had shoved everything aside to write, write, write–and in the words of James Howell, (and later, Steven King),  “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”. My energy waned. My desire to experience life away from the keyboard began to fade.

In my fiery pursuit of crafting word masterpieces, one painful letter at a time, I found myself increasingly frustrated by the serious and concerning disappearance of ideas of which to write about. Living as a mother of 4 young children, it seemed ideas should run through my head in abundance, with time for capturing them being the real problem.

But the opposite was true–the more time I devoted to trapping and transcribing ideas, the more stagnant my thought pool became.

Shuffling through an old filing cabinet I came across my creative writing folder from a class I took in high school. Scratched across the yellowing manila, I rediscovered a truth I’d practically forgotten.

Before You Write

In my pre-Jesus youth and fascination with transcendentalism, Henry David Thoreau was one of my favorite writers. I used to imagine myself trekking off with him to Walden Pond where we’d pick at the sweet grass and dip our rebellious toes in the water, while the forrest creatures lazed about on branches overhead and on the banks beside us, sucking up the marrow of our words as Henry and I mused about life, love and writing. On occasion, Emerson would join us…

Anyway. 

Thoreau said, “How vain is it to sit down to write when you have not yet stood up to live”.

And it occurred to me, on the trek towards publication, that’s exactly what I’d neglected to do–live. 

Writing is hard work. (In case you’ve been fooled in to believing otherwise.) And while it’s true, words don’t materialize while we’re off living life, failing to record it, the reality is, if we’re not really living life, there’s nothing to record. (Profound, yes?)

This is obvious, and yet it’s a struggle all writers face at some point. The balance between living life and writing about it is always in question.

Some seasons of writing call for more time in the chair. This is an inevitable part of doing the work. Deadlines, commitments, project milestones–all have to take priority in certain seasons. But these should be the seasons. They should not last, and we should not ignore the need for a change of scene.

While I sat behind a screen clicking away at the keys, I missed afternoon walks in the sun, and butterfly watching in the yard. I missed hiking in the park, and blowing bubbles on the porch. I missed the joy of cooking from scratch, as I served too many hurried meals from a bag.

I wasn’t living life, I was surviving. 

Among the things I neglected, my time in the Word had also grown shorter and more rushed. Forgetting that God is the source of all life, left me grasping for all the wrong things in an effort to produce.

You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.Psalm 16:11

While God can create ex nihilo, the rest of us need a little something to work with. My creative well ran bone-dry and I panted after the memory of something I’d discounted.

I believe my writing reflected as much. The richness of inspiration does come during the work, but after the living of life.

If we want to produce stories that speak of glory, we have to spend time, on the other side of the screen, immersed in the rich, messy, full-color emotion of actual living. We have to stand up, and live. And then sit down and write.

I don’t pretend to have this balance thing all sorted.

As I write I’ this, I’m currently eyeball deep in deadlines and projects that cannot be ignored without consequences and repercussions. But I sense the time for living is very near and I can say, that I am writing this with one foot out the metaphorical door.

Walden pond awaits. Spring flowers have begun raising their fronds from beneath the hardened soil, in a beckoning wave of invitation. Soon the butterflies will return. Afternoon bubble-blowing is just days away.

It’s about time to escape to the woods for a little inspiration–it’s time to live.

Have you ever struggled with balancing working and living? When is the last time you “stood up to live” first?

Comments

    • He’s so good, right? Always giving us what we need! It’s inly His grace that you found value here today–see you soon, sweet friend. How crazy-amazing it feels to say that 😉

  2. Ah, I am feeling the other side: I want to write more and homeschool less. Eep, did I just say that out loud?

    Thank you for your words of wisdom as I am praying (and ruminating) on changes for next year.

    • Praying for you as you seek wisdom an direction for the coming season. I know the ache of wanting more time to write too. Trusting God to determine the path.

  3. Kris, this is so so so good. God has taught me to live from the overflow — meaning what I write and speak on has to come from what I’ve already lived out along with through experiences from serving the people in my midst. When I sense that my writing feels empty, I’m forced to asked, “Where have I stopped living?” I like your version — “Have I stood up to live?” — just beautiful!

  4. Yes! Yes! Yes! This is so true. Thank you, Kris, for sharing these words of wisdom. Our writing must pour out from the overflow of our lives. This is the message I’ll preach for all my days. 🙂

  6. The timing of your post is incredibly spot on in my own writing/mothering life. I have three small children and have struggled to find time to do the writing I’d like. It has made my heart ugly and not so nice (and envious of others!) on more days than I’d like to admit. I have very recently decided to pull back from most of my writing for a time…I will still journal, but I’ve put my “big project” (a hopeful book!) down, I’m not going to take any more freelance assignments for a couple of months and I’m still trying to discern what to do about blogging… I’m trying to prayerfully discern how long God is leading me to do this for, but just as I could tell He was asking me to set it aside for a bit, I am trusting that He’ll let me know when the timing is right to go back to it all…Thank you for your words and reminder to live more fully!

    • I hear you, Lisa. I have 4 children and know how difficult the balance of it all can be. I just keep reminding myself that God will help me accomplish the things which He calls me to. I keep holding my hands out to Him and asking Him to take, or replace the things that are not for this season. Praying for you as you seek Him in this.

  7. “Don’t be a writer if you can get out of it! It’s a solitary job, sometimes a rather lonely one (who’s listening? you say), and it requires relentless self-discipline. The world is not waiting with baited breath for what you turn out. A writer has to be some kind of nut to stick with it. But if, like the psalmist, you say, “My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned,” then perhaps you will have to write.” Elisabeth Elliot Kris, I’m so grateful God gave you the fire!

    • Such a great quote, Monica. I am grateful for the fires He’s set in my own heart, and love watching the smoldering of other’s for His passions. he is so good!!

  8. What timing. I just quit a job this morning for this very reason — I have been so busy working that I have had no time to live. Work is good, for sure. But I had scheduled myself so tightly that my family and home had been essentially squeezed out. (Let’s not even discuss my non-existent “spare” time for important soul-feeding things like writing!) I’m looking forward to getting some of my life back again.

    • Yes! Amen! So thankful this was encouraging to you! I hope you find much peace and joy in reclaiming some of that critical margin for your days!

  9. Oh Kris, this truly speaks to where I am today. After my book came out, I sort of hit a wall. I mean, I already and the content on the blog I just had to put it together, but emotionally, it was draining. Then I couldn’t write and now, well, my blog is surviving on working through a book I’m reading and The Weekend Brew. I long for those moments of inspiration, yet I am not sure I have fully stood up to live yet. Thank you for this post. You’ve given me much to think about.

    • Praying for you as you rest in Him and live a little, Barbie. I know there is much he’d like to show us, if only we’d step outside a bit and walk in the life He has given us.

  11. Oh this speaks to me! You words are so beautifully painting a picture of many if not all writers. That balance is always vulnerable as we struggle to honor both living and writing about it. SO glad I found you on twitter!! 🙂 New fan and follower.

  13. Yes. That’s exactly where I am right now… 4 littles and a desire to cling to my keyboard to get it all done but no water in the well from which to draw from. Love your words.

  14. Hello Kris

    I am so glad to have stumbled upon your blog from Dennis Hughes’s Facebook Page. 😀 I absolutely LOVED your post AND message.

    Yes, in order to write, we must first live.

    My favorite blogger, Katherine Kotaw of Kotaw Content Marketing, always says, “seek stories everywhere”. And this is ONLY possible if you walk out of your four walls and EXPERIENCE LIFE in all its glory!

    Truly, life is a writer’s most dependable inspiration muse. All the stories are right in front of us, waiting to be picked and communicated!

    Rest assured, you have a new fan, dear!! #HUGSSSSS

    Lots of love
    Kitto

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