“You will be published if you keep writing”

A speaker at a writers conference said this a few years ago.  Super obvious. I probably paid way too much to attend that conference, right?

Wrong.

It’s true. But you just have to actually do it.

You have to sit down, open up the computer and write.  And then you have to pitch articles and books and write proposals. You have to hone your skills when someone tells you your writing stinks. You have to take criticism  and edit and start over sometimes. You have to throw out whole paragraphs and chapters and rethink the structure.  When you don’t have time, you have to make time. You have to do what it takes.

This goes for most things.

You want to have a good marriage?  You want to be a worship leader?  You want be an effective communicator?  Then you have to do what it takes.

Find out what it takes, and then KEEP doing it until it happens.

I can call myself a writer and even write a whole book, but if I don’t let anyone know about it, if I’m not willing to be the best at my craft then it will go nowhere. If I want a good marriage and have the best intentions, but I hold on to my bitterness and selfish heart, then I will be stuck in that same horrible marriage forever.  I can be a great guitar player and even have a great voice, but if I don’t work at daily intimacy with God, the music will be just a bunch of nice songs. And if I have a story to tell but I don’t practice telling it well, then no one will listen.

God has given us talents for a reason and many of our callings go unused because we simply are lazy, distracted or let life get the best of us. We settle.

I’m not published yet, but I’m not giving up. Never.  I’m not going to settle either.  If I believe God has called me to do this, if it’s right and good and if there is evidence that I have some skill in it, then it will happen.

I have to do what it takes.  And actually get out my computer and write. And I didn’t pay too much for that writers conference. It was the single most useful thing I’ve learned in a long time.

What are you called to do? Are you having trouble fulfilling that calling?

Hoping you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We did a mini STAYcation.  We used free Legoland tickets on Friday and hit the Nixon Presidential Library on Saturday (where Chad and I had the funnest time photo-shooting ourselves in the reflective visor of real spacesuit worn by Neil Armstrong). But then on Sunday it all came to cash in because I woke up sick.

Don’t click away.  I’m not giving away a spacesuit.  Or a camera.

But I do think you’ll be interested in what I’m giving away today. So continuing in my My Favorite Things: Six Weeks of Free Stuff, I’m giving away a trio of my favorite writing items. Even if you aren’t a writer, I’m sure you’ll be happy.

$25 to Starbucks because that is where I get most of my writing done. I’m at my cozy little Starbucks twice a week when my three-year-old is in preschool.

$25 to iTunes because without my headphones connected to my computer listening to my writing playlist or something similar, I can’t get any work done with the milk steaming and people talking on their cell phones in the background.  Music takes me to my happy place when I’m writing.

A mini Moleskine notebook. For the past few months I’ve kept one of these with me WHEREever I go. I put one in my purse and I leave it there.  I write blog posts, shopping lists, and writing ideas in it. It’s perfect.

One of you will receive all of these in one tidy little package that is my pleasure to mail off at the end of the week.  So, to enter, leave a comment in the comment field telling me your favorite trio of whatever.  Three lipgloss colors. Three tea cups you love.  Three places to vacation. Whatever you want. Three things that somehow go together.

Leave your comment (one comment only) before 9pm on Wednesday night and I’ll announce the winner on Thursday.

What’s your favorite trio?