by Blythe Daniel @BlytheDaniel

You stare at a blank page. Your scribbles are notes that you can’t sort out. You have journals you aren’t sure where to find what you started writing for a book someday. Does your organization of thoughts cause you to feel overwhelmed?

I think one of the key questions writers have is: “How do you know what to write?” followed by: “Where do you start?”

Years ago when I became a mom, I didn’t know where to start in caring for my child (and later twins). I didn’t know what I needed to pay attention to most because it was all so new. But God guided me because I had given him my desire to be a mom and he fulfilled my desire and also gave me the insights and steps to take in this new role. Even on hard days, he was with me and I learned to ask for his help.

I think many writers skip the fulfillment part of writing and think they are on their own to decipher what to write and how to go about writing what’s on their mind. Yet they get discouraged because they’ve lost their momentum, or their idea, or the motivation to work hard to seek what their potential readers would be interested in reading form them.

The question should really be, “What do I do with what I’ve been given?” Because each of us has been given a task, an assignment, a fervor that rises up in us. Just like my early mothering days, we all need to know what to do with what God has fulfilled in us.

I see three areas that we need to yield to God in this process of knowing what to write.

First, we line up our thoughts and yearnings under the Word of God. Does what I want to write line up with truth and what would reflect God’s heart for people? If not, it’s going to be tough to continue in something that doesn’t have his blessing on it.

Second, are you lined up with the people that would benefit from your book? If not, how will you seek to bring yourself to where they are rather than expect them to come to you? What does it look like for you to study your potential readers and show up where they are living, struggling, open to encouragement rather than your trying to put your experiences and words onto someone when they don’t know you? How does a shared experience or wisdom from God speak to someone who’s going through something where they need encouragement? It’s important that your words reach someone rather than just reflect your life.

Third, are you asking professionals who work with authors if your words are what is needed or is it overdone? Are you flexible and amenable to changing your idea or words if that’s what’s needed for publication? “Blessed are the pure in heart”, one of my favorite Beautitudes, means to be full of grace, humility and love. Are we writing from a place of purity or from a place of idolatry? Do you and I write to be known, having a book that we can feel good about ourselves? Or do we write to make Jesus known?

This is as much for me as it is for you to consider. I believe it’s just as important to look at motive as it is our message.

My pastor has a great saying that I love: “The words coming out of your mouth are a picture of your heart.”

The heart of true success is what is in Joshua 1:8: “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” Verse 9 goes on to share the section I’m sure you’re familiar with about being strong and courageous. But I rest on what God told Joshua that being prosperous and successful depends on meditating on God’s word. And coming out of that, then we can face what we need to face in the writing world with maturity and wisdom.

What do you want your writing to look like in this new year? How does the command in Joshua 1:8 encourage you in your writing endeavors? I know for me, the words not to let other things take over the priority of my time with my God and my words that I want to steward well beckons me. Not just in writing but in speaking to others about my writing and my life with God.

As you journey with God about what you are to write, what would he say to you?

May you be deeply encouraged in 2023 in knowing what to write because you have a better sense of how your words will meet at the intersection of your passion and publishing. I pray that you will experience a deep confidence in knowing what to write and where to start this year.

Blythe Daniel is a literary agent and marketer and has been in publishing for over 20 years. She has written for Proverbs 31 Ministries, Focus on the Family, Ann Voskamp, and Christian Retailing. She and her mother Dr. Helen McIntosh are the authors of Mended: Restoring the Hearts of Mothers and Daughters (Harvest House Publishers).

www.theblythedanielagency.com; www.ourmendedhearts.com