by Lynn Blackburn @LynnHBlackburn 

I love finding posts I wrote several years ago and seeing where I was in my writing journey and what I was learning. I wish I could tell you that I read them and think, “Wow, I’ve matured so much that this no longer applies to me,” but sadly, it’s usually more like, “Wow, it’s been six years and you still have the same problem.” This post is a perfect example. 

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My son loves playing games on my phone. He has one he’s been playing for a while now. He’s completed so many levels that he has begged me not to let his little brother play, for fear that he’ll mess things up.

So I was surprised when he asked me to download the game onto the iPad. As I handed the iPad to him, I asked, “Are you sure you’re okay with this? Won’t you have to start over from the beginning?”

He shrugged, a grin spreading across his face. “That’s okay, Mom. It will be good practice.”

Ah. Out of the mouth of babes. 

I need to start over. I have to. It’s a good thing.

But it’s so hard.

I’ve completed two novels in the past five years. The first one will probably never see the light of day and the jury is still out on the second. So, it’s time to begin a new story. Time to create a new world. Time to breathe life into new characters, then make their lives difficult, come close to killing them several times, and have it all work out in the end.

I’m on the verge of a panic attack just thinking about it.

I’ve been doing everything creative I can think of—besides writing. 

I’ve knit. I’ve decorated. I’ve read. I’ve cooked.

But today, I’m writing.

Today, I’m ignoring the voices telling me how pointless it all is. Trying to ignore the tension in my chest at the thought of failure.

I’m choosing to see the act of starting over through the eyes of my five-year-old.

It’s good practice.

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I wrote this in July of 2014, just days before I got “the call” that my book would soon be published. Here we are, six years later, and guess what I’m doing this summer? Starting what will, Lord willing, be my seventh published novel. I’m still procrastinating, still fighting the fear, still wondering how on earth I ever wrote a book and still worrying that I won’t be able to do it again. 

But on the positive side, it really does help to think of it as good practice. If the first scene doesn’t work, that’s okay. It was good practice. If a plot line flops, that’s okay, it was good practice. 

If you’re struggling to get motivated to write in the midst of all the upheaval in our world, give yourself some grace. There’s no pressure. It’s just practice. Practice four or five times this week and see what happens. I bet you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the result. As Louis L’Amour said, “Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.”  

Grace and peace,

Lynn H. Blackburn loves writing suspense because her childhood fantasy was to become a spy—but her grown-up reality is that she’s a huge chicken and would have been caught on her first mission. She prefers to live vicariously through her characters and loves putting them into all kinds of terrifying situations—while she’s sitting at home safe and sound in her pajamas!

Her Dive Team Investigations series kicked off in 2018 with Beneath the Surface and In Too Deep (A SIBA Okra pick and Selah Award Finalist). The 3^rd book in the series, One Final Breath, released September 2019 and is a 2020 Selah Award finalist. She is also the author of Hidden Legacy and Covert Justice, which won the 2016 Carol Award for Short Novel and the 2016 Selah Award for Mystery and Suspense. Lynn lives in South Carolina with her true love and their three children. You can follow her real life happily ever after at LynnHBlackburn.com and @LynnHBlackburn on Bookbub, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.