by Sandy Kirby Quandt @SandyKQuandt

With the plethora of writing how-to information available, have you ever found yourself emulating a person or style which isn’t a good fit for you? Sort of like a toddler walking around in his father’s shoes or a warrior wearing someone else’s armor.

As I thought about this, I realized I am guilty. Someone suggests adding ing words and I go overboard. Someone suggests never using was, and I write awkward sentences trying not to write said forbidden word. Someone says all YA should be in third person. Another says first. Someone says not to start a sentence with but, and I wonder why not? 

Someone says fiction is the way to go in the Christian market nowadays, another says only non-fiction will do. Jumping on the current fad train can be equally treacherous. Especially at the slow rate of speed with which I write. 

It can all lead to a bit of confusion. While I strive to continue educating myself on the craft of writing, one thing I’ve discovered is I need to be true to who I am as a writer, and not try to be someone else. Sure. I need to study others’ work to see how they handled a certain writing element. But that does not mean I copycat their style. Unless it also happens to be my style.  

Thinking along this line, I remember a shepherd boy named David who went up against a giant named Goliath. After King Saul offered David his armor, David tried it on and realized it wasn’t a good fit. It was uncomfortable and unwieldy. It would be of no benefit to David. In fact, it would hinder his efforts to defeat the giant. 

In time, David would be able to use such armor, but this was not that time. For now, he needed to use what was a good fit for him. Not what was a good fit King Saul.

So David stuck with what he felt comfortable using. He stuck with what he was good at. He stuck with what brought previous success. Above all else, David stuck with the God who delivered him from the jaw of the lion and the paw of the bear. 

Each of us has been given our own armor, our own abilities. If we try to put on the armor of someone else, it probably won’t be a good fit. We won’t be able to use it. More than likely, we’ll trip over our feet, and fail miserable.

We do that sometimes, don’t we? 

We think someone else has a better sword. We try to wield it and find it is too heavy. We get exhausted in the process, aren’t very successful, and give up. Someone else writes fiction so we give that a go. Only God laid non-fiction on our heart. Someone else is successful writing women’s romance and we try our hand at that. Yet God keeps prompting us to write for teens. Someone else writes Bible studies. We admire them for it, but feel writing articles is where our heart lies.

We are not called to write what everyone else writes. That would be boring. Some are called to write fiction in all its many genres and sub-genres. Some are called to write non-fiction in all its varied facets and outlets. Some are called to pen words of encouragement from the heart to those around us who struggle, whether through blog posts or notes. Some are called to write memoirs and stories for our family’s eyes only.

What say we put on the armor God gives us, all the while continuing to grow our skill and learn our craft? Let’s take up the individual skills and abilities God put inside us, and stop trying to put on what belongs to someone else. Even if it does look way cool on them. 

When we put on the armor God gives us and use it for his glory, whatever we write will be the exact good fit he planned.

Sandy Kirby Quandt is a former elementary school educator and full-time writer with a passion for God, history, and travel; passions that often weave their way into her stories and articles. She has written numerous articles, devotions, and stories for adult and children publications. Her devotions appear in two Worthy Publishing compilation books; So God Made a Dog, and Let the Earth Rejoice. She has won several awards for writing including the 85th and 86th Annual Writer’s Digest Writing Competition in the Young Adult category, First Place in the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference Children’s Literature 2016 Foundation Awards, First Place in the 2017 Foundation Awards in the Young Adult, Middle Grade, and Flash Fiction categories. Looking for words of encouragement or gluten-free recipes? Then check out Sandy’s blog, Woven and Spun.