By Tammy Karasek @tickledpinktam

Years ago, I read a quote supposed to have been penned by Stephen King. It’s had me contemplating it ever since. One, because of who wrote it and two because of the power in those words, in a short sentence.

  “Writers were blessed stenographers taking divine dictation.”  Stephen King

I was first intrigued because of his use of stenographer. My studies in high school and then onto college were Secretarial Science and Office Administration. So, of course, my eyes grew wide seeing that old word and title again. In fact, it made me smile to think back to that time in my life.

I remember how we sat for hours taking shorthand in class, as the teacher would read pages for us to write in those squiggly little shapes that translated into real words. I loved shorthand and won quite a few awards in college in shorthand competitions, I was very fast. I found it both fascinating and fun. When I took my first job as a secretary, I was able to put that practice into use. I diligently wrote down the words my boss, Jack, would speak whenever he needed correspondence sent. He was a funny guy. Often when he was done with dictation he’d say, “Now read your scribbles back to me.” I enjoyed task and worked hard to catch every single word.

As I read Mr. King’s quote over and over then thought back to the years I used shorthand daily, it caught my attention that he had said “writers were blessed stenographers.” He’s talking about you and me—we’re the writers. But he said we’re blessed stenographers. Which to me means someone in the position to bless is telling us what to write. A stenographer doesn’t write in shorthand if someone hasn’t told him or her what needs transcribed and typed. Someone is behind the voice. So, who would be the voice for the blessed stenographer?

Mr. King’s last two words answers the question on who that would be, for Christian writers in particular. The voice would be someone divine dictating what needs to be said.

Stop right there. Is anyone else getting goose bumps like me?

We’ve heard the phrase “if God has called you to do something, He will equip you to do it.” The quote above takes that to a whole new level for me. God has called us to write. Check. He will equip us to do it. Check—wait … how?

Simple.

Through His divine dictation.

Now you can see why this short, sweet quote has had my attention for a good while. I read this on one of those days we writers sometimes get when self-doubt and frustration threatens to creep in and take over.

But then this quote. I was so encouraged and excited when I first read it and I hope it has lifted your spirits as well. We’re not in this writing journey alone, even though it sometimes feels like it. The words we write come from divine dictation from the One who blesses us with our stenographic skills of writing.

Be blessed writer, go write the words He dictates to you.

Tammy Karasek uses humor and wit to bring joy and hope to every aspect in life. Her past, filled with bullying and criticism from family, drives her passion to encourage and inspire others and give them The Reason to smile. She’s gone from down and defeated to living a “Tickled Pink” life as she believes there’s always a giggle wanting to come out!

A writer of Romance—with a splash of sass and suspense. She’s also The Launch Team Geek helping authors launch their books and a Virtual Assistant for several best-selling authors. Her first book on Launch Teams is due to release Fall 2023. Her work was also published in a Divine Moments Compilation Book—Cool-inary Moments.

She’s also the Social Media Manager for the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference, Founding President and current Vice-President of ACFW Upstate SC, and Founding President of Word Weavers Upstate SC. She’s a writing team member for The Write Conversation Blog, Blue Ridge Writers Conference, Novel Academy, Write Editing and more. Connect with Tammy at https://www.tammykarasek.com.