By Allison Grace
Is your inner critic so loud that you get nothing done? Are you afraid to start writing? Do you ever get your identity caught up in your writing instead of in Jesus?
And as you are dealing with all those issues, your writing turns into a tangled mess. If you’re like me, you probably get cranky.
So to all of us who struggle, this post is for us. In fact, Andrew Peterson wrote a whole book for us.
It’s called Adorning the Dark.
The first time I read it, I finished it within twenty-four hours.
It’s one of those books that when you read it, you can’t help but get inspired. You can’t help but think, “Hey, if this Andrew Peterson guy struggles with the same things I do and found a way to overcome them, maybe I can too.”
Now, just in case you don’t know who Andrew Peterson is, let me briefly introduce you. He’s a Christian singer-songwriter based in Nashville, Tennessee. He has written a fantasy series called The Wingfeather Saga in addition to Adorning the Dark.
I want to share a few of my favorite quotes from Adorning the Dark with you and discuss them briefly.
Seek God’s Kingdom First
We may want something harmless, but if it’s out of place, if it comes before the right thing, then what’s benign becomes malignant. We want the wrong thing. Adorning the Dark, page 2.
Only a few pages in and we get smacked in the face with this. And I love it.
Peterson is discussing how important it is to “Seek first the kingdom of God” (Matt. 6:33) and how easy it is to get distracted from doing that.
I don’t know about you, but I have a hard time concentrating sometimes. When I’m looking at Pinterest or watching a movie, no problemo. I have laser focus. But when it comes down to the important stuff, like writing a blog post or reading some boring literature for class, I can’t keep my mind on the task at hand.
The more important, really truly important, something is, the harder it is to keep your eyes fixed on it.
The harder you try to keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, the more the world will flash distractions at you.
As you try to keep your writing focused on furthering God’s kingdom, the more you will struggle.
And it’s so easy to get caught up in the numbers and stats of writing and forget the reason why you are writing. As Christians, we should be writing to glorify God, right?
And yet instead of seeking His glory, we seek our own. Our harmless desire to have someone read our writing turns into a raging fire that gets larger when someone else gets more likes. We become consumed with ourselves and our glory instead of God’s glory and kingdom.
We must want the right thing.
Our Identity Is Not In Our Writing
We need not look anywhere but to the eyes of our Savior for our true identity, an identity which is profoundly complex, unfathomable, deep as the sea, and yet can be boiled down to one little word: beloved. That’s it. And that’s why it’s so silly (and perilous) to use your gifting to clothe yourself with meaning. Those clothes will never quite fit. Adorning the Dark, page 19
Goodness. Words can’t express how much I love this quote.
It is so easy to put our identity in what we do. It’s so easy to fall into the trap of thinking we are a writer and only a writer.
If we can’t write, we lose our identity. If someone makes an unkind comment about our story, it’s like they are being unkind to us personally. If our submission is rejected, we feel like we ourselves have been rejected.
I listened to The Matthew West Podcast a while ago. Matthew West was interviewing Mark Hall, the lead singer for Casting Crowns. Hall said something that stuck out to me.
He expressed that there was a time in his life where he couldn’t sing. That frustrated him because he found his identity in his voice.
He shared what he learned through that experience, and I paraphrase: “I’m not a singer. I’m a child of God who happens to sing.”
I love that, don’t you?
And in case you were concerned we might get through an entire post without a Marvel reference, never fear. I have a Tony Stark quote for this too. (And I totally don’t have it hanging on my wall above my desk.)
In Spider-man: Homecoming, Peter Parker has a suit Tony designed for him. He uses it to do something a bit reckless that puts a lot of people in danger. Tony confronts him and demands the suit back. Peter replies and says, “But I’m nothing without this suit.” He has put his identity as a superhero and as a person in his abilities. Without his high-tech suit, he doesn’t think he can do anything important.
Tony informs Peter in his typical blunt fashion, “If you’re nothing without this suit, then you shouldn’t have it.”
I think Tony’s words can apply to us as writers. If we are nothing without our writing, we shouldn’t be writers.
If suddenly our life situation changes or our carpal tunnel gets so bad that we can never write another word, we need to be able to accept it with grace and recognize our identity is in Jesus Christ alone. Not in our personality. Not in our skills. Not in our words.
Only in Jesus.
Just Start Writing
If you wait until the conditions are perfect, you’ll never write a thing. It’s always a matter of the will. Adorning the Dark, page 40
This is one of those things that is easier said than done.
In truth, you can’t wait for the timing to be perfect to do anything. There will always be something that could convince you to cancel your plans and forego starting.
I know some of you have writing routines. You only write with a certain candle burning or while drinking a certain tea. You have special playlists and a favorite chair. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
But what Peterson is saying here is that if you are waiting for absolute silence and a four-hour block of time to start writing, you will never start. That time will most likely never come and if it does, something else will call for your attention. You need to just sit down and do it.
Sure, it would be nice to be able to write a whole chapter in one sitting. But if you have to do it in short bursts while feeding the cat, picking your brother up from youth group, and in the ten minutes before lights-out, then do it.
Just start.
Don’t Allow Your Inner Critic to Paralyze You
While it’s important to cultivate discernment, to work as hard as possible to do excellent work, to try really hard to make your song not bad, it’s just as important--perhaps more so, in the beginning--to make something, even if it’s not great. Don’t let your inner critic keep you from writing. Adorning the Dark, page 139
I think this quote extends to not just songwriting and writing in general, but to all art.
If you always force yourself to be perfect, you will never grow. If you are afraid of making mistakes, you can only get so far.
When I was writing the other day, I realized I was writing in passive voice. I froze and couldn’t think of a better way to word my sentence. Then I told myself, “Just write. You can fix it later.”
You’ve probably heard this quote before, but “You can’t edit a blank page” (Jodi Picoult).
Or when I first started drawing, I thought everything had to be perfect. I thought that’s how real artists did it. They just sat down and drew a perfect picture on the first try and then they posted the five-minute video on YouTube.
But that’s not how art works. That’s now how writing works.
It’s a mess. A complete disaster sometimes.
Then we sift through the wreckage and find what can be salvaged. We realize that that picture of Loki isn’t as terrible as we first thought. And maybe that paragraph of description will be spared the chopping block.
Don’t let your inner critic stop you. Let it push you to do better.
So next time you sit down to write remember:
If you enjoyed this post, I highly, highly recommended getting yourself a copy of Adorning the Dark. And I’d advise you to get a paper copy. First, so you can write in it. Second, there’s a glow-in-the-dark moon on the cover and spine. I heard about it on a podcast and flew off my bed to get it off my bookshelf to see if it was true. It is. You’re welcome. =P
Have you read Adorning the Dark yet? What is your favorite Andrew Peterson song? (Mine is “His Heart Beats” or “Last Words.”)
Allison Grace
Allison Grace used to hate writing.
Now she can’t imagine a world without telling stories.
She has written several short stories and completed a novel. Her favorite themes to write about (fiction and nonfiction) are identity, faith, and redemption. She also has a whole stash of unfinished fan fiction no one is allowed to read.
Besides writing, Allison loves to crochet stuffed animals and dolls to give to charities. She is a shameless Star Wars and Marvel nerd and can carry on an entire conversation solely in movie quotes.
She blogs at allisongracewrites.com
Become an Unstoppable Writer!
The Wingfeather Saga actually sounds interesting! I’ll have to check it out someday. What’s it about?
So I’m guessing you’re a Marvel freak, in order to have a Tony Stark quote in the middle of a CHRISTIAN paper? Yeah, you are a lot like me. I don’t put quotes in the middle of my papers (so far) but I have a lot of fanfiction ideas of characters (such as those from Wings of Fire or Tron Legacy) going back in time and experiencing, say, the exodus or the Resurrection or the Flood.
SUCH a helpful article, Alison!! I love Adorning the Dark.