Rachel Hauck With a Gentle Reminder

First, thanks to Robin for having me stop by her blog this week. I really appreciate you, Robin.

So, how many of you are writers? Oh, nice showing of hands. How many just readers? Oh, good. We love readers.

Well, here’s a peek into a writer’s life.

It’s hard work. Whether one is striving to be published or striving to meet a contract deadline, writing is hard work.

There is a certain joy in it. For me, it satisfies a deep, interior longing I didn’t know existed. And on the days of insecurity and doubt, I would never want to do anything else.

Writing is a discipline. An Olympic athlete begins with one thing – ability or gifting. A special talent for a game or sport.

The ability births a dream – to go to the Olympics.

The dream forms in to a plan.

After that, it’s all about work and discipline. Training, working out, giving up free time or friendships to achieve the dream. Sacrifice. Waking up at 5:00 a.m. to train while everyone else is sleeping.

But if the goal is Olympic Gold, discipline and drive is the only way to succeed, the only way to get even close to a Gold Medal.

While researching Lost In NashVegas, I interviewed song publisher Ree Guyer Buchanan and when I asked her the number one quality of a successful songwriter, she said, “Drive.”

Like athletes, writers have to be disciplined and driven. Outline a plan to achieve your writing goals. If you work full time, or have young children to tend to, or perhaps both, find those one or two hours a week you can dedicate solely to writing.

And stick to it. Shut the door and for one or two hours, only write.

Writing is a creative venue and too often we wait for the muse to visit before sitting down to write. Let me tell you, the muse does not visit often enough. The muse can be ruthless. Showing up only to inspire an idea or two and never returning.

While writing Diva NashVegas, my latest release (May 8, Thomas Nelson) my muse showed up long enough to get me excited about country super star, Aubrey James, then never showed up again.

The book was hard to write. I had four months to write and research. God was so good to me. Just when I didn’t think I could do it, He’d reassure me.

Really, count on God showing up more than your muse. As you preserve in writing, God will meet you.

One day while struggling, I said, “Lord, I thought you said you were going to help me.” He’d given me the scripture Isaiah 41:13 at the beginning of the book.

A soft answer came to my heart. “What makes you think I’m not?”

I laughed. “Because it’s hard.”

Then I really laughed.

Don’t be afraid of the discipline of writing, or the painful blank page. Give yourself to it if you feel the Lord has called you to write, then trust Him. He will be with you. He promises us He will.

Finally, the best advice I can give is “backside in chair.” You can’t perfect what isn’t written. You can’t submit a book that doesn’t exist.

Write on!