Written by

Writing Motivation for Christian Authors

Writing Motivation for Christian writers

I don’t know about you but I’m altogether fed up with my lackadaisical mentality when it comes to my writing motivation.

Why do I only seem to write when the spark of inspiration flickers in my dark and dusty arsenal of writing expertise? Why do I refuse to tap, tap, tap the letters on my keyboard to publish what’s in me, in my mind, in my soul?

What sucks away at my writing motivation like a thirsty leech crawling aimlessly across the unforgiving sands of a dry desert?

Actually, I know why. And you know why it happens to you, as well.

Writing Motivation for Christian Authors

Let’s cease with the lame and blame-shifting excuses, shall we? Yes, let’s.

I’m a lazy writer.

There, I said it.

You might be a lazy writer, too. (Oh no?)

Well, if you’re not one of us, one of those once-in-a-while writers, that is, then you probably socialize with a few lazy writers, follow them on Twitter or Facebook, and maybe even wonder why those “writers” haven’t posted anything on their blogs in…ahem…months!

You may even worship alongside them on Sunday mornings or you listen to him preach from the pulpit…like the people at my church listen to me!

Ugh!

Double Ugh!

Ugh, ugh, ugh.

As a Christian pastor/preacher, I try to motivate the people at my church to step out of the shell of their personal comfort zones and serve the people around them, all for the glory of God, by the way. I encourage them to pray about it, to imagine themselves doing it, and subtly–or maybe not so subtly–remind them that their omnipotent God also expects them to do it.

But do I follow my own advice come Monday, at least when it comes to the ministry of writing?

Well, um, uh… Hmm. Occasionally, yes, but not like I ought to. Not like I know I could, or should, or have been gifted by God to do.

What a waste of precious moments for me to not write. What folly I’ve been courting in my beleaguered state of writer’s nothingness. Shame on me.

Yes, shame on me.

But I wonder, is it also shame on you?

My sweet friends.

  • Have you been called by God to write, and to write consistently?
  • Has God placed a burden on your heart to pour yourself over a blank page, to lose yourself in the act of writing for his name’s sake, for ministering to other people through your written word?
  • Have you put your hand to the writer’s plow, but now find yourself looking back, rather than cutting a straight furrow ahead?

If you feel at all that I might be speaking to you right now, about you…directly at you!…then rest assured that’s indeed the case.

Pull yourself off the mat, beloved. Tag yourself, because you’re “it.” It’s your time to write, to bleed, to serve, to encourage, to lead. Yes, to write.

You must write.

You must write today.

You must write now!

There’s too much at stake. The message you will pen about the greatest Message there is is simply too important to let it slip to next time, or when you feel like it, or when you’re inspired to write, or…

Please! Today. Right now. Write.

If you need further help, encouragement, or some writing motivation tips to get you started once again, here’s a handful. Enjoy, and practice them with diligence, for the glory of God alone.

3 Writing Motivation Tips

1. Set a specific time to write, every day! If you want to wait for inspiration to hit you before you set out to write, that’s fine. Just be sure that inspiration shows up each day at 5:30 am, or 2:00 pm, or 9:15 pm, or whenever you schedule your daily writing time. Schedule it or it won’t happen.

2. Keep an active list of writing topics and titles. I use my iPhone for this. I type my ideas or blog post titles into my smart phone for easy reference, because it’s smarter than me. That’s the easy part, unfortunately. The hard part is remembering to refer to it when I write, which is why we all need to go back to #1 above. Rinse and repeat.

3. Get a writing accountability partner. Nothing keeps us accountable like a fellow struggler in the trade. Find someone going through the same writer’s turmoil as you are and keep each other moving. Find a person to help push, pull, and prod you down the writer’s path.

QUESTION: What other writing motivation tips could you add to these three? (Please comment below)

Comments

  1. says

    I am a lazy writer too. My goal this year was to regain the joy of writing. That has been accomplished and I hope to continue to move forward.

    One tip I give is to pick up pen and paper instead of the laptop. Maybe use different color pens. Sometimes I just write bullet point lists, sometimes a thoughtful paragraph. The fluidity of the pen on paper helps to keep my brain moving and it often feels more real.

    • says

      Maybe we could start a couple local chapters of “Lazy Writers Anonymous.” LOL.

      I also agree about writing by hand. There’s just something about it that “pops” when it is your own handwriting. It’s less techie, more emotional.

  2. says

    Love all your tips for making yourself write, Charles. I’d never thought of an accountability partner. That’s a great idea. One other thing I do that really helps me write is to renew my mind whenever I can’t make myself do it or just really dread it for some reason. I actually have a book coming out on Monday with all of the questions and Bible verses I’ve used to get myself to write. It’s called the Renewing of the Mind Project – i hesitate to share it here because it sounds a little self-promotey – but wanted to share it in case it would help anyone.

    • says

      Barb, that’s awesome! Way to go on your new book. What a blessing that is, and even more so because it is Scripture in application. Awesome!

      For me, an accountability partner (or group) is important, and I’ll be getting a new accountability partner soon, as the one I had recently moved away. I prefer to have some local but it doesn’t need to be that way.

      God bless!

  3. Carrie Ann Tripp says

    Dear Charles,

    Please evacuate my head and heart. I’m uncomfortable with the idea of someone reading my mind. Please and thank you. 🙂

    • says

      Ha!

      Well, I’m glad that my words spoke to you. I pray that you write, and write soon, Carrie, for God has some people prepared who are ready to read what you write!

  4. Allie55 says

    Charles, the two prerequisites for my writing are quiet time in the Word, and a listening heart. Every time I try to write without His Word in my head and in my heart, it seems to fall flat. If I want my words to glorify His name, I must be attuned to His message.

  6. says

    I would say that it is best to set deadlines for your writings. Just write something…. many times we procrastinate and wait and wait and wait until we can think of that masterpiece and sometimes it never comes. My challenge to us all is just to write. Creating a daily, weekly or even a monthly deadline could prove to me healthy for any Christian author. This time can be if you would allow it a fellowship time with the Lord. For others…well they just seem to work better under pressure. Set a deadline.

  7. Penny Williams says

    I’m new to this site and I must say that I was led to it by the Holy Spirit. What you are saying is actually what was preached during a revival our church recently hosted. What kept me from going to another site was how i heard and read you speaking about prayer; praying about the topics I believe God is leading me to write about. You got me with that. Soooo, here i am; on your site; ready to learn. Thank you.

  8. Tina says

    I have to say, this is SO ME!!! I have been struggling for years with the idea of a blog. My lack of confidence has kept me from moving forward. I have been a stay at home mom for 13 years and we could really use an extra income. I have thought seriously about going back to work in the medical field to help our family financially. It would be great money. But… I can’t shake this feeling of needing to write. It has weighed so heavy on me. Part of me feels like this is how God is going to use me to help our family financially but then I lose faith and wonder if I am wasting my time. My heart is so torn. I have went to interviews and ask God to close the doors if I’m not supposed to take the jobs. I just don’t want to make the wrong decision. I am tired of feeling like I am failing God. I’m 45 and I want to get it right. But I am so scared.

  9. spirit says

    So true so true so true. Laziness has crept into my life and I HATE IT! Truthfully, I waste too much time online looking at DIYs to make things. It’s out of control! Idol worship! I’m an old bat who lives with chronic pain and chronic fatigue from many diagnoses and a surgery that left me almost unable to walk. Still! I know what our Father wants me to do. It must be some laziness otherwise I surely would have much more done!!! And lack of faith that I will mess it up. And TERRIBLE lack of focus, ONLY when I start to write; not when it’s in my head/heart what to write. And I live with severe depression and KNOW that I will bleed. That’s to be, but I have severe damage in my nose from auto-immune diseases and being given TOO MANY NSAIDS by quacks! So it’s extra hard because when I cry my nose BURNS! “They” don’t know what to do to help. But I WANT to write what He has called me to and I NEED Him to help me get it done!!!

  10. D. Rey says

    I’ve written a six-book Christian teen series, a Christmas book, two teen novels, and I am currently proofreading (for like the 6th time) a two-book sequel to that teen series. Some of these books have been published by traditional publishers, and some I have self-published. I started to write an adult novel at the same time as proofreading that sequel series, when I hit a wall—the wall of discouragement. Discouragement in the fact that I don’t sell many of my books. The teen series gets the most sales, with a yearly total of around five series sold, or a total of thirty books. The others books sell about ten books per year combined. I’m aware of the reason I don’t get many sales, and that is because I’m a “nobody”. I have no platform, so the chances of someone who happens to come across one of my books is slim. I do all the things they tell you to do; website, Facebook, blogging, etc., but nothing changes. I used to love to write. My wife would tell me how amazed she was at how I can come up with such interesting storylines. But as time goes by with minimal sales year after year, this is what comes out of my mouth… “Why should I continue to write when nobody is reading my books.” I know this article is about how to motivate yourself when you are feeling lazy or perhaps you have writers block. But what do you do when you lost your reason to write in the first place? I began writing so that youth and adults alike would receive the spiritual messages that are entwined in my fiction novels. But how can they receive those spiritual messages when nobody buys my books?

    • Yemi says

      Hi, D.Rey. You can’t call yourself a nobody and expect phenomenal things to happen. Which somebody wants to patronise a nobody?
      Also instead doing all the things “they tell you to do “, why don’t you dig deep, pray for wisdom and find out what it is YOU are to do.
      I hope this helps.

  11. Dulcinea says

    Stumbled upon your post this morning, after doing a search for writing motivation. Thank you for being so honest because I was on the verge of quitting my writing. Holy Spirit used your post, along with a devo, to help me remember my “why”.