The Four F’s: What Sabotages Many Christian Writers?

I was contemplating some of the things which sabotage many Christian writers, including myself.

I came up with the four F’s:

Fear, Focus, Frustration and Failure.

Fear

I have learned I am not alone as a writer in my battle with fear. I realized most writers I know struggle with fear. I thought I was the only one, but I was wrong. This encouraged me to continue to write despite my fear.

I think what also helps me is being a part of a writing community. I am grateful to be a part of a supportive online writing community. They have been so helpful, encouraging and supportive to me.

You don’t have to go at it alone, there are other writers out there who you can connect with and get the encouragement you need to keep going when fear taunts you.

Focus

Life is full of distractions which can throw our focus off as writers. I admire those who can stick to a routine in their writing practice. I struggle along sometimes in my writing due to lack of focus.

Sometimes it’s work, sometimes it’s home, sometimes it’s an illness, sometimes it’s a death in the family or sometimes it’s the internet.

Whatever “it” is, “it” takes our focus away from writing. When this happens, we need to take time to recalibrate, reassess and refocus. So our time will be better utilized and focused on writing.

I find taking a class helps me keep focused. I am currently taking a wonderful non-fiction essay class with Andi Cumbo. She is an amazing teacher.

I am also a member of Jeff Goins Tribe Writers online writing course. If you want to know how to build your tribe, audience and platform, I highly recommend Jeff Goins Tribe Writers course.

Frustration

There are times when I just stare blankly at my computer screen. I find those times to be the most frustrating for me.

I am learning to keep a list of ideas, so when nothing comes to mind, I can refer to them. Micheal Hyatt and Jon Acuff use Evernote to store and keep track of their ideas. Others carry around a small notebook. You have to find what works best for you.

I also struggle and get frustrated with wanting to write better. Perhaps your frustration stems with wanting to write better too. If you are anything like me, you probably compare yourselves to other writers you esteem and admire as well. I try very hard not to compare myself to other writers because the frustration from comparing sabotages writers.

How I get around this is by taking Andi Cumbo’s suggestion which is to read a chapter a day from a book on writing. This has helped me learn one new thing a day about writing. This daily practice has helped encourage me and combat frustration.

Failure

Every now and again we will be faced with failure as writers.

Personally, I haven’t submitted my writing to anything substantial yet. However, I have experienced some rejection which stung and left me questioning whether I should keep writing or not.

Thanks be to God, my encouraging husband and my writing friends/community, I keep going despite the failure I experienced.

If you have recently encountered failure and feel like giving up. I want to encourage you to keep going and don’t give up. God placed a gift inside of you and you must press on and through the failure.

We are not alone, every writer experiences failure and rejection. But just like in our walks with Jesus, when we fall or fail, we must get back up again.

The righteous falls seven times and rises again (Proverbs 24:16).

We are writing for the Lord and for His glory. He wants us to keep going and not give up despite our failures.

QUESTION: Are any of you…Christian Writers…struggling with any of the four F’s? If so, which ones? Please feel free to share in the comment section below.

* Image credit: MarkKelley (Creative Commons)