Baby Steps

After my accident, I was eager to get back to my old life. Why wouldn’t I? I was in college and those are supposed to be the best years of our lives. But, I spent most of my junior year in the hospital struggling to do everyday tasks.

I was young and full of life, ready to conquer the world. The only problem was, I didn’t understand the extent of my injuries. After only working with a physical therapist for one day, I believed I was strong enough to do everything I used to do.

The next day I wanted to use the bathroom like a normal twenty-something-year-old, so I convinced a new nurse to help me. Everything was fine until I leaned forward to reach for toilet paper….

It was like a bodybuilder slapped me on the back of the head. I lost my balance and did a belly flop onto the floor. The elderly nurse toppled with me and had to call in a second nurse to help get me back in my hospital bed. That incident taught me a lot about life and my new normal.

• Passion can be good and bad.
• We need to be realistic about our abilities.
• Excitement isn’t the same as experience.
• It’s important to be coachable/teachable.

When I first began my professional writing training, I came across a quote from Christian author Jerry Jenkins about how writers can succeed that has stuck with me to this day.

“In any writer, I look for the –ilities: humility, teachability, coachability, availability, and flexibility.”

Jerry B. Jenkins in Writing for the Soul

While passion and talent are crucial to a writer’s success, the “ilities” are key to funneling them into a successful writing career. You may know your story or prose, but the best writers know they don’t know everything. They understand the need to hone their skills; we all start out taking baby steps in our writing careers.

Baby Steps?

As 2020 comes to an end, most of us are excited to start a new year. With the arrival of vaccines for the Covid-19 virus, we are all eager to get back to life as usual. We are heading into 2021 expecting a better year.

But, it’s not exactly full speed ahead. There are still hurdles to overcome, precautions to take, and getting used to a new normal. Even if that’s not the news you want to hear, there’s still hope.

We are all going to have to start out taking baby steps, especially for writers. We can prepare and plan, but we must be realistic. Most of us writers have dreams and aspirations about successful writing careers, but the sad truth is few writers make a full-time living solely from writing.

Those who are successful didn’t start there. They too had to take baby steps in their careers. Having all of the talent in the world or the most riveting story concept can only get you so far in the modern publishing era.

As writers, we will crawl before we walk and some of us will never be able to sprint like the pros. Be patient and navigate the baby steps of the writing life. Start with smaller projects

1. Blogs, reviews, magazine articles, newspaper columns.
2. Opinion pieces, devotionals (Christian market).
3. Promotional material.
4. Build a social media presence.
5. Consider a podcast.
6. Build your brand.
7. Develop your writing voice.
8. Keep learning the craft and honing your skills.

The writing industry is constantly in flux. Successful writers keep learning the craft either by online courses or in-person conferences. Last month I attended my first conference in three years and I learned a lot. Goals like these are basic baby steps to getting the end results.

Getting Results?

Living with a disability is a lifetime of baby steps towards a new normal. Although baby steps aren’t the goal—they are a process of getting results.

Twenty-three years ago I began a process of baby steps of relearning everything in life. There are a few things I still cannot do, like play guitar or type, but I have learned to live with the new normal I gained through taking baby steps.

• Stronger muscles.
• Learning how to fall and get back up (hopefully).
• Learning new skills.
• Be patient (huh!)

Positive results don’t always come easy. Likewise in writing, we can only get results after taking baby steps.

Martin Johnson survived a severe car accident with a (T.B.I.) Traumatic brain injury which left him legally blind and partially paralyzed on the left side. He is an award-winning Christian screenwriter who has recently finished his first Christian nonfiction book. Martin has spent the last nine years volunteering as an ambassador and promoter for Promise Keepers ministries. While speaking to local men’s ministries he shares his testimony. He explains The Jesus Paradigm and how following Jesus changes what matters most in our lives. Martin lives in a Georgia and connects with readers at Spiritual Perspectives of Da Single Guy and on Twitter at mtjohnson51.