Building Your Writing Muscles

I heard my seven-year-old grandson moaning on the mat below the climbing peg-board. I went to see if he needed help, but he quickly stood up. It was clear he was embarrassed that I’d seen him laid out on the cushion.

“Are you OK?”

“Yeah.”

But I could tell his heart hurt. He’d been struggling to climb higher on the challenging board his dad had erected in the garage. Try as Luke might, he couldn’t get past the first couple of holes that required a strong effort to insert the thick pegs and pull oneself a bit higher, one step at a time. To make matters worse, Luke’s brother of the same age scaled the height with ease.

“You’re doing great. You just need to keep on, a little at a time,” I said. “Strengthen those muscles gradually and you’ll get to the top before you know it.”

I’m not sure he believed me but he did keep on trying. Two weeks later, I watched him on the same peg board and guess who had succeeded in climbing even higher? I told him how impressed I was that he had kept working at the challenge. “See? Your muscles are getting stronger every day.”

As writers, we often feel like Luke. We keep trying but don’t seem to accomplish much. However, it takes time to strengthen our writing skills. Actually, it’s a constant learning process to improve them and progress in our knowledge and experience.

It would be easy to give up. If writers are honest with themselves, they likely have wanted to throw down the “pen” on many an occasion.

If God has called you to write, know that He is our comforter and encourager. He is cheering us on in our endeavors, all the while expecting that we do our own part in learning, reading, and developing our writing skills. Don’t focus on your brother or sister who seems to know all there is to know about the process. Ask God to show you what YOU need to do to become the best wordsmith. And don’t be afraid to ask a mentor to give you direction.

May the Lord bless you as you develop your writing “muscles.”

Image of “Deadline” Typewriter courtesy of Thaikrit, via freedigitalphotos.net