Email Us Buy Books Weekly Devotion Endorsements Talks

Home
About Writeman
The Author
Monday Morning Devotions
Devotions for the Armchair Quarterback
Book Signings
Speaking Engagements
Newsletter
Stories
Additional Services
Place An Order
Weekly Devotions

The Writer-August 1, 2022

The Writer. Is that you? Yes it is! Everyone writes.

Monday Morning Devotion-August 1, 2022

 The Writer

 

Publish His glorious deed among the nations; tell everyoneabout the amazing things He does!

                                                                                                                                   Psalm 96:3

            I wrote this devotion 13 years ago or approximately 676 months.  Been a lot of water under the bridge since then but somehow this message still stands up.  So, I’m sharing it again with you.

            According to the Writer's Digest Magazine website (www.writersdigest.com ) if you type the word "writer" into the Google search engine "it will bring up an astonishing 243-million websites."  Wow!  There sure are a lot of writers out there!

            But the fact is that we are all writers, of a sort.  In fact, the older we get the more all of us write because we discover if we don't write important things down we…uh, let's see, where was I going with this?  Oh yeah, we forget them…without a written reminder. :)

            Yes there is a whole lot of writing going on and you don't even have to be good at it to write.  With the advent of email people found that they could get messages to others even more quickly than placing a phone call by simply composing a brief email and sending it to them.  They would receive it almost instantaneously on their computers because we are spending more time on our computers now than ever before. You don't get sidetracked by a long conversation that takes you away from other stuff when you send an email.

            Text messaging, available from cell phones, is becoming more popular. People use a special language to keep the message brief…such as using "U" for "you."  This gets their message across in a time saving manner and because of the special "you have a text message ring" the receiving party is instantly notified that your written message is there. This is attractive to people who are in a hurry (aren't we all?) and they aren't interested in forwarding a perfectly written, grammatically correct, smartly punctuated message. Just the facts!

            I love to write!  I hate to write!  Contradictory statements?  Well, yes and no. When the thoughts are coming so fast I can't get them down quickly enough and I get excited about what I'm writing, I love to write.  When, I am struggling with a topic and just can't get into it, then writing ain't so much fun.  I can think of lots of things I'd rather be doing. But since I chose to become a professional writer several years ago I have to write whether it's fun and exciting or depressing and prosaic.

            The other day I was sitting around analyzing where my life is headed. I started by examining what I spend most of my time doing.  In so doing, it occurred to me that I spend a major part of my time reading, writing, or reading about writing.  The good thing about this is that I can consider myself working even if I'm reading a good book.  As a writer your world is influenced by the things you read.  The techniques, styles, plots, characters, and formats used successfully by others help shape your own writing personality.

            For years I had wanted to be a writer, but the thing that prompted me to get out of radio and into writing is addressed in Psalm 96:3.  "Publish His glorious deeds among the nations.  Tell everyone about the amazing things He Does."  Sure, I wanted to---forgive this oldest, most unimaginative cliché---write the Great American Novel."  I realize, by using lines like that one, I would never pen the Blockbuster book I desired to write.        

            What happened is I began writing life experiences based on the Bible.  Since most of my involvement had been in sports playing, watching, broadcasting, and talking about games a lot of what I wrote was sports themed.  But more of it than I had anticipated was religious, or faith themed as well.  Slowly, I began to realize this might be a little niche I could fit in.

            By being a sportscaster on television, then radio, I had access to a lot of sports material. Having been intrigued and shaped by studying the Bible since childhood I also had become well-versed, I use that term instead of expert, which I am not, in Biblical stories, themes and lessons.  As a writer I have found if you can discover an area of great interest in the lives of people,  a scriptural correlation can be used that will get their attention and cause them to examine and hopefully, improve their lives and God's plan for them.

            David, who is believed to be the writer of this 96th Psalm, was doing a little reflecting on his life.  In so doing he became overwhelmed by all that God had done in his life.  He exhorted us to think about God's blessings and "publish" them every day.  When something good is going on in your life it is natural to want to tell somebody about it.  You want someone to share your joy.

            Well, King David says that something good is going on every day.  So, tell people about God's goodness…publish this good news.  Telling others about these things comes naturally when our hearts are full of God's blessings.  We grow a little each time we tell (publish) God's goodness so others can consider this and be uplifted.

            You really don't have to want to write a book, article, memoir, journal, or anything of that nature to be a writer. While being a professional writer is a different category all of us do write something.   It's fine just to write down things you need to jog your own memory and use on a personal basis. Some people are letter writers.  Many keep a diary.  Businesspeople write proposals or marketing plans.  We all write something!

            One other reason I became a writer was that in looking at the years quickly passing by and trying to find some lasting meaning and purpose in my life, I realized that after you are gone, the things that you have written down on paper or in your computer are still here.  These are things you will be remembered by.  That's a good thing.

            Seeing your work in print can be heady stuff.  Going into a bookstore and seeing your book on the shelf can be even headier. If you see it on the shelf right next to John Grisham's latest, that's the ultimate.   Your thoughts are captured in print.  So are your mistakes.  It is best to thoroughly think through what you are writing about.  How do you want to be remembered?

            The Lovely Susette says that I am "the right writer for her."  I like being called that. It's what I do and who I am.  Having her approval is very important to me.  I've even recorded that "right writer" description on my website (www.writeman.com) incorporating it as my theme or slogan. 

            Yes, no matter what you write…professionally or personally…being a writer is a good thing.  When, your written thoughts proclaim God's blessings that's even better.

            One final thing:  Now 13 years later, I am in the process of publishing my 7th book.  Guess I have become a writer!

Monday Prayer:  Lord thank you for the art of writing.  Help us to express our love and appreciation for You as writers and speakers, personally, one-on-one, or professionally in a venue intended to reach the eyes and ears of many.  Amen!

 

© 2005 - 2024 Writeman Enterprises - All Rights Reserved.