Below is an email I recently sent a former student of mine on the subject of writing and balancing life.
Thank you for writing back and it’s great to hear more of everything going on. I certainly have some advice for you on this topic! Writing is one of my favorite things and I love talking with young, talented writers like yourself :) Maybe I could break down my advice a little on this...
Writing takes time and time is made, not found. No matter what you do, writing is a bizarre, solitary act involving a lot of time, all of which you’ll need to make, no matter what you end up doing. The best advice I got was from my brother (a writer himself), who had a sign above his desk that read in large letters, “WRITE EVERY DAY.” You’ll never find time to write, you have to make the time. If you write well in the mornings, get up early, if you write well at night, stay up late. Stephen King wrote his first novel by sitting down and writing every night after he got home from work and put his kids to bed: from 8pm-1am. Every. Freaking. Day. Dude is amazing! I used to write every morning from 6am-9am when I worked at WCC and was writing Distant God. I now write on my train commute home and every Tuesday/Thursday night. If you really want to write, you will make the time to do it.
You only have so much emotional/creative energy. Use it wisely. We have to be careful about where/how we expend our emotions so we can reserve our emotions for the things of God. If we become passionate about marketing, technology, or craftsmanship, we need to remember our passion has limits. You’ll find yourself wrapped up in work and then go to write and be like, I don’t care about any of this. Or you’ll be in church one day and wonder, where has my passion for Jesus gone? The beauty of being in full-time ministry and then writing on the side is that both are intertwined. I cannot write without ministry — that’s how I work. I write about God and the only way my writing is helpful is I get to spend every day partnering with him in the work he’s doing. I’m fortunate. But I couldn’t imagine doing ministry and writing novels. Impossible. Some corporate jobs that involve your passion will slowly eat up your passion to write about things that matter. Writing is pretty emotional and very draining. It is not fun.
Take your writing as far as you can. At your age and in your place in life, I would seriously dedicate to writing if you love it — because you can! You’re not married, you have no kids, and you are not responsible for very many people. I think this means you can do a lot! When I was single, God gave me a great word: work harder than ever. This season won’t last. I wrote a blog in those days and wrote constantly. I wrote for my college newspaper. I wrote for magazines. This was the start of my publishing life because I just wrote all the time and worked really hard. This was on top of working in ministry and finishing my degree! It’s possible to do all of this and also have a rich social life…because you’re single :) Submit your work everywhere, post the stuff that’s not accepted somewhere else, and begin dreaming about books, projects, novels, poems, whatever else you want to write. You WILL get rejected. Just keep submitting!
Find editors and creative community. The best step I took was when I quit blogging. Blogging was very helpful for the 4 years I did it. I just wrote and posted wrote and posted. But when you stop being the only person looking at your work and deeming it “publishable,” you receive the great gift of humility. In 2010 or 2011 (can’t remember) I stopped blogging and made a rule: I will submit everything I write. This made my writing better and formed the countless relationships I have now with editors and other writers. It also led me to the path of publishing my book. The worst thing a writer can do is avoid the humiliating process of rejection.
Jesus is the king of the world. Speaking of humility, I can’t write advice to you without reminding you that there is one writer whose words will never die, and that is our God. His Word outlasts our words. We must keep this in great perspective. He will return in glory to judge and cleanse the earth, and when he does, my books and articles will mean nothing, and his church will mean everything — it will be his bride! I want to make sure all of my life is centered on this hope: the union of God’s people into God’s presence. My writing, ministry, marriage, and life should be a reflection of this.
Hope this helps — please send me things you’re writing and I’d be happy to give you feedback! I love that you’re thinking through all of this.
May God bless you,
Chris Nye
