Grace in the Writing Process

“Dang it!  I didn’t get it done again today!”  Have you ever expressed this type of frustration when you wanted to get something done but was not successful in doing so?  You thought it all out, wrote it down, and came up with a plan of execution, but for whatever reason, you did not get it done.  Like me, I’m sure you have felt frustrated from time-to-time when your plans do not go exactly according to plan.  It happens…life happens.  Sometimes we know exactly what we want to do and then something comes along and derails it.
 
It is like this in the business of writing too.  Some write for pleasure, some write for profession, some write for hobby.  Whatever the reason, in order to get that writing project done, we have to write, right?  There is no getting around that.  Writers write.  We find time to do so.  But, in finding this time, sometimes it does not go according to plan, and sometimes the plan crumbles altogether.  This is where I want to encourage you to not beat yourself up when plans don’t turn out the way you planned them.
 
If you are not making time to write, that is an entirely different matter (see last month’s Blog for suggestions on this), but if you are making the time to do what you love, then don’t be so hard on yourself when a hiccup happens.  Give yourself some grace and thank God for what you were able to get done.  Maybe you aimed for getting three chapters done today – or this week – and when time came for you to get at it, something important came up that you had to take care of.  Is it frustrating?  Of course it is.  Is it worth beating yourself up and giving up?  No!  Maybe instead of three chapters you were able to get at least one done.  Instead of being down and angry, get back at it and learn to celebrate what you were able to do. 
 
I think we all may spend a lot of time being hard on ourselves.  Let’s find some time to celebrate our accomplishments and give ourselves some grace when we can’t or do not meet our goals.  Tomorrow’s another day.
 
 
Take care of yourselves and happy writing!
 
-MJ