The writing life
By maureen.mcquerry | January 18, 2012
Outside my window the world is white. It’s been snowing all night and the limbs of our trees are thickly furred. It’s a new season for me. Over the next few months the Peculiars will make its way into the world. At this point the book is out of my hands and readers will have their say. I alternate between terror and reflection.
Some words from the reflection side. Francisco Stork wrote in his wonderful “A Letter to a Young Author” that “The world’s great need will be met when you write the one novel you came into this world to write. It is the one that scares you the most, the one you think no one will publish and if it is published then no one will read and if it is read then no one will understand, except perhaps another soul like yours.”
If you haven’t read his YA novels, you should.
Vocation is a heavy word. It implies more than getting up each day and putting your hours in. It implies calling, something you are meant to do. Sometimes it seems silly to spend my time crafting words. After all, it’s arguably not as important as many jobs. But I believe it is important to do the thing you are gifted for well and to find joy in it. It’s work and it still means showing up each day even if your only companion is the empty page. And if in the end it touches someone’s life, that’s grace.
Leave Your Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.
3 Comments
mspaur on February 9, 2012 at 2:02 pm.
Very thought provoking words, especially the writing if it is what you are meant to do. I would have to disagree with the spending time crafting words being silly. From someone who has worked many jobs, there is not one that truly has importance over the other. To some it may seem silly to sit at home all day and write, but in that same notion it can be seen as silly playing on a professional football team where you are simply trying to move a piece of leather from one side of a field to another.
If it is what you are called to do, it is beauty incarnate. If it is important to you, then that is all the importance you need for the job. Keep up the good work, and bring your grace and beauty to the souls of your readers!
maureen.mcquerry on February 9, 2012 at 2:14 pm.
One of my favorite quotes comes from Frederick Buechner “Where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” That’s where I am with my writing. It is my deep gladness.
mspaur on February 9, 2012 at 5:02 pm.
I hope to be in that same position some day. I look forward using my writing to support my family, but I’m still a long ways off from that goal. I really enjoy writing, and I wish I could do nothing but write all day, but that does not pay the bills so early on. I will be there one of these days and hopefully experience my deep gladness.