You Might Be a Writer

You Might Be a Writer

by Diana C. Derringer

 

“Go now, write it on a tablet for them, inscribe it on a scroll, that for the days to come it may be an everlasting witness”

(Isaiah 30:8 NIV).

 

For a long time I hesitated to call myself a writer. I had a few manuscripts published, attended writer conferences, and received occasional compliments on my work. Yet, I still felt uncomfortable wearing the writer label.

Then I started noticing several strange habits. None of my friends had them, but I seemed obsessed with them. Those weird ways finally confirmed it for me. I guess I’m a writer after all.

 

What about you? You might be a writer if:

• You get out of bed in the middle of the night to jot down ideas in the dark.
• You stuff extra notepads, pens, and writing magazines in your backpack, pockets, or tote before vacations or weekend getaways.
• You fill sticky notes, paper scraps, the palm of your hand, restaurant napkins, and the notes app on your phone with writing ideas.
• You see every landscape, season, person, and activity as a potential story, poem, or play.
• You take notes and capture quotes during sermons.
• Your fireproof file cabinet holds as many writing folders as photo albums from pre-digital camera days.
• You text with proper grammar and complete words and sentences.
• You edit personal emails and private messages.
• You can find The Christian Writer’s Market Guide and your thesaurus faster than your phone.
• You notice editing errors in everything from newspapers to novels.
• You spend an entire day worrying over that one word just beyond your grasp.
• You can’t imagine life without books, magazines, and the resources to write.
• You rather write than eat (unless it’s chocolate, of course).
• You hope people enjoy your writing but know you will continue to write whether they do or not.
• You create a Pinterest meme titled “You Might Be a Writer If.”

We writers are a strange lot, aren’t we? But God created us this way, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.

 

God, fill me with your words. May my message always be your message. Amen.

 

*Reprint rights are offered on this 321-word devotion. It first appeared in the January/February 2017 Christian Communicator.

 

 

Diana Derringer, a former social worker and adjunct professor, is an award-winning writer and author of Beyond Bethlehem and Calvary: 12 Dramas for Christmas, Easter, and More! Her articles, devotions, dramas, planning guides, Bible studies, and poems appear in more than 40 publications. Her radio dramas for Christ to the World Ministries broadcast into several countries. Visit her at dianaderringer.com.