The Discontented Writer

"I wish one of my friends were engaged - I know! I can write a story . . ." The thought ran through my mind casually and then I stopped, almost in horror. What did I just think?

Don't get me wrong - I don't believe that it is a sin to write about people going through an engagement or marriage. But my desire to write this story was summed up in one word: discontentment. In this instance, I was discontent that God did not have any of my close friends in a relationship. My solution? If God didn't give it to me in real life, then I would create a fictional life and create what I wanted.

Of course, written in black and white, this sounds downright unbiblical (now you see why I was horrified?). But I know that as writers (and girls on top of that), it is easy to subconsciously slip into being a "discontented writer" where our goal in writing is no longer to please the Lord but to please our desires and daydreams. It is for this reason, that we must continually check our hearts and minds and pray through the ideas that we are pondering. Some questions we can ask ourselves are:

~Am I sure that I'm following God with this idea? or am I just following my daydreams?

~Does this idea have a message? or does it fulfill the desire of my flesh?

~What is my purpose for writing this story?

If we slowly ponder those questions and answer them seriously, I really believe that we will save ourselves many moments of regret in our writing.

"Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer." (Psalm 19:14)