by Lisa Jordan, @lisajordan
My husband and I headed out the door to ride bikes at a nearby park. Our dog, Penny, pawed at my leg and wanted to go. Unfortunately, we are not equipped (yet) to take our fifteen-pound Chihuahua mix with us. The sad look in her eyes stayed with me, so when we returned home, we had time to take her for a walk along the river. She danced with joy, raced across the grass, smelled all the scents, and barked at a young girl kicking her soccer ball.
Thirty minutes later, she was worn out and ready to head back home. As we walked back to the car, something shiny on the path caught my eye.
A penny.
One cent.
Hardly worth bending over for, right?
In today’s COVID-19 world and with a coin shortage taking place, a penny may be necessary.
But it’s more than that.
Even though its value is small, it is significant in the grander scheme of things. If you keep picking up pennies, pretty soon you will have enough coins to make a larger amount.
Picking up that penny is kind of like our writing—we have to start somewhere.
How many times have you heard—or maybe even said, “Someday, I’m going to write.”?
Forget someday—begin today. After all, who knows what tomorrow will bring?
But where do you start?
Begin by thinking about what you want to write by considering your favorite genres to read, movies to watch, or TV shows you enjoy. Once you determine the genre, it’s time to brainstorm characters and plot. Of course, that two sentence summation of where to begin is a general overview. There are many blog posts in our library and weekly teaching in our Novel Academy school to teach you how to write.
Learning the craft takes time and patience. It takes determination and the willingness to stay the course even when it’s challenging. (For me, that’s every day I sit down to write.)
But with writing (or any creative endeavor), it’s more than using your head…it’s also a heart issue.
Are you willing to travel down the necessary emotional roads that will enable you to create relatable characters who speak to readers’ hearts? Are you willing to experience the pain of agents and editors passing on your work? Are you willing to understand not every reader will like your stories?
Additionally, writing involves a financial investment—books and classes on learning how to write well, organization memberships, conferences for education and networking, marketing and promotional resources. You have to be willing to invest that penny to get more pennies (hopefully, a whole lotta pennies) in return.
Writing is more than the number of books you get published and growing your readership. It’s also about the work God does within you and through you for His glory. It’s about being refined and changed. Susan May Warren says, “If you haven’t been changed by the journey, then you’ve missed the point.”
Growth takes time…and yes, it takes pain. But by allowing yourself to take the time to learn the craft and experience the growth that goes along with investing in your craft—financially, physically, and emotionally—you’ll come out a much stronger persona…and an even better writer than when you first decided to write.
So, what are you waiting for? Are you willing to pick up the penny? Now is the time to make your dream become a reality.
Just-for-now could become forever…
They agreed to help each other out.
No one mentioned falling in love.
Back home after losing her job, Isabella Bradley plans to stay only long enough to save her father’s diner, but she can’t do it alone. Her childhood friend Tucker Holland has the perfect solution—he will renovate the diner if she’ll be a nanny for his twins. But as Isabella and Tucker reconnect, their arrangement begins to feel a lot less temporary…
Heart, home, and faith have always been important to Lisa Jordan, so writing stories with those elements come naturally. Represented by Rachelle Gardner of Books & Such Literary Management, Lisa is an award-winning author for Love Inspired, writing contemporary Christian romances that promise hope and happily ever after. Her latest book, A Love Redeemed, releases in September 2020. She is the Operations Manager for Novel.Academy, powered by My Book Therapy. Happily married to her own real-life hero for over thirty years, Lisa and her husband have two grown sons. When she isn’t writing, Lisa enjoys family time, kayaking, good books, and being creative with her friends. Visit her at lisajordanbooks.com.