by Lisa Jordan, @lisajordan
I told my husband once I submitted my latest book to my editor on August 31st, then I would make time in my very busy schedule to declutter our basement. Now this is a project and a half, friends. With over thirty years of marriage, and twenty-four of them have been spent in our current home, there’s a lot of clutter to go through.
As I walked downstairs to start laundry, I looked at the boxes, totes, stacks of…stuff, and it was so easy to feel overwhelmed.
Where do I start?
What will I do with all of this stuff?
I wanted to turn around and head back upstairs, but that wouldn’t solve the problem. The basement still needed to be decluttered, so we could clean, repaint, and turn it into a usable living space.
So I turned on my favorite station on Pandora and dug in. As a mix of Crowder, needtobreathe, and Zach Williams filled my ears, I picked one spot and started sorting—keep, donate, and trash. Once that corner was finished, I moved to the next area needing to be claimed. Sure, it probably took longer than it should have since I’d take a sudden trip down memory lane or pause to respond to a text. Or even revisit my fears of feeling overwhelmed by the process.
And cleaning the basement didn’t happen in one day. It’s a process with milestones in place to meet the end goal of having a wonderful and safe creative studio for my husband and me.
As I worked through one pile, I thought about how the overwhelming task of decluttering my basement was like writing a book.
Even though I have nine books published or contracted for publication, the beginning stages of writing a new story still tends to stop me in my tracks. What if it’s stupid? What if my editor doesn’t like it? What if I can’t write it the way it needs to be told? What if readers don’t like it?
What if?
What if?
What if?
Overthinking the process makes the process feel more daunting, more overwhelming than it actually needs to be. Of course, it’s much easier to tuck that dream away and move onto an easier task like binging Netflix or talking about writing on social media, but is that what you really want to do?
When we overthink the process, we are fueling our fears, our discouragements, and creating unmet expectations. What if questions are essential when brainstorming, but when we allow those same types of questions into our hearts, we’re creating perceived circumstances that have the ability to derail our dreams.
Here’s the thing—your editor may say, “No, this doesn’t work.” Then, what will you do? You will have to make a choice—either rewrite or quit.
My seventh book, A Love Redeemed, released this month. I wrote the story once, and after a conversation with my editor, we decided together that the story didn’t work. I had to make a choice—slog through the current story and fight for it to come together or rewrite it. Again, starting that whole process over again fueled some fears, but I worked through those by praying and reaching out to close writing friends for help. And you know what? It was a stronger, even better story. I’ve received a lot of positive reviews on that story so far.
In order to make your dream a reality, you need to decide when and where you’re going to begin. And it’s totally okay to start small and give yourself room to grow the story or even to grow your writing career.
With each new story idea, take the time to get to know your characters. Ask, “Why?” to get to the heart of who they are and what they want. Bounce ideas around with friends or family members who understand the brainstorming process.
If it’s not a story issue, but one from the heart, spend some time in prayer and ask God to show your weakness. Make the choice to step out in faith and trust Him to guide you through the process.
Seeing your fears in print can show where they’re coming from. Take time to journal about them or create a list. Then ask if it’s a genuine fear or a perceived fear.
Sometimes we’re so afraid of failure that we’re not willing to step outside our comfort zones.
God gives us dreams and empowers us to work hard to achieve them. He doesn’t give us a dream to watch us fail. There’s no glory for Him in our failures.
Allow God to work in your life and to make your dream a reality by taking that first step out of your comfort zone to trust Him. Allow Him to declutter your heart and fears to make room for your dream (and your faith) to flourish. Then celebrate and give Him the glory He deserves.
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.