By Toni Shiloh, @tonishilohwrite
Photo by Kaboompics .com from Pexels
There’s a problem with not knowing what type of writer you are. There are so many facets to writing that it can be overwhelming going through the different craft books to discover yourself and style. However, sometimes we run the risk of trying to become something we’re not because we think another author’s way is the right way because they’re more read or more prolific than yourself.
When you don’t know who you are as a writer, you end up mimicking others. Let me tell you, trying to live someone else’s writing life is EXHAUSTING!
Are you a plotter who wishes to be more spontaneous and live the life of a pantser only to become frustrated that you have no idea where the story is going? It stalls you, puts you in a terrible writer’s block until you’re forced to scrape the words and start over plotter style.
What about you pantser? You think if you were more structured like your plotter friends, you’d write the story faster. Then you wouldn’t be pushing against deadlines and worry if you’ll make it or not.
But the thing is, that’s not who you are. And wanting to be like a different writer not only stunts your writing process, but it goes against how God made you. Now there’s nothing wrong with improving your craft. We should all work to better our talent, but there is such a thing as beating a dead horse.
We can spend so much time looking at how other writers do things that we fail to start our own journey. Instead we stay in the lane of copycatting and never going forward.
God made you the way you are for a reason. He gave you that particular writer voice for a reason. He made you write as a plotter/pantser for a reason. Maybe He’ll give you the whys of it, or maybe it’s not for you to know but to embrace.
Because when you know who you are, there’s a peace you’re able to embrace. There’s an assurance that regardless of how slow/fast you type, how structured/unstructured you may be, that the words will come from God and tell the story He placed in your heart. Another writers’ ways can’t be your ways and tell the story God gave you. If he wanted the writer with the wonderful prose and detailed description to write the idea taking flight in your mind, He would have given it to them.
So know who you are in your writing. Know that your way is beautiful. Your way is perfect just for you.
And please, write the story that feels organic to you and how you were created. We’re waiting to read it.
Until next time,
Toni Shiloh
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Discover how keeping secrets from each other threatens four women’s friendships, wedding business, and own ability to find love in Loveland, Colorado.
Business partners Felicity Anderson, the cake baker; Kiki Bell, the seamstress; Cassie Blackthorn, the coordinator; and Chef Saffron Fare are best of friends in a town that is a romantic wedding destination for many couples—who work together at Weddings by Design to make every bride’s special day perfect. Could each falling into their own romance be the key to working out their differences and learning to trust each other—and God—with their futures?
Toni Shiloh is a wife, mom, and multi-published Christian contemporary romance author. She writes to bring God glory and to learn more about His goodness. Her novels, Grace Restored, was a 2019 Holt Medallion finalist, Risking Love a 2020 Selah Award finalist, and The Truth About Fame a 2021 Holt Medallion finalist.
A member of the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) and of the Virginia Chapter, Toni seeks to encourage authors in the writing industry. She loves connecting with readers and authors alike via social media. You can learn more about her writing at http://tonishiloh.com.