This is a post linked to Kate Motaung’s online writing group surrounding the book, On Being A Writer:12 Simple Habits for a Writing Life that Lasts, by Ann Kroeker and Charity Singleton Craig.

I identify myself as a writer. This has been a tremendous leap forward . I have been a “closet writer” since childhood but only began to reveal some of my words to a few in college. I was encouraged to pursue writing as a career. I was at that time too enamored with the dream of researching and teaching Medieval History. Life has led me on a circuitous path. 

I never stopped writing. In various periods writing took a backseat to teaching and organizing faith education. I wrote in my journals and wrote for work. Eventually I began to blog.

My writing ebbs and flows. I am once again very close to the beginning. At times I wonder if I am being led by the Lord back to where I dropped my writing into a much subservient position in order that I rearrange my life to make more room for the words.

The  defining characteristic of my life is my relationship with Christ. I have a Christian worldview that defines and informs everything else I do. The second defining characteristic of my life has always been my connection to words and stories. Writing is more than what I do. It is who I am. To make sense of life I must write about living. My ideas take shape and substance as they hit the paper or screen. I have ideas in my mind, but I have beliefs once they are written down. 

I love words. New words are a delight to my senses. I cannot adequately explain why I love descriptive words. I love flowers because seeing them makes me happy. I love babies since their presence makes me smile inside and out. I love words in the same visceral way I love babies and flowers. They give me joy on a level that is too deep for the words I long to find to explain the phenomenon.

On Being A Writer:12 Simple Habits for a Writing Life that Lasts online discussion group