I’m writing two books right now. One is a co-writing project about guest services in church. It’s with a fairly notable individual and I can’t wait until we get it all together and out into the world.
The second one is a personal book project my literary agent and I decided would be a good project. It’s not really related to church work at all, so it’s a very different book from the first.
To be honest, it’s tough to flip back and forth between the projects. Sometimes I am more excited about what I’m writing in the one book, and sometimes I’m more excited about the other. Still at other times, I hate what I’m writing in both.
There are times when I feel my writing sucks. I’m conveying thoughts, but I don’t feel particularly inspired. There are times I’m merely forcing myself to write 1000-3000 words in a day so I can make my way through the work.
I experienced this with Created for More and Unwelcome. There were times I didn’t like anything I was writing. But the only way I got those two published was by finishing them.
That’s what’s required of good work. Work. And sometimes you don’t consider it good work while you’re doing it. But that’s what editing’s for. That’s what reworking is for. But if you never get done with the project, you can never get to that next phase.
Inspiration is only one small part of writing, and frankly one small part of work. The rest is sheer brute force. It’s just duct taping yourself to the computer, typewriter, notebook…whatever…and forcing yourself to get work done.
Inspiration comes here and there. Be grateful for that. But when it’s not there, just do the work. A finished project is better than a perfect project.
