Blogger: Mary Keeley
When we consider the basic tools a writer needs today, there really aren’t that many anymore. Technology has greatly altered the items in a writer’s toolbox, but the intangible tools necessary for the writing life will always be the same. And because any one of them might be needed at any time, these tools must be kept in good working condition. Let’s do an assessment, and you can tell me which of yours need a dose of inspiration.
Tool #1: A teachable spirit
A career as a writer is a life-long learning process. Authors can never sit back 
and think they’ve learned all there is to know. The precursor to a downfall is an attitude that you’ve arrived. There is no such thing in this business. Whether learning is a natural pleasure or not, embrace the reality and win the love-hate relationship with always-something-new-to-learn. Find ways to look forward to the process of improving your craft, branding, staying up to date on social media marketing and the publishing industry in general. Sharing this information among your writer friends keeps everyone sharp and connected. Give yourself little rewards along the way. Whatever contributes to increasing your enjoyment of learning.
Tool #2: Perseverance
When you’re feeling weary, overwhelmed, or discouraged, it’s time for a short break to recharge your resolve. Read an inspiring memoir or biography about someone who, with God’s empowerment, overcame insurmountable obstacles. I highly recommend Louie Zamperini’s story in Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand.
If you need something lighter, watch the movie Miracle about the US underdog hockey team that won the gold at the 1980 Olympics. Coach Herb Brooks knew that talent alone wouldn’t win them the medal. Players, some of whom were the most talented, were cut from the team in favor of those who persevered beyond the physical limits of exhaustion in training.
The beauty of true stories like these is that a realistic goal is within grasp if you keep on doing the hard work.
Tool #3: Persistence
If you are facing obstacles in your path to publication, or re-publication, and need some inspiration to continue focusing on your dream instead of the obstacles in your way, let the movie October Sky encourage you. It is based on the true story of Homer Hickam, who grew up in a poor coalmining town during the 1950s. Back then the only way boys could go to college and escape the mines was if they could play football well enough to get a scholarship. That wasn’t an option for Homer, an average player, but his fascination with the launch of Soviet Sputnik 1 and witnessing it streak across the sky inspired him to build a rocket. Enlisting the help of three friends, they learned through many failures. Their goal was to enter their rocket in the county science fair. So they were working against a deadline. The prize for the winner was a college scholarship.
Homer persisted through rejections, unfortunate circumstances, and his father’s opposition to such a waste of time, to hold onto his dream. Long story short, they won the prize and all four boys went on to graduate from college and live lives of their choosing.
It’s true that sometimes writers just have to plow through to get the work accomplished. But these intangible tools can become worn down and fragile. Not if, but when this happens, do what any good craftsman would do and take care of them. That way they’ll keep working for you for years to come.
Which of your intangible tools is worn down right now? Can you think of other intangibles in your writing experience? What inspires you when you are discouraged as a writer? What books or movies have inspired you in your writing life?
TWEETABLES:
Take good care of the intangible tools in your writer’s toolbox. Which of yours need care now? Click to Tweet.
Sometimes the intangible tools in a writer’s toolbox need a dose of inspiration. Here are suggestions. Click to Tweet.
Never, Never, Never Lose Your Work
Actually I am feeling pretty good right now. Encouraged and excited for the submission process to come. A month ago I was feeling a little despondent, thinking that my writing is not up to the standards of others and was my story strong enough? Now I am feel that I have trod the path of re-writes and edits and it’s time to at least try the next step. How did I get through it? I don’t know really, just perseverance.
One intangible I don’t have enough of gp time!
On a pesonal note, I have decided on a pen name and registered the domain. This will be my last comment as simple Chris. I will be reborn as Nicholas Faran. 🙂
No one EVER thought of you as simple, Chris! 🙂
* Love to hear the provenance of ‘Faran’, if you’d care to share it.
That’s great, Chris. You’ll have to remind us that you’re one and the same when you first comment as Nicholas.
“Take good care of your tools.” Thank you for this reminder, Mary. An approved workman carefully maintains his/her tools.
*Prayer is the oil that keeps my tools from rusting. When my perseverance and persistence aren’t working, I need more oil!
What a great metaphor, Shirlee. I trusted that you would offer a spiritual perspective, and you came through in a big way. Prayer definitely is the oil that keeps a writer’s tools from rusting. Thank you.
I’ve always been told that persistence is my strongest intangible tool. I think I’m doing okay because I love learning anything about writing. And while my mind might argue that perseverance has wavered, my heart says, “She’s still at it.” I love reading. Works by my favorite authors always inspire and encourage me to want to write better. To try. And I’m always inspired by the movie Miss Potter. Also, encouragement from writer friends, especially here, keeps me going, as well … a kind word–something encouraging–will come just when I need it the most.
You heart for God flows through your heart being in your writing, Shelli. You inspire me, that’s for sure.
Shelli, you are in a good place. You are taking good care of your intangible tools. And I know you oil them with prayer too, as Shirlee mentioned.
I’m not familiar with the movie Miss Potter. I’ll have to look for it.
You will love Miss Potter. Happy, sad. The song in it stole my heart … “When You Taught Me How To Dance” … something like that.
And you always do it with a gorgeous smile!
Great post, Mary. I think you’ve given rest and refreshment to many weary souls today.
* I can’t really divide my writing life from my ‘life’; it would be like trying to scrape the Chinaman out of my DNA because I live in the West. I would add one thing to the list – responsibility.
* As an intro, there is a baby Bullmastiff sleeping at my feet. Her name is Strawberry Hill, and she arrived last Friday, so footsore that she couldn’t walk, and so hurt by life that she couldn’t lift her head. She had been used for target practice by the sort of people Chris Kyle called savages. They ain’t only found in Iraq, people.
* Could I have turned her away? Sure. There’s always animal control, and an unpleasant death at the hands of strangers. Not my responsibility; I didn’t ask for this.
* Unasked or not, though, she came to me, and I COULD help. Yes, the house is now even more crowded (though not louder…she doesn’t vocalize yet). Yes, she needed care that I have little energy to give. But for me it was comfort and convenience. For her, life and death.
* Strawberry Hill’s survival will not change the world, but there’s just too much ‘walking away’ these days, and in the words of my wife’s Kentucky Hill People forbears, Ah hain’t a gonna holt with that.
* To writing…all I can really write now is my own blog (and a much reduced visiting schedule…this has taken hours to write so far), but as I do have a readership, I have a responsibility to write what’s needed.
* And thus, if anyone cares to check it out on my current blog post…the wonderful world of incontinence when terminally ill. Believe me, I’d much rather write about gluten-free baking or long-rifle bullet ballistics or pink unicorns, but those are not my responsibility. A different issue Depends on me. (Did that last line hurt as much to read as it did to write?)
* The movie that’s inspired me most of late has been “Fury”, and along these lines, the point at which Brad Pitt, playing Sgt. Don Collier, makes the choice to try to hold back a couple of hundred irritated SS with an immobile tank. When asked by one of his crew whether he really wants to do this, his answer is, “No, it’s not what I want to do but it’s what we’re doing.” (Aside from being the best Christian film I have ever seen, “Fury” is based on a true story, related in Belton Cooper’s memoir “Death Traps”.)
* And finally, for those who may still be here and did not head for the exits at the word ‘incontinence’, Strawberry Hill was named (by Barbara) for the fact that she likes Strawberry Pedialyte, and in honour of what might have been the pseudonymic surname of a dear, dear friend, one of the contributors to this community.
If anyone was wondering, ‘baby Bullmastiff’ means a 70-lb dog standing as tall as a German Shepherd, but whose adult teeth have just come in, and whose coordination resembles that of the work of the comedian Foster Brooks. (Boy did I just date myself…but Mr. Brooks, who was a teetotaler, had as his comedic alter ego a hapless drunk.)
Oops. I’ve been picturing Strawberry all wrong (said she whose dogs usually weigh in at 20 pounds).
You’re an inspiration to us all, Andrew. Never heading to the exits when you talk.
I concur. And Strawberry Hill is a very lucky girl.
Shelli and Leon…thank you so much. You’ve brought light to what has become rather a tough day.
Thanks for all your effort and pain it took to get this posted, Andrew. You are the embodiment of responsibility when it’s no longer easy. Your nonfiction books, the first on faith when life is disintegrating and the second on what holidays can be like for someone with PTSD and how to help, must have been very hard to write at times, but you carried through to hold a hand out to unknown people who need what you had to share. Responsibility personified. I’ve always considered myself a responsible person, but I’m not even in your league.
Carol, your words mean so much to me…all I can manage right now is a very sincere thank you.
That’s plenty good enough for me anytime for anything.
did this friend have freckles, by any chance?
Can’t say, Jennifer. OpSec, you know! 🙂
Andrew, you made a strong case for the tool of responsibility, and I’ll add to your reasons a writer’s responsibility to bring honor to God in everything we write.
Strawberry Hill is a symbol that you still have ministry to do here.
Mary, thank you. And as long as I have one more breath to take, I will not fail Strawberry, or any of the small souls – so much greater than my own – that have been placed in my care.
I love your addition to our tool box—both for writing and for living, Andrew. You embody responsibility. Thank you for being the example lived out.
And thank you, Jeanne, for always being a bright beacon of faith and hope, in a winsome and transparent soul. You’re a blessing to everyone here, and to all of your readers.
For me, one of my intangibles is my circle of friends. My writer friends are all on their own paths, but I like to imagine us walking the same road. Almost all of them have been incredibly helpful and encouraging.
Without the Friends Who Get It, I’d have gone squirrelly by about 2013. And without my reader friends who’ve been there to read varying skill levels of my work, I’d still think I was utterly brilliant. Change POVs three times in 2 sentences? Why not?? Brilliant writers do that!?!?!
One of my intangibles (Yes I keep thinking of The Incredibles when I hear that word) got worn out in a big way recently, and that was my perseverance. Then I realized, yet again, that I am not my work, my work is part of me. I got too focused on my writing and once again, God tapped me on the shoulder and whispered “I’m over here.” I’d taken my work off the altar and put it in my pocket. Muttered a few rounds of “My precioussss” at it. Wow, falling on one’s butt hurts.
Now, as I work on Book 3, the act of writing is back where it belongs, as an act of worship. As I work, God leaves a trail for me to follow. And as usual, the trail takes a tangent where I least expect it, and I’m happily tossed somewhere I NEVER would have gotten on my own.
As for a movie that inspires me? An oldy, Chariots of Fire. Eric Liddell ran for God. “I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast!
And when I run I feel his pleasure.” Liddell didn’t apologize and get all falsely humble about his skill. His simply stated that his speed was a gift, and he chose to use it, and bring God pleasure in that use. Liddell was no wimpy, pasty, whispering believer, hoping that by some mere accident, people might listen to him. No, he went out there and kicked butt. He ate the competition for breakfast. He intended to win. And in his victories, he made sure people knew exactly where his speed came from, and gave God the glory. Did he imagine he’d die in a Japanese POW camp? I doubt it.
For me, I truly am more comfortable in the background…unless I have something to say.
The intangible desire to write cannot be contained. Nor can the pursuit of righteousness. God did not shyly suggest that I write what I write. First, He made me angry, then He handed me a pen.
“First He made me angry, then He handed me a pen.” Brilliant, Jennifer.
So much of what you said is inspiring for writers, Jennifer. Chariots of Fire is an excellent movie choice. Not only for Liddell’s inspiring example of persistence, but also for his motivation to use the gifts God gave him for God’s glory.
I like your intangible tools, Mary. Each one is vital. Sometimes a tool I need to pull out is the determination in my mind that I will press forward, even when I feel discouraged. I have to make up my mind to keep doing the work.
*I love each of the books and movies you offered as helps. They are so good!
Keep pushing, Jeanne. You’re so gifted, and your hard work and faith make those gifts shine all the brighter.
If I was to add one more tool to my toolbox it would be encouragement. Andrew, you give it so well, honing the other tools we use as writers. Thank you.
Encouragement is love, Jeanne, and as Paul said…all you need is love. Uh, wait one…wrong Paul…the greatest of these is love. (But the Liverpudlian Paul isn’t far off, eh?)
Jeanne, you’ve come so far already. Whether unpublished or multi-published, virtually all authors face times of discouragement. Sometimes, with the oil of prayer, the best inspiration may come by looking back to see how much you’ve grown as a writer. I hope you are encouraged today.
Very much so. Thanks, Mary. 🙂
This blog inspires me. Also when I read my daily devotions a scripture will stand out more than the others, and give me not only guidance for life that day but also an idea for a devotional.
Amen to that, Annie. Thanks for highlighting the importance Scripture has in keeping the intangible tools in good condition.
Mary, I also have an inspirational quatrain that serves me well –
“Go tell the Spartans,
stranger passing by,
that here, obedient to their laws,
we lie.”
* I will ask for you prayers, if I may. Things are not going well. Please pray that I may continue in my duties, however elusive hope has become, and that I may continue to be an encouraging spirit, however discouragement weighs down my body and heart.
* And that while I am constrained to ride the fell steed of fear, that horse born of the demon twins of pain and despair, that I never forget that the reins are in my hands.
Praying you sense God’s hand holding you up, Andrew.
I’ll never learn all I need to know about the craft of writing. It’s a good thing I love attending writers’ conferences. It can be a lonely journey, but connecting with others who share the same passion for writing keeps me energized. That’s why I look forward to attending our monthly ACFW meetings. I am thankful for all the staff members and speakers at the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference last week. I left the conference center exhausted, but filled with new ideas.