Write for What Matters

The loss was unexpected. In the matter of a few short weeks my friend was gone. Ovarian cancer, without a warning signal, took her life. Her service, like most, was about the things that mattered most about her. It wasn’t her beauty, what she owned or her connections. Nor was it her wealth or accomplishments. What mattered was her faith in God and her love for people. It all came down to those two things. As a Christian author, this began a thought process within, that has developed in me a growing theme of making what I write count.

The world is overflowing with content and it’s tempting to chase what’s trending instead of truth that is timeless. Writers can easily find themselves asking,  What will sell? What will go viral? What does the market want? Those questions have their place, but they should never be the first questions we ask.

A better question is this:

What matters?

The books that leave a lasting imprint are rarely born from a desire to keep up. They grow from a deep conviction that something important needs to be said. They address real questions, real struggles and real hope.

Writing for what matters doesn’t mean writing only about big topics. It means writing with purpose. A children’s story can shape a young heart. A Christian Living book can remind someone they are not alone. A devotional can become a daily companion. A novel can help someone escape into storylines that aren’t their own. Every genre has potential to matter.

As an agent, I look for authors who care deeply about both the message and the reader. Platform matters. Craft matters. Market awareness matters. But those things work best when they support a message that genuinely deserves to be shared. If you’re in the middle of writing, don’t let comparison or changing trends pull you off course. Trends come and go. Algorithms change. Publishing shifts. But, truth endures.

Ask yourself:

• What burden has God placed on my heart?
• What conversation am I uniquely equipped to enter?
• What reader do I hope will close this book feeling see, encouraged, challenger, or changed?

Those questions will lead you to writing for lasting impact. Don’t settle for filling pages. Write to fill a need. Write to bring hope to a heart. Write to make the reader feel seen and no longer alone. And, in doing so, you will be writing for what matters.