My Encouragement

Writing is hard. Anyone who says it’s easy must have never tried it. I’m the kind of girl who is constantly crafting plots in her head and creating new characters. But as soon as I open up that new Word Document and see the blank white piece of virtual paper, I suddenly have a writer’s blackout. Sometimes, we writers need a little encouragement.

According to the Webster’s Dictionary, to encourage is to inspire with courage or hope. There are two specific people in my life who have done just that for me.

1. My mom. She has been so supportive of me from the very beginning. She’s never too busy to read anything I write and always takes the time to edit it. Sometimes I wonder if that’s a good or bad thing.☺ I remember the first time I wrote a book. It was about talking animals who lived in a little kingdom. Understandable for an eight-year-old to write about. But my mom encouraged me to write what turned into a three (ten-paged) book series. As I matured, so did what I wanted to write about. Mom signed me up for a writing program called the Christian Writer’s Guild, which was way beyond our budget, because she believed in me. That alone gives me encouragement.

2. Through the Christian Writer’s Guild, I met my mentor and friend, Shannon Primicerio. I’ve had the opportunity to meet her in person twice, and she is full of advice for young writers like me. She has been a great encouragement to me in my writing journey. In everything I wrote, she was always there to push me and tell me how I could do better. Though it was frustrating at first, I can now look back and see just how much my writing improved. But how I am encouraged the most by her is that, even though I’m no longer with the program, I can still keep in touch with her, ask questions, and get feedback on my stories via email. She never hesitates to recommend me for scholarships, and she encourages me to enter contests and keep on writing.

Then there are those little moments of encouragement, such as emails from girls I don’t even know, telling me they hope to write as well as I do someday, and women I met at the She Speaks conference who told me they prayed for me that day.

But most encouraging of all is my Heavenly Father. He’s always filling my mind with new and unique ideas, inspiring me with His marvelous works, and bestowing courage and hope in my daily life. I recently came upon this verse from The Message version which has been an encouragement to me, especially when that blinking cursor is taunting me. “I'll write the book on your righteousness, talk up your salvation the livelong day, never run out of good things to write or say.” Psalm 71:15.

Check out http://www.incourage.me/ for more encouragement from gals who know writing is tough.