Why Write?
“I haven’t written for a few days because I wanted first of all to think about my diary.
It’s an odd idea for someone like me to keep a diary; not only because I have never done so before, but because it seems to me that neither I – nor for that matter anyone else – will be interested in the unbosomings of a thirteen-year-old schoolgirl.
Still, what does that matter?
I want to write, but more than that, I want to bring out all kinds of things that lie buried deep in my heart.”
Anne Frank (Diary Entry Posted Saturday, 20 June, 1942 from The Diary of a Young Girl)
Tragically, Anne Frank died three months before her sixteenth birthday, but those things once buried deep in her heart invite us to remember, to ponder, and to dig deeper into our own, discovering the magnitude of the moments that soon become our memories. Anne wrote what she thought, not what she thought she should, and “the unbosomings of a thirteen-year-old schoolgirl” continue to matter.
Like Anne, I unwind by writing, loving the freedom to stumble across God in a way that I haven’t seen him before. And in that discovery, I’ve come to appreciate the value of who I am. A flawed woman loved by her perfect God. And that’s miraculous. And it matters.
To me, God sometimes seems to hover out of grasp, a hopeful glimmer of possibility; by writing, I’ve discovered He’s always more real than that vague awareness. As I unveil those hidden things in my own heart, by rambling and wondering and poking around, I’ve discovered God’s omnipresence, one of his many immutable characteristics. A discovery based on my experiences, not from what I was told. And that matters.
I know there are more of us, too, who want to write but wonder, like Anne, if it matters. Who wonder if it’s an odd idea to write. Who wonder if anyone would be interested. And then once the desire is strong enough, even wonder how to start, how to begin pouring out those “things that lie buried deep” in our hearts.
Pastor Robert Stutes shared a fail-proof Bible study method recently at church: “Just do it!” The Nike method works for Bible study, and it applies to writing, too, for writing doesn’t have to be a prosaic chronological pronouncement of the facts of our lives, which would, in fact, be tedious and not necessarily all that interesting or introspective. Mine, anyway. I haven’t had to hide from the Nazis like Anne Frank or live in fear of concentration camps. But what isn’t mundane is the delightful discoveries of the divine in the details of our lives. Epiphanies to celebrate, not simply lessons to endure. And then always there’s that lovely surprise when God reveals himself in the process of writing. And that matters, too.
Anne Frank wondered who would possibly care about the musings of a teenage girl. We don’t wonder. Her life continues to speak to us 70 years later. And our musings are equally valuable.
Why write? I say, “Why wait?” And here are a few suggestions to help you begin:
IDEA #1 – Make LISTS, a good way to awaken a memory
Today, make a LIST of every home you’ve lived in, then choose one of those places and write about it.
Here’s how my LIST would go…(I’d work backwards because that’s easier for me.)
OK! That was an eye-opener for me because my written list was a lot longer than the way I pictured it. So now I’m going to pick the one place that made the strongest impression while I was jotting, and I’ll write about that place and see what pops up!
And while scribbling my thoughts, I’m not going to concern myself with making it perfect. I’m going for discovery, not perfectionism, which is not our friend when we’re free-writing.
So let’s do it! Pick one and write! Avoid trying to dictate the direction, just go with the flow and see what you discover. Write like Johnny Football plays ball, giving it all he’s got! It’ll be fun! Here we go!
I Remember…
LISTING – a great way to begin!