#375: Writing Well: Stuck? Discover the Power of Paper and Pen

Welcome to Kingdom Writers, where we help equip and empower Christian writers of all genres to share your unique gifts with the world. We're your hosts, C.J. and Shelley Hitz. This podcast is filled with spiritual encouragement as well as prayers to help you overcome the resistance you face as a writer. Your story matters.

Hey, Kingdom Writers. This is Shelly Hitz, one of your hosts here at the Kingdom Writers Podcast. And today I have a special announcement before we dive in to this episode. We are hosting our fifth conference, the Kingdom Writers Conference. And this one is one I think a lot of you are going to be interested in. It is our book launch edition. Now, whether you have a book launch coming up right away or you can, you're still writing your book and you're thinking about launching it in the future, or maybe you even want some strategies to relaunch your previous books, join us. It's free. It's a one day event and we're going to be helping you discover proven strategies that will empower you to confidently launch your book into the world so you can reach a wider audience and make a lasting impact with the message God has placed on your heart. So this will be hosted live on May 4, but if you're listening to this later, you know, still come and check it out and sign up. You can get signed up@domedywritersconference.com.

Launch. So go there right now, claim your free ticket@domencewritersconference.com launch and then make sure to tell your writing friends. This is going to be fun. Can't wait to see you there. In this episode of the Kingdom Writers Podcast, we're going to be talking about those of you that feel stuck and how to discover the power of paper and pen. My name is Shelly Hits, one of your hosts here at the podcast, and let's just dive in. So first of all, are you an unwriting writer? I heard someone say this recently and I loved it because so many times, like we know.

We love to write. Most of you told me you love to write. But you also have a message burning within your heart. Like sometimes it just feels like it's just burning. It wants to come out. Maybe you know that God has called you to write. You have a book, a specific assignment, you know, there's something that God has called you to do and yet you're stuck. Have you ever felt that way? I think we all have been in that place before. Any of us that are creatives in any format, whether you're a writer, an artist, or whatever it is that you do here, we talk specifically about writing. But when you are in this place of being an unwriting writer, so you've got the calling, you've got the message, you got the love for writing, and you're not writing, it may lead you to feeling a bit moody, maybe a little bit, you know, irritable at times, or even discontent. And you may not even know what the root of those emotions is. So if you've been feeling that way at all lately, it might be that you just need to get out your pen and paper and write.

And I encourage you to start. Start small. So we encourage you to start with 15 minutes. Just set a timer, say, I'm just going to do this for 15 minutes. We can all find 15 minutes in our day. Get up 15 minutes earlier, you know, stay up 15 minutes later. 15 minutes over your lunch hour, 15 minutes while you're waiting in the pickup line for your kids. You know, we all can find a time. And I encourage you, let's get out the actual, like, paper and pen. So, yeah, I love typing on a computer. I love dictating into my phone on Google Docs or using the app Otter AI. That's a great app where you can dictate into it and it will transcribe it for you and you can have all that. And all of those things are powerful. But if you've been stuck, let's get back to the basics, right? Let's get out the paper and the pen seal, set a timer for 15 minutes, and then number two, prime the pump with journaling. So we're just not even going to worry about trying to write a book or write a blog post or write a social media post or write an email for marketing or whatever it is you're wanting to write. Sometimes that just feels like pressure. So let's just take all the pressure away and let's just journal. You know, I love journaling. I used to not be a journaler at home at all. You know, I am a redeemed workaholic, and I just never saw the value. But as God has brought me through seasons of intense healing, those of you that have read my book, Broken Crayons Still Color, you know, that I dealt with my grandma's murder at 8 years old. And, you know, just all of the things that went with that, I have had so many things that I have dealt with in my life that I'm not going to go into it here. You can go read my book if you want. But.

Just suffice it to say, God has used those Times of journaling to bring so much healing into my life. And now, like, I just love journaling. And it's a time of prayer for me. It's a time of hearing from God. It's a time of just. Oh, it's just. I process things. Like, I just feel better after I journal. So what I want you to do is just get out a notebook. It doesn't have to be anything expensive. You can just use your 25 cent notebook from Walmart, whatever it is, you know that you have. But have a pen or a pencil and with your hand, I want you to start just clearing the clutter and just do a dump of everything out of your brain. So what we're doing here is we're taking all of these thoughts that are going around in your mind. You may not even be aware of them, but there's. They're all around and some of them will just continue to scream for your attention until you write it down, until you get it out. And so I want you to write anything and everything that you're thinking about right now. What you're going to, you know, make for dinner, what you're going to do for vacation next month, how you're going to handle your family gathering that's coming up. You know, what you are feeling about your book. I mean, it could be anything. What you need to go to the store and get for groceries. Just start writing it out. And be honest. Just be honest in this. And if you need to, you can just tear out these pages, throw them away or. I've been using a rocket book journal lately. They are actually.

You know, reusable. Like you can, you can wipe it down. It's. You use a certain kind of ink, but they're reusable. And so I'll just, I'll just, you know, erase it all and then, you know, just start over the next week. But just do whatever works for you. But be honest. Get that junk out. You want to think about how like this is like rubble. You cannot get through a road with a car. You cannot drive through that road if there's a bunch of rubble in your way. So what you're doing while you're just dumping all this stuff, it's like you're going out of your car, you're picking up those rocks, you're removing the rubble, right? Or you can, can. You can think of it like you're in a different. A machine that's like taking those rocks and moving it, but you're removing that rubble or you're just removing the junk. Have you ever had, like, one of those closets or a junk drawer where things are just cluttered and piled up and you just. You can't even see anything, and it just stresses you out? I think we all have one of those somewhere. I have been on a organizing stre, and I think I've gotten most of the things organized, but there's still a few little spots. There's a junk drawer in our kitchen, and there's a place in our closet. There's a shelf that's still, you know, like, there's still a few of those places. But we're clearing space by just starting to write. And it's just getting you in the habit of getting words on the. On a page, right? Just priming the pump. If you don't know what that means. It's. It's an old saying from when you used to have to pump your water, and a lot of times you had to prime it. You had to start pumping before water would come out. And so you had to, like, prime it and then the water would start to flow. And so that's what we're. We're doing here is we're priming the pump. Now if you come across things that you need to do, and this happens to me all the time. So if I'm writing and writing and then I think, oh, I need to do this thing, I'll add it to my to do list or my project management tool or whatever it is, or just have a separate little notebook. I have just a small little rocketbook notebook, and I just write things in there, and then I have it and I can take care of it later.

So number one, are you an unwriting writer? Have you been stuck? If so just start small for 15 minutes, set that timer, and then number two, prime the pump with journaling. So you are just clearing the clutter, dumping everything out of your brain, and you're clearing space. That's the thing. You're making space for the other writing and the other things that you will do. And number three, start doing a brain dump. So, I mean, we've already kind of been starting that with just priming the pump with journaling, clearing the clutter. But now we're kind of moving into more of like a brainstorming session. And this is where I will just write down anything and everything that I'm, you know, any ideas. Like, if you're working on a book right now and you're just writing down ideas for different scenes or sort different stories that could back up a point that you're making, whatever it is, just start writing down and brainstorming ideas. And this is where I really transition into more of what I would call a business meeting with God. We talk about these a lot around here, but basically it's spending time with God in prayer. And so this is not just a one way street. I like to call it two way journaling. I think I got that term from Mark Verkler years ago. He has a great book on how to hear God's voice. And we have a training on this in Christian Book Academy in the Kingdom Foundations module. If you haven't checked that out yet and you're a member, but you just begin to start brainstorming, then ask the Lord a question, say God, what do you think about this? Or what is the next step for me? Or, and maybe, maybe you won't feel like it comes clearly right now, but just start writing. And what I have found is that clarity begins to emerge. It's almost like a fog that begins to lift. And sometimes it's not right there in that session, but you get started and then the next time, you know, I'll start and I'll journal more about that particular thing or the, you know, what I'm working on or the project or whatever. And then it's like another layer of clarity comes and then another layer, another layer. And I encourage you to not give up if you feel frustrated. Like I don't feel like I'm hearing God's voice, it's okay. Sometimes there are those seasons where we're just not hearing as clearly. It may mean that, you know, maybe start with a few deep breaths, diaphragmatic breathing, breathe out longer than you breathe in. Calm your nervous system first so that you can really begin to connect in with God. Maybe you need to take a little bit of break away from screens, away from social media. That can really just help, you know, it can decrease our focus and we can just be so distracted and have like a monkey brain, a crazy brain, right? So there's so many things, but keep going, keep showing up every day and just, just writing out, brainstorming. And then when you feel like you've gotten some clarity of what you are to write on, or that marketing campaign that you know you're to do, or that email that you're to send, then write that and you don't have to keep writing with pen and paper. I mean you can, but you can then move to your computer or move to dictation, or move to a. Whatever works best for you. Once you have that clarity once you're unstuck, once you have that excitement and that motivation to do the next thing. And so the three things that I covered today about when you're stuck and discovering the power of paper and pen is, number one, are you an unwriting writer?

If so, start Small, start with 15 minutes and set a timer. There is something powerful with that act of just setting a timer, whether it's on your phone or some sort of kitchen timer or whatever, just set a timer for 15 minutes and then prime the pump. Number two, prime the pump. With journaling, just dump everything out, clear that clutter and create space. Amen. And number three, then start doing the brain dump. This is where you're going to be brainstorming. You're going to be doing some prayer journaling or two way journaling, having a business meeting with God and just realize that clarity comes sometimes in layers and over time. So let me pray for you. And if you are stuck, we would love to have you join us in ChristianBookAcademy.com Every month we have a 15 minute challenge, Monday through Friday, one of the weeks of the month, and, and that really helps people to get unstuck. The power of a community and accountability. And there's prizes and it's just fun. And then every month we have a two day virtual writing retreat. You can come and join a group writing accountability session on Zoom. It is so amazing how much people get done during these times. So come join us. Christianbookacademy.com there's no long term commitments. You can join month to month, check it out, see if it helps. And we would love to serve you there. Let me pray for you, Lord, thank you so much for every kingdom writer listening right now. And I just pray, Lord, if anyone has felt stuck, like they're in just a place of, of, you know, just not being able to move forward. Quicksand. Almost like their feet are stuck in quicksand. Lord, I pray that you would lift them up out of the muck and mire and put their feet on a rock. As the psalmist said, put their feet on a rock. Lord, help them to just get started small and set that timer for 15 minutes and with paper and pen or pencil, just start writing. Lord, I just pray that as they go through these steps and as they begin to do a brain dump and have a business meeting with you, that you would be begin to give them clarity, God, that you would be speaking to them, that you would remove the rubble, remove the clutter in their mind. You would begin to heal their brain of being so disjointed and distracted from all of the technology that we face today. And Lord, that you would help them to be able to move into deep work where they could do their best work, use the gifts that you have given them, fulfillment the calling that you have for them, and move forward in their call to write, publish and market their books. So Lord, thank you so much for them. We pray this in Jesus powerful name. Amen. Amen. Friends, thank you so much for being here. I hope that this was an encouragement to you and I will talk to you in the next episode. Bye Bye. Would you like more? If you are enjoying this podcast but want more, I have something exciting to share with you. We have released what's called a private podcast. So a private podcast you will not find by searching in Apple. You have to know specifically how to subscribe to it. It's more private and exclusive and it just can be more relaxed behind the scenes. And my new private podcast is called Hits Blitz and it's wisdom for writers that you're going to learn from my 18 plus years of experience in publishing and marketing so that you can move forward in God's call to write. I am best known for injecting energy and enthusiasm into everything I do and inspiring those around me to take action. So I encourage you to listen in to this exclusive private podcast. It is free, 100% free. You don't have to pay for it and be prepared to be inspired by my next hits bullets. So you can sign up@trainingauthors.com hits and if you have any other writing friends that you think could benefit from it, definitely share it with them. They can go to the Same link training authors.com forward/hits blitz to get access. Again, this is a private podcast so you cannot get access to it any other way. It's completely free. All you have to do is sign up and then you'll get all the information on how to add it to your podcast or player of choice. So I can't wait for you to join me over there. I share a lot of things behind the scenes and more content just in a real time basis. So it's more like chatting with a friend or following someone on stories on social media. Except you don't have to get caught up in any of the algorithms. You'll just have this in your podcast player and be able to listen in wherever you're at, whatever you're doing. Some of the listeners told me this week that they were listening while waiting in the target parking lot while brushing their teeth. You can fit this into the pockets of time that you have. So I hope you'll join me. Come over to training authors.com hitsblitz.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Kingdom Writers. We believe that you, as a Christian writer, have a specific role to play in the Kingdom of Heaven to impact lives for eternity. And because of this, we choose to pour out our lives into encouraging writers like you to not only tell your stories, but to take the courageous step of self publishing your stories in books that will outlive you and leave behind a powerful legacy. This podcast is sponsored by Christian Book Academy where we help you give back birth to your books. We invite you to join our community of Kingdom Writers.