~ Dawn
Lessons Learned Along
the Writing Road in 2012
by Beth
K. Vogt
There are certain practical lessons I’ve learned along the
writing road, such as:
- My commitment to not read reviews? Tough to do when people forward reviews – both the good and the bad. Or when I wander onto Goodreads and Amazon and Barnes and Nobles …
- A reviewer’s opinion about my writing isn’t ’a judgment against me as a person – or even me as a writer. It’s an opinion. Nothing more. Nothing less.
Besides those two lessons, there is one lesson I learned in
2012 that changed me – emotionally, spiritually and mentally. And it’s this:
In
God’s economy, my journey along the writing road is all
about
making me look more like him and a whole lot less like me.
I am called to be a writer—enabled by God to be a writer. I
am created in God’s image (Genesis 1:27)—meant to reflect him to the world
through my words, actions and interactions. (2 Cor. 3:18) One of the things God
wants to do is transform me—change me from who I am into the woman he wants me
to be.
How does he do this? Through the circumstances of my life.
Some of my circumstances relate to me as a woman, a mom, a daughter, a sister,
a friend.
But this past year as I shifted under the weight of the
title “debut author,” a whole new set of circumstances materialized. At times,
I cared (too much) about reviews and stars and followers and blog comments.
Guess what?
God only cares about how all those things affect me on a
soul-deep level. And they do. They do.
Success revealed my good and not-so-good heart attitudes.
Some days I handled success quite well. And some days … well, I didn’t. At
times I envied other writers’ front and center stage moments, wondering why the
spotlight wasn’t on me. At times I doubted myself, spending too much time
focused on me, myself, and I. That is a whole other form of self-centeredness.
With 2012 drawing to a close, here’s the truth I’m taking
with me into 2013, with its 365 unblemished days:
In
God’s eternal mindset, writing is a means to an end.
Yes, I will continue to pray that he bless the work of my
hands. (Psalm 90:17) But I will also ask him to use my journey along the
writing road to rub off my rough edges, revealing both my strengths and my
weaknesses. And when I reach the end of the road, I pray I don’t recognize
myself. Instead, I hope my life reflects God to the world.
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Beth K. Vogt is a
non-fiction author and editor who said she’d never write fiction. She’s the
wife of an Air Force family physician (now in solo practice) who said she’d
never marry a doctor—or anyone in the military. She’s a mom of four who said
she’d never have kids. She’s discovered that God’s best often waits behind the
doors marked “Never.” Her inspirational
contemporary romance novel, Wish You Were
Here, debuted May 2012 (Howard Books.) Her second novel, Catch a Falling Star, releases May 2013.
Beth is also an established magazine writer and former editor of Connections,
the leadership magazine for MOPS International.
To learn more about Beth, please visit www.bethvogt.com
