The Right (Write) Stuff

Diana Nyad chased her dream until at age sixty-four she swam from the Cuban shore to Key West, Florida. After an amazing fifty-three hours in shark and jellyfish infested waters, she emerged from the water, fulfilling her motto for the year: “Find a Way.” She told a waiting world about the lessons she learned during her life long journey. “One is we should never, ever give up. Two is you’re never too old to chase your dreams. Three, it looks like a solitary sport, but it’s a team.” 

Her experience in the ocean reminds me of the lessons I learned at the Catch the Wave Writers Conference I attended last weekend. The purpose of the event is to enable writers to “Send out a Christian wave upon a secular sea.” The conference wasn’t near the water, but was hidden from the rush of Atlanta traffic at the picturesque Simpsonwood Conference Center in Norcross. I couldn’t wait to get off the busy interstate and walk through the three dimensional doors at the center. The hand carved relief of Jesus was a welcoming site, saying to me: “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28

Terry Burns, our keynote speaker, reminded me that the writer’s life is not about selling thousands of books, but about reaching that one person who needs to hear my words. That should be enough motivation to “…never, ever give up.” Rejections by agents and editors come all too often for me —like stinging jellyfish— but that is no reason to quit casting my message into the sea.

Publicist ReAnn Ring taught classes about using social media to promote my writing. She explained that Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and Hootesuite are waiting for me to grasp and employ to reach a wider audience. I learned to type on a manual typewriter, but that doesn’t mean I am too old to learn new tricks. It may take me longer than some, but “I can do this.”

It took a team effort for our conference to be a success. Writing has its lonesome moments and sometimes I feel like I am floundering, but it's not a solitary sport. Whenever we gather at a conference, or at our regular Christian Authors Guild meetings, I learn from my fellow writers. It may be during a critique group or around refreshments as we talk about our latest writing exploits. 

If you want to break a world record, swim from Cuba to the US.  If I want to cast a wave upon a secular sea, I must follow the advice of Martin Luther, “… change the world, pick up my pen and write.”