Adventuring in Utah Gave Me Insight Into Important Writing Truths Part 5: Embrace *Your* Writing Trail
From Edie: Explore how Utah’s Arches National Park and the Fiery Furnace hike reveal a vital writing truth: embrace your unique path and trust God’s timing for your journey.
Adventuring in Utah Gave Me Insight Into Important Writing Truths Part 5: Embrace *Your* Writing Trailby Lynn H. Blackburn @LynnHBlackburn
We’ve made it to our final national park in our Mighty 5 adventure in Utah - Arches National Park! This park is home to over 2000 arches and is one of the most visited parks in the US. The introvert in me was concerned that I might not like this park, but despite the large number of visitors and the fact that it was our last stop, and we were all reaching the point of “not another hike, please,” it wound up being tied for second in my personal favorites. :)
I could go in so many different directions about what I learned about writing while in this park, but I’m going to focus on just one:
Let’s talk about the Fiery Furnace and how it relates to our writing life.
The Fiery Furnace is described as a natural escape room. Unlike every other place in the parks where you’re told, repeatedly, to please, for the love, stay on the trail, the Fiery Furnace is a protected area of the park where you are encouraged to explore. There are trail markers, but they’re inconspicuous. Before you’re allowed in, you must have a permit so the park rangers know you’re there, in case you get lost. Oh, and the park rangers have a chat with you about where to step because even when you’re wandering around, you don’t want to crush anything precious. And then they tell you to explore, and that when you think you’ve found a dead end, you should 100% go for it, because the dead ends are where the most fun happens.
It sounds amazing, right?
Now, at this point, I need to be 100% transparent and tell you that I didn’t do the Fiery Furnace hike. I’m all for scrambling and hiking, and tiny spaces don’t scare me. But I have a shoulder injury that limits my ability to do any kind of massive upper-body work.
My husband and boys loved this hike! It was a highlight of the trip for them! And there is a part of me that wishes I could have done it with them.
But if I’d tried to go, it would have been a disaster.
And this is an important concept for writers to grasp:
There is no shame in choosing writing paths that match your current capabilities!
While my husband and boys explored the Fiery Furnace, I visited another part of the park and hiked to a few iconic arches on my own. I had a fabulous day! I saw arches that my husband and kids didn’t see.
Your writing life is YOUR writing life. I understand how tempting it can be to look at others and think, “I wish I could do that.” Or to think, “I’m not a real writer because I simply don’t have the capacity to do what they do.”
But it may be that what God has in store for you is completely different from what He has in store for someone else. It doesn’t mean that what he has planned is worse or less. It is simply different!
I distinctly remember sitting at home several years ago, watching a rewards show where a friend received a Carol award from ACFW, while I was in my pajamas, exhausted from putting my young children to bed, and wondering if it would ever be my turn. I was so happy for her! But deep down, I wondered why I wasn’t *there* yet.
Can I whisper something to you? I’m *there* now, and *there* is exhausting! If God had given me that any earlier than He did, I wouldn’t have been able to handle it. I can barely handle it now!
And while I’m published, I’ve won awards, and I’ve had many lovely successes, there are still things that I wish I could do. A bunch of my romantic suspense friends just had a wonderful time away at a writing retreat. I looked at those pictures and was so jealous! They clearly had a blast.
But right now, that isn’t what God has called me to. Because while I’m an author, I’m also a homeschooling mom, and my boys are in high school. The workload is intense, and I simply don’t have the flexibility in my schedule to escape for a week!
The “I wish I could…” or “that looks like so much fun…” moments used to bother me more, but I’ve settled into the peace that comes from knowing I’m on the right trail for this time and place and for my own abilities and capacity. Maybe someday I’ll have the capacity to do more, go more, teach more, and write more.
But right now? I’m good with doing what I can, because the trail I’m on is my own, and it is beautiful! The same will be true for you! Embrace YOUR trail and enjoy the journey!
Grace and peace,Lynn
TWEETABLEAdventuring in Utah Gave Me Insight Into Important Writing Truths Part 5: Embrace *Your* Writing Trail @LynnHBlackburn on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)
I hope you’ve enjoyed our Utah’s Mighty 5 National Parks writing series. :) I can’t say that I won’t pull from these parks again, and soon, because there were so many more ways I could have written these posts! :) If you missed any of them, be sure to check them out below!
Adventuring in Utah Gave Me Insight into Important Writing TruthsPART 1: THE BRUTAL BEGINNINGPART 2: TAKE IT SLOW AND DON'T GRAB THE REINSPART 3: 6 THINGS I LEARNED ABOUT WRITING AT CAPITOL REEFPART 4: CHOOSE YOUR TRAIL COMPANIONS WISELYPART 5: EMBRACE *YOUR* WRITING TRAIL
Lynn H. Blackburn is the award-winning author of Unknown Threat, Malicious Intent, and Under Fire, as well as the Dive Team Investigations series. She loves writing swoon-worthy southern suspense because her childhood fantasy was to become a spy, but her grown-up reality is that she's a huge chicken and would have been caught on her first mission. She prefers to live vicariously through her characters by putting them into terrifying situations while she's sitting at home in her pajamas! She lives in Simpsonville, South Carolina, with her true love, Brian, and their three children. Learn more at www.lynnhblackburn.com.
Adventuring in Utah Gave Me Insight Into Important Writing Truths Part 5: Embrace *Your* Writing Trailby Lynn H. Blackburn @LynnHBlackburn
We’ve made it to our final national park in our Mighty 5 adventure in Utah - Arches National Park! This park is home to over 2000 arches and is one of the most visited parks in the US. The introvert in me was concerned that I might not like this park, but despite the large number of visitors and the fact that it was our last stop, and we were all reaching the point of “not another hike, please,” it wound up being tied for second in my personal favorites. :)
I could go in so many different directions about what I learned about writing while in this park, but I’m going to focus on just one:
Let’s talk about the Fiery Furnace and how it relates to our writing life.
The Fiery Furnace is described as a natural escape room. Unlike every other place in the parks where you’re told, repeatedly, to please, for the love, stay on the trail, the Fiery Furnace is a protected area of the park where you are encouraged to explore. There are trail markers, but they’re inconspicuous. Before you’re allowed in, you must have a permit so the park rangers know you’re there, in case you get lost. Oh, and the park rangers have a chat with you about where to step because even when you’re wandering around, you don’t want to crush anything precious. And then they tell you to explore, and that when you think you’ve found a dead end, you should 100% go for it, because the dead ends are where the most fun happens.
It sounds amazing, right?
Now, at this point, I need to be 100% transparent and tell you that I didn’t do the Fiery Furnace hike. I’m all for scrambling and hiking, and tiny spaces don’t scare me. But I have a shoulder injury that limits my ability to do any kind of massive upper-body work.
My husband and boys loved this hike! It was a highlight of the trip for them! And there is a part of me that wishes I could have done it with them.
But if I’d tried to go, it would have been a disaster.
And this is an important concept for writers to grasp:
There is no shame in choosing writing paths that match your current capabilities!
While my husband and boys explored the Fiery Furnace, I visited another part of the park and hiked to a few iconic arches on my own. I had a fabulous day! I saw arches that my husband and kids didn’t see.
Your writing life is YOUR writing life. I understand how tempting it can be to look at others and think, “I wish I could do that.” Or to think, “I’m not a real writer because I simply don’t have the capacity to do what they do.”
But it may be that what God has in store for you is completely different from what He has in store for someone else. It doesn’t mean that what he has planned is worse or less. It is simply different!
I distinctly remember sitting at home several years ago, watching a rewards show where a friend received a Carol award from ACFW, while I was in my pajamas, exhausted from putting my young children to bed, and wondering if it would ever be my turn. I was so happy for her! But deep down, I wondered why I wasn’t *there* yet.
Can I whisper something to you? I’m *there* now, and *there* is exhausting! If God had given me that any earlier than He did, I wouldn’t have been able to handle it. I can barely handle it now!
And while I’m published, I’ve won awards, and I’ve had many lovely successes, there are still things that I wish I could do. A bunch of my romantic suspense friends just had a wonderful time away at a writing retreat. I looked at those pictures and was so jealous! They clearly had a blast.
But right now, that isn’t what God has called me to. Because while I’m an author, I’m also a homeschooling mom, and my boys are in high school. The workload is intense, and I simply don’t have the flexibility in my schedule to escape for a week!
The “I wish I could…” or “that looks like so much fun…” moments used to bother me more, but I’ve settled into the peace that comes from knowing I’m on the right trail for this time and place and for my own abilities and capacity. Maybe someday I’ll have the capacity to do more, go more, teach more, and write more.
But right now? I’m good with doing what I can, because the trail I’m on is my own, and it is beautiful! The same will be true for you! Embrace YOUR trail and enjoy the journey!
Grace and peace,Lynn
TWEETABLEAdventuring in Utah Gave Me Insight Into Important Writing Truths Part 5: Embrace *Your* Writing Trail @LynnHBlackburn on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)
I hope you’ve enjoyed our Utah’s Mighty 5 National Parks writing series. :) I can’t say that I won’t pull from these parks again, and soon, because there were so many more ways I could have written these posts! :) If you missed any of them, be sure to check them out below!
Adventuring in Utah Gave Me Insight into Important Writing TruthsPART 1: THE BRUTAL BEGINNINGPART 2: TAKE IT SLOW AND DON'T GRAB THE REINSPART 3: 6 THINGS I LEARNED ABOUT WRITING AT CAPITOL REEFPART 4: CHOOSE YOUR TRAIL COMPANIONS WISELYPART 5: EMBRACE *YOUR* WRITING TRAIL
Lynn H. Blackburn is the award-winning author of Unknown Threat, Malicious Intent, and Under Fire, as well as the Dive Team Investigations series. She loves writing swoon-worthy southern suspense because her childhood fantasy was to become a spy, but her grown-up reality is that she's a huge chicken and would have been caught on her first mission. She prefers to live vicariously through her characters by putting them into terrifying situations while she's sitting at home in her pajamas! She lives in Simpsonville, South Carolina, with her true love, Brian, and their three children. Learn more at www.lynnhblackburn.com.
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