Course Charting: How I Became a Writer

In 2001, I found myself working at the customer service desk at a large bookstore. I don’t know, maybe it was exposure to all those books, but after a few months I became aware of an idea forming in my mind. Perhaps I could write a book. Admittedly, the prospect was intimidating. Who was I? What did I have to say? Yet the idea refused to leave. So, I gave in with one provision: I would write a few short-stories and see if anything would come of it. I wrote two stories about time-travel and one about an encounter with extraterrestrials on a highway in Wyoming. These early stories each took about a week to write. Then, after a year of serious writing, my fourth story turned into a full-length novel. My first book.

Once I broke through the intimidation barrier, I felt compelled to try my hand at non-fiction. Fueled by zeal and my growing passion for God, I wrote a mammoth work on Christian spirituality I entitled Defined By Glory. It was much too ambitious for an amateur, and thus earned multiple rejections from publishing houses. It did, however, catch the attention of a literary agent who didn’t like the book, but saw potential in me. After a few conversations, he challenged me to write something much smaller and more focused. About six months later, I sent him the manuscript for a little book called A Life Not Wasted. His words to me were, “Now I’m convinced you are a writer.” With the help of Gazelle Press, I had my first self-published book.

Believing I had become a real writer, I immediately started writing a follow-up book. It’s title, Obscurity, proved prophetic. It never got read beyond a small handful of close friends and family. Next, I compiled a collection of devotional essays and wrote a cultural analysis of the twentieth century. Neither of these projects found literary success. So after six years of serious writing, I had one novel, four non-fiction books, over a hundred essays and several short-stories to my name. That sounds impressive until you consider the fact that only one of those works became published (self-published at that), and most of those copies remain in boxes in my attic. I give them away when I have opportunity.

But I don’t consider these years a waste of time and effort. Quite the opposite, I see them as my journey, and they were worth every minute. You see, writing changed me. It brought clarity. I found that I am at my sharpest when I am writing. It taught me how to hold an idea for a very long time. It takes me about twelve to eighteen months to write a book. It taught me patience. Even after a book is written, it requires months of editing and re-writing to get it right. It opened my eyes to the reality of the book world. Writing is a real joy, but publishing is grueling and highly competitive. Writing revealed itself as my true passion. Even if I never publish another word, I will continue to write for the pure joy of it and the clarity that it brings.

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