Have you ever had an idea that won’t go away? An idea that sticks with you for years and years and you cannot bear to part with it? An idea that must come into the world by your hands?
I have had an idea like this. You may laugh, but it’s a werewolf western story. It’s okay if you laughed, everyone I have ever told about this idea laughed. I have been holding onto this idea for years and years. Now, I’m asking if I should finally put pen to paper (or fingers to keys) and take it from the aether and bring down into our mortal realm.
I recently published my first novel. I wrote that story over 10 years ago. I was so overwhelmed with the volume of edits and rewrites that I shelved it. It has sat on my shelf for a decade. I carried it in the back of my mind all that time. When I finally published it, people would ask me, “how proud do you feel for your accomplishment?” I thought about it for a minute and realized that I didn’t feel pride. I felt relief. It was like I had finally dropped a burden from off my shoulders.
This recent experience has me wondering the same thing about my story. I have carried it for so long. Why? Am I afraid to write it? Am I afraid to send it away? Will I feel pride or relief, or maybe regret?
Working with an idea that has so much of me invested in it is strangely difficult. I have kept it swirling inside my brain for so long that I think I might be afraid to be without it. Once I write it and put it on paper, it won’t be in my brain anymore. There is a fear that I won’t do it justice, so I should just hold onto it like Gollum did his “precious.”
I think there is something to letting ideas ruminate for a loooooooooong time. One, if we care about it then we should develop the skills to serve it well. That takes time. Secondly, a good story has a time and place. We have all experienced stories that were “before their time.” The author is a product of the time as much as the story. If I had written this story before now, it wouldn’t pack the same punch because the themes wouldn’t be relevant. Lastly, the author has to be ready to tell that story. It is a strange dynamic to be an author because I become far more aware that my own life is being authored. Themes in stories have to mean something to the author otherwise it will seem contrived (watched anything from Disney or Marvel in the last few years?).
It feels good to think that I have come to a place where I can write this story. It feels good to think I have developed my skills enough that I trust myself to write it. I like the place God has brought me to where I can stand behind my message with confidence.
As lent is approaching, I want to encourage you to assess your idea and where you are in your life. If you are ready, use that as your offering to God in this season. Let your sacrifice be the giving of your “precious” idea to another to benefit from. Give your time and effort and skills to make it the best you possibly can. Then share it with everyone that God may bless them as He has blessed you with such a wonderful idea.
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