Encouragement for a Young Writer
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Once again, the fabulous young writer, Elizabeth Baber, is gracing my blog’s page with a thoughtful and personal piece of encouragement for young writers. As is often the case with good writers, Elizabeth caught me off guard with her unique take on this topic. Like myself, you will be moved by the way she expresses the emotional ups and downs of a beginning writer and the joys of discovering one’s own voice. I am pleased to announce that she will be a regular monthly contributor to the Love is Accessible blog, and we all will continue to be delightfully blessed by her magnificent writing.
Encouragement for a Young Writer
From: Elizabeth Baber
Date: Present
To: Elizabeth Baber
Date: Just Beginning
Dear Younger Me,
You want to write. There is no problem with that. There is the opposite of a problem with that. You are not sure how the words fit together. That’s okay. Just write them down anyway. You’ve been telling stories since preschool. One thing follows another. It is challenging to write two things at the same time, though you are so welcome to try. You’ll never figure it out just inside of your own head though. You need to write it down. You cannot learn to write but by writing, just as you cannot learn to swim but by swimming. There are tasks and practices that get you close, but to know- you must Know. To learn, you must Do. Write.
Write.
Write.
♦♦♦♦♦
From: Elizabeth Baber
Date: Present
To: Elizabeth Baber
Date: Up To Her Elbows
Dear Younger Me,
It has you now. This is more than just a fancy, or one of the hobbies in and out your ever-revolving mind’s door. You still have so much to learn, but that is almost as delightful as the activity itself. You can’t even see right now how far you can go if you push yourself. I see your frown, and your exhaustion, but if you keep putting one foot in front of the other, you will see such marvelous things come to past. Just wait for the day you write 1,000 words. The day your first work meets a public audience. The day you finish your draft of your baby novel that lounges in your files right now, seemingly just a self-indulgent story rather than the masterpiece it has the potential to become. I cannot even begin to tell you of what else is to come, because there is so much more that I haven’t seen yet. But you are allowed to look ahead. You are allowed to know that even when the plot snags around you, and the stories fall short of your goals, good things will come of the time and energy and practice that comes from putting these things in. Good things are in front of us. Keep writing.
♦♦♦♦♦
From: Elizabeth Baber
Date: Present
To: Elizabeth Baber
Date: Wearing the Weight of the Future
Dear Younger Me,
The only thing stopping you is you. If you want to go for those writing courses, then go! If you want a degree in this path, then pursue it. If you want to build a lifestyle, or even a career on this activity, you are oh-so-welcome too. It is okay if not too. You are not required to burden your passion with the baggage of financing your existence. But if you wish to, do not hesitate to take your chance. You do not need a back-up plan, not unless YOU want one. You do not need to neglect your writing for other talents, nor do you need to make it the only one you focus on. You have every day designated to you yet ahead. Breathe, keep an open mind, and write on!
♦♦♦♦♦
From: Elizabeth Baber
Date: Present
To: Elizabeth Baber
Date: On Top Of The Mountain
Dear Younger Me,
You are amazing. You are fantastic. You have done such great work! Look at you, having found what you want to do with this passion. Look at what you’ve done, the edits on your first novel draft, and a second one completed. Look at everything you have become as you write more and more by the day. A week is the most you need for a chapter, and that is so beautiful. Please, celebrate these. And please, remember; none of these things define you. Your worth is not found in how many words you can write in a day, or how many novels you can piece together from the hurricane everpresent in your mind. Enjoy them, cherish them, and remember them. Please, please, remember them. Not as a benchmark to compare yourself to, but the pride and joy of why you chose to pursue writing, and why you chose to be where you are right now with it. Keep going forward, okay?
♦♦♦♦♦
From: Elizabeth Baber
Date: Present
To: Elizabeth Baber
Date: At The Bottom
Dear Younger Me,
Hey there. I hope I didn’t scare you too much last time. I didn’t know how else to prepare you for what you are going through now. I know you’re hurting. Your mind and emotions are betraying you, and the skill you have so persistently cultivated for years now seems to drain out of you like water through a colander when you open up a new page. You feel trapped, caged by inadequacy and wracked by pain with no identifiable source. I want to remind you: your worth is not found in what you were once able to do with words on a page. You do not need to hold yourself to the standard of who you were before. You are changing right now, and I know it is frustrating, and I know it is scary. Writing was your solace and now too even that has been taken. It will be there when you’re ready for it, should you want it. Today, just keep moving forward, okay? You are still you, even if you are not who you were before. Ever onward.
♦♦♦♦♦
From: Elizabeth Baber
Date: Present
To: Elizabeth Baber
Date: Yesterday
Dear Younger Me,
You did it. Simple words, but I can’t think of another phrase to sum it up. You did it. You’re writing again. It has been so long, years since you could put your fingers on the keyboard and words would flow from them. But you took the break, and you got the help and support you needed, and you changed and grew. I know it was enraging, to look at your old work and not recognize the voice that spoke there. I know it ate at you, to still be known by all your friends and family as a writer when your drafts lay dormant lest your frustration tear them to shreds. I know you are still working on it, that you are still fighting the voice that compares every letter on your page to what it could have been if you stayed the same, what it could have been if you’d kept on the uphill. But every hill has a peak, and then the earth comes back down again. You will see peaks, and you will see valleys, and you won’t be able to anticipate them. But I am so proud of you for what you have done. Stay rooted in your foundation, your faith and your history, but do not trap yourself there. Expand, move, change, and keep going forward. The journey ahead of us has so much to be discovered, and it will not be easy by any means. Just remember to keep moving, on the days where the words flow like from a faucet, and on the days where you cannot even speak with your lips. You are you, and you are a writer. Infinite kudos from your future.
Writing Onwords,
Elizabeth Baber.
Meet the Author, Elizabeth Baber
Elizabeth Baber is the latest addition to the DebraHillSings team, working as a Virtual Assistant for the wonderful woman herself. Elizabeth would identify as an author(ess), spreadsheet fanatic, and all-around geek. The majority of her time is spent serving Central Virginia’s low-vision patients as a technician with the MedRVA Foundation.
When not at work, she can be found cooking with her fiancé, coaching Teen Bible Quizzing, wrestling novel ideas, running an online Dungeons and Dragons server, or trying her hand at one of a hundred rotating crafting hobbies.
Some of her work can be found on her website: www.writingonwords.com and you can contact her at elizabeth@writingonwords.com.
Debra Hill
Debra Hill is an independent inspirational singer, author, songwriter, and writer. As a blind performer, she adds a personal story of God’s faithfulness. Her life exemplifies that Christ’s power will work to lift all regardless of circumstances.
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