Write What and Who You Know

Write What and Who You Know

Okay, let's say you're a Christian writer or at least starting to feel like a Christian writer. The problem is that you don't know what to write about. When you first start writing there is this nagging fear that you may not have anything to write about. There is advice to writers that says, “Write what you know.” This is good advice so this is where you can start.

• Write about your daily family life. You may be thinking, “Write what I know? I really don't have a terrific education, after high school I had kids, got a job, and haven't had time to think much about anything.” Well, you can start there. Start writing what's it like to be a working mom or dad and your daily experiences. Get a notebook and write the funny things your kids or other family members do and say.
  For example, my daughter was nine-years-old and talking with her friend at dinner. Their conversation drifted to their goals and dreams. “What are you gonna be when you grow up?” her friend asked.
  My daughter replied, “I'm gonna be a veternarian.”
  With an astonished look her friend asked, “You mean you're never gonna eat meat?”
  You see what I mean? That's the kind of stuff you, and only you, can write about. Write what you know.

• Write about your daily work life. If you work forty hours a week you spend over 40% of your time every week on your job. That doesn't count your commute time. This is a rich resource of material for writing. What do you do in your vocation? Write about what you do and you'll discover stories, articles, devotional ideas, and even some humor.
  Years ago I worked in a camera store that sold photography equipment and supplies. One day a nervous teenage boy came in and told me his mother sent him to buy a specific type of film.
  I said, “Okay, what kind of film does your mother need?”
  My tense young customer said, “Black and white.”
  Reaching behind me to the film shelf I said, “No problem. Here you go,” and handed him one roll of black and white film.
  He looked at the film box and said, “That's not what my mother wants. She said to get black and white film. I need one roll of black film and one roll of white film.”
  Only stories like that can come from your daily work life. Like the kids game it is a good writing habit to…Stop, look and listen. There are stories in your workplace and just waiting for you to write them. This is another way you can write what you know.

• Write about your daily spiritual life. This should be the foundation for every Christian writer. Please allow me to emphasize that the best place to start is by doing a daily Bible reading. Then write your interaction with God and your reading in a journal.
  During a time in my life when I was experiencing depression, which was unfamiliar to me, I read a verse of scripture in my daily Bible reading that took on new meaning for me.
  “Then Solomon said, ‘The Lord has said that he would dwell in a dark cloud' …” Kings 8:12.
  This verse gave me the confidence that God was with me even when the dark cloud of depression settled on my soul. I wrote in my journal a few lines how God is with me during those moments of depression and all I needed to do was look for him. I wrote what I knew.
  If you're like me, however, God seems to pop up in my daily life outside of my devotional times. Sometimes he shows up in quite unusual times and places in my day. You can also write about those times. Whatever you do, write what you know. Better yet, write about your relationship with God and write who you know.

Copyright 2001 Glenn White