If you fall into that category, welcome to the club.

Life is seasons. Seasons have challenges. Challenges forge us to be better than we were before.

For the writer, some seasons are filled with excitement and thrill over the story we are writing. Other seasons find us beaten down and discouraged, feeling like we will never get to the place we want to be.

If I’m being honest, the latter of the two is where I have found myself recently. I open my document and feel this overwhelming sense of hopelessness — that is, if I even have a few minutes to open my word doc.

Maybe that’s where you’re at right now. If it is, let me ask you the question that recently jerked me out of the fog.

Read: 5 Things A Christian Writer Should Never Do

What were you writing for in the first place?

Of course, our number one reason for writing should be our Savior. But after that, what did you start to write this story for in the first place?

For me, the answer was found in my own experiences as a christian kid growing up lacking good reading material.

I’ve said it before, but it’s hard to find the type of books I like to read. You see, I wasn’t your average girl who liked to read romance and princess stories. (Now granted, every once in a while I enjoy a good fairytale if it’s done right.)

No, I was the type of girl who loved to read the war stories from history. I had older brothers who constantly talked about America’s wars and battles, her great generals and heroes. Subsequently, that’s what I wanted to read about.

Have you ever tried to find a christian book that spotlights the battlefield side of our wars, is romance free, actually has historical and spiritual depth to it, and isn’t filled with cursing? If you have, please drop the title in the comments, because I would love to hear!

I always struggled to find those books. So I started writing with the goal of placing godly literature into the hands of young people who are looking for those same characteristics in a book or story.

Read: 3 Things That Changed My Creative Writing

What is your reason for writing?

It will no doubt vary from mine, but there must be something that started you on the crazy road of writerhood. Maybe you always dreamed of becoming a published author. Maybe the theme of your writing is one that you feel the world needs to know and hear.

Maybe you are just writing because it’s something you love to do and it makes you happy. That’s viable too!

Whatever your reason is, stop and ponder it for a while. Go back and remember why you started writing in the first place. There was a reason and a purpose that you knew needed to be fulfilled. You stepped up to the bat and assumed responsibility for fulfilling that very thing you saw lacking.

God doesn’t make mistakes in creating us. Some of us were born with a love for words and stories that pretty much destined us to be writers. As believers, our purpose is even deeper. We are given the opportunity to influence those who read our work and share with them the beautiful truths of God’s Word.

There is a saying that goes, “Be the change you wish to see in the world”. No doubt you have heard it many times over.

I challenge you to write the change you wish to see in the world. Be the type of author you wish there were more of in this world. Write the books you wanted to read but could never find.

You have the ability to be a force for good in the world we live in. Books and stories influence the minds of young and old alike. Sadly, many books in today’s world aren’t worthy of being read by any age demographic.

As a writer, you have the ability to change that commentary! God has placed a desire for writing in your heart, and He will use it if you will allow Him to.

So what are you waiting for? Get off the sideline and join the fight for godly literature.

A. M. Watson

Hebrews 13:8