This past year of 2021 (and the ones leading up to it) were an adventure in trust for sure. As some of you may know, the Lord asked me to set aside the writing mantle for a while due to some crazy life circumstances. It was incredibly difficult. There were a lot of times that I desperately wanted to sit down, to write, only to have absolutely no energy and even less inspiration.
It was like a faucet had been turned off.
The beginning of 2021 saw my day job getting worse before it got better and I finally decided to quit around March of that year. I worked out my last two weeks of possibly the most stressful and emotionally draining job that I have ever had, but also the one where I felt like I left the most on the battle field. It was incredibly hard to lose and step away from relationships that were incredibly important to me and there was a lot of emotional baggage to go through in that respect.
I took a two week break before I stepped into the new job the Lord had given me, and within that time got rested and healed from a lot of stress. There was a point during those two weeks where I realized that I felt like writing again. The weight of the world had kind of pressed out any room for that creativity in my mind and it was finally coming back.
I was a little surprised, for it had been some time and the minute that switch was flipped, it felt almost too soon. I thought for a while that I would need to spend a lot more time relaxing before that creativity returned, but the Lord revved things up very quickly after that.
I dabbled a bit here and there, but was so excited about the process of writing again that I knew I needed to set a goal and make some sort of commitment in order to focus on it. So I built a cabin for CampNaNo in July and set about to write 25k in that month.
It was one of the best feelings! I had missed writing so much. I even decided to treat myself to a personal, private writing retreat and traveled a few hours from home to a little airbnb where I spent the weekend writing and resting. It was such a special time for me and something that I took such delight in. The Lord really met me during that getaway and I found so much joy in my writing.
I had thought at that time that I would be able to finish the rough draft of Once I Knew that month. But as I continued, I realized there was a lot more story that needed to occur first. I did hit goal by the end of the month and was so proud of myself and grateful to the Lord for His help and inspiration. I don’t think I had ever written that much in one month before and my weekend retreat netted over half of it my month’s word count! But we were still a bit too far away from the end…
I had a few months off from writing with only a few moments here and there in between and geared up for NaNoWriMo in November. I made the goal to finish the book and not only did I do that, I also hit the full 40K goal for the month of NaNo! I had never done that before and I was ABSOLUTELY blown away that the Lord helped me accomplish so much!
I was genuinely overwhelmed. I hadn’t written a book in years, let alone finished one and I couldn’t have been more excited for the future! I was blown away. It was a huge accomplishment and one that for a while, I wondered if I would ever see again. But it’s officially done and that book is on its way!
Once I Knew will be published this summer, and I can’t wait to share it with the world!
Stay tuned for the cover reveal next week when pre orders open! I can’t wait for you to get a copy and officially have another title in the Victoria Lynn library!
If you are someone who has had your gift either turned off for the time or felt like it is inaccessible to you for some reason… The Lord’s timing is perfect and know that when the time is right, He will bring it back!
Have you ever felt this way?
