The other day, I was blessed with an opportunity to talk about one of my first loves—writing. I’m not in any way a professional writer. I didn’t even have comms-related courses in college! But I remembered that even way back in grade school, I would submit anonymous entries to the school paper; no, not articles, but poems… in Filipino. I vaguely remember my proudest work. Guess what it was about? Jesus’ cross! I wish I still had a copy of it, but back then I just write on pad papers and submit them. ? But I’m still overwhelmed by how even back then, even before giving my life to Christ, God already moved in my heart.
One of the goals of the event was to encourage viewers to start writing using platforms like blogs or their social media accounts. I just remembered that I wrote a short “Just Write” thought on the blog here last year (wish I remembered earlier and got to share it!), but anyway, during the interview, I was asked about challenges I’ve encountered in writing or blogging, and these were the top three I had in mind. Let me share these here as some of you may encounter these too, whether you’re now wanting to start or have already started writing.
- The metrics hole. With today’s technology, any platform you use to share your thoughts to the world (wide web), would have some sort of metrics. You’d get to see if people have read your post, how many have shared it, and so on. It’s easy to become metrics-minded over being message-minded. And it’s at that point we veer away from the purpose of why we’re writing to begin with. When this happens to me, I just stop looking at the metrics for a long while. When I feel that I have a message to share, I write it, publish it, and pray it inspires, encourages, or helps at least one person out there.
- Time. Being a mom is being many things, all the more as we work from home since there’s no daycare and I’m the one cooking our meals (no helper ever since; Pao takes care of cleaning the house). So time is a challenge, and how to resolve it is self-management 101: not to find time but to make time. Well, during this quarantine season, a lot more people has had more time than those whose work and house chores ate up all theirs. It’s actually a good time to start writing, because many people have time reading. In fact, because we’re all affected by this pandemic, many people will be able to relate to what you’re going through, which is an opportunity we should take to tell them about how God is present in our lives in the midst of all that’s happening, and that God’s grace and love is available to them too!
- English. My challenge is that I don’t have a wide vocabulary and definitely my English is not perfect. This is minor compared to the first two, but sometimes this is what hinders a lot of people. But you don’t have to let this stop you from starting. There’s so much free resources to help you, just Google what you need! I actually still Google spelling, grammar, synonyms, and a lot more! As you write, you improve. Besides, it’s your account, your blog—go write in the language you are most comfortable with. Why not? And more importantly, you don’t need perfect English to convey a heart-piercing message. The Word of God is a double-edged sword. The Message will do its work.
Not everyone will blog, but I guess everyone has at least one social media account. Use whatever platform you have to share how God is working in your life. Just write!
