Called to write?

Look at that, you wait a week for a bandwagon to jump on, and then two come along at once. I thought about jumping on the Jacqueline Howett bandwagon, but I figure she's had enough publicity by now (is there such a thing as bad publicity? If there wasn't before, I think she just invented it.) so instead I'm running after Fred Warren's bandwagon about being called to write. Or not.

I am fairly clear in my own mind why I write: I'm wired that way, writing things down helps me to work through my own problems as well as learning stuff. The logical step from there is to say that God wired me that way; I believe, in my typically modest way, that He gave me a talent for writing, and it would be rude not to use it. And so, in some small way, I try to use it to give something back to Him.

Now obviously, a comic fantasy retro-cyberpunk road trip featuring Rod Serling from out of The Twilight Zone and a sentient ZX81 is unlikely to start a revival, but much of what I write does reflect something of God.

So am I called to write? Well, I struggled with that for a long time; whether I should be involved in some more tangible or constructive form of ministry instead of convincing myself that God wants me to write. In fact, I almost convinced myself that God didn't want me to write, and all but gave up. But then I realised: this is who I am. A writer - someone who thinks better with the written word at hand - is what God gave me. And if I want to rewrite the Old Testament as a space opera, well... maybe God gave me that desire too. Maybe God does want me doing this crazy thing called writing.

However, like many comentators on the subject, I don't feel suitably qualified to jump right in and say a definitive yes; but I certainly don't feel called to stop writing.

On the other hand, circumstances have led me to feel very strongly about certain issues in life, and, yes, I feel called to do something about those issues. And until I come up with a better idea, the thing I'm going to do is write. Sometimes a story can raise awareness of an issue far more effectively than any amount of placard waving or *ahem* peaceful protesting.

Linky Goodness:
Fred Warren: Call Writing
Sally Apokedak: Divine Calling
Bob Thune: A Theology of Work
Mike Duran: Where Do Writers Fit in the Church?

Me: Why I write
Me: Why I don't write