The Beauty in the Long Way

A faithful reader of mine told me that she had been checking my blog every day in hopes of a new post. That’s one of the reasons I’m writing this now.

I don’t know what I’m going to write about tonight. I’m going to start typing and see what happens. (Please note that I name my posts after I write them! That’s how I can ramble about nothing and it still ends up with a decent title.)

So, you’ll remember that I recently talked about my story, and my outline, and how excited I was about it. That’s the reason I haven’t blogged in so long; I’ve been busy writing! As of right now, I have eleven chapters and counting. Woot woot! Go, me!

If you’re interested, I’ve pretty much abandoned writing on my clunky laptop upstairs. I’ve been using the family laptop, which is faster, and looks cooler.

If you know anything about Jonathan Rogers and The Habit, then you know it’s about just that– creating habits in your writing. I’ve been keeping up with his blog, and it’s inspired me to get in the habit of writing every day. For the past week or so, I’ve been working on my story every day. Whether I write two paragraphs or five pages, I tell myself that I have to write a little every day. And I think that’s one of the reasons that I’m still going strong.

Have I mentioned my insane amount of versions of my stories?

But I was thinking the other day– if I hadn’t written thousands of words, banging my head against the wall, writing and rewriting and rewriting versions and brainstorming plot lines– I would never have gotten to where I am now. There’s little things in my new version that are a nod to the old ones. A character with a catchphrase who shows up for one scene, never to be seen again. (“Good gravy!”) A boy with a sad history, who is easily influenced for bad. A set of twins. None of these would exist without those dozens of versions.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that taking the long way to reach a goal isn’t always a bad thing. Because sometimes, the long way is beautiful. Littered with ideas that you could never get while taking the shortcut.

If you’re worried about not getting to a goal, I want to encourage you. Whether it’s a story, like me, or something entirely different, God will get you where he wants you to be.

The long way is beautiful sometimes. I think that’s what I’m saying.

Thanks for reading, God bless and goodnight!

Edited Jan. 2022