Inspiration for the Writing Life from Merriam-Webster

Recently, I was accosted by a stereotypical Monday. I emerged from the gauze of sleep, stretched, pulled the covers tight, and nestled in like it was Saturday morning. Just as I was falling back into the bliss of slumber, the distant drone of traffic tapped at my consciousness. It was not Saturday but Monday, and the world was on its way to work.

I opened my eyes and squinted against . . . Daylight? I threw the covers back, sat up, and stared into the unfamiliar light. As a lifelong insomniac, I am unaccustomed to rising after the sun. I leaned over to press Brew on the coffee pot that resides on my nightstand, only to find the machine with no coffee grounds or water.  

I drug myself from bed, trudged downstairs, and located the coffee filter and pot, both of which I’d filled the night before and left sitting on the kitchen counter.

The day was off to a rough start.

What does a writer do when Monday hits like its cliché? To put it another way, what’s a writer do when life doesn’t go as planned—when the inevitable happens and plans are upended for a morning, a day, a week, or a season?

I discovered a writer can turn to The Merriam-Webster Dictionary for guidance. Who knew?

By the time I sipped my second cup of coffee, I still felt disoriented and had added disgruntled to my emotional stance. But I had writing to do, whether I wanted to write or not. I needed to persevere.

Who wants to persevere? Reluctantly, I set my coffee cup down. What does “persevere” really mean, anyway?

After more than thirty years of honing my writing craft and meeting contracted deadlines, I know exactly what it means to persevere. But in my grumbly state, I hoped to uncover something new, something inspiring, about the practice of perseverance. I opened my phone app for The Merriam-Webster Dictionary and typed persevere into the search bar.

Persevere

: to persist in a state, enterprise, or undertaking in spite of counterinfluences, opposition, or discouragement

Counterinfluences, opposition, or discouragement? Not exactly what I was hoping to find. I typed perseverance into the search bar.

Perseverance

: continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition : the action or condition or an instance of persevering : STEADFASTNESS

Steadfastness? I hadn’t expected steadfastness. Drudgery, toil, or grind seemed more in line with my definition of perseverance. I stilled for a moment as I considered the meaning of steadfastness, a word that holds a positive connotation in my mind. I typed steadfast into the search bar.

Steadfast

1   a : firmly fixed in place : IMMOVABLE

b : not subject to change

c : firm in belief, determination, or adherence: LOYAL

Synonyms listed for steadfast included constant, dedicated, devoted, faithful, steady, and true. Those are all words with meanings I value, meanings I aspire to live, and meanings I hope my career as an author reflects.

We will face difficulties as we pursue writing words that honor God. Those obstacles—counterinfluences, opposition, and discouragement—will offer us an opportunity to choose whether or not we will persevere.

Perseverance is a fairly easy choice when faced with an empty coffee pot on a Monday morning. It’s a more difficult choice when the challenge is severe, when suffering is involved, when the struggle to write is more than you think you can bear.

How can we live in such a way that we are prepared to face and overcome obstacles?

I found one answer by pursuing the Webster’s definition of steadfast as “loyal.”

Loyal

1    : unswerving in allegiance: such as

      a. Faithful in allegiance to one’s lawful sovereign or government//loyal to the king

 Overcoming obstacles in our writing life is less about our allegiance to the work itself and much more about choosing, moment by moment, to pledge our unswerving loyalty to the One calling us to the work.

When our faith, our allegiance, is pledged to the one sovereign God, we can face whatever he allows, knowing his perfect plan will prevail.

There will be days when we don’t want to sit in the desk chair and put our fingers to the computer keys. Days when our writing work is interrupted, even derailed. There will be seasons when we have no choice but to walk away from that work.

In each instance, we can choose to persevere—not just as writers, but as people holding firm to the belief in the one sovereign God, who has designed a purpose and plan for each of us.

We can choose to remain steadfast, loyal, to God, entrusting our work and words to him.