Writer's Life: Reviving Creativity After Personal Trauma (Desiree)

*massive hugs* 

Let’s just start there—with a hug. One spanning over cyber space to wrap you in comfort and to reassure you that you aren’t alone in this world. 

If you’ve landed on this post, then you’re probably here for one of two reasons. 

1) you’re curious as to what juicy details I could share about the issues tormenting my life. In which case, you’ll leave disappointed. LOL. This isn’t the time or space to unpack my drama. 

Or 2) like me, you’ve also battled grief and trauma and are grappling for a glimmer of hope that reviving a dead creative heart is possible. That, my friend, is the light I’d love to share with you today. 

A reassurance that your current pain isn’t a permanent end to your creative journey. 

Quick Disclaimer:  I am not an expert in anything. LOL. This is not professional advice or a resource to self-diagnose. 

I am just one woman who has had her heart broken, shredded, trampled, killed, and misused more times than I can remember. 

And yet … I’m still here. I’m still creating. 

[side note: I give all credit to my Heavenly Father for being where I am. It is by His strength alone I stand.] 

So what I share here are recommendations from one overcomer to another, for the one reading this who is desperately trying to not give up. 

Recommendation One:

Prioritize Healing 

Not only physical healing! But emotional, mental, and spiritual healing are important for our overall wellbeing and for reviving our creative heart. 

I’ve met some individuals who wear their pain like a badge of honor. I, for one, would rather bury the pain and grow stronger from gaining the victory found in healing. 

A lesson I’ve learned: I only extend the time endured in sorrow when I choose to carrying around the baggage instead of releasing it. 

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve keep myself in dark seasons because I thought there was no hope. Friend, please know that there is always hope! 

It’s okay to give yourself time in your schedule to book appointments with qualified counselors and / or pastoral staff. 

It’s okay to step down from certain administrative responsibilities while you give yourself time to process and the mental space to grieve (regardless of the type of trauma, grief and mourning tend to walk hand-in-hand with pain and sorrow). 

Quick note: I don’t recommend making the decision to quit jobs, projects, etc. while in the state of heartache (unless advised by a professional). Stay within your trusted groups and friends. People were made to be with people. Unless of course, those areas are adding to the trauma, are toxic, or cause triggers.

It’s okay to take a step back so you can learn to breath again. 

There’s no shame in being broken. Just know that you don’t have to stay broken. 

*more hugs* 

[there’s a lot more I can unpack here, but for the sake of time, we’ll move on to the next point]

Recommendation Two: 

Create for the sake of creating, not with the pressure of selling 

Now don’t get me wrong, I fully understand the weight of towering bills. The pressure of making sure everything stays current and you don’t fall behind, which would create an even harder situation. 

Definitely make sure yours and your family’s needs are met. 

Although from the perspective of reviving a creative heart, I’ve found that it’s best to be gentle and move forward in small increments. Too much pressure to “perform” for others will cause me to procrastinate like I was born an ostrich instead of human. 

So in the journey to heal and revive creativity, allow yourself blocks of time to create just for the sake of creating. 

Take a skill you know and love—i.e. crafting stories—or explore those you’ve been too self-conscious to try. 

Here are a few to get you thinking (listed out in random order): 

• painting (with oil paints, acrylics, water colors, etc.) 
• photography (it doesn’t have to be with a “fancy camera”, this is honestly about seeing the world in a fresh way) 
• ceramics / pottery 
• flower gardening (yes, it can be an art form! Have you seen some the elaborate flower gardens people have been designing?!) 
• baking / cake designs 
• thread and yarn workings (needlepoint, croquet, knitting, and other yarn things I don’t know about) 
• graphic design 
• pyrography / woodburning art (just please don’t burn yourself!!!!!) 
• handlettering 

[side note: if you tell me you have “no time” then I will tell you to make the time. I’ve learned that we give our time to what we love most. If you list out all the things you do in a day, then you’re revealing to me your priorities in life. That can either be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on the direction of your focus. Don’t use the excuse of “having no time”. Revisit your priorities, and allow yourself to have a fraction of what you’re giving to others.] 

Recommendation Three: 

Change the medium in what you use to write with 

I remember a time when I couldn’t sit at my desk without my whole body shaking. Just being in my office or at my desk would cause an onslaught of dark emotions. I would spend hours crying, and then it would take me days to recover from the emotional setback. 

[If you’re in a similar situation as I described here, please be sure to revisit Recommendation One and focus on healing.] 

Thankfully, writing (or other forms of creating) is only as stationary as we make it. 

Here are some alternative mediums I’m exploring (or have explored), in case one inspires an idea for yourself: 

Ideas involving actual words: 

—go “old school” with pen and paper 

Yeah, I know we can’t turn in a stack of notebooks to our editors, LOL. They would reject the project in a heartbeat. ;-) However, please remember these ideas are to help climb over hurdles and knock the dust off our creative muscles. We’re not after perfection; we’re focusing on reviving our creativity. 

—record your words using a device and transpose the content 

This can be done a few different ways. Either by a recorder or a software like DragonSpeak. 

I’ve actually used the voice memo app on my phone before. Then once the scene was finished, I set my phone and headset side-by-side to have DragonSpeak transcribe the words for me. That way I didn’t have to be at my desk. 

Bonus: try these options outside for a more therapeutic setting. Nature is amazing! 

Ideas not involving actual words: 

So the following ideas won't help with deadlines, but they are great for exploring your story from a different angle. Thus stimulating your creativity. 

—paint a scene from your current work-in-progress 

It doesn’t have to look like a profession created it! Lessen the pressure! But playing around with the colors and visual elements of a scene is so fun. 

And if painting really isn’t your thing, you can always play around with Photoshop and create a digital art image of your scene. 

Or even try modeling clay, welding (if you have the skill and access to such things), sculpting. Anything that gets you out of your own head and doing something creative with your hands. 

—complete an item on your character’s “bucket list” 

This one is so fun! What is an activity or an event your character would love to accomplish within the story that you could do or achieve in real life (within reason and within safe boundaries!!). 

I love this one for several reasons: 

• It will get you out of the house. Which—for those on the path toward healing—is something you will argue with, however, it really is good in the longterm for your wellbeing. 
• Depending on the activity, the moment could be a great way to explore the sensory elements for world building. 
• By putting yourself in your character’s shoes, completing their “bucket list”, would be a great opportunity to deepen your understanding of who they are and what motivates them. Bonus: there’s a good chance your character will teach you more about yourself in the outcome. Not that I would know, of course. *cheeky grin* 

*more virtual hugs* 

I wish I could sit across from you, face to face, and share the hope my heart longs to pour out. *even more hugs* 

Trauma—regardless of its form or cause—effects everyone differently. But there is hope that one day you will regain your creativity. 

It may not look the same—or even feel the same. In the midst of heartache and sorrow, it may feel like your creative heart died. However, with a little time, love, support, and a whole lot of Jesus, your heart can live again. 

Then … you can turn your personal experience into a story and share the triumph and victory that resulted from pressing through your darkest hour. I sure plan to! 

One last disclaimer: 

If you’ve experienced trauma, please do not go the journey alone!! Even when we try to convince ourselves no one cares or we’re all alone, that isn’t the truth. Please find a trusted friend, family member, or pastor to share your story with. It’s okay to be broken, but healing is possible. 

And for those who have noticed a friend or family member becoming more isolated and withdrawn, DO NOT BE SILENT! Please reach out to them! You may be the only light shining into their dark world. 

Blessings, 
Desiree 

Got an idea for reviving a creative heart? 

Please share! I’m always up for trying new things that leads to story inspirations. 

Drop your idea down below, and I may try it on my next adventure outing. :-)

Writer’s Life: Two Hard Truths and a Hug (Desiree)

Becoming a writer takes a special brand of crazy. LOL. :-D 

For real though! Making a career out of writing feels overwhelming and down-right impossible most days.

It can be so hard to navigate the emotions threatening to send our writing dreams careening off course.

Which is why I’m extra thankful for the theme rising up within the writing community. One of building others up verses seeing others as competition. The whole “community over competition” mindset in business gets my vote every time. 

And while I’ve never consider myself an expert, I’ve made tons of mistakes in my writing journey. :-) As such, I’d love to share some solid truths gleaned from those hard-learned life lessons. 

Hard Truth Number One: 

Easy isn’t always Best 

Listen, I’m all for the “work smarter not harder” concepts. But just because a certain avenue might get you from Point A to Point B with less time, less labor, or less heartache doesn’t mean it’s what’s best from a longterm perspective. 

I’ve seen so many writers—myself included—soak up the workflows of the “successful-than-me” authors with the hopes of reaching the end goal faster and with the same flare they possess. 

But focusing on someone else’s highlight reel will only cause you to add stumbling blocks to your own journey. 

And if we’re always focused on racing to the end faster, racing past the lessons and experiences and possible memories, we cheapen the journey. We dim the dream’s overall outcome. 

Now don’t get me wrong, gleaning knowledge and understanding from other's life-learned lessons isn’t a bad thing. Please don’t walk away from this thinking I’m downplaying the value of education—far from it! 

But sometimes we can spend so long looking at someone else’s “success” that it clouds our vision to our own self-worth and purpose. 

To aim for what’s best would require us to take the tools and the skills learned and then put in the labor, building into the dream. 

Because we truly do have value to add to this broken world, and our dreams are needed to make a difference, to shine a light. 

Value the dream by valuing the journey. 

Otherwise, we’re merely existing as writers rather than fulfilling our purpose living as writers. 

Hard Truth Number Two: 

Invest in Patience and Endurance. The longevity of your career requires both. 

Any dream in life requires a steadfast flow of patience and endurance. I cannot tell you how many times I've thrown up my hands in defeat. (Hint: I do it so often that I’m amazed I make any progress. *wink*) 

But one of the hard truths I take to heart is the need to cultivate a steady flow of patience and endurance. One day at a time. 

If I focus on the length of time a dream will take to complete, I can get overwhelmed and that icky feeling of defeat strives to choke me. 

So instead, I make the conscious choice to focus on today. Focus on this moment in time. Choosing to move forward one thing that will build into the dream, whether that’s writing 500 words or simply editing one chapter. 

Because I know that the sweat, blood, tears, heartache, etc. are evidence of my growth and strength. Evidence of the journey I chose not to give up on.  

Am I where I want to be? Not yet. But at least I’m not where I use to be. I’m making progress, and it’s beautiful. ;-) 

Tackle hugs all around 

I stumbled across some interesting facts about olive trees that I found so purposeful for our chat here. 

Did you know: 

• seeds for olive trees take 40 days to germinate. Which isn’t any significant growth toward becoming a full-grown tree, if we think about it. But imagine 40 days the little seed spent just to germinate! 

• olive trees need to mature for 3 to 5 years before they can bear fruit. It could take an olive tree 5 years before it is mature enough to bear fruit! 

• to obtain oil, olives need to be pressed (aka crushed) and refined (aka purified) before they can be bottled for public consumption. But once ready, the olive oil can be used for multiple purposes! Such as (but not limited to), food / cooking, cosmetics, medicine, soap, and fuel. 

Friend, please know that you may not be where you want to be in your journey. Or you may not have seen the level of growth in your dream as you’d hoped. But that doesn’t mean the entire journey is pointless.

Keep pressing onward to shine your light. Because YOU have value. This world needs the heart you have to share! 

Please keep daring to believe in your dream. 

*hugs* 

Desiree 

What’s a writing truth you’ve learned in your journey? 

Realm Makers Conference 2019 (Lizzie)

If you're a writer and you get the chance to go to Realm Makers Conference, go. It's a wonderful experience with lots of friendly, fun, kind people and great teachers. (If you're unfamiliar with Realm Makers, it is an association for Christian writers of speculative fiction.) This was my first time to attend the Realm Makers Conference, and I really hope I can go next year.

Today, for this Writers Life Post, I'm going to share some of my notes. (This is one the few times in my life I actually went home and typed up the notes from a lecture or conference!) To give you some reference, these notes comes from the classes I attended and Brent Weeks's (amazing) opening and closing key note addresses.

[Side note: This post is more focused on encouragement and wisdom in the writing life with some practical tips. If you want a dose of practical writing tips as well, check out my recent guest post on NobleBright about making villains your readers will want redeemed.]

Opening Key Note with Brent Weeks

Brent Weeks on his conversion to Christianity: “It only took a huge miracle and literature.”

Horace: The purpose of writing is first to delight, then teach.

1) Trust what God tells you. Put up your Ebeneezers (reminders of what God has done)
2) Sometimes what the world thinks is dumb is what God wants.
3) God uses our screw-ups. He shines a revealing light to show what is blinding us.


It took a long time and a lot of hard work and rejection and odd jobs and sacrifice (including not taking a normal, steady job and having a house, etc.) for Brent Weeks to start making it as a writer.

How to succeed in Hollywood (without losing your soul) by Dr. Ted Baehr

You’ve got to care about every scene.
A story starts with a promise that the story will lead somewhere.

Family friendly movies sell better than "Restricted" movies. Hollywood wants more family friendly movies.

A great script has a strong premise. It’s not obtuse. It must have a clear premise and direction.

No excuses. If you're not serious, get out.

A lot of people in the Christian community feel sorry for themselves. Don’t know why they do. We are more than conquerors in Christ.

From Michael Howell (Dr. Baehr’s assistant) on using bad language: Sergeant York didn’t have cussing, but you believed the character. You don’t have to compromise on language.

Don’t Preach: Organic Writing and the Christian Worldview by Morgan Busse

The God you know is the God you bring to your story. Know your God better, and it will come out in your story. What drives your character? Use this to bring your characters closer to God.

Have a heart for the people you are trying to reach.

Tips and Tricks to Capture Your Reading Audience by Ronie Kendig

Every story has been written, but not the way you write it.

If you’re questioning something, fix it.

Closing Key Note with Brent Weeks

He told story of Admiral Stockdale, a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War. It was a terrible story of torture and hardship, but Admiral Stockdale persevered. He created a system of communication with his men (they were in solitary confinement) using sweeps of the broom as Morse code. He gave them a code of conduct and told them what torture to expect that day because he went first. When he found he was going to be used for propaganda purposes, he hurt himself to prevent it—cut of his own scalp, beat himself unrecognizable with a chair because he knew they wouldn't showcase a disfigured POW. Eventually, the captors became lighter on him and his men because they couldn't break him. Later, when interviewed, he said it wasn’t the optimists who made it. They would say “we’ll get out at this next holiday.” They died after the holiday passed. The realistic ones made it.

You must confront harsh reality. Ask, what is stopping you from completing your books?

What is stopping you from achieving your dream?

He also spoke of locking himself away for a long time to try to finish a book by the contract deadline and the damage that did to his health and family and creative ability. His wife and kids needed his presence. He believed they needed his money. He saw his contract and fans as his top promise. 

We have a duty to love those around us.
We can’t defraud and abandon our friends and family for art and expect God to say “well done.”

Don’t abuse yourself for art. Your body is the rugged temple of the Lord. It needs real exercise, food, relationships. 

He mentioned Proverbs 6, where it speaks about begging to have your name erased—meaning, try to get out of bad contracts. He asked for extension on the book contract.

Recognize the lie that you don't have time for exercise. The truth is that you’re much more focused and creative if you take time to exercise.

We aren’t literature vending machines. We’re human beings.

If God made you a confronting Jeremiah, don’t try to be a comforting Isaiah.

He writes for kids he doesn't even know and may never know.

Put your light on a lamp stand for her dark night.

We don’t write off the world because it hates us, but we write for the world because it needs us.

Ask God for wisdom. What is he calling you to do at this point in your life?

Exodus 31:6 “Also I have given ability to all the skilled workers to make everything I have commanded you.” To all who have aptitude for craft… He has given us skill. He’ll be with you. Be bold.

I'd like to close with this quote from Michael Howell and a reminder to keep writing. If that's your passion, stick with it!

Stay true to the gift God has given you… bring him glory and the rest will fall into place.

Life Lessons at a Writing Conference (Laurie)

Hey everyone! Before I move into my post, I wanted to share some exciting news! Lands Uncharted has a new blogger!!! Sadly Laura has stepped down from being a regular contributor with us, if you missed her farewell post you can read it here. But we're so thrilled to be adding Julie Kitchens as our newest contributor! Make sure to check out her bio (you can find the link on the left-hand side), and if you haven't read her first post yet, Top 3 Reasons to Travel, you can find it here. Welcome, Julie!!

Now, back to our regularly-schedule programming... :)

Back in July, I had the opportunity to attend the first annual Northwestern Christian Writers Conference here in Minnesota. It was a wonderful conference in many ways, but since this is a Personal Notes post I won't go into all the writing-related lessons I learned. Instead, I want to focus on a few life lessons I received during the course of the day that were arguably even more valuable.


First, I had several fun experiences of God leading me to the right person at the right time. At lunch, I saw a stranger sitting alone. Despite my inner introvert telling me to go find a familiar face or join a group where I wouldn't have to talk much, I took a deep breath and asked if I could sit with her. And I'm so glad I did! It turned out she was also a lawyer who left her job to become a stay-at-home mom and is now looking into getting started with writing. As you might imagine, we had a lot to talk about!

Later on, I was sitting on a bench alone and someone asked to join me. She was from the town where I went to college, and happened to work at a middle school there. When I told her about what I write, she asked for my card so she could contact me to come speak to her students about my book when it comes out! As my fellow Lands Uncharted blogger Jill would say, it seemed like total a "God thing" :)


But what struck me even more deeply was a message contained within the time set aside for worship at the beginning of the conference. The singer made reference to the familiar story from the Gospel of Luke where Jesus calls Simon to be His disciple.

As a quick refresher, Jesus tells Simon to "Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch."

Simon answers, "Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing..." You can imagine what he's thinking here, right? Fishing is his specialty, and he's been at it all night with no results. Casting his nets out again was sure to bring nothing but further embarrassment and frustration. Yet, he continues, "but at your command I will lower the nets." And when he does, he brings up a net so full of fish it nearly sinks his boat. (New American Bible, Luke 5:4-7)

I'm sure it's partly because I still have a lot of maturing to do in my study of the Bible and my faith in general, but I'd always taken this story at face value. Nicely done, Jesus - what a clever way to make an impression on your new disciples. But hearing it in the context of a writing conference suddenly added a whole new layer of meaning.

There are so many areas of our lives where we can work tirelessly, only to find that little to nothing has come of it. Sometimes that can be a sign it's not meant to be, or the timing isn't right. But sometimes, you may feel a little pull within you to try again. Send out one more query. Enter one more contest. Make one more effort to become that person's friend. Make one more attempt at that seemingly unsolvable problem.

It's so tempting to say "I'm done. I've already tried so hard, given it my best shot, and it's over. I refuse to let it waste any more of my time." And there certainly will always be a risk that nothing will come of it. But what if, like Simon, Jesus is prompting you to try one last time because He's prepared the biggest catch of your life? Talk about inspiring!


These reminders of how God can act in our lives if we're willing to listen and take a chance came at just the right time for me, and I'm hoping I can really take them to heart as I step further and further out of my comfort zone towards the unknown of becoming a published author. Even if I hadn't learned anything specific to writing, I'd say the conference was a success :)


What coincidental connections have you made by happening to meet the right person at the right time? Have you had an experience where you planned to give up on something but tried one more time with a positive result? Has a familiar story ever taken on new meaning for you when put in a different context?


Thanks for reading!
Laurie