It’s been awhile since I wrote a blog post wherein I just lay it all out there. I thought I might do that today, because I feel extremely disconnected from everything that has been meaningful to me in my life for the past few years, or more.
But before I start I want to make it clear that this is not a plea for sympathy, or a seeking of affirmation. This is just me, reaching out to you- my readers, friends and followers here in the mysterious and wonderful World Wide Web.
A place used by many, but understood by so few as what it really is- an extension of our beings- for better or worse. And part of this is about that fact. The fact that some live their lives believing lies, and half truths because of fear. But I believe people are who they are – all the time. Whether in the community, the church, bank, the car…and online. People reveal themselves in bits and pieces, perhaps…but the fact is people are who they are all the time. No matter how we try to present ourselves or how we perceive ourselves. Character is revealed, as are shortcomings and defects in every arena life offers.
Beyond all this we recognize there is One who none can hide from, for nothing is unseen to this One,whether acknowledged or not.
So, you are probably wondering where I am going with all of this, right?
Well… to be honest I am not 100 percent sure. But, I will say that when I started blogging, I had a tag line ( I think that’s what it’s called). I started blogging in 2011 under Beneath The Surface: Breath of Faith with the same “tagline” I have carried with me to this current blog. The tagline states, “overcoming the superficial life with grace, authenticity and truth”. Ironically, same words but different order when I moved here to WordPress. Initially over at Blogger it stated, “overcoming the superficial life with authenticity, grace and truth”.
Subtle but distinctive change in order, yes?
If you are a word person, you know there are no mistakes with word choice and order. We who love our words devour subtleties in sentence structure, symbolic meaning and all the things that drive our loved ones crazy, like correcting their English at inappropriate times.
So why the change? What does it matter, and why the heck am I writing this blog post?
Stay with me, friends…those of you who have followed me from the beginning will still recall my rambling posts of soul searching, heartfelt revelations, silly but honest meanderings and observations. Authenticity was important to me and it still is. Grace and Truth were partners I trusted. My blog was a place I came to sort it all out and share- there I found myself whisked into a new frontier waiting to be explored. Surprisingly I connected with people from around the world who also felt led to write, and there was an amazing extension of fellowship, friendship, support and LOVE…yes, I said it…love. Acceptance, grace. There I received input for my writing, connecting with published authors who were willing to engage and encourage. Conversing with fellow writers of diverse backgrounds and experience allowed my writing to grow. I continued to write and trust that small voice within which led me to write in the first place -content with the small accomplishment of stepping out and sharing my words- even if I was unsure anyone would read them. I felt at peace with my writing, in synchronicity with my journey and life.
As a teen I wrote these words:
“If I died tomorrow, and you came upon my words, would you know me any better- would you let my voice be heard?”
I believed all of who I was and longed to be was merging at last with this voice that began to emerge from within. And it seemed good…was good.
Over time more opportunities came, and writing became a place to hide, and a place to be revealed. The blog was a sounding board, a testing ground, a place to be with readers, writers, fellow bloggers…a community to connect with at my fingertips. And that seemed good. Was good.
My writing slowly improved, and my readership grew. And it was good.
But as Adam and Eve in the Garden discovered, no matter how good we have it, we humans are complicated, easily distracted, and often predictable in the ways we stumble.
When is enough, enough?
When are we satisfied with doing what we believe God is telling us to do and can leave it at that?
Did God say?
What did He say?
Did God promise?
What has He promised?
I’m convinced our misery begins the moment we stop being satisfied with what God has for us in the present moment because we think we should …
have more, be more , do more, are owed more. Fill in the blank.
When doing God’s will ceases to satisfy, we are prone to wander. My friend, know this- we are expert wanderers.
But wanderers are rarely ever satisfied and wandering causes weariness for those who desire soul satisfaction.
I have more to tell you, but this is enough for one day. Needless to say, I must tell you- I will not be doing the 31 Day Writing Challenge in October this year…
I will be doing the 31 Day challenge…but this one is for me. Totally. I want to share from that still, small place from within- the place I’ve lost touch with…I want to rediscover the raw and real writer I was and rescue her from oblivion. The truth is, I have been wrestling with my identity as a writer for awhile now…and I hate what the whole blogging, writing, social media world has become…a place I don’t enjoy “being” in…because everything feels like a sales pitch.
For those of you who have followed me for awhile, you might love the direction I ‘m going. For some of you, you might find me a crackpot. Either way, I’m keeping it real. Let the chips fall where they may.
A few notes…I apologize for those who maybe expected me to write “Journaling with the Psalms”. I will do it…just not this month. Today, I sat down to write for the first time in a long time , and felt something rising from within…I’m staying with it. I have no idea where it is leading. But I suspect it will carry me to where I need to be.
Join me on the journey, if you’d like…this is the journey…
I am hit or miss on social media and will be lucky to get 31 days of writing in. So I apologize if I do not keep up with everyone. I will do my best. Right now, I need to just get the words out there…and support my mom’s ongoing battle with esophageal cancer. She will be having her last treatment October 5th. I will be sharing more about it all…perhaps. BUT, I am sporadic with the SM activity. I tend to just share a pic on Instagram as it is the lowest maintenance and easy.
This is my story…this is my song. Writing Redeemed, all the day long.
Overcoming the superficial life? Yes and also 31 Days of Grace, Authenticity and Truth. Yes. Yes, yes!
Will you join me?
I’ve set up a page at the top and you can find all related posts there. If you feel led to springboard off my writing or respond to anything that resonates or sparks something for you, join me in the journey; let me know your thoughtsand also find related posts by using the hashtag #writingredeemed.
Grace for the journey, friends. Sometimes I write to stay alive, how about you?
Writing Redeemed @ Enthusiastically, Dawn
Enthusiastically, Dawn 
Dawn, You have poured your heart out freely to us in your blogs. They are wonderful! Have you thought of compiling your blog posts into a book?
I subscribe to a book coaching expert’s blog. Below is one of her latest posts. Your blog posts are a natural for creating a book out of them.
Seriously, Dawn, your writing deserves to be seen in book form. You write beautifully. One of my favorite writers, Oswald Chambers, wrote, “Trust God and take the next step.” Praying for you, that God will show you your next step. It may very well be that God has you just being near your Mom at this time, taking in all that you can with each moment you two are together.
Julie Saffrin
From Judy Cullins:
Amazon bestselling international speaker and award-winning journalist. Nina Amir, shared this great article with us. She will also be speaking at our Nonfiction Master Course this October.
Register to attend now and save 20% with code NMC20 at
bookcoaching.com/nmc/
A Post a Day is a Book or More a Year
An enormous amount of people have the desire to become authors. In fact, 81 percent of all Americans say someday they will write a book, but someday only arrives for about two percent of that population.
More and more people become bloggers each year, not necessarily because they have dreams of becoming authors. In fact, currently you can find 1,302,286 different blogs cataloged on Technorati.com, an aggregator of blogs.
Each time those bloggers write a post and hit “publish,” however, they become both authors and independent publishers. In a survey conducted by Technorati last year, 61 percent of the respondents said they spend more than three hours blogging each week and 33 percent said they update their blog at least once a day. That means they write consistently; some have a daily writing practice, whether they call it that or not. That’s more than can be said of a lot of would-be authors.
Blogging a Book is Quick
Most blog posts are short, usually just about a computer screen’s worth of copy or so. That’s 250-350 words, 500 words tops. If you are a fast writer, you can write a post in about 30 minutes to an hour.
If you blogged an average of 350 words a day for 52 weeks, you would write 127,400 words. That’s two decently sized books in one year. And you’d only need to commit to one hour per day (or less) of writing time to accomplish this goal. You could write one book in six months.
Bloggers “Book” Blogs
A lot of people realize they have produced a book’s worth of content—or more—after they’ve been blogging a while. They then decide to repurpose their posts into a book. This is super idea that author and designer Joel Friedlander calls “booking” a blog. It can be time consuming, though and overwhelming if you have a lot of content.
Or their blog becomes wildly popular, and they get “discovered” by an agent or publisher and offered a book deal based on their blog. The most famous blog-to-book story is, of course, Julie Powell whose blog ended up the bestselling book and movie Julie & Julia. But there are many more, like Pamela Slim’s Escape from Cubicle Nation: From Corporate Prisoner to Thriving Entrepreneur, Brett McKay’s The Art of Manliness: Classic Skills and Manners for the Modern Man, Christian Lander’s Stuff White People Like, The Definitive Guide to the Unique Taste of Millions, and more recently Martha Alderson’s The Plot Whisperer, Jill Smokler’s Confessions of a Scary Mommy, Dmitry Samarov’s Hack, and Jill Abramson’s The Puppy Diaries.
None of these bloggers set out to blog a book. They simply blogged and created a popular blog in the process. Then they went back and booked their blogs.
Writers Blog Books
If you are an aspiring author, you can do better. You can blog a book. In so doing, you can move into the two percent club—write your book—and do it quickly and easily. Simply decide to write a blog post a day, but not just any blog post. Write a blog post that is one part of your manuscript. Here’s how:
After spending some time actually evaluating your idea to decide if it is marketable and unique, map out your book’s content. Once you have a table of contents and an idea of what material will fill each chapter, break this material down into post-sized bits. The easiest way to do this is to write a headline for each post. (Think of these almost like subheads.)
You can also use questions if you are writing nonfiction. For fiction and memoir, write titles for each scene. Next, decide how often you will post on your blog; the more often the better. Then commit to writing and publishing a post—a small bit of your book—that often. Create a manuscript off-line at the same time, though, so you have a document to edit later. Continue writing and posting on your schedule, and you will create a book and a readership for your blogged book.
When you are done blogging your book, edit the manuscript and self-publish it. Or submit a book proposal to a traditional publishing house—if you weren’t found by a publisher along the way. And, of course, you can keep on blogging—and blog another book.
Nina Amir will be presenting on “How to Turn Your Blog into a Book Production Machine” at our Nonfiction Master Course this October.
Read more about all 10 expert speakers and save 20% off your registration with code NMC20 at
bookcoaching.com/nmc/
Judy Cullins, MA, is a book coach extraordinaire with 30 years of expertise. In her VIP packages, she offers entrepreneurs, leaders, and upper management shortcuts to complete their ebook and print book fast. She teaches the essential skills to self-publish and market your book and services online with powerful results.
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Here is that link about a post a day is a book!
Show quoted text Julie – this is brilliant. God said “callJulie, I said, “ok I will” and He speaks through us!
Thank you for all your sharing and no I’m not concerned that I’m not safe. God says, trust me, and I do over and over again.
Sent from my iPhone
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Julie, thanks for taking time to share your words and also the information. I love Oswald Chambers too…He is my favorite writing inspiration! I catually already have taken steps, but am stuck. I have two drafts for books awaiting further input (editing etc) I started one but then felt I needed other eyes. Limited funds so other eyes with helpful input are limited. I have multiple goals in writing…and they are overwhelming…submitting for publication is also time consuming…this is what I will be writing about coming up….appreciate your input. Thanks for reading! And I will get through this…and publish three books to start, one book of poetry and then will take it from there. I just need to get over the hump with the first.
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I needed this encouragement today. I wrote a blog last night and titled it: When in the funk of exhaustion. And, I am reading all about Elijah today in 1 Kings 19. Just so you know others can relate, my friend.
In the same way God asked, “Elijah, what are you doing here?”
I ask the same question of myself….and I will eat and sleep with the angel’s touch today.
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Jeanne, I do not understand how I missed this comment. I appreciate you taking the time to comment here…and per our communications and writings, I believe you can relate. Thanks for reminding me, and confirming what I suspect…we are not alone even in our most overwhelmingly alone feelings. Beyond His presence He has given us so much more…in friends for the journey. Thanks again.
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🙂 Keep following the Spirit’s promptings
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I’ve been struggling with blogging for years…hating too what it has become. It used to be such an honest, friendly community, and now it is so hard to make connections. People who come to read one thing don’t come back to read anything else and if you don’t continually comment on their posts they drop you because they are playing the all-important numbers game. I never even check my stats except to see WHERE people visit from, just out of curiosity. Plus, having been burned badly in the past, it is hard to feel free to be completely honest. I’ll be watching what you write this month with great interest. I’ve been thinking of doing the challenge this year…I still have a couple of hours to decide. lol
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Stacy, just throw in your hat and write redeemed with me! Let’s get back to our heart’s cry…raw and real. No pressure. I am not even committing to any length, but just waiting on God and asking questions…I’m here …either way.
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Simply beautiful to me, Dawn. I always enjoy your honesty!
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Dawn: I understand your anxiety. When my stepmother had breast cancer (her second round) in May of 1996 and my dad being diagnosed in November, my world stopped. I had resigned from the Official Board of our church and spent most of my time being available for them. That went on for a total of 11 months. I couldn’t do anything else. These were not the first instances of them needing our help, nor was it the last. I found it took staying close to the Lord. (My dad was not a Christian, my stepmother was not a practicing Christian.) Take your time with what you have to do for your mother and take care of yourself. Jehovah-Jireh, God will provide what you need.
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Thanks for your encouragement , Cecelia. That sounds like good advice…I appreciate you!
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Hey Dawn, First off, thanks for your comment on my blog, you wrote with an air of familiarity that made me wonder who you were so here I am! Your blog is a breath of fresh air, and kind of what I am going for, but in a different arena. Authenticity, breaking down the illusion of perfect, the facade we mothers carry. To be honest, I have only been blogging for about a year and a half, but I feel limited by it. At this point, it is a means to an end, we hope to buy some property and my blog is a huge help. I try to be authentic as I work with my husband on this dream (hence the planning post, planning stuff is NOT my niche, but it brings me my best traffic, I made the decision purely in a business state of mind).
I have five littles and homeschool them and I love Jesus, more than anything in this little world. I miss writing for the beauty of writing, not caring about SEO or headline analysis or creating pretty graphics. I can totally sense your heart in this! I decided that this was a good business for me for write 31 days, but next year, I intend to write a book in 31 days. No one looking in, no one watching me, no one caring about keywords and graphics, just me and my heart and maybe my testimony put to pen. Who knows if it would be worthy of reading, but it would be an incredible adventure.
From a fellow blogger, living on the ocean, talking to Jesus or singing while I search for agates and plan with my journal, author-in-the-making….😉
Rebecca
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