“The Choice to Embrace Your Voice”
Dear writer, I hope you had a beautiful week and took time to explore channels of ongoing learning to develop your writing habit! This week, we’re going to shift gears from focus on habit building to the act and mindset of writing itself.
As you begin to write in earnest, you’ll need to make sure you honor your uniqueness. You see, we’re each given a unique gift for a unique group of people. In other words, we’re given a distinctive voice. Embracing that uniqueness is an ongoing choice, and a critical part of the writing process is learning how to honor that design God has given us.
But before we jump in, let’s take a look at some others who achieved great things by honoring their unique design.
Uniqueness in History
Nikola Tesla is a great example of a man who honored his God-given design. Though his father urged him to enter the clergy, Tesla knew his mind was wired for science. After his father relented, Tesla pursued education in engineering and ended up working at Edison’s Machine Works. During this time, Tesla’s innovative idea of the alternating current (AC) electrical transmission was born.
When Tesla and Edison began to clash over engineering approaches and priorities, Tesla chose to separate, remaining committed to his vision of the development of AC power and the conviction of its superiority over Edison’s apparently wildly successful investment in direct current (DC) technology. Because Tesla stuck to his design and unique vision, the AC current transfers power across incredible distances throughout homes and businesses worldwide.
You see, writer, here’s the thing. Our call from God and design is one-of-a-kind, and while we—like Tesla—may face those who seem to have greater success, if we honor what God has given us to express in the way He’d called us to express it, we leave Him the space to do all He intends in the proper timing. Sometimes things beyond our wildest imagining.
Uniqueness in the Bible
David is another example of a man who chose to honor his unique design. When David approached King Saul about battling Goliath, Saul urged David to use his kingly armor. David, however, recognized that God had uniquely fitted him for the battle with an unusual set of tools and skills and insisted he face Goliath with what God had given him. As a result, David’s victory not only freed Israel but brought great glory to God by demonstrating the battle belonged—not to a particular tool or technique—but to the Lord.
You see, writer, embracing our uniqueness is about giving God space to show His glory in ways He has not done so before. Sometimes, we can be tempted to do what’s “proven,” but here’s the thing. When we recognize and refine parts of our design that are uniquely from God, we open the door for God to move in unprecedented ways.
Uniqueness in Life
When I started writing my novels, several people warned me to use an eighth grade reading level vocabulary to ensure the book was accessible. My heart immediately resisted the idea for two reasons. First, I recognized I had a naturally (if unusually!) large vocabulary. A vocabulary I had learned, predominantly, by reading. Second, I realized my novel was designed to lift people beyond their everyday experiences and perspective most often expressed in eighth grade terminology.
Based on these two factors, instead of removing the large words from my manuscript, I simply trusted my readers would allow those words to stretch and grow them—as I had. And here’s the interesting thing…
When I began selling novels, some of its most enthusiastic readers were age thirteen—and younger. Not only were these young readers unintimidated by the words they didn’t know, they were captivated by the depth of the book’s characters, world, and themes that were created and under-girded by the unusual richness of its language.
Uniqueness in Your Life
You see, writer, when God created us, He designed us with a story and experience unlike anyone else’s, and as we start to write, it’s important to recognize which of those experiences are core to what He intends to share through us.
After all, if David had discounted himself from the battle against Goliath because he lacked experience with a broadsword, would we celebrate God’s mighty victory through him today? If Tesla had assumed Edison’s success meant the DC current was superior, would we enjoy uninterrupted long-distance power? If I had written on a level children were already used to, would they have been so thoroughly transported to world beyond their own?
You see, writer, learning to honor your design, is really about learning to recognize and rely on God’s work in and through your life. Let me show you…
-
- For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. – 1 Corinthians 12:14-20
- For I say, through the grace that was given me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but so to think as to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to each man a measure of faith. – Romans 12:3
- Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, – 1 Peter 5:6
You see, writer, honoring our design is about learning to submit the process of your growth to God, embracing all He has created in you and then diligently becoming the best “you” you can be. After all, David killed Goliath with a sling but he didn’t stop there! He learned how to wield spears and swords and so much more. But the key to David’s success was that he submitted his gifts and talents to the Lord—to His leading and timing—every step of the way.
Where to Start with Uniqueness
So are you ready to honor your unique design? Here are some ideas to get you started!
-
- Prayerfully Review Your Design. The first, best steps we can take as a writer is to pray. To ask the One who designed us for His wisdom as we seek to identify His purpose in and through us. Prayerfully review what values, perspective, and talents that are pivotal to who you are and the way you live. What do you consider non-negotiables?
- Assess Your Communication Style. Another key to our unique design can often be discovered in the way we express ourselves. How do you communicate? Do you tend to have a conversational style? A natural flare for the poetic? A highly structured approach? What kinds of expression draw you in? Visual? Musical? Verbal? Thought it may be unusual, don’t shy away from the way God’s designed you to speak and think. You see, there are my ways of communicating, and you may express your God-given message in the only way some people will be able to understand and receive it.
- Lean into Your Strengths. As you recognize those core elements God has built into you and the ways He’s wired you to communicate, learn how to refine those elements, values, and expressions to become the very best they can be. After all, David didn’t play with the sling. He learned to wield it as a weapon of war. Tesla didn’t experiment in his spare time. He committed his life to the development of the AC current. When you invest yourself fully in the gifts God has given you, learning how to make them the best they can be, He will use those gifts to open doors you may never have expected.
- Don’t Compare. Here’s the thing writer, the quickest way to lose our unique voice is by comparing our writing to others. And especially to begin to envy those who seem to be successful, because here’s the real deal…
The process of honoring our design is really about learning to honor the Designer. To put Him first in the writing process by seeking His purposes and intentions in calling us to write a specific story for a specific audience for such a time as this. To pursue that unique call wholeheartedly with excellence. And then to trust the results to Him.
You see in the end, learning to honor our design is about learning to make the ongoing choice to the narrow, and sometimes uncharted path, that allows Him to pioneer the new things He wants to see in this world through you. It’s about making the ongoing choice not just to be you—but to be so with ever increasing excellence and skill.
So, I encourage you today, writer, if you feel your gifts or design are inferior or small, to pause and look up at the one who made you. As you trust in Him and lean in to become the best you, you never know the people He will reach through that unique expression He’s given to you.
#unique #design #voice #pioneer #glory #EveryWriterWriting
