UFWA September Writing Theme: Hindrances to Writing.

The Enemy Within

By Precious Colette Kemigisha

As a writer, sometimes I seem to be getting in the way of my writing. What I mean is that I alone am an expert on my weaknesses and this little voice in my head likes to recite these weaknesses to me on occasion such that I begin to think that my ideas are not as good as I thought they were. We are all familiar with this ‘little voice’ because many times it does not only affect our writing but our lives in general.

As a Christian, sometimes it is very easy for me to blame the proverbial enemy as the reason why I don’t get as much work done as I would like to but, truth be told, I am more of a hindrance in this case than the enemy is! I say this because I know that, unless I let the enemy have power over me, his authority has been taken away by Christ Jesus. So why then am I not producing work on a regular basis?

I’m beginning to realise that magic is really something only found in fairy tales. The work which I need to write is not going to happen by magic therefore, rather that thinking that there is some mysterious force that is preventing me from writing, I am coming to terms with the fact that my writing needs me to pay attention to it! Once I accept that I am in charge of me and my work, I can pay attention to my writing habits or lack thereof. Just a few minutes every day to remind myself that writing is important to me and that I need to schedule some time during the day for it has been crucial in starting the journey to overcoming my haphazard writing habits.

Writing is important to me and it is part of God’s purpose for my life. This is what I tell myself every morning. You see, being human, I forget sometimes. Distractions happen. This is how life works. I remind myself of the important things on a daily basis. This is how I take small steps toward my goal. Next month I’ll update you on the topic of How to Write Consistently.