Like any complex creative process, writing a novel requires the creator to make make a million decisions one at a time. It takes time and energy and, oddly enough, faith. Faith that, by showing up, we can make progress. Faith that we will have more ideas. Faith that we will have the skill to put our ideas into our work. Faith that we will finish this massive project one day.
I was feeling dismayed about the novel I am working on. It’s taking me a long time to write it and I do fear it won’t ever be finished. But I found this great quote in my notebook, and am grateful for the hope it gives me:
With the best of intentions and the most diligent of practices, [faith] still wears thin. Fatigue can make it hard to have faith. Too much busyness can make it hard to have faith. Too much or too little solitude can impact faith. For that matter, so can a bout of hunger or overwork, anything carried to an extreme. Faith thrives on routine. Look at any monastery and you will see that. Faith keeps on keeping on.
Julia Cameron in Finding Water, p. 43.
Losing faith is part of the process. So is getting it back. So keep on keeping on.
Just what I needed to read today. The routine that faith needs is probably why so many writers stress the importance of a regular – daily or five-day-a -week – commitment to getting something done, That seems to be the more effective approach, one that keeps the much needed momentum, than does scheduling some future marathon session that may or may not materialize. And while a marathon of writing may yield a mass of work, such an approach has little to do with building faith they way a consistent writing habit does, the latter building not just faith and momentum, but also one’s identity as a writer.
Glad you found it encouraging! I always feel like I’m incapable of consistent effort so the “every day” thing seems impossible. But I can do five days a week and that’s what I usually shoot for. And the thing that makes my projects move forward is coming back to them over and over and over again. That takes a lot of determination and discipline, but it pays off.
Excellent! Keep on keeping on! This is what I’m trying to do with my chores, self care, finances, any art I do, just everything! Thanks for this post!
You are welcome. Hugs and hang in there.