Making a Difference as a Writer

By Linda Gilden @LindaGilden

“If you want to change the world, pick up a pen.” This is one of my favorite writing quotes and is from Martin Luther. Since the moment I heard it, I knew I had heard directly from God as to my calling.

I had always wanted to do something that made a difference. When I first started writing, I was content to write in my office and have a few things published. But sitting there all alone with my computer didn’t make me feel like a world changer. Looking across the top of my computer out the window at the vast landscape in front of me should have been inspirational. Instead, because it was all the world I could see every day, it felt very small.

Several things helped me change my perspective.

• I had peace about what I was doing. I didn’t feel restless to go do something else. God called me to be a writer, and I was learning the craft. With each successful placement of my work, I had the opportunity to touch or change a life.

• I ceased to worry about how I fit into the writing world and concentrated on doing what God had called me to do. Some like to approach the writing world as a competitive venue. God has a special message for every writer to communicate in a way that is unlike any other writer’s style. I needed to let my uniqueness overflow onto every page.

• I began to receive bits of encouragement from others. Friends commented on my writing, a note or two arrived from people I didn’t even know, my passion continued to grow as aspiring writers asked me for advice.

• Second Corinthians 3:3 says, “You are a letter from Christ … written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of the human heart.” Whether my words are on a computer or spoken by the way I live, I am God’s messenger to the world, and others are reading.

Yes, being a writer is a pretty solitary job. However, very few other professions have the opportunity to take their messages directly to their audiences. 

Can you be a world changer? Absolutely. How? One word at a time reaching one heart at a time.

(Photo courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net and vectorolie.)

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Being a writer can be a pretty solitary job, but we are world changers as we reach one heart at a time. via @LindaGilden (Click to tweet.)

Linda Gilden is an award-winning writer, speaker, editor, certified writing and speaking coach, and personality consultant. Her passion is helping others discover the joy of writing and learn to use their writing to make a difference. Linda recently released Articles, Articles, Articles! and is the author of over a thousand magazine articles and 19 books including the new LINKED Quick Guides for Personalities. Linda’s favorite activity (other than eating folded potato chips) is floating in a pool with a good book surrounded by splashing grandchildren—a great source of writing material! www.lindagilden.com