Author or Writer?

Carol J. Garvin had a post in her blog last week about whether writing was a vocation or avocation.  Well for me, it's been years of avocation, but I, like her example, couldn't justify spending too much time indulging my hobby, my fantasy world. After all, it stole precious moments away from my kids and hubby, my friends, and even activities at my church. How could I be okay with that?


Like anything else, it was a choice. I couldn’t escape feeling selfish each time I closed myself away with my pen and pad.

What's changed? Well, then it was indeed an avocation: a career I dreamed about, but didn’t anticipate.  I mean, I've always wanted to be on stage, too, but aside from civic and church theatre, I have neither the desire nor the ambition to explore the field further. Writing was like that, pure enjoyment, but no realistic expectations of actually making it any type of career.

The change is the little spark that God fanned into a full-blown bonfire. He illuminated me to the fact that my desire to write was something He, Himself, instilled into me. How amazing! The fact that He cares so intently on the tiny details of my life leaves me profoundly grateful and tears of humility escape as I write.

Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.  Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do it.” Once I realized the depth of this verse, the little flicker built into flames. I have to remember the prerequisite daily, though – delighting in, and committing to, my Redeemer. When I took Him at His word a couple of months back, enthusiasm continued to grow and my draft was finished in no time.

Am I an author? I don't think so.  I've read blogs that would disagree with me, but to me, an author has to have a book . . . well, yeah . . . and I do have one, but you would be hard-pressed to find it since it generally resides solely on my own little laptop. I think an author has to have a book that others can actually see and read for themselves. An author is who someone is, by accomplishment.

A writer, on the other hand, is what someone does, by vocation. I’m happy to be one, even without knowing what God has planned for this chapter.

If money and time didn’t constrain you, what would you wish to do more than anything else in the world?  My mom asked me that a little over a year ago. My answer without hesitation was to write and I guess that’s when I started to feel the burning for it in my heart.

How would you answer that question?