Writing - putting it all on paper

In a promo to his new book Philip Yancey said, "For a writer, nothing really counts in life until you put it on paper." What Good is God? sounds like it's going to be an excellent read and I've already ordered a copy, looking forward to its delivery. Yancey is such a wonderfully honest writer, a writer after my own heart.

And what Yancey said here is so true for me. As my life carries on I'm finding more and more that I really am a writer. There are very few things that happen to me, very few things I think or feel, that I don't feel compelled to share in some way - whether it be in emailed letters, articles, books, notecards, blogposts, or speeches that I write out. I like to send comments to what others have written, and yet so precious few other people do.

I'm constantly puzzled why others don't seem to want to share in the way I do. So much I write receives no response. A point of view I expressed via email to a group of members of my church - something I had hoped would spark some written discussion - received responses only from the pastor and one other person. And when I posted a comment on a church online forum, no one responded.

But I guess not everyone has time for such things. And I guess it's not as easy for everyone to write letters. I'm learning to understand.

I send many emails to friends and receive great satisfaction and comfort from sharing with them what's in my heart. And yet I wonder, are they getting tired of me? When they see my name in their inbox, do they think to themselves, "oh no, not another one"?

And yet I can't not write. Each email is a necessity in my mind, though my husband calls it an obsession. Don't know if it is or not. I comfort myself by thinking, "I'm a writer. That's what I do. That's what I need to do. That's what God made me to do." I feel like Yancey feels, nothing in my life counts until I've written about it.