Writing can be a lonely journey. So many days it is me and my computer. It can be tough for this extrovert to invest the time day after day alone. Yet I love story.

I really believe I was created to tell stories.

I’ve felt God smile when I do write. I’ve felt like beating my head against a wall or kicking cabinets when I’m in the discovery phase.

Writing is intense. It’s like opening your veins and bleeding on your keyboard. Then you clean up the mess in edits. Then you send your baby to an editor and pray that he or she will see the essence of the story and help you make it sing. Then you edit and send it back. Then you labor over back cover copy. Gasp at the beautiful covers. And then it goes out into the world.

And you wait. And wonder. What will people think of your baby? Will they like it? Will they mock it? Will God speak to them through the wonder of story?

Last week my novel Shadowed by Grace received Christian Retailing’s Best Award for Historical Fiction (you can see the full list of winners here). It was an amazing honor because Francine Rivers and Karen Barnett had written beautiful books that could have easily receive the award.

Awards aren’t the reason I write. If so, I should have packed up my typewriter…errr…laptop long ago. But they are encouraging. They are a signal to writers that their books have impacted readers somewhere. This award is voted on by retailers and those in the industry. So it has different meaning than an equally awesome reader award.

So why do writers do this?

You have to know why or you’ll give up because for most of us accolades are few and far between.

1. I write because I feel called to do it. Truly. I was born loving story. And the desire to write my own stories has never gone away. The season wasn’t always write, but the desire never died.
2. I write because I feel an unique partnership with God when I’m in the midst of creating. It’s hard work. Very hard work. Yet there’s nothing like knowing I’m working on something with HIM.
3. I write because I love a good challenge. Coming up with the next great idea. Developing characters — those pesky heroines give me fits. There’s something to the battle through to a story.
4. I write because when a story reaches a reader, and the reader connects with the characters, the story, the spiritual thread, it all becomes worth it.