Making A Start

"Everywhere I go, I'm asked if I think the university stifles writers. My opinion is that they don't stifle enough of them" (Flannery O'Connor).

Formidable first words with which to start a blog, but they nicely sum up why I've decided to start this blog in addition to my other one, The Luminous Heart. My first blog is less than a week old, but I've already begun to feel that it's mission---to focus on the joyful everyday things of life---doesn't quite provide an adequate creative space for the mental exercise and reflection every person needs---especially those who, like myself---presume to call themselves Christian writers. O'Connor's quote strikes a chord because, sometimes, I wonder if someone should have stifled me way back when I first showed signs of wanting to venture out on the writer's journey. I'm not trying to be falsely modest, neither am I in search of praise. I'm well aware that not even the best authors are wonderful 24/7. Welcome to being human!

But, I do sometimes wonder if I'm like some of the contestants who have the nerve to go to auditions for shows such as So You Think You Can Dance? and actually are flabbergasted when they learn that they shouldn't quit their day jobs? Two years ago, I completed my first real novel and very promptly received my first major criticism as an author. Dealing with criticism is a subject for another posting. Let us just say, I always thought I was good at taking criticism until that moment!

You see, I wonder: does it follow that a person who loves to read, make up stories, and can string together a grammatical sentence necessarily should spend all her free time "penning"? True, not writing feels like not eating, but maybe I should be keeping all my scribblings to myself and not forcing them on an unsuspecting public. The thought is a daunting one, but not entirely impossible. As I said in The Luminous Heart last week, I may be the only one interested in what I'm blogging about. If so, I need to figure that out now before I set about to answer, what I like to hope is, indeed, a vocation to be a Christian writer. So far, since none of my teachers, friends or enemies have seen fit to tell me to rethink what I do (yet), I've decided that I'll keep plugging away until someone does. Perhaps this blog will provide some anonymous person the courage they need to finally tell me to call it quits. Then again, I may discover that writing is exactly what God wants me to be doing.

So, if I am to finally set off on this journey in earnest, I need to start taking myself seriously as a writer. Now, I know Chesterton says that angels can fly because they take themselves lightly---which is a good and fair warning to A-types like myself who tend to overanalyze everything. However, it's also true that practioners of any craft should strive to be reflective and to know why they do what they do. That's what I hope Quills and Candles to be---a space for myself and others to reflect on why we write, what we write and how we write. Being a Catholic Christian writer, in addition, requires a particular brand of reflection which is more like a spiritual examination. Art, for the Catholic artist, is self-conscious art and, more importantly, Christ-conscious art.

It is my fervent hope that, the more I figure out the whys, hows, and wherefores of my craft, the better of a writer I'll become. I hope you'll come on this journey with me. The old maxim, "Know Thyself", is truly sage advice. As we strive to do that, I hope a community of intentional authors under the ultimate Author might burgeon and blossom here. So, sharpen your quills and put in a good supply of candles for those late nights and pre-dawns and let's make a start!