“How is it already August?!” I’ve heard something like this so many times this year, it’s become cliché to say it! But we say it because it’s true: the year is flying by, and every year seems to pass faster. Now that we’re toughing out the dog days of summer, I hope you’ve been able to keep the July sweat out of your eyes and find quiet moments of creativity and story.

But what if you haven’t?

What if you really wanted to exercise that God-given gift and just make something awesome, but you couldn’t find the time or energy? You drew the bucket from the well and found it dry. You poured out the cup, but it was empty. You grabbed the jar from above the fridge and discovered crumbs instead of cookies.

Midway through July, I found myself creatively cookie-free, too. I was juggling the muchness of life – kids, home, travel, work – and sweating through the South’s heat dome while slowly growing whalelike thanks to the newest Feldman on the way, and with every plate I juggled, another one smashed to the floor. Dramatically.

Let’s just say I wasn’t thriving.

I cried to friends, talked to my counselor, and sought the Lord, and He reminded me of the one thing I was missing:

Rest.

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The Power of Rest to Fuel Creativity

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It is the lie of the modern world that hard work is rewarded with great rest. “Work hard, play hard” – not the other way around. But the truth, which I heard this month from two different counselors, my husband, and Brad Pauquette of the 90-Day Novel Challenge, is that great work is born out of great rest.

As image-bearers of a creative God, we are all designed to pursue creative work. He formed beautiful beings from the dust of the earth, and like Him, we work with our hands, type on our keyboards, and use our minds to make something out of nothing. (In fact, CNBC just published an article about this! It doesn’t bring God into the conversation except to compare ourselves to Him, but it does highlight the importance of creativity in general.)

God also gave us an edict: rest regularly. Fully rest. He established a rhythm of rest:

1. Rest every evening. Back when no technology prevented the dark, everyone had to stop when the sun went down.
2. Rest for one day once a week, on the Sabbath, a command included among the Ten Commandments.
3. Rest for one week at regular intervals throughout the year: Passover, the Feast of Booths, and the Feast of Tabernacles.

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During these regular rhythms, we are to do no work and allow no one in our households to work. It is one of the great challenges of the modern age, but when we actually prioritize rest, we experience the blessing of God, which includes the energy and stamina to pursue creative work.

So, after much angst, this month I spent a week actually resting. Despite my cramped schedule, I paused my work, played with my kids, enjoyed the beach and the pool, and watched Up (at their insistence) four days in a row.

And wouldn’t you know it: I suddenly wanted to create again.

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Creativity Comes from Being, Not Pushing

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Have you seen those hydraulic press videos? (I find them both unsettling and deeply satisfying.) When life presses as hard as that weird metal cylinder, I often assume I can escape to some kind of creative endeavor. Then I sit down and try to form words, but nothing comes.

Creativity is born out of the expanse of our rest, not the press of production. So if July wasn’t the rest-filled month you needed, take the opportunity to prioritize God-given Sabbath rest in August. Do no work – creative or otherwise – on Sunday (or Saturday, or whatever restful day God’s given you). Pour a cup of coffee. Sit in the backyard. Breathe deep.

Or make a smoothie and sit under a fan. Your choice.

Reconnect with your family, with God and yourself. Rediscover the joy of creativity that flows from true rest.

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Story Prompts

Here we go! This month, our prompts are images. What do they inspire in you?
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Book Review: The Hobbit

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This month, I offer you less of a review and more of an encouragement to reread the classics.

In the evenings, I’ve been reading J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit with my son. As we study the rune on Bilbo’s door, tell riddles with Gollum, and sting the spiders, I’ve been reminded over and over of the power of a really well-told story. The Hobbit winds through the open expanse of Middle-earth, touches on ages of rich history only Tolkien fully understood, and follows a style of plotting that is often lost in modern storytelling. Rather than following story beats – the standard practice for today’s writers colloquially known as “plotters” – Tolkien leads readers through cause and effect: the dwarves (despite all warnings to the contrary) leave the path in Mirkwood, only to become profoundly lost and caught by spiders. They escape the spiders, but fall into the clutches of the wood elves. Their only exit is via barrels floated down a river, which leads them to Laketown – and on and on. It’s a captivating story because of this cause and effect: the reader is pulled along one step at a time, wondering how much worse things can get and if the heroes will ever obtain their goal.

So, this month, I encourage you to pick up a classic story and read it again. Take the time to appreciate the sometimes-lost art of storytelling through cause and effect. Wander through the complicated sentences that would never find their way into a modern story. Look up the old words. Picture the vast descriptions. Enjoy an older way of reading.

And if you’d like to, sink into The Hobbit with us, too. It’s a shorter read, and it’s just so good.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Writing style

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Characters

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Plot

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Premise

⭐⭐⭐⭐ Pacing

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Impact

(Is it fair to remove a star from a beloved classic?)

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Writing Update

As it turns out, rest really does work! After taking some much-needed time to breathe and be still, and then re-evaluating my novel, I came up with a list of ten scenes I wanted to write/re-write. I think they’ll add pacing and punch to the end of the story. And wouldn’t you know it – I wrote them by the end of the month! August will be devoted to finishing my scene and line edits in preparation for querying in September. Woohoo!

I also took a few minutes to submit for some writing grants. I’ll hear back in September. Grants are extremely competitive, but you gotta shoot your shot!

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I hope you find great rest this month, friends. See you in another four weeks or so – hopefully with a finished manuscript!

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Liz

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