Enjoy this article from Alli Prince, a graduate of The Company’s apprenticeship program. Learn more about Alli and read some of her work at AlliPrince.com.

I don’t need to convince you that God should be part of your writing. As Christian writers, we’re always talking about the stories our Lord has put on our hearts…but that does leave us with a question. How do you invite Him into your writing? 

I’ve spent two years here at The Company, and I’ve learned a couple of things in that time. In fact, I’ve found three ways you can invite God into your writing! 

One: Talk to him about it

Don’t just ask Him to bless your writing—though that’s good too. One of the greatest ways to grow as a writer and continue to invite God into your writing is to talk to Him about it. Tell Him about your plot ideas, favorite characters, and why they’re your favorite. 

God is the greatest storyteller, and it’s great practice to pitch your ideas to Him before your editor. 

Two: God wanted YOU to be a writer—accept that! 

If God needed your story to be written, He’d snap his fingers, and it’d be done—just like that. But God doesn’t need the story you’ll write. He wants your story. But more importantly, he wants you to be the one to write it. 

When I first came to The Company, I thought I was the problem in my writing. That my writing was inherently going to be bad because I had a part to play in it. In fact, I thought I was such a big issue in my writing that for many of my assignments, I’d sit down and ask God to write them for me—for God to bring me the words. He did, for some of them. But then one day I sat down to write, and I asked God to help, and He told me, “No. I want you to write it.” 

I totally freaked out, and it took me a couple of months to realize that I had a huge part to play in the stories that God had put on my heart. 

Oftentimes, we think about inviting God into our writing, and we completely remove ourselves from the equation. God doesn’t want that—He gave you the idea for a reason. A great way to invite God into the writing process is to accept and embrace that fact. The more you learn and understand God’s love for you, the closer and closer you get to him, and the more intertwined he’ll be in everything you do. 

Three: Spend Time With Him

The best plot, character, and scene ideas I’ve had have come from something God has spoken to me personally.  Those moments—the comforting things God has said to me—are what build up the emotionally impactful moments in my novels and in my writing. Luke 6:45 says out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. 

What you pour in, you pour out. This applies to what you watch and read but also to who you allow to speak into your life. How often do you spend a chunk of time with just you and Jesus? How often do you spend time with other believers? 

Our writing is heavily influenced by our lives. When I first joined the apprenticeship at The Company, I thought I’d get to sit in my room all day and write—but to write about life, you actually have to live. God doesn’t want you to hide away.

You are a light meant to shine, so start shining! Start that conversation with God and see what He says.

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