Have you ever written on assignment? You’re given a topic with some basic parameters or guidelines to stay within, but it’s up to you to come up with the content.
Writing on assignment is more common in non-fiction, but I’ve seen similar opportunities presented for short story contests and anthologies. In some ways it reminds me of writing papers in college, but in other ways it’s a bit more intimidating. Especially when a paid assignment is on a topic that feels a bit out of my wheelhouse.
This has been the case for a couple of my freelance writing projects this past month. And not for the first time. But the thing I love most about these types of assignments is the challenge they present to me as a writer and as individual.
Moving beyond “Write what you know”
We’ve all heard the adage: Write what you know. But sometimes the scope of our writing asks us to look beyond what we’ve personally experienced and find ways to connect with readers who are in a completely different place in life than we are.
Years ago, I served on a sort-term mission trip in Uganda. While the rest of the women in our group were tasked with delivering needed supplies to women and children in the surrounding villages, another woman and I were asked to lead a week-long seminar for the women (most of whom were married and mothers) serving in the church we had partnered with.
One of the small groups I was asked to lead was a group of pastors wives. And I felt completely out of my depth in more ways than one. I’ll never forget the way I was introduced to the women that first day: “This is Momma Jennifer. She’s 30. She’s unmarried. But she has much wisdom to share.”
The funny thing is. For as poorly prepared and qualified as I believed I was, that week ended up being one of the highlights of my adult life. I didn’t know it then, but God was using that trip to teach me that it is possible to do things and speak on topics that I don’t consider myself an expert on, let alone experienced in.
The solution, I discovered, was looking for a bit of common ground.
I wasn’t a pastor’s wife. But I had served in different ministries since my teens, so I knew a bit about the ups and downs of the inner workings of the church. I wasn’t a mom, but I grew up with younger siblings I’d cared for and had been involved in the lives of youth in my home community as a volunteer in different capacities. I hadn’t been to seminary, but I had spent years studying the Bible on my own, asking hard questions of myself and the pastors I’d sat under.
Whenever I find myself questioning if I’m qualified to write on a subject, I remember my time preparing for and serving in Uganda. And it encourages me to look for the common ground and to focus on that.
The Roman playwright Terence wrote “homo sum humani nil a me alienum puto,” which roughly translates into “I am a human being. Nothing that is human is strange to me.”
Our position in life and the things we have (or haven’t) experienced aren’t the only things that qualify us to speak into our readers lives. Do we have a desire to learn? Are we willing to listen? Are we confident that when we allow ourselves to be stretched as individuals and as writers, we can grow in areas we hadn’t anticipated?
If we can answer yes to these questions, then we can find a way to move forward in the most difficult of projects for us—even if we feel unequal to the task in that moment.
Write boldly and with courage, my friend!
—Jen
Image by Engin Akyurt from Pixabay