Can writing change you? Does writing somehow redeem the writer? Can the act of placing words on virtual page actually cause a tangible change in the person doing the writing? The answer is, of course it can, but, this thought somehow never occurred to me. I was reading something by Linford Detweiler of the band Over the Rhine where he described himself as a writer who constantly runs from writing. I am also a writer who runs from writing. I have become a writer who somehow believes that the words and thoughts must be birthed fully formed. I’m so afraid of writing something stupid – even if it honestly reflects my own stupidity of the moment – that I just stop writing altogether.

Linford continues in his letter with the following:

But the writing works on me little by little and begins to change me.  That’s why I would recommend not putting off writing if it’s something you feel called to: if you put it off, then the writing can’t do the work that it needs to do to you.

Yes, I think there’s something there. If you don’t do the work, the work can’t change you. (No one expects to change overnight.)

I had never stopped to consider, really, that the writing is something that needs to do something to me. Now, with that revelation in hand… let’s see if it changes anything shall we?