The Exhilaration of “The End” and the Power of the Written Word.

Few things are more exciting, more breathtaking, more terrifying-than typing the words “The End”.

If you write novels, the feeling is even more concentrated, because so often, weeks, months and possibly even years of work go into creating our babies, and it feels like such a relief. It’s done at last.

But you lucky duck, you, now it’s time for the sequel! And in a very few minutes, the energy that you felt for this story, for these characters so near and dear, fizzles into frustration and anger as the muse skips merrily away once more. Why do we do this to ourselves? Because we writers are an enslaved race. The muse cracks the whip at its timing, not ours, and at time it’s all we can do to eke out a few precious words.

Other times, the muse comes and shouts in our ears, and our fingers type so fast we fear they may smoke. The clacking of the keyboard turns into a thundering roar, and through it all we only think, I’m not writing fast enough!

Despite having book one complete, and a document full of bits and pieces and scenes totaling 9,000 words for the sequel, we continue to press onwards and upwards in our quest to write the next Great American Novel.

And yet, with all of our enthusiasm, and all of our ideas, it is nearly a universal fact that writers do not like talking about themselves. When someone asks what we do for a living, we describe our day job, instead of the hobby-turned-calling that breathes life into our ideas and excitement into our plotting.

Why do we do this? Why do we not think it good enough to have the God-given power of the written word? A lot of the influential people of the past still have importance in the present because of the words that outlived them. Martin Luther, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Thomas Jefferson. All of these and more poured their ideals, their vision, and themselves into their writing.

These people all ushered in a revolution in some form or another with the power of words. They took whatever God had given them to care about and caused others to care about it through the power of words. 

Martin Luther wrote a thesis detailing all of his issues with Catholicism, and arguably brought about the modern-day protestant church. 

Thomas Jefferson used the power of words when he wrote the declaration of independence.

Bonehoffer lived in Nazi Germany, and was a vocal dissident of the horrors inflicted on the Jews, and the physically, mentally, and emotionally disabled. Many of his sermons, teachings and writings still survive today and continue to be an argument for the human treatment of ALL humanity.

These three men made an impact because of their words. The spoken word is impactful in the present, but only in written form can words continue to speak to and shape generation after generation.

So keep writing, because words are forever, and you never know the way your words will impact the world.