When Is a Writing Moment?

“When is your writing moment?” Adie, my new friend—who will soon see her first book published—asks as I am about to down a corn muffin at Kenny Rogers.


Writing moment . . . writing moment . . . I roll the phrase in my mind and the muffin in my mouth. I think of all the times I am hard at work in my computer or when I scrawl a fleeting thought in my little notebook.

“Is it all the time? At special hours? In a certain place?” she follows up her question because I take a mighty long time showing any semblance of intelligence. “Or only when you’re in the mood?”

I mumble, “I don’t know about writing moment. I seem to love to write at all moments.”

“As in, all the time?! Even now?!”

“Even now as I speak,” I say. “I want to write down what you’re saying and why it is affecting me and why I think it is important.”

She gives me that keep-talking-and-make-me-understand look.

“Writing is a never-ending quest for me,” I say, sounding like I'm improvising.

“Quest?”

“Yeah, quest. Like looking for something to reach, poke, disprove, study and investigate.”

And then something whacks me and I exclaim, “Writing takes place in your soul!” I laugh because I seem to be horribly pedantic.

Adie is young and wants to be a writer. And all she wants are tips on how to write from someone who, years ago, was starting like her.

“My writing moment is any moment,” I say, trying to come back to earth. “I mean, all moments are writing moments. When I was in advertising, we had fierce deadlines and I had to keep writing to meet them. That attitude is in my bones. The only difference is, today as a book author, I keep writing because I want to keep writing—not because I am racing against deadlines.”

She smiles.

“Well, some moments are better than others. But whatever the moment is, always remember that you can write only because grace enables you to.”

She moves her mouth and it breaks into a smile. I move mine to ask about her oncoming book.

Adie’s text message one hour later is, “Ma’am, thanks. It was a grace-filled meeting.”

Adie is a quick study. In case she reads this post, she’ll know that I was indeed writing at that precise hour when she and I were talking about my writing moment.