The Art of Spiritual Writing

1. Spiritual Writing is a Courageous, Truthful, and Engaging Craft

Spiritually astute writing has that kind of power.

Purpose of spiritual writing. Spiritual writing is a manual for those who desire to write life-changing prose that inspires, informs, challenges, or delights readers. It's a craft that requires hard work and skill to avoid boring the reader and obscuring the message. The goal is to set fire to readers' souls, making sentences and phrases read as if they came naturally and without effort.

Core qualities. Spiritual writing is inherently true, compelling readers to see and reassess truth, even from new viewpoints. It is courageous, daring to deal with uncomfortable truths and allowing for confrontation and disassembling so that new understanding can emerge. This courage means writing what must be written, regardless of prevailing opinions.

Hope and engagement. Such writing is hopeful, believing that life is worth exploring and that reflection will yield benefits, ultimately uplifting and healing the world. It is deeply engaging, creating an experience for the reader that goes beyond mere information, fostering a connection to reality and moving them forward in their own lives and gifts. This engagement transforms both the writer and the reader.

2. Master the Craft: Good Writing is Non-Negotiable

Nothing makes up for poor craftsmanship.

Craft over passion. Writers of spirituality often have passion and missionary zeal, but these can lead to tunnel vision, overwhelming nuance and craft. Writing is a distinct form of expression from speaking or preaching, relying solely on words, arrangement, and punctuation to convey meaning. Therefore, mastering the craft is paramount.

Essential skills. Competence in grammar, spelling, punctuation, and sentence structure is fundamental. These "nuts and bolts" don't require genius but consistent work and practice, often through instructional manuals or courses. Relying on editors to fix basic errors is a mistake, as publishing houses often cut corners on editing time, and heavy edits can introduce new errors.

Reader's interest. A great story or message will be lost if it's badly crafted, causing the reader to lose interest. The writing itself must be seductive, inviting the reader to explore a topic alongside the author, rather than feeling lectured or preached at. Authoritative writing stems from competence and attitude, allowing for questions and personal struggles without losing reader trust.

3. Transform Personal Experience into Universal Stories

Personal writing must be transformed in order to work as public writing.

Beyond the self. Many manuscripts from individuals processing tragedy are unpublishable because personal writing, while necessary for the writer's healing, is too specific for a broad audience. The details crucial to the writer's chronology or emotional journey often hold little meaning for a stranger. Public writing requires a ruthless selection of details, focusing on universal themes over individual specifics.

Audience-centric approach. When preparing for publication, identifying the target audience is crucial, as it shapes everything from chapter organization to marketing. While personal stories are valuable for support groups, a published work must transcend individual circumstances to resonate with many. The audience's needs and the book's focus dictate which personal specifics are appropriate for inclusion.

Distance and honesty. Effective public writing requires the author to gain emotional distance from the material, ensuring the reader isn't burdened with the writer's emotional baggage. It must be emotionally honest but not stuck in raw emotion. This transformation often takes significant time, as strong emotions can fog the writing process, making it more frustrating than healing.

4. Authenticity is the New Authority, Not Unedited Honesty

Authentic means, “This is the real thing.”

Beyond raw honesty. Authenticity is not brutal, unedited honesty, which can manifest as recklessness, cruelty, or shallow attention-seeking. Good writing is always edited and revised to represent a truth that transcends personal bias or emotional reaction. Venting, labeling, or shutting down debate are not authentic; they are often acts of laziness or aggression.

Truth and trust. Authentic writing is honest, telling the fullest truth the writer knows while acknowledging limited knowledge. It delves into both thoughts and feelings, covering the full range of a subject with respect for both intellect and emotion. This truthfulness rings true to the reader, who possesses an excellent "bullshit detector," and builds trust, even if the truth is disturbing.

Maturity and holism. Authenticity often prevents neat endings or quick answers, embracing confusion and trouble rather than simplifying complex matters. It's a by-product of maturity, requiring the writer to step back, expand their viewpoint, and present emotional material in a readable tone. Holistic authenticity means including both successes and struggles, avoiding selective reporting that skews reality and sets up readers for feelings of failure.

5. Cultivate Double Disciplines: Art and Spirit

You are embarking upon two simultaneous formations, one of art and the other of spirit.

Intertwined work. Any creative act involves spiritual work, tapping into the deepest parts of the self where truth, purpose, desires, and fears reside. While it's possible to write persuasively without engaging this spiritual core, such writing risks being drivel. For spiritual writing, two crucial disciplines must be simultaneously cultivated: the craft of writing and intentional spiritual practice.

Shared principles. Spiritual formation and creative formation share common elements. Both require:

• Attentiveness and awareness: Noticing what's present, being mindful, engaging physical senses.
• Honest self-reflection: Grappling with all aspects of self, including pain and beauty, holding truth in grace-filled tension.
• Consistent work: Treating writing as a job, figuring out how to get it done regardless of inspiration, adapting practices.
• Help from others: Seeking community, mentors, and resources, avoiding self-sufficiency.
• Ample practices of engagement: Exploring various forms of prayer and writing exercises to keep the flow.

Mutual support. When one discipline struggles, the other can offer support. If spiritual life feels flat, turning to creative writing can help the soul return to calm and healing. Conversely, if writing is blocked, it often signals a spiritual struggle, prompting a return to prayer or spiritual practices. The two are so intertwined that tending to one naturally benefits the other.

6. Simplify and Evoke: Make Your Writing Clear and Compelling

Be as clear as possible. Be as compelling as possible.

Core goals. Every piece of writing should strive for two primary goals: clarity and compelling engagement. Clarity means words express exactly what you mean, chosen with great care through iterative writing and editing. Compelling means the reader is seduced, unable to stop reading, achieved by eliminating filler and organizing content intelligibly.

Practical strategies. To achieve these goals, writers must tend to details of structure, tone, grammar, and word choice. Key practices include:

• Dropping the introduction: Start strong, no warm-up.
• Getting personal (judiciously): Readers need a relatable person, but the material should ultimately be about them.
• Avoiding lecturing: Use stories and examples over abstract ideas or scolding.
• Taking the shorter route: Eliminate extra words, pare down points to one per section.
• Evoking, not describing: Stimulate imagination with a few powerful words, rather than dictating.
• Using concrete language: Be specific, not general.
• Limiting adjectives/adverbs: Let strong verbs carry the meaning.
• Using active voice: Keep sentences dynamic and direct.
• Developing an ear for clichés: Find fresh ways to express familiar concepts.

Continuous improvement. This analytical work requires emotional objectivity, often meaning a delay between generating material and editing it. Writers should also analyze others' writing, noting what works and what irritates, to feed their own skills. Balancing ideas with stories, explanations with examples, and statements with questions helps create dynamic prose.

7. Engineer Creativity Through Process, Prayer, and Practice

The miracle of creativity is that it is already within us.

Creativity is inherent. Creativity is not a magical, external force but an inherent capacity within every human being, driven by a divine impulse. It can be engineered and brought about through intentional effort. Understanding and working with your unique creative process is key to flourishing.

Understanding your process. Each writer has a unique process, and each creative work evolves differently. It's crucial to discover how you work best—whether in quiet solitude or amidst city bustle, at night or in the morning, with or without music. Don't force your process to conform to others' or try to control its flow; instead, pay attention to where the energy is and write what bubbles up, even if out of sequence.

Prayer and practice. Prayer, in its broadest sense, is soul-tending—attentiveness to life, openness, humility, and resolve. It's not just about asking for help with writing, but about finding inner peace and strength to deal with life's turmoil, which ultimately feeds creativity. Consistent practice, whether daily writing, research, or experimenting with language, builds skill. When writing or spiritual life falters, they often point to each other, indicating a need to nurture the other.

8. Navigate Publishing: From Product to Promotion

A product is seen as useful to a substantial segment of the public.

From work to product. At some point, a written piece intended for a readership beyond a small circle must be viewed as a publishable product with perceived value. This shift often involves adding or subtracting content based on market demands and the publisher's vision. The publisher, investing significantly in editing, design, and marketing, has a major stake in the project's commercial success.

Beyond the book. The digital age has revolutionized publishing, offering new avenues beyond traditional books. Writers can now publish e-books at low cost, write for online magazines and blogs, and leverage social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter for promotion. This means new skills are needed for online formats, which demand conciseness, visual appeal (bulleted lists, headings), catchy titles, and keywords for search engines.

Author's role in promotion. Whether pursuing traditional or self-publishing, authors are increasingly responsible for marketing their work. Publishers expect authors to utilize their existing platforms and connections to generate buzz. While self-promotion can feel uncomfortable for spiritual writers, it's a modern form of outreach, allowing direct connection with readers and building community around the work.

9. Embrace Enduring Truths: Lulls, Resistance, and Celebrity

What truths seem to be constant in the life of someone who writes for the spirituality market?

Navigating change. The spiritual writing market, like all industries, experiences unpredictable trends. While bestsellers inspire similar works, the public is fickle, and true impact comes from addressing timeless human desires and fears in culturally resonant ways. Personal and public lulls are inevitable, whether due to caregiving, economic recession, or industry shifts. During these times, maintaining some form of writing, even just journaling or social media check-ins, is crucial for staying connected to the craft and readers.

Confronting resistance. Writer's block or creative stagnation often signals deeper resistance—a need for more research, processing painful memories, overcoming fear, or improving specific skills. This interior work is essential for a spirituality writer, as resistance in creative work often mirrors resistance in spiritual or emotional life. Seeking professional help, such as a therapist or spiritual director, can be vital for navigating these internal conflicts.

The double-edged sword of celebrity. Celebrity offers a powerful platform for promotion, financial benefits, and validation, allowing writers to reach a wider audience and experiment with new ideas. However, it also imposes immense pressure, demanding constant output, making life overly public, and potentially pulling the writer away from the deeper, contemplative work that fuels authentic spiritual writing. It can tempt writers to prioritize pleasing an audience over genuine inner exploration, potentially working against spiritual progress.

10. Prioritize Self-Care: Nurture Your Sensitive Writer's Soul

The temperament that lends itself to writing and other artful work is often sensitive to begin with.

Embrace your nature. Writers are often sensitive souls, noticing details, feeling deeply, and relentlessly pursuing truth. These very traits, though sometimes perceived as "weird" or "unstable" by others, are what enable them to bring the world alive through words. It's crucial to stop apologizing for one's personality and to remember that those who truly love you will learn to appreciate your gifts.

Boundaries and restoration. Maintaining reasonable control over one's schedule is vital, as external demands constantly vie for time. Writers must draw lines, negotiate for writing time, and ensure others respect it as a real task. Giving up the illusion of a "balanced life" is also key; accept the natural ebb and flow of energy between writing, family, and other obligations. Regularly planning restorative activities, like walks in nature or engaging with inspiring art, helps replenish internal resources.

Professional and physical support. Creative work stirs deep emotions and can lead to exhaustion or depression, necessitating professional help from therapists, psychiatrists, or spiritual directors. Physical health is equally important; diet, sleep, and enjoyable physical activity directly impact mental clarity and creative flow. Finally, seeking community, whether a critique group, a trusted editor, or online connections, provides essential support and prevents isolation.

11. God is Everywhere: In the Gift and the Process

The Divine impulse drives our curiosity and tenacity and innovation.

God's pervasive presence. The belief in a Divine Good means recognizing that this creative presence holds together the individual human personality and drives our curiosity, tenacity, and innovation. God's involvement in creativity is not limited to sporadic "inspirations" but is a constant, pervasive force. It's a mistake to view inspiration as a finite object given or withheld, or to believe that an "inspired" work should not be tampered with.

Divine partnership. God is present not only in the initial spark of an idea but also in the writer's gift, in their ability to work with and refine the material. Just as parents nurture and develop a baby—a holy gift—writers are called to nurture and develop their inspired work. The process of writing, editing, and improving is itself a divine partnership, reflecting God's ongoing involvement in creation.

Embracing the journey. Understanding God's omnipresence in the creative process empowers writers to own their God-given power to create wonder and change the world. It encourages tenacity even when clarity is absent, knowing that the Divine is at work even when we are clueless. This perspective transforms the act of writing into a continuous act of co-creation, where every effort, every revision, is part of the unfolding miracle.

Last updated: August 12, 2025