I have been looking for Obi-Wan Kenobi for some time now. My search for a Jedi master has all but failed me. I found well-dressed look-a-likes, bizarre Jedi-wannabe’s who turned out to be 35-year-old unemployed men living with their mothers while honing their light saber skills in a damp basement. Battery operated plastic light sabers and Jedi guides printed from the internet could offer me no assistance. I was searching for the real thing.
Why do I need a Jedi Master, you ask? I am in search of the secrets of George Lucas, the Jedi Master of Writing and I thought, if anyone could help me find those skills, well, Obi Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn come to mind instantly. And as they obtained those secrets for me-the secrets of great story telling and unrestrained ambition… I thought they could also use some of their power on me. You know, just a few Jedi mind tricks to help me stay focused. I wrote some of them down for that fateful day Obi and I meet face to face.
You are an amazing writer.
This book will be published.
You will work at your craft at every opportunity you get.
You will write consistently several times a week.
You will read and research to gain more knowledge-always sharpening your skills.
You will never give up on yourself because your talent is God-given.
Mere words, yes, but in the hands of a Jedi Master, those words have great power! Even as I read over them again, my faded, folded too many times and shoved in my back pocket list, I can feel the strength they want to have. But my timid words don’t hold the “force”fulness I need and crave. I need Obi Wan to stand before me, waving his mystical hand in front of my eyes and saying in his slightly Scottish voice (the Ewen McGreggor Obi Wan of course), “You are an amazing writer.”
In my desperation, I tried those Jedi mind tricks on myself, all the while knowing I did not possess the Force nor have I had any Jedi training. So I stood in front of my bathroom mirror with my list and waved my hand in front of my eyes while reciting, “You are an amazing writer… You will be published… You will never give up on yourself because your talent is God-given.” A funny thing happened. I felt better.
So the next morning, I pulled my list out, waved my hand in front of my face and read those words again. During my lunch break, I pulled a book out of my bag and began searching through the chapters. It was a book on how to become a better writer. When I finished a long, tedious day, I turned on my laptop and skimmed through a few chapters of an upcoming title I had written a few weeks ago. I continued my Jedi mind tricks, eventually losing the hand movement and found that the more I said those things, the more I believed them. The more I acted on them. I was beginning to act like a writer, writing several times a week and even taking notes and listening to what other writers were saying around me.
The power of life and death are in my words! I didn’t need a Jedi Master, I just needed to believe in who God created me to be! I am a writer, an amazing writer, who works on her craft at every chance she gets, writes consistently, reads and researches and refuses to give up on herself because her talent is God-given. I have written these words on my bathroom mirror in dry erase marker to remind me of those things. Just as Jedi mind tricks are only temporary-I have to constantly renew my mind. I have to remind myself who I really am as there are those (The Sith) who desire to weaken my resolve.
I no longer seek my Jedi Master, no longer search for Obi Wan Kenobi or Qui-Gon. I have become my own Jedi writing master, if you will. What are the words you need to be saying to yourself as a writer? Write down those thoughts that need to be said back to you-whatever they may be-and write them on your bathroom mirror, tape them to your walls or your computer monitor. Speak those words of writing life over you. Become your own Jedi Master and may the writing force be with you!
Photo courtesy Shutterstock, Sergio Lucci
