What would you write? - CWW Writing Assignment
Writing assignment from Christian Writers Workshop.
Assignment: If you wrote a book that was guaranteed to be a best seller, what would it be about and why?
I used to work as a Human Resources Generalist.
In the HR world, people are usually a generalist or a specialist. A specialist focuses on one specific area of HR, like benefits or compensation, where a generalist covers a wide area of subjects. On any given day, you might be advising and counseling your clients on recruiting, hiring/firing decisions, compensation, benefits, leave of absence, reorganizations, performance reviews and disciplinary actions. It is the embodiment of the phrase "jack of all trades, master of none."
At times this would frustrate me. Specializing felt like it would be more important, more “sexy” if you will, because you’d be the go to expert. But I actually did a 8 month stint in compensation and surprise surprise, I hated it. I liked the flow of learning new things and dealing with the variety of situations that came with being a generalist so that is ultimately what I went back to.
Now, I run my own business and I find myself doing #allthethings again. I'm in charge of client experience, marketing, hiring, social media and finances. While I still do some of the actual client work myself, my days are spent doing a wide variety of things again. Turns out I prefer lake level knowledge about a lot of things instead of ocean level knowledge about one thing.
So as I think about what my best selling book would be about, there is just no way I could focus it on one subject. I'm way too much of a generalist for that.
I would talk about what it was like growing up as an only child named Cinnamon and how I think my unique name has resulted in me having a unique perspective on the world and my approach to others.
I’d probably share about what it was like growing up in a household where one parent was a believer and one wasn't, and how I gave my life to Christ when I was 13, but Jesus didn't become real to me until I was walking the hills of Issaquah when I was in my early 30's.
I would talk about what it's like to be a 13th wheel, and attend wedding after wedding as a bridesmaid never having anyone there with me to hold my purse while I stood in the bridal party. I would talk about God finally bringing me Paul a few months after I spent an evening in prayer, fully surrendering my singleness to him.
I would talk about the fact that no one is actually an extroverted introvert. You are just an introvert who has learned how to morph into an extrovert when the situation called for it. You are likely still drained of energy after intense social interaction and need a few moments of quiet or solitude to recharge your batteries. It's ok to be an introvert. It's not wrong, just different. Embrace it, and learn about it while also acknowledging that your ultimate identity is not in any man made label, but as a child of God!
I’d also love to tell the story of me moving from corporate life to entrepreneur life and how I was able to grow a busy editing business from the ground up, pivoting and moving states along the way. I would want people to understand that you absolutely can become “a person who is ok with tech”, a person who dives into google to find a solution, and someone who takes a step forward without being able to see the entire path. You don't have to give in to the stories you have told yourself (about yourself) and you can change. There is so much beauty on the other side of a challenge, self imposed or not.
Most importantly I would want to talk about how humbling it is that the extraordinary God of the Universe was interested in ordinary me. My life has been pretty run of the mill. Aside from "doing the envelope system" when I was young, I always had what I needed. I haven't experienced any major tragedy or trauma in my life. Sure I've had my downs, but I've had an awful lot of ups too.
How can God show up through lil ‘ol me when I don't have a WOW story?
But that's the thing, God is after hearts, not WOW. He wants to meet us right where we are, even if that's in a HEB parking lot at 4 in the afternoon on a random Wednesday. He will work through us as he sees fit, we can not thwart his plans with our ordinary lives. He is pulling 10 million strings above us, and still has time to sit and chat with us when we call on him. He is gracious and loving and will use every single one of us with our unique stories, ordinary or exciting because…
…"In him we have also received an inheritance, because we were predestined according to the plan of the one who works out everything in agreement with the purpose of his will" Ephesians 1:11.
No one's life is ordinary when they have a relationship with the creator of the universe.
That's what I would talk about in my book.
