Your Next Faithful Step: Come try this with me

Have you ever sat down at your desk, opened your laptop, looked at your manuscript…

…and thought,

“Okay. I’m stuck. Now what?”

Maybe you know you’re supposed to be writing, but you aren’t sure what to work on next.

Maybe you know you’re supposed to be writing, but for some reason you can’t make yourself DO the writing.

Maybe you have three half-finished projects, a notebook full of ideas, and approximately seventeen tabs open about how to become a better writer.

Maybe you’ve been learning, planning, researching, organizing, and thinking about writing so much that you haven’t actually done much writing.

Or maybe life has simply been…life or LIFE <yelling at you from all directions.>

And your writing has slipped farther and farther down the list until it almost seems lost in the great abyss.

I understand. Believe. Me. I. Understand.

I’ve been there.

Actually, I’ve been there more than once.

Over the years, I’ve learned something about the writing life:

We don’t always need another course.

We don’t always need another strategy.

We don’t necessarily need another 47 things added to our already-too-long list that could reach across the Grand Canyon.

Sometimes what we need is someone to come alongside us and say:

“Here’s your next step. Let’s just do that.”

That’s the idea behind something new I’m introducing inside The Faithful Creative.

Your Next Faithful Step is a gentle coaching rhythm for Christian women who want to make meaningful progress on their writing without getting tripped up by confusion, stalled by comparison, deflated by perfectionism, or swallowed up with overwhelm.

It isn’t a course you’ll have to keep up with.

It isn’t another giant pile of information to consume.

And it isn’t a promise that you’ll suddenly become a writing machine.

Instead, twice a week, I’ll meet you right here in your inbox with:

A little encouragement.

A little coaching.

A doable writing action.

And sometimes, a reminder that the tiny thing you did today actually matters.

Because it does.

On Mondays, I’ll give you one practical step to move your writing forward.

It might be:

• Write for 20 minutes.

• Finish the scene you’ve been avoiding.

• Identify your one reader.

• Brain-dump the idea that’s been rattling around in your head.

• Spend ten minutes revising.

• Choose the title you’ve been putting off.

• Send the email.

• Outline the next chapter.

• Or simply open the document and begin again.

Some weeks the step may take an hour.

Some weeks it might take ten minutes.

The point isn’t the size of the step.

The point is taking it. Even if you falter or can only barely wiggle your toes into the step.

You’ll also find little opportunities for what I like to call Tiny Writing Wins. I don’t know everything, but I have learned that tiny wins have a way of becoming the momentum my motivation needs.

Thursday will be a little different. It’s the day we’ll talk about the person behind the writing. YOU.

Why? Because writing isn’t just about producing words, lines, or pages.

It’s about learning to keep going when the words don’t come easily.

It’s about dealing with comparison.

It’s about discovering your voice.

It’s about perfectionism and procrastination and fear.

It’s about making room for creativity in a very full life.

It’s about figuring out what faithfulness looks like for you when your writing dreams collide with laundry, chores, caregiving, jobs, families, interruptions, and ordinary Thursday afternoons.

And sometimes it’s about remembering why you started writing in the first place.

These posts may include a little teaching, a reflection, a journal prompt, a practical exercise, or even a prayer for your writing life.

Because I don’t want to help you simply write more.

I want to help you become an encouraged writer.

I’m not going to be sitting on the sidelines handing you assignments.

I’m a writer too.

I’ve written books.

I’ve self-published books and journals.

I’ve experienced creative dry spells.

I’ve gotten stuck.

I’ve chased shiny objects (I think I’m part raccoon.)

I’ve compared myself to other writers (and gotten stuck in the slog.)

I’ve wondered whether something I was writing mattered.

I’ve had seasons when writing came easily and seasons when simply finding ten minutes felt like an accomplishment.

And I’ve learned that progress doesn’t always look like a completed manuscript.

Sometimes progress looks like:

one paragraph.

one page.

one email.

one brave decision.

one faithful step.

That’s what I want us to practice together.

Here’s what I’m doing.

This week, I’m opening Your Next Faithful Step to everyone.

Whether you’re a free subscriber or a paid subscriber, you’ll get to experience the first two posts.

I want you to see what this new rhythm feels like before you decide whether it’s something you want to make part of your writing life.

So this week:

Monday: We’ll take our first Faithful Step.

Thursday: We’ll “gather around the table” for The Encouraged Writer.

And then, beginning next week, Your Next Faithful Step will become part of the paid subscription to The Faithful Creative.

The paid subscription is $9/month.

That’s it.

No complicated program to join.

No Facebook group you have to remember to check.

No enormous curriculum waiting for you.

Just two thoughtful touch-points each week to help you keep moving.

Then you miss a week. Seriously. No pressure here. No feeling guilty. No feeling left behind.

Life happens.

Come back when you can.

Open the next post.

Take the next step.

We aren’t racing.

We’re practicing slow faithfulness.

I’ve thought a lot about that word.

Because I don’t want to build a community around the idea that we’re constantly hustling toward some imaginary finish line.

I believe our creativity can be an act of faithfulness.

Sometimes God gives us a big, hairy, audacious dream.

Sometimes He gives us a tiny assignment.

Sometimes He gives us an idea and asks us to nurture it.

Sometimes He asks us to let something go.

Sometimes He asks us for a “yes”, even if we can’t do anything yet.

Sometimes the most faithful thing we can do is write.

Sometimes the most faithful thing we can do is rest.

And sometimes, after a long season away from our writing, the most courageous thing we can do is simply sit down and begin again.

Your Next Faithful Step isn’t about doing all the things.

It’s about discerning what matters now for you…

and taking your next right step.

If you’ve been wanting to write but haven’t been able to find your rhythm…

If you have a project that keeps calling your name…

If you’ve been stuck in learning mode…

If you’ve been comparing your writing life to someone else’s…

If you’re wondering whether your words still matter…

Or if you simply want a little encouragement and accountability as you keep showing up for the work you’ve been given…

I’d love to have you join me.

This week, come try it with me.

Take the first step.

See what happens.

And if you decide you’d like to keep walking together, you can upgrade to a paid subscription to The Faithful Creative for $9/month here on Substack.

Because you don’t need to know the whole path.

You don’t have to figure everything out today.

You just need to know…What’s my next faithful step?

Let’s find it together.

Kim “your faithful cheerleader” Steadman

You can read Week 1 here: