How I Became a Writer

The Origin Story

I don't think I've shared my origin story before.

First, everyone is a writer. Text messages, social media posts, emails, on and on. So, I was a writer before I became a writer who got checks in the mail for putting words together. And so are you, but…

I was a horrible. For years, I was abysmal. And not that I've already attained it—I keep straining forward. But, y'all, I really was awful.

I struggled to make coherent sentences.

My wife had to proofread my emails.

People kept asking me what I was trying to say.

So, what changed? How did I go from producing the kind of prose that came with prescription-strength antacids to articles, curriculum, multiple books, writing a PhD dissertation, academic journals, and becoming the General Editor of New Churches?

It's pretty simple:

By writing.

I wish there was a more glamorous answer. Or an easier one.

There isn't a hack.

The way to grow as a writer is by writing. Now, you need some talent. Enough to breathe. A sticky memory will serve you swimmingly. The ability to think, think, think is big. Attention and imagination are our superpowers. But, listen, you can cultivate all of these. But you just gotta write, y'all. You're like a sourdough starter. Give it time.

More specifically, here's how I became a published author:

While I had tinkered with multiple blogging platforms, wrote often, and tried to improve my communication for Christ's church, this one event changed me.

Back in my mid-twenties, I launched a "New Testament in 30 Days" reading plan for the church I was pastoring. I had the dimly-bright idea of writing a corresponding devotional for each day.

I committed to write 500 words or less based on something from the day's reading.

I refused to miss a day.

Somedays, I'd be at my desk with the perfect cup of coffee. On other days, I wrote in the car while my wife drove. I wrote wherever. Anywhere. Everywhere was my "log cabin." I even wrote on the living room floor of a family that hosted me during a church-planting conference.

Writers gotta write.

I emerged from those 30 days…changed. It clicked. And I don't think it's a juke to say that God did a work in me too. The discipline of writing—reading, meditating, observing, crafting, illustrating, composing, sending—grew me.

A pastor buddy told me over lunch, "Hey, I've been reading those devotionals. They are pretty good. You should try and get them published."

I scoffed. Laughed. And wondered—could I?

I talked to my friend Jared Wilson. He gave me some advice. I found an agent who was willing to take a risk with me. Kregel took a risk to publish it. Gospel Formed was released in 2014.

Then came the opportunity for articles around the web. Then an invitation to contribute to The Gospel Project. And then a project with a buddy.

And then a new agent. Then Humble Calvinism in 2019. Then PhD work at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. An article in an academic journal. I had the idea to work on three books and notes for a study Bible during the PhD program. Don't do that. The Soul-Winning Church, The Risen King, The Newborn King (2026), and stay tuned for the study Bible.

And, Lord willing, more writing is on the way.

That's my story, and I have to stick to it. Everyone has an origin story. While every writer's story is different, one thing is the same—you gotta write.

There is no substitute.

Read. Research. Coffee. Collect. Stare. Walk. Read more. Coffee more. But eventually, you write. You draft. Delete. Rewrite. Repeat.

If you want to become a writer: write. Just write the thing and send it out there. Live with the low subscriber numbers. Live with the low views. You aren't doing it for that. I mean, I hope you aren't.

But I won’t lie to you, so, don’t lie to yourself. We write and publish/post to be read. Otherwise, we’d put all of this in a private journal. We want people to be helped with how we've been helped or what we see in God's word. That’s good and right. Write to serve, not to be served.

Write to write.

Write to serve.

Just keep writing.