Writing and the Art of Biblical Womanhood: Camryn Lockhart

Ironically, as I set out to write this post, I came up blank. I know I wanted to talk about writing, but how to go about it eluded me.

I am passionate about writing and have been as long as I can remember. I was homeschooled, and my mom would give me writing assignments about dreams I had, or add endings to my favorite stories. My parents had the freedom to foster my strengths and passions, and it set me on my path today. It hasn’t been an easy journey, but it has been an enjoyable and fun one! Over the years, I have forged and re-forged myself over the years, learning my craft. And that’s exactly what writing is = a craft. An art.

Though I am writing about writing, I want you to substitute in your passion, whatever it may be. No matter what it is, it is useful and can be used to share the Gospel and glorify God.

When people hear I want to be a writer, I’m not sure exactly what goes through their minds. Maybe they think I mean those cringy Christian romance novels (admit it, they’re cringy, even if we love them), or maybe that I’ll write devotionals for women, or other ministry resources. Or maybe when they hear I want to write fiction (fantasy fiction at that), they think I should pursue that as a hobby and not my ministry, or maybe they think I’m a heathen.

If they do, then they’re wrong.

I could use my craft, my art for bad things, in so many ways. Words are weapons, and if used for evil or selfish purposes like arrows or bullets, I would be among the best. I don’t consider that bragging, since it is one of my shames and biggest struggles. When you can destroy someone with the flick of a pen or the tac of a keystroke, it is difficult to hold that power back. But by God’s strength, I do.

No, I do not plan to use my art as a mere hobby, nor for evil.

I don’t plan on using it for devotionals or ministry resources; even though they’re needed, better writers than me (or rather, different writers than me) are more suitable to that task.

But I don’t plan on writing “merely” fiction either.

I want to write like C. S. Lewis. A lofty goal, I know, but it gives me room to grow.

Like Lewis, I want to write works that are read, and hopefully adored, around the world. I want to baptize secular genres and fields with the hope and Joy of Christ. Without explicitly sharing the Gospel in my fiction, I want believers to be encouraged by the Joy therein, and for unbelievers to see the hope and want it for themselves.

In order for that to happen, I need to take my craft and make it an art. I need to be able write with the best of them, to stand out amongst the crowd and be recognized. I need to be able to do this, so that when the time comes, I can rise to the occasion.

That’s why I came to college: it’s my training ground. I’m reading and writing as much as I can while I’m here, so that I can use if for inspiration in the future. I find stories in all the homework I read. I find hope in every story.

All that to say, anywhere can be your training ground. Anything can be your craft.

Anything can be your art.

Take what you are good at, and practice it, sharpen it, hone it, craft it into your art—and use it for God’s glory.

We are women of God, and we have so much to do.

Camryn Lockhart is a student at the College at Southeastern, and is pursuing writing as a career. She is the eldest of seven kids, has an Army Dad who taught her to be strong, and a Writer Mom who inspired her by reading countless books aloud and encouraging her to keep writing stories. She loves writing fairy tale retellings and mashups, combining well-known stories to create new ones, and actually has one published as a book. She wants to write Christ-centered fiction that will honor God. She hopes to one day be as good as C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien, if it’s not sacrilegious to hope such things.