This blog post went up on the ACFW blog this week (ACFW is a writing organization I belong to). I wasn’t going to share it here because I know most of you are not writers. But then I realized that it holds truth for all of us. So even if you don’t write, there are definitely times we all need to embrace our inner Mrs. Penury. (If you don’t know who Mrs. Penury is, read on and you’ll find out!)
This might apply to you with social media, or it might apply to you with the spoken word. Either way, it’s wisdom which ultimately comes from the Word of God–be quiet if you have nothing worthwhile to say.
Let me set the scene:
You are a new writer. Or an advanced writer, but still pre-published. Or you are an indie author. Or a traditionally published author.
It doesn’t matter your stage or situation, you have been told to build your social media numbers, which means you need to post. Often. Maybe every day.
And most of them time, you can find something to post about from your reading, your research, your writing, your life. But sometimes . . . it’s a blank page. You’ve got nothing to post about.
And you panic.
Or at least, I do.
Until recently.
Recently I gave myself permission to be quiet when I have nothing to say.
Because while “they” say I must be constantly speaking, constnatly reminding people I am here and that they ought to pay attention to me, Proverbs 17:28 says that “even fools are thought to be wise when they keep silent; with their mouths shut, they seem intelligent.” And Proverbs 13:3 tell us, “Those who control their tongue will have a long life; opening your mouth can ruin everything. Even Ecclessiastes 3:7 reminds us that there is “a time to be quiet and a time to speak.”
Or to quote a famous song, sometimes you “say it best when you say nothing at all.”
But my favorite affirmation of this silence came as I have been making my way through the Emma Lion series. In volume 3 or 4 (can’t remember which) we meet Mrs. Rebecca Penury, a woman who, some years before, decided she had said all she needed to say and hadn’t spoken a word since. (Granted, she writes a note when needed, but still.)
While she is an amusing—and endearing—character, there is a lot of wisdom in her, too. Wisdom for us as people, but also as writers living in a world of social media. Sometimes being quiet is the good thing. The right thing.
So I’m embracing my inner Mrs. Penury, not forcing myself to find something to say on social media when nothing worthwhile comes to mind. And as often happens, when I take a day (or even two!) to be quiet, the wellspring of things to say suddenly bubbles up again.
Have you struggled with this need to always have something to say?