Since 2009, each November I have taken part in National Novel Writing Month. As part of this event, individuals across the United States and around the world strive to write fifty thousand words over the course of thirty days.
Writing is like prayer in that everyone has their own approach to it. Some of us come to the page early in the morning while others can only write late at night; and still others steal a few moments here and there throughout the day to get our words in. Some of us begin with just an idea and let the creativity flow as it will, similar to those of us who approach prayer as a continuing conversation with God. There are also people who require more structure, who plot out every beat of their stories during October so when they sit down at the keyboard in November, they know exactly where they are going. This is what the prayer beads remind me of - having a set outline for what to say next.
That's not saying that one way or another is easier. The words, when they come, aren't perfectly precious little bits of prose that float out onto the page. They are messy and sometimes feel like they are being pulled out of us, but they are part of what we need to say at that moment in time.
The beauty of National Novel Writing Month is that while each of us works on our own story, we have opportunities to come together. Being in a room or a virtual space with twenty other people plugging away on their keyboards is a way to realize that we're not in this alone. Sometimes, one of us is struggling to find a particular word, a character name, or a way out of a scenario that we've painted our characters into. At times like these, we can go to the rest of the group for help. Someone is usually there with an answer that can get us typing again.
When we are struggling to find the words to pray, we can also realize that we're not in this alone. As we come to the last bead in our prayer chain, we are given the opportunity to pray the words that Jesus taught us, simple, yet powerful words, given as a gift to the disciples and passed down through generations. We look to Jesus and we find the words. “Our Creator, who art in Heaven...”