TLDR What does a Christian spiritual director serving writers actually do?

A Christian spiritual director serving writers offers a sacred space, usually a regular one-on-one conversation, where a writer can pay attention to what God is doing in their life and their work. It’s not coaching or therapy. It’s spiritual companionship for the soul behind the pen.

I updated my Substack publication name. It felt right to return to the book that started my journey as a writing coach and spiritual director serving writers and creatives, before I even had words for it: When God Calls a Writer. It’s the title of my second book, and the one that began in my journals as I sat with the swirl of my own doubts and conversations with God.

The book is short and has questions and journaling prompts meant to spark conversation between you and God about your writing and spiritual journey.

It nods at the swirl of my own being as a spiritual director serving writers (walking with God) and a writing coach (writing with God).

Returning and Beginning Again

Returning and beginning again have been on my mind. I even wrote about it on a survey to update my classmates before our reunion next year.

How have you changed in 25 years? SO FREAKING MUCH, and yet, not at all. It’s funny how sometimes change is actually a returning to who we always were, behind the masks and facade.

That last line shocked me.

So often I’m like Flannery O’Connor: I write because I don’t know what I think until I read what I say.“

This year has been a welcome reprieve after a challenging 2025 and now that breathing deeper, I’m feeling more and more like myself. A returning if you will.

I’m writing this with my oversized Sony headphones while sipping Prickly Pear sparkling water. There’s a view of the Sedona red rocks in the distance from my hotel window (although, now as I edit the world is shrouded in darkness), and I’m wrapped in the soft housecoat I brought from home.

3 nights away.

It’s a tradition I began last year after feeling extra crispy and tired from a full summer. The creative introvert in me goes underground, especially in the last weeks of summer with constant people around (even though they are my family, who I LOVE).

The HOT HOT HOT of Phoenix also seems to evaporate my brain in July, the hottest month.

Thoughts? What thoughts?

What Rest Looks Like for a Spiritual Director Serving Writers

So here I am, giving myself the space to feel. It’s hard, even as a spiritual director.

My own spiritual director reminded me on Monday during our monthly session: it’s okay to “waste” time with Jesus, to simply be and breathe.

What a gift, to have wise voices in my life, work that I love, and a family that lets me get away.

When I slow down, a myriad of thoughts and feelings arise.

  • There’s been grief and wondering, questions that I try to let float instead of forcing answers.
  • There’s joy, sitting at the Secret Garden Cafe (highly recommend) and watching the trees rustle in the wind before the pattering of rain brings the waitress to help me gather my things for a covered spot.
  • There’s the hour I spent with dear creative friends on Zoom this morning. Our prompt for the day: the dot.

Here’s the poem I penned that seems to encapsulate how I feel in this moment.

I am
a single dot. 
Your dot,
made up of millions.

The finality of a dot,
floating in space
which way will I drift?

Make me a magnet,
stuck in the vast
expanse of You
the eternal
universe within universe
unfathomable.

And yet,
residing with and within me,
forever.

An Invitation to Writers Seeking a Spiritual Director

If you’re longing for sacred space to pay attention to your soul and God story, I’m not going anywhere.

This is the place where my deep gladness meets the world’s deep hunger (Frederick Buechner), and God willing, I will continue this ministry for decades.

Here’s to continuing to follow God’s call above all else, and embracing His continued story of our lives.

Walking and writing with you,

Deanne
Your friendly neighborhood writer, writing coach, and spiritual director

Deanne Welsh is a spiritual director serving writers and a writing coach with a mission to set writers free. Through Unstoppable Writers, she offers spiritual direction and writing coaching on the calling and craft of walking and writing with God. If you’re a writer or creative longing for rest, rhythm, and a sacred space to return to your calling, Deanne would love to companion you. You can find her and message her on Instagram.