by Edie Melson @EdieMelson
Choosing to stand up and be identified as a writer can be a scary thing. The road is rarely a straight path to publication. These are some things that I hope will help you stay the course as you continue on your own writing journey.
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Unfortunately, it doesn’t get a whole lot easier. The doubts still crowd your mind, and fear still whispers in your ear no matter how long you’re in this business.
So much of what we need to know to be successful, no matter what our goals, can be learned.
If I had known when I started, the hard work and emotional toll getting to this point would take. I would have quite because I would never have dreamed I could do it.
Things generally happen in a certain way, over a certain time-frame. As believers we know that God can step in at any time and turn things upside down. But expecting that to always happen just isn’t reasonable. We need to do the work and celebrate when the exceptions do occur.
I’ve found writing success, but a lot of it has come simply because I refused to give up.
I can (and will continue) to make plans—but I stay flexible. I would never have even dreamed of the opportunities God has given me.
They both have their place in the writer’s life, but a goal is something who’s outcome I can influence. A dream is something I wish would happen. It’s the difference between having the goal of getting a book published or having a best seller. I can achieve the first by hard work, but the second is ultimately up to God.
My path to publication has zigged and zagged so many times it looks like the path Mother Goose’s Crooked Old Man left behind. But more frequently than not, those detours ended up getting me further ahead, faster.
It’s not possible to base your path on what has gone before. Technology is moving too fast. We either embrace the challenge or we fall by the wayside.
I have never once regretted putting someone else before me. I’d even go so far as to say that I’ve build my career (or at least my platform) by promoting others.
I can only achieve it and keep it by guarding it. I always try to communicate honestly and above all, keep my word.
The people I’ve met, the things I’ve gotten to experience have been the high points, not the achievements.
Touching someone’s life through the words I pen, whether it’s on a blog or a book or an article, is way more important than a book contract.
These are just a few of the things I wish I’d known when I started. I think my expectations would have been more realistic and the heartbreak a little less frequent. Although it could be that someone did, and I just wasn’t paying attention.
What about you? Has writing taught you anything important about yourself and/or about life? Share your thoughts below.
Edie Melson is the author of numerous books, as well as a freelance writer and editor. Her blog, The Write Conversation, reaches thousands each month and has been named as one of Writer’s Digest 101 Best Websites for Writers. She’s the Director of the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference and vice president of the Advanced Writers and Speakers Association (AWSA). She’s also the Social Media Director for Southern Writers Magazine and the contributor to www.Just18Summers.com and www.PuttingOnTheNew.com. Connect with her on Twitter and Facebook.
The Conversation
All of these are so very true!! I’m going to print this one and keep it close by to remind me when things are tough that “tough” is the status quo of a writer. Thanks for these valuable insights, Edie.
I want to comment on your point that the joy is in the journey. Absolutely! You cannot stress this enough. No explorer ever discovered anything by PLOTTING a journey. When God sets the course, you can be assured there will be discovery and that it will be revealing in ways unimaginable to sitting home and wondering what the trek would be like. It’s like a story. If you hint in Chapter Three that there’s a deep, dark secret with one of the main characters, the secret needs to become central to the rest of the story. Otherwise, why reveal it. The key, for the writer, is knowing what the secret is BEFORE it is revealed and why it is significant to the larger message of the story you’re writing. A writer unveils details with purpose, not as an exercise in random exposition – hoping that the puzzle pieces will magically assemble themselves before the reader. (That’s the way we write when we’re in Middle School).
Again, thanks for the insights. They help. God Bless You.