It can be exhausting trying to get published. It’s
not enough to produce a quality manuscript, find an agent, and sign a contract
with a publisher. Nowadays, many agents won’t even consider taking on a new
writer who doesn’t have a significant presence on social media. That means
you’ve got to expand your profile.
The options are endless. You can have a personal blog,
author blog, Facebook page, Twitter account, Pinterest boards, Google+,
Instagram, Tumblr. There are so many avenues to get your name online and in the public eye. And there aren’t enough hours in the day to keep on top of all
these platforms!
On more than one occasion I’d find myself panicking
that I’m not “out there” more. How am I going to get noticed if I don’t
promote myself? What if I find the perfect agent and he or she doesn’t feel
like I have enough pull with the public? What if I can’t figure out my ‘brand’
and I end up spinning my wheels? These and other anxious thoughts
would flitter through my head.
Then I’d get myself all in a dither with my head
spinning every which way, and my hand gripped in a permanently cramped position
on my computer mouse as I clicked on this and that.
And then there are the writer sites. Fifteen ways to
write better scenes! Twenty-one things to avoid at all costs in character
development! One hundred tricks to get your manuscript in tip-top shape! And
whilst I believe authors should always strive to better their craft, I noticed
I’d started spending more time reading the ‘how to write’ articles than
actually writing!
This would set off another flurry of doubt. Gak! What
if I’m missing something? What if I’m doing it all wrong? What if my opening
line (the hook!) isn’t hook-y enough?!?
And I realized, somewhere along this journey of
seeking publication, I’d lost sight of what was really important.
And that was not writing an amazing debut novel which
made best-seller lists, won heaps of awards, and got turned into a movie,
preferably a trilogy.
I mean…that would be nice. But that’s not why I
started writing.
I started writing because God put a story in my heart.
Honestly, this whole thing was more His idea than my
idea. Sure, I’ve always loved to read and write. But I thought of it more as
hobby than anything serious. Something fun to do in my spare time rather than
something God gifted me to do. I don’t think I’m the only one who's had some
inspiration from God either.
Because I believe God has gifted each of us in a
particular area. It’s up to us to figure out what that is and then, as 1
Corinthians 10:31 says, do it all for the glory of God.
I stopped doing that. Instead I fell into trap of
thinking it was all about me and my efforts.
I’m not the first person to do this.
I was reminded of how easy it is to have a wrong
attitude when I read through Genesis.
Then they said, “Come, let's build a great city for
ourselves with a tower that reaches into the sky. This will make us famous and
keep us from being scattered all over the world.”
Does this story sound familiar? It’s the Tower of
Babel. Some folks got together, built a tall tower, and God confused their
language so they couldn’t communicate with each other.
Now, whilst the context of the narrative is people in
rebellion to God, I believe there’s a truth in here that can apply to
Christians as well, especially a Christian author. It’s not that hanging out on
social media or blogging or following how-to sites is rebellion. Not at all.
But our ambitions can sometimes get a little off.
Look at the verse again to see one of their
motivations.
Fame. They wanted their name to be known. Remembered.
They wanted to have an impact on the world in which they lived. But they went
about it the wrong way. They didn’t ask God, hey, what do you
think we should be doing next? Instead of looking to God to direct and
sustain their efforts, they were determined to do their own thing, build their
own tower. Fellow blogger, Robin, mentioned when we were discussing this
post how ironic it was that the builders wanted to be remembered, but no one
remembers their names.
Now in a similar vein, I don’t know any author who doesn’t want his or her work to be well-received and popular. Who doesn’t want to be remembered?
But.
We have to keep in mind that it’s not our efforts that
are going to count in the long run, it’s whether or not we’re being faithful to
the vision He’s given us. We could have a million Twitter followers, a blog
that gets hundreds of comments and likes, an amazing best-seller, but if we’re
not doing it all for His sake, then it’s simply a waste of time.
We have to understand we are really writing for an
audience of One.
Be blessed,
Jeb
I'd love to hear how you cope with keeping your motivations right!
Great reminder, Jeb!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much. This is so true. Without God we would not have our gifts.
ReplyDeleteI was so convicted by this post Jeb! Thank you for putting stuff into perspective. We all need that kick in the pants sometimes. God is who matters, not all the other stuff we are 'supposed' to do.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this, Jeb! I've recently read several posts on the importance of platform and social media, and this was exactly what I needed to keep things in perspective. It all has it's place, but it's so easy to get caught up in numbers of likes and follows and forget why we're doing all of this in the first place, and whom we're really serving with our writing.
ReplyDeleteExcellent! Loved this post so much!!!
ReplyDelete