What does Halloween have to do with writing? Nothing but my
strained imagination. It occurred to me that the more serious we become about publishing,
the spookier the writing life gets.
When we first dream up an epic story of love, inspiration,
or adventure—when we’re writer-tots—we have such innocent attitudes toward the
business. We put on our writer costume and naïvely set out to gather treats while
traipsing the publishing path. As time passes and our hard work racks up refusals,
when our hopes for publication begin to dim, we suddenly realize we’ve entered…
The Eerie Woods of the Rejected
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| Photo Courtesy of Jordan Stimpson / Pixabay |
It’s dark in there, and we have no idea when, or if, we’ll ever
find our way out. Ooh, there’s that voice that hisses in an unnerving tone,
“You’re wasting your time. You’re a failure. Your work will never see publication.
Turn back before it’s too late.”
But stubbornness kicks in, and we trudge forward.
Then, through the skeletal trees, we spot a beam of
encouragement—a contest win or a request for a full manuscript. We creep forward,
ignoring the moaning and groaning around us. Eventually, we break out into the
glorious meadow of our first publishing sale.
But wait!
As we bask in the full moon that shines on our achievement,
fog billows behind us and clouds roll in to cover the moon with doubts that we
can achieve the same or greater success. The trolls of marketing chase us into
the path of the ogre of procrastination and we dodge the sharp claws of the writer’s
block beast.
Okay. Enough of that nonsense. The point is this. The more
we grow in our abilities and experience—the more we study craft—the scarier the
writing life can become, because we know more about it. These days, we hear that
the Christian fiction market is fading, traditional publishing slots are shrinking,
Amazon and other retailers are glutted with books. There seems no end to the
bad news.
But you know what? You don’t have to cower in front of your
computer. If God is behind your writing endeavor, He’ll prepare the way, even
if your words are only meant to encourage or inspire one other person in their
walk. Are you knocking on His door to receive His encouraging treat?
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Today, share one thing about the writing life that scares you, and then share why you continue to follow that path.
**sigh** I can't until after my newsletter community sees it in a couple of weeks.
(Oh, yes. Consider that my idea of a Halloween trick. :) )
