Why should writers be more envious than other people? Why should there be such a thing as writer envy when there is no such thing as doctor envy or mechanic envy? Oops. I just Googled, and there is such a thing as doctor envy and even mechanic envy.
But no lawyer envy.
Hmmm.
Let me start again. Writer envy is apparently a huge problem. I’ve heard about it on every writers’ loop and board I’ve been on. One person makes some kind of breakthrough and everyone cheers him on. But then someone will post anonymously, telling us that she’s full of self-pity and envy.
Why, oh, why did So-and-So get a contract when I have been trying to publish for ten years longer? Why, oh, why did Such-and-Such land on the NT Times Best-Seller List when my book only sold 500 copies?
I’m ready to quit,
I’m ready to cry,
I really think I’m ready,
just to lie down and die.If the universe doesn’t give me a contract soon, I’m going to stay in bed and never get up again.
May I suggest that the first reason many of these people have writer envy is that they are looking at the wrong place when the look at the universe, thinking it’s handing out success in an unfair manner?
I don’t know how to help such people.
If they just knew God…
I do think there is an answer for Christians who suffer from writer envy. Or who covet anything that God has not given them.
Well, let’s put it in this world before we jump up to heaven. A friend of mine put it in terms of coaching once. Every year she had girls on her basketball team who didn’t get to play much. They wanted to play, but they were not as gifted or they had not trained as hard—for whatever reason—they didn’t play all that well.
Was my friend being unfair when she made them sit on the bench? Who says that every girl who wants to play, has the right to play? My friend had to be fair to all the girls. If she put in the girls who didn’t play well, would that have been fair to the rest of the team members who wanted to win and who maybe had scholarships riding on the team’s performance? (I’m probably mangling, this. Feel free to correct me, Becky.)
Alright, let’s get back to God and writing. You may say that writing is not a team sport. But it is kind of. If publishers put out a lot of bad books, readers will quit reading and publishers will go out of business and the authors writing good books will suffer right along with the authors who aren’t writing well. When bad books are published it hurts everyone.
So, on the one hand I want to ask writers who are in the depths of despair to pull themselves out of doldrums and keep writing until they come up with a good book.
But the truth is that I’ve got some critique partners who are writing great books and they can’t break in. They have put in the years, they have studied, they have nurtured their talent, and they are writing better books than a lot of what’s being published and lapped up by less-than-discerning readers. What about those folks? Surely it isn’t fair that bad writers keep getting published and hitting the best-seller lists while good writers can’t sell books to save their lives.
And that’s where God comes in. If you know that God loves you, there is no room for envy in your stony little heart. If you are full of God’s love you don’t care if you are a best seller or not. Why? Because God’s love fills you up and squishes every other longing aside.
I’m not saying that God didn’t give you your desire to publish or your talent for writing or your drive to keep learning how to write. I’m not saying he won’t ever put you in the game. I’m just saying that whenever I am tempted to think that God is being a tad unfair and giving my neighbor a better portion than he’s given me, I know it’s time for me to rethink my relationship with my loving Father. I think this is good advice for any Christian struggling with any kind of envy.
If God’s the coach and he’s also my father then I am thrilled, as a little girl, when he takes me to the games and lets me sit on the bench with him. I am thrilled as I grow up on the sidelines with him. I’m thrilled when I hear him direct the other players. Finally I’m thrilled when they execute the plays well and score, because my father is thrilled when they play well and score.
I may begin to think I want to get in the game, too. But I know that my dad is the best coach around. I know that he sees things I can’t see. I know he doesn’t make mistakes, and I know he loves me. So I am sure that the minute he thinks I can help the team and I won’t get hurt in there with the big guys, he’s going to put me in that game. In the meantime, I’m happy to just sit beside him and cheer when he cheers and curse when he curses, because I love what he loves and I hate what he hates.
So I’m suggesting that if you are envious of other writers, you should talk to God, not the universe, and you should ask him to help you grasp how wide and deep and high his love is for you. Because once you are full of his love you won’t have any room left over for envy. You won’t doubt him. You won’t think he’s making mistakes or showing favoritism to other players. You’ll be too busy rooting for the team and enjoying your father’s company as you sit there on the bench with him.
Image: Idea go / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
That’s a common complaint though. I’ve known people to go self-publish because of their impatience. Writing is a journey. Most people don’t realize it. Donald Maas in The Fire in Fiction puts it nicely that there are two groups of people–one’s a story teller and the other is a status seeker. Time discerns the two. Not to say all who self-publish are status seekers. Some aren’t interested in making a career of it, but in writing the story or sharing their testimony for a specific targeted audience.
I think a wise reply to someone who you quoted would be encouragement.
Nikole Hahn´s last [type] ..The Red Maple Leaf Moment
Hey, Nikole! Thanks for stopping in.
I agree that there are times when self-publishing is right. (And it seems those times are getting more and more common. ) That is most often if you have a platform, yes, I agree.
I also agree that encouragement is needed. I’m just trying to hash out what the encouraging words are. When people tell me that, “God will grant you your publishing dreams one day as long as you don’t give up,” I think, “How do you know? God told you this?”
But if they say, “God loves you and what could be better than that?” then I am really encouraged. What could be better than that?
What God has been teaching me lately, is that I ought to be satisfied in Christ alone. Because, really, what else is there that can compare to him?
You got the essentials right about the basketball players and coach. One thing that I thought as I read your post is that envy comes from not understanding or accepting the role the coach has given a player. And in thinking that role is unimportant or makes a player less valuable. Of course that’s not true. Players don’t realize how significant it is to practice hard against competitive teammates. A player can have a huge impact and never get on the floor during a game simply by how hard she made her teammate work in preparation for the game. It’s not a spot in the limelight and chances are, few others will know what she did. But the coach knows. And when we see God in that role, we know pleasing Him is really the only thing that matters.
Rebecca LuElla Miller´s last [type] ..No Thank You- Mr Trump
That’s awesome, Becky. That’s exactly the point. God made good works for us to do ahead of time and he equipped us to do those works. We’re happiest when we just relax and do each day what he gives us to do.
And to please God…that’s the best thing. That’s better than shooting the winning basket. If God told you to pass and you took the shot instead, you’d not be pleasing to him even if you made the basket and won the game.
No matter what our position on the team, we all have the equal ability to please God by simply trusting and obeying. It’s so simple a child can understand it.
[...] The picture of God as coach, breaks down because the coach does not give the players differing amounts of talent. All he can do is work with the talent they have. God, however, is the one who gives us our abilities. [...]