Hi, Seekers and Villagers! I feel a little surreal typing this, since I’ve loitered in the comments for years, never dreaming I’d one day write a Seekerville post as a published author! I’m so excited!
Remember the early days when you got a glimpse of character, dialogue, or scenery, and your brain itched until you had spun an emotion-laden image onto the page, emptying yourself of all those words and filling your writer’s heart to the brim? Remember what it felt like to write with abandon, untroubled by whether your premise would pass an editorial board? There were no rejections, no thoughts of market preferences, no eviscerating reviews to stop you. You just wrote. And you loved it. Is it possible for an author to return to the first joys of writing after fear of failure creeps in to paralyze creativity?
Yes. And the solution is simple. You make a choice. To start writing like you have nothing to lose.
Let’s unpack this a little. Why do we let our inner editor stifle us in the first place? What are we afraid of? The worst that can happen is you write a novel that doesn’t get published, and you steal away from the project carrying more wisdom and writing muscles than you had before. Not a bad deal. Taking a few months to write an educational dud is tons better than not writing for a year, then drowning in guilt and even more fear that you can’t write after so long without practice. Maybe instead we should ask ourselves, What’s the best that can happen?
Most of the time, the choice is up to you to take a story idea and decide this one’s for you, or your spouse, best friend, favorite niece, or the cute barista guy at the coffee shop who will probably never read your work but somehow still inspires you. Ahem. But in some cases, the decision to write like a daredevil is made for you by someone or something else. Like when I wrote my novella for the Of Rags and Riches Romance Collection…
My household was undergoing an internet apocalypse when I received the invite to submit a novella idea for a Barbour collection. Before we resolved reception issues, my family departed for a mountaintop getaway—also undergoing a cyber death. By the time I drove to a McD’s, where I saw said email, the deadline for submission was a WEEK away.
ACFW conference, where Susan May Warren taught her Story Equation method. Praise be! I also reviewed notes from K. M. Weiland’s Creating Character Arcs, Cathy Yardley’s Rock Your Plot, and Melissa Jagears’ tips on writing novellas, then relegated myself to the sofa beside a cabin-esque bear statue and a Tiffany lamp.
Six things I learned during that week. Invaluable, writerly things I don’t want to forget. (Believe me, I’m preaching to myself today.)
1. Don’t wait until you’re ready to start. My OCD self never feels “ready.” According to Mark Twain, “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” Famous TV producer Mark Burnett says in his book, Jump In!, “Nothing will ever be…perfect, and nothing can be totally planned. The best you can hope for is to be about half certain of your plan….” Sling some words on that page!
2. “Write the book you need to read.” Francine Rivers shared the previous sentence with me after I asked her what one piece of advice she would give to a new writer. I don’t have to list her writing credentials here. Y’all know. Heed her wisdom. If you write to satisfy your reader-cravings, you’ll be feeding others with the same tastes. Market-pleasing worries solved.
3. Set a time limit. Struggling with your newest plot? Give yourself a week (or less!) to plot that sucker. It may be horrible, but now you’ve got something to work with! As the adage goes, you can’t revise a blank page.
4. Don’t overthink your creative ideas. When you’re stuck, every idea is brilliant. Questioning comes later, during revision. Or sometimes during the synopsis when problems and their solutions can surface simultaneously. “Ain’t nobody got time” to mull over whether it’s believable for Georgie Ann to trip the criminal into a pit of fire ants when you’re plotting on a time limit. Dip your bucket into your creative well and see what comes up. You’ll have a chance to rearrange later when all the pieces are in place. Right now, you’re “tube riding” in the barrel of your creative wave. Think tunnel vision. Don’t look back, or you’ll lose momentum.
5. Give your story permission to be different. My current plot held me in chains for a year as punishment for expecting perfection. I internalized the fear that I couldn’t produce a novel worthy of the premise in my head. I kid you not, I contemplated calling up one of my writer friends to say, “Here’s an idea for you. You’re way more talented, and I’m just too afraid I’m going to ruin the story.” Ridiculous, right? Why? Because God didn’t give the idea to my writer friend. He gave it to me, with all my insecurities and zany life experiences that will make the finished product the story God wants it to be, and I’m now hoping to finish the imperfect version of it before the end of this year. God doesn’t give us gifts to set on a shelf or give away to someone else. Take your gift and go be amazing!
6. Throw your novel in God’s lap. When things get tough as they always do, I say, “Okay, God. This is Your book. I can’t make it any better by myself. If you want it to be terrible, no good, horrible, and very bad, so be it. If not, I’m gonna need some help.” Not that we can “make” God do anything, but He loves us and is always ready to help when we ask. Reminder: God + any story = an amazing story. When we keep ourselves in submission to His leading, we hold the pen, but He is the author and finisher. Then when all is said and published (or not, as He sees fit), God gets the glory, and lo and behold we get the benefits of having written another novel with Him. Win, win! Remember the old standby: Work like everything depends on you, but pray like everything depends on God.
I’ve been reading In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day by Mark Batterson. The essence of the book is “do it afraid.” Whatever God calls us to is going to be bigger than we can handle, because God’s plan is always bigger than us. But He is the one who fights the battles, not us. He simply wants us to be willing to step into the unknown and risk all the what-ifs.
I’ll close with a few quotes from chapter seven of Mark’s book:
“Newsflash: you’ll never be ready.”
“If you wait for perfect conditions before you seize an opportunity you’ll be waiting till the day you die.”
“More often than not, the only thing between you and your dream is a rational excuse.”
“Willingness to fail is a prerequisite to success.”
“Lion chasers don’t let what they can’t do keep them from doing what they can…Success is doing the best you can with what you have where you are.”
When was the last time you threw caution to the wind and did something you’ve always wanted to do? What were the results? Did things turn out like you feared or better? Do you have any regrets?
I’m giving an e-copy of any book mentioned in this post to two writers, winner’s choice. For readers, I’m giving away two copies of the Of Rags and Riches Romance Collection: a paperback to a U.S. reader, and an e-copy to an international reader. Winners announced in the next Weekend Edition.
“For Richer or Poorer” in the Of Rags and Riches Romance Collection:
In order to bring her starving family to New Jersey, Polish immigrant and housemaid Marcella Lipski must marry wealth…so she dons her employer's discarded ball gowns and goes husband hunting at Newark's tourist spots. There are a few problems, though. Ella's shy. She knows nothing of the rules governing American high society. She'll lose her job if she's recognized. Oh, and she can't speak a speck of English. When a poor-but-mysterious cart driver catches her eye, she must protect her heart at all costs. She won’t leave her family hopeless.
Woody Harris has no desire to be rich, and he lives out his faith by giving most of his possessions away to the street kids on his freight route. When his horse spooks and bowls over Ella, inflicting bruises, Woody offers her free conveyance for a week and starter lessons in English as compensation. He's soon charmed by her innocent, farm-girl ways and her concern for "his" kids. But by the time he learns Ella will only marry for money, it's already too late for his heart.
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Natalie Monk is an award-winning writer of historical romance. She is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers and is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of the Steve Laube Agency. A preacher’s daughter from South Mississippi, Natalie is a piano instructor, nonpracticing certified wedding planner, and former post hole digger. She loves book-talk, porch swings, old movies, and all-male a capella ensembles. Readers can chat with Natalie on her website www.nataliemonk.com, Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest.
