I don’t normally use this blog as a pulpit, though I’m certainly not adverse to anyone’s questions about religion and/or faith, should they pop up. But I did come across this passage in the Bible recently and thought it oddly applicable to my present situation in writing. I thought I’d share it, in case anyone was interested. I guess it being Sunday makes it more appropriate as well.
It has to do with hope.
Romans 5:3,4 “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”
Obviously there’s a little bit of context surrounding this verse which people can take into account, but even singled out as it is, it’s an encouraging verse, especially for a writer, or any sort of artist, really.
Pursuing writing as a career, I submit, requires a lot of hope. Hope that you can develop your craft to a publishable level. Hope that an agent will someday take notice of you and sell your book around to various publishing houses. In the mean time, as you are pursuing this, you do experience some suffering. Solitary confinement while you finish your draft. Lots of rejections.
Some people will tell you it’s silly. That you’ll never get enough return on your investment to make your craft worth it. That your chances are slim. That hope isn’t worth clinging to. In our days, we want assurances, concrete promises signed on the line…and nothing but that will satisfy us. What value can simply sitting around, writing and hoping provide? Well, there’s your answer.
Perseverance. Character. And more hope.
While that hope is coming to fruition, there are lots of other things happening as well. You’re developing a thick skin. You’re finding your voice as a writer and discovering a style that gels for you on the page. You’re stretching new ideas and breaking away from genre cliches. You’re learning to be patient with how slow the publishing industry can run sometimes. All these things will serve you in the future when that book contract becomes a reality, and instead of rejections, maybe you’re dealing with negative reviews, slow sales numbers or writing under a real, crunch-the-clock deadline. That perseverance and character will still be there.
And so you continue to hope. Love may be one of the greatest things we can do and experience, but I also believe that hope can be just as valuable in our lives because it keeps us going and dreaming, even when times get difficult.
I see that smile.
Here’s another way to put it:
Unrelenting disappointment leaves you heartsick,
but a sudden good break can turn life around.
Proverbs 13:12
Unrelenting disappointment=lack of hope.
Sometimes it feels like life in the writing world is one day of unrelenting disappointment after another. Thanks for the reminder that being published should never be the only goal in a writer’s life.
Yes, I’m thankful for the times I hear a yes from editors–that’s what the “Happy Dance” is for. But I am also thankful for friends I’ve met along the writing road. And for how other writers have helped me. And for that character and perseverance stuff too.
It’s true. The little bursts of inspiration, that first little story sold can make a few year’s of getting nowhere feel worth it. Odd how that trade-off balances out sometimes.