Into the Fire

In defining success . . . publishing people have to define success by the numbers. Big numbers. Big money. Big contracts. Big recognition. Big find. Big happy. Success.

Christians who write and seek publication must determine what “success” means to them. Is it simply about memorizing and applying the rules of writing to produce a novel which will have universal appeal and slip into the role of publishing success?

Some might answer a comprehensive “Yes” without thinking twice. Others might answer a less resounding “Yes” with certain qualifications. And still others could reply with a wily smirk and add “Define ‘success’.”

I think it’s safe to say that those who write with a message in their stories will want to explain their methodology for seeking publication. It’s logical to want to share the message, however it’s written, even whatever it is. Although many write simply to share a story, a lot of Christians are compelled to share a purpose, an ideal, the gospel, a particular element of their faith. The different genres often determine the unique intentions of a particular writer’s story, agenda, or impetus for telling the tale.

Christian writers aren’t the only ones with agendas. While there are secular writers with a contempt for anything related to the one true God and write accordingly, some of them are committed to new age philosophies in their fiction, hard-nosed legal thrillers heavy on the doses of erotic sex and foul language, female characters who are addicted to love or sex or power plays, and a general sense that humanity in all its base behaviors and raucous lifestyles is the all in all—the epitome of entertainment or the lowest dregs of the food chain. Any way one looks at it, there is a motive when writing a story.

Some of us view success in the most basic of ways, setting aside spirituality and looking plainly at the secular worldview. Success implicates a satisfactory income, a position of respect or status, some recognition for what we’ve done, mostly favorable, and even a name worthy of “dropping” at certain events.

When writing novels, it’s difficult to view success in a less common way.The push to become published is a strong motivation as well as a logical one. If we think we can write, then we certainly think we have a worthwhile story to tell, and if we have written that story, then we definitely want to share it with as many as possible, hoping our audience is broad and readers ever expanding. However, the reality of statistics pointing out how very few novels make it into the upper tier of successful sales smacks us up against a serious re-evaluation of what defines that elusive success factor in our writing lives.

There’s a reason I’ve written all my life, and there’s a reason I didn’t start my first novel until I was in my 40s. I’m not proud to admit it probably took God that long to convince me any of my “success” would be due to Him and not to my innate talent. Never have I understood more than I do now how any success is supplied by Him. For His glory. For His reasoning—and, yes, sometimes I have a troublesome time understanding it, but who am I to know things so much more vast and important than my abilities in the bigger scheme of things both now and to come?

And for His pleasure. And that brings me to the conclusion in my definition of success . . . Completion of His will, obedience to His call, surrender to His desires. Because the minute my intentions outweigh His, I have failed. I’ve missed the mark. I’m way off. There’s a course to follow, a plan designed. If I’m inclined not to embrace it and choose to ignore it, I declare my superiority to God’s map for my life. Although my discrepancies at sticking to the plan have been unintentional at times, He has come to my rescue, restoring me to that ordained path where He can watch my steps and lead me to the place He has for me. In that way, I will succeed in bringing Him pleasure and somehow the glory He deserves. And the mystery of His work in my life will keep the message moving forward in His timeline by His design.

And I thank you for that, Father, because you will do what is best, perfect, just, and right. And only by your ways working in me will I ever know “success”. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.