How Resilient Are You? A Quiz

Inspired by Deborah Jenkins' recent blog-post-in-the-style-of-a-quiz and Nick White’s brilliant discussion starter on the ACW Facebook Group about coping with being ignored (read it here if you missed it), for my blog this month, I bring to you another quiz – how resilient are you? Answer the following 4 questions to gauge your resilience levels:

1. You squeeze in a writing slot on a Friday afternoon, in between the school pick-up and helping at Messy Church. You love turning out this monthly blog and hope it will inspire others. When it is published, on Sunday, you keep checking back through the day and the number of views and comments is depressingly low. Do you:

a) Thank God for the on-going opportunity to hone your writing skills and trust that He has put in in the path of those who need it the most;

b) Assume, because it is Sunday, people are busy being holy so you don’t take it personally – but you do check the figures every morning for the week that follows, with escalating frustration.

c) Decide that it isn’t worth all the hard work and effort and pull out of writing blog posts with immediate effect (and a slight stamp of the feet).


2. You finally pluck up the courage to go to a Writers’ Day, despite feeling every bit the imposter. You arrive, register and hover, hoping someone will notice the huge “newcomer” arrow hovering over your head and say hello. No-one does (clearly not an ACW Writers’ Day!). Do you:

a) Head over to a smiley looking group of people, introduce yourself and start asking questions about their writing lives, striking the right balance between friendly curiosity and over-eager newcomer;

b) Hover by the bookstall and tea and biscuits alternately, hoping time speeds up and the call to sit down and start the day will arrive to rescue you from the unbearable social awkwardness;

c) Wait an excruciating 90 seconds, before turning and leaving without a trace. Viva la independence – who needs companions on the writing journey anyway?!


3. You’ve been stabbing at writing for years and finally have a great idea for a book. You feel excitement in the pit of your stomach. Like any good writer, you research similar books on the topic – there are none. Hurrah! About a third of the way into writing your manuscript, you notice on a writers’ Facebook page that someone is about to launch something that sounds painfully similar. Do you:

a) Congratulate the author whole-heartedly, praising God that nothing is ever wasted and He will use the words you have written somehow;

b) Congratulate the author, disingenuously, through gritted teeth and purchase a copy of their book so you can check out the competition, still hoping your idea is sufficiently different to theirs;

c) Slam your laptop shut, cry, rant at God and give up hope of ever finding a topic that hasn’t already been published by someone else. Storm around the house muttering about this for a few days.

4. You send your WIP off to some beta readers for some feedback but one of them fancies themselves as a professional editor and has sent it back to you with critically-toned post-it notes adorning every other page, including their detailed annotations of your ignorance of the difference between your en-dashes and em-dashes. Do you:

a) Thank them wholeheartedly and use the money you’ve saved on professional editing to live off Chinese takeaways while you complete the edits;

b) Sigh in frustration (you were secretly hoping for enthusiastic praise and ringing endorsements you could use as sound bites on the front cover) and set off on the edits, taking some of the comments with a pinch of salt, whilst finding some useful;

c) Delete them from your contacts list, unfriend them on Facebook and henceforward only send your precious WIP to people who will rave about it unreservedly. What do they know anyway?!


Results:

Mostly a) – Congratulations, you are a Ridiculously Resilient Ruth / Rufus. Nothing phases you and you face every disappointment and criticism with a level head and a trusting heart. Truly astonishing - please comment here and reveal your secrets.

Mostly b) – Not bad – you are a Relatively Resilient Rose / Robert. You take a bit of a knock when disappointment and criticism appear but pick yourself up and keep going in the end! We all need a dose of your healthy realism and dogged determination.

Mostly c) – Oh dear – you are a Non-Resilient Nelly / Nathan. We’ve all been here at points in our lives. There are plenty of things that make you want to throw in the towel and you have to work really hard to pick yourself back up from disappointments - probably most of us at different times, if we’re honest! Hopefully some tips from those scoring mostly a)s and b)s will help.

The quiz is intended entirely as a bit of fun with a bit of reality underneath. I hope I haven’t offended anyone and that everyone recognises aspects of themselves in all of those possible responses – and the nuanced in-betweens we fall into, in reality.

If I’m honest, I still fall into something between c) and b) far too often. How hard it is, as a writer, to develop a thick skin and keep going with dogged determination, when the odds feel stacked against us and when we are not getting the feedback we so long for.

Do go back and read the Facebook thread I mentioned above, which contains some wonderful pearls of wisdom. There is so much encouragement to be had from being part of the ACW – from the Facebook page discussions, this blog, days held in person or on Zoom or local writers’ groups – participating in any one of them might just give you the resilience top-up you need to make it over the next hurdle you face.

And for those who can confidently sing along with the Urban Cookie Collective (“I’ve got the key…I’ve got the secret…”) – please do comment below and help those of us who flounder.

Georgie Tennant is a secondary school English teacher in a Norfolk Comprehensive.  She is married, with two sons, aged 13 and 10 who keep her exceptionally busy. She writes for the ACW ‘Christian Writer’ magazine occasionally, and is a contributor to the ACW-Published ‘New Life: Reflections for Lent,’ and ‘Merry Christmas, Everyone,’ and, more recently, has written 5 books in a phonics series, published by BookLife. She writes the ‘Thought for the Week’ for the local newspaper from time to time and also muses about life and loss on her blog: www.somepoemsbygeorgie.blogspot.co.uk