All the Small Things by Rebecca Seaton

 

All the Small Things by Rebecca Seaton

 

The Bible says, “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18) A reminder to value the small things. This has spoken to me recently, having hit a dry spell. Maybe my ‘small things’ will encourage you in your own writing and in looking for the opportunities to encourage others.

 

You’re reading it?

I’ve sold some books but sales have definitely slowed. I felt like I’ve probably sold as many as I’m going to in my local area. Then I walked through the school hall at dinner time and one of the play leaders cheerily announced, ‘I’ve just started reading your book!’ Stupidly, I asked her who’d she’d borrowed it from – staff have been very supportive and a number of people have bought one – but she’d bought it herself on Kindle. I forget it’s also on Kindle so that was a nice surprise. A couple of weeks later, a friend in my department asked for a paperback copy. She already has one but this was for her teenage niece – the target audience I’m finding it difficult to reach.

                                                             I had a book launch!

 

What, me?

I often suffer from imposter syndrome regarding my writing. Writing isn’t my main job, I’ve got one book out and the next one is taking a long time. My day job is also fairly taxing so I struggle to find the energy to keep articles and fiction coming. However, in the last year I’ve had interest in my books, become a familiar face at a local craft fayre and even been invited to run a creative writing class. So the small wins remind to think ‘Yes I could’, rather than ‘What, me?’

 

I like that too!

Sometimes we can wonder if our work has an audience. Is it too niche? Is anyone reading this genre at the moment? Social media makes it easy to find like-minded individuals. We can promote our work and also support others. It’s also a great way to find out about events related to our specific writing needs.

I've sold at events!

So even if you haven’t won the Booker prize or hit 5 million followers, what can you celebrate? And after all, what is ‘God’s will’ in it? Maybe the small wins aren’t as small as you think, for you, or for others. And this is why we can be thankful for them.

Rebecca writes fantasy novels, magazine articles and the occasional play. She had her first novel, A Silent Song, published through Pen to Print’s Book Challenge competition and is currently working (slowly) on the second book of a new trilogy