The Writer As A Work
in Progress
Do you remember
how, on a racing-track, every competitor runs, but only one wins the prize?
Well, you ought to run with your minds fixed on winning the prize! Every
competitor in athletic events goes into serious training. Athletes will take
tremendous pains—for a fading crown of leaves. But our contest is for an
eternal crown that will never fade.
1 Corinthians 9:23-25
J B Philips New Testament
I first started writing
when I was about nine or ten. I started with poetry and had a lovely English teacher
who encouraged me. If it had not been for her kindness to me at that time, I
would probably have stopped. Instead, I found a lifelong source of comfort and
a passion which I have never outgrown or got a board of. Anguished teenage
poetry came and went to be replaced by drama sketches for school and student events,
then short stories, and finally novels. Nowadays I write a combination of all.
In the scriptural quote above,
Paul talks about running to win. To win the prize. For him, the prize is Jesus.
What is the ‘prize’ for you as a writer? Money, fame, credibility? Satisfaction
of writing your best? A glowing review or a reader’s praise for your work? Some
or all of these may well figure in our minds as we tap or scribble away.
I suspect many of us have enough
of a realistic view of the world to know where we may be in the great scheme of
the publishing/writing world and the investment of time, money, and energy for
those who published independently to know some of these ‘goals’ are unlikely to
happen. This then begs the question, ‘Why bother?’
Perhaps looking at Paul’s teaching
as encouragement rather than instruction might provide more constructive guidance.
Rather than the emphasis of our energies being on ‘winning,’ they shift to ‘participating.’
Our aspirations as writers are focused not on what we might ‘win’ but on the
aspiration of being the best writer we can and sharing our work. Similarly, as
Christians, by taking Paul’s words as encouragement, our focus shifts to
wanting to participate in sharing Jesus’ teachings. In other words, the ‘race’ - our
writing and our faith -became a ‘work-in-progress.’ Our words when published
became the result of our dedication, like the athlete.
Money, fame, prizes fade
like the crown of leaves, but our writing will live on long after our own race has finished.
Sheelagh is the author of In-Between Girl, book 1 of the Birchwood Inheritance Series. Books II The Lost Daugther will be publsihed in summer 2026 by Resolute Books. https://www.sheelaghaston.com/
Comments
Post a Comment