I Want Their Career

Who wants to spend their days daydreaming at coffee shops and talking about their ideas with fans? (Especially when the misnomer of a writer’s life also includes unexpected lump sums.)

Have you ever wanted the wage of a CEO but the responsibility of a middle-schooler? It’s easy to wish you had someone’s house, but not their mortgage. And it’s tempting to desire someone’s career without having to spend the years it took them to get there.

Do I want their career?

Sometimes I think I deserve success/pleasure/ease without sacrifice because I received salvation freely. I forget that someone else paid for it.

We forget that the free cost of salvation means giving your entire being back to God.

And then we’re conditioned to fall into this trap: someone else should pay for everything we want inside a faith community. Including success.

The cost of free

I have a memory of one of my early writing friends and critique partner who has since become a best-selling author. She said her goal was to eventually take Sundays off. As a mom, writer and worship leader, Lisa Phillips has definitely implemented balance now. But she worked diligently to get there.

One of my favorite encouraging authors, Robin Lee Hatcher, is another testament to the sacrifice it takes to succeed.

In 1981, using longhand on a legal pad, Robin wrote her first novel in six months. She wrote the sequel that following spring. She was a single mom with a 10 and 12 year old.

Robin took her legal pad to work and typed the manuscript during her coffee break and lunch hour. Those first two books released in 1984. Robin says she celebrated by buying her first computer and printer. This made writing easier.

Publication opened the door for book contracts. Monday through Friday Robin came home from work and fixed dinner. Then she wrote several hours before bed. She guarded Friday nights for family, but wrote Saturday mornings before anyone else rose.

When her ninth book released, she quit her day job to write full-time. Robin is currently working on her 91st release.

Ready to work sacrifice?

Next time someone tells you, “I could sure use money, maybe I should write a book,” smile and encourage them. Finishing a manuscript is one of the first, essential, hard parts of writing.

Once you have a finished your manuscript, you must count the cost of success. Ask yourself if you are willing to pay it.

And to keep this as a Monday Meditation, also ask yourself, “What is the cost of my free salvation?”

(If you ever have a chance to hear those two Idaho authors teach, snag it. They are generous with their skill and experience.)

About this post:

Beliefs represented by individual authors are not necessarily shared by all members of ICW.