Blogger: Rachel Kent
Location: Books & Such main office, Santa Rosa, Calif.
I am so excited to move forward in my career as an agent. I dream of helping my clients to grow, and in the process I know I will grow as well. My clients aren’t all the same, but here is a dream I have for all of them and for all of you writers, too.
I wish for my clients and for you writers to find fulfillment in writing. Each individual is writing for a reason, and not every person writes for the same reason. Because of this, fulfillment could come in different forms. For some, it could be getting a book published. For others it could be receiving news that a project has touched a life. For another writer fulfillment might be writing the dedication of a book to a special person. I hope to help my clients toward fulfilling that dream, whatever it might be.
A movie I watched recently, Miss Austen Regrets, was a fictional presentation of Jane Austen’s life. According to the movie, one of Jane’s main dreams for her writing was to make enough money so that she, her sister, and her mother could live comfortably without constantly worrying about money. The movie ended with Jane having lived her entire life writing to try to fulfill her dream (making lots of sacrifices to write), but she never did achieve that goal. In Jane Austen’s case, however, we know how very important her books have become to many people. I love all of her stories!
The movie left me feeling bittersweet. Jane’s personal dreams never were fulfilled, but I think God’s dreams for Jane were. Jane chose to do what she loved in hopes that she could make a difference. She never got to see the extent of the difference she made, and her books were not moneymakers in her lifetime. But following the desire of her heart to write really was the best path in the long run.
I hope that all of you see your dreams fulfilled in your lifetimes, but if that isn’t the case, I know that God will bless the efforts you make if you work toward the dreams He has laid on your hearts.
If you don’t mind sharing, what would fulfill your writing dreams?
Four published books & a partridge in a pear tree. I’m jumping the gun on a seasonal song, but I just wanted to have a little fun with my answer.
I hope to hand it all over to God and we’ll see what comes…
~ Wendy
Oh, this is a great post! Fulfillment for me would be to have the characters in my books inspire readers to live with integrity. Part of reaching that fulfillment involves getting my books published, or no one will ever read them to get inspired.
Jane Austen inspires me to live with integrity. Her characters are flawed, but they prove themselves admirable in the end, and along the way, I can’t help but want to be better in my own life. That’s the beauty of a great book.
When I think of writing as a ministry, there seem to be three main areas of focus: encouraging those who are believers, reaching the secular world with the gospel of Christ, and challenging those who are infants to grow up in their faith.
Most of my stories speak to the latter group–to people who may have a regard for God but have yet to honor Him as the foundation of every aspect of their lives. In my own life, spiritual growth happened when challenges left me no other choice. I love to put my characters in hard situations so they can “taste and see that the Lord is good” and prove His faithfulness.
I guess my writing dreams would be fulfilled if I heard back from a reader that my stories had called them from lukewarmness and made them consider their faith more seriously–that it had made a difference for His glory.
I never thought I would blog. I thought it would take every bit of my writing time to blog and feared I would have nothing to say. After my husband put an idea in my head and stumbling into it, I have found God is using my blogs to reach people.
Through my blog, I share my relationship with God, both the good and the bad. Its scary to bare my heart and show people that I have doubts, questioned God, lost my faith and cry when I have to put my kitty down. But what I have come to realize is there are many people out there who have had the same thoughts or feelings I have and have found encouragement when I share how God has worked on my heart.
Through my blogging, God has shown me I don’t have to be published for him to use my words to reach people. And that has been quite fulfilling 🙂
Wow, this is a really hard question somehow. I guess I feel like I could write 50 different things and all would be true!
I suppose one of my biggest dreams for my current series is that it would be an alternative out there for teenagers and young adults who are into series like Twilight or Harry Potter – an alternative that presents a strong Christian worldview and deals with weighty matters of faith, yet is also compelling to read, with flawed characters, fantasy elements, and a side of romance. Don’t get me wrong, I happen to like Harry Potter a lot. But it definitely has a secular worldview. As a parent and youth leader, I’d like to be able to put a different book in kids’ hands who want to read that type of story without any questionable messages. To accomplish anything close to that goal would bring a huge sense of fulfillment.
(Hopefully I haven’t offended Team Edward and/or Jacob. 😉 )
Outside of getting published, I would love to encourage other Christians to grow in their faith and knowledge of God.
Will definitely be renting Miss Austen Regrets! Love me some Austen… Basically, I feel fulfilled when I share a glimpse of God’s love, grace, healing, that jazz, in a story teens would want to read. Great post!
I have wanted to write since I was a small child. One thing or another always got in the way but I know that God was showing me that I needed to live life in order to really write about it. Now that I am finally fullfilling my dream of writing, I have one book finished and a second in the works, my dream is to see them published so that maybe what I write can help someone. Perhaps I have or can write something that will touch someone who needs to see that it is never too late to have a relationship with our Lord.
Wow, Rachel, what a touching post. I too am a big Jane Austen fan, and it is sad to think that she never got to see how important her stories became.
It is so nice to know that not everyone is in this business to become rich and famous, there really are people out there who do it for the pure joy.
Rachel (and those of you who have already commented) I think I share many of the common threads in all the good comments above. Looking outward, I like the idea of my writing ministering to others, and answering the felt needs of readers. Looking inward, I enjoy seeing the statistics on the few people who come by my blog, so I know I would draw satisfaction from finding that people were actually buying my books. I enjoy public speaking, so I know I would get a kick out of doing college readings or media interviews. I have reached that stage in life where all of my non-writing ambitions have either been realized (marriage, kids, grand-kids, education, travel, teaching career, missionary service, etc.) or tossed aside as less attractive than I once thought (public office). I have a few more years before retirement, but–health permitting–I would like to design whatever years I have left around writing and grand-parenting. One or more published books would also be a way of thanking my wife for the sacrifices she has made on behalf of my writing, and fulfilling some of her dreams.
Foremost, I want to authentically live out my faith through my writing in ways that glorify God. In that, I hope that my writing would encourage others, deepening their faith, initiating their faith, or otherwise helping them grow closer to God.
I’ve thought often about publication’s role in fulfilling those dreams. On one hand, I know that writing blesses me and helps me explore and deepen my faith. But, I want to serve others. Publication would definitely be a way to spread God’s Word out to others. Morgan’s words are encouraging in that blogging can help spread His love, as can any way in which we witness to others through words and actions.
I am enjoying how much discussion about the heart and passion of writing and agent-ing is coming out in these posts and comments!
My writing dreams are to be published. Since I was a small child I have been saved and had a love of books. It wasn’t until I suffered a tubal pregnancy, that God used Francine River’s novels to show me I was to write for him.
Through lots of prayer and God opening doors, I’m very close, but He taught me it was due to His will, not my own. Through my blog, I’ve also had people tell me I’ve helped them through some difficult times. That is rewarding and also the hand of the Father. It’s funny, because I think I’ve learned just as much through the blog as my readers.
Thank you for opening up so much, everyone! I think these posts are really great and even these little blurbs could touch a life.
From the time I was very young, I would say, “If I can make one person laugh or cry,” I’ll be completely satisfied. (And, of course, I meant they should laugh and cry in the right places.) I’ve reached that goal, and I am satisfied. Yes, I’d love to win a Newbery, but I don’t think that would be more fulfilling than connecting with one reader at any given time. I mean…if we write so that we’ll know we’re not alone, to borrow and bend a line from Lewis, why do we need to connect with hoards? If I connect with one person at a time, I’m happy. Everything else is gravy.
I will consider my writing dream fulfilled when my books reach the hearts of others (preferably teenagers) and show them the love of Christ through the simple pages of my books.