In his book, The Art of War for Writers, James Scott Bell shares a number of helpful tips for moving forward as a professional writer. One of his suggestions is making a contract with yourself to abstain from complaining about setbacks or comparing yourself to others for a full year.
I created my own little contract based on his advice and hung it over my desk, where it remained until I moved to a new state six years ago. I stubbled across the wrinkled and faded document a few months back and was reminded just how beneficial it has been in helping me correct my mindset in the years since.
This year I decided to take that contract a little bit further. Not only was I going to refrain from complaining or comparing myself against others, I was going to work on not dwelling on where I’d hoped to be by this time when I began looking at the year ahead in late 2019.
If there’s one thing this past year has taught me, it’s to continue looking for joy in the little things. Especially in terms of my writing journey.
I approached the new year looking forward to teaching workshops at a major writing conference and a possible one-day conference or two. I haven’t gotten to teach in person, but I’ve been blessed with mentoring writers, and I have thrilled at seeing them grow in their craft as we press deeper into their writing with fewer distractions outside the home.
I started this year looking forward to meeting face-to-face with some of the writers I’ve worked with, and while that didn’t happen, I have been able to enjoy phone calls with several—one in Florida, one in Hawaii, and several in states in-between. There’s been laughter. There’s been encouragement in moments of frustration. There’s been confusion that’s been cleared away. And there’s been celebrations as agents have considered their manuscripts.
I began the year determined to finish a MG novel and begin workshopping and querying it. The first draft is still waiting for me in a drawer, but I know how move forward with it once I complete another project that has been awaiting my attention since 2017. And I’m excited to take a short break from editing in December so that I can fully focus on it.
Finding joy in the little things can add up to greater gains
There will always be big things that we have no control over in life. And this is certainly true of our writing careers. What we do have control over, however, is how we respond to the ups and downs.
I think the thing I’m most grateful for this year is the hunger that it created in me to press forward as a writer, as an editor, and as an individual. I’m doing things I didn’t think I was capable of doing before. I’m growing in areas I didn’t know I was lacking in. And I’m ending this year feeling more confident in my journey than when I started out this year.
I believe finding the joy in the difficult and approaching the impossible with an attitude of gratitude has made all the difference.
What little joys have made the biggest impact in your writing journey this year? Is there something you’ve been wrestling with for years that you finally had a breakthrough on? Maybe you’ve found a way to be more present or consistent in your practice?
As we press forward toward the completion of another rotation around the sun, I invite you to join me in focusing on the little joys this week and how they’ve impacted our lives for the better. Politics, Pandemics, Pandemonium, and all!
—Jen