Anxious? Unless you live in a cave you have been bombarded with negative, anxiety-producing information of late. In less than one hour of listening to news today, I heard more doomsday-type news than a body can stand. The icecaps are melting. Animals are becoming extinct at a frightening rate. Politics gets uglier each day. Plastic straws may spell the demise of our oceans. The sky is falling. Oh yes, and we have a new pandemic to worry about.
And how about publishing? Not a day goes by without a discussion of the demise of publishing as we know it. Authors are getting lower and lower advances. Publishers aren’t promoting the books they contract anymore. If an author’s sales figures aren’t up to par, he’ll never get another contract. Kids aren’t reading anymore. No one’s willing to pay for a book these days. Information should be free. Brick and mortar stores are a thing of the past. I could go on and on, but I’ll let you fill in the rest. It would seem the publishing sky is falling as well.
What I want to tell you is this: Don’t believe everything you hear.
I won’t even take time to unwind the bad news I led with. Yes, there may be some truth in each report, but it’s skewed toward the negative because it makes a far more compelling story. It’s the same with publishing. Bad news rules. Anxious is the new black.
Colleagues all across the industry have noted a sense of anxiety from authors. We know what authors are talking about in their circles– what they’re reading in blog posts and industry magazines. Their questions reveal the anxiety. When will I get my next sale? Is anyone still buying? If my numbers aren’t good, will I ever have another chance? Do publishers even care about publishing good books? Is anyone interested in promoting a new author, or are they just fighting for the same handful of tried-and-true authors? The zeitgeist fairly sizzles with negativity.
Don’t believe everything you hear. The greatest danger is self-fulfilling prophecy. If we keep saying something long enough, we begin to believe it. As my sweet mother used to say, “Snap out of it!”
- Focus on the work. You are a writer–an artist. Worry steals all creativity.
- Stop listening to the dementors. Remember those creatures from Harry Potter? Dementors feed on positive emotions, sucking the very joy out of their victims. If you are hanging with naysayers, walk away. Just say no.
- It’s too easy to become suspicious of those in the industry–publishers, agents, editors. The trouble is, you’ll end up finding exactly what you are seeking. If you look for good and honorable, you’ll find good and honorable. If you seek to demonize, you’ll find plenty of examples. Pollyanna? Maybe, but it’s no less true.
- We need to stop becoming anxious over the unknown. We may not know what the future holds, but we know who holds the future.
Chime in. Do you have some truths to help dispel anxiety?
The Laugh-Cry Formula for Writing
Wise words, Wendy. Biblical, even:
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:2-4).
Rejoice, press on, grow up.
“ If you look for good and honorable, you’ll find good and honorable.” I find this to be invariably true—in so many areas. And while we’re busy treasuring the good and honorable, we waste less time and emotional energy on any of the other we may occasionally encounter.
Favorite author quote. “A whole lot of God things can happen when you stop being afraid or try to always be in control. Trust God. He will accomplish His purposes for you in His time and in His way.” -Robin Jones Gunn
This truth sits on my desk, along with a photo of her smiling face.
Her joyful, Jesus loving glow.
And so the friendly sky is falling,
and the oceans flood the tender land.
Armageddon now is calling,
and neck-deep in blood we stand.
The pollsters say that polling
shows a very scary trend,
while candidates are trolling
those who used to be a friend.
So many critters go extinct
that the biosphere’s gone bust,
and he talked, Pope Francis winked,
so whom, now, can we trust?
It’s getting so alarming that
I shall don my tinfoil hat.
What a good reminder–thanks, Wendy!
As someone who does struggle with worry, the scripture you alluded to always helps me–“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:6-7) As well as others, like “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you, not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27) And “The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, because he trusts in You. Trust in the Lord forever, for in God the Lord we have an everlasting Rock.” (Isaiah 26:3-4) I might not have quoted them all exactly correctly, since mostly from memory. 🙂
I just have to come back to these over and over sometimes. Interesting how none of these promises of peace have much of anything to do with our circumstances. 🙂
Thanks for directing our minds and hearts back to the One who never changes!
“Anxious is the new black.” I’m using it! That is perfect Wendy. It captures the feeling. I’m also grateful for the reminder to worry for nothing and rest in faith.
And remember Whom you serve.
Negativity is not helpful and things are never really as dire as we hear. Things can always be better or worse.
I’ve been following writer blogs since before Books and Such had a blog (I started with Miss Snark) and it seems like every year in publishing is supposed to be the worst yet … nonetheless, there are a lot of great books out there for me to read!
Of course, there are things we SHOULD be anxious about.
I’ve just passed the 250k word count for sonnets, in a little more than a year.
Be afraid. Be very afraid.
A quarter-million sonnet-words,
and their influence is spreading;
behold in fear the grim fate towards
the whole wide world is heading.
They’re copied from the Internet
from Muncie to Peru,
and soon will be a printed set
your friends will send to you.
They’re pinned up to refrigerators,
tucked under windshield-wiper blades,
and read to groups of alligators
in swamp-haunted Everglades.
Embrace the horror! In six months’ time
all creatures, yea, will speak in rhyme.
Thank you. How timely! I am trying to get my last 15 pages in for my thesis (MFA) and have been so anxious about it that I have lost all contact with reality. I prayed this morning and opened your email and right there, Be anxious for nothing. I felt as if I had a conversation with the Lord and that was his answer. I love the picture at the top because I feel like that. Thank you Books & Such. I think I’ll be okay today. My advice
to others; don’t leave God out of the process.
Susan
It’s far too easy to become anxious, especially about writing life and wanting to move forward. God keeps reminding me of Phil 4:6-7, talking about not being anxious about anything but in everything, with prayer and petition to present our requests to God. And His peace that passes understanding will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
When anxiousness tries to creep into my thinking and my heart, I’m learning to stop it by praying and remembering what is true (from verse 8).
Thanks for these spot-on words today, Wendy!
“If it bleeds, it leads.” That’s true in journalism and the newsroom, but also in scuttlebutt about publishing. One of the best things I’ve ever heard is this: It may not happen.
I needed this, Wendy. It’s so strange that rarely anything I’ve ever worried about has ever come to pass. So why do I fall into the anxiety trap every single time? Well maybe because that one time when that problem really did turn out to be bad news. But it’s almost like I take a little freak-out moment before I sink into God’s arms, trusting that He has the situation, and the seams of that beloved truth pull me together.