Pillar Three of the writing life is investing. We invest our time, our talent, and our finances in growing as writers. Alton Gansky once said he had the secret to making a small fortune in writing—start with a large fortune.
We invest in our writing with the hope we will receive a return. Not all of us will become multi-millionaires through our writing but it is possible. For many of us, seeing our book published is the reward. Sometimes, simply finishing the book is its own reward. I have a writing friend who wrote a book just to thank her friend for taking her to Israel. Her reward, was seeing the delight on her friend’s face.
I was rewarded before my first novel was ever published when one of my first readers thanked me because what I wrote brought her closer to God.
We invest in our writing in so many ways. One is the investment we make in computers, laptops, and printers. In today’s writing world, we have to be electronically connected. We further invest in writing software like Scrivener and Randy Ingermanson’s Snowflake method to guide our story development. There are other specialized software programs for writing movie scripts.
In Pillar Two, I wrote about we never stop learning by participating in conferences, workshops, seminars and webinars. We can also invest ourselves in courses at local colleges. Books and magazines like Writer’s Digest are resources. There are myriad websites such as ACFW and Randy Ingermanson that offer opportunities to learn. Blogs on writing abound. Among those I follow are The Write Conversation, Word Serve Water Cooler, Steve Laube, Chip Macgregor, and North Texas Christian Writers.
Writing is not a solitary profession. Good writing doesn’t take place in a vacuum. We need to invest in garnering feedback from our peers through critique groups, whether online or in person.
The best investment I’ve made in writing is in finding writing partners. These are people beyond critique groups. These are writers I’ve invested time and effort with to develop relationships that are open and honest, that challenge as well as encourage, that won’t let me settle for less than my best.
What’s the best investment you’ve made in your writing?
Writing is such an investment! You’ve hit the nail of the head with this post, Henry! My best investment in writing has been my critique partners. God has blessed me with two very different groups of people who give me great advice and lots of encouragement. I also enjoy books about writing and going to conferences.