I recently wrote this post to The Writer's View and thought I'd share it with you. By the way, if you're a Christian writer interested in learning more about the craft and business of writing, seriously consider joining the Writer's View.
Trends are set by people who don't think about trends.
Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller is a trend, but before that book, (and similarly Girl Meets God by Lauren Winner), the edgy 20-something faith memoir was not cool. My biggest pet peeve, though, is bandwagoning. Once someone does something innovative (which is really just an extension of the passion God has placed within them), then eighty-seven someones copy it ad infinitum. When Donald Miller grappled in prayer about how to reach his campus, he and his friends decided to open a confession booth where THEY confessed the sins of the church. The idea was radical and an immediate hit, orchestrated by the Holy Spirit for their locale. Now, though, I am hearing about these exact confession booths springing up all over the place. I'm curious whether, in strolls down the CBA halls this year, folks will see confession booth kits.
I see trend as a bit elusive. People who set trends usually don't mean to. They simply listen to the Holy Spirit, write something totally amazing and let it go on the breezes of the fickle Christian marketplace. What happens after that is up to the Lord.
Write from your passion. Be attentive to the whispers of the Holy Spirit. Be willing to walk through difficult places personally, holding the hand of Jesus, so that you have something to offer others. Beyond that, hone your craft.
And let the pieces fall where they may.
Trends are set by people who don't think about trends.
Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller is a trend, but before that book, (and similarly Girl Meets God by Lauren Winner), the edgy 20-something faith memoir was not cool. My biggest pet peeve, though, is bandwagoning. Once someone does something innovative (which is really just an extension of the passion God has placed within them), then eighty-seven someones copy it ad infinitum. When Donald Miller grappled in prayer about how to reach his campus, he and his friends decided to open a confession booth where THEY confessed the sins of the church. The idea was radical and an immediate hit, orchestrated by the Holy Spirit for their locale. Now, though, I am hearing about these exact confession booths springing up all over the place. I'm curious whether, in strolls down the CBA halls this year, folks will see confession booth kits.
I see trend as a bit elusive. People who set trends usually don't mean to. They simply listen to the Holy Spirit, write something totally amazing and let it go on the breezes of the fickle Christian marketplace. What happens after that is up to the Lord.
Write from your passion. Be attentive to the whispers of the Holy Spirit. Be willing to walk through difficult places personally, holding the hand of Jesus, so that you have something to offer others. Beyond that, hone your craft.
And let the pieces fall where they may.
6 Comments:
Great advice.
Whenever I try to make something happen and I'm not being attentive to God, I always end up stressed, disgruntled or worse. (I've seen this especially when I've tried to make money--God didn't give me that gift--LOL!) I think the motivation to follow trends often comes from the desire to "cash in" on a good idea...
But then again, for some it probably is easier than being open to the road God has for them.
I've been following your journey, and Lisa Samson's through your blogs--amazing and convicting, even though I'm sure we only see a fraction of the experience. But I think your caution is timely in my life. I need to be encouraged and spurred on by those following Christ --not to follow in their footsteps, necessarily, but to follow their example of obedience--wherever that may lead.
Thanks for your posts--always an inspiration.
Sherri
Thanks. I needed to read that just at this moment. Funny, how the Holy Spirit does that? Or "providential," I guess I should say.
And thanks for sticking up for originality (and listening to God to tell you what you personally should do). It always irks me to see the cookie cutter ministry/church of "it worked for them it'll work for us." I'm all for reminding people it worked for them because God led it, not man.
Sherri, that's a good point, about motivations and cash. I hadn't thought of it quite that way. May this year be a blessing to you as you write. May you sense the Holy Spirit as you place words to screen.
J-me, I agree as well. In the church, at least, following some other church's exact blueprint is often a result of laziness. "Well, it worked for them, therefore it will work for us." We forget that moves of God come from folks like us being on our knees, not copying someone else's knee-gained program.
Mary, I love this post. It always bothers me to see copycat books. Not only do they evidence an obvious attempt to cash in on another's success--whether that success comes in the form of souls or cash--but they also show a lack of faith, that the images and thoughts burning in their hearts and no one elses, were put there by God for a reason. How much do we lose, when people don't follow where they alone were meant to go?
Mary, you're a genius! Confession booth kits! Why didn't I think of that? We could sell them for $19.95 with little signs, a dark curtain, and a little bag of cookies for attracting the heathens....
Actually, that would sell. At least as well as most of this stuff
Doesn't the urge to copy others betray our disbelief in the majesty God made us to reflect?
"God has paid us the intolerable compliment of loving us, in the deepest, most tragic, most inexorable sense." --C. S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain
Mary, thank you for this. You remind us to live fully who God made.
Copycat books are a reviewers nightmare. Or maybe it's just me? But this year I haven't seen it as much in christian fiction except in some of the new romance lines.
The central message in my WIP discusses how our christian counter culture finds itself emulating society instead of setting our own standards.
great thoughts.
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