Running Your Own Writing Race

On a summer's day in 1954, the air was palpable in the Empire Stadium in Vancouver. British athlete Roger Bannister and Australian athlete John Landy were about to compete in the one-mile race at the British Empire and Commonwealth Games. They were the only two men to have broken the four-minute mile and this was their first head-to-head showdown. 

Landy was leading as they came into the final straight. He looked left to check the position of his opponent, and Bannister ran past on his right at that very moment. Bannister went on to win, with Landy close behind. Would Landy have won if he'd kept his eyes on the finish line instead of trying to look at what his opponent was doing? We'll never know. But Landy's sideways glance has become an iconic image. There is even a statue in Vancouver that captures that moment.

I'm not a runner, but I've watched enough athletics to know that middle-distance races are as much about tactics as speed. It's not a bad thing to be aware of your competitor's position, but you also need to run your own race and keep your eyes on the goal.

So what does this have to do with writing? 

I Am Not Kate Morton

When I started writing my novel many moons ago, I wanted to 'do a Kate Morton'. If you haven't come across her writing, she's a wildly successful Australian author known for her sweeping parallel narratives. Namely, books that weave different stories together within the same overall story arc. In Kate's case, this usually means having at least one story from the past and one story from the present, that move along in parallel and then intersect in a way that eventually brings the whole story together.

I especially loved her books The Forgotten Garden and The Distant Hours. To me, that was the pinnacle of writing and I wanted to do the same. I had the chance to meet her when I went to an author lunch and talk with my friend Janet Camilleri (fab founder and director of Front Page SEO). Not long afterwards, I enrolled in an intensive weekend novel writing workshop at the Queensland Writers Centre (QWC) to kickstart my fabulous career. When the instructor did the usual introductory whizz around the table to see what everyone was writing, I even said that I wanted to write a parallel narrative like Kate Morton. 

I persisted with that novel for about three years until I did QWC's 'Year of the Edit' course in which we had to critically evaluate our works in progress. After a big helping of denial, I finally realised that the novel I was writing just wasn't working. I was trying to fit the pieces together, but the links between the past and present story were becoming contrived. The past story had become the dominant one and I needed to pull that out and make that the story. That meant a lot more cutting, plotting, editing, writing and rewriting; but I think the finished product was worth it. My debut novel Scattered was an historical novel rather than a parallel narrative, but that was the best way to tell the story. 

I am not Kate Morton and that's okay. 

The Comparison Trap

There are a lot of wonderful writers out there and we can take inspiration from them, be encouraged by them and learn from them. But if we start comparing our writing journey to theirs and wishing we were like them, we can fall into a trap.

Discouragement

We might feel discouraged because our writing seems to pale into insignificance beside theirs. We can't imagine ever writing as well as they do; or achieving the sales, accolades or followers they do. 'Woe is me. I may as well give up this fanciful dream of a writing life. What made me think I could write a book anyway?'

Envy or Sour Grapes

Comparison can also turn to envy or good old sour grapes. 

'How come his debut novel is selling like hotcakes, while the sales of mine are still limping along after several years?' 

'My book is just as good as hers, but I wasn't shortlisted for the prize. That stinks.'

'If he's publishing that many books a year, they must be shoddy quality, unlike my stellar work. Another few years should do it!'

Envy is never a good look, especially for Christians who are supposed to be cheering each other on.

Taking our Eyes off the Goal

If we're too busy watching what another writer is or isn't doing, we're not focusing on our own writing journey and what God wants us to be doing.

Running Our Own Race

God has given each of us different talents and spiritual gifts. We have different passions and personalities. We have different backgrounds and life experiences. We are all at different stages of life and have different responsibilities. And here's the clincher. He wants each of us to serve Him in ways that only we can. He has called us to run our own race, not someone else's.

So what has God called me to write? I was working on the sequel to Scattered when God sent me on a detour to write a devotional book, which was published this year: Comfort Zone: A 40-Day Devotional on the Father of All Comfort. It turned out to be a big detour because I'm currently writing the second book in that series. I'm also putting together an anthology of short stories and poems on the theme of social justice, as well as a separate poetry collection. God has also been prompting me to do more with all of the songs I've written over the years, and the sequel to Scattered is still in the mix somewhere. However, there has been no mention of me 'doing a Kate Morton'. Funny, that!

The following verses, written to first-century believers, could just as well apply to us as Christian writers.


Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Hebrews 12:1-3, NIV)

What race has God called you to run? I'd love to hear your stories and cheer you on.

Sources

Bible verses taken from the New International Version of the Bible that appears on Bible Hub. Featured photo of runner on track by Roshan Rajopadhyaya on Pixabay. Photo of Bannister/Landy statue by Paul Joseph from Wikimedia Commons and used under their licence. Photo of Janet, Kate and Nola from the author's collection. Author pic by Wayne Logan from Encouraging Photos.

Author Bio

Nola Lorraine has a passion for faith and social justice issues, and loves weaving words that inspire others with courage and hope. Her books include the inspirational historical novel Scattered, the Christian devotional book Comfort Zone, and the Christian charity anthology Glimpses of Light which she co-edited with Jeanette O’Hagan. She also has more than 150 short publications, including fiction, poetry, devotions, true stories, magazine articles and academic papers. She loves sharing the words and stories God impresses on her heart, and prays that He will use them to bless others. 

Nola would love to connect with you on her website: www.nolalorraine.com.au

Style: Are We Being Robbed? by Jeanette Grant-Thomson

I love writing and reading. I love slipping into the world of the novel with its believable characters, its enjoyable setting, its gripping story. Unique well-written styles delight me. I enjoy words and I enjoy writers who obviously do too.

But during the past, say, fifteen years, there’s been a difference. I wonder if we’re being ripped off. With the emphasis on ‘tighten it up’, ‘delete every unnecessary word, especially adverbs’, has sometimes come a blandness, a lack of individual style.

I would like to – realising these are just my own views and not gospel – express my feelings about the current trend.

Why the push to write so succinctly?

We are told: We live in a fast-paced society.  Nobody will take the time to read your novel if it is written in a leisurely way, with adverbs dangling everywhere.  It’s action readers want. It’s a text message world. People want facts delivered fast and hard. It’s even been whispered: the Real Reason is that publishers have to save money on printers’ ink! Seriously (woops, another adverb!).

I see their points.

But nothing quite replaces a good book which creates a world where you can escape for that precious time of unwinding at night. So let’s have a look at a few of the contemporary authors I’ve really enjoyed – and who are also best sellers. I applaud these writers who have felt free to ignore the current trend and wend their way patiently through descriptions, adverbially modified where appropriate, and to repeat things for effect. To write with their own distinctive style.

Kate Morton, author of The Shifting Fog, The Forgotten Garden and a few others. Kate rambles, gives plenty of details, takes her time in getting to the first pivot point of the story arc (I wonder if it may be too long but I so enjoy the journey, I forgive her), and she periodically addresses the readers.

She takes us into the magical worlds of her characters and her 500plus page novels are captivating reading. I willingly suspend my disbelief! (Did anyone else have an urge to pray for Eliza, in The Forgotten Garden, when she is about to make her final disastrous decision?)

Then there’s Alexander McCall Smith, particularly in his first five or six Botswana books – his quaintness of style, his creative use of words, his wonderful character Precious Ramotswe, all are a delight and take one into the ‘dry, aching land’ of Botswana with its ‘vast empty sky’. Its characters talk like many people do. “It’s just like that, Mma. It just is.” All set amid adverbs galore.

Why delete adverbs? They – well, they modify!

‘Find a better verb,’ you say. Sometimes this works. But I prefer fluid, textured prose with a sprinkling, only where appropriate, of adverbs.

 Recently I read Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. The first several hundred pages of this gripping testimony are almost devoid of adverbs and despite the   wonderful story, I felt the prose lacked texture. It was hard and staccato in this part. Well . . . I thought so.

There’s definitely a place for simply-written, fast-paced novels. I’m sure they will continue to be popular. But give me a novel that feels free to break the current rules and leads me into its special world with the author’s individual writing style and well-rounded characters. 

Jeanette Grant-Thomson, a Brisbane author, has been writing in various genres since she was a child. She began book-length works with her biographical novel Jodie’s Story, published in 1991.Her most recent novel is Lantern Light, set in PNG and Brisbane in 1972-4.