“Are you working, or are you still writing?” came the patronizing voice over the telephone in the early 1990s.
“Still writing,” I told the businessman. While we discussed a business matter, my insides simmered. Oh, I really wanted to tell him a few things! However, I didn’t. What I wanted to spout off wouldn’t have been nice.
Ah! But those were the man’s exact words, engraved in my memory. I was much younger then, and my writing career was young. It was in those “good ole typewriter days.” Now, I look back on this experience and laugh. Had he understood how hard it is to write at a professional level, and how hard I worked, he never would’ve said it. Obviously, he knew nothing about the craft, yet he insulted me for something he didn’t understand. He may not have meant it as an insult, but that’s how I took it.
Photo Credit: Alan Light
I once heard the great singer, Mel Tormè, tell a story on a television show. He mentioned unnamed people who offered him unsolicited advice regarding his singing. Mr. Tormè’s response? He told them that if they were Duke Ellington, Nat King Cole, Dean Martin, or another musician or singer, he’d listen to them. In other words, he only heeded the advice of those who knew their craft. He was right. We, like Mel Tormè can ignore them because chances are, they know little or nothing about writing.
As writers, expect some people to criticize us. And yes, even insult us. It comes with the territory.
Doesn’t such criticism and naysaying hurt? Of course, it does. It still hurts me from time to time. But one thing I know for certain—by God’s grace, He’s called me into a literary ministry. I’ve never doubted this, not even in my early struggling years. Because I never doubted it, I never quit, and I thank the Lord for this. When we worry about what others think or say about us, the critics and naysayers, we become their slave. A slave to their opinions, a slave to their negative comments. Personally, I’m more concerned with what the Lord thinks about me—how I live my life and my writing.
Has the Lord given you a dream to be a writer? He has? Then don’t pay attention to those who criticize you, insult you, and try to kill your dream. I’ve been writing professionally for over thirty years. The Lord has brought my dream to pass. So always trust Him. He’ll bring your dream to pass too.
The Author's Cove: John "Jack" Cunningham on Writing & History 