by Heidi McCahan, @HeidiMcCahan
Have you ever wrestled with the realization that a deeply ingrained habit isn’t working for you?
After nearly a decade of writing from our kitchen, I’ve decided that perhaps there might be a better way. Others have suggested I establish a dedicated space, but I refused to listen. After all, I’ve written several manuscripts, dozens of blog posts, weathered numerous setbacks and became a published author without having an office. It’s fine, I’ve insisted, justifying my less-than-ideal habit. Really, it’s fine. This kitchen and I have history. It’s comfortable. I love the light and the view from the windows. And the coffee maker is so close. But the lines between homemaking and working writer have blurred. It’s too easy to get distracted by chores and my husband and our children aren’t sure when it’s acceptable to interrupt and when it isn’t.
“This working from the kitchen thing just isn’t working for me,” I declared to my husband. As if this was breaking news and he hadn’t tried to gently suggest I move elsewhere on more than one occasion. My family has graciously tolerated my writing-from-the-kitchen-table routine without complaint. While my husband probably wanted to gloat or break into a victory dance, he did not. Instead, he calmly got in the car and went with me to help buy a comfortable new office chair. Bless him. I married well.
The boys helped dust off the desk in the bonus room and assemble the new chair, while I wandered around the internet searching for clever decorating ideas for my new space. I envisioned photos of vintage typewriters, or maybe artwork that inspired settings in my novels. Or posters with pithy bits of motivational wisdom.
The phrase that flitted through my mind was the famous quote by Theodore Roosevelt: “Comparison is the thief of joy.”
Huh. No thank you. I kept scrolling. While my quest for cute artwork continued, the theme of comparison swiping my contentment wouldn’t go away.
If I’m honest, writing from the kitchen table isn’t the only thing that stifles my productivity. Often the success of others derails my writing journey too.
Perhaps you can relate.
You’ve set a specific goal to write two scenes and you’re humming along. Until you decide to ‘reward’ your efforts with a quick social media break. There’s a tweet celebrating a three-book contract. Or a delighted author on Instagram posing beside her brand-new book on the shelves of a big box store. Your publisher announces another prolific author has hit the best-seller list.
Sigh. That scene you thought was brilliant a few minutes ago only seems worthy of the virtual garbage pail on your desktop. Defeated, you shut down your computer or crumple the notebook paper and spend the rest of the day focused on your obvious shortcomings. Recently a writer friend lamented that (insert amazing author’s name here) made writing and plotting look so easy. I mentally concurred. Then another wise author friend reminded us that we were never called to be (insert amazing author’s name).
Oh. So simple and yet so profound. That tiny bit of wisdom yanked me right out of my one-woman pity party. Instead of envy, I sensed a glimmer of optimism. Instead of feeling inadequate, I felt I had a renewed purpose. God called me to tell a specific story at a particular time and now I need to follow through.
Here are 3 specific ways we can keep envy and comparison from stifling our calling:
- Look to God’s Word: as Christ followers, we don’t need to have identity issues. There are numerous verses reminding us of who we are. Ephesians 2:10 is a favorite. “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
- Manage Expectations: striving to write and sell a debut novel that rivals an award-winning author’s 75th novel is completely unrealistic. Instead, focus on improving one aspect of the writing craft as you write your next manuscript.
- Be a Cheerleader: find at least one person in the industry you can encourage. Genuinely celebrating someone else’s success takes the focus off ourselves. You’d be amazed how rejoicing with another transforms our attitudes.
If you’d like to break free of the comparison game, take heart, dear word wrangling friends and repeat after me: someone else’s success does not equate my failure. A scarcity mentality thwarts us every time. But a humble obedient heart focused on the Lord and the unique path He has set before us will offer a sweeter victory than anything we might’ve orchestrated on our own.
When a struggling bakery owner is rescued by a wannabe songwriter with hidden culinary talents, they discover they can make sweet harmony … if they can only learn to work together.
Rhett Foster longs to change the world with his music, yet he can’t even finish writing one song. Battered by a string of failures and disillusioned, he returns home to Portland, Oregon. While he desperately wants to create a chart-topping hit, his dad mandates a new mission: move to coastal vacation hotspot Seabrook, Washington and expand the family’s successful restaurant chain. In danger of destroying her late parents’ legacy if she doesn’t diversify her menu, Lindsay Carmichael will try anything to save her bakery. But with a tiny budget and an injured employee who can’t work, she has no choice but to sink the last of her savings into buying a dilapidated food truck and hiring Rhett as a part-time barista. What she doesn’t know is that the handsome songwriter has a secret … one that could destroy her business and her heart.
Heidi McCahan secretly dreamed of writing a book for most of her childhood, but a particularly painful rejection letter in middle school convinced her to tuck that dream away. Instead, she earned a bachelor’s degree in Sports Medicine from Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington and a master’s degree in Athletic Training from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. After a brief career as a Certified Athletic Trainer, Heidi married her husband Steve. Then she dusted off her big dream of becoming a published author and launched her first contemporary romance into the world in 2014. A huge fan of coffee, dark chocolate and happily ever after, Heidi currently lives in North Carolina with Steve, three active boys and one amazing Goldendoodle.