Kay will return next month, so for today, we’re revisiting an insightful post by her from three years ago, dealing with an issue so many of us face.
Running and Writing and Competition
If you want to compete with somebody, run a race.
If you want to change the world, write a book.
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Last week PJ Parrish wrote a TKZ post on Performance Anxiety. I’d like to follow up with a corollary on competition.
Competition is good, right? It gives us a chance to test our mettle against others and see how we stack up. Whatever field we’re in, competition is an opportunity to identify weaknesses in our performance and make a plan to improve. It may even lift us into that rarified atmosphere of winning the prize and basking in the glory.
When thinking about competition, sports always comes to mind. Personally, I believe foot races, specifically the 400-meter races, are the epitome of competition.
The 400-meter race is the longest track event run completely in lanes, so there’s no pushing or shoving. Each competitor runs her own race in her own lane. It’s once around the track, and the winner is easy to identify. She’s not necessarily the person with the best form or the coolest sports gear or even the newest model of Nikes. The winner is the person who crosses the finish line first.
This is obviously an objective decision. The other runners can’t say, “I’m a better runner than she is. I should get the gold medal.” Or “She won just because her coach is famous.” A runner wins a race because she is the fastest competitor in that particular race, and there’s camaraderie and respect among runners no matter where they place.
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On the other hand, competition can have a dark side. I’ve read recently that writers are a competitive bunch. That’s not surprising, seeing that we’re publishing books that are in competition with millions of other works, and the desire to excel in the field is strong. Writers want to know how they’re doing in the big publishing picture, so we compare ourselves with others, and sometimes it doesn’t go so well.
You’re toiling away to market your self-published masterpiece, which has seen slow sales and mediocre reviews, when you get word your good friend just secured a lucrative publishing contract for his first book. And then another friend posts to every social media site in the world about the big award she just won. That was the contest you entered and didn’t even make the finals! All of a sudden, feelings of competition turn to jealousy and envy.
But you’re a nice person, right? These writers are your friends, and you think you shouldn’t have these feelings. Well, don’t feel bad. Most authors have experienced some form of writer’s envy in their careers.
So what do we do about it? I like the way Erin Fulmer put it in her 2020 article on professional jealousy
Publishing isn’t a race.
Even if it were, the person who makes it to the next goalpost first is not necessarily going to make it to the one after that in record time.
But this isn’t a competition. There’s no deadline. Sure, the inevitable heat death of the universe is coming someday but until then, it’s anybody’s game.
And it’s not a zero-sum game. Yes, there is competition in publishing—I don’t want to sugar-coat that—but your friend getting a book deal or agent doesn’t meaningfully reduce your chances of the same, unless you are writing something extremely similar and submitting to the same editor/agent. Even then, it’s just as likely that their success will cause your work to be more in demand. A rising tide often does lift all boats.
If you are seeking a writing career, that journey only ends when you stop writing. There’s no finish line, no lifetime wish achievement that means you won like a good little Sim. There’s just the next book.
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So, there you have it. Publishing is not a fair race. It can’t be since the judges (readers, agents, publishers) assess a writer’s work through the filter of their own backgrounds, tastes, and opinions. For example, I have a friend, a well-known writer, who entered her work in a writing contest some years ago. It was the kind of contest where several judges score the work and the entrant receives the results. Two of the judges scored her work in the 90’s and the third one rated her in the 50’s!
So maybe we need to adjust our perspective. As authors, we’re here to enhance the human experience through the written word, and we each do it in our own way. We’re a community, not combatants. We get to choose the lane we run in and how we want to run the race.
Envy tells us that success is more important than the journey. But if we truly love what we’re doing, we’ll seek success while finding the real joy in the writing. And with each circuit of the track, study and hard work will make us better. And in the long run, maybe that’s where the gold in the gold medal lies.
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We’re fortunate that here at TKZ we have a community of contributors and commenters who go out of their way to offer suggestions and support for each other. A writing community at its best.
So TKZers: Do you feel that you’re in competition with other authors? Have you ever dealt with feelings of envy or jealousy of other writers? How do you handle them? What advice would you give to prospective authors, especially young ones, who may be feeling the same emotions?
Thanks for reposting this article, Dale.
After reading Jim’s post from yesterday, I think a new competitor has entered the race: AI. This is a good reminder to keep focused on our own writing and running our own race.
Thanks again. Looking forward to posting new content in August!
So true, Kay! We writers need to run our own races and continue to improve.
Looking forward to your return next month!
Looking forward to your return, Kay!!!
Me too, Debbie!
The only place I feel ‘in competition’ with other writers is in attracting the attention of readers who would like my ‘wares’, I believe, if I could just get them to try the first novel in my mainstream trilogy, Pride’s Children: PURGATORY.
Even in a restricted category of mainstream fiction written for men and women, there are a LOT of books, and Reader Time is so limited – they can’t read everything.
One of the reasons I read blogs and almost always comment (other than me being a ham) is that the comment stream is filled with people I hope might give my universe a look – people who understand the craft and the hopes and the unreasonable expectations. Not just other authors (some of my favorite readers have been other authors who are willing to write in a review how my fiction hit them), but readers who look to these blogs to winnow their own choices, and will be affected by those reviews.
It is currently kind of my most targeted marketing, especially where the blog posters have the best questions about craft. Like here.
I can’t do broader marketing while writing (LIMBO, trilogy concluding volume), but I rarely miss reading my favorite writing blogs. And believe leaving a comment is an appropriate ‘thanks’ for the hard work the creators put in.
Great points, Alicia. We all have a limited amount of time (and money) to invest in books, and there are a lot of very good authors out there.
I like your idea of having a presence on blogs as a way to present yourself and your work to a wider audience.
People who read the blogs I read and comment on can’t POSSIBLY say they don’t know who I am, as my opinions and my process are well documented.
I hope some day to make converts out of all the readers who might like what I write – even though right now finishing LIMBO is my sole focus until it’s done, other than those comments.
But, as you say, there are a LOT of books out there, and their authors want the same.
Early in my career, I was occasionally envious of writers who seemed to jump the line. After a while, I understood that everyone has problems, and some just seemed luckier. I enjoy writing and I’m lucky to have my agent and editor and my work gives me (and I hope readers) enjoyment.
It’s easy to fall into the envy trap, especially for new authors. All in all, though, I’d rather be one who had to work hard for success rather than get there by luck.
I’m not generally jealous or envious but I remember a time about 10 years ago when the green blade stabbed me. I saw an acquaintance’s books in Walmart and Costco, the pinnacle of success.
A few years later, the same author’s contract wasn’t renewed and their agent bailed. A long dry spell followed.
One day we ran into each other and the author wistfully said, “I wish I had as many books published as you do.” Turns out the author I’d once envied now envied me.
What????
Big flashy successes are transitory and fleeting. The grass always looks greener in the other author’s yard but they often have their own problems you’re not aware of.
Do I want to trade places? Nope.
Very wise observation: “The grass always looks greener in the other author’s yard but they often have their own problems you’re not aware of.”
True of so many things in life.
I so agree about it being about the journey! Somewhere around two years before I received a contract, I was obsessed with getting published. Then one day after I emailed my day’s work to myself I had that feeling I can’t exactly describe — joy, satisfaction, peace, maybe all three — and I realized that even if I was never published, I was doing what I was meant to do. That’s when I started to enjoy the journey.
Looking forward to your return, Kay.
“joy, satisfaction, peace” – what a great journey to be on!
Perhaps the best competition to be in is where you compete with yourself. Is what I do today better than what I did yesterday? If the answer is yes you’re winning.
Great observation, Marshall. Each of us has to decide what success means to us.