Just A Little Faith...

Just a little faith. That's all that's needed.


This isn't a get-rich quick scheme. Or even a finite rich scheme. When I signed up for this career I knew that it was possible that I would make money within the first five years. I also knew that it was a possibility that I wouldn't make money in the first five. Or ten.  Or fifteen.  It's just the nature of the business.


You looked at it like any general occupation. I write, the money will come. You would see my name in the film credits or on a book on a shelf in a Barnes and Noble bookstore, a couple of years after I started.


But it doesn't quite work that way. Not in the business of screenwriting or fiction writing. People can write for years, query agents for years before they get at least their toe, much less foot in the door.


And because the results haven't happened for me yet, doesn't mean that I'm not serious about this writing thing.


Because you haven't seen the book on the shelf, doesn't mean I'm not working on it. Just because it seems like I'm in the same place I was in when you last checked in on my writing career doesn't mean progress hasn't been made.


You have to understand that progress in screenwriting/fiction writing isn't always linear.  You don't necessarily see the direct results as soon as you put the work in. It's like a bamboo tree that  needs to be watered for years before it shows any kind of major growth.  They grow very little in the first four years, then suddenly in the fifth year, they shoot up to about 80/90 feet.    The tree sprouts huge.


I believe my writing career will sprout "huge".  I'm faithful, even through my own personal doubts in moments.    The results may not be seen now but I believe it's still going to happen.  This isn't some pipe dream. It's too deep a passion to be just a hobby.


And having been exposed to both the film and literary industries for as long as I have, I have an idea of how things work, and overnight success are not the norm.  A lot of times, not even successes after being in the industry for five or ten years are the norm.  They happen, but it's not the typical.  But the break will come.


"You're going to make us rich," says the Husband who is working at a top position at a magazine and making a hundred times more than I do, only because I make "zero" right now.  We joke about it, but he believes that.  He truly does.  He is faithful.


If nothing else, my future income will afford us a lifestyle security (including college savings) that we will need later.  But he says it because he understands the exponential growth that comes with a writing lifestyle.  You work for pennies for years and then the "break" comes along and you finally make a sizeable income.


I need you to understand that.  It takes nine months usually before a baby is fully developed and ready to be born in this world.   With a writing career - along with others, like it - it works the same way, except that it may take longer.


So trust me.


Believe in me.


Even though I'm taking care of a  growing family and life is busy right now, the writing focus is still there. Always has been.


The dream is still on.   The goals are still in place.


And the results.


They'll come.  Believe it.


It just takes a little faith.



This post is inspired and made possible by Shell and her Pour Your Heart Out meme where you are able to express whatever it is that is on your heart.