The Biggest Lesson I Learned at Realm Makers

I think we all have this very glamorous picture in our heads when we imagine the life of a published author. 

For years, an aspiring novelist strives to create a masterpiece, rewriting and rewriting, pinching her pennies and hiring professional editors, letting her manuscript be ripped apart to stitch it back together. She sends out dozens of queries and book proposals only to be rejected again and again. 

But she keeps going because it’s her dream.

Then the acceptance letter finally arrives. She signs a book contract and receives a huge advance. Her book goes out into the world, and the published author lives happily ever after, actually making a living doing what she loves.

Sorry to Break It to You…

That beautiful picture above isn’t accurate, unfortunately.

Want to know what actually happens to that author?

Yeah, she achieved her dream. Her book was published. 

But that dream didn’t bring her “happily ever after.” It was only replaced with a new dream. 

She wants her book to have dozens of five-star reviews on Amazon. She wants it to hit the NY Times Bestsellers List. And getting published isn’t worth anything if her book doesn’t earn the Christy Award.

Ok, imagine that she achieves all that. Now she’s happy, right?

Wrong.

She has to get more books published. She has to make a lot of money. Her book has to become a movie. And it has to become a good movie. 

And on and on down the line…

Publishing a book in itself can NEVER bring her complete satisfaction.

The Biggest Lesson I Learned at Realm Makers 2022

If it’s impossible to find satisfaction where you are now, you’re never going to find it at all.

When I went to a writing conference this July, that was my biggest takeaway (among a few others).

This conference is called Realm Makers, and it’s a gathering of people who tell stories and create make-believe worlds even as they look to the true Author and Creator. The people who came to this conference have big hopes for their novels, and yet they cling to the biggest Hope that is found in Jesus Christ.

It is a beautiful thing.

These people taught me what it looks like to be satisfied even as we pursue the dreams God has planted in us.

Layers of Motivation

The reason these people found satisfaction is because they have a different kind of motivation than most writers. Actually, they have multiple layers of motivations that make up their reason for writing.

Here are four different layers, coming from what I observed at the conference.

Motivation #4: Money and Business Advancement

Yes, a Christian author can still work toward fame and fortune! Writers go to Realm Makers to be good stewards of their gifts, to sell books, to make business connections, and to advance their businesses so that they can provide for themselves.

But fame and fortune are not the priorities. By its nature, writing is not a “get rich quick” technique. Real writers are in it for the long haul. 

At Realm Makers, it was obvious that people were going to the conference for something more than money and business advancement—because they weren’t getting much of those things out of the deal. Many authors only sold a couple books at the Exhibit Hall—certainly not enough to pay for their registration. 

If we’re looking for money, it’s so that we can sustain ourselves and write another book (see motivation #3). If we’re looking for fame, it’s because we want our stories to have an impact on the hearts of many readers (see motivation #2).

Matthew 6:19-24 is a really good passage to study if you want to see why money shouldn’t be our primary goal.

Motivation #3: Love of the Craft

During the conference, I attended a panel called, “Habits and Hacks of Published Authors (How Books Get Written by Humans with Lives).” One of the panelists had published many books, including one with a really cool concept that had made it onto my to-be-read list.

I was stunned to hear that this author and her entire family had been living in her mother’s basement for years. 

Obviously, this author hadn’t become an author for fame and fortune. If she had, she would have given up by now. 

Instead, she persisted, and she wrote for the love of the craft. 

A lot of us authors can’t imagine our lives without writing. It’s a gift God has given us that we can’t throw away. 

We’re overachievers with crazy active imaginations, and we need an outlet.

So we write.

If we can’t live in a castle, we’ll create our own.

Motivation #2: Friendship, Connections, Readers

During the opening keynote, Tosca Lee said that one of the most valuable things we could take away from the conference is connection.

Writing doesn’t need to be a lonely thing. It actually opens the door to a lot of amazing friendships. I’ve even made some really good friendships online through The Young Writer’s Workshop.

Authors don’t primarily go to conferences for business advancement; they do it for learning and friendships and fun, too!

Another special type of connection is the one between the writer and the reader. An author writes to touch the reader’s heart and impact the reader’s life. This motivation is even bigger than #3 because the writer isn’t only writing for herself—she’s writing out of love for others.

This is the kind of motivation that helps authors to succeed.

Motivation #1: God’s Glory

This common motivation is what makes a Christian writing conference special. And if you look closely, the desire of Christian authors to glorify God is what motivates all their other desires.

Why do they want to make money from their writing? To be a good steward of the gift God has given them.

Why do they write and write and write and write? To be a good steward of the gift God has given them.

Why do they touch readers’ hearts with their books? To be a good steward of the gift God has given them.

Demystifying the Art

Isaiah 44:16-17 tells the story of a craftsman who cuts down a cypress or oak tree. 

“Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, ‘Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!’ And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, ‘Deliver me, for you are my god!’”

Isn’t that ridiculous? He can clearly see that there’s nothing special about that wood. He can cut it, he can burn it, he can carve it into a shape.

The man has power over the wood, and he knows that. Yet he worships the wood as if it has power over him. He relies on it to save him.

Writing success is a little bit like that block of wood. A lot of writers go after the next big writing success with everything they’ve got. Whether it’s publishing a short story in a magazine, or a novel with a big publisher, or winning a prestigious award.

But we’ve got to stop treating success like a god. It doesn’t have the power to give us happiness.

You’re a craftsman. Take a step back and look at the block of wood for what it is. You’ve tasted success before, and it doesn’t give you satisfaction.

If it’s impossible to find satisfaction where you are now, you’re never going to find it at all.

Keep writing, keep touching lives, keep achieving those goals…

But don’t rely on success to find happiness.

Look to the true God for that.