By A.C. Williams by @acw_author

What have you got left to learn about writing?

Depending on how you answer that question, this article may infuriate you. Fair warning.

One of the most extraordinary (and not in a good way) aspects of working as an editor and book coach is how many clients pay for my services only to tell me that my feedback is wrong.

Now, this is not me saying I know everything there is to know about writing. Frankly, my response to that first question up there is that I still have a ton to learn. I consider myself a novice in this career of storytelling. Certainly there are elements of it that I know more about than others, but I haven’t arrived. I’m still on the journey of learning how to effectively reach an audience with the message I believe God has given me.

That doesn’t negate what I have learned. Like I said, there are some things I can call myself an expert on, but how many experts do you know who are still learning new things every day? In my mind, that’s the mark of a true expert: someone who keeps learning.

While I believe that writing craft and business strategy and industry standards are vital elements for writers to learn, I am beginning to think that what matters more is teachability. But that begs the question, how do you teach someone to be teachable?

We live in a self-made sort of culture right now. We are surrounded by resources and information and opportunities that allow those who haven’t done the work of writing to publish. And that’s fine, of course, but it certainly makes it much more difficult for those of us who have done our due diligence to be visible. With a market so bloated with ubiquitous, low-quality stories, it’s easy to get lost in the shuffle.

Culture right now elevates mediocrity and spurns true excellence. To be fair, though, some of that comes from how excellence has been marketed. Excellence, like righteousness, tends to have a stained glass kind of feel to it, and as a result it feels neither attractive nor achievable. So why would anyone desire excellence if mediocrity will do? Why would anyone want to write a story that truly resonates with readers when a handful of inexperienced beta readers and a cousin with an English degree says it will do just fine?

I don’t have an answer for authors who aren’t Christians. But for those of us who claim Christ as Lord, the answer is simple: Do everything as though you’re doing it for Jesus.

Yeah, I said it was simple. Not easy.

That includes writing your manuscript. That also includes rewriting your manuscript for the third, fourth, fifth time, etc. Don’t do it for your editor or your publisher or your agent. Do it as something you wouldn’t be ashamed to give to Jesus.

Writing is hard. Storytelling is harder. Being a fiction author is one of the most challenging industries to try to make a sustainable career in. Not to be a dream crusher here, but it’s the truth.

You can’t do it alone. If you can learn from the failures and rejections of those who came before you, do it. But that means you have to admit that you don’t already know everything. You have to embrace not having the answers. You have to ask for help, and then you have to humbly listen when someone a little further down the road from you offers it.

Sure, you may get an editor who doesn’t get what you’re trying to do. That’s fine. But as long as that editor is actually an expert, don’t just throw out what he or she has to say. You can always learn something from every industry expert you connect with.

You will absolutely get feedback from a beta reader that tells you your story is perfect exactly the way it is. Take the win that your story had an impact on that person, but don’t for one moment think that it will have the same impact on everyone who reads it. One beta reader’s opinion isn’t going to sell your book.

As the author, you need to believe in what you’re writing. Sometimes you have to believe in it more than anyone else. But if editors and teachers and coaches who work in the industry and know about your genre repeatedly tell you that something isn’t working, don’t dismiss them all as biased or prejudiced or uninspired.

The choice in how to interact with an editor or a coach is up to you, but if you walk into that relationship expecting a pat on the back and a declaration of your genius, you aren’t going to learn anything. You’re just going to get your feelings hurt.

Listen. Learn. Pay attention to the core of what those who are more experienced in life are telling you.

Much of what you need to be a success as a career author can be taught. But you can’t learn anything if you already have all the answers.

Award-winning author A.C. Williams is a coffee-drinking, sushi-eating, story-telling nerd who loves cats, country living, and all things Japanese. She’d rather be barefoot, and if she isn’t, her socks won’t match. She has authored eight novels, three novellas, three devotional books, and more flash fiction than you can shake a stick at. A senior partner at Uncommon Universes Press, she is passionate about stories and the authors who write them. Learn more about her book coaching and follow her adventures online at www.amycwilliams.com.