As Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes, “To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven.” (Ecc. 3:1 NKJV) As I’ve grown older, I’ve seen the truth of that in so many areas of life. Lately, I’ve been pondering my own seasons of writing: where I’ve been as an author, where I am now, and where I hope to be. I’ve been struck by how much the writing life parallels that of a farmer.
We start with a seed: an idea for a character, a plot, a theme. But much work is required to go from that tiny start to a book that readers will buy and love. It doesn’t just happen without deliberate attention to more than typing words on a keyboard or writing on a piece of paper.
If we’re going to reap the harvest of a beautifully written, emotionally stirring novel, we’ll take steps to prepare for the work.
Farmers don’t simply walk up to a field year after year, put in some seeds, and get a bountiful harvest. They look after that field to keep yields high. If our goal is not just a book but a writing career, so must we. Some activities energize us. Some drain us. But the effort we put into improving both our writing and our business skills is what gets us to the harvest.
Crop rotation has been a farmer’s tool for thousands of years. Ancient farmers, possible as early as 6000 BC in the Middle East, alternated legumes, which add nitrogen to soil, and grains, which deplete it. The three-field system was used in China during the Eastern Zhou period ( 770 to 256 BC). It was adopted in Europe in medieval times. Different crops were planted in a field for two years, and the land lay fallow the third year. In Europe, cereals like wheat and rye were planted one year. Legumes like peas, beans, and lentils grew the second year. Nothing was planted the third year, but livestock grazed on the wild plants that grew and fertilized the land with their droppings.
But how does farming practice in the days before chemical fertilizers relate to our lives as authors? How do we divide our time between writing, marketing, and all the other author tasks? What do we do to replenish the field that nurtures our writing?
What nourishes and what depletes us as writers?
Two of the legumes for me are historical research and writer’s conferences.
For me, part of the thrill of beginning a new story in the Light in the Empire series is learning lots of details about the locations where I’ll be taking my characters. That includes geography and much more. During the first and second centuries AD, somewhere between 59 and 76 million people lived under Roman rule. The empire stretched from Britannia in the west, across northern Africa and much of Europe, and on into Mesopotamia. Rome governed that vast area, but my characters live where both local customs and Roman culture set the pattern of life. I love learning enough about both to make it feel like you’re right there with them. I love using what I learn to add articles to my Roman history website, Life in the Roman Empire: Historical Fact and Fiction.
No matter how well we write, we can always improve something about our craft. Many writing conferences were forced online by COVID, and some have remained there. When attending meant travel to distant locations and higher registration fees to cover the cost of a venue, I did maybe one a year. I can indulge in several when they’re online.
I’ve seen a change in the content of conferences. While many used to include very few sessions on being an author-entrepreneur, now I see many sessions by successful indie authors who share from experience. For many of us, it’s the business aspects of being an author that drag us down. When I started writing in 2013, I knew nothing about marketing. I knew very little when my first book released in 2016. Several years of writer’s conferences and webinars have helped, but I still have much to learn.
When I’ve prepared the soil working on my craft and doing research, I’m ready to write. It’s time to plant the wheat and nurture it into a bumper crop. The actual writing of the story is sometimes invigorating and sometimes draining. But it always goes better when others are praying for me while I write.
Taking a break from writing or marketing?
One of God’s commands through Moses was a sabbath for the land (Exodus 23:10-11). It was supposed to remain unplanted and unharvested every seventh year. While the land rested, the farmer could get some rest, too.
But the thought of stopping for a while is a little frightening. We might lose too much momentum if we do nothing for a whole year, but taking a break for a day or a week makes me eager to get back to my next story.
If our goal is a writing career, we need the legumes and the fallow time to produce our best work.
Questions:
What would a writer’s sabbath look like for you?
What energizes you most for your writing? What depletes you?
(In case you’re curious, that’s the farmland in Idaho near where I went to college. Self-leveling combines are used to harvest it.)
