Shipwrecked: Avoiding The Author’s Sinking Ship

The Titanic has captured people’s attention for years. What an amazingly tragic loss that could have been prevented. All those people were lost because experts believed the ship was unsinkable.

Truth is, nothing is unsinkable. Not ships, not careers and not people.

How can you avoid a sinking ship as an author? Be faithful to your devotional time with God. Surround yourself with the people who help keep you afloat.

People Authors Need To Avoid Sinking In The Writer’s Life:

Encouragers: People who believe in you and cheer you on. They come along and lift you up when you struggle and praise your successes.

Truth Speakers: People who will be real with you, even if what they have to say is tough to hear. They provide an extra compass of conscience that keeps you from straying off the path.

 Journeyers: People who travel the writing path with you. You are learning and growing in your craft together. You support each other’s success and give honest feedback.

Mentors: Writers with much more experience than yourself. Someone you look up to as a source of inspiration and challenge.

Experts:  Writing, life and marketing experts that can guide you through your journey once you reach the place of publication.

Cliff Whisperers: The people who talk you off the edge of the cliff when you are ready to give up.

 Pancake Brigade: They scrape you off the pavement when you’ve been flatten by failure or life’s challenges. Often this crew is also the people who pray for you.

Accountant: This person holds you accountable for your goals and spiritual growth. They are also truth speakers, but they let you know when you are off track.

 Think of the people that you surround yourself with every day. In your circle do you have at least one person for each category? If not, it’s time to look. In the case of the Titanic there weren’t enough Truth Speakers or outside experts to avoid tragedy.

The Titanic took several hours to sink. Shipwreck doesn’t come over night. It happens one small bit at a time.

If you look at those in history who have major failings, often they surrounded themselves with people who agreed with them always or didn’t have the expertise to guide them.

The Wisdom of Proverbs tells us that ‘faithful and just are the wounds of a friend.’ Guard yourself against shipwreck professionally and personally.

Take out a piece of paper and write each title. Next to it, write the name of the friend that fills that role in your life. Look for holes and fill them by reaching out to others.

Who do you have in your life that fills one of these Roles? Give a shout out to thank them in your comments below.

*Thank you to Lisa Jordan. She is the best Cliff Whisperer and also fills many of the roles I listed above. My writing journey would not be the same without you!