The People You Work For

Some of the details that draw people into Lu’s story slam doors for others.

Take the scene on Page 247 (no spoilers here). This is why a bookstore wouldn’t carry Lu. It’s also why a woman thanked me at a book club. Because that was me.

Recently, a book blogger opted out of reviewing Lu on her site, as a kindness to me she explained. The divorced pastor, the consumption of alcohol, and occasional curse word made her uncomfortable. We had a lovely exchange, and I told her I didn’t mind if she published a negative review because it’s helpful to hear what people do and do not like.

Good ideas solve real problems for real people – but not all of them, and not even all of them who are facing the same problem. A good idea just needs enough of them to take.

A market share. An audience. A tribe.

Or, as I affectionately call it, a Thursday night Bible study.

For several years, I hosted one at my house. The women would start arriving around 7:45 and help me re-arrange chairs. A couple of Troy boys, sometimes naked (they were young at the time), would pop in to see whether anyone had brought cookies, and then we’d send them to bed so we could get started. The conversation went everywhere but typical places, and I quickly learned that my job as facilitator was to let that happen. The women were smart, earnest, and gracious – and I learned a ton from them about how women interpret and apply the Bible in their lives.

Thursday night Bible study is who I work for. They are the women I keep in mind when I write anything, whether it’s a blog post or a book, and my desire to reach a group of women like Thursday night Bible study guides the writing itself, from the tones to the humor and the subject matter. I want to respect their time. I want to respect them. I want to honor their experiences, thoughts, expressions, and hopes.

Knowing who I work for helps me make decisions about the type of work I should be doing.

Knowing who I work for helps me refine the work.

Knowing who I work for reminds me I am not working for everyone.

Knowing who I work for helps me let go of the people I am not working for.

Or as a recent reviewer of Lu wrote: This book isn’t for someone who wants squeaky-clean fiction, but it is for someone who appreciates a realistic, thoughtful story and doesn’t mind a little grit.

So …

For those of you who want to do something but are not sure what, I have a question. Do you know who you work for? It can be anyone other than “everyone.” Maybe you want to write a healthy cookbook for moms. Great! What kind of mom? Moms aren’t moms aren’t moms. Get specific – from age range to salary, how many kids they have and how much time they have to cook in the day. The more specific you get, the easier it will be for you to make decisions about the work itself.

For those of you who started something but now feel stuck, I have a question. Have you thought about bringing in the people you work for as partners in your work? When I wrote Lu, I had a writing buddy to review my work as I wrote it and a beta reading group of 4 women review the first draft. Along the way, I also asked my Bible study to pray for me, which became another form of low-key accountability because they would ask me how the writing was going, and I wanted to tell them something. Even the most solo work can be collaborative, and collaborating with the people you work for saves you a lot of time on the back-end.

For those of you who question whether your work is making an impact, I have a question. When was the last time you talked to the people you work for? Yes, this can look like some sort of formal interview or review – both of which I do – but really, it works best as open-ended conversations where you’re actually not talking about your work at all, but about who they are and what they want. You know best where your work fits into this, so you don’t really have to bring your work into it every time. You just have to listen to people and ask good questions.

For those of you who seek to get better at what you do, I have a question. How tough of a crowd do you put your work in front of? My beta reading group has 2 people who would not choose to read Christian fiction if I didn’t ask them to read mine. They bring a sharp, critical perspective that streamlines my storytelling and calls out my assumptions. I also send my books to review circuits where I’m not sure the story will take, given the types of books they normally read. The try is more important to me than the risk of a bad review, and the bad reviews always sharpen my writing game.

Good ideas solve real problems for real people – but not all of them!

Which of the above descriptions describes where you are right now? What problems are you experiencing and how can I help? I want to help! Comment below to tell me how.

We all have our space. Imagine you, unleashed, working for the glory of God and the good of those around you. This is what we’re talking about on the blog right now as I share the steps I took to envision, write, and publish my next novel, Louisa. Do you have ideas you don’t know what to do with or are you stuck somewhere in the middle? Start at the beginning of this series to get you going!