Elliot Kessler

In 2020, I attended an online writer’s conference held by Houston Baptist University. It was fascinating; they had different breakrooms where we could enter and attend different classes. We could ask authors and editors questions and learn what it would be like to write professionally and how to reach that level. I had a lot of fun and learned a lot. I still look at the notes I took during that conference.

One author there was supposed to be one of the highlights of the conference. His name was S. D. Smith, the author of “The Green Ember” children’s series. He is strongly Christian and puts many Christian themes and values into his stories, which I found inspiring. He said many fantastic things that I found helpful, but he said one thing that stuck with me the most: “Writing is servitude.”

The more I thought about it, the more I realized how right he was. Writing should be a service unto others.

When writing, we must ask ourselves why. Are we writing to entertain ourselves? Are we writing because it’s fun? Maybe it’s because we’re trying to prove something or gain the attention of many. Is it because we seek fame and fortune? Does it matter why we write?

I believe it does. I believe why you write determines what you write on a fundamental level, and it will affect the quality of your work.

Writing for Fun

There’s nothing wrong with writing for fun. I’ve written several short stories for no reason except that they were fun. They didn’t have any meaning, and they didn’t uniquely explore themes. They were fun, dumb stories that I enjoyed writing, and the results showed that. The stories weren’t the best quality, but I thought they were passable. They worked, but they weren’t perfect pieces of art.

There are tons of popular movies that are only there for the fun of it. Most mainstream films, such as those from Disney, don’t explore themes and ideas deeply and settle for fun, entertaining stories instead. They work, and we occasionally get classics that work exceptionally well, such as “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “Avengers: Endgame,” but most are easily forgettable.

Entertainment is the fundamental purpose of storytelling, but it shouldn’t be the only purpose. When it is, we get something that looks frighteningly similar to the storytelling world today in every medium. Our movies are primarily bland, fun spectacles. Our literature is the same.

This isn’t to say writing for fun is wrong. It isn’t. If writing wasn’t fun, why would anyone want to do it? But writing a story purely for fun results in a bland, uninteresting mess that is entertaining but nothing more. It’s good, not great.

Fame and Fortune

If you’re writing for fame and fortune, you’re in the wrong business. If you want to be famous, there are plenty of easy ways of doing this. Becoming a storyteller is not one of them. Start a YouTube channel or become a social media influencer if you seek fame and fortune. If you gain enough followers, then you can write a story, which will probably sell reasonably well, depending on how you market and distribute it, how many followers you have, and the type of content you create for your social media page or YouTube channel.

There are plenty of people who will tell you how to do this. I am not one of them because I am not a YouTuber, I don’t have a lot of Instagram followers, and only about fifteen people read this blog. I am grateful for those followers and you readers, but this shows that this is not the route to fame and fortune. It isn’t easy to become a mainstream author, and that’s why only a handful reaches that level.

Even if you write a book and become relatively well-known among the reading community, that does not mean the fortune part will come with it. If you are traditionally published, the publisher will take a significant cut from your book. If you are self-published, you must subtract the marketing, editing, cover art costs, and more spent on your book. Self-publishing typically costs thousands of dollars. There are the lucky few who write books that become best-sellers without spending tons of money, such as Andy Weir with his book “The Martian,” but the odds of that happening to you are the same as you winning the lottery.

Your purpose shows in your writing, and writing for attention and money also shows. The story will likely be bland and unoriginal, taking the lazy route and following the story circle to the letter. The story isn’t the story’s purpose, and your writing will suffer. Some examples of what your story may look like include “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” “Black Widow,” and “Despicable Me 3.”

Becoming a Servant

Writing to serve others typically means inspiring others, communicating a message or idea, or exploring themes for others. I get the best story ideas when I try to write for others. They aren’t necessarily the most fun or entertaining ideas but are the deepest and have the most potential for a good story. They explore interesting ideas, look at a topic from a new angle, and think deeply about a particular subject.

I believe this is also a biblical perspective of storytelling. We are called to be servants, so what better purpose to write than serving others? It glorifies God, displaying his creativity through us as we are made in his image. It also shows others new or different perspectives on particular matters, such as loss, morality, and happiness. We can show others what the Bible says about these themes and how we should live them. We are also using the talents that God has provided us, planting the seeds of truth into the minds of our audiences so that God may grow them.

That is servitude through storytelling. Becoming humble servants of God to plant his seeds and glorify him in fiction, not to seek money, fame, or justification, but to help others in their lives.

This is a challenge. It is far easier to write a story for fun or fame. When you write your New York Times Bestseller, and the cash starts rolling in, it’s easy to quickly write a soulless sequel to keep the money flowing. It is much harder to write a story to praise God and serve others.

Writing is servitude.

Thanks for reading! Have a fantastic day.