Rocket Science

Perhaps you’ve heard the saying, “It’s not rocket science.” Or maybe this one: “A child could do it.” Are you helped by knowing that? Maybe not, because the truth is, everything is hard when you don’t know how. That’s why all the “books for dummies” have been such great sellers.

Why? Because we’re not only looking for solutions, we’re looking for easy solutions, and with that comes the problem. Like so many other valuable accomplishments, writing doesn’t have an easy solution. When it comes to social networking, marketing, and building a platform, there isn’t a practice that guarantees success. Everybody is trying to reach the skies, but only a few sit on the clouds, lying to us, telling us how easy is to get there.

Maybe that’s the truth we’ve been trying to avoid, but it keeps coming back. If we want something great, we’ll have to work hard to build it. What we learned in English classes isn’t enough. Rockets weren’t built in a day, and neither are good books. Test firings are made, and they fail. So we go back to the plotting and characterization. We keep working on the narrative and dialogue until we think it will fly. We test again, and when that fails, we keep on trying.

They quit. They lose faith, no longer believing God has a plan for their stories. If we’re tempted to join them, we should remind ourselves that we are a work in process, and God’s not finished yet. As we wait upon him and keep striving for his reward, we will one day rise high, with wings as eagles.