Should I be a Writer? Some Advice

I recently received an email from a friend asking for advice on writing, specifically whether or not I thought he could be a professional writer. After sharing my reply to him on FaceBook, a few friends suggested I post it here as well.

I should offer a disclaimer before starting. I’m only mildly qualified to offer an opinion; I’m no expert! In seminary, I edited a theological journal and after that I was a ghost writer for about a year. I’m thankful nowadays to have a biweekly column for BreakPoint and contribute to a few other places, including Kuyperian Commentary.

For me, however, writing has always been an extension of what I understand to be my real calling, teaching and pastoring. That said, I do have some advice to offer. Specifically, I think there are three questions you should ask yourself before deciding whether or not you’re called to write: Can I write well? Can I write often? Can I write well often?

Can I write well?

I know when I ask myself this question, the answer is always “no.” I learned this from Ira Glass: to be a writer, you have to be a good reader. To be a good reader, you have to have good taste, for lack of a better word. If you have good taste, you should be able to recognize the disparity between the quality of your work and the quality of a true master. When I read Ross Douthat’s column, I feel like I’ve never written an original piece. But, I know there’s a way—one way, in fact—to narrow the gap between my writing and his, which brings me to the second question you should ask, Can I write often?

Can I write often?

When George Will was given a weekly column, he was nervous he wouldn’t have something to say each week. “Surely there’s something that makes you mad once a week,” Bill Buckley told Will, “You mustn’t squander the anger!” Don’t waste a creative thought. John Stott slept with a notepad by his bed just in case he wanted to capture a worthwhile thought he had in a dream! Everyone has these creative thoughts, a writer is just one who writes them down. Dennis Miller has this illustration: everyone is watching water drip from a faucet. A comedian is one who cups his hands underneath it, pours it in a bottle, and sells it. That’s being a writer.

Can I write well often?

In his autobiography, Steve Martin makes the point that lots of performers can be great. Being good is the hard part. Being great one night is a fluke, it’ll happen occasionally to everyone who sticks at their trade. The trick is being consistently good, week after week, year after year.

The reality is, you wouldn’t be thinking about being a writer if you hadn’t written a great piece at least once. But the question isn’t whether or not you can write a great piece, it’s whether or not you can write good pieces consistently. In the genre I write in, Jake Meador is the gold-standard. What makes him remarkable isn’t that his best pieces are particularly dynamite (though they are!), it’s that his worst piece are still good.

Having read the piece you sent me, I think you can write well, and I know you have the grit to write often. But, neither of us can answer the third question, at least not yet. There’s only one way to find out if you can write well often: you have to try. For what it’s worth, I’m betting the answer will be “yes!”