Friday, March 13, 2009

A New Kind of Confidence...

one I might actually acquire...I pray.

God-confidence.

Doesn't that have a wonderful ring to it?

Thinking of writer's conferences here. It's those writers with an abundance of confidence and wonderful social skills who shine the brightest and are the squeakiest, too. (Remember: "The squeaky wheel gets the grease.", or, at writer's conferences, it would seem that it's the confident writers who get the requests for fulls.)

I will admit that I am one of the less confident writers who could learn much from the confident gems out there. Hence, why the concept of God-confidence resonates with me.

I'm one of those people that if I'm doing something for someone else, I'm more likely to succeed regardless of my personal limitations involved. If I can focus my energy in accomplishing "the challenging deed" for another, then somehow I can usually make it happen.

But writing is a solitary task for the most part. And so, for me, the question becomes how do I look at pitching my completed manuscripts as a task to do for someone else? 'Cause otherwise history dictates that I won't pitch at all.

Colossians 1:29 holds the answer for me.

"This is my work, and I can do it only because Christ's mighty energy is at work within me."

If "Christ's mighty energy" delivered via little old me is to ever get noticed, then I need look no further for a reason to harness God-confidence and faithfully pitch His work for Him.

If you struggle like me with self-confidence, I hope you too will take Colossians 1:29 to heart and discover God-confidence.


Surrendering to Him,

Eileen

6 comments:

Jody Hedlund said...

Hi Eileen,

I haven't been to a writer's conference yet, but as I read your blog I could imagine what you described! The outgoing, magnetic, confident, perhaps even flashy writers draw the attention of the agents and editors.

The writing market is tough to break into, and we hate to think we have to "shoulder" our way in, make our voice heard, get our face noticed. Don't we wish our writing itself was just enough?

And apparently even after we're published, we have to fight to get our books noticed and sold! So the need for confidence never ends!

Jessica Nelson said...

Nice post, Eileen. I completely understand this feeling, as I like to hide in the crowd (unless I have an opinion about something, lol).
Are you planning to go to a conference?

Eileen Astels Watson said...

Jody, I totally understand why agents and editors gravitate to the confident writers, though. They are definitely the outgoing writers who will get themselves noticed beyond their writing ability. And this is a business, everyone wants to succeed financially in it.

So, as part of the journey, getting confidence and putting oneself out there is required!

May we both achieve that goal when the timing is right.

Thanks for stopping by!

Eileen Astels Watson said...

Hi, Jessica.

I have my fourth writer's conference coming up in June. Trying to prepare writerly, emotionally, and faithfully for it. I guess that's why the God-confidence I discovered in a devotional stuck out for me.

Hey, do you plan to attend the ACFW one in September? I'm trying to figure out if we can swing it financially. I've never been to that one, but would love to.

Jessica Nelson said...

I don't know yet. Did you apply for the scholarship? That might help out a bit. :-) I want to go to at least one conference this year, but have to figure out a plan for the little guys. :-)

Eileen Astels Watson said...

No, I didn't apply for the scholarship. I am going to the largest one in Canada, so I figure the scholarships should go to people who can't even afford one conference a year. Every writer should get a chance to attend at least one.