Joe Bunting

Write What You Believe

Oh that Seth Godin is such a little idealist.  On Sunday he posted an encouragement for people to “write what you believe, not what sells.” 

His case? You can write what other people want, things that will increase readership and boost popularity, “mini-hits,” as he calls them, or you can write what you love, “creating long-lasting art, ideas that matter and things that spread organically.”

Read his post, and then come back here and let’s talk about it.

First, define love, Seth.  I thought I loved music.  I thought I loved my songs, but as I struggle trying to build a career and music, as I am routinely disappointed, I am becoming more and more frustrated by it. 

Is love supposed to give you energy?  Is it supposed to motivate you to work through the disappointments?

I am on the verge of giving up music.  I’m not going to stop playing the guitar or anything, but I am on the verge of giving up the dream I had to make a career out of it.

Is it because I’ve fallen out of love with it? 

Second, what happens when you do what you love but can’t pay the bills?  Do you pander to the audience then?  Do you try to become more entertaining, more engaging?  What happens if you’re starving?

I’m not sure.  I like Seth’s ideal of doing what you love, and I feel convicted by it, especially today, but I’m afraid I won’t be able to live up to its requirements. 

The last word is from my old friend, Thomas Merton.  In Seeds of Contemplation, he says (paraphrasing), if you write for yourself, reading what you wrote you will be so overwhelmed by its dullness that you will kill yourself (I can’t remember if he actually said that, and I don’t have it with me, but that was the point). 

If you write for other people you might make a lot of money and have a few followers.  But…

“If you write for God, you’ll reach many men and bring them joy.”

I don’t know if that’s true, but I’d like to find out.

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What are you willing to starve for?