Week 5: In a World of Trends, Be Steadfast

This world is fickle. There's a new trend every week, a 24-hour news cycle, and ever-changing takes on what story should be, existence will be, and humanity currently means. What is good will be bad in a few months; what is a lie may become truth given enough time; what is considered success now could be amateur hour in the near future.

But what does it mean to be steadfast in our writing amidst all that upheaval?

It's no secret that this market can shift quicker than a catamaran whipping through converging currents. Yet, are we meant to be the buoys bobbing in the water, beholden to the waves? Or are we the lighthouses? Sure, our light moves across the surface and only ever illuminates a veritable sliver in the great expanse of this world, but at least there's some light. At least we see what we need to.

I go back and forth on trends (how apropos). Sometimes, they're great. They bring awareness to certain topics that need it. They offer voice to the voiceless. Or they provide some much needed comedic relief -- remember that trend where we hypothesized what fictional characters would sound like if they were owls? What a time to be alive.

However, trends can also make us, as writers, feel like we're running a perennial marathon, never finding the finish line. Instead, when we believe we're reaching our destination, we realize there is only more to run, more aches in our legs, more bleeding at our feet.

Rather than focusing on trends, what if we dared to focus on the enduring nature of writing: what do we love about it? What if we didn't chase validation and instead sought to find ourselves in the love of the written word, to return to the page for discovery of self, rather than the market.

Of course, being aware of trends can make us informed artists. We can be aware of the market, while not defining ourselves by it. After all, how can we define ourselves by something that changes every day? In essence, that would be trying to find meaning in chaos.

Remain steadfast in your love of writing and your place in the market will emerge because love will always beat out chaos.