Not really. But I feel a bit jealous of their success and see them as competition as such.
I just finished reading the first novel of Tim Pratt’s sci-fi series The Axiom. I found The Wrong Stars really hard to put down. The story was engaging, the characters compelling, and it was an excellent read.
Who is Tim Pratt? A Hugo Award winning author with more than 20 novels under his belt in both sci-fi and fantasy. When I read that at the end of the book – I admit I felt a pang of jealousy.
Wow. He’s gotten a lot further than I have as an author. And I guess, in the sci-fi marketplace – we are, technically, in competition. But not really.
Before that, I read the Sky Full of Stars series by Lindsay Buroker. Though she’s not an award-winning author like Tim Pratt, she tells great stories and writes and sells enough novels to live as a full-time author. Another sci-fi author – but not really competition.
The same applies to others I’ve been reading in the last year. Becky Chambers, Alex White, and Joel Shepherd are all great sci-fi writers who have won awards and achieved success as known quantities.
It is human nature to feel competitive. And there are tons of messages to that effect being frequently beamed at us. But competition between us is far, far more limited than we realize.
True competition with others
The places where true competition exists are actually few and far between. And the majority of them involve money-making industries.
Almost all sports are competitions. You strive to be the best at what you do – team sport of solo sport- and there is constant competition. Your team is working to be the best and win the trophy. You strive to be the fastest runner, the highest jumper, the most accomplished martial artist in the competitive circuit.
Likewise, there are plenty of competition TV shows to watch. Game shows, competitive cooking programs, and tons of both simple and complex series of competition.
In all these instances, there’s a goal. Win the trophy, the prize money, the title, the medal, or what-have-you. You are judged based on skill, talent, and how well you measure up to your competition as a winner or loser (loser is not meant harshly – it’s the nature of competition to win or lose).
The above-mentioned types of competition are the only true competition with others.
We are not in competition for tangibles like resources, jobs, homes, cars, money, and the like. Neither are we in competition for intangibles like love, peace, friends, happiness, and similar. Why? Because the Universe is ultimately abundant with more than enough for everyone in it.
Thus, we are not in competition with others. But that doesn’t mean we’re not in competition with ourselves.
Learning, growing, and evolving
There are nearly 8 billion (8,000,000,000) people on this planet. Every single one of them is unique, individual, and perceives reality in their own way.
However – we’re also all completely interconnected. Beneath the meat popsicles that we occupy and call our bodies, we’re comprised of similar energy. That energy comes from the same source as that which forms electrons, atoms, rocks, trees, stars, galaxies, and beyond.
Because we are all one in that respect – we are not in competition with our fellow human beings. Not unless we participate in one of the aforementioned competitive arenas.
Yet when it comes to growing, evolving, and learning – we are in a form of competition. But it’s not with others. It’s with ourselves.
What do you know now that you didn’t know 10 years ago? Or 5 years ago? Even a week ago? Of those things – how have you utilized them to improve yourself in some way or other? What have you chosen to study to be better than you were before?
That’s a form of self-competition. It’s working to be better than you were as you grow, evolve, and change. That’s not competitive with anyone else.
For example – I have been editing Harbinger – the 3rd novel of my Source Chronicles series. I started writing that series in 1998. Harbinger was completed – the first time – somewhere around 2008. But I began to write it in 2002.
I am on my 3rd round of edits of Harbinger before sending it to a professional editor. Why? Because my writing style has changed – for the better. What’s more, somewhere in the middle of writing this book – Seeker, the first novel of the series – was professionally edited. That created a large change in my approach reflected midway through Harbinger.
Am I in competition with my former self?
Yes and no. No, because there is not a prize to be won in the world of growth, change, and evolution. Yes, because I like to challenge myself to see how I have changed and grown.
There is a clear-to-me point in Harbinger that I can see how the lessons I learned from that first editor changed my approach. The tone, the devices, and the way I explore the world of the story subtly shifts. It’s more aligned with how I write now.
In what way is that competition? Because I strive to be better than I was. I’m still writing. Additionally, I recognize that the appeal of my writing evolves as my writing evolves.
There have also been numerous life experiences over the years from which I have chosen to improve myself. That’s only a matter of competition in that I desire to see where my ongoing growth and evolution takes me that I’ve never been before.
Every great writer and artist evolved in their work. Picasso, for example, went through many different phases in his art. Was he in competition with anyone other than himself? No.
We’re not competing – I just feel a little jealous
There are 10 books in my queue that have been plotted and not started yet – all of which will be approached with new eyes and ideas based in part on what I’ve been reading.
I’m not stealing from any of the authors I’ve read. But I will be reconsidering certain approaches to my storytelling. More show less tell and more tension and delayed gratification, for example.
We’re not in competition. But I do feel a little jealous of their success – which can lead to competitive thinking.
I don’t know how many books exist in the world. Let alone how many sci-fi or fantasy novels are out there. But there are always new stories to tell – new worlds, characters, and technologies to explore – and I’m not in competition with other authors in storytelling.
Why am I sharing this? Because apart from the specific examples of competition with others offered earlier – we’re not in competition with anyone but ourselves. Mindfulness of this goes a long way towards our work and creations.
When we’re not striving to be better than Writer X or Artist Y – we can work on our own skills to get better and stronger.
And my jealousy? That’s on me. But it’s not about competition.
This is the one-hundred and forty-fifth article exploring the ongoing creative process. Please take a moment to check out the collection of my published works, which can be found here.
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