Baptism of the Imagination, Part 6

KC: I think a lot of people that will probably be reading this interview are Taylor students that are aspiring to be writers. Something interesting I found while I was researching Lewis a little bit was that only four people showed up to his first lecture in the university.

WV: And he went from four to four hundred.

KC: Right; he became very popular. A lot of writers, even if we do have success eventually, are going to have a lot of failure at first. Did you have a time where you were discouraged with trying to get your works published, or do you have any advice for student writers who are discouraged?

WV: I was spoiled in that the first work I tried to get published was published relatively quickly. It took me a number of years to write Mere Theology. Once I had it all together, I started looking for a publisher in 2001 and it was published in 2004. I didn't realize it at the time but that was pretty incredible--the first time out of the chute--to get something published that quickly. Then I thought, "Oh, it'll be so easy to get my second book published." No. It doesn't make it easy just because you have one thing published. It is hard and it is discouraging to get rejections, but if you believe that writing is what God has called you to do, then you have to keep at it.

The more you learn about the industry, the more you can look at what you're doing realistically. For example, Mere Theology has sold some six thousand copies. When I first got a publisher I wasn't sure what to think about that size print run. Then I found out that's an average print run, especially with the smaller to medium-size publishers. Since Mere Theology is more of an academic book, with some crossover appeal to a popular audience, selling six thousand copies may even make it a bestseller in the academic realm. I don't know. But it all depends upon how you look at it. You have to look at these things realistically.

It's important to have people encouraging you along the way--people with whom you can share your writing--like the Inklings did with each other. It takes time to become a successful, published author--so having that group of encouragers becomes all the more important.

Lewis's first two books were not very successful. He longed to become a published author and then, when he became a published author, he was an unknown author for so long, and that was discouraging to him. But once he became a Christian, he gained a new perspective. He wasn't so concerned about becoming a famous author anymore. He started thinking, "How can I use this gift of writing that God has given me to help other people?" That perspective changed everything.

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