Green-Eyed-Monster Envy

Envy means: to bear a grudge toward someone due to coveting what that person has or enjoys." In a milder sense, it means the longing for something someone else has without any ill will intended toward that person.

 

Jealous means: apprehensive or vengeful out of fear of being replaced by someone else." It can also mean watchful, anxiously suspicious, zealous, or expecting complete devotion. The last is normally applied to God.

 

As writers, do we compare ourselves to other writers? Of course we do. Do we envy others’ success? Are we jealous at others’ accomplishments in the writing field? The answer is probably yes, we all suffer from the green-eyed-monster to one degree or another.

 

First of all, I knew there’s a difference between envy and jealous, so I copied and pasted the above definition from a site titled Envy vs Jealousy. I like the envy definition better as it applies to this blog.

 

I belong to several writers’ groups and websites. I enter contests on a regular basis. I crave honest, constructive critique. I want to learn and improve. But I must admit there are times when I read winning entries and I think What?I write better than that! Or, my entry was better.

 

If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, winning entries are selected because of taste, or likes and dislikes of judges. And, I’ve learned that it isn’t always the content of a story, which could be more intriguing, entertaining, shocking, heart-wrenching, funnier, etc, but judges score on the crafting of a story.  

 

How skilled and knowledgeable is your writing craft? Constantly seek to improve. And cheer on your fellow-writers. There’s a principle of “sowing and reaping” that’s addressed in the Bible. To reap anything, we must first sow. I encourage you to sow seeds of delight in others’ success, and I assure you, you’ll reap a harvest eventually. But don’t pigeon-hole God on how and what you’ll reap. Leave that to Him!

 

Write on, my friends and fellow writers. Write on!