The following observations on authors who feel that God is "calling them to write" specific books or on specific topics were provided by Kathy Ide, Christian author, speaker, and writing mentor, in an online discussion group of Christian editors. The context was that when authors contact editors, agents, and publishers saying that "God told me to write this book," this is a red flag that manuscripts are poorly written and authors difficult to work with.

Why? Because saying that God "told" you to write something is a claim to direct revelation on the level of the New Testament authors or the Old Testament prophets. In practice, an author's belief that the words on the page were from God's mouth to his or her ear often means hasty writing and ideas that are poorly developed and awkwardly communicated. Moreover, if the author does, in fact, believe that they are God's words, not their own, this can result in an unwillingness to receive direction from an editor if there are clear issues in the manuscript that need to be addressed.

Kathy Ide's comments on this issue are succinct and particularly well communicated. They should make for required reading for any author who believes that his or her work is divinely inspired.

This post is reproduced with her permission.

Publishers aren’t laughing at the concept that God calls authors to write. They know that Christian authors are called by the Lord. I’m not sure many Christians would write for publication if God hadn’t called them, because it’s not an easy task to do it right, and it certainly doesn’t pay very well.

The problem comes when authors tell agents or publishers that because God called them to write this, the publisher or agent should accept it no matter how poorly written it might be, or how unmarketable it might be, or even whether that particular publisher accepts the kind of manuscript the author has written.

I heard one acquisitions editor say to a group of authors, “If God told you to write it, He should have told you to edit it.” Which is the short form of saying, “If you truly believe that God has called you to write (and to get your writing published), you need to learn how to write well, hone your craft, polish your work, and study the market before submitting it for publication.”

Another publisher once said, “If God told you He wants my house to publish your manuscript, He should have told ME that.” It’s kinda like the young guy who tells his girlfriend that Gold told him they were meant for each other so they should get married. If SHE doesn’t feel the Lord leading her to marry him, he shouldn’t try to force the issue. Nor should a writer try to force a publisher to accept his/her manuscript simply because “God told me.”

If God calls you to sing, that may mean He wants you to sing in your pew during Sunday services. It might mean He wants you to join the church choir. If you really think the Lord wants you to sing professionally, you should take voice lessons first, then sing for free at various churches and maybe do a few small concerts before you try to convince Carnegie Hall to book you as a headliner act.

If God calls you to become a doctor, you don’t just walk into a hospital and fill out a job application for surgeon and tell the head of the hospital that God called you to be a doctor. You go to college full time for several years and work as an intern for several more.

Unfortunately, many people who feel God’s call to write think they can bypass the appropriate channels, and if they just tell a publisher or agent that God called them to write this, that should be enough. But most successful authors have read countless books on writing and self-editing, have attended conferences and workshops and classes to learn the craft, have written smaller pieces (like magazine articles, short stories, devotionals, play scripts, and curriculum), have joined a critique group or at least found a good critique partner, have networked with other people in the industry, and even hired a professional editor prior to submitting their book-length manuscript to a publisher or agent. If someone tries to bypass that process and expects to become a successful author simply because “God told me to write,” that person is going to come across as naïve and ignorant about the publishing industry. And that person’s manuscript is probably going to reveal a lack of understanding about how to write for publication.

At the North Texas Christian Writers Conference that I spoke at a couple of weeks ago, TCP member Lissa Halls Johnson gave a wonderful talk that relates to this. She spoke of Joseph, and how God gave him a vision when he was seventeen that one day his family would all bow down to him. Now, for a teenage boy, that had to have been a pretty heady idea. And when his father gave him that beautiful coat of many colors, he must’ve felt pretty special. Believing that God had called him to be a ruler over others, he told his brothers about this vision of his. (Knowing teenagers, he probably did so with at least a touch of arrogance.) What happened next? He got thrown into a pit. Then thrown into slavery. Then thrown into the arms of Potiphar’s wife. Then thrown into prison. Only after many years of trials, during which Joseph must have wondered what had happened to his vision, did he come to the time when God deemed that he (and the rest of the world) was ready for the vision God gave him to be fulfilled.

If God has called someone to write, that doesn’t mean necessarily that the writing is meant to be published. If it is meant to be published, the author will likely need to go through years of training and practice and learning as well as growing in the faith and possibly going through life trials and difficulties. Why? Partly because this is a business and authors need to act like professionals. And partly because when a book is published the author is thrust into a bit of a spotlight; therefore, the author needs to have a very close and firm relationship with God or he/she may become the victim of demonic attack and may not be able to withstand the onslaught, which would make him/her yet one more Christian the world can mock as a hypocrite.

If God wants your manuscript to be published, and if you’ve put in the time and effort to make it really good, the manuscript will speak for itself. The proposal will prove that you know the craft and the industry. You won’t have to try to convince a publisher to accept it simply because “God told me to write this.”