Writer’s Disease: 5 Types of Envy and How to Deal with Them

Green with envy? Even the most successful writers can suffer from jealousy. Photo credit: fishwasher on Visual Hunt / CC BY

Are writers the most envious people in the world? Of course, professional envy exists among academics, lawyers, investment bankers, and others, but writers seem to experience jealousy in a deeper and more enduring way. Envy isn’t just for failed writers, either. Even the most successful authors—Ernest Hemingway, Truman Capote, and Gore Vidal to name a few—succumb to authorly jealousy.

Hemingway envied the much younger Norman Mailer whom he sarcastically described as “the Brooklyn Tolstoy.” Capote, resenting the popularity of Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road,” commented that “it isn’t writing at all, it’s typing.” Meanwhile, Gore Vidal couldn’t stand the success of Capote whom he called a “dumpy little lowbrow.”

The traditional publishing path—writing a book, finding the right literary agent to represent it, and selling the book to the right publisher—is hard. It’s no wonder writers feel envious whenever someone comes along who seemingly breezes through the process. I’ve certainly felt the pangs of jealousy myself. On the flipside, I’ve suffered from other people’s envy, including a few whom I trusted and considered good friends. What to do? Let’s take a closer look at this vicious disease and find a way to deal with it.

5 Types of Writer Envy

Lucky-break Envy: There will always be writers who seem to have all the lucky breaks in life. Amy Tan’s career is certainly full of both joy and luck. She attended a writing workshop, which opened doors for her. Tan’s workshop teacher helped her submit a short story, which was published. Tan didn’t even have to query literary agents. Sandra Dijkstra, who leads her eponymous agency, knew the teacher, who told her about Tan. Dijkstra sought Tan, whose best-selling book, “The Joy Luck Club,” was her first attempt at writing a novel.

Tan was indeed very lucky, but she’s also incredibly talented. If you envy her or someone like her, channel your energy into improving your writing. Tan’s “The Joy Luck Club” broke new ground when it was published in 1989 for its focus on Chinese Americans. The novel inspired and convinced me that an Asian American like me might have a chance in mainstream publishing after all. How about you? Can you think of a fresh approach in your writing or introduce a distinct perspective? Instead of feeling envy, find out if there’s a little bit of Amy Tan inside you.

Best-seller Envy: E.L. James’s “Fifty Shades of Grey” books sold 100 million copies, although they have been described as a “moronic craze,” “mommy porn,” and “Cinderella porn.” Naturally, “Fifty Shades” was the object of every writer’s envy and ridicule. If you’re one of those writers, redirect your energy to discovering what makes books like “Fifty Shades” tick. Don’t buy a copy if it hurts too much to dole out twenty bucks to E.L. James’s publisher. Borrow a copy from the library, and try reading it. Even if you can’t finish reading it, or end up hating the book twice as much, you might just learn a thing or two from it.

You may not be a “Twilight” fan, but surely you can appreciate that Stephenie Meyer’s “Midnight Sun,” the latest book in her “Twilight” series, sold one million copies one week after its release. That kind of sales can lift up a publisher, and help save jobs in that company, especially during the current pandemic. Instead of resenting best-selling authors you don’t like, try to appreciate their contribution in sustaining the publishing industry in general.

Someone-beat-you-to-it Envy: You can bet that when J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” series took off, more than a few writers claimed Rowling beat them to the idea. Ditto with Meyer’s “Twilight” books. I wonder if this kind of envy can lead to accusations of plagiarism. Both Rowling and Meyer have been embroiled in plagiarism lawsuits.

If you feel like another writer just beat you to an idea, make it your greatest motivation to write your next book without delay, so it won’t happen again. Also, you can still write your original idea despite the similarity because only you can write your story.

Movie-deal Envy: There’s nothing like a movie deal to trigger a writer’s toxic jealousy. About a dozen Nicholas Sparks novels have been made into movies. Let’s not even start counting the number of books by Stephen King that have been adapted into film or TV series. If you find yourself fuming and muttering, “Not another Nicholas Sparks movie,” stop and take a deep breath. You need to understand that the author’s enormous fan base makes his books viable film projects. Movie producers are simply tapping a captive audience. Focus on mastering your craft instead of getting hung up on movie deals.

Extraordinary-writing Envy: Sometimes you encounter a book that’s so extraordinary, you can’t help but wish you’d written it. For me this is the best kind of envy; it encourages me to keep writing. In an interview, The Guardian asked National Book Award-winning author Jonathan Franzen which books he wished he’d written. His answer: Haruki Murakami’s “Wind-Up Bird Chronicle” or Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels. Then Franzen said, “But why would I want Murakami and Ferrante not to have written those books themselves?”

Exactly. One of the best ways to cure yourself of the writer’s disease of envy is to change your mindset from being jealous to being grateful for the books you love. Channel any negative energy into the work itself by writing more and writing better.

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