Success Beyond the Word Count

by Elle E. Kay

As 2025 winds down, I find myself reflecting on the year and realizing I simply don’t move as fast as I used to. The days when I could sit down and hammer out a book in a couple of days to meet a deadline are gone.

Despite slowing down, I published several new titles this year, and I’m grateful for every story that made its way into readers’ hands.

But when I look back, that isn’t what stands out the most. The memories I treasure are quieter: early-morning reflections and prayers with God, Sunday morning talks with the teens I teach, nights spent listening to my Bible before I drift off, and unhurried conversations with the people I love. Those moments are pure gold.

My writing career matters. It’s my calling, but like most writers, I find it easy to let it take over everything. If I let myself, I could spend all day every day at the computer—plotting, writing, designing, editing, marketing, and a myriad of other tasks—because there is always one more thing to do and one more item clamoring for my attention. I can’t allow myself to let the enemy steal the joy of writing by bogging me down in an endless cycle of rushing to finish what feels like it can’t wait. Most of the time, it can. The world will not crash around me if I don’t update a link in the back of a book or change a profile picture. I need to take the time to prioritize what truly matters.

What won’t change is the endlessness of that to-do list. What has to change is how I approach it. For me, that looks like choosing, on purpose, to put time with God first, and then time with my husband, and letting writing take its proper place after that. It doesn’t always mean I log more hours with my highest priorities; it means that when my husband wants to talk while I’m in the middle of a project, I’m willing to close the laptop and give him my full attention. When my son calls, I walk away from the computer so I can converse with him without distraction. When my German Shepherds want to play, I give them a few minutes of my time. Each of those little things matters. They’re the moments that make precious memories. They’re the ones we reach for when we’re lying in a hospital bed (yes, I’ve been there more times than I care to share).

There will still be days when I need to ask for a few solid, uninterrupted hours to meet a deadline, and that’s okay. But I want to guard those other precious interludes just as carefully as I guard my writing time, and I want my time with the Lord, and the quiet, ongoing conversation of prayer, to remain the nonnegotiable appointment that shapes everything else.

As my pace slows, perhaps it’s time to reflect on the fact that success isn’t measured in dollars and cents or word counts and release dates, but in honoring all the blessings God has entrusted to me. Sometimes that means feeding the farm animals, and sometimes that means going to a grandchild’s soccer game. But above all else, it means taking the time to worship the One who loved me enough to leave His throne so He could sacrifice Himself for me.

May the Lord bless you this Christmas and all the days in the coming year as you slow down, draw near to God, and make room to worship Him.

Elle E. Kay is an Angel Award-winning author of 25 Christian fiction titles with over 14 million page reads. Her recent release, Midnight Masquerade, delves into the dark world of human trafficking. Elle lives on a PA hobby farm, serves in teen ministry, and blogs at ElleEKay.com.