As a writer, I said many times, everyone has a story inside them. Everyone has a past which contains mystery, comedy, complexity, fantasy, and reality. You may not write your book, but you live the movie….Until We Read Again….Arline Miller
As I complete the final review prior to my third book, RIDDLE ME THIS, LOVE OR BLISS? I have thought about the people who have approached me to write their life story for them as they don’t feel they have a gift for writing. I understand their concern, as my books come from imagination and are fictional. This morning, however, as I began to review this book which is the final book in the series, Reflections of Love, I thought about my life story. While I was contemplating what I would write about, the opening thought above came to me.
I will save my life story and probably will not ever write it as I find the fictional, imaginative story quite fascinating…..but is that not a storyline in itself.
Are you a writer? I found an interesting list of questions from the article link below. You can go to the full article by clicking on the title. Let us look at some questions which might help you make up your mind:
The First Essential Question: Why Do You Write?
George Orwell, in an essay about why we write, said this:
[We write out of] sheer egoism. Desire to seem clever, to be talked about, to be remembered after death, to get your own back on the grown-ups who snubbed you in childhood, etc., etc. It is humbug to pretend this is not a motive, and a strong one…. Serious writers, I should say, are on the whole more vain and self-centered than journalists, though less interested in money.
In other words, Orwell says we write to be admired.
But honestly, I think George Orwell was wrong. Fame, admiration, self-centered vanity aren’t really what we’re looking for.
We write to connect.
The truth is, being known, being loved, is so much better than being admired.
Amanda Palmer said it like this:
For most of human history, artists have been part of the community. Connectors and openers, not untouchable stars. Celebrity is about a lot of people loving you from a distance. But the internet—and the content we’re freely able to share on it—is about taking it back. It’s about a few people loving you up close, and about those people being enough.
Ask yourself, “Why do you write?” Why do you really write? Is it about fame? Vanity? Celebrity? Or is it deeper than that?
Do you write to connect?
The Second Essential Question: How Do You Change People?
I think it’s great to make money at writing. I think it’s important to get paid for your work.
However, the question, “How do I make a living writing?” is the wrong question.
Instead, how do you CHANGE people with your writing?
Because if you can offer transformation people will pay whatever you ask.
The Third Essential Question: What can you write that no one else can?
Because if you can write something unique, something different from anything else in the market, something that people also like, your fans will buy everything and anything you ask.
The Fourth Essential Question: How do you connect your emotions to your story?
“No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader,” said Robert Frost.
How do you get so deep into your characters (or else choose characters similar to you and your story) so that you can summon the emotional depth necessary to tell an entertaining and transformative story?
The Fifth Essential Question: How can you LIVE a story as interesting as the ones on the page?
Because of you look at the writers we most admire they took risks with their lives.
Ernest Hemingway, Mary Shelley, John Steinbeck, Virginia Woolf—they all lived lives as interesting as the ones they wrote about. Part of their marketing (their platform you might say) was based on how they lived, not just how they wrote.
Your biggest asset as a writer is your experiences. How are you going to create experiences that help you be a better writer?
What are some other questions you’re bringing to your writing?
Here are some questions I’ve heard from other writers:
- Why do I struggle at the end?
- What if no one connects with my art?
- What if I try to write one story and it becomes something else?
- What do I do with my fear?
- What if I’ve outgrown my story?
- Does rewriting always make your story better?
How about you? What questions are you bring to your writing? Let me know in the comments.
PRACTICE
Pick one person you would like your writing to connect with.
Then, write something just for him or her.
Write for fifteen minutes. When you’re finished, share your practice in the comments section. And if you share, please be sure to give feedback on a few practices by your fellow writers.
Happy writing!Joe Bunting
Joe Bunting is an author and the founder of The Write Practice. He is the author of the #1 Amazon Bestseller Let’s Write a Short Story! You can follow him on Instagram (@jhbunting).
Thanks, Joe for this wonderful thought provoking list of questions for all of those who wonder if they can write. I suggest anyone who has the desire to write, start with a short story, get the ink flowing, and then read what you wrote. If you would have read this story as a reader only, would you have found it interesting?
Good luck if you pursue writing as a hobby and/or a career. I won’t say it is easy, and it takes perseverance and a determination as well as thick skin….Arline Miller, author and blogger.
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