Who You Are and How You Write
Who are you?
It’s the kind of question you’d expect more at a therapy appointment than a writer’s conference or webinar.
But your sense of self invariably connects to what and how you express on the page.
Sometimes, that means using writing directly as a coping tool. But sometimes it flavors other elements, like the traits you give characters, the length of your prose, or even how you pitch your work.
So, today, I invite you to look a little harder at your identity and how you see yourself. How is it bleeding out into what you write?
Maybe you’ll love what you see. Maybe there will be some parts you wish you didn’t see at all. But when you see yourself, you’ll understand your page. When you understand your page, you can shape it. Personal growth and craft development, at least in writing, go hand in hand.
[Transcript summary]
Writers out there, real talk here for a second.
So, we always talk about improving in our craft, right? We go to the conferences, we do all those kinds of things. But today, I want to talk to you about improving by kind of looking at yourself.
I have had a project that I am working on, and as I go through the final edits for that, one of the goals that I have had is to cut at least 10 to 15% of the draft. I know that might seem scary to some of you, okay? But the reason for that is because, as a writer, one of the things that I personally have to work on is not being verbose. And I have learned about myself that I am verbose because a lot of the time I was just so scared that nobody would listen, like the words didn’t matter, so I had to say more of them. And so, constantly writing things that, yeah, they’re nice, but I gotta pick one way to say it. So, that is what I have been focusing on.
But the point is, sometimes, when you write in order to fix your craft, it’s not just about, “Okay, I’m gonna, pay attention to my adverbs.” It’s about paying attention to this and understanding yourself. And sometimes, when you take a look at those things, all of a sudden, you realize why you write the way that you do. And once you understand that, then you can get picky and start really crafting what you write, and you can make conscious, intentional decisions about how that draft is going to be, because you’re making a choice about how you’re going to be.
So, my tip for you is just to be aware of that and let that drive your editing.
Take care everybody. Bye.