Does writing change the author? Do you think your writing has changed you in any significant way?
Thank you Rhobin for this month's topic.
Writing can teach us lessons, and make us think differently. Writers can choose to use their writing to teach valuable lessons, to give new perspectives and make us see the world and the behavior of people in a different light. Writing can inspire, motivate, and bring about change.
As for myself, and for most authors I know, self-doubt is something we’re all too familiar with. It’s unavoidable. Whereas most careers (or the author's day-job) are built on a clear end goal for each day, authors goals are driven by a mysterious voice that sometimes chooses to speak to us… and sometimes doesn’t.
After all, a professional fiction writer is someone who gets paid to make stuff up. It’s a thoroughly exhausting job that takes a long, long time, and usually offers the writer very little financial reward.
By writing a novel, the writer acts to keep their era alive for future generations, so that our children and grandchildren can understand who we really were, and what we stood for-- or as in my YA historical novel "Tanayia--Whisper upon the Water" focus on a moment in history which hasn't been portrayed truthfully in the past.
By nature, writers are teachers. Again, writers write because they have something to say to the world. They have a lesson to teach, a lesson so important to them—whether it be moral, intellectual, idealistic, or cynical—that they’ve sculpted an entire story for the sheer purpose of teaching that lesson.
Romance novels promise a Happily Ever After which is something we all want from life. Happiness, joy, and the hope for a better tomorrow.
Westerns/ Space Travel/ promise an Adventure, a glimpse into a new/different world.
Mysteries allow you to expand your thought process, search for hidden clues, or over look the obvious. This is why children and adults a like love 'treasure maps'.
How does my writing change me?
It keeps 'child-like' hope, discovery, joy, and sheer fun alive in my soul.
And, often, a review or a comment posted on my blog or Facebook site, will validate my story held meaning and, perhaps changed his/her life for the better--even if only for an hour or two.
Please visit the wonderful authors posting on this month's topic.
Happy Reading!
Connie
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Skye Taylor http://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea
Anne Stenhouse http://annestenhousenovelist.wordpress.com
Marci Baun http://www.marcibaun.com/blog/
Diane Bator http://dbator.blogspot.ca/
Connie Vines http://mizging.blogspot.com/
Dr. Bob Rich https://wp.me/p3Xihq-2jz
Fiona McGier http://www.fionamcgier.com/
Judith Copek http://lynx-sis.blogspot.com/
Helena Fairfax http://www.helenafairfax.com/blog
Beverley Bateman http://beverleybateman.blogspot.ca/
Rhobin L Courtright http://www.rhobincourtright.com
Connie, you have identified the difference between good writing and rubbish. It is whether reading someone's book has any benefit beyond a few hours switch-off, like staring at the TV.
ReplyDeleteI like a few hours of switch off. Sometimes, it’s exactly what I need. However, I find that, if it’s not well-written, I can’t read it. 😁 Maybe it’s all those years of editing. 😁
DeleteDr. Bob, Thank you :-). I agree.
DeleteI don’t know if my intent is to educate people when I write. Often, I feel like I am the one who is educated by the story I’ve written. LOL I’m just driven by the need to tell the story of the characters who rattling around in my head. 😊
ReplyDeleteMarci, I believe we all learn from our characters, as do our readers :-)
DeleteYour summary that writing keeps the door open to hope is perfect. So, too is the premise that we get to go places and experience things we'd never in our actual life get to see. And that brings growth to the reader, but before the reader learns the lessons, the author has to learn them to put them into their writing.
ReplyDeleteYou gave me some new insights! And I agree with everything you stated. Writing is hard work but as you point out it gives us so much back.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Rhobin :-).
DeleteYour comment o about writing to educate and to make a record for history are interesting points.
ReplyDeleteHi Connie, My late mother used to say that there was no book she'd read from which she didn't learn something. So, perhaps, a romance set in Greece will tell the person without a passport what a Greek island looks like. It's a whole new subject, isn't it, what a reader takes away from one's writing. I enjoyed your list of what you get from writing. Anne
ReplyDeleteHi Connie, I love how you say writing keeps discovery, hope and sheer joy alive for you. I hadn't thought of it that way before, but I totally agree. Thanks for pointing it out, and for your uplifting post.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Helena about keeping a childlike view with discovery, hope, and joy alive. And we learn from good (and even critical) comments about our writing. The feedback teaches us what readers liked (or didn't). Importaft lessons. I seldom if ever think of myself as a teacher, but we writers all are.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I'm not the only one who writes for the sheer joy of it. And when readers tell me they learned something, or they enjoyed reading my books, I'm in ecstasy! Words are my life, and I love to share them with others.
ReplyDelete