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#2MinWritingTip – Prioritize Story

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Recently, I started reading a book that my friends had raved about–not one that I’ve written about here, by the way. The writing was beautiful. Clear. Clean. Even lyrical.

And I couldn’t get past chapter eight.

Maybe the story would have picked up. Maybe had I kept with it, I would have seen what everyone else loved about the book. After all, this is a famous, well-loved, New York Times bestselling author. But several dozen pages in, I just wasn’t connecting with the characters and I had no real idea where the story was going. So I returned it to the library and moved on to something that caught my interest.

This should be a lesson for all of writers, especially those of us who don’t have a NYT bestseller’s following– story is king. You can write beautifully, but if you don’t catch the reader’s interest and hold it long enough to get them into the story, your lyricism and vocabulary is wasted. Style is an integral part of your unique voice, but it should serve to sweep the reader into the story and keep them turning pages–whether it’s a frantic page-turner or a tale meant to be savored slowly.

Don’t get so caught up in a beautiful turn of phrase that you lose sight of what fiction can do: take your readers on a journey that will be as meaningful to them as if they’d lived it themselves.

[bctt tweet=”Don’t get so caught up in a beautiful turn of phrase that you lose sight of what fiction can do: take your readers on a journey that will be as meaningful to them as if they’d lived it themselves.”]

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#2MinWritingTip – Dig Deep

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Last month, I had the opportunity to contribute to an article in Romance Writers Report, the publication of Romance Writers of America, about writing fearlessly. And I gave this response:

Dig deep. If you’re perfectly comfortable with everything you’re putting on the page, you’re probably not being honest enough. The real power of writing comes from mining and confronting your own fears, your own failures, your own traumas. It’s only then that your work will resonate with readers and let them know they’re not alone in the world. For the author, the process can be transformative.

The thing that makes writing both so powerful and so scary is that as authors, we’re revealing part of our psyche on the page. Even if we don’t necessarily agree with the actions that our characters take, the situation still springs from our imagination or our experience. There’s always the risk that we’ll be judged for what we put on the page, not just as a writer but as a person. Consequently, when we become over aware of the audience who will be reading our work, whether it be strangers, friends, or family, we can be tempted to pull back and play it safe. To go for the ordinary, inoffensive, and boring.

And that impulse is what keeps us from being great. That line or insight that feels so risky, so scary to put on the page, might be just what some reader needs to see. That scene that hits too close to home is where your writing transforms from fiction to reality. That thought that scares you to death is what makes you from a writer into an artist.

I’m not saying to push the boundaries of taste or to challenge taboos for the sake of shock value. I’m saying that your intellectual honestly and your emotional authenticity are what transcends the written word and connects you with your audience.

So be brave. Bare yourself on the page for all to see. And see if it doesn’t transform you too.

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