So what are you trying to say ?
Well, my friends, another day begins and thankfully, it's a day when I don't have to go to work...if you were kind enough to read previous posts, my current employment has all the excitement of watching paint dry without the possibility of the potential thrill of a dripping paintroller ! So this is why I'm here and having the time to write to you all, once I've put up this post, it will be back to writing my new book....EEEEEEK ! Now some writers will tell you, writing is as painful as giving birth - I'm here to tell you, that's not true at all...yes it's difficult and frustrating, but there are none of the after effects of actually bringing a human life into the world i.e. sleepless nights, Parent/Teacher meetings and, of course, the horror when you realise your child is no longer a child and is now a hardened partygoer with dubious taste in lovers. So you see ? Writing several thousand words has almost nothing in common with parenting at all ! But with that said, the truly tricky part of putting words on paper, is making sure you know what you want to say..what's the message you're trying to convey ? Does the piece make any sense to anyone other than you ? Worse still, when a reader gets to the end, will they know what the book was about ? Or will they just feel that's several hours of their time they'll never get back ??
So bearing all that in mind, you might wonder why anyone writes at all..unless, of course, they either have supreme self-confidence that anything they utter, must be genius and so will undoubtedly leave the world open-mouthed with awe...or despite suffering from an almost-crippling lack of such belief in their own talent, they feel compelled to try. Speaking for myself, I topple into the second category..I read and re-read things I've written, being far more critical of myself than I ever would be of anyone else. The flaws and errors seem to have all the power of vast billboard neon signs, and even when I have to concede, a couple of sentences aren't too bad at all..they seem isolated in a virtual ocean of mediocre nonsense.
What I have found though, now I've written more, is I can see, the problems begin when I'm not sure of what I want the characters to be, what they're adding to the overall story and, ( as I do enjoy writing dialogue), is what they're saying shedding any light at all, on the plot.
I think this is true in real life too..I'm sure we have all been in the situation, when someone clearly wants to tell us something, but, for whatever reason, they're struggling to say the words, so they opt for talking about anything else - so, as an example, they want to tell you they've spent all your money by mistake, but rather than just get to that, they begin by randomly discussing climate change, moving to the impact on the global economy before narrowing it down to how the country is suffering...after several minutes of this speech, as the listener, you start to wonder where this is heading..you can become so lost in trying to establish connections between the various threads, you can miss the last line, "...so this is why I spent all your money."
Obviously it's the fear of the potential fallout of their revelation, which makes people take this roundabout route to the truth..but if you've got to confess any way, perhaps just getting to the point would be best - otherwise what's the alternative ? You sleep by the postbox, for days on end, waiting for the credit card bill to arrive so you can see just how bad the situation is ? Or worse still, hear the agonising wail of the account holder, as they open the bill themselves and see they now somehow owe the equivalent of the National Debt ?!
So this need to really know what message we want to put out to the world, be it sharing bad news with a friend, to publishing a book, painting a picture, making a speech....is something we all need to develop an awareness, so our meaning is clear. I think we can all agree, certain politicians in the world, are extremely adept at saying a great deal but, by the end of it, none of us are any wiser about what they're actually going to do !
I know, for some, words are not friends, they do little but confuse and frustrate and the 'right' ones seem as easy to find as hen's teeth, but that shouldn't stop us from trying to find them..at least, I don't think so. Sharing thoughts, emotions and ideas is a blessing, it helps us make sense of the world and ourselves, I think we just need to be mindful, that what comes out of our mouths, is what resides in our hearts..so there's no debate or confusion...just the simple truth as we see it.
I think, as far as writing goes, if your words genuinely resonate with a reader, it's not because you've used particularly long words or clever phrases..it's because they can feel you're being honest..you're revealing something of yourself even through the guise of created characters.
Well, with all that said, I need to get back this story I'm writing and having thought about this post, hopefully, I can apply some of these words, to the book I'm attempting...let's keep those fingers crossed...I hope you all have a wonderful week...until the next time...
Take care out there xx
So bearing all that in mind, you might wonder why anyone writes at all..unless, of course, they either have supreme self-confidence that anything they utter, must be genius and so will undoubtedly leave the world open-mouthed with awe...or despite suffering from an almost-crippling lack of such belief in their own talent, they feel compelled to try. Speaking for myself, I topple into the second category..I read and re-read things I've written, being far more critical of myself than I ever would be of anyone else. The flaws and errors seem to have all the power of vast billboard neon signs, and even when I have to concede, a couple of sentences aren't too bad at all..they seem isolated in a virtual ocean of mediocre nonsense.
What I have found though, now I've written more, is I can see, the problems begin when I'm not sure of what I want the characters to be, what they're adding to the overall story and, ( as I do enjoy writing dialogue), is what they're saying shedding any light at all, on the plot.
I think this is true in real life too..I'm sure we have all been in the situation, when someone clearly wants to tell us something, but, for whatever reason, they're struggling to say the words, so they opt for talking about anything else - so, as an example, they want to tell you they've spent all your money by mistake, but rather than just get to that, they begin by randomly discussing climate change, moving to the impact on the global economy before narrowing it down to how the country is suffering...after several minutes of this speech, as the listener, you start to wonder where this is heading..you can become so lost in trying to establish connections between the various threads, you can miss the last line, "...so this is why I spent all your money."
Obviously it's the fear of the potential fallout of their revelation, which makes people take this roundabout route to the truth..but if you've got to confess any way, perhaps just getting to the point would be best - otherwise what's the alternative ? You sleep by the postbox, for days on end, waiting for the credit card bill to arrive so you can see just how bad the situation is ? Or worse still, hear the agonising wail of the account holder, as they open the bill themselves and see they now somehow owe the equivalent of the National Debt ?!
So this need to really know what message we want to put out to the world, be it sharing bad news with a friend, to publishing a book, painting a picture, making a speech....is something we all need to develop an awareness, so our meaning is clear. I think we can all agree, certain politicians in the world, are extremely adept at saying a great deal but, by the end of it, none of us are any wiser about what they're actually going to do !
I know, for some, words are not friends, they do little but confuse and frustrate and the 'right' ones seem as easy to find as hen's teeth, but that shouldn't stop us from trying to find them..at least, I don't think so. Sharing thoughts, emotions and ideas is a blessing, it helps us make sense of the world and ourselves, I think we just need to be mindful, that what comes out of our mouths, is what resides in our hearts..so there's no debate or confusion...just the simple truth as we see it.
I think, as far as writing goes, if your words genuinely resonate with a reader, it's not because you've used particularly long words or clever phrases..it's because they can feel you're being honest..you're revealing something of yourself even through the guise of created characters.
Well, with all that said, I need to get back this story I'm writing and having thought about this post, hopefully, I can apply some of these words, to the book I'm attempting...let's keep those fingers crossed...I hope you all have a wonderful week...until the next time...
Take care out there xx
