Do you know how important your voice is to the world? Every person has a story. Really….This is a repost with a slight revision or two as today, I'm, again–now for the third time–last was in Chattanooga–priviledged to join forces with Lacey Lyons, Belmont University adjunct English professor and Courtney Taylor Evans, of the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center. We will present "Sharing Your Stories: Advocacy Through Personal Storytelling," at the 2013 Tennessee Disability Megaconference. There, we coach parents and adults with disAbilites on how to write their story via Tennessee's Kindred Stories project. (I've one on their website somewhere. I think it's this one: "[…]I'm giving this summer the finger!)
Because this applies to so many people who for one reason or another
are not sharing the gift of their voice, I'm posting part of my
presentation here on "The Journey with Grace":
Get Over Yourself and Get it Out Your Story!
Folks, you’re gonna have to scrap your ego to be a
writer. Writing never happens with a flourish of a magic wand and a
sprinkle of fairy dust. Every good story you read in reputable
newspapers, books and magazines was written and rewritten and rewritten
and rewritten. Did I mention it was rewritten? And, EV.RY.BOD.Y needs an editor. Everybody.
There’s no muse that just
poofs a perfect story into your head! It takes work! Writers HONE their craft. And so should you.
In fact, highly successful multi-book author Anne Lamott coined a term: “the shitty first draft.”
I wrote a book nine years ago that I’m now rewriting. And the
book I wrote nine years ago was my shitty first draft. (In fact, one
reputable book agent praised my book proposal profusely, but returned it
because of my written samples. Good thing. It's taken another nine
years of living and the publication of my actual first book (another title,) to get to where I am now. And guess what, it will be rewritten. And. Rewritten.
Nike came up with a slogan. Bet you know the one: Yes! "Just. Do. It!" Again, having a muse is a myth for most of us writers. It takes discipline. Pure and simple. Sit down on your patootty and JUST DO IT.
If you’re having trouble, pull out a journal or a scrap piece of paper and do “The Artist’s Way.”
Dump your thoughts onto paper until you’ve written three pages or 30
minutes. Many writers start out their days with this exercise. Go ahead!
Write down whatever comes to mind. Your irritation with your
significant other. The memories of the bad tuna sandwich you ate for
lunch yesterday. Your to-do list. Anything! It clears the clutter so you
can get down to to the real business of writing.
And then, can the critic. Tell that mama to. Shut.
Up. You know. That whiny, pointer-finger wielding voice inside your
head that’s judging mercilessly every word you put down on paper. Ignore
it! Tell it where to go! Remember, just do it. Get the words out and then you can go back and rewrite.
Well?! What are you waiting for?
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Image courtesy of Beth Lehman via Pinterest via Kristen House of A Novel Idea
