-You are creating something that fulfills a universal human need. The world’s hunger for stories is incessant and insatiable. Story is what holds everything together. “The universe is made of stories, not atoms,” said Poet Muriel Rukeyser.
The writer’s customer base is as guaranteed as the funeral director’s. Each of us is going to keel over and croak one day, but until then, we survive―and feed―on stories. They are our daily bread.
-Storytelling is a calling. You were made with this purpose. You honor a sacred contract when you write. Heaven and earth move once you say yes to the call. But you have to be willing to get out of your own way. This is where most of us stall, in the land of the ego.
But wow, oh WOW, what awaits us when we surrender and do the work. In the end, we are merely asked to be who we were born to be. That’s a pretty sweet deal.
-The writing wants to be written. It yearns to exist. “What you seek is seeking you,” said Poet Rumi.
Okay, I know that sounds mighty woo-woo, but it’s true. The universe is creative. It rewards those who boldly use their creative gifts. The force is already with you. For that reason alone you should be outlandishly psyched.
-Your readers are waiting for your story. Author Vinita Hampton Wright describes it this way.
“Every time you create something, you are recreating something that God created, and you are recreating it in such a way that for certain people it will seem like the very first time they discovered rhythm or kindness or that particular shade of yellow,” she says. “Our creativity rebirths the world in all of its detail again and again. As artists we name the world and help other people recognize the grace, wisdom, and wonder that have been present all along.”
Those “certain people” she refers to are your future readers. Before I said yes to writing as a calling, I told myself all kinds of deceptions that undermined my dreams. I believed my work wasn’t good enough; I claimed never to have enough time to write; and I certainly couldn’t fathom that an audience was out there.
After many years I realized that I have stories that are worthwhile, that matter. SO DO YOU. And you are the one designated to author the story that only you can craft for your specific audience. Your readership will receive the message only if you write it.
More than 60 book deals are reported on a typical day by Publishers Marketplace. Literary agents and publishers understand that the readers are waiting. Why wouldn’t they be there for you?
-The benefits of writing are legion. Writing brings clarity, amusement, healing, release. It costs nothing. It makes your colors brighter. It will make you lighter. Because as e.e. cummings said, the eyes of your eyes will be opened. It is soul work. It is escape. It is whatever you need it to be.
So be wildly, recklessly encouraged in your writing. Walk into your writing space like a shepherd. Pick up the pen, and get closer to your flame. Heed the call. Bake the bread.
Want to go deeper into your writing? Join me for my annual Memoir Master Class on October 8. Details at memoirclass.brownpapertickets.com.