Found Object Art Project

In the previous posts in this series, I discussed the intrinsic value of writing and the benefits to me. In this post I’m going through some of the realizations that helped mitigate my inhibitions.

When writing is a joy in itself, who cares if anybody reads it but me? I love telling myself stories. I love the process of writing. It’s fun. It’s play. Play is good for the soul. Whether anyone but my spouse, who is morally obligated to read every word I write, ever reads my writing is secondary. She doesn’t have to enjoy my writing any more than she has to laugh at my jokes. But at least I trust her responses are real because, well, she’s learned not to indulge me needlessly.

Dealing With the Critic

I am, by definition, the foremost authority on the story. I believe if there’s room for improvement, I am best able to make those changes. I’m willing to collaborate with editors and readers now because I can defend its heart now. I could only achieve that by working through choices in the first draft. Still I have these previously delineated inhibiting ideas:

• I’m not a good enough writer
• I don’t bring enough value to literature
• I’m not marketable
• I don’t want people to think I’m writing about them
• I don’t want people to think I’m writing about me

The first three are easy to dismiss now because writing is a reward in itself. The latter inhibitions need more context. They are about what writing might expose in myself and whether I’m ready to show it. I’m a tough person to get to know. I think I’m open hearted, joyful, and kind. But I don’t always show that side. It’s more about not wanting to intrude on others. I am reserved because I can be a bit much. I like to go deep. 

But with writing I skip all that getting to know you phase and we jump right into bed. I need to release all my inhibitions – at least in the first draft – and go where the writing takes me. Otherwise, the experience will be flat, emotionless, and intimidatingly formal. But I have trouble letting go of how the reader might judge me by what my characters do. I know how easy it is to judge authors’ by their work. I went to college. 

Worse is when friends or family might think I’m writing about them. Projection is normal with readers. Authors count on it. You want the reader to see themselves in the characters. Leveraging and developing empathy is practically the point of telling stories in the first place. But I feared that some readers might think I’m judging them. 

I can’t change how readers respond to what I write, but I can help them contextualize it. 

Beachcombing

I write from what I know. I have a life, friends, and experiences. I have thoughts, judgements, fears, and opinions. I witness things around me and wonder what I would do in their shoes. I have conversations and arguments with friends, strangers, and the shower walls. All of these experiences, responses, and thoughts are just facts that I collect. They are the found objects in an art project I call my writing. 

I’m like a sculptor walking the beach. I find shells, stones, and driftwood that I put together into art. You may have been on the beach with me. You may have picked up that shell and handed it to me, and though it has significance to us based on our experience, once I’ve put it into the sculpture, it is something new. I’ve given it new context. 

In the same way, when we have a conversation, I may put some of that into a story. You will have a unique emotional response to reading it, but it won’t be our conversation to any other reader, it will be the characters’ conversation. All I’m thinking when I put the conversation into the story is, “This will work there.” All I can hope is that you will be able to see it that way too. 

Thinking of it this way allows me to honor the connection I have to people in my life separately from how I put our thoughts and experiences into my work. Put another way, once I’ve put it in my work, it no longer belongs to you or me. It belongs to the reader. 

In these sections I’ve established the joy and benefits of writing. In the next part, I will explore the process I followed and how it helped me sustain the effort.