TECH: 101 Tips (22)

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Original Posting 8 June 2009

Writers' Digest, October 2004, pages 26 to 33, has a collection of short "nuggets of wisdom" related to getting published. Maria Schneider is the author of the compilation. Take a deep breath, and here we go:

"Don't be afraid to share the specific details of whatever compelled you to head for the keyboard. Bring that experience to life for your readers -- make them feel what you felt, as powerfully as you felt it." David A. Fryxell

There are a couple of points about this quote. The first one is that you should feel inspired -- compelled to write. Get excited about it. You need to feel things, to be moved deeply, to laugh, to cry, to be enthused by your own ideas. And then you show that to your readers. All the craft tricks -- the characters, the dialogue, the plot structure, all of that -- are ways to help the reader get excited. Ways to bring your inspiration, your excitement, your enthusiasm to the reader. Sure, some of them won't feel it quite the same way that you did. But that's OK. Because some of them will feel it powerfully. And sharing experience is what it's all about.

So feel. And write.