Me.
First... before I continue... I want to apologize to the person who inspired this post. I understand his comment was not intended as a cut-down or slight in any way, and I do appreciate him taking the time to read my work and comment at all.
This said... I was recently told "seek to decrease personal investment in confession."
This statement got me thinking. Well, to be honest, it pissed me off at first. But, once I calmed down and looked at it rationally, the anger dissipated. But, the initial feeling of it not being right for me stayed.
What do I mean? Well, to explain this, I must first explain who I am as a writer...
I started writing when I was very young (somewhere between the ages of 10 and 12), as a way of working through the crap I was going through in life. This ability and desire to use writing as a way of therapy has continued into my adult life. It is a part of me. It is me. As I am it. It doesn't matter if I am writing a smut story (yes, I write romance), or on this blog, or a letter to someone - every word that escapes my fingertips does so as being cathartic.
I don't write to teach or preach or anything else. I write for me. If it happens to touch someone else's life - great. But who am I to teach that we should follow Christ when I only just realized this notion for myself? Who am I to preach on how we should act when I have willingly broken every commandment made by God? I am no one. I am me.
I write from a very personal place (most of the time). I write from the heart and soul. I write from experience. And I do have a deep seated personal investment in every word that escapes my fingers.
This said, say I do write with the intention of reaching someone. In the case of my post regarding child abuse - I could have written this from a non-personal standpoint, spilling out statistics and facts. But as a survivor of abuse, I know that these statistics mean nothing. Oooo.... I'm 1 in 4 who was abused. I'm 1 in 5 who was raped. .... Yay me? Statistics mean nothing. On the other hand, when I read a story about someone who has experienced similar to me... I realize I am not alone. The numbers mean nothing. The personal account from someone else does.
True - a lot of people will have issues with my writing. I'm too explicit or to honest or too controversial. But, this is how I write. If you don't like it, don't read it.
This is me - take it or leave it.
Thank you for your feedback, Greg. I personally think keeping it real is intensely important. At least, it is for me. The pastor who helped bring me back to the right path is one who always kept it real. And I responded strongly to this. It's what I needed. And it's how I keep it. "down to earth... for this is where we live"... I think this is how God would want us to teach. Doesn't make sense to teach at a level higher than what most can comprehend.
ReplyDeleteSir Robert - what I just said to Greg applies to you as well. Thank you for your feedback. And I look forward to reading your personal stuff. I would so much rather read personal stuff then stuffy boring stuff :)
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