Want to Write Something Masterful? Form A Real Opinion

Easier said than done.

Image by Ishmil Waterman

This is one of the more difficult pieces for me to write. I want you to understand what I’m saying without being too esoteric. The reason I’m writing this is because we’re at a point in our existence when anyone can share their opinion and have it potentially heard by millions of people. And even if it doesn’t touch millions of people, an opinion can heavily influence whatever peer group it infiltrates.

Yet what I see happening at the very same time is that we’re devoid of authentic perspectives. Ask someone what they think and they’ll repeat a portion of a surface answer they read or heard from somewhere else. But get that same person alone in a room and ask them WHY they feel that way and you’ll find that many can’t give you a succinct and thorough explanation.

That’s because although they may be able to articulate a high level opinion, when they’re opinion is not their own and they are forced to analyze the core of how they feel, crickets suddenly fill the silence. And those crickets are present because, quite frankly, there’s a population of people who, for whatever reason, don’t think of themselves.

That’s where we artists step in. Well, this is where we’re supposed to step in. We create because we have something to say. We write, draw, design, animate, paint, direct or sing or dance or both because we have a perspective that needs to be shared. The very best of us, the ones who are able to touch the centre of the soul of our audience, do so because we are able to most clearly articulate our opinions through our work.

I’m thinking of Paradise Lost, Robinson Crusoe, Frankenstein, The Alchemist, The Kite Runner. These are all fictional creations, works that technically aren’t real. But read any of these masterpieces front to back and you’ll feel the wave of their messages hit you as if you were swimming furiously through the Atlantic.

That’s what I call having an opinion.

But how do we do that today? Is it still even possible? Can we artists dig deep enough within ourselves to mine true opinion? Opinion that resonates on the level that these works I’ve mentioned certainly have accomplished?

Before I hit publish, even on these short pieces, I ask myself: Kern, what do you really think? I usually ask this of myself near the end of editing and there have been a few times where I scrap entire articles or large portions of longer pieces. Writing is my art and my passion. It’s not something I do casually. (Well, I should say I don’t publicly share casual writing.) My heart is in every word I produce, and if those words don’t represent either how I genuinely feel or doesn’t accurately recreate a world or vision I’m trying to share, then I’m not putting it out.

I watched an interview with Junot Diaz about a year ago. He said that it’s strange that the more specific he gets with his writing, the larger the audience. He said it casually (if you’ve never heard Diaz speak, please check him out) but if you really listen to what he’s saying, he’s giving you a gem: If you truly want to write masterful work, narrow your focus and present the world with a clear perspective and in that way, you’ll touch more people than you’ve ever imagined.

CRY

My novel BEAUTY SCARS is out now! Check it out at http://www.kerncarter.com/beauty-scars/

Want to Write Something Masterful? Form A Real Opinion was originally published in C.R.Y on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.